BEIRUT — Lebanon shook under a new wave of killer Israeli strikes on Monday, July 17, and overnight, killing more Lebanese civilians with no sign of a let-up in the conflict that erupted five days ago.
In the deadliest raid, at least 19 Lebanese, including army soldiers, were killed and 56 others wounded in a pre-dawn Israeli strike on a military office topped by a radio transmitter in the southern port city of Tyre, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Six civilians, three of them children, were killed late Sunday when Israeli jets targeted the southern Lebanese border village of Aitarun.
Beirut's international airport, already shut to traffic, was hit again late Sunday by Israeli warplanes which fired 10 missiles on a runway and set the night sky ablaze.
The disabled airport is one of many problems facing residents and foreign nationals seeking to flee Lebanon, with the increasingly dangerous land route to Syria the only available exit for many.
Governments worldwide were also scrambling Monday to evacuate their nationals on the sixth day of the devastating blitz of Israeli air strikes.
Monday's raids brought to at least 167 the number killed in Lebanon over six days, Israel's fiercest offensive on its northern neighbor since it launched a full-scale invasion in 1982.
The onslaught has left Lebanon virtually cut off from the outside world and much of its infrastructure in tatters, with jets targeting roads, bridges and power stations.
Lebanese Finance Minister Jihad Azur said Sunday that massive damage inflicted by Israeli military strikes on his country had already cost its fragile economy more than half a billion dollars.
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has declared Lebanon a "disaster zone" and appealed for urgent international help.
Reluctance
Solana, left, during his talks with Siniora.
Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said Sunday that Israel showed no willingness to ease mounting tensions.
He said Lebanon had been informed by Italy that Israel had set two conditions — the release of the two soldiers taken prisoners and the withdrawal of the resistance movement from its stronghold in southern Lebanon.
Vijay Nambiar, special political adviser for the UN secretary general, called for a ceasefire following talks with Siniora.
He also called for "the release of the captured as part of a solution to this conflict," in a reference to Hizbullah's operation which took prisoner two Israeli soldiers.
Nambiar called for "the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure which must be protected."
The five-member mission, which arrived in Beirut earlier Sunday, also includes UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen.
In the highest-profile visit since the crisis began last week, EU foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana arrived in Beirut Sunday for talks with the Lebanese premier.
A draft statement, to be discussed by EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels Monday, will urge all parties to work to end escalating Middle East violence but stop short of demanding an immediate ceasefire, according to Reuters.
The text appeals to Hizbullah to halt attacks on Israeli cities and Israel to avoid a "disproportionate" reaction.
"A de-escalation of the current situation is imperative ... The (EU) Council urges all parties concerned to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of violence," said the statement.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin will also travel to Beirut on Monday to meet his counterpart Siniora as a sign of "solidarity and support of the French people in their trial, the French government said.
France, which has long ties with its former colony Lebanon and some 17,000 citizens resident in the country, has criticized the Israeli attacks as a "disproportionate" response to the Hizbullah's operation.
so u saying that thousands of missles were fired into israel and they did nutten about it....but 2 soldiers were kidnapped (not killed) and they wage war? hmmm dosent make sense to me....
I also noticed ure name is Geranimo? isnt that a name of an american indian? where are the american indians now? didnt the europeans invade their land and killed them and the few remaining were place into Zoo? err i mean reserves?
Isnt that what Israel is about? extending and forming the boarders of israel to occupy and control jerusalem and palestine? and killing the muslims? or putting them in "reserves" ?
so u saying that thousands of missles were fired into israel and they did nutten about it....but 2 soldiers were kidnapped (not killed) and they wage war? hmmm dosent make sense to me....
I also noticed ure name is Geranimo? isnt that a name of an american indian? where are the american indians now? didnt the europeans invade their land and killed them and the few remaining were place into Zoo? err i mean reserves?
Isnt that what Israel is about? extending and forming the boarders of israel to occupy and control jerusalem and palestine? and killing the muslims? or putting them in "reserves" ?
