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.
ok so according to you - u do exist and have not suffered and ure ppl deseved it.
Thanks...at least i heard it form a native american's mouth.
We do exist, we have suffered, and in most instances we didn't deserve it. What I'm trying to say is that war is never black and white, and most of the U.S. was gained through treaty negotation and not endless bloodshed. A tribe of 500 cannot stand up against an endless flood of millions of Europeans sailing to America. You make a choice, live or die.
We do exist, we have suffered, and in most instances we didn't deserve it. What I'm trying to say is that war is never black and white, and most of the U.S. was gained through treaty negotation and not endless bloodshed. A tribe of 500 cannot stand up against an endless flood of millions of Europeans sailing to America. You make a choice, live or die.
ok i understand ure point........lets say its the 20th century this was happening ...who side would u be on and what will u speka up against? would u speak out against the invader or the invadee?
it seems to me that u value humiliation and being donimated.
I'm actually quite happy here in the United States. I don't feel dominated or humiliated. I'm sure my ancestors did feel humiliated and dominated, but what is the other option? Yes, they could have all rode to their death against the U.S. Army, how poetic that could have been...but of course then I wouldn't exist.
ok i understand ure point........lets say its the 20th century this was happening ...who side would u be on and what will u speka up against? would u speak out against the invader or the invadee?
I assume you are referring to the creation of Israel? If I would have lived at the time of its creation and understood the dynamics of the problem, I would have voiced my objection to so many people being displaced. If I was a Palestinian I would have felt humiliated and dominated, of course. Now it is 2006, and the only option for peace is a two-state solution with Israel's neighbors aknowledging its right to exist, otherwise, endless war. That is a choice the Palestinians have to make.
I assume you are referring to the creation of Israel? If I would have lived at the time of its creation and understood the dynamics of the problem, I would have voiced my objection to so many people being displaced. If I was a Palestinian I would have felt humiliated and dominated, of course. Now it is 2006, and the only option for peace is a two-state solution with Israel's neighbors aknowledging its right to exist, otherwise, endless war. That is a choice the Palestinians have to make.
i was refering to if it was ure people being invaded today.
ANyhow....u said u would accept the state of israel....so how com eu didnt say u would support a state of palestine? u knwo israel dosent support this right?
i was refering to if it was ure people being invaded today.
ANyhow....u said u would accept the state of israel....so how com eu didnt say u would support a state of palestine? u knwo israel dosent support this right?
I did say I would support a Palestinian state, that is what a two-state solution is all about.
also u know that everytime israel extend its boarders or invades and sets up settlements....they are displacing ppl.....and this is a continuious thing.....are u willing to voice ure opinion against it?
i was refering to if it was ure people being invaded today.
ANyhow....u said u would accept the state of israel....so how com eu didnt say u would support a state of palestine? u knwo israel dosent support this right?
You must have missed the part where he mentioned 2 states
nice......i'm glad u said that...so y not israel forget an forgive hezbollah and hamas and move on? istead of killing ppl who probally dont support these two groups? how about releasing the captive palestinans and forget and accept and move on?
also u know that everytime israel extend its boarders or invades and sets up settlements....they are displacing ppl.....and this is a continuious thing.....are u willing to voice ure opinion against it?
Yes, creating settlements in occupied land is displacing people. However, Israel has dismantled some of those settlements and had left Gaza before this recent outbreak of violence. I believe Ariel Sharon was willing to accept the two-state solution, but unfortunately Olmert doesn't carry as much weight as Sharon, figuratively and literally(joke), and the election of Hamas as the Palestinian government didn't sit well with Israel, since Hamas refuses the right of Israel to exist. The solution broke down, and now we have violence. I'm not calling Israel a victim, they have created this problem from the way the state was created and the people displaced because of it. However, I would assume the majority of Palestinians as well as the majority of Israelis want peace, and that should be what people work for, not how to kill each other.
nice......i'm glad u said that...so y not israel forget an forgive hezbollah and hamas and move on? istead of killing ppl who probally dont support these two groups? how about releasing the captive palestinans and forget and accept and move on?
Yes, creating settlements in occupied land is displacing people. However, Israel has dismantled some of those settlements and had left Gaza before this recent outbreak of violence. I believe Ariel Sharon was willing to accept the two-state solution, but unfortunately Olmert doesn't carry as much weight as Sharon, figuratively and literally(joke), and the election of Hamas as the Palestinian government didn't sit well with Israel, since Hamas refuses the right of Israel to exist. The solution broke down, and now we have violence. I'm not calling Israel a victim, they have created this problem from the way the state was created and the people displaced because of it. However, I would assume the majority of Palestinians as well as the majority of Israelis want peace, and that should be what people work for, not how to kill each other.
but yet it seems to me that somehow ure posts are slanted more on the israeli side.? Ariel sharon moved into a refugee settlement and literally bulldozed muslim tents with ppl in it he shuld be tried for war crimes...and actaully it has been raised...but offcourse the US dosent support it. How come they didnt pull out of all the settlements? only the ones that they werent really interested in...or maybe they knwo that they will be reoccupying them soon again.
i think the cat may have caught his tongue. Worth not rplying or cant reply?
who me?
hmmm 3 agsint one? nothing new....US , UK , Israel...against muslims?. U just need a couple of more of ure friends to jump in and it will be a big party right?
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