Lebanon: America's morality at stake


Posted August 20, 2006


As Israel's savage assault on Lebanon continues, will the American people demand an end to the shedding of innocent Arab blood? Or is there no such thing in the mind of America?

Israel's moral calculus has always been chillingly explicit: Jewish life is sacred and invaluable; Arab life has little meaning. The result is Lebanon today: residential areas devastated; the elderly and the infirm dying from lack of food or medicine; children forced to drink brackish farm water; the dead buried in mass graves; a million human beings turned into refugees; hospitals, ambulances and relief supply trucks all under attack; families obliterated in the split-second it takes an Israeli missile to explode; the landscape littered with corpses, some eaten by wild dogs; civilians maimed by Israel's illegal use of cluster bomblets and phosphorous incendiary bombs; others trapped for days or weeks by Israeli bombardment.[1][2][3]

In its arrogance, and knowing it would be supported at every turn by an American administration whose own moral compass seems to have been forged in hell itself, Israel has been perfectly frank about its intentions. At the beginning of the war, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said he would "turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years."
[4]

Halutz, a former commander of the air force, was once asked what he felt when he dropped a bomb on a civilian target. His reply? A “slight bump” when the bomb was released.
[5]

This is all necessary, explained Nahum Barnea, a columnist with Yedioth Aharonoth, Israel's largest daily newspaper, because "you can't get the attention of the world unless you start to bomb civilians."
[6]

And bomb civilians Israel has. Some 1300 Lebanese noncombatants have died, one-third of them children. Israel’s civilian death toll is 42.
[7]

Israel's criminal war on Lebanon has, from the beginning, been dedicated to the destruction of civilian infrastructure: roads, bridges, power plants, fuel storage facilities, airports, even milk processing plants and grain silos.
[8][9]

The respected New York-based Human Rights Watch has investigators on the ground in Lebanon. The group recently issued a detailed report demonstrating Israel’s “systematic failure” to distinguish between combatants and civilians, indicating “the commission of war crimes.”
[10]

Israel's defenders rely on untruths. Hezbollah fighters do not hide behind civilians. The Human Rights Watch report found “no cases” in which Hezbollah deliberately used civilians as shields. And Mitch Prothero, reporting from south Lebanon for the online magazine Salon, determined that the claim of Hezbollah’s use of human shields was “almost always false.”
[11]

Nor was Israel’s invasion "provoked" by Hezbollah's commando raid on an Israeli military patrol. Detailed research by the San Francisco Chronicle showed that Israel finalized the plans for its assault more than a year ago. Since then, Israel has been giving PowerPoint presentations detailing the operation.
[12]

Legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh has corroborated these findings—with the explosive addition that Israel’s invasion may have been a dry run for an American attack on Iran. Hezbollah's raid, he says, simply served as Israel's pretext.
[13][14]

When Israeli ground forces initially attempted to engage actual Hezbollah fighters at Bint Jbeil in south Lebanon, Israel lost nine men in hand-to-hand fighting. Israel immediately returned to what it does best: It destroyed three trucks carrying medical and food supplies.
[15]

The next day, Professor Asa Kasher, who wrote the Israel Defense Forces' code of ethics--it must be a slim volume indeed--announced that "the whole idea of drawing a distinction" between civilian and military targets was "simply inapplicable" when facing a guerrilla army. Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon simultaneously announced that, because "all those now in south Lebanon are terrorists," entire villages would be destroyed.
[16]

Israel’s policy led directly to the Qana massacre. Perhaps Qana was chosen because, almost exactly 10 years ago, Israel attacked a U.N. post there, killing 106 civilians. Both the U.N. and Amnesty International concluded that the attack was deliberate, and Israel was forced to end its 1996 assault on Lebanon. This new massacre, crowed the Jerusalem Post newspaper, represented "the exorcism of the ghosts of Qana." This time, Israel would not wimp out.
[17]

America's envoy to the Middle East, Condoleezza Rice--the very personification of malevolence after describing the destruction of Lebanon as "the birth pangs of a new Middle East"—has refused to condemn the slaughter, at Qana or elsewhere.
[18]

Israel will not stop killing until the American government tells it to. With Republicans and Democrats competing to endorse Israel’s brutality, Congressional pressure is unlikely.
[19]

The matter is thus left squarely to the American people. Are our hearts as black as those of our leaders?
[20]



Robin Miller (robin@robincmiller.com) has been a writer, attorney, advocate for social justice and student of the Middle East for 25 years.



Notes


(1) Over the first 10 days of August, I submitted this commentary (or earlier versions reflecting the facts as they were then known) to, in order, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Boston Globe; all declined to publish it. Much of the substance is in the footnotes (which weren’t submitted to the newspapers) so that I could keep the text at a publishable length of about 760 words.

(2) If cited articles are no longer available at the URL given, or have been moved to a pay-per-view archive, try searching
Yahoo! News or Google for the article title. If that doesn’t work, e-mail me, as I have copies of most articles.

(3) The footnotes contain citations to material published through August 19. I will try to add newer citations in the coming days, particularly if people find this useful. Although I’ve included a few commentaries and analyses, my primary objective has been to document the facts, so the vast majority of citations are to news stories.



Footnotes


1. As to Israel’s moral compass, much writing by Israeli Jews demonstrates little or no recognition of the humanity of the Lebanese people. See, for example, the following:

John Ward Anderson, Israeli 'Doves' Say Response Is Legitimate, Washington Post, July 26, 2006 (Jerusalem printer Israel Mizrahi: "These people have to be taught a lesson," he said. "Why should I care about Lebanese civilians? Have you heard them talking on TV? They hate Israel. They want to destroy Israel. They hate Jews. Why should I have mercy on them when we are being attacked from their country?")

Luke Baker, Deadly conflict brings out harder Israeli edge, Reuters, July 27, 2006 (David Shavit, a real estate broker in Haifa, says that “The air force needs to bomb more. We can't leave troops on the ground in hand-to-hand combat”)

Ilene Prusher, Israelis resolve to use more force, Christian Science Monitor, July 28, 2006 (“While many nations are increasingly critical of Israel's offensive in Lebanon, the mainstream Israeli reading of the situation seems the opposite: Much more military force - not less - is the key to beating back Hizbullah”; “’Greater Determination, Less Sensitivity,’ read the front-page headline in Maariv, a mainstream Israeli daily”)

Yoel Marcus, With a thunderous roar, Ha’aretz, July 29, 2006 (“Before any international agreement, Israel must sound the last chord, launching a massive air and ground offensive that will end this mortifying war, not with a whimper but with a thunderous roar”)

Efrat Weiss, Yesha Rabbinical Council: During time of war, enemy has no innocents, Ynetnews, July 30, 2006

Naomi Ragen, Cry to those using babies, Ha’aretz, July 31, 2006 (the writer, an American-born novelist and playwright who lives in Jerusalem, says (after Qana) “don't cry to me about civilian casualties”)

Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Israelis line up behind Lebanon campaign, Reuters, August 3, 2006 (“’You're facing people who glorify death, efforts to get them (civilians) to leave don't work and our soldiers get killed when you try to avoid (aerial) bombings, so at this point you say, let them be martyrs,’ said Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher.”)

Stephen Farrell, 'Hezbollah aren't suckers, they know how to fight. You're scared all the time,' The Times (London), August 5, 2006 (according to one Israeli soldier, “It’s just not right, the way we are doing it. Our air force can just bomb villages and not risk our lives fighting over there.”)

Tracy Wilkinson, Israeli Soldiers Expected Lesser Foe, Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2006 online at (an Israeli soldier suggested that “We can do a lot more damage than we have done. I don't know why we don't.”)

Israeli FM calls on Lebanon PM 'to dry his tears,' Agence France Presse, August 8, 2006 (comments by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni after Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora publicly cried over the daily massacres in Lebanon)



The Israeli Jewish public overwhelmingly supported the war. See, in addition to the sources just cited, the following:

Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Israelis line up behind Lebanon campaign, Reuters, August 3, 2006

Steven Erlagner, Left or Right, Israelis Are Pro-War, New York Times, August 9, 2006



Although American newspapers portray Israeli Jews as speaking for all Israelis, Israeli Arabs in fact felt very differently about the war:

Ron Bousso, Lebanon crisis deepens Israeli Arabs' rift with the state, Agence France Presse, August 2, 2006 (“Leading Israeli pollster Mina Tsemach told AFP that according to a poll conducted last week among 500 Israelis, who included 75 Arabs, more than 90 percent of the Arab respondents thought the war was unjustified, compared with 92 percent of Jews who backed it”)

Yoav Stern, Arab citizens directing anger at Israel as frustration mounts with each new death, Haaretz, August 6, 2006

Sayed Kashua, No Comment, Haaretz, August 12, 2006 (“When it comes to the Israeli media, the best thing an Arab can do in wartime is shut up”)

The Palestinian citizens of Israel and the Lebanon war (four commentaries), bitterlemons.org, August 14, 2006



Fortunately, a number of Israeli Jews can be counted on to speak out against this attitude:

Gideon Levy, Days of Darkness, Ha’aretz, July 30, 2006 (this courageous Israeli writer proclaims that Israel has “been taken over by tones of jingoism, ruthlessness and vengeance, and the voices of extremism that previously characterized the camp's margins are now expressing its heart”)

Tom Segev, Between two friends, Haaretz, August 3, 2006 (famed Israeli historian writes that, “As such, Israel has adopted the moral values of Hezbollah: Whatever they are doing to the residents of northern Israel, we can also do to the citizens of Lebanon, and even more. Many Israelis tended to look at the Qana incident primarily as a media disaster and not as something that imposed on them any ethical responsibility. After all, the restrictions of humanitarian warfare are not applicable to the ‘axis of evil.’”)

And of course Uri Avnery

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2. As to the effects of the war on Lebanon, see the following:


Residential areas devastated:

Nasser Nasser, Israeli strikes flatten Lebanese villages, Associated Press, July 19, 2006 (the Najdeh neighborhood in the village of Srifa)

Clancy Chassay, Srifa was a bustling hillside village. Then yesterday the Israeli jets came, The Guardian, July 20, 2006 (Srifa)

Rym Ghazal, Dahiyeh sports terrible scars from merciless bombardment, Daily Star, July 21, 2006 (Dahiyeh district of Beirut)

Before and after satellite images of Dahieh, Lebanon, CNN, July 22, 2006

The same or similar photographs at the Guardian’s website

Note that the caption to the CNN photos just cited says that this area of Beirut “dramatically deteriorated during warfare between Israel and Hezbollah.” This is, of course, false, as there was no warfare “between” Israel and Hexbollah in Dahiyeh; the damage resulted from Israel’s aerial bombing, against which Lebanon had no defense.

Jad Mouawad, Refugees Cut Off From News of Village in Middle of Fight, New York Times, July 25, 2006 (Aitaroun)

Suzanne Goldenberg, 'Save us,' she screamed as another shell landed, The Guardian, July 26, 2006 (Aaitaroun)

Jad Mouawad, In Devastated Lebanese Town, Signs of Hezbollah in the Streets and in the Shadows, New York Times, July 30, 2006 (Baalbek)

Kevin Sites, Out of the rubble, Yahoo! News, July 31, 2006 (Bint Jbail)

Kathy Gannon, Trapped Lebanese flee city of Bint Jbail, Associated Press, July 31, 2006 (Bint Jbail)

Sabrina Tavernise, In Lebanon, a Crushed Town and a Chance to Flee, New York Times, July 31, 2006 (Bint Jbail)

Hamza Hendawi, Lebanese village becoming ghost town, Associated Press, August 1, 2006 (Khiam)

Anthony Shadid, Survivors Rise From Rubble Of Battered Lebanese Village, Washington Post, August 1, 2006 (Bint Jbail)

Fergal Keane, Emerging from Bint Jbeil's rubble, BBC, August 1, 2006 (Bint Jbail)

Jonathan Steele, After the siege, the panic to flee devastation, The Guardian, August 1, 2006 (Aitaroun and Bint Jbail)

Clancy Chassay, 'We are winning this war ... Israel couldn't do what it said,' The Guardian, August 2, 2006 (Srifa)

Beatrice Khadige, The south Lebanon town where 'we are all terrorists,' Agence France Presse, August 2, 2006 (Nabatiyeh)

Nicholas Blanford, Hizbullah guerrillas await fight amid ruin, Christian Science Monitor, August 3, 2006 (Srifa)

Anthony Shadid, Among Militia's Patient Loyalists, Confidence and Belief in Victory, Washington Post, August 3, 2006 (Jwayya)

Jim Quilty, Baalbek: not exactly the image of 'terror central,' Daily Star (Beirut), August 4, 2006 (Baalbek)

Syed Saleem Shahzad, Dodging drones on the road from hell, Asia Times, August 8, 2006 (Jarjauh and Nabatiyeh)

Kathy Gannon, Lebanese find destruction back home, Associated Press, August 14, 2006 (Kafra, Bint Jbail, Yaroun and Aita al-Shaab)

Declan Walsh, Returning to their devastated homes, the people of Lebanon claim victory, The Guardian, August 15, 2006 (Aitta Shaab)

Edward Cody and Molly Moore, Lebanese Surge Back to South: Residents Find Towns Devastated, Washington Post, August 15, 2006 (Srifa and Aita Ech Chaab)

Zeina Karam, Shiites return to destruction in Beirut, Associated Press, August 15, 2006 (Beirut)

Raed El Rafei, Stunned families return to shattered homes in devastated suburbs, Daily Star (Beirut), August 15, 2006 (Beirut)

Tom Perry, Lebanese villagers return to corpses, devastation, Reuters, August 15, 2006 (Srifa)

Robert F. Worth, Returning Home to Ruins: Shock Is Mixed With Outrage, New York Times, August 15, 2006 (Beirut)

Robert Fisk, Desert of trapped corpses testifies to Israel's failure, The Independent, August 15, 2006 (Srifa)

Borzou Daragahi, A Tough Homecoming for the Residents of South Beirut, Los Angeles Times, August 15, 2006 (Beirut)

Tom Perry, Lebanese hospital struggles to cope with the dead, Reuters, August 16, 2006 (Aita al-Shaab)

Lin Noueihed, Lebanese return to ruins of homes, Reuters, August 16, 2006 (Debbine and Khiam)

Bruce Wallace, Clustered in Fear, and Now Death, Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2006 (Ainata)

Declan Walsh and Conal Urquhart, Lebanese refugees flood back despite Israeli warnings; Some 6,000 an hour return to rebuild ruined homes and farms, The Guardian, August 16, 2006 (Sidiqine)

Lauren Frayer, Lebanese army reaches southern border, Associated Press, August 18, 2006 (Kfar Kila)

Lauren Frayer, Hezbollah guerrillas reflect on damage, Associated Press, August 18, 2006 (Adaisse)

Return to footnote 9.



People dying from lack of food or medicine:

Kathy Gannon, Trapped Lebanese flee city of Bint Jbail, Associated Press, July 31, 2006 (“The elderly man stumbled over the rubble, his crumpled suit hanging off his shrunken frame, his loose pants held together by a pin after eating only a piece of candy a day”; “The siege lifted, they emerged from their shelters, dehydrated, starving some in their 70s or 80s and some started to walk out of devastated Bint Jbail. Two died on the road, one of malnutrition, the other of heart failure. Others waited for ambulances.”)


Kevin Sites, Out of the rubble, Yahoo! News, July 31, 2006, reports the following:

“Down another street, an elderly man named Ibrahim Bazzi is carried on a door that has been turned into a makeshift stretcher. His wife Amina has already been placed in the ambulance, her lifeless body covered with a Lebanese flag.

When the stretcher reaches the ambulance, he crawls into the seat next to the body of his dead wife. He says that they both were on heart medication for hypertension and that during the siege they ran out. She died two nights ago.

’She was starting to get cold,’ he says, ‘and I rubbed her hands a little until they were warm again. But then later in the night she died.’

He remained in the house with her until the rescue services found them today.”



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As to the lack of food, water, and medicine, generally, see:

Megan Stack, Dazed Refugees Flood Beirut, Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2006 (“Isolated by its crippled airport, blockaded seaports and bombed roads, Lebanon has seen its food and medical supplies dwindle to dangerously low levels.”)

Hussein Saad, Lebanese short of food, water under Israeli bombs, Reuters, July 19, 2006 (“Ghassan Bourji says he has run out of insulin for his two diabetic children and heart medication for his mother because Israeli bombardment has cut supplies to his village of Rmadiyeh in south Lebanon. [para] ‘I'm scared I might lose them,’ the 55-year-old father of four told Reuters by telephone from Rmadiyeh, south of Tire. ‘The situation here is miserable. We need help.’”)

