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War Aftermath

Disarming cluster bombs in Lebanon Photo: AFP

Evacuating wounded in Bint Jbeil Photo: Niv Calderon

UN envoy on children says Israel broke international law

Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflicts, Radhika Coomaraswamy, tours southern Lebanon, says Israel used 'disproportionate force' during war

Associated Press
Published: 04.13.07, 02:13 / Israel News

A UN envoy for children in conflict said Thursday she had been horrified by the destruction of a Lebanese village besieged by Israeli troops last year, and that many of Israel's actions during the war against Hizbullah had violated international law.

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The UN's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflicts, Radhika Coomaraswamy, told reporters she would discuss Israel's conduct during the Second Lebanon War when she meets its government on the next stop of her Middle East tour.

''I think the message is very clear - the need to respect civilians'' and to distinguish between civilians and combatants, Coomaraswamy said in Beirut after a three-day visit to Lebanon.

She referred to Israel's dropping of millions of cluster bombs during the 34-day war and its ''disproportionate use of force,'' which destroyed much of Lebanon's infrastructure.

Coomaraswamy said she was ''horrified'' by the destruction she saw in the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil ''and the considerable impact that it had on children.''

''Many of the actions taken in the Lebanese war appear to have violated international humanitarian law,'' Coomaraswamy said when asked if she would be raising with Israeli officials what their armed forces had done in Lebanon.

She said she would add her voice to those pressing Israel to provide data on the location of the cluster bombs dropped on southern Lebanon in the last days of the war. ''Apparently they do have the data in the computer,'' she said.

'We will deal with her request when she arrives'

In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yariv Ovadia declined to indicate Thursday how Israel would respond to Coomaraswamy's push for maps of the cluster bomb areas.

''We will deal with her request when she arrives,'' Ovadia said.

Asked about her accusations that Israel had violated international law and employed disproportionate force, Ovadia said: ''No comment.''

More than 1,200 Lebanese were killed in the war. The Israeli death toll was 120 military personnel and 43 civilians.

The United Nations and human rights groups say that Israel dropped about 4 million cluster bomblets on Lebanon during the war. It is thought that up to 1 million bombs failed to explode.

Since the war ended on Aug. 14, such ordnance has killed 29 people and injured another 215 - 90 of them children.

Coomaraswamy said the main aim now is not to eliminate the unexploded cluster bomblets, but to ensure they do not cause further casualties.

Ordnance clearing specialists hope that through an awareness program they will be able to stop casualties from occurring by December.

Fifty-six ordnance clearing teams from around the world are at work in southern Lebanon, she said.

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