Israel Broke International law In 2006

U.N. Envoy On Children: Israel Broke International Law In '06

Posted:4/12/2007 3:34 PM
USAToday

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.N. envoy for children in conflict said Thursday she had been horrified by the destruction of a Lebanese village besieged by Israeli troops last year, and that many of Israel's actions during the war against Hezbollah had violated international law.

The U.N.'s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflicts, Radhika Coomaraswamy, told reporters she would discuss Israel's conduct in the July-August war when she meets its government on the next stop of her Middle East tour.

"I think the message is very clear — the need to respect civilians" and to distinguish between civilians and combatants, Coomaraswamy said in Beirut after a three-day visit to Lebanon.

She referred to Israel's dropping of millions of cluster bombs during the 34-day war and its "disproportionate use of force," which destroyed much of Lebanon's infrastructure.

She said she was "horrified" by the destruction she saw in the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil "and the considerable impact that it had on children."

..."Many of the actions taken in the Lebanese war appear to have violated international humanitarian law," Coomaraswamy said when asked if she would be raising with Israeli officials what their armed forces had done in Lebanon.

She said she would add her voice to those pressing Israel to provide data on the location of the cluster bombs dropped on southern Lebanon in the last days of the war.

"Apparently they do have the data in the computer," she said.

...Israel's bombing of Lebanese infrastructure — including water and fuel supplies, bridges, schools, hospitals, the airport and electricity network — is costing the country US$2.8 billion in repairs.

More than 1,200 Lebanese were killed in the war.

The Israeli death toll was 120 military personnel and 39 civilians.

...The United Nations and human rights groups say that Israel dropped about 4 million cluster bomblets on Lebanon during the war.

It is thought that up to 1 million bombs failed to explode.

Since the war ended on Aug. 14, such ordnance has killed 29 people and injured another 215 — 90 of them children.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.