Megan Stack, As Toll Rises, Lebanese Resort to Mass Graves, Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2006

Hassan Fattah, A Lebanese Hospital Is an Unstable Pause From War, New York Times, July 26, 2006

Hamza Hendawi, People struggling in southern Lebanon, Associated Press, July 27, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, A Frantic Rush Overwhelms a Lebanese Border Town, New York Times, July 29, 2006

Scheherezade Faramarzi, Gas, medicine in short supply in Lebanon, Associated Press, August 3, 2006

Jonathan Steele, Fears grow as Tyre runs short of food, fuel - and hope, The Guardian, August 3, 2006

Megan K. Stack, In Asylum, Another Kind of Casualty, Los Angeles Times, August 5, 2006 (“A hospital in Lebanon's south has been deserted by most of its staff, and patients are cut off from family. Medications and food are running out”)

Hussein Saad, Lebanon port city suffers the ravages of war, Reuters, August 8, 2006

Hassan Fattah, As Lebanon’s Fuel Runs Out, Fears of a Doomsday Moment, New York Times, August 9, 2006

Michael Winfrey, Lebanon hospitals cut off, running out of supplies, Reuters, August 10, 2006

Hussein Saad, Food running out in south Lebanon, Reuters, August 11, 2006

Jihad Siqlawi, As shelves go bare, Tyre residents go hungry, Agence France Presse, August 11, 2006




Drinking brackish water:

Lin Noueihed, Israeli bombs kill 14 in Lebanon, Reuters, July 28, 2006 (“The convoy organized by Lebanese civil defense workers was evacuating stranded civilians from Rmeish village to Tyre. Hundreds of Shi'ites had taken refuge in the Christian village, where some were reduced to drinking irrigation water.”)

Sabrina Tavernise, A Frantic Rush Overwhelms a Lebanese Border Town, New York Times, July 29, 2006 (“Here in Rmeish, a Christian town less than a mile from the Israeli border, refugees living in garages, storefronts, churches and schools begged for food, water and medicine on Friday. A greenish pond in the middle of town served as drinking water. The faces of some children had spots.”)

Tom Perry, Lebanese hospital struggles to cope with the dead, Reuters, August 16, 2006 (“On Tuesday, the WFP [U.N. World Food Program] took more than 100 tons of food, water and fuel to Rmeish, a border village 25 km (16 miles) southeast of Tyre. The supplies should last 6,000 people for a month. [para] The village had been cut off, with no fuel to pump well water, forcing people to drink pond water at one stage.”)





Mass graves:

Hassan M. Fattah, In Scramble to Evade Israeli Bombs, the Living Leave the Dead Behind, New York Times, July 21, 2006

Nasser Nasser and Hamza Hendawi, Lebanon victims buried in mass grave, Associated Press, July 21, 2006

Jihad Siqlawi, Mass grave in Tyre for growing number of Lebanon dead,  Agence France Presse, July 21, 2006

Megan Stack, As Toll Rises, Lebanese Resort to Mass Graves, Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2006

Clancy Chassay, They put the 86 corpses into plain wood caskets. Many were just big enough to fit a small child, The Guardian, July 22, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Road through a Landscape of Death, Washington Post, July 22, 2006

Nasser Nasser, Heavy equipment used to bury the dead, Associated Press, August 2, 2006

Craig Nelson, Little respite in Lebanon even for the dead, The Age (Australia), August 4, 2006 (preparation for the third mass grave in Tyre)

Tom Perry, Lebanese hospital struggles to cope with the dead, Reuters, August 16, 2006 (“As a truce held in south Lebanon on Wednesday, workers [in Tyre] dug a mass grave for more than 100 people killed during Israel's war with Hizbollah but later postponed the burial so relatives had more time to claim bodies”)



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1,000,000 refugees:

Michael Winfrey, UN urges ceasefire to get aid through, Reuters, August 12, 2006 (the UN estimates that almost a million people -- about a quarter of the population -- have fled their homes in Lebanon)


According to UNICEF, 45 percent of the refugees are children. See Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, 'You go a bit crazy when you see little body after little body coming up out of the ground,' The Guardian, August 2, 2006


Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has admitted that Israel intentionally drove out the population of south Lebanon: Shmuel Rosner, Settler reservists: Won't go to Lebanon if aim is to advance pullout, Haaretz, August 2, 2006 (Olmert is quoted as saying "The infrastructure of Hezbollah has been entirely destroyed. More than 700... command positions of Hezbollah were entirely wiped out by the Israeli army. All the population which is the power base of the Hezbollah in Lebanon was displaced")




Israel repeatedly "ordered" Lebanese civilians to leave:

Brian Whitaker, As the bombs rain down, a refugee crisis unfolds on the streets of Beirut, The Guardian, July 17, 2006 (“In Beirut, where Israel has dropped leaflets from the air urging residents to leave the teeming suburbs controlled by Hizbullah, schools are being overwhelmed as families set up temporary homes in classrooms”)

Hassan M. Fattah, To Flee or to Stay? Family Chooses Too Late and Pays Dearly, New York Times, July 24, 2006 (“Israeli forces have sought to clear the area of all residents, in what seemed to be an attempt to separate the civilians from Hezbollah fighters hidden in the hills and villages. Just days earlier leaflets dropped by Israeli planes warned residents to leave the area and head north of the Litani River, effectively making the area a free-fire zone.”)

Completion of Inquiry into July 30th Incident in Qana, Israel Defense Forces, August 3, 2006 (“The building was targeted in accordance with the military's guidelines regarding the use of fire against suspicious structures inside villages whose residents have been warned to evacuate, and which were adjacent to areas from where rockets are fired towards Israel”)

Leila Hatoum, Hizbullah offers to spare civilians if Israeli military does the same, Daily Star (Beirut), August 4, 2006 (“Israel dropped leaflets over the southern suburb of Beirut, warning residents of Bir al-Abed, Hay Madi and Al-Ruweiss to evacuate their homes”)

Sam F. Ghattas, Warfare intensifies in southern Lebanon, Associated Press, August 5, 2006 (“Later Saturday, the Israeli air force dropped leaflets in the southern port of Sidon, between Tyre and Beirut, saying rockets had been fired from nearby and warning civilians to evacuate Lebanon's third-largest city and flee north ahead of bombing.”)

Laila Bassam, Israel warns residents of Sidon, Reuters, August 5, 2006 (same as above)

Anthony Shadid, In South Lebanon, a Fierce Fight for Every Yard, Washington Post, August 5, 2006 (villagers in Dhaira “were especially angry at the [Israeli] soldier who had shown up daily with a loudspeaker. They recalled his message: ‘Get out of this town, or we'll bring the houses down on your head.’ He shouted sometimes at 10 p.m., sometimes 9 p.m. or 3 p.m.”)

Tracy Wilkinson and Megan K. Stack, Fighting Centers on Strategic Lebanese Towns, Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2006 (“In the southern outskirts [of Beirut], panic seized the neighborhoods of Hay al Sellom, Bourj al Barajneh and Shiyah after Israeli planes dropped leaflets ordering residents to evacuate immediately. Residents had largely remained in their homes and had been sheltering evacuees from other parts of Lebanon.”)

Brian Whitaker and Clancy Chassay, Beirut bombarded hours before start of ceasefire, The Guardian, August 14, 2006 (“The bombs demolished 11 nine-storey residential buildings in the Rweis district of southern Beirut, one of the areas which Israeli leaflets have urged people to leave”)

Yoav Stern and Amos Harel, IAF warns south Lebanese not to return until Lebanese army deploys, Haaretz, August 15, 2006 (the IDF is even telling the refugees not to return home after the ceasefire)




For stories on the refugees, generally, see the following:

Brian Whitaker, As the bombs rain down, a refugee crisis unfolds on the streets of Beirut, The Guardian, July 17, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Waiting Anxiously for Word from Family: As Displaced Lebanese Take Shelter, Some Sectarian Divides Are Bridged, Washington Post, July 18, 2006

Megan Stack, Dazed Refugees Flood Beirut, Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2006

Hassan M. Fattah, At Lebanon Port, War's Displaced Wait For Boat That Doesn't Come, New York Times, July 20, 2006

Mohamad Bazzi, Misery rules in tomb of living dead, Newsday, July 21, 2006

Sean Smith's photographs: refugees in Lebanon, The Guardian, July 21, 2006

Daniel McGrory, Families jam Beirut to escape rising violence, The Times (London), July 22, 2006

Palestinian refugees host Lebanese displaced by Israeli raids, Agence France Presse, July 22, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Lebanese Families Find Shelter at Palestinian Camp; Upheaval Takes a Displaced Father, Long Unstable, to the Breaking Point, Washington Post, July 25, 2006

Suzanne Goldenberg, 'Save us,' she screamed as another shell landed, The Guardian, July 25, 2006

Katherine Zoepf, Syria, Traditional Refuge for Displaced Arabs, Is Strained by 120,000 More, New York Times, July 25, 2006

Hassan Fattah, A Lebanese Hospital Is an Unstable Pause From War, New York Times, July 26, 2006

Andrew Lee Butters, Bombs shatter the quiet lives of working-class Lebanese, Boston Globe, July 27, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, Christians Fleeing Lebanon Denounce Hezbollah, New York Times, July 28, 2006

Mohamad Bazzi, As clash continues, Lebanese running out of ways out, Newsday, July 28, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, A Frantic Rush Overwhelms a Lebanese Border Town, New York Times, July 29, 2006

Peter Beaumont, My journey on the highway of fear with families who lost everything, The Observer, July 30, 2006

Lin Noueihed, Lebanese use halt in Israel strikes to flee south, Reuters, July 31, 2006

Tom Perry, Lebanese return to devastation in Beirut suburb, Reuters, July 31, 2006

Muntasser Abdullah, Residents flee south Lebanon as Israel eases air strikes, Agence France Presse, July 31, 2006

Ulrike Putz, Fleeing the Lebanese Death Trap, Spiegel Online, August 1, 2006

Scott Peterson, Refugees overwhelm Lebanon, Christian Science Monitor, August 2, 2006

Karma Nabulsi, The refugees' fury will be felt for generations to come, The Guardian, August 2, 2006

Michael Winfrey, Lebanese displaced hang on as aid trickles in, Reuters, August 3, 2006

Anne Penketh and Kim Sengupta, Traumatised and afraid - 300,000 children who want to go home, The Independent, August 4, 2006

Alaa Shahine, Lebanese families torn apart by war, Reuters, August 5, 2006

Donna Abu-Nasr, Beirut theater opens doors to refugees, Associated Press, August 5, 2006

Nicholas Blanford, Long refugees themselves, Palestinians now play host, Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2006

Albert Aji, Desperate Lebanese flee to Syria on foot, Associated Press, August 8, 2006

Beatrice Khadige, One man's lonely walk to help his family in Lebanon, Agence France Presse, August 11, 2006

Nora Boustany, At Temporary Haven, Tales of Refugee Woe: 'There Was Destruction All Around Us,' Washington Post, August 12, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Fleeing Lebanese Christians See Town Forever Changed, Washington Post, August 13, 2006

Kathy Gannon, Lebanese find destruction back home, Associated Press, August 14, 2006

Declan Walsh, Returning to their devastated homes, the people of Lebanon claim victory, The Guardian, August 15, 2006

Edward Cody and Molly Moore, Lebanese Surge Back to South: Residents Find Towns Devastated, Washington Post, August 15, 2006

Zeina Karam, Shiites return to destruction in Beirut, Associated Press, August 15, 2006

Rym Ghazal and Mohammed Zaatari, Displaced head back to South despite threat of live ordnance, Daily Star (Beirut), August 15, 2006

Raed El Rafei, Stunned families return to shattered homes in devastated suburbs, Daily Star (Beirut), August 15, 2006

Tom Perry, Lebanese villagers return to corpses, devastation, Reuters, August 15, 2006

John Kifner, Fragile Cease-Fire Allows Thousands to Return Home, New York Times, August 15, 2006

Robert F. Worth, Returning Home to Ruins: Shock Is Mixed With Outrage, New York Times, August 15, 2006

Borzou Daragahi, A Tough Homecoming for the Residents of South Beirut, Los Angeles Times, August 15, 2006

Lin Noueihed, Lebanese return to ruins of homes, Reuters, August 16, 2006

Declan Walsh and Conal Urquhart, Lebanese refugees flood back despite Israeli warnings; Some 6,000 an hour return to rebuild ruined homes and farms, The Guardian, August 16, 2006

Alexander G. Higgins, U.N. says most Lebanese returning home, Associated Press, August 18, 2006


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Hospitals and ambulances attacked or prevented from operating:

Hassan M. Fattah, Bombings Bring Season of Fear to Seaside Resort, New York Times, July 18, 2006 (“But even the protection of the hospital [the Amel Hospital in Tyre] did not prove strong enough when warplanes hit a residential tower adjacent to it on Sunday evening, bringing the structure down. Several bodies were still buried beneath the rubble Monday.”)

Nicholas Blanford, South Lebanon bears war's brunt, Christian Science Monitor, July 19, 2006 (“Vehicles, including ambulances, according to hospital workers, have been shelled by gunboats and have been hit by helicopter gunfire. Even the Jabel Amel Hospital in Tyre has been hit, struck early Sunday morning by a missile, demolishing an entire wing and killing a family of nine.”)

Megan K. Stack, Israeli Missiles Rip Into Medics' Esprit de Corps, Los Angeles Times, July 25, 2006

Robert Fisk, Israeli missiles had clearly pierced the very centre of the red cross on the roof of each ambulance, The Independent, July 26, 2006

Robert Fisk, On a Red Cross mission of mercy when Israeli air force came calling, The Independent, July 28, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Survivors Rise From Rubble Of Battered Lebanese Village, Washington Post, August 1, 2006 (destruction of Bint Jbeil's 42-bed hospital)

Dahr Jamail, Lebanese Red Cross Repeatedly Targeted, August 1, 2006 (the first two times the Lebanese Red Cross sent ambulances to Qana after the attack, Israel attacked them; the third attempt to reach Qana finally got through)

Nasser Nasser, Heavy equipment used to bury the dead, Associated Press, August 2, 2006 (Israeli commandos stormed the Dar Al-Hikma hospital in Baalbek)

Hamza Hendawi, Israeli warplanes hit Beirut suburbs, Associated Press, August 3, 2006 (“In the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh, fighter jets struck an ambulance working for a local Muslim group”)

What International Law? - Ambulances are hit by Israeli forces, August 3, 2006

Hassan M. Fattah, Israeli Jets, Helicopters and Ground Forces Attack Baalbek, Hezbollah Hub in Bekaa Valley, New York Times, August 3, 2006 (ransacking of the Dar el-Hekma hospital in Baalbek)

Anthony Shadid, Bombing Obliterates Last Route Out of Tyre: Ambulances, Aid Stranded After Warplanes Strike Strip of Sand Over the Litani, Washington Post, August 8, 2006

Christopher Torchia, Survival is constant concern in Lebanon, Associated Press, August 11, 2006 (“On the previous day, we had entered the area by tailing two Lebanese Red Cross vehicles racing to pick up evacuees, a precaution that was no guarantee of safety. Lebanese rescue teams have been hit in airstrikes since fighting began on July 12.”)

Michael Winfrey, UN urges ceasefire to get aid through, Reuters, August 12, 2006 (one Red Cross worker killed in Israel’s attack on a convey of civilian vehicles fleeing south Lebanon)

Declan Walsh, Life amid the blood and bombs as besieged hospital battles on, The Guardian, August 14, 2006 (the hospital in Tyre)

Declan Walsh, Returning to their devastated homes, the people of Lebanon claim victory, The Guardian, August 15, 2006 (“But Bint Jbeil was not entirely deserted. At the bombed-out hospital, nurses hoisted Hassan Shrala, an 80-year-old with shrapnel wounds, into a jeep for emergency treatment. His wounds were gangrenous and he had started to hallucinate, said Hussain Yousef, 24, one of three nurses who endured the fighting to protect Mr Shrala.”)

Mohammed Zaatari, Civil Defense volunteers risk life and limb to help others, Daily Star (Beirut), August 15, 2006 (“Israel's continued military operations have not prevented Civil Defense personnel from carrying out their mission, despite the fact their offices and cars have been repeatedly targeted”)

Tom Perry, Lebanese hospital struggles to cope with the dead, Reuters, August 16, 2006 (“UNICEF warned there could be 8,000 to 9,000 items of unexploded ordnance in southern Lebanon, posing another risk to returning civilians. It said at least 200 cluster bombs were found in Tebnin, some in the grounds of a local hospital. De-mining experts were working on defusing the bombs.”)




Relief supply trucks attacked:

Megan Stack, Dazed Refugees Flood Beirut, Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2006 (“As the crisis deepened this week, Lebanese officials said Israeli bombs hit the nation's largest milk factories, a major food factory and an eagerly awaited aid convoy that was making its way toward Beirut from the United Arab Emirates”; “An Israeli military spokesman denied targeting the factories and aid trucks. Only Hezbollah facilities and vehicles believed to be transporting weapons were struck, he said.”)

