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UN deaths put pressure on Rome talks for ceasefire BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel's killing of four U.N. observers piled pressure on an international conference in Rome on Wednesday to end a 15-day-old Middle East conflict, as Hizbollah vowed not to accept any "humiliating" truce terms. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan demanded Israel investigate the "apparently deliberate targeting" of a U.N. post in southern Lebanon where an Israeli air strike killed the four U.N. military observers on Tuesday. Israel, waging a military offensive in Lebanon against Hizbollah guerrillas, announced it would hold a probe and expressed regret at the deaths but said it was shocked Annan had suggested the observers may have been deliberately targeted. A Chinese national was among the four observers killed, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. It said the other three were from Finland, Austria and Canada. U.N. officials said the air strike had caused the building housing the observers to collapse and that rescue teams had been sent to retrieve the bodies from the rubble. "(This) attack on a long established and clearly marked U.N. post at Khiam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by (Israeli) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. positions would be spared Israeli fire," Annan said in a statement.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel's killing of four U.N. observers piled pressure on an international conference in Rome on Wednesday to end a 15-day-old Middle East conflict, as Hizbollah vowed not to accept any "humiliating" truce terms.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan demanded Israel investigate the "apparently deliberate targeting" of a U.N. post in southern Lebanon where an Israeli air strike killed the four U.N. military observers on Tuesday.
Israel, waging a military offensive in Lebanon against Hizbollah guerrillas, announced it would hold a probe and expressed regret at the deaths but said it was shocked Annan had suggested the observers may have been deliberately targeted.
A Chinese national was among the four observers killed, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. It said the other three were from Finland, Austria and Canada.
U.N. officials said the air strike had caused the building housing the observers to collapse and that rescue teams had been sent to retrieve the bodies from the rubble.
"(This) attack on a long established and clearly marked U.N. post at Khiam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by (Israeli) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. positions would be spared Israeli fire," Annan said in a statement.
Israel is lobbying to have the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission in southern Lebanon reduced in size, saying that the organization collaborates with Hezbollah. "The UN is in fact collaborating with a terrorist organization," says a political source in Jerusalem. "This is an intolerable situation, when the UN speaks at the same time of fighting terror." In diplomatic meetings with the U.S. and France in the past weeks, a series of complaints about UNIFIL were brought up: The UN force maintains a permanent dialogue with Hezbollah, chiefly because of UNIFIL's own interest in survival; in many places along the Israel-Lebanon border, Hezbollah has posts and positions adjacent to UNIFIL positions; deployment of the force serves as an excuse for the Lebanese government not to deploy in the south, as required by UN Security Council resolutions; and UNIFIL treats the IDF as equivalent to the Hezbollah terrorist organization when reporting violations of the cease-fire.
"The UN is in fact collaborating with a terrorist organization," says a political source in Jerusalem. "This is an intolerable situation, when the UN speaks at the same time of fighting terror."
In diplomatic meetings with the U.S. and France in the past weeks, a series of complaints about UNIFIL were brought up: The UN force maintains a permanent dialogue with Hezbollah, chiefly because of UNIFIL's own interest in survival; in many places along the Israel-Lebanon border, Hezbollah has posts and positions adjacent to UNIFIL positions; deployment of the force serves as an excuse for the Lebanese government not to deploy in the south, as required by UN Security Council resolutions; and UNIFIL treats the IDF as equivalent to the Hezbollah terrorist organization when reporting violations of the cease-fire.
Ali Al-Akhrass, a pharmacist who had brought his family back to Lebanon to spend the summer with relatives, died, along with his wife, Amira, and their four children as a result of the July 16 attack. Residents of Aytaroun say a total of 11 people were killed because of the air strike, all of them members of the same extended family. Just why the Al-Akhrass home was specifically targeted by the Israeli air force is about to become the subject of international scrutiny. The New York-based Human Rights Watch plans to highlight the incident in a forthcoming report about Israel's alleged targeting of innocent civilians during the 13-day-old conflict. "This case is of particular interest to us because this family came from Canada to Lebanon after 15 years away, just a few weeks before the bombing started," said Peter Bouckaert, director of emergencies for the rights group. "It's very clear that they had no Hezbollah links. It just shows how indiscriminate the attacks on villages are."
Just why the Al-Akhrass home was specifically targeted by the Israeli air force is about to become the subject of international scrutiny. The New York-based Human Rights Watch plans to highlight the incident in a forthcoming report about Israel's alleged targeting of innocent civilians during the 13-day-old conflict. "This case is of particular interest to us because this family came from Canada to Lebanon after 15 years away, just a few weeks before the bombing started," said Peter Bouckaert, director of emergencies for the rights group. "It's very clear that they had no Hezbollah links. It just shows how indiscriminate the attacks on villages are."
The decision to launch a broad military operation in Lebanon, in response to the abduction of soldiers near Zar'it on the morning of July 12, was made with lightning speed. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided almost immediately on a strong military response, and in the evening he presented for cabinet approval a plan for an air assault on Hezbollah's rocket launchers and symbols of the Lebanese government, topped by Beirut International Airport. Ministers were told that Haifa might be hit by retaliatory fire, and that the operation would not be brief. The government approved it unanimously.
I scrolled through Reuters' news reports, and put the day's first and last reported figures in a spreadsheet. I made two graphs:
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