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You'll hit us, warned UN staff
Martin Chulov, Beirut
July 27, 2006
UN observers made 10 frantic telephone calls to the Israeli military, warning them aerial attacks were getting close to their post, in the hours before a direct hit on their bunker killed four peacekeepers.
A UN report released last night said the peacekeepers were told during each of the calls that the bombing would cease, but they were then hit by a precision-guided missile.
UN rescue teams were trying last night to recover the bodies of their colleagues - believed to be Austrian, Finnish, Canadian and Chinese peacekeepers - from the ruins of their post at Khiyam, near the Lebanon-Israeli border.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert telephoned UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to deny warplanes had deliberately bombed the UN position.
An angry Mr Annan earlier issued a statement accusing Israel of conducting a "co-ordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long-established and clearly marked UN post".
The UN chief said the strikes had taken place "despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire".
China condemned the strike, saying it was "deeply shocked" and demanding a ceasefire.
A spokesman for the UN interim force in Lebanon said: "One aerial bomb directly impacted the building and shelter in the base of the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon in the area of Khiam."
Officials later confirmed that missiles had landed near the post throughout the day, before the deadly shell hit at 7.30pm, destroying the base.
The attack came a day after hospital officials in southern Lebanon accused Israel of deliberately targeting ambulances clearly marked with the red cross, killing more than a dozen civilians, including children.
As a crisis meeting in Rome, brokered by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, got under way, Mr Annan demanded an urgent investigation into the bombing of the base.
Mr Olmert said the strike had been a "tragic accident". He apologised to UN staff and said he was taken aback by Mr Annan's accusations.
And Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, said yesterday he was surprised by Mr Annan's "premature and erroneous assertions".
"I was deeply distressed by the hasty statement by the Secretary-General insinuating that Israel has deliberately targeted the UN post."
The Rome conference, which came as another 13 Israeli soldiers were last night killed in heavy fighting with Hezbollah militia, aimed to produce a framework for a ceasefire, then truce, after two weeks of bloodshed that threatens to drag in neighbouring countries.
Dr Rice has resisted calls for an immediate truce and demanded that a lasting solution to the crisis be first spelt out. However, Arab states and Lebanon insisted that a ceasefire must first be declared.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last night described as "humiliating" the Israeli demands his organisation immediately hand over two captured soldiers, whose kidnapping triggered the conflict, and disarm its guerillas. He threatened to launch rockets further into Israel.
Iran also condemned the talks to failure, because neither Iran nor Syria -- key Hezbollah backers -- were invited. A spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Hamid-Reza Asefi, said that "if they quest after peace, they must invite all the countries in the region, including Syria and Iran".
Arab nations will nevertheless continue to insist on an immediate ceasefire. Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia said they would speak with one voice at the talks. Israel has agreed to the deployment of an international force but laid down terms of its own, insisting that the international deployment succeeds in creating a buffer zone protecting Israeli citizens from rocket attacks.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has committed to re-occupying Lebanon to establish a buffer zone of its own if the peace initiative failed.
A pessimistic Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he doubted the Rome talks would bring a short-term solution to the conflict, which last night had claimed the lives of 421 Lebanese and 55 Israelis.
Martin Chulov, Beirut
July 27, 2006
UN observers made 10 frantic telephone calls to the Israeli military, warning them aerial attacks were getting close to their post, in the hours before a direct hit on their bunker killed four peacekeepers.
A UN report released last night said the peacekeepers were told during each of the calls that the bombing would cease, but they were then hit by a precision-guided missile.
UN rescue teams were trying last night to recover the bodies of their colleagues - believed to be Austrian, Finnish, Canadian and Chinese peacekeepers - from the ruins of their post at Khiyam, near the Lebanon-Israeli border.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert telephoned UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to deny warplanes had deliberately bombed the UN position.
An angry Mr Annan earlier issued a statement accusing Israel of conducting a "co-ordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long-established and clearly marked UN post".
The UN chief said the strikes had taken place "despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire".
China condemned the strike, saying it was "deeply shocked" and demanding a ceasefire.
A spokesman for the UN interim force in Lebanon said: "One aerial bomb directly impacted the building and shelter in the base of the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon in the area of Khiam."
Officials later confirmed that missiles had landed near the post throughout the day, before the deadly shell hit at 7.30pm, destroying the base.
The attack came a day after hospital officials in southern Lebanon accused Israel of deliberately targeting ambulances clearly marked with the red cross, killing more than a dozen civilians, including children.
As a crisis meeting in Rome, brokered by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, got under way, Mr Annan demanded an urgent investigation into the bombing of the base.
Mr Olmert said the strike had been a "tragic accident". He apologised to UN staff and said he was taken aback by Mr Annan's accusations.
And Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, said yesterday he was surprised by Mr Annan's "premature and erroneous assertions".
"I was deeply distressed by the hasty statement by the Secretary-General insinuating that Israel has deliberately targeted the UN post."
The Rome conference, which came as another 13 Israeli soldiers were last night killed in heavy fighting with Hezbollah militia, aimed to produce a framework for a ceasefire, then truce, after two weeks of bloodshed that threatens to drag in neighbouring countries.
Dr Rice has resisted calls for an immediate truce and demanded that a lasting solution to the crisis be first spelt out. However, Arab states and Lebanon insisted that a ceasefire must first be declared.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last night described as "humiliating" the Israeli demands his organisation immediately hand over two captured soldiers, whose kidnapping triggered the conflict, and disarm its guerillas. He threatened to launch rockets further into Israel.
Iran also condemned the talks to failure, because neither Iran nor Syria -- key Hezbollah backers -- were invited. A spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Hamid-Reza Asefi, said that "if they quest after peace, they must invite all the countries in the region, including Syria and Iran".
Arab nations will nevertheless continue to insist on an immediate ceasefire. Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia said they would speak with one voice at the talks. Israel has agreed to the deployment of an international force but laid down terms of its own, insisting that the international deployment succeeds in creating a buffer zone protecting Israeli citizens from rocket attacks.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has committed to re-occupying Lebanon to establish a buffer zone of its own if the peace initiative failed.
A pessimistic Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he doubted the Rome talks would bring a short-term solution to the conflict, which last night had claimed the lives of 421 Lebanese and 55 Israelis.