Edward Cody, As Convoy Smolders on Hill, Villagers Warn Drivers of Raid, Washington Post, July 19, 2006 (“On a twisting mountain road in eastern Lebanon, little remained of the truck that had tried to pass through earlier: The fuel tank was enveloped in greasy, orange flames. The undercarriage had melted into something that resembled crusty wrought iron. And the cargo -- white sacks of sugar and rice bound for Beirut -- burned angrily despite high-pressure hoses trained on the wreckage by volunteer firemen.”)

Israel Must Provide Safe Passage to Relief Convoys, Human Rights Watch, July 20, 2006

Nadim Ladki, Israel pounds south Lebanon after heavy casualties, Reuters, July 27, 2006 (“Israeli warplanes destroyed radio masts north of Beirut on Thursday and attacked three trucks carrying medical and food supplies to the east, security sources said. They said two truck drivers were killed.”)

Tom Perry, In Israel's sights, Lebanon truckers face death, Reuters, July 28, 2006

Humanitarian groups in Lebanon: Israeli strikes endanger aid convoys, Associated Press, August 2, 2006

Osama Habib, Attacks on key bridges reduce lifeline to thin strands, Daily Star (Beirut), August 5, 2006 (“The Israeli warplanes have destroyed several trucks carrying agricultural items. No one dares drive a van if it is covered,” said Nasri Khoury, the president of the Lebanese-Syrian High Commission)




Delivery of relief supplies obstructed:

Jihad Siqlawi, Israeli raid kills family of seven as Lebanon toll nears 400, Agence France Presse, July 25, 2006 (“Prices for certain goods were soaring because of increased transport costs reflecting the blows to fuel supplies and risks to truck drivers who were often targeted by Israeli warplanes”)

Andrew Lee Butters, Bombs shatter the quiet lives of working-class Lebanese, Boston Globe, July 27, 2006 (“Since Israeli jets began targeting individual trucks, aid groups have had difficulty hiring drivers willing to make deliveries to those most in need”)

Megan K. Stack and Rone Tempest, Aid Trickles Into Tyre Amid Blasts, Los Angeles Times, July 27, 2006 (“A convoy of U.N. trucks carrying mattresses, kitchen sets and other supplies has been stuck at the Syrian border for several days, after Israel objected to the Syrian license plates on the trucks”)

Lin Noueihed, Israeli bombs kill 14 in Lebanon, Reuters, July 28, 2006 (“Aid workers said it was impossible to get medical supplies and food safely to isolated villages because of Israeli bombing”)

Lauren Frayer, Humanitarian aid piles up in Beirut, Associated Press, July 29, 2006 (“Medicine, food and other humanitarian relief piled up in Beirut on Saturday, with only a trickle making it to the tens of thousands of Lebanese trapped in the war zone in the south”)

Scott Peterson, Refugees overwhelm Lebanon, Christian Science Monitor, August 2, 2006 (“Each time approval means the Israeli military officially ‘concurs’ with a UN request put forward in Jerusalem, though it is no guarantee of safe passage. Even with such an approval, when the first convoy to roll reached its destination a week ago, an Israeli air raid struck 500 yards away.”)

Peter Capella, Lebanon bombings cut off umbilical cord for aid: UN, Agence France Presse, August 4, 2006

Michael Winfrey, Bridge bombing paralyses Lebanon aid pipeline, Reuters, August 4, 2006

Rym Ghazal, Jewish state brings war to Lebanon's Christian heartland, Daily Star (Beirut), August 5, 2006 (“We had international assurances that the road from Aridya to Beirut would remain open and safe for humanitarian transportation, but it seems that even international assurances don't mean much now,” said Public Works and Transport Minister Mohammad Safadi)

Michael Winfrey, Israeli strikes stymie Lebanon aid efforts, Reuters, August 7, 2006

Kathy Gannon, Red Cross: Israel denying safe passage, Associated Press, August 7, 2006

Iman Azzi, Israeli strike cuts off aid lifeline, Daily Star, August 8, 2006

UN relief aid for south Lebanon frozen, Agence France Presse, August 8, 2006 (“UN relief aid in southern Lebanon has been completely frozen despite Israeli assurances that humanitarian convoys would be excluded from attack warnings on any moving vehicle south of the Litani River, aid agencies have said”)

Anthony Shadid, Bombing Obliterates Last Route Out of Tyre: Ambulances, Aid Stranded After Warplanes Strike Strip of Sand Over the Litani, Washington Post, August 8, 2006

Michael Winfrey, Agencies struggle to get aid into south Lebanon, Reuters, August 9, 2006

Stuart Williams, Aid agencies face nightmare getting aid to south Lebanon, Agence France Presse, August 9, 2006

Robert Fisk, Israel's promise of humanitarian corridors is exposed as a sham, The Independent, August 9, 2006

Michael Winfrey, UN urges ceasefire to get aid through, Reuters, August 12, 2006

ICRC aid ship finally arrives in Lebanon, Agence France Presse, August 12, 2006 (“Israel gave security clearance to the ship Giorgios K, which had been anchored in the Cypriot port of Larnaca, after refused it access for the past two days, said the ICRC spokesman in Tyre, Roland Huguenin,” who also said that “we are only getting Israeli green lights for humanitarian convoys in dribs and drabs”)


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August 11 Israeli attack on huge convey of civilian vehicles that had left Israeli-occupied town of Marjayoun earlier that day:

Thousands of southern Lebanese set to quit towns, Reuters, August 11, 2006

Israel attacks convoy fleeing south Lebanon, Reuters, August 11, 2006

Taher Abu Ramdan, Israel air strike hits Lebanon convoy, 7 dead, Agence France Presse, August 12, 2006

Michael Winfrey, UN urges ceasefire to get aid through, Reuters, August 12, 2006

Zeina Karam, Israel triples ground troops in Lebanon, Associated Press, August 12, 2006 (“Israel said the U.N. troops asked permission to lead the convoy, but it was denied”)

Edward Cody and Molly Moore, Cease-Fire Is Accepted In Lebanon, Washington Post, August 13, 2006 (“Milos Strugar, spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, said it had received no explanation from Israel for an attack Friday evening on a convoy of Lebanese soldiers, internal security forces and civilian residents from Marjayoun that had been joined by several hundred cars full of civilians”)

Anthony Shadid, Fleeing Lebanese Christians See Town Forever Changed, Washington Post, August 13, 2006 (interview with civilians who had been in convoy)




Israel claims right to attack vehicles:

(1) Israel initially claimed the right to attack any motorcycle, truck or van:

Anthony Shadid, Residents of Besieged City Feel 'Just Left Here to Die,' Washington Post, July 21, 2006 (“The warning came in the morning Thursday, a recorded message dialed to phone numbers in southern Lebanon. In flawless Arabic, it instructed: Leave now, beyond the Litani River that bisects the rock-studded wadis of the south. Don't flee on motorcycles or in vans or trucks. Otherwise, you will be a target. The message signed off simply: the state of Israel.”)

Israel Must Allow Civilians Safe Passage, Human Rights Watch, July 21, 2006


And Israel certainly carried out its threat. See, e.g., Sam F. Ghattas, Warfare intensifies in southern Lebanon, Associated Press, August 5, 2006 (“Separately, a missile fired by an Israeli drone killed two people riding a motorcycle near al-Bass, on the outskirts of Tyre, the Lebanese military said. [para] In eastern Lebanon, a gutted van with the charred body of the driver was found Saturday morning in a field near Qaa, the town's mayor, Saadeh Toum, said.”)


(2) Later, Israel claimed the right to attack any moving vehicle south of the Litani River:

Andrew Marshall, Israeli attacks kill 55 Lebanese, Reuters, August 7, 2006 ("Anyone who does travel is taking a high risk. There is no end period," an army source said. "This will allow us to track anyone potentially trying to launch rockets.")

Kathy Gannon, Israel orders vehicles off Lebanon roads, Associated Press, August 9, 2006

John Kifner, Aid Crisis Worsens as Israel Pounds Southern Lebanon, New York Times, August 9, 2006 (“’Every vehicle, whatever its nature, which travels south of the Litani will be bombed on suspicion of transporting rockets and arms for the terrorists,’ said the leaflets, addressed to the people of Lebanon and signed ‘State of Israel.’”)




Families obliterated:

Mitchell Prothero, Lebanon pays for Hezbollah's sins, Salon.com, July 14, 2006 (12 members of the family of Sayeed Adel Akkash killed when Israel bombed their home)

Laila Bassam, Israel kills 35 civilians in strikes on Lebanon, Reuters, July 15, 2006 (20 members of two families, including 15 children, killed when an Israeli missile incinerated their van)

Hassan Fattah, In Scramble to Evade Israeli Bombs, the Living Leave the Dead Behind, New York Times, July 21, 2006 (23 members of the family of brothers Ali and Ahmad al-Ghanam were killed)

Megan Stack, As Toll Rises, Lebanese Resort to Mass Graves, Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2006 (Soubiha Abdullah buried 24 members of her family in Tyre)

Jihad Siqlawi, Israeli raid kills family of seven as Lebanon toll nears 400, Agence France Presse, July 25, 2006

Mother and her six children killed in Israeli Lebanon raid, Agence France Presse, July 29, 2006

Nasser Nasser, Heavy equipment used to bury the dead, Associated Press, August 2, 2006 (family of seven killed while sheltering under a tree; after Qana, they stopped staying inside houses)

Mohammed Zaatari, Homeless and alone after devastating Israeli strike, Daily Star (Beirut), August 1, 2006 (Husband Adnan Harakeh’s entire family was killed in Nabatieh)

Hear Our Voices – "We've lost so much," IRIN, August 3, 2006 (the massacre of the family fleeing Marwahin on July 15)

Sabrina Tavernise, After Bomb Kills Loved Ones, Life Turns Ghostly, New York Times, August 8, 2006

Zeina Karam, 15 members of Lebanese family killed, August 9, 2006

Edward Cody, With Fatal Blasts, War Invades Quiet Enclave of Beirut, Washington Post, August 9, 2006

And the deaths at Qana were largely from two extended families.




Bodies being eaten by dogs:

Hassan M. Fattah, In Scramble to Evade Israeli Bombs, the Living Leave the Dead Behind, New York Times, July 21, 2006 (“The morbid reality of Israel’s bombing campaign of the south is reaching almost every corner of this city. Just a few miles from the Rest House hotel [in Tyre], where the United Nations was evacuating civilians on Thursday, wild dogs gnawed at the charred remains of a family bombed as they were trying to escape the village of Hosh, officials said.”)

Jonathan Steele, No hiding place for civilians caught in air strikes, The Guardian, July 24, 2006 (“The women told us 'Let us at least be able to retrieve our bodies, because the dogs are eating them', he said.”)

Sabrina Tavernise, In Lebanon, a Crushed Town and a Chance to Flee, New York Times, July 31, 2006 (“Bodies are lying near roads as well. Just past Bint Jbail, emergency workers stood inspecting the body of a man they said was a Lebanese soldier. He was killed by shrapnel some days ago. Dogs had eaten away the left side of his body.”)

Fergal Keane, Emerging from Bint Jbeil's rubble, BBC, August 1, 2006 (“Across south Lebanon refugees were on the roads. One man was walking an elderly neighbour north towards safety. He was furious as he approached us. [para] ‘Tell the UN to come and see the hungry women and children, the bodies under the rubble being eaten by dogs. There's no conscience left in this world,’ he said.”)




Israel's cluster bombs:

Human Rights Watch, Israeli Cluster Munitions Hit Civilians in Lebanon, July 24, 2006

Index on Illegal US Weapons in Lebanon

Mideast Weapons Deserve Scrutiny; Israels cluster bombs and alleged phosphorus use have escaped attention, FAIR, August 2, 2006

David S. Cloud, Israel Asks U.S. to Ship Rockets With Wide Blast, New York Times, August 11, 2006

U.S.: Deny Israeli Request for Cluster Munitions, Human Rights Watch, August 11, 2006

Tom Perry, Lebanese hospital struggles to cope with the dead, Reuters, August 16, 2006 (“UNICEF warned there could be 8,000 to 9,000 items of unexploded ordnance in southern Lebanon, posing another risk to returning civilians. It said at least 200 cluster bombs were found in Tebnin, some in the grounds of a local hospital. De-mining experts were working on defusing the bombs.”)

Lebanon: Protect Civilians From Unexploded Weapons, Human Rights Watch, August 17, 2006

Kathy Gannon, Unexploded bomblets a danger in Lebanon, Associated Press, August 17, 2006 ("Hamid Asan Hasan dropped his wallet, and as he stooped to pick it up he spotted the small round object. Curious, he picked that up too. It exploded and blew off part of his hand.")

Anne Chaon, After Lebanon war, unexploded bombs continue to sow death, Agence France Presse, August 18, 2006 ("Just hours after the announcement of a cessation of fighting on Monday, one civilian was killed and six others wounded when Israeli cluster bombs exploded in the southern village of Ansar")

Hassan M. Fattah, With ‘Minefields’ at Home, War Isn’t Over for Lebanese, New York Times, August 19, 2006 ("Marwa al-Miri, 10, and her 12-year-old cousin Sekneh could not resist the chance of a treasure hunt when they were finally allowed to go out and play on Thursday evening, three days after returning home to Ayt el Shaab. [para] Almost everywhere the girls and their playmates looked in their rubble-strewn town there was a gem ­ papers and books covered in dust, dented appliances and, best of all, the occasional toy. Even the metallic gray canister that Marwa held up, the size of a battery with a head that looked like a cigarette lighter, had some allure for the children. [para] But when she pitched it to her 10-year-old friend Hassan Tahini, it exploded in a loud bang that brought out all the adults in the area. In a split second, Hassan was on the ground unconscious, his gut split open; Marwa was screaming in pain with shrapnel wounds in her legs; and Sekneh was riddled with shrapnel in her chest and struggling for her life.")




Israel's phosphorous incendiary bombs:

Lebanese Doctor Says Israel Using 'Phosphorus Weapons' (video)

Sabrina Tavernise, Empty Silence, Occasional Rocket Blasts, and Anger in a Bombed-Out Hezbollah Town, New York Times, July 26, 2006 (“Another thing he [Dr. Jamal Allau at Ragheh Hareb Hospital in Nabatiye] said he could not explain was the nature of some of the wounds. The skin, he said, dissolved like wet paper when he began to stitch. He did not, however, show any such wounds.”)

Randa Takieddin, Lebanon's Children and Israeli Phosphorous Bombs, Al-Hayat, July 27, 2006

Index on Illegal US Weapons in Lebanon

Mideast Weapons Deserve Scrutiny; Israels cluster bombs and alleged phosphorus use have escaped attention, FAIR, August 2, 2006

Jad Mouawad, To Many in a Town Under Attack, Militiamen Are Defenders, New York Times, August 3, 2006 (“For the past week, Israel’s army has thrown everything at Kafr Kila. It has bombed it, unleashed tank fire against it, lobbed phosphorus shells into it.”)

Rym Ghazal, Some victims' progressive lesions mystify doctors: Greenish shrapnel wounds may be chemical-related, Daily Star, August 8, 2006


Note: The preceding group of resources include a couple dealing with mysterious wounds. I am assuming, though I don't actually know, that these are the result of exposure to phosphorous material in Israeli bombs.

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People living under Israeli bombardment:

Hassan M. Fattah, Employees Show Grit at Airport Under Fire, New York Times, July 15, 2006

Anthony Shadid, A Poor Beirut Neighborhood Feels Brunt of War, Washington Post, July 15, 2006

Anthony Shadid, No Haven in a City Paralyzed by Dread, Washington Post, July 20, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Residents of Besieged City Feel 'Just Left Here to Die,' Washington Post, July 21, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Civilian Toll Mounts in Lebanon Conflict, Washington Post, July 24, 2006

Jad Mouawad, Refugees Cut Off From News of Village in Middle of Fight, New York Times, July 25, 2006 (“Few towns have paid a higher price for the Israeli onslaught than Aitaroun, in the southernmost corner of Lebanon, about a mile away from where Israeli soldiers have crossed the border into the country. [para] So far, at least 30 residents have died, said the towns deputy mayor, a tall and reserved man named Najib Kawsan. Many residents have left. [para] Those still trapped there are without power, phones and water, with little food, under constant shelling by the Israeli artillery, nearly a dozen refugees from the village said in interviews on Sunday.”)

Anthony Shadid, 'God Stop the Bombs,' Washington Post, July 26, 2006 (“The Israeli shells thundered into the charred hillside above the Tibnin General Hospital. There were two, then another, then two more, the uneven cadence of an attack on Tuesday. The walls shuddered and acrid smoke drifted through the building. Huddled inside were at least 1,350 Lebanese in hallways, rooms, stairwells, a lobby and a basement lit by a few candles, hiding with little water, less food and almost no hope of salvation from a war that provoked their flight and had returned to their doorstep.”)

