Watch: http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2006/july/video/dnB20060720a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=1:17
72 Die In Lebanon In Deadliest Day of Israeli Attack
At least 72 civilians died in Lebanon on Wednesday making it the deadliest day of the Israeli assault. In the village of Srifa, Israeli warplanes flattened an entire neighborhood. 15 homes were destroyed. At least 17 civilians died including several children. The local mayor described the attack as a massacre.
U.S. Rejects Lebanese PM.s Appeal For Immediate Ceasefire
Lebanon.s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora issued an urgent appeal to the international community. He said the country had been torn to shreads.
Lebanon.s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora: .I call upon you all to respond immediately without reservation or hesitation to this appeal for an immediate ceasefire, and for the lifting of the siege, and provide urgent humanitarian assistance to our war stricken country.
But John Bolton, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, rejected the call for a ceasefire.
John Bolton: “The notion that you just declare a ceasefire and act as if that is going to solve the problem, I think is simplistic..
Iraqi PM Breaks With U.S. And Criticizes Israeli Agression
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has broken with the Bush administration and denounced what he called the Israeli aggression.
Report: Israel Weighing Ground Invasion
The British newspaper Guardian has reported The Bush administration has given Israel a window of a week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah before it will consider a ceasefire. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Israel is weighing a ground invasion of South Lebanon. Some Israeli military experts are now saying the air war has been insufficient and that a ground war will be needed to dislodge Hezbollah. Israel.s Defense Minister Amir Peretz said the attack on Lebanon would continue “without letup and time limit.”
Israel Drops 23 Tons Of Bombs On Suspected Hezbollah Bunker
Last night Israeli warplanes attacked what the military described as a bunker in Beirut used by senior members of Hezbollah. 23 tons of explosives were dropped on the site. In a statement that aired on Al Manar, Hezbollah said none of its leaders were killed and that the site was actually a mosque under construction.
Death Toll in Lebanon Reaches 330; 500,000 Displaced
The death toll in Lebanon now stands at around 330. The Israeli bombardment has displaced over 500,000 people. One in every eight Lebanese residents has been forced to flee their homes . and the refugee situation is expected to worsen. The Israeli military is broadcasting radio messages in South Lebanon ordering all civilians to leave the region. The Israeli military has also warned it will bomb any truck driven in the area.
UN: Israel and Hezbollah May Be Committing War Crimes
While the U.S. has fully backed what Israel is calling Operation Just Reward, criticism of the war is growing in the international community. A top UN official is warning that Israel may be committing war crimes in Lebanon by attacking civilians. Louise Arbour of the UN High Commission on Human Rights said .International humanitarian law is clear on the supreme obligations to protect civilians during hostilities.. Her comments were also directed at Hezbollah.
Hezbollah Rockets Kill Two In Nazareth
On Wednesday the militant Lebanese group fired over 100 missiles into northern Israel hitting Haifa and, for the first time, Nazareth. The rocket attacks killed two boys in Nazareth . they were both Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. 37 others were wounded.
UN: Children Account for One-Third of Casualties
Over the past nine days, 10 times as many Lebanese have died as Israelis. The United Nations’ emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, said that neither Israeli nor Hezbollah seemed to care about civilian suffering. He estimated that nearly a third of the dead or wounded were children. He warned that many of the wounded could not be helped because roads and bridges had been cut by Israeli air strikes. The International Committee of the Red Cross also criticized Israel for killing so many civilians and for destroying much of Lebanon.s public infrastructure.
Questions Raised Over U.S. Evacuation Efforts
Thousands of foreigners continue to evacuate Lebanon. The United States is being widely criticized for being too slow to help Americans leave. A report on the American Prospect website indicates that the Bush administration might have purposely delayed evacuating Americans for diplomatic reasons. The report claims that the State Department has been reluctant to create an impression that the Israeli assault on Lebanon is as bad as it is or that civilian U.S. citizens are being threatened by Israel. Earlier today U.S. Marines landed in Lebanon for the first time in 22 years to help in the evacuation. On Wednesday, U.S. Brigadier General Carl Jensen discussed the evacuation plans.
Brig. Gen. Carl Jensen: “There is still much to do but, as far as I’m concerned, this operation cannot move fast enough. I’ve been asked before ‘how fast should this be going?’ or ‘is it going fast enough?’ and the real answer is it can never go fast enough until the job is absolutely complete.”
More Arrests Made in Mossad Spy Operation Inside Lebanon
Meanwhile 20 people have reportedly been arrested by Lebanese security forces for spying for Israel and for aiding Israel.s air assault. Last month the Lebanese Army uncovered an Israeli spy cell inside Lebanon that admitted to assassinating members of Hezbollah and other militants on behalf of Mossad. All of the killings occurred inside Lebanon.
Israel Steps Up Attacks in Gaza
The Israeli military has also stepped up its attacks in Gaza. On Wednesday 30 israeli military vehicles moved into the Maghazi refugee camp. At least 13 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and the West Bank.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/20/1434244
