UN says Israeli overuse of cluster bombs in Lebanon ‘defies belief’
By IMEMC & Agencies
September 20th, 2006
Following on a statement by an Israeli commander that the Israeli army fired at least 1.2 million cluster bomblets on Lebanon during the war, the majority of which were fired when hostilities were largely over, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator verified that number and harshly criticized the Israeli use of cluster bombs.
“The outrageous fact is that nearly all of these munitions were fired in the last three to four days of the war,” David Shearer, the United Nations (UN) humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, told a news conference in Beirut Tuesday.
The United Nations coordinator added, “Most bomblets were fired by the time the conflict had been largely resolved in the form of Resolution 1701”, adding, “We know these (cluster) munitions have a failure rate and it seems to me extraordinary that they were fired off in the last hours of the war into areas where civilian populations were known to be going,” Shearer said.
“For a humanitarian person, it defies belief that this would happen.”
Meanwhile, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland has called Israel “completely immoral” for using cluster bombs in residential areas. (….Full Article)