Kevin Sites, Precise Destruction, Yahoo! News, July 26, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, Empty Silence, Occasional Rocket Blasts, and Anger in a Bombed-Out Hezbollah Town, New York Times, July 26, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, Tyre Reels From Attacks That Never Fail to Shock, New York Times, July 27, 2006

Situation for civilians in southern Lebanon unacceptable: ICRC, Agence France Presse, July 28, 2006

Christopher Albritton, Bitterness grows in Lebanese resort city, San Francisco Chronicle, July 28, 2006 (“So bitter is Tyre's 70-year-old mayor over the war that he even refused aid from the U.S. Embassy this week”)

Kathy Gannon, Trapped Lebanese flee city of Bint Jbail, Associated Press, July 31, 2006 (“The elderly man stumbled over the rubble, his crumpled suit hanging off his shrunken frame, his loose pants held together by a pin after eating only a piece of candy a day”; “The siege lifted, they emerged from their shelters, dehydrated, starving some in their 70s or 80s and some started to walk out of devastated Bint Jbail. Two died on the road, one of malnutrition, the other of heart failure. Others waited for ambulances.”)

Kevin Sites, Out of the rubble, Yahoo! News, July 31, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, In Lebanon, a Crushed Town and a Chance to Flee, New York Times, July 31, 2006

Fergal Keane, Emerging from Bint Jbeil's rubble, BBC, August 1, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, For Lebanese, Calm Moment to Flee Ruins, New York Times, August 1, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Survivors Rise From Rubble Of Battered Lebanese Village, Washington Post, August 1, 2006

Jad Mouawad, To Stay or to Go Isn’t an Easy Choice for Many in Villages, New York Times, August 1, 2006

Jonathan Steele, After the siege, the panic to flee devastation, The Guardian, August 1, 2006

Hugh Sykes, Stressed out and anxious in Beirut, BBC News, August 5, 2006

Anthony Shadid, In South Lebanon, a Fierce Fight for Every Yard, Washington Post, August 5, 2006 (“Like villages along the road, Dhaira appeared deserted at first. Then slowly, a few of the 80 residents remaining emerged, gathering for conversation. Abu Ali sat with neighbors in front of an unfinished, cinder-block home in the village, about 500 yards from the border. His neighbor, Abu Wadie, came. So did their children. And soon Ilham Abu Samra, a cheerful 60-year-old matriarch, followed.”)

Zeina Karam, Besieged Lebanese turn to Internet, Associated Press, August 6, 2006

Anthony Shadid, In Southern Lebanon, Weary Resignation, Washington Post, August 7, 2006

Jad Mouawad, As Shelling Continues, Few Residents Remain in Towns That Once Took Refugees, New York Times, August 7, 2006 (“It took weeks of continuous shelling in southern Lebanon and one long sleepless night for Sheik Naim Hazir to admit it was time to leave. [para] What forced his decision was the death of five of his next-door neighbors three of them children as a rocket flattened their two-story home in a raid overnight Saturday. But getting out of Insar with his 90-year-old father and 82-year-old mother was tricky. [para] Just below his terrace on Sunday, Sheik Hazir could see the bombed-out house where the neighbor, Ibrahim Assi, his two daughters, his niece and his nephew died in the middle of the night. Inside the empty home bent double by the blast, a walking stick leaned untouched next to a sofa.”)

Jacques Charmelot, Siege of Tyre brings back the city's nightmares, Agence France Presse, August 9, 2006

Lin Noueihed, Israeli bombardment wears on fraught Lebanese nerves, Reuters, August 9, 2006

Nora Boustany, At Temporary Haven, Tales of Refugee Woe: 'There Was Destruction All Around Us,' Washington Post, August 12, 2006 (mayor of Nabatiyeh, Mustapha Badreddine, said that he was able to leave his home only five times in the past 10 days)

Charles Levinson, Exhausted Tyre endures longest hours before peace, Agence France Presse, August 13, 2006

Sammy Ketz, Baalbek's Roman caves offer shelter from Israeli bombs, Agence France Presse, August 13, 2006

Kathy Gannon, Lebanese find destruction back home, Associated Press, August 14, 2006 (“It seemed impossible that non-fighters could still be in the town [Aita al-Shaab], but Mohammed Abdul Karim, an old man, appeared from his home, where the upper floor had pancaked onto the ground level”)

Megan K. Stack, Lebanon Grimaces Through Another Day of Airstrikes, Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Hezbollah Fighters Emerge From the Rubble, Washington Post, August 15, 2006 (“Three fighters carried out the first of the wounded, an elderly woman with a stare so blank it seemed lifeless. Flies gathered unnoticed on her still body.”)

Michael Winfrey, Aid groups hunt for those trapped by Lebanon war, Reuters, August 15, 2006

Yara Bayoumy, Lebanese families praise Hizbollah "martyrs," Reuters, August 15, 2006




Effect on people’s mental health:

See also section on people living under Israeli bombardment, just above.

Anthony Shadid, Lebanese Families Find Shelter at Palestinian Camp; Upheaval Takes a Displaced Father, Long Unstable, to the Breaking Point, Washington Post, July 25, 2006 (a distraught father killed his own son)

Haro Chakmakjian, Children return in fear to unknown Lebanon, Agence France Presse, July 26, 2006 (“For a group of children cut off from their homes by the conflict in bomb-scarred Lebanon after a school trip to Paris, returning was new and frightening. For the older generation it was just back to the bad old days.”)

Jailan Zayan, Trauma of war leaves Lebanese mother without milk, Agence France Presse, August 3, 2006 (“Fadia Ballout can no longer nurse her son as he screams with hunger. Traumatized by her family's escape from a southern Lebanese village close to Qana, where an Israeli air strike killed 52 people on Sunday, her breastmilk has stopped.”)

Anne Penketh and Kim Sengupta, Traumatised and afraid - 300,000 children who want to go home, The Independent, August 4, 2006

Megan K. Stack, In Asylum, Another Kind of Casualty, Los Angeles Times, August 5, 2006 (“A hospital in Lebanon's south has been deserted by most of its staff, and patients are cut off from family. Medications and food are running out”)

Lin Noueihed, Israeli bombardment wears on fraught Lebanese nerves, Reuters, August 9, 2006 (“Doctors say the full effects of the war on the mental health of the Lebanese will only become obvious once it is over”)

Raed El Rafei, Volunteers try to help displaced children deal with trauma of war, Daily Star, August 11, 2006




Effect on Lebanese children:

Laila Bassam, Israel kills 35 civilians in strikes on Lebanon, Reuters, July 15, 2006 (“Israel killed 35 civilians on Saturday, including 15 children, in air strikes meant to punish Lebanon for letting Hizbollah guerillas menace the Jewish state's northern border.”)

Nayla Razzouk, Scores dead as Israel steps up Lebanon blitz, Agence France Presse, July 15, 2006 (“On Saturday 18 civilians, including nine children, were burnt alive when an Israeli helicopter gunship hit a convoy of families fleeing an offensive in southern Lebanon that has left the country waking up each day to new scenes of devastation in which at least 100 people have died, UN and hospital sources said.”)

Clancy Chassay, 'Is Hizbullah here? Only children here.' City mourns air strike dead, The Guardian, July 18, 2006 (“Twelve-year-old Nour lay heavily bandaged and fighting for her life in a hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. She is one of many children killed and injured in Israeli air strikes on this Mediterranean port in past days. ‘We are praying for her,’ said Fatima, a laboratory technician doubling as a nurse at Jabal Amal hospital, which is overloaded with the victims of the air strikes. Ali, the doctor treating Nour, said he did not know whether she would survive her injuries. ‘She has large burns all over her body, she is losing a lot of fluids. She probably won't live; her life is now in God's hands.’”)

Hassan M. Fattah, Bombings Bring Season of Fear to Seaside Resort, New York Times, July 18, 2006 (“At the Amel Hospital [in Tyre], Dr. Ali Mroue took stock of what he had seen in recent days: decapitated bodies, severe burns, disfigured faces. The hospital has lost 25 patients, he said, but saved 100. [para.] But most of all, he lamented the death of a 2-year-old girl, whom he tried desperately to save. She had severe burns on half her body, internal bleeding and her eyes were perforated, but she fought to live, he said.”)

Haro Chakmakjian, Children return in fear to unknown Lebanon, Agence France Presse, July 26, 2006 (“For a group of children cut off from their homes by the conflict in bomb-scarred Lebanon after a school trip to Paris, returning was new and frightening. For the older generation it was just back to the bad old days.”)

Rym Ghazal, Not even infants are spared brutal war, The Daily Star, July 28, 2006

Jihad Siqlawi and Taher Abou Hamdan, Lebanese children bear scars of Israel's high-tech firepower, Agence France Presse, July 30, 2006

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, 'You go a bit crazy when you see little body after little body coming up out of the ground,' The Guardian, August 2, 2006

Jailan Zayan, Trauma of war leaves Lebanese mother without milk, Agence France Presse, August 3, 2006

Nayla Razzouk, Lebanese children try to make sense of Israeli onslaught, Agence France Presse, August 4, 2006

Anne Penketh and Kim Sengupta, Traumatised and afraid - 300,000 children who want to go home, The Independent, August 4, 2006

Donna Abu-Nasr, Beirut theater opens doors to refugees, Associated Press, August 5, 2006 (“Al-Madinah Theater was supposed to show art films this summer. Instead it has become a home to scores of refugees, and a cultural oasis where their children can act, draw and watch movies.”)

Tim Witcher, Israel and Hezbollah faces UN spotlight over child deaths, Agence France Presse, August 6, 2006

Kathy Gannon, Baby winning fight for life in Lebanon, Associated Press, August 7, 2006

Mountasser Abdallah, 12-year-old struggles to cope with loss of mother and 3 brothers, Agence France Presse, August 8, 2006

Hassan Fattah, As Lebanon’s Fuel Runs Out, Fears of a Doomsday Moment, New York Times, August 9, 2006 (American University Hospital in Beirut has 22 babies in critical condition in the neonatal ward)

Mohammed Zaatari, Grieving father tells Nasrallah to stand fast, Daily Star (Beirut), August 10, 2006 (“It was hard for 5-year-old Zahra Ali Jbeili to understand that her sister Malak, with whom she shared a lifetime of games, will never return again but will remain a mere memory. … Ali [the father] remembered how, soaked in blood, he rose from the rubble after the Israeli attack, cleared the debris off his wife and found his Malak, whose name means angel. [para] ‘Her calf was ripped apart and I understood that she was about to die because part of the ceiling had fallen on her head.’ [para] ‘I want to stay by your side daddy, let me sleep in your lap,’ he quoted her as he sobbed.”)

Beatrice Khadige, One man's lonely walk to help his family in Lebanon, Agence France Presse, August 11, 2006

Yara Bayoumy, Lebanese mothers lament war's effect on children, Reuters, August 11, 2006

Raed El Rafei, Volunteers try to help displaced children deal with trauma of war, Daily Star, August 11, 2006

Sue Pleming, Children bear brunt of Lebanon-Israeli war: report, Reuters, August 15, 2006 (“Citing U.N. statistics, the IMC said more than 300 children were killed in Lebanon and 1,000 wounded while a further half million youngsters were displaced by battles between Hizbollah guerrillas and Israeli forces in southern Lebanon”)

Andrew T. Robotham, UNICEF: Children at risk in Mideast, Associated Press, August 15, 2006

Rana Fil, Amid a fragile cease-fire, family's ordeal begins; In Beirut, injured boy doesn't know of brother's death, Boston Globe, August 17, 2006 ("As the 13-year-old lies in pain on a hospital bed with severe injuries to his face and body, he carefully observes every movement of his mother, Sobhiya, awaiting word about his brother Hussein, 16. But so far, she can't bear to tell him the truth.")

Sabrina Tavernise, A Girl’s Life Bound Close to Hezbollah, New York Times, New York Times, August 18, 2006 ("For Zahra Fadlallah, a serious 17-year-old, Hezbollah was always family. Two of her brothers were fighters. Her mother was an activist. A distant relative is a hard-line Hezbollah member in Parliament. [para] When the war hit, she stayed in this village to help her mother bake bread for the fighters. Both were killed in an Israeli airstrike in late July. Their bodies were dug out of the rubble this week.")


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3. For some useful background on Hezbollah, see the following:

Interview with British MP George Galloway, July 24, 2006

Reza Aslan, Hezbollah Is Nobody's Puppet, Los Angeles Times, July 25, 2006

Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah Talks With Former US Diplomats on Israel, Prisoners and Hezbollahs Founding, Democracy Now!, July 28, 2006

Jonathan Steele, Only Hizbullah can defend against an Israeli invasion, The Guardian, July 28, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, Charity Wins Deep Loyalty for Hezbollah, New York Times, August 6, 2006

Charles Levinson, From surgery to schools, Hezbollah still inspires Shiites, Agence France Presse, August 8, 2006

Jailan Zayan, Homes turned to dust, but faith in Hezbollah untouched, Agence France Presse, August 8, 2006

Azmi Bishara, Self-fulfilling prophecy, Al-Ahram Weekly, issue no. 807 (August 10-16, 2006)

Charles Glass, Learning from its mistakes, London Review of Books, issue of August 17, 2006 (posted August 11)

Sabrina Tavernise, A Girl’s Life Bound Close to Hezbollah, New York Times, New York Times, August 18, 2006



Several books look useful, although I’m not personally familiar with any of these:

Naim Qassem, Hizbullah: The Story from Within, London: Saqi Books, 2005, 320 pp.

Ahmad Nizar Hamzeh, In the Path of Hizbullah, Syracuse University Press, 2004, 196 pp.

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, Hizbu'llah: Politics and Religion, London: Pluto Press, 2002, 254 pp.

Hala Jaber, Hezbollah, Columbia University Press, new ed. 1997, 288 pp




And Hezbollah’s own websites:

Al-Manar TV

Official or related site?


For background on Israel's history of aggression against Lebanon, see section V. of my Research Guide to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. While I haven't been able to update it for a number of years, it's still there.


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4. Israel authorizes 'severe' response to abductions, CNN, July 12, 2006

Later, Halutz ordered the Israeli air force to destroy 10 multi-story buildings in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut, home to 500,000 Lebanese, for every rocket fired on Haifa:

Al-Jazeera, July 24, 2006

Dahr Jamail, Refugees Have Only Their Anger, Inter Press Service, July 26, 2006

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5. Yuval Yoaz and Lilly Galili, High Court rejects Yesh Gvul bid to quash Halutz nomination, Haaretz, January 26, 2005

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6. John Ward Anderson, Israeli 'Doves' Say Response Is Legitimate, Washington Post, July 26, 2006


Nahum Barnea is Israel's most influential columnist: Tracy Wilkinson and Megan K. Stack, Fighting Centers on Strategic Lebanese Towns, Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2006


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7. 1300 Lebanese killed: Robert Fisk, Lebanon's pain grows by the hour as death toll hits 1,300, The Independent, August 17, 2006

Although the Reuters and Agence France Presse news services accept the Lebanese government figure, the Associated Press insists on reporting its own, much lower, total: Lauren Frayer, Lebanese army reaches southern border, Associated Press, August 18, 2006 ("At least 845 Lebanese were killed in the 34-day war: 743 civilians, 34 soldiers and 68 Hezbollah. Israel says it killed about 530 guerrillas.")

Reuters puts the number of Lebanese soldiers killed at 39: Yara Bayoumy and Lin Noueihed, Lebanese troops deployed, Reuters, August 17, 2006

One-third of the Lebanese dead are children: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, 'You go a bit crazy when you see little body after little body coming up out of the ground,' The Guardian, August 2, 2006 (the Lebanese government said that of its civilians killed in the conflict so far, around 35% have been children. UNICEF also estimates that about a third of the dead have been children, although it bases that figure on the fact that an estimated 30% of Lebanon's population are children, rather than any actual count of the dead.)



