56 people, most of them women and children, were killed when Israeli planes bombed a Lebanese village.
In a message to BosNewsLife News Center shortly after the announcement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said early Monday, July 31, that it obtained video footage showing that Hezbollah used the village of Qana to fire rockets. BosNewsLife saw footage of rockets being fired from what Israel said was the Qana region. BosNewsLife also monitored footage of rockets being fired outside a high rise building as well as a truck apparently being used to drive weapons to a civilian area.
Earlier Israel’s UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman told the Security Council Sunday, July 30) that, "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 Hizbullah. They are the victims of terror. If there were no Hizbullah this would never have happened."
Yet, the Qana attack overshadowed the Middle East trip of a visibly shaken United States Secretary of State Condoleezza, who has been seeking to reach what she called "a sustainable ceasefire." Following the deadliest attack in nearly three weeks of fighting, she cut short her Middle East trip as the Lebanese government said it saw no reason for talks without a ceasefire.
The suspension of over-flights was announced by State Department spokesman Adam Ereli, news agencies said. "The United States welcomes this decision and hopes that it will help relieve the suffering of the children and families of southern Lebanon," Ereli told reporters traveling with Rice.
Israel has warned there will be more air strikes if it learns that the militant group Hezbollah plans new rocket from southern Lebanon against Israeli towns. Hezbollah has already said it will "revenge" the in the village of Qana, which brought Lebanon’s confirmed death toll to more than 510. Throughout the day, reporters saw how workers pulled dirt-covered bodies of young boys and girls _ dressed in the shorts and T-shirts they had been sleeping in, out of the rubble of the three-story building.
EXTENDED FAMILIES
Two extended families, the Shalhoubs and the Hashems, had gathered for shelter from another night of Israeli bombardment in the border area when the 1 a.m. strike brought the building down, The Associated Press (AP) news agency reported. "I was so afraid. There was dirt and rocks and I couldn’t see. Everything was black," said Noor Hashem, 13, whose five siblings were apparently killed. Noor was pulled out of the ruins by her uncle, whose wife and five children also died, AP reported.
In a statement to BosNewsLife, the Israeli Defense Forces said "the responsibility for any civilian casualties rests with the Hezbollah who have turned the suburbs of Lebanon into a war front by firing missiles from within civilian areas."
Western reporters visiting the scene did not see rockets, but recalled that Hezbollah had used the area to fire rockets in the past. "Residents in this region and specifically the residents of Qana were warned several days in advance to leave the village," the IDF said. "Eighteen Israeli civilians have been killed and over 400 have been wounded by these rocket attacks which have disrupted the lives of tens of thousands of Israeli citizens."
ANGRY CROWD
In Beirut, an angry crowd ransacked the United Nations office, accusing it of cooperating with the United States. The violence came as Christian aid workers tried to support humanitarian aid to at least 700,000 internally displaced people. In addition about 150,000 our believed to have fled to Syria and other countries.
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), one of the main Christian groups on the ground in Lebanon, said its staff and volunteers in Beirut "are providing emergency food, bedding, shelter, and basic necessities for displaced families."
"ADRA is in daily coordination with the United Nations and other international non-overnmental organizations (NGOs), and is establishing a much broader emergency feeding program that will impact thousands of displaced people in Beirut over the coming months," it said in a statement released by the Adventist Press Service..
"CARE PACKAGES"
The relief agency said it will provide "care packages" for displaced families sheltering with relatives, and other people, "that contain a three-month supply of supplementary food aid." The care packages will provide half the daily energy requirements for the families, with the other 50 percent coming from the host families.
In addition hygiene packs, each containing a mixture of dental health products, soap, shampoo, combs, sanitary pads, nappies and baby creams will be distributed by ADRA to thousands of displaced people in and around Beirut. "The hygiene packs will positively impact the health of women and children, helping to prevent disease," ADRA said.
Israel apologized for the deaths of civilians and the human suffering but blamed Hezbollah fighters. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the battle will continue, "despite the difficult incidents this morning," to stop the Hezbollah rocket attacks which has forced an estimated 750,000 Israelis, to flee and stay in bomb shelters.
"Israel is not rushing into a cease-fire before we reach a situation in which we can say that we have achieved the main goals that we set for ourselves, and this also requires the maturation of the diplomatic process and reaching a detailed agreement regarding the stationing of forces that will secure the areas from which Israel has been endangered during this period," he said. (With reports from Lebanon and Israel and the United States. Stay with BosNewsLife for continues coverage on the crisis in the Middle East, from a different perspective).
