The United Nations children’s fund (UNICEF), together with other NGOs, is setting up children’s activity centres in Nabatiyeh, 80km south of the capital, and in the port city of Tyre, 90km south of Beirut,to recreate a semblance of normalcy for children in Lebanon. Teams of travelling entertainers will be sent out to villages around the towns to organise similar activities. More than a third of the Lebanese killed in the 34-day conflict with Israel were children, according to UNICEF. “The degree to which children have been affected varies from one child to another,” said Ola Attia, a Beirut-based clinical psychiatrist, who does voluntary work with local NGO Samidoun in the south. Read more about Children strive to overcome trauma of war
Amnesty International today published findings that point to an Israeli policy of deliberate destruction of Lebanese civilian infrastructure, which included war crimes, during the recent conflict. The organization’s latest publication shows how Israel’s destruction of thousands of homes, and strikes on numerous bridges and roads as well as water and fuel storage plants, was an integral part of Israel’s military strategy in Lebanon, rather than “collateral damage” resulting from the lawful targeting of military objectives. The report reinforces the case for an urgent, comprehensive and independent UN inquiry into grave violations of international humanitarian law committed by both Hizbullah and Israel. Read more about Evidence indicates deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon
United Nations agencies and Lebanese NGOs say almost everyone displaced by the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has either returned home or found alternative accommodation. About 15,000 houses were destroyed in the 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and many more damaged, according to the Lebanese government. However, through extended family networks, second homes or accommodation paid for with compensation monies, most of the 252,184 Lebanese who lived in the now damaged or destroyed houses have found somewhere to stay. Read more about 3,000 displaced remain as rebuilding starts
First there were allegations of illegal tactics. Now it is the illegal use of certain weapons. As Jeff Handmaker writes, such allegations are hardly new. Israel has for years been accused of both in its systematic dispossession, oppression and killing of Palestinians. However, the continued silence on the part of the international community has sent a dangerous message to Israel that it need not feel restrained in either the methods or weapons it uses in its military operations, and so it has set the bar of violence ever higher. The new level of disregard for international law granted tacit permission to Israel’s war commanders to experiment with a vast and sophisticated weaponry. Read more about Silence breeds impunity - investigations are needed
The international community should show more commitment to calls by the United Nations to strengthen the international peacekeeping force in Lebanon, said experts in Beirut. “For the ceasefire to hold, the international community needs to show more preparedness and commitment to joining the international peacekeeping force as soon as possible,” said Rami Khouri, editor-at-large of The Daily Star newspaper, on Monday. There has already been a breach of the 14 August ceasefire as Israel carried out an attack on the eastern Beqaa Valley on 19 August. Read more about Peacekeeping force needs more commitment
Following assurances from Israeli authorities of safe passage for its flights, the UN’s Environmental Programme (UNEP) is swiftly moving to begin aerial surveys of the massive oil spill that affected some 150 kilometres of Lebanese and Syrian coastline. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 tons of oil spewed into the sea after Israeli missiles struck a power utility south of Beirut between 13 and 15 July but because of the recent conflict between Israel and Hizbollah, comprehensive aerial surveillance has not been possible until now. Computer models estimate that some of the oil has evaporated and significant amounts are on shore, but experts are uncertain how much remains at sea. Read more about UN environment agency set to begin aerial surveillance of Lebanese oil spill
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been in touch with top Israeli and Lebanese officials today following an Israeli raid in eastern Lebanon which he warned endangers the fragile calm that has generally held in the region since Monday. “The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities as laid out in Security Council resolution 1701,” a UN spokesman said in a statement. Adopted on 11 August, that text mandated a halt to the fighting which took effect three days later. Read more about Annan: Israel's ceasefire violation endangers fragile calm
The IDF has engaged elements of Hezbollah in the Beka’a Valley close to the village of Bodai in an overnight raid. The mission reportedly killed three Hezbollah militants; one Israeli soldier was killed in the attack. The IDF insists that the raid was aimed at disrupting an arms transfer, and was clearly a “defensive” operation. The UN Special Envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, termed the incident an “unwelcome development” a day after the Secretary-General warned of a ‘fragile’ situation on the ground. In addition, UXO contamination continues to be reported across the South. Cluster bombs have been observed in large numbers in population areas and where intense fighting took place. Read more about Israeli raid condemned as plans made to clear landmines
The first consignment of UN aid arrived yesterday in the shattered town of Bint Jbeil, close to the Lebanese border with Israel and scene of some of the fiercest fighting during the recent conflict. UNICEF Communication Officer Simon Ingram travelled with the convoy and filed this report: It’s 8 a.m. and our convoy of 16 battered trucks is lined up on the Tyre seafront. I am in the rear escort vehicle, an armoured Land Cruiser, in line with the tight security rules that apply to a zone of recent conflict. We set off on the road heading east, joining a line of Lebanese army troop carriers and armoured personnel carriers deploying to the same area. Read more about On an aid convoy to war-torn Bint Jbeil
The UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC) is sending reconnaissance teams through damaged areas in southern Lebanon to locate cluster bomb strikes. Fifty-one individual strike locations have been confirmed with the teams having covered approximately 40% of damaged areas thus far. The total number of strikes is expected to rise to over 200. In addition, at least 20 air-dropped bombs, ranging in size from 500lbs to 2,000lbs, have been located. The UNMACC has estimated that it could take 12 months to clear UXOs from southern Lebanon. Read more about Mine-clearing begins in Southern Lebanon