The largest single loss of life may have occurred in Israel’s August 7 attack on a residential building in the Shiyyah (or Al Shiyah or Chiah or Shiah) district of southern Beirut, which killed at least 61 people:

Jailan Zayan, Homes turned to dust, but faith in Hezbollah untouched, Agence France Presse, August 8, 2006

Zeina Karam, 15 members of Lebanese family killed, August 9, 2006

Edward Cody, With Fatal Blasts, War Invades Quiet Enclave of Beirut, Washington Post, August 9, 2006

Clancy Chassay, 'Hot air pushed me off my chair. I was on the ground. I thought I was dead,' The Guardian, August 12, 2006

(The Daily Star newspaper from Beirut uses “Shiyyah” as the transliteration: Jewish state kills at least 40 in residential areas, Daily Star, August 8, 2006



42 Israeli civilians killed: Eli Ashkenazi, Ran Reznick, Jonathan Lis and Jack Khoury, The War in Numbers - 4,000 Katyushas, 42 civilians killed, Haaretz, August 15, 2006 (“The Health Ministry said 4,262 civilians were treated in hospitals for injuries. Of these, 33 were seriously wounded, 68 moderately and 1,388 lightly. Another 2,773 civilians were treated for shock and anxiety”)

The Associated Press news agency gives the number of Israeli civilian deaths as 39: Lauren Frayer, Lebanese army reaches southern border, Associated Press, August 18, 2006


Israel's Arab minority bore a disproportionate number of the country's civilian deaths in the war. Although they make up just 20% of the population, Israeli Arabs account for 40% of those killed: Henry Chu, Israeli Arabs Face Decision, Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2006 (17 out of 41 people killed were Israeli Arabs; this was written before Israel’s 42nd, and hopefully final, civilian death)

This may be because Israel has not provided any of its Arab towns with bomb shelters: Yoav Stern, Arab citizens directing anger at Israel, Haaretz, August 6, 2006 (“There is no public bomb shelter in any of the Arab communities”). One credulous American reporter accepted at face value an Israeli official’s explanation that this was due to “building codes.” See Ilene Prusher, Rockets hit Israeli-Arabs, too, Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2006


Israel's total deaths appear to be 157, which includes 115 or 118 soldiers, depending on whether the civilian deaths total 39 or 42:

Yara Bayoumy and Lin Noueihed, Lebanese troops deployed, Reuters, August 17, 2006 (157 total Israeli deaths)

Lauren Frayer, Lebanese army reaches southern border, Associated Press, August 18, 2006 ("On the Israeli side, 157 were killed--118 soldiers and 39 civilians")


Thirty-three of the soldiers' deaths occurred after the UN Security Council adopted the ceasefire resolution: Nehemia Shtrasler, Three terrible days, Haaretz, August 18, 2006



For stories on Lebanese efforts to recover the dead and the wounded from underneath the rubble, see:

Nicholas Blanford, On the spot: Lebanese dead lie in rubble, The Times (London), July 18, 2006 (“With goat-like agility, Yussef Jaafar scrambles over the pile of rubble that until a few hours earlier had been the home of his aunt, Im Suheil Qudsi. [para] Somewhere beneath the tangled mass of smashed concrete, steel rods, dust and the volcano-like crater left by an Israeli bomber lay the remains of Mrs Qudsi, her 30-year-old daughter-in-law and her three children aged from 4 to 11.”)

Nicholas Blanford, South Lebanon bears war's brunt, Christian Science Monitor, July 19, 2006 (same story as the preceding)

Rym Ghazal, Rescuers: Many dead have yet to be counted, The Daily Star, July 27, 2006

Thomas Wagner and Kathy Gannon, Israeli strikes resume after brief lull, Associated Press, July 31, 2006 (recovery of bodies from Srifa)

Hussein Saad, Stench of death hangs over south Lebanon villages, Reuters, August 1, 2006

Tom Perry, Lebanese race to save lives, but find death, Reuters, August 1, 2006

Clancy Chassay, 'We are winning this war ... Israel couldn't do what it said,' The Guardian, August 2, 2006 (bodies buried under rubble in Srifa)

Kathy Gannon, Bodies still in ruins of Lebanon homes, Associated Press, August 2, 2006 (recovery of bodies from Srifa)

Zeina Karam, Dozens buried in rubble after airstrikes, Associated Press, August 4, 2006 (“Israeli airstrikes flattened two southern Lebanese houses Friday and more than 50 people were buried in the rubble, security officials and the state news agency said”)

Robert Fisk, What do you say to a man whose family is buried under the rubble?, The Independent, August 9, 2006

Mohammed Zaatari, Civil Defense volunteers risk life and limb to help others, Daily Star (Beirut), August 15, 2006 (“Ali Ismail, the head of a rescue team that saved stranded victims in Ghazzieh, said his team worked for 10 hours to rescue a 19-year-old woman trapped under the rubble”)

Michael Winfrey, Aid groups hunt for those trapped by Lebanon war, Reuters, August 15, 2006

Tom Perry, Lebanese villagers return to corpses, devastation, Reuters, August 15, 2006 (“Mariam Najd sat on a pile of rubble, tears in her eyes, as the bulldozer dug into the bomb crater where her brother's house once stood. [para] His body has yet to be found. It is thought to have been buried with at least five others of the same family in the debris for nearly a month.”)

Joseph Panossian, Israel begins pullout amid fragile truce, Associated Press, August 15, 2006 (“Rescue workers dug through the ruins of apartment buildings and homes in southern villages, looking for bodies that had been left buried because they could not be reached during the Israeli bombardment. [para] At least 15 bodies were found in two villages near the border, Ainata and Taibeh.”)

Robert Fisk, Desert of trapped corpses testifies to Israel's failure, The Independent, August 15, 2006

Kathy Gannon, Lebanese rescuer 'Green Helmet' injured, Associated Press, August 15, 2006 (“A civil defense worker who has drawn controversy for holding up the bodies of children killed in Lebanon said Tuesday he was lightly injured fighting a weekend fire sparked by an Israeli bomb”)

Clancy Chassay, Selwa's story, The Guardian, August 15, 2006 (“A week ago the body of a woman clutching a baby was found in this bombed apartment block in Beirut; the image was printed across the world. But who was she? By tracking down surviving members of her family, Clancy Chassay has managed to piece together her life - and how she died with her three children and husband by her side.”)

Bruce Wallace, Clustered in Fear, and Now Death, Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2006 (“AINATA, Lebanon--All the dead were neighbors, killed as they huddled together in the basement of the Fadlallah family house in the old quarter of this southern Lebanese town. The Fadlallahs' two-story home had offered false hope against Israeli shells fired from the terraced hills above, blasts that scattered concrete blocks like dice and smashed the shelter into a tomb. [para] Now, with fighting suspended, the rubble gave them up: at least 14 bodies with perhaps more still buried, pulled free by neighbors' hands tearing at the stones. The dead were old men and old women, teenage girls and children as young as 3, postscripts to the roll call of victims from this summer's spasm of war.”)

Hassan M. Fattah, As Cease-Fire Holds, Lebanese Dig for the War’s Victims in the Rubble of Many Towns, New York Times, August 16, 2006 (“On Tuesday, secrets buried in southern Lebanon’s ruins began to emerge as Lebanese Red Cross workers, health workers and Hezbollah members set upon the heaps of stone and concrete in towns along the Israeli border, digging out bodies of men, women and children trapped there for weeks. The work will last for weeks in towns with names that have become synonymous with tragedy. [para] In Ainata, about three miles from the Israeli border, Red Cross workers pulled out eight decomposed bodies buried in a home that was bombed 10 days after the war began. In Bint Jbail, a few miles away, rescue workers tried to dig out at least four bodies from a house near the old market and, in Ait al Shaab, Hezbollah members reportedly removed the bodies of five of their fighters from the debris. [para] They were just a small portion of the estimated hundreds of bodies thought to have been lying in the wreckage, but the act of digging promised some closure for a country struggling to rebuild. Bodies wrapped in clear plastic tarpaulins were carted away in ambulances with the horns blaring, most of them ending up in the central morgue in Tyre, where the piles of dead have continued to grow.”)

Iman Azzi and Nour Samaha, Sad task of searching the rubble begins, Daily Star (Beirut), August 16, 2006 (“The Lebanese Civil Defense pulled over 10 bodies from the rubble in the Dahiyeh Tuesday as witnesses claimed they still heard screams from under the demolished buildings. The Lebanese Red Cross confirmed that another 61 bodies had been found in the South and 18 people had been injured in rubble-related accident.”)

Robert Fisk, Lebanon's pain grows by the hour as death toll hits 1,300, The Independent, August 17, 2006 ("In Srifa, south of the Litani river, they found 26 bodies beneath ruins which I myself stood on just three days ago. At Ainata, there were eight more bodies of civilians. A corpse was discovered beneath a collapsed four-storey house north of Tyre and, near by, the remains of a 16-year old girl, along with three children and an adult. In Khiam in eastern Lebanon, besieged by the Israelis for more than a month, the elderly village 'mukhtar' was found dead in the ruins of his home.")

Hassan M. Fattah, South Lebanon Towns Reclaim Their Dead and Hold Funerals, New York Times, August 17, 2006

Lebanon: The stench of death awaits people returning, IRIN, August 17, 2006 ("Behind a destroyed school [in Bint Jbeil], Nabil Chrara sat on a pile of rocks, crying his heart out as he watched a tractor dig up the bodies of four members of his family. 'They refused to leave the house," he said.'")



An important point never mentioned in mainstream reporting is that many of Hezbollah’s missiles appear to be aimed at military structures and economic infrastructure, not blindly at civilians. See the reporting by British journalist Jonathan Cook, who lives in Nazareth, Israel:

Jonathan Cook, Cracks in the Consensus, Al-Ahram Weekly, 3 - 9 August 2006 (issue No. 806)

Jonathan Cook, Five Myths That Sanction Israel's War Crimes, CommonDreams.org, July 25, 2006


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8. As to the criminal nature of the war, see the following:

Mary Ellen O’Connell, Proportionality and the Use of Force in the Middle East Conflict, Jurist, July 21, 2006 (“Lebanon is a sovereign state. Under the current publicly available facts, Lebanon is not legally responsible for Hezbollah’s raid into Israel. Hezbollah’s acts were not those of a sovereign state and thus do not give rise to the right of self-defense under Article 51 of the Charter. Even if the facts later show that Lebanon was responsible, the Hezbollah raid would still not give rise to the right of self-defense. Such low-level acts of violence are considered ‘incidents.’”)

Stephen R. Shalom, Lebanon War Question and Answer, ZNet, August 7, 2006 (an extensive and powerful commentary)

Anthony D'Amato, The UN Mideast Ceasefire Resolution Paragraph-by-Paragraph, Jurist, August 13, 2006 (“Hezbollah's attack on 12 July 2006 was a border incident that under international law does not amount to an armed attack against a nation. Violent border incidents occur between India and Pakistan almost on a daily basis. If either side regarded these as armed attacks, the two sides right now would be engaged in total war, perhaps even using nuclear weapons. Constant border incidents also occur between a number of nations in Africa. None of these are regarded in international law as a casus belli. Israel's immediate and massive retaliation, however, was arguably an act of aggression.”)



For legal commentary supportive of Israel’s position, see:

David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, Israel Is Within Its Rights, Washington Post, July 26, 2006

Michael Kelly, Israel v. Hezbollah: Article 51, Self-Defense and Pre-emptive Strikes, Jurist, July 29, 2006


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9. As to the economic damage done to Lebanon, see the following:

See also articles on devastated towns and villages in footnote 2.


Daniel McGrory, Families jam Beirut to escape rising violence, The Times (London), July 22, 2006 (“Israeli jets yesterday destroyed Lebanons Mdairej bridge, the highest in the Middle East. The 70-metre (230ft) tall structure spanned a viaduct along the main road linking Beirut and Damascus.”)

Jihad Siqlawi, Israeli raid kills family of seven as Lebanon toll nears 400, Agence France Presse, July 25, 2006 (“much of Lebanon's civilian infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli warplanes and artillery, including all airports, most main roads and bridges, petrol stations, grain silos, factories, water pumping stations, and communications and television towers.”; "’Seventy-five percent of our industry sector no longer functions,’" said Charles Arbid, vice-president of the Industry Association of Lebanon. [para.] ‘What's strange is that the bombings hit all the chain of production, from manufacturing to suppliers,’ he said.”)

Lucy Fielder, Lebanese cope, once again, amid the ruin of war, Christian Science Monitor, July 27, 2006 (“’It's truly amazing, to transform a country into a ruin in less than 10 days,’ says Finance Minister Jihad Azour”)

Rana Fil, Fuel oil and fumes spill from power plant bombed by Israelis, Boston Globe, July 28, 2006

Nora Boustany, Darkness Is Mood At Beirut Lighthouse, Washington Post, July 28, 2006 (“Just as the sun was setting two weeks ago, with Israeli warplanes buzzing low over Beirut and explosions echoing nearby, fourth-generation lighthouse keeper Victor Shibley received orders from his superiors to shut off the projectors”)

Sammy Ketz, Lebanon oil slick 'worst environmental disaster' in Mediterranean, Agence France Presse, July 29, 2006

Hassan M. Fattah, Casualties of War: Lebanon’s Trees, Air and Sea, New York Times, July 29, 2006

Osama Habib, War strikes double blow to economy: Tourism, construction sectors shrink and skilled workers leave, Daily Star (Beirut), July 31, 2006

Nora Boustany, Power Plant Airstrike Leaves a Noxious Mess, Washington Post, August 1, 2006

CDR puts losses from conflict at $2.5 billion, Daily Star (Beirut), August 3, 2006 (an estimate by Lebanon’s Council for Development and Reconstruction)

Hussein Dakroub, Officials: 12 hurt, 28 dead in airstrike, Associated Press, August 4, 2006 (“Four Israeli missiles slammed into a refrigerated warehouse where farm workers were loading vegetables Friday near the Lebanon-Syria border and at least 28 people were killed, officials said”)

Rym Ghazal, Jewish state brings war to Lebanon's Christian heartland, Daily Star (Beirut), August 5, 2006 (“They have pushed Lebanon back 20 years, with only the narrow, twisted old roads available for transportation, limiting traffic across the country,” said Public Works and Transport Minister Mohammad Safadi)

Thanassis Cambanis and Rana Fil, Weeks of bombing leave nation in ruins, Boston Globe, August 5, 2006

Jim Quilty, Israeli strikes deal major blow to Bekaa's working class, Daily Star (Beirut), August 5, 2006

Bassem Tellawi, Syrian village buries airstrike victims, Associated Press, August 5, 2006 (“In stunned disbelief, this small, impoverished Syrian village on Saturday buried 23 of its own killed when Israeli missiles slammed into a refrigerated warehouse just across the border in Lebanon”)

Jailan Zayan, Beirut fishermen devastated by Israeli port attack, Agence France Presse, August 6, 2006

Kim Murphy, Livelihoods in Lebanon Blown Out of the Water, Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2006

Heather Stewart, Lebanon's working wounded, The Observer, August 6, 2006

Sammy Ketz, Rebuild or wait? The Lebanese dilemma, Agence France Presse, August 6, 2006

Jacques Charmelot, Broken highway a symbol of shattered Lebanese dreams, Agence France Presse, August 8, 2006

Lebanese oil spill could rival Exxon Valdez disaster: UN, Agence France Presse, August 8, 2006

Christopher Torchia, On the road in Lebanon, and needing luck, Associated Press, August 9, 2006

J. Michael Kennedy, The Violence Returns, and So Does He, Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2006 (reporter’s visit with an old friend who now operates a seaside restaurant)

Kim Murphy, Old Feud Over Lebanese River Takes New Turn, Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2006

Charles Levinson, The dying breaths of Tyre's last bakery, Agence France Presse, August 11, 2006

Christopher Torchia, Survival is constant concern in Lebanon, Associated Press, August 11, 2006 (reporter’s account of staying at the abandoned Dana Hotel)

Tracy Wilkinson and Megan K. Stack, Fighting Centers on Strategic Lebanese Towns, Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2006 (“In Beirut, Israeli aircraft damaged a historic lighthouse that rises from the Lebanese American University”)

Nora Boustany, At Temporary Haven, Tales of Refugee Woe: 'There Was Destruction All Around Us,' Washington Post, August 12, 2006 ("The first thing they struck in Nabatiyeh were the warehouses, the commercial shops and the fuel tanks and gas stations.")

Edward Cody and Molly Moore, Cease-Fire Is Accepted In Lebanon, Washington Post, August 13, 2006 (Israel attacked electricity generating plants at Sidon and Tyre)

Kim Murphy, Lebanon's Renewal Is Dashed in Weeks, Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, Before Attack, Confusion Over Clearance for Convoy, New York Times, August 13, 2006

Joshua Partlow, Baghdad's Cinemas Falling Casualty to War, Washington Post, August 15, 2006

Mediterranean oil spill prompts crisis meeting, Agence France Presse, August 15, 2006

Stuart Williams, Lebanon's climb to reconstruction, steep but manageable, Agence France Presse, August 15, 2006

Mark Oliver, Global donors to tackle Lebanon reconstruction, The Guardian, August 15, 2006

John Kifner, Hezbollah Leads Work to Rebuild, Gaining Stature, New York Times, August 16, 2006

Christine Spolar, Hezbollah sees promise in ruins, Chicago Tribune, August 16, 2006

Raed El Rafei, Environmentalists demand urgent clean-up of oil spill, Daily Star (Beirut), August 16, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Armed With Iran's Millions, Fighters Turn To Rebuilding, Washington Post, August 16, 2006

Brian Whitaker, Reconstruction alone estimated at $7bn in Lebanon, The Guardian, August 16, 2006

Bassem Mroue, Hezbollah promises to rebuild in Lebanon, Associated Press, August 16, 2006

Declan Walsh, After 34 days of war, Hizbullah turns its attention to rebuilding southern Lebanon, The Guardian, August 17, 2006

Lebanon to receive 'urgent' assistance with massive oil spill, Agence France Presse, August 17, 2006

Nora Boustany, Foreign Workers Flee War-Ravaged Country, Washington Post, August 17, 2006

Bruce Wallace, Trading Guns for Bulldozers; Hezbollah's civic arm begins relief and rebuilding efforts in the battered south, where there's little sign of the Lebanese government, Los Angeles Times, August 17, 2006

Paul Richter, U.S. Hopes to Rival Hezbollah With Rebuilding Effort; Administration officials say quick action is needed in response to the militant group's reconstruction plans, Los Angeles Times, August 17, 2006

Lysandra Ohrstrom, CDR: Rebuilding infrastructure will take at least a year, cost $3.5 billion, Daily Star (Beirut), August 17, 2006 ("Lebanon suffered at least $3.5 billion in direct material losses from Israel's month-long bombardment, the head of the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) said Wednesday. Fadl Shalak said that as long as there is political consensus, repairing the $1.5 billion of damaged infrastructure could take as little as a year to 18 months, but rebuilding the $2 billion of destroyed buildings will take a minimum of three to four years.")

