A board of inquiry into an Israeli attack in Lebanon that killed four United Nations military observers in July had no access to the commanders involved and was therefore unable to determine why the attacks were not halted despite repeated appeals from UN personnel, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s spokesman said today. The Board, appointed by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) as standard procedure in such circumstances, noted that the Israeli authorities accepted full responsibility for the attack on the UN post at Khiyam and apologized for what they say was an “operational level” mistake, the spokesman added in a statement. Read more about Probe into Israeli killing of UN monitors unable to determine why appeals were ignored
World attention may have shifted away from Lebanon, but many people continue to suffer from the recent conflict - including hundreds of displaced people in Beirut’s crowded Hai Al Sullam area. Before the five-week war, the southern suburb’s 275,000 permanent residents - mostly Shia Muslims and poor - lived cheek by jowl with migrants and Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers. They have since been joined by hundreds of displaced Lebanese, whose houses in neighbouring districts were destroyed by Israeli fire or who fled from the south to stay with families in the capital until it is safe to return. Uncertainty among the internally displaced people (IDPs) is high. Read more about UNHCR links with social development centres to help Lebanese IDPs
Lebanon is making speedy progress towards recovery after the destructive conflict between Israel and Hizbollah this summer and humanitarian agencies are preparing to close down or transfer their activities to relevant Government authorities or development agencies, the United Nations officials reported today. As early as tomorrow the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) plans to hand over of the role of coordinating international activities in southern Lebanon to the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The official end of humanitarian operations is scheduled for 24 October, according to OCHA’s latest update. Read more about Lebanon is recovering quickly from recent conflict between Israel and Hizbollah - UN
Fourteen people have been killed and 90 injured from all types of unexploded ordnance in Lebanon from 14 August until 19 September. Of these totals, children (6 years to 18 years of age) accounted for two of the fatalities and 32 of the injuries, according to Lebanon’s National Demining Office. All the fatalities and most of the injuries resulted from cluster munitions. According to UNHCR, some 200,000 people remain displaced because of the level of destruction in their villages, and because of the UXOs and cluster sub-munitions which contaminate their houses and hometowns. Read more about 200,000 remain displaced
The commander of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon held talks with senior Lebanese and Israeli military officers today with a view to completing by Saturday Israel’s withdrawal from all the positions it occupied in its northern neighbour during last month’s fighting with Hizbollah. “We had a constructive meeting today,” UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Commander Major-General Alain Pellegrini said after the talks, which discussed both Israel’s withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the area. “It is my belief that with the necessary cooperation by both parties we should see the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) leave South Lebanon by the end of this month,” he added. Read more about Israel could complete Lebanese withdrawal by Saturday - UN Force Commander
Unexploded ordnance in southern Lebanon continue to pose great risks to civilians returning to their villages, according to the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC). It estimates that there are at least one million unexploded cluster bomblets in the area. “The latest estimate includes the number of rocket and artillery cluster bomblets,” said Dalya Farran, UNMACC media and post-clearance officer, adding that cluster bombshells dropped from Israeli aircraft had yet to be counted. Cluster bombs or bomblets are one of the more common forms of unexploded ordnance, or UXOs. Read more about Southerners live in fear of one million cluster bombs
ELKHIAM - This southern Lebanese border town was severely damaged during the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. No building was left untouched. More than 70 per cent of El Khiam’s houses and three of its five schools were destroyed. Only one of the town’s four health centres is functioning, and to make matters worse, water sources and water treatment plants were also damaged during the hostilities. It could be a long time before they are repaired, and in the meantime there is no running water. Read more about Water and hygiene aid helps Lebanese families cope in war's aftermath
In southern Lebanon, one major component of the overall rehabilitation and recovery process is to ensure that children overcome the trauma of living through war as well as the distress of returning to heavily damaged villages. Agencies working to improve the psychological health of children believe there is no better way to begin the journey towards recovery than through that which children enjoy best - playing. “According to research, 95 percent of children are able to overcome stress and mild trauma by simply playing,” said Soha Boustani, Beirut communications officer for the United Nations Children’s Fund, Unicef. Read more about Children play to tackle war trauma
Addressing the General Assembly in New York today, the President of Lebanon decried the devastation wrought by Israel on his country but said there is now a new opportunity for peace that must be exploited. Emile Lahoud voiced regret that during Israel’s aggression against his country, the Security Council “looked powerless in its attempts to stop the slaughter of Lebanon’s children and protect the peace in Lebanon and the Middle East.” He noted that it took over a month to produce a cessation of hostilities that is yet to become a formal ceasefire. This raised serious questions about the UN’s ability to safeguard peace “when its resolutions are subjected to the vagaries of a very few world powers.” Read more about Lebanon's President calls for efforts to reinvigorate Middle East peace initiatives
The Israeli government committee that will investigate the government’s handling of the recent war in Lebanon should also examine the decisions and policies that led to the large number of Lebanese civilian casualties, Human Rights Watch said today. In a report issued on August 3, 2006, Human Rights Watch documented Israeli forces’ systematic failure to distinguish between combatants and civilians as required by international humanitarian law. Subsequent Human Rights Watch reporting demonstrated a similar pattern in Israel’s use of cluster munitions. Read more about Israel: Government Committee Should Probe Lebanon Laws of War Violations
