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Israel 'breaking humanitarian law'
A senior United Nations official has accused Israel of breaking humanitarian law as he toured ruins in Beirut left by devastating Israeli air raids on residential areas.
Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief coordinator, spoke during a visit to the Haret Hreik district of Beirut where Israeli air raids had struck just hours before, destroying a headquarters of Hezbollah.
"It is horrific. I did not know it was block after block of houses … It makes it a violation of humanitarian law," Egeland told journalists.
He said it was hard to distinguish between military and civilian targets in the predominantly Shia Muslim neighbourhood.
Egeland said that the violence and destruction had to end. "It is costing too many lives and it will not lead to a solution in the south," he said.
The UN official was in the region ahead of international appeal for aid for Lebanon. “It will be a large appeal. It's got to be more than $100 million,” he said.
His comments came after two Israeli were killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack on Haifa as Israel's airforce continued to pound Lebanon for an 11th successive day.
Aid corridors
Egeland plans to travel to Israel for further discussions on opening aid corridors.
Israel has said it will allow aid in through Beirut's port, but it will be difficult for it to reach the people who need it as roads, bridges and trucks have been targeted by the Israeli air force.
At least 600,000 people have now been displaced by the fighting, according to the World Health Organisation.
Envoys from three European countries have joined the diplomatic effort to end the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
Ministers from France, Germany and Britain are holding separate talks with Israeli officials ahead of the arrival in the region of US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice on Sunday.
"My question to Jerusalem and Beirut is the same," said Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French foreign minister. "How do we reach a ceasefire as quickly as possible?"
Rocket fire
Douste-Blazy was visiting the Israeli city of Haifa when it came under Hezbollah rocket fire that killed two people.
Israeli attacks have killed some 370 Lebanese, most of them civilians, while 37 Israelis have died during the conflict, 17 of them civilians killed by Hezbollah rockets in the north of the country.
Douste-Blazy, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and British foreign office minister Kim Howells all met Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni and other senior officials.
A German foreign ministry spokesman said Steinmeier discussed measures to "calm the situation" and lead to a ceasefire.
Howells, who during a stop in Beirut delivered Britain's strongest criticism yet of the Israeli attacks, said; "We want to find a way to resolve this crisis as soon as possible."
Syria is ready to talk with the US to resolve the crisis and wants for an immediate ceasefire between the two parties, deputy foreign minister Fayssal Mekdad said on Sunday.
"Syria is ready for dialogue with the United States based on respect and mutual interest," Mekdad said.
Earlier, Syria - which provides support for Hezbollah - said it would enter the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict if Israeli ground troops approach the country.
Ceasefire rejected
"If Israel invades Lebanon over ground and comes near to us, Syria will not sit tight. She will join the conflict," Syrian information minister Mohsen Bilal told the ABC newspaper.
The US has rejected the idea of an immediate ceasefire saying it would produce a "false promise" that would allow Hezbollah to survive and attack Israel in the future.
Reports that the Gulf nation of Qatar is mediating between Israel and Hezbollah to end the current crisis have been denied by the country's foreign minister.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2C33DC97-A811-48BA-B7D4-7831093F5E3D.htm
"It is horrific. I did not know it was block after block of houses … It makes it a violation of humanitarian law," Egeland told journalists.
He said it was hard to distinguish between military and civilian targets in the predominantly Shia Muslim neighbourhood.
Egeland said that the violence and destruction had to end. "It is costing too many lives and it will not lead to a solution in the south," he said.
The UN official was in the region ahead of international appeal for aid for Lebanon. “It will be a large appeal. It's got to be more than $100 million,” he said.
His comments came after two Israeli were killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack on Haifa as Israel's airforce continued to pound Lebanon for an 11th successive day.
Aid corridors
Egeland plans to travel to Israel for further discussions on opening aid corridors.
Israel has said it will allow aid in through Beirut's port, but it will be difficult for it to reach the people who need it as roads, bridges and trucks have been targeted by the Israeli air force.
At least 600,000 people have now been displaced by the fighting, according to the World Health Organisation.
Envoys from three European countries have joined the diplomatic effort to end the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
Ministers from France, Germany and Britain are holding separate talks with Israeli officials ahead of the arrival in the region of US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice on Sunday.
"My question to Jerusalem and Beirut is the same," said Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French foreign minister. "How do we reach a ceasefire as quickly as possible?"
Rocket fire
Douste-Blazy was visiting the Israeli city of Haifa when it came under Hezbollah rocket fire that killed two people.
Israeli attacks have killed some 370 Lebanese, most of them civilians, while 37 Israelis have died during the conflict, 17 of them civilians killed by Hezbollah rockets in the north of the country.
Douste-Blazy, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and British foreign office minister Kim Howells all met Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni and other senior officials.
A German foreign ministry spokesman said Steinmeier discussed measures to "calm the situation" and lead to a ceasefire.
Howells, who during a stop in Beirut delivered Britain's strongest criticism yet of the Israeli attacks, said; "We want to find a way to resolve this crisis as soon as possible."
Syria is ready to talk with the US to resolve the crisis and wants for an immediate ceasefire between the two parties, deputy foreign minister Fayssal Mekdad said on Sunday.
"Syria is ready for dialogue with the United States based on respect and mutual interest," Mekdad said.
Earlier, Syria - which provides support for Hezbollah - said it would enter the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict if Israeli ground troops approach the country.
Ceasefire rejected
"If Israel invades Lebanon over ground and comes near to us, Syria will not sit tight. She will join the conflict," Syrian information minister Mohsen Bilal told the ABC newspaper.
The US has rejected the idea of an immediate ceasefire saying it would produce a "false promise" that would allow Hezbollah to survive and attack Israel in the future.
Reports that the Gulf nation of Qatar is mediating between Israel and Hezbollah to end the current crisis have been denied by the country's foreign minister.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2C33DC97-A811-48BA-B7D4-7831093F5E3D.htm
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Mr Egeland has been touring the bombed-out area of Beirut that has been targeted by Israel as a stronghold of militant group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and supported by Iran and Syria.
He says it is horrific, with block after block of houses destroyed.
"It's bigger, it's more extensive than I even could imagine," he said.
Mr Egeland says the violence is costing too many civilian lives and he has called on both sides to stop.
"It seems to be an excessive use of force in an area with so many civilians," he said.
"It makes it a violation of humanitarian law.
"What we do not know, for humanitarians, what was between these buildings, what military targets? But it seems excessive."
UN aid
He says between 500,000 and one million people need assistance and at least $133 million is needed to avert a humanitarian disaster in Lebanon over the coming months.
"There are wounded who do not get sufficient treatment, there are people who do not have safe drinking water, there are, first and foremost, tens of thousands of people who are now being besieged or in areas of crossfire," he said.
Mr Egeland says Israel must allow the establishment of aid corridors in Lebanon because the destruction of roads and bridges and the danger of attack mean the UN cannot even deliver its current stocks.
"We're asking for three humanitarian corridors over sea," he said.
"The Prime Minister of Israel has said that the one going from Cyprus to Beirut is already ready and clear.
"We need two more of them and we want to have also the possibility to land with relief airplanes at the Hariri Airport in Beirut."
But the Israeli Government says the military is trying to be as precise as possible in its operations in Lebanon.
"The Lebanese people are not our enemy," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
"We cannot sit idly by while Hezbollah terrorists launch rockets at our towns and cities."
More
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1694373.htm