Alistair Lyon, Hizbollah hands out cash for Lebanese war victims, Reuters, August 18, 2006

Rick Jervis, Hezbollah workers rush to help victims rebuild, USA Today, August 18, 2006

Martin Asser, Lebanon's devastation sightseers, BBC News, August 18, 2006 (destruction of the Mdeirij bridge)

Osama Habib, Hizbullah begins monumental task of rebuilding southern suburbs, Daily Star (Beirut), August 18, 2006 ("Under a red banner which read 'made in the USA,' heavy earth-moving machinery, bulldozers and trucks lifted massive rubble and debris from a bombed-out residential building in the heart of the southern suburbs, an area that was once the home of 500,000 mostly Shiite residents. Four days after the UN sponsored cease- fire between Israel and Hizbullah fighters, the southern suburbs turned into one giant 20-kilometer workshop made up of buildings and shops that are either totally destroyed or partially damaged.")

Leila Hatoum, Hizbullah gives rent money to owners of destroyed houses, Daily Star (Beirut), August 19, 2006 ("Every house owner who lost his house will receive $12,000, and every tenant will receive $8,000")



Attacks on food production and storage facilities:

Megan Stack, Dazed Refugees Flood Beirut, Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2006 (“As the crisis deepened this week, Lebanese officials said Israeli bombs hit the nation's largest milk factories, a major food factory and an eagerly awaited aid convoy that was making its way toward Beirut from the United Arab Emirates”; “An Israeli military spokesman denied targeting the factories and aid trucks. Only Hezbollah facilities and vehicles believed to be transporting weapons were struck, he said.”)

Jihad Siqlawi, Israeli raid kills family of seven as Lebanon toll nears 400, Agence France Presse, July 25, 2006 (“much of Lebanon's civilian infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli warplanes and artillery, including all airports, most main roads and bridges, petrol stations, grain silos, factories, water pumping stations, and communications and television towers.”; "’Seventy-five percent of our industry sector no longer functions,’" said Charles Arbid, vice-president of the Industry Association of Lebanon. [para.] ‘What's strange is that the bombings hit all the chain of production, from manufacturing to suppliers,’ he said.”)



Israel’s attacks on Lebanon’s infrastructure were clearly intentional:

Jim Krane, Military analysts question Israeli bombing, Associated Press, July 20, 2006 (James Dobbins, who heads military analysis for the Rand Corp., observes that many of Israel's targets have "no conceivable relationship" to Hezbollah; "This is a classic strategic bombing campaign," said Stephen Biddle, a former head of military studies at the U.S. Army War College now at the Council on Foreign Relations. "What the Israelis are trying to do is pressure others into solving their problem for them, hence the targeting of civilian infrastructure")

Stuart Williams, Lebanon pleads for ceasefire as Israeli blitz kills dozens, Agence France Presse, August 7, 2006 (“Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said ‘no limits’ had been imposed on the army”)

Edward Cody and Molly Moore, Cease-Fire Is Accepted In Lebanon, Washington Post, August 13, 2006 (“Israeli warplanes, meanwhile, continued a broad pattern of airstrikes against infrastructure and roads, seeking to choke off routes used by Hezbollah to transport munitions and to cripple the environment in which the militia has flourished in recent years”)

Seymour Hersh, Watching Lebanon: Washington’s interests in Israel’s war, The New Yorker, issue of August 21, 2006 (posted August 13)


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10. Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch, August 3, 2006, is a 50-page report concluding, in part, that: “Since the start of the conflict, Israeli forces have consistently launched artillery and air attacks with limited or dubious military gain but excessive civilian cost. In dozens of attacks, Israeli forces struck an area with no apparent military target.  In some cases, the timing and intensity of the attack, the absence of a military target, as well as return strikes on rescuers, suggest that Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilians.”

See also the following:

Jonathan Steele, No hiding place for civilians caught in air strikes, The Guardian, July 24, 2006 (“Researchers for Human Rights Watch, the New York-based non-governmental organisation, say they have compiled details on the deaths of more than a quarter of the roughly 400 Lebanese killed by the air strikes Israel launched a fortnight ago. ‘We've investigated the results of air campaigns in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and the pattern here is different. They're hitting civilians time and time again,’ Peter Bouckaert, a long-serving Human Rights Watch investigator, said. [para.] ‘Just because the Israelis are using smart weapons doesn't mean they're hitting military targets,’ he added. ‘The Israelis seem to make no discrimination between military and civilian targets.’")

William M. Arkin, Do the U.S.and Israel Feed a World of Terror?, The Washington Post, July 28, 2006 (William Arkin, the Washington Post's national security writer, describes Israel’s approach as "a complete reordering of the traditional lines between what is legitimate and what is not in warfare.”)

Peter Bouckaert, White flags, not a legitimate target, The Guardian, July 31, 2006 (“I have seen my share of modern wars, as a researcher at Human Rights Watch. In Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, we found many civilian casualties due to bombing campaigns. Civilians fleeing attacks were hit by mistake. In Iraq, US bombs often hit civilian homes, hours after Saddam Hussein or members of his inner circle had left, missing their legitimate targets but killing civilians. In Lebanon it is a very different picture. Time after time, Israel strikes at civilian homes and civilian vehicles attempting to flee the besieged southern border zone, killing families without any military objective in sight.”)

Peter Bouckaert, For Israel, innocent civilians are fair game, International Herald Tribune, August 3, 2006 (“Israel's claims about pin-point strikes and proportionate responses are pure fantasy”)

Kenneth Roth, Fog of War Is No Cover for Causing Civilian Deaths, Forward, August 4, 2006 ("Human Rights Watch investigators in Lebanon have recorded an appalling number of incidents in which civilians and civilian objects were hit with no apparent military justification")

Stephen R. Shalom, Lebanon War Question and Answer, ZNet, August 7, 2006




Israel’s attacks are generally based only on “suspicion,” according to its own statements:

Alaa Shahine, Israel pounds Lebanon, civilians fear worse to come, Reuters, July 19, 2006 (“Dozens of aircraft dropped 23 tonnes of explosives on a building in Beirut's southern suburbs where the army said it suspected senior Hizbollah leaders were holed up. The guerrilla group, however, denied any of its leaders or members were killed during the raid which it said hit a mosque under construction.”)

Hassan M. Fattah, To Flee or to Stay? Family Chooses Too Late and Pays Dearly, New York Times, July 24, 2006 (“The Israeli military said in a statement that its aircraft operations over southern Lebanon on Sunday had targeted ‘approximately 20 vehicles’ suspected of ‘serving the terror organization in the launching of missiles at Israel, and were recognized fleeing from or staying at missile-launching areas.’ The military did not comment on specific bombings, but cited the area south of Tyre, where the Shaitos [a family whose vehicle was attacked] were driving, as ‘an area used continuously by Hezbollah to fire missiles.’”)

Completion of Inquiry into July 30th Incident in Qana, Israel Defense Forces, August 3, 2006 (“The building was targeted in accordance with the military's guidelines regarding the use of fire against suspicious structures inside villages whose residents have been warned to evacuate, and which were adjacent to areas from where rockets are fired towards Israel”)

Hussein Dakroub, Officials: 12 hurt, 28 dead in airstrike, Associated Press, August 4, 2006 (“Four Israeli missiles slammed into a refrigerated warehouse where farm workers were loading vegetables Friday near the Lebanon-Syria border and at least 28 people were killed, officials said”; “The Israeli army said in a statement that it ‘attacked from the air two structures in the Bekaa Valley, on suspicions that weapons were being transported there.’”)

Edward Cody and Molly Moore, Cease-Fire Is Accepted In Lebanon, Washington Post, August 13, 2006 (“Milos Strugar, spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, said it had received no explanation from Israel for an attack Friday evening on a convoy of Lebanese soldiers, internal security forces and civilian residents from Marjayoun that had been joined by several hundred cars full of civilians”; “The Israeli military fired on the convoy ‘acting on the suspicion that these were Hezbollah terrorists transporting weaponry,’ according to a statement issued by the IDF on Saturday morning.”)


The accuracy of Israeli soldiers' targeting may not be much better than that of their air force: Benjamin Harvey, Many Israeli soldiers are critical, Associated Press, August 18, 2006 ("'We almost killed each other,' [Ilia Marshak, a 22-year-old infantryman] said. 'We shot like blind people. ... We shot sheep and goats.'")


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11. Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch, August 3, 2006, is a 50-page report concluding, in part, that “The Israeli government claims that it targets only Hezbollah, and that fighters from the group are using civilians as human shields, thereby placing them at risk.  Human Rights Watch found no cases in which Hezbollah deliberately used civilians as shields to protect them from retaliatory IDF attack.  Hezbollah occasionally did store weapons in or near civilian homes and fighters placed rocket launchers within populated areas or near U.N. observers, which are serious violations of the laws of war because they violate the duty to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties.  However, those cases do not justify the IDFs extensive use of indiscriminate force which has cost so many civilian lives.  In none of the cases of civilian deaths documented in this report is there evidence to suggest that Hezbollah forces or weapons were in or near the area that the IDF targeted during or just prior to the attack.”

For Mitch Prothero’s reporting, see Mitch Prothero, The "hiding among civilians" myth, Salon.com, July 28, 2006

See also the following:

Peter Bouckaert, White flags, not a legitimate target, The Guardian, July 31, 2006, states that: “Israel blames Hizbullah for the massive civilian toll in Lebanon, claiming that they are hiding the rockets they are firing at Israel, in civilian homes, and that they are fighting from within the civilian population. This is a convenient excuse. Human Rights Watch has consistently documented Hizbullah's war crimes, including deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilians, as well as the taking of hostages. But our investigations have not found evidence to support Israeli allegations that Hizbullah are intentionally endangering Lebanese civilians by systematically fighting from civilian positions. We can't exclude the possibility that it happens - but time and again villagers tell us that Hizbullah is fighting from the hills. Meanwhile, the homes hit by Israel have only civilians in them.”

Jonathan Cook, Israel, not Hizbullah, is putting civilians in danger on both sides of the border, August 3, 2006

Kenneth Roth, Fog of War Is No Cover for Causing Civilian Deaths, Forward, August 4, 2006 ("In many cases, Lebanese civilians who have survived air strikes on their homes or vehicles have told Human Rights Watch that Hezbollah was nowhere nearby when the attack took place")

Stephen R. Shalom, Lebanon War Question and Answer, ZNet, August 7, 2006




Various reports make it clear that Hezbollah fighters wear uniforms when they are in the field:

Scott Wilson and Edward Cody, Hezbollah Proves a Formidable Foe, Washington Post, July 27, 2006 (“The Hezbollah guerrilla fighters are mostly local Shiite youths who know the terrain and, in ordinary times, work and live among the population. … In recent years, its members have rarely carried arms or worn uniforms, except when called on to participate in an operation. They are trained to retreat back among their civilian neighbors when the firing dies down.”)

Clancy Chassay, 'We are winning this war ... Israel couldn't do what it said,' The Guardian, August 2, 2006 (“All our fighters are uniformed and equipped with armour; when we are in the field we dress as soldiers, but when we are with civilians we dress normally,” explained a Hezbollah fighter, who teaches history and geography to primary school students when he’s not called to war)

Jad Mouawad, To Many in a Town Under Attack, Militiamen Are Defenders, New York Times, August 3, 2006 (“Wearing olive green fatigues and combat boots, Ibrahim Yahia [a platoon commander with the local defense force established by the Amal movement] walked over the rubble inside his parent's house on the upper edges of this small border village and pointed to where the Israeli shell had blown a hole in the living-room wall”; “The presence of the fighters is obvious here, though it is impossible to tell how many. Men wearing fatigues and carrying walkie-talkies keep a distant but steady eye on visitors.”)

Kathy Gannon, Tyre hospital treats Hezbollah fighters, Associated Press, August 12, 2006 (Hezbollah fighters “are distinguishable by the khaki uniforms they wear”)

Kathy Gannon, Lebanese find destruction back home, Associated Press, August 14, 2006 (“In Kafra, about six miles north of the frontier, two Hezbollah soldiers in fatigues and carrying rifles stood beneath a tree watching cars creep past bomb craters”)

Anthony Shadid, Hezbollah Fighters Emerge From the Rubble, Washington Post, August 15, 2006 (most fighters are described as wearing “military-style pants”)

Carol Rosenberg, Hezbollah's transformation is a case study, McClatchy Newspapers, August 18, 2006 (according to Timor Goksel, a former U.N. peacekeeper who spent 20 years in southern Lebanon and now teaches a course in ethnic conflict at the American University of Beirut, "every Hezbollah member in south Lebanon had three changes of clothing in his closet: dress uniforms for parades, fatigues to fight in and the ordinary civilian clothes he wears by day to mask his membership"; Hezbollah's "uniforms have no emblems and insignia that could help Israeli soldiers sort out the commanders from the rank and file in combat")


Of course, it's possible that there are local militias, or perhaps simply men defending their land, who aren't as disciplined as Hezbollah.


News stories often describe Hezbollah fighters as nearly invisible:

Aron Heller, Israeli officer describes ferocious battle, Associated Press, July 27, 2006 (“Not once did he (Lt. Yaron Genkin) see the guerrillas, whom he described as an ‘invisible enemy’")

Michaela Cancela-Kieffer, Israeli paratroops learn to respect Hezbollah fighters, Agence France Presse, July 29, 2006 (“’We don't see them. They hide in the houses,’ Matan (an Israeli solder permitted to give only his first name) said, adding that those soldiers who did see their enemy generally ended up dead.”)

Ian Black, Inigo Gilmore and Mitchell Prothero, The day Israel realised that this was a real war, The Observer, July 30, 2006 (“'After almost 20 years covering them, I have exactly one source in the Hizbollah military wing,' complained a Lebanese Shia journalist, 'and he tells me nothing.'”)

Kathy Gannon, Trapped Lebanese flee city of Bint Jbail, Associated Press, July 31, 2006 (a Bint Jbail resident is quoted as saying "There are some resistance fighters. They can see you, but you can't see them.").