Funny I don't live on a reserve but thanks for playing. I'm sorry but this is all the time we have for our favorite gameshow "Name That Stereotype!". By the way read about some of the raids Native Americans made against the pale skins during the French Indian War. We weren't exactly peace loving.
Funny I don't live on a reserve but thanks for playing. I'm sorry but this is all the time we have for our favorite gameshow "Name That Stereotype!". By the way read about some of the raids Native Americans made against the pale skins during the French Indian War. We weren't exactly peace loving.
Geronimo, you're actually Native American? Small World, Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma here.
The French and Indian War wasn't about being invaded, it was about picking a side the Ottawa and Huron thought would give them more in return. As a rule, the French were more fair in their interaction with the Native tribes.
who would be peace loving to being invaded? and it seems u are justifing what they did to u?
BTW i didnt know u were actually native american
I sure am. Part of the Shawno tribe and I'm not justifying what was done to my people. I'm just saying everything is not black and white. There are rarely any right side to any conflict. By the way it wasn't or land. At the time we had no belief in land ownership that's why when we made deals we thought we were beating out the white man because no one can own the land.
A large majority of the Native American tribes were a culture built around warfare, and they were very good at it. Of course the Native tribes knew they were being invaded, but you have to keep in mind that Natives didn't consider themselves one people, they were hundreds of different peoples who spoke different languages. Hard to create a unified front against invasion when you don't trust your "friends" either.
A large majority of the Native American tribes were a culture built around warfare, and they were very good at it. Of course the Native tribes knew they were being invaded, but you have to keep in mind that Natives didn't consider themselves one people, they were hundreds of different peoples who spoke different languages. Hard to create a unified front against invasion when you don't trust your "friends" either.
I sure am. Part of the Shawno tribe and I'm not justifying what was done to my people. I'm just saying everything is not black and white. There are rarely any right side to any conflict. By the way it wasn't or land. At the time we had no belief in land ownership that's why when we made deals we thought we were beating out the white man because no one can own the land.
Shawno, can't say that I've heard of you guys. Are you Canadian or by the Canadian border?
so how com eif there isnt any right side to anyconflick its seems that u are on the side of israel? what did all the muslims in the GAZA do to have their power station destroyed and by extension- their water supply destroyed and food destroyed?some of them kidnapped 1 soldier...but the million ppl living in the Gaza are straving and dont have freesh water to drink beacuse of it....also..with no power their can be no ICU.....
offcourse the world isnt really paying atteention to this because of smart tactics by israel to divert attention to lebanon. Its palestinian lands they want..lebanon is secondary.
so how com eif there isnt any right side to anyconflick its seems that u are on the side of israel? what did all the muslims in the GAZA do to have their power station destroyed and by extension- their water supply destroyed and food destroyed?some of them kidnapped 1 soldier...but the million ppl living in the Gaza are straving and dont have freesh water to drink beacuse of it....also..with no power their can be no ICU.....
offcourse the world isnt really paying atteention to this because of smart tactics by israel to divert attention to lebanon. Its palestinian lands they want..lebanon is secondary.
Over 1000 missles since February is what they did to deserve the incursion. Kidnapping the soldier was the final straw.
Destroying the infrastructure in Gaza will probably lead to a humanitarian crisis, but I assume their intention was to pressure the Palestinian government, or what passes for their government, to release the hostage. The only other option would be to negotiate, which in reality only works to create more hostage taking because then those that kidnap know that it works. There is no good guy here, and nobody is "rooting" Israel, but reasonable people understand that this situation wasn't caused by Israel alone.
so u are really saying that the plight of ure people are hyped up and it wasnt that bad and its really negative propaganda? and the invasion and abuse/rape/burning etc...didnt really happen? and beacuse the fact that the europeans were technologiaclly advance they used it to their advantage to fight unfairly etc? or the fact that they traded contaminated sheets and items to ure ppl so they can infect them with the differnet diseases?
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