United Nations - The UN Security Council called Sunday for an end to violence
in Lebanon and expressed "extreme shock and distress" over Israel's bombing of
civilians in the village of Qana which killed 56 people, almost all of them
women and children.
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![Israel is facing widespread outrage over an airstrike Sunday that killed 56 civilians, almost all of them women and children, when it leveled a building where they had taken shelter. [Reuters]](xin_220703310939384198214.jpg)
A Red Cross member carries a body inside an ambulance after an
Israeli air raid in Qana, 6 km (4 miles) from the port-city of Tyre
(Soure) in south Lebanon, July 30, 2006. The attack killed at least 56
people, including 37 children. [Reuters]
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But the presidential statement, adopted unanimously by the 15-member council
in an emergency session, stopped short of condemning the Israeli airstrike
Sunday.
The council said it "strongly deplores this loss of innocent life and the
killing of civilians in the present conflict" and called for the council to work
without delay to adopt a resolution for a lasting settlement of the crisis.
"The Security Council expresses its extreme shock and distress at the
shelling by the Israeli Defense Forces of a residential building in Qana, in
southern Lebanon, which has caused the killing of dozens of civilians, mostly
children, and injured many others," it said.
Earlier Sunday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had called again for an
immediate halt to violence between Israel and Hezbollah, telling the council he
was "deeply dismayed" that his previous appeals went unheeded.
He said the region was becoming impatient that the council, the most powerful
UN body, had yet to issue a meaningful response after three weeks of war in
Lebanon.
"Action is needed now before many more children, women and men become
casualties of a conflict over which they have no control," Annan said.
Attempts by Qatar, the only Arab nation on the council, to strengthen
language in the statement prolonged discussions late into the evening before the
statement was passed.
But US Ambassador John Bolton opposed any condemnation of the attack.
Bolton repeated the American insistence that any statement must address what
the US says is the root cause of the conflict, Hezbollah's continued grip on
southern Lebanon and its attacks on Israel.
"Our view for quite some time has been and remains that we need to work
toward a permanent solution to the problems in the region and that obviously we
are converging to try to find a way to reach that solution," Bolton said.
In the three weeks since fighting began, the Security Council's only response
has been a weak statement expressing shock and distress at Israel's bombing of a
UN post on the Lebanon border Tuesday which killed four unarmed UN observers.
The United States, Israel's chief ally, has blocked stronger statements
because it does not want to press Israel for an immediate cease-fire.
In unusually frank terms, Annan said the council risks undermining its own
authority if it does not take action. He said that was underscored by attacks on
the UN headquarters in Beirut Sunday, when protesters angry about the Qana
attack smashed windows and hurled stones.
"People have noticed its failure to act firmly and quickly during this
crisis," Annan said.
Lebanese special envoy Nouhad Mahoud expressed disappointment about the
statement and said Israel's announcement late Sunday that it was suspending
airstrikes on south Lebanon for 48 hours was inadequate.
"There is no cease-fire and there is no cessation of hostilities," he told
reporters at the United Nations late Sunday, referring to Israel's announcement.
"We are looking for something much more than that."
A French-backed Security Council resolution is expected to be discussed in
the coming days. President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair called
Friday for a UN resolution that would lay the groundwork for peace in Lebanon
and deploy an international force there.
Speaking before the council, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman called it a
"horrible, sad and bloody Sunday." While he apologized for the airstrike in
Qana, he said there was no comparison between Hezbollah, which intentionally
targets Israeli civilians and uses Lebanese civilians as human shields, and
Israel, which tries to avoid civilian casualties.
"Those people including women and children who were killed in this horrible
tragic incident may have been killed by Israeli fire but they are the victims of
the Hezbollah," Gillerman said. "They are the victims of terror. If there were
no Hezbollah this would never have happened."
Gillerman said Hezbollah must be disarmed before any cease-fire. Otherwise,
he said, the militant group will rise again, "not just against us and not just
against the people of Lebanon, but against the whole region and civilization as
we know it."
Syria's Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari faulted the United States for the attack,
saying it was carried out with "American bombs."
"They call them smart bombs, but actually they are silly bombs," he said.
"They call them laser-guided bombs but (they) are actually hate-guided
bombs."