Hamza Hendawi, Lebanese village becoming ghost town, Associated Press, August 1, 2006. (“three guerrilla fighters who seemingly came out of nowhere and approached five journalists”; “Hezbollah fighters have rarely been seen, let alone interviewed since the fighting began July 12”)

Sabrina Tavernise, Hilltop Village in Lebanon Feels Stuck in the Middle, New York Times, August 2, 2006 (in a gathering at the Christian village of Ain Ebel, “None of the people gathered had actually seen a fighter, though many said they heard them moving around and setting off rockets near an olive grove below their houses”)

Stephen Farrell, 'Hezbollah aren't suckers, they know how to fight. You're scared all the time,' The Times (London), August 5, 2006 (according to one Israeli soldier, “All the time, they fired missiles at us. They never come face to face, just missiles”)

Tracy Wilkinson, Israeli Soldiers Expected Lesser Foe, Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2006 (an Israeli soldier “described firefights with an often unseen enemy”)

Jonathan Finer, Israeli Soldiers Find a Tenacious Foe in Hezbollah, Washington Post, August 8, 2006 (“Most of the time we only see them when they want to draw attention to themselves” said one Israeli soldier)

Greg Myre, Israel’s Wounded Describe Surprisingly Fierce, Well-Organized and Elusive Enemy, New York Times, August 12, 2006 (Israeli soldiers “describe Hezbollah as heavily armed, well organized and maddeningly elusive. The fighters, well concealed in bunkers and tunnels, emerge to fire automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and antitank rockets, they say, and then quickly disappear again”)

Gavin Rabinowitz, Israel, Hezbollah fight to a draw, Associated Press, August 15, 2006 (“To the consternation of the Israelis, they would be hit time and again in villages and towns they had already captured, as Hezbollah squads appeared like phantoms from hidden bunkers”)


See also the following:

Kevin Sites, The ground war: An Israeli reserve infantry officer explains what its really like to fight Hezbollah on the ground, Yahoo! News, August 10, 2006 (an Israeli soldier says that Hezbollah guerillas “usually fight from bunkers in outlying areas”)




Reporters have had some opportunities to interview Hezbollah fighters, primarily in some of the ruined villages in the south:

Dahr Jamail, 'Everything In My Life Is Destroyed, So I Will Fight Them,' July 28, 2006

Clancy Chassay, 'We are winning this war ... Israel couldn't do what it said,' The Guardian, August 2, 2006

'Patience is our watchword,’ The Guardian, August 3, 2006 (audio interview)

Jad Mouawad, To Many in a Town Under Attack, Militiamen Are Defenders, New York Times, August 3, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Among Militia's Patient Loyalists, Confidence and Belief in Victory, Washington Post, August 3, 2006

Nicholas Blanford, Hizbullah guerrillas await fight amid ruin, Christian Science Monitor, August 3, 2006

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, 'We hardly notice the blasts now' - a journey through Lebanon's ravaged south, The Guardian, August 5, 2006

Peter Beaumont, Where the shepherds tend guns by night, The Observer, August 6, 2006

Anthony Shadid, Hezbollah Fighters Emerge From the Rubble, Washington Post, August 15, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, Hezbollah Fighters Limp Out Into the Light, Yet Manage a Bit of a Swagger, New York Times, August 15, 2006




The New York Times, or at least one of its reporters, has suggested that the carefully-detailed Human Rights Watch report is unbelievable (saying that the report “went so far” as to accuse Israel of war crimes) while assuring readers that the high Lebanese casualties are due to Hezbollah’s hiding “its rocket launchers in family gardens, orchards and on village streets.” The reporter also states that “In the south, Hezbollah uses its standing to wage war on Israel, launching missiles from neighborhoods friendly to it and storing weapons in buildings such as hospitals and mosques.” There is not a shred of evidence proving any of this, and an abundance of evidence, some cited above, that this is not true. This is obvious pro-Israeli propaganda attempting to reassure the Times’ post-Qana readership. In perhaps the most ludicrous statement I have ever seen in a major newspaper, the reporter blames the refugees being blasted on the roads while fleeing north for not having “coordinated” their movements with Israel, although the reporter does admit that “it is nearly impossible to call Israel from Lebanon,” and that “The villagers said they did not understand that notification was necessary to avoid being shot.” Understand what this reporter is saying: these tens of thousands of terrified human beings, fleeing Israeli onslaught, often after Israel dropped leaflets telling them to leave, were at fault for not having thought to call Israel and work out travel arrangements. This is mind-bogglingly preposterous. The article is objectionable on several other grounds as well: relying on two “experts” who aren’t in Lebanon and can’t be familiar with the scale of the destruction; allowing one of the “experts” to set up a strawman standard of the level of destruction in Grozny; suggesting that the devastation of Beirut doesn’t target civilians because only the Shi’ite areas are pulverized; permitting the IDF to claim that only “10 civilians” were killed in the massacre of villagers fleeing Marwaheen even though the incident has been fully investigated by human rights groups and the names of the 20+ civilian victims are known; and failing to differentiate between Hezbollah’s military wing and its much larger political and social service wing. See Sabrina Tavernise, Civilians Lose as Fighters Slip Into Fog of War, New York Times, August 3, 2006


The only articles I’ve encountered that report instances of Hezbollah’s launching rockets from within residential areas were by this same reporter, in both cases repeating claims made by residents but not witnessed by the reporter:

Sabrina Tavernise, Hilltop Village in Lebanon Feels Stuck in the Middle, New York Times, August 2, 2006 (the article quotes a single witness, Ms. Lamiya Hassrouni, as stating that Hezbollah fired a rocket from a location variously described as “a garden area near her house” and “not far from Ms. Hassrouni’s olive grove.” It is not even clear where the firing area was, and Ms. Hassrouni admits that she did not see any Hezbollah fighters, although she says she heard them.)

Sabrina Tavernise, Christians Fleeing Lebanon Denounce Hezbollah, New York Times, July 28, 2006 (“’Hezbollah came to Ain Ebel to shoot its rockets,’ said Fayad Hanna Amar, a young Christian man, referring to his village. ‘They are shooting from between our houses.’”)


This reporter did not subject the residents’ claims to any examination. Compare her interrogation of the facts during her visit to a hospital in an area of Lebanon supportive of Hezbollah in Sabrina Tavernise, Empty Silence, Occasional Rocket Blasts, and Anger in a Bombed-Out Hezbollah Town, New York Times, July 26, 2006. When a doctor at the Ragheh Hareb Hospital in Nabatiye said he could not explain the nature of some of the wounds, in which the skin dissolved like wet paper when he began to stitch, she cautions that “he did not, however, show any such wounds.” (Were there even any patients with that type of wound in the hospital at that time, so that they could have been exhibited? She doesn’t tell us.) Moreover, things were being hidden from her: “It was not clear whether Hezbollah fighters were being treated there, and doctors did not allow free access to the hospital rooms.” (Why should a noisy reporter--particularly one from an enemy country--have free run of a hospital? Why would she possibly ask if Hezbollah fighters were present, as an affirmative response could set the hospital up for an Israeli attack. No one is actually this stupid.) The reporter saw sinister Hezbollah operatives everywhere: “the hospital seemed to have its loyalties. Men whispered and darkly scrutinized press badges. Names and numbers were carefully recorded. Journalists were asked to leave. Men wore black shirts and rode motor scooters, both Hezbollah trademarks.” And in commenting that the doctor “spoke fluent Russian after years of medical school in Ukraine,” she managed to associate him with the original evil-doer, the Soviet Union.

In reading some 600 news stories, I've found one other article that describes a Hezbollah “launcher” (for a rocket or an anti-tank missile?) left inside a village, apparently after the local population had fled: Kathy Gannon, Lebanese find destruction back home, Associated Press, August 14, 2006 (in Yaroun a “Hezbollah launcher still sat in the front garden” of a house)

In any event, isolated incidents, even if true, are not evidence, much less proof, of a systematic policy by Hezbollah of firing rockets from inside a populated community.



According to Tom Clonan, the security analyst for The Irish Times, “the type of missiles being fired by Hizbullah at Israeli cities cannot be fired from within houses, mosques, hospitals or even UN facilities as has been suggested by the IDF.” See Tom Clonan, Hizbullah rockets cannot be fired from buildings, The Irish Times, July 31, 2006



Perhaps Hezbollah’s anti-tank missiles can be launched from within a structure: Robert Fisk, Desert of trapped corpses testifies to Israel's failure, The Independent, August 15, 2006 (in Srifa, the reporter “did happen to notice what appeared to be the casing of a missile hanging from the balcony of a much-damaged house”)

Presumably, these would be fired at Israeli occupation troops inside the village:

Henry Chu and Kim Murphy, Israel Readies Broader Push as Losses Rise, Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2006 (“Nine of the Israeli soldiers were killed when a Hezbollah antitank missile hit a house they were inside in the border town of Debel, military sources said”)

Ze'ev Schiff, The war's surprises, Haaretz, August 18, 2006 ("Anti-tank weapons caused most of the IDF casualties in the war - nearly all the Armored Corps' casualties and many from the infantry units. More infantry soldiers were killed by anti-tank weapons than in hand-to-hand combat. Many of the infantry soldiers who lost their lives because of anti-tank weapons entered houses in the villages; the rockets penetrated the walls, killing them.")



What exactly do Israel and its supporters even mean when they charge Hezbollah with “hiding behind civilians?” That the local population supports countrymen fighting on their own soil? Of course—so would every country’s population. That Hezbollah sometimes defends a village from positions within the village? Of course; what army wouldn’t? If the claim is that Hezbollah fires rockets on Israel from within a populated village, where’s the evidence? During the war Israel bombed residential areas, and vehicles on the highway, hundreds of times. I believe I've read one article that reported finding military debris—weapons, equipment, bodies—after an Israeli bombing. See Robert Fisk, Lebanon's pain grows by the hour as death toll hits 1,300, The Independent, August 17, 2006 ("Not all the dead were civilians. At Kfar Shuba, dumper-truck drivers found the bodies of four Hizbollah members."). Not only have Israel and its supporters not been asked to produce evidence proving their claim, they haven’t even been asked to define what the claim is meant to assert.



Israeli soldiers routinely positioned themselves within Lebanese houses:

Tracy Wilkinson, Israeli Soldiers Expected Lesser Foe, Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2006 (Israeli infantryman Alon Gelnik’s unit “walked all night to reach the village of Adessa, just a few miles over the border, and found a virtual ghost town. Street by street, they moved into position, taking over several old stone houses and girding for the Hezbollah attacks that would come.”)

Richard A. Oppel Jr., Largely Empty, Stronghold of Militia Is Still Perilous, New York Times, August 14, 2006 (“Late on Wednesday night, Israeli soldiers from the elite Golani Brigade hiked five miles through darkness over tall hills carrying full packs, rifles and heavy jugs of water, arriving here [Bint Jbail] a few hours before dawn. Accompanied by a reporter, they holed up in the second story of an unfinished house.”)


And the United States and Israel are both known to make use of special forces whose members intentionally disguise themselves as locals.


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12. Matthew Kalman, Israel set war plan more than a year ago, San Francisco Chronicle, July 21, 2006


Other evidence includes the following:

Israeli army chief sold stocks hours before war, Agence France Presse, August 16, 2006

Ecumenical delegation returns from Beirut and Jerusalem, transmits concerns of the churches, World Council of Churches, August 16, 2006 (a delegation sent by the World Council of Churches reported that the representatives of Lebanon's various communities with whom they met had all agreed that "the destruction [of Lebanon by Israel] was both deliberate and planned")


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13. Seymour Hersh, Watching Lebanon: Washington’s interests in Israel’s war, The New Yorker, issue of August 21, 2006

US involved in planning Israel's operations in Lebanon, Agence France Presse, August 13, 2006 (“’When they grabbed the soldiers in early July, that was then a pretext’ for Israel's assault on Hezbollah, Hersh said Sunday on CNN television”)

Seymour Hersh interview on Democracy Now!, August 14, 2006



Of course, once the war started, the U.S. placed itself squarely behind Israel:

Robin Wright, Strikes Are Called Part of Broad Strategy; U.S., Israel Aim to Weaken Hezbollah, Region's Militants; Washington Post, July 16, 2006 (“Israel, with U.S. support, intends to resist calls for a cease-fire and continue a longer-term strategy of punishing Hezbollah, which is likely to include several weeks of precision bombing in Lebanon, according to senior Israeli and U.S. officials”)

Helene Cooper and Steven Erlanger, U.S. Appears to Be Waiting to Act on Israeli Airstrikes, New York Times, July 19, 2006 (“The outlines of an American-Israeli consensus began to emerge on Tuesday in which Israel would continue to bombard Lebanon for about another week to degrade the capabilities of the Hezbollah militia, officials of the two countries said”)



Accordingly, the U.S. prevented the U.N. Security Council from ordering a ceasefire:

Caroline Drees, US digs in heels against Mideast ceasefire calls, Reuters, July 19, 2006

Helene Cooper, Diplomats Back Troops, but Not Cease-fire, for Mideast, New York Times, July 26, 2006 (“In the face of United States opposition, an international conference here today stopped short of calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Lebanon crisis. [para] The conference instead adopted more nebulous language that reflected America’s desire to give Israel time to continue its bombardment of Hezbollah targets.”)

Warren Hoge, U.N. Deplores Civilian Deaths, but Cease-Fire Call Is Blocked, New York Times, July 31, 2006

John M. Broder, Bush Calls Attack on Qana ‘Awful,’ but Refrains From Calling for Immediate Cease-Fire, New York Times, August 1, 2006

Evelyn Leopold, UN Council to review Mideast resolution, Reuters, August 5, 2006 (draft resolution authored by France called for “immediate” cessation of fighting, but the U.S. wouldn’t accept that)


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14. For related documentation, see the following:

Initial news reports stated that the soldiers had been captured in Lebanese territory:

What Really Happened

Trish Schuh, Operation "Change of Location"?, Counterpunch, August 15, 2006


However, the official UNIFIL report states that Hezbollah fighters did cross the Blue Line. If this is from direct observation, rather than from media reports, it should be conclusive. See Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (For the period from 21 January 2006 to 18 July 2006), July 21, 2006, document S/2006/560

Perhaps UNIFIL’s daily press releases for July 12 and 13 would be helpful in understanding what their observers personally witnessed. For recent UNIFIL daily press releases (which don’t go back that far), see here.

On the other hand, reading the UNIFIL historical summary makes it clear that both Hezbollah (through periodic tactical missions) and Israel (through constant overflights of Lebanon) have repeatedly violated the Blue Line (the line for Israel withdrawal from Lebanon shown on UN maps). For the historical summary, see here.

For a listing of the violations of the Blue Line from the Lebanese side of the border, see Stephen R. Shalom, Lebanon War Question and Answer, ZNet, August 7, 2006 ("This table makes a number of points clear. First, Not a single Israeli civilian was killed by a rocket from Lebanon from May 2000 to July 12, 2006. And second, until May 28, 2006, there was not a single confirmed rocket fired at civilians by Hezbollah.")


In any event, Israeli commentators freely admit that, for Israel, this was a war of choice. See, for example:

Ari Shavit, Olmert cannot remain in the prime minister's office, Haaretz, August 11, 2006 (“If Olmert runs away now from the war he initiated, he will not be able to remain prime minister for even one more day”)

Gideon Levy, To failure's credit, Haaretz, August 13, 2006 (“Our favorite phrase, ‘an existential war’ is nothing more than another expression of the ridiculous pathos of this war, which from the start was a cursed war of choice”)

Doron Rosenblum, Not Sparta - and just as well, Haaretz, August 18, 2006 (one of "the failures of this war" was "the excessive ease with which it began")



For analyses that understand that history did not begin on July 12, when Hezbollah captured the two Israeli soldiers, see the following:

David Hirst, Israel's monstrous legacy brings tumult a step closer, The Guardian, July 14, 2006

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, The framing of Hizbullah, The Guardian, July 15, 2006

Charles Harb, Lebanon is made to pay; Israel, the US and key Arab regimes are now determined to crush the widely popular Hizbullah, the Guardian, July 17, 2006

Ali Fayyad, We are defending our sovereignty, The Guardian, August 25, 2006 (Ali Fayyad is a senior member of Hizbullah's executive committee)

Jim Muir, Washington risks a wider conflict, BBC News, July 28, 2006

Jim Muir, History repeats with a vengeance, BBC News, July 28, 2006

Down the Memory Hole: Israeli contribution to conflict is forgotten by leading papers, FAIR, July 28, 2006

Anders Strindberg, Hizbullah's attacks stem from Israeli incursions into Lebanon, Christian Science Monitor, August 1, 2006

Avi Shlaim, Israel's error, then and now, International Herald Tribune, August 4, 2006

George Monbiot, Israel responded to an unprovoked attack by Hizbullah, right? Wrong, The Guardian, August 8, 2006



The UNTSO (United Nations Truce Supervision Organization) also has positions near the Blue Line. The four UN observers killed by Israeli shelling near the village of Khiam on July 25 were from UNTSO. The organization’s website has very little information.


One of the observers who was killed (Major Hess-von Kruedener, a Canadian) sent an e-mail to Canada shortly before his death. The full text is available here.

Right-wing circles claim he stated “we've got Hezbollah fighters running around in our positions ... using us for shields and then engaging the [Israeli Defense Forces]." See, e.g., David Schenker, Laying out the Qana calculation, Chicago Tribune, August 2, 2006. However, there is no such sentence in the major’s e-mail.


Hezbollah did not intend to cause a large conflict; this operation was intended, as Hezbollah has always stated, simply to capture Israeli soldiers for a prisoner exchange. See Scheherezade Faramarzi, Hezbollah: Israeli onslaught a surprise, Associated Press, July 26, 2006.



Note that the “Blue Line” separating Israel and Lebanon is _not_ their “international border”; thus, media reports stating that Hezbollah crossed the “international border” are inaccurate. The “Blue Line” is simply the line established in the Lebanese-Israeli General Armistice Agreement of March 23, 1949, and later relied upon to determine Israel’s compliance with U.N. Security Council resolution 425, requiring Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory occupied following Israel’s March 14, 1978, invasion of Lebanon. Withdrawal to the Blue Line returned both parties to the status existing since the 1949 armistice agreement. Lebanon and Israel still need to formally demarcate their boundaries following a final peace agreement.


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15. Military engagement on Wednesday, July 26:

Robert Fisk, Smoke signals from the battle of Bint Jbeil send a warning to Israel, The Independent, July 27, 2006

Ian Black, Inigo Gilmore and Mitchell Prothero, The day Israel realised that this was a real war, The Observer, July 30, 2006


Destruction of relief trucks on Thursday, July 27:

Nadim Ladki, Israel pounds south Lebanon after heavy casualties, Reuters, July 27, 2006



Israel’s immediate change of strategy:

Raed El Rafei, Casualties force change in Israel's strategy, Daily Star (Beirut), July 28, 2006


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16. Kasher statement on Thursday, July 27: Nathaniel Rosen, IDF may be morally justified in flattening terror strongholds, The Jerusalem Post, July 27, 2006

Ramon statement on the same day: Laurie Copans, Israel mulls broadening Lebanon offensive, Associated Press, July 27, 2006

See also:

Jihad Siqlawi, Israeli forces strike south Lebanon, face fierce resistance, Agence France Presse, July 28, 2006 (Ramon quoted as saying “Everyone who is still in south Lebanon is linked to Hezbollah, we have called on all who are there to leave” and “Bint Jbeil is not a civilian location, we have to treat it like a military zone”)

Latest Lebanon-Israel developments, The Associated Press, July 27, 2006 ("The Israeli military warned Lebanese in the south that their villages would be 'totally destroyed' if missiles are fired from them").

Olmert says Israel may target Hezbollah leader, Agence France Presse, August 5, 2006 (“Olmert told the weekly Welt am Sonntag that the normal rules of war did not apply to Nasrallah, who was not a head of state but ‘the chief of a terrorist organisation.’”)



Israel has consistently failed to differentiate between Hezbollah’s military organization and its much larger social and political organization, even though, according to Lebanese professor Fawaz Trabulsi, Hezbollah has “a military and intelligence organization totally separated from the political organization." See Edward Cody and Molly Moore, 'The Best Guerrilla Force in the World,' Washington Post, August 14, 2006 (“Even the movement's political leadership was kept in the dark about many military and intelligence activities”). To the same effect, see Mitch Prothero, The "hiding among civilians" myth, Salon.com, July 28, 2006 (Hezbollah maintains a “firewall” between its two components)


The laws of war require combatants to target only military facilities, but Israel has targeted Hezbollah’s civilian facilities, its civilian leadership, individual party activists, and civilians who simply lived in areas that support Hezbollah. These are all war crimes:

The terrible toll of the Israel - Lebanon conflict on civilians: ongoing human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, Human Rights Watch, August 10, 2006 (“By failing to distinguish between combatants and civilians in their military campaign, Israel has violated one of the most fundamental tenets of the laws of war: the duty to carry out attacks on only military targets”)

Questions and Answers on Hostilities Between Israel and Hezbollah, Human Rights Watch, July 31, 2006


For an Israeli attack on an individual Hezbollah activist that killed his entire family, see Mitchell Prothero, Lebanon pays for Hezbollah's sins, Salon.com, July 14, 2006 (12 members of the family of Sayeed Adel Akkash, an alleged Hezbollah activist, killed when Israel bombed their home)


The American media also fails to acknowledge the fundamental distinction between Hezbollah’s military wing and its political-social wing. See, for instance, Robert F. Worth, Returning Home to Ruins: Shock Is Mixed With Outrage, New York Times, August 15, 2006 (implicitly justifying Israel’s destruction of entire blocks of residential high-rise buildings in Beirut by telling readers that the area “includes many Hezbollah offices.” What kind of offices? Their credit union? We’re not told.) In the same vein is Megan K. Stack, A Defiant Hezbollah Rises From the Rubble, Los Angeles Times, August 15, 2006 (describing the same devastation of Beirut by saying that “Hezbollah's urban nerve center is a shattered shell”)




The American media consistently portrays Israel’s bombing of civilians as justified:

Laila Bassam, Israel kills 35 civilians in strikes on Lebanon, Reuters, July 15, 2006 (“Israel killed 35 civilians on Saturday, including 15 children, in air strikes meant to punish Lebanon for letting Hizbollah guerillas menace the Jewish state's northern border.”)

Hassan M. Fattah, Bombings Bring Season of Fear to Seaside Resort, New York Times, July 18, 2006 (“since the current conflict began, Israeli aircraft have sought to bomb Tyre and the area south of here into submission”)


Would American media ever report, say, that “Hezbollah killed 35 civilians on Saturday, including 15 children, intending to punish Israel for menacing Lebanon”? Of course not. Only the U.S. and Israel are permitted to "punish" other countries.



For analyses of the American media’s performance during the war, see the following:

Marc J. Sirois, Western media has dropped the ball by failing to tell the real story in Lebanon, Daily Star (Beirut), July 20, 2006

Down the Memory Hole: Israeli contribution to conflict is forgotten by leading papers, FAIR, July 28, 2006

Julian Borger, It's like watching two different wars, The Guardian, August 2, 2006 (“Britons and Americans are watching two different wars”)

Mideast Weapons Deserve Scrutiny; Israels cluster bombs and alleged phosphorus use have escaped attention, FAIR, August 2, 2006

Salam Al-Marayati and Edina Lekovic, What The Times Isn't Telling You About Hezbollah, August 13, 2006

Andrew Gumbel, America's one-eyed view of war: Stars, stripes, and the Star of David, The Independent, August 15, 2006 (“There are two sides to every conflict - unless you rely on the US media for information about the battle in Lebanon. Viewers have been fed a diet of partisan coverage which treats Israel as the good guys and their Hizbollah enemy as the incarnation of evil.”)

Jonathan Cook, Real Photo Fakers; Real War Crimes, Counterpunch, August 16, 2006



Amusingly, a recent article purporting to discuss balance in the media in selecting photos from the war (but quickly devolving into a debate on which side was “right,” suggesting, I suppose, that the morally correct side should have greater photographic representation) started off by describing the conflict as “incited nearly five weeks ago by Hezbollah’s raid into Israel and its kidnapping of two soldiers.” Yes, history started on July 12, and Israel just happened to have this massive attack plan all ready to go. See Lorne Manly, In Wars, Quest for Media Balance Is Also a Battlefield, New York Times, August 14, 2006


One honorable exception is Anthony Shadid of the Washington Post. I have found his reporting from Lebanon to be consistently detailed, meaningful, human and unbiased.


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17. Anshel Pfeffer, The exorcism of the ghosts of Qana, Jerusalem Post, July 30, 2006


Resources on the Qana massacre:


For the reaction of human rights groups, see:

Amnesty International, 48 hours not enough as war crimes continue, July 31, 2006

Human Rights Watch, Israel Responsible for Qana Attack, July 31, 2006

Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch, August 3, 2006



For news stories, see:

Reporters describe carnage at Qana, BBC, July 30, 2006

Kevin Sites, Killings at Qana, Yahoo! News, July 30, 2006

Nicholas Blanford, Qana relives 1996 massacre as air strike kills at least 60 civilians, The Daily Star, July 31, 2006

Megan Stack, 'Everybody Was Dead Around Me,' Los Angeles Times, July 31, 2006

Robert Fisk, 'How can we stand by and allow this to go on?' The Independent, July 31, 2006

Sabrina Tavernise, A Night of Death and Terror for Lebanese Villagers, New York Times, July 31, 2006

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Jonathan Steele, Clancy Chassay, Rory McCarthy, Wendell Steavenson, and Julian Borger, 'They found them huddled together,' The Guardian, July 31, 2006

Anthony Shadid, A Refuge That Became a Place of Death, Washington Post, July 31, 2006

Tom Perry, Buried by bomb, mother saved lives in Qana, Reuters, August 3, 2006

Mountasser Abdallah, 12-year-old struggles to cope with loss of mother and 3 brothers, Agence France Presse, August 8, 2006


For photographs, see Information Clearinghouse

For video reports, see:

Information Clearinghouse

Information Clearinghouse


For an audio interview with Robert Fisk, see Information Clearinghouse



Initial media reports stated that between 54 and 60 people were killed at Qana, but this appears to have been in error. It now seems that 29 or 30 people were killed in the attack. They were buried on Friday, August 18:

Kathy Gannon and Lauren Frayer, Mass funerals in southern Lebanon, Associated Press, August 18, 2006 ("The breeze blew fine dust across graves where 29 people killed in an Israeli airstrike--half of them children-- were buried, as the ground was opened for funerals in south Lebanon on Friday, the Muslim holy day")

Beatrice Khadige, Tearful families bury Qana victims of Israel raids, Agence France Presse, August 16, 2006 ("A crowd of relatives and friends stood in a large circle as some 30 coffins, three of them wrapped with Hezbollah's yellow flags and the rest draped with the Lebanese national colours, were carried to their graves, an AFP correspondent on the scene said")


Israel has asserted four different justifications for the bombing:

1. Hezbollah guerillas had fired rockets from Qana. There is no specification of time or place, and there is neither allegation nor evidence that the Israeli missiles in question were fired at militants.

2. Israel had warned all civilians to leave. This apparently means that either (a) Israel didn’t expect any civilians to be present, or (b) anyone who remained did so voluntarily in support of Hezbollah and therefore was a legitimate target. (a) is factually preposterous, while (b) is a war crime.

3. Militants were sheltering inside the building. There is no evidence of this.

4. The building’s collapse was due to the explosion of stored munitions rather than the missile strike. There is no evidence of this.


For bizarre claims that the Qana massacre was faked by Hezbollah to gain worldwide sympathy, see:

Reuven Koret, Hezbollywood? Evidence mounts that Qana collapse and deaths were staged, israelinsider, July 31, 2006

The EU Referendum blog

D. Izenberg, J. Siegel-Itzkovich and N. Rosen, Bloggers raise questions about Kana, The Jerusalem Post, August 2, 2006

Such efforts are just plain sick.

News agencies have responded: David Bauder, News agencies stand by Lebanon photos, Associated Press, August 1, 2006



The right-wing groups making these claims were bolstered when an unrelated photo by Lebanese freelance photographer Adnan Hajj was determined to have been digitally manipulated so as to add additional smoke coming from bombed buildings. See the following for background:

Katharine Q. Seelye and Julie Bosman, Bloggers Drive Inquiry on How Altered Images Saw Print, New York Times, August 9, 2006

Patrick Barkham, Photos under fire in the propaganda war, The Guardian, August 9, 2006

Geoff Dyer, No surprise that the camera lies, The Observer, August 13, 2006

Patrick Barkham, Spot the Difference, The Guardian, August 14, 2006



For an example of the right-wing commentary seizing on this one doctored photo, see Tim Rutten, Lebanon photos: Take a closer look, Los Angeles Times, August 12, 2006



For excellent commentaries from a progressive perspective, see the following:

Andrew Ford Lyons, Digitally Erasing a Massacre: Why Hezbollywood Was Born, Counterpunch, August 15, 2006

Jonathan Cook, Real Photo Fakers; Real War Crimes, Counterpunch, August 16, 2006



For the Israel Defense Forces' announcement of the results of its inquiry into its conduct in bombing Qana, see Completion of Inquiry into July 30th Incident in Qana, Israel Defense Forces, August 3, 2006


For assessments of the Israeli claims, see:

Yoav Stern, Yuval Yoaz and Amos Harel, Livni: Qana attack led to turning point in support for Israel, Haaretz, August 1, 2006 (“It now appears that the military had no information on rockets launched from the site of the building, or the presence of Hezbollah men at the time”)

Dahr Jamail, 'No Hezbollah Rockets Fired from Qana,' IPS, August 1, 2006



The first two times the Lebanese Red Cross sent ambulances, Israel attacked them. The third attempt to reach Qana finally got through. See Dahr Jamail, Lebanese Red Cross Repeatedly Targeted, August 1, 2006


Even after the Qana massacre, the U.S. prevented the U.N. Security Council from calling for a casefire:

Warren Hoge, U.N. Deplores Civilian Deaths, but Cease-Fire Call Is Blocked, New York Times, July 31, 2006

John M. Broder, Bush Calls Attack on Qana ‘Awful,’ but Refrains From Calling for Immediate Cease-Fire, New York Times, August 1, 2006


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18. On August 7, Rice commented that the three prior weeks, during which hundreds of Lebanese civilians had died, “has been time that's been well spent.” See President Bush and Secretary of State Rice Discuss the Middle East Crisis, August 7, 2006. This recalls the comment by Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State under President Clinton, that, in relation to the death of 500,000 Iraqi children as a result of UN sanctions, “we think the price is worth it.” See "We Think the Price Is Worth It": Media uncurious about Iraq policy's effects--there or here, FAIR, Extra! November-December 2001


My goodness. I’ve quotes profoundly evil statements by three different women in these footnotes. It’s all Maggie Thatcher’s fault for making powerful right-wing women acceptable to the political elite.


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19. In Senate Resolution 534, passed on July 18 by a voice vote, the Senate, among other things, “(1) reaffirms its steadfast support for the State of Israel; (2) supports Israel's right of self-defense and Israel's right to take appropriate action to deter aggression by terrorist groups and their state sponsors; (3) urges the President to continue fully supporting Israel as Israel exercises its right of self-defense in Lebanon and Gaza.”

House Resolution 921, passed on June 20, 2006, by a vote of 410-8, with four voting “present” and 10 not voting, states, among other things, that the House “(1) reaffirms its steadfast support for the State of Israel; (2) condemns Hamas and Hezbollah for engaging in unprovoked and reprehensible armed attacks against Israel on undisputed Israeli territory, for taking hostages, for killing Israeli soldiers, and for continuing to indiscriminately target Israeli civilian populations with their rockets and missiles; (3) further condemns Hamas and Hezbollah for cynically exploiting civilian populations as shields, locating their equipment and bases of operation, including their rockets and other armaments, amidst civilian populations, including in homes and mosques; (4) recognizes Israel's longstanding commitment to minimizing civilian loss and welcomes Israel's continued efforts to prevent civilian casualties.”



For commentary, see Stephen Zunes, Congress and the Israeli Attack on Lebanon: A Critical Reading, Foreign Policy in Focus, July 22, 2006


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20. U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, calling for a "cessation of hostilities," opens the way for continued Israeli aggression against Lebanon. A true cease-fire resolution would have called for an immediate and total cessation of all military activities. 1701 does not. Instead, it (1) leaves the time of implementation up to the parties, i.e., Israel, a result intended by the U.S. to give Israel more time to attack; (2) allows Israel, but not Lebanon or Hezbollah, to conduct unspecified defensive military operations; (3) by prohibiting shipment of arms to Hezbollah, gives Israel (or even perhaps the U.S., in a later attack on Iran) an excuse to allegedly “enforce” the resolution. See the following:

As to the first point, see the following:

As to prior U.S. obstruction of a ceasefire, see footnote 13.

Warren Hoge and Steven Erlanger, U.N. Council Backs Measure to Halt War in Lebanon, New York Times, August 12, 2006 (“under a deal an Israeli official said was approved by the United States, Mr. Olmert will wait until Sunday to obtain his cabinet’s approval. Until then, he will expand his monthlong military campaign against the Hezbollah militia and its rocket arsenal”)

Uzi Benziman, Letting the IDF win, Haaretz, August 13, 2006 (“As far as we know, the operation initiated on Friday night does not formally contravene the Security Council resolution; it is being carried out with full U.S. knowledge and is meant to end today”)

David Millikin, No real winners as UN "ceasefire" resolution met by more fighting, Associated Press, August 12, 2006 (the remarks of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice “appeared to confirm the widely held view that the wording of the UN resolution, and the notable absence of a demand for an ’immediate’ end to the fighting, was designed to give Israel a final chance to weaken Hezbollah and occupy additional terrain in southern Lebanon prior to a truce”)

Warren Hoge, U.S. Shift Kicked Off Frantic Diplomacy at U.N., New York Times, August 14, 2006 (the U.S. was prepared to veto a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate Israeli withdrawal)



As to the second and third points, see the following:

Julian Borger, Oliver Burkeman and Ewen MacAskill, Peace deal at UN is clouded by Israeli ambiguity, The Guardian, August 12, 2006

Adam Entous, Israel says it can target Hizbollah arms despite truce, Reuters, August 13, 2006

Conal Urquhart, Mitchell Prothero and Peter Beaumont, UN says 'peace tomorrow' despite Israeli attack, The Observer, August 13, 2006


It would be profoundly ironic for a nation that has disregarded dozens of Security Council resolutions to purport to “enforce” one that happens to suit its interests.


For helpful commentary on the resolution, see the following:

Anthony D'Amato, The UN Mideast Ceasefire Resolution Paragraph-by-Paragraph, Jurist, August 13, 2006


For the text of the resolution, see here.

Note that, as of this writing, Israel continues to maintain its naval and air blockade of Lebanon.


On the night of August 18-19, Israel made its first "defensive" or "enforcement" raid into Lebanon:

Nadim Ladki, Israel raid in Lebanon tests U.N. truce, Reuters, August 19, 2006

Sam F. Ghattas, Lebanon gives warning after Israeli raid, Associated Press, August 19, 2006

Josef Federman, Israel warns it will enforce arms ban, Associated Press, August 19, 2006

Patrick Rahir, Hezbollah supporters tell of bold Israeli raid gone wrong, Agence France Presse, August 19, 2006


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