Obligingly ignoring the evidence that the Qana “massacre” was staged and that Hizballah deliberately launches attacks from civilian areas in order to provoke responses they can use as propaganda victories, the UN’s Chief Dhimmi shills for the League of Arab States’ jihadist agenda. Note the continuing attempts to exaggerate the casualty count. From AP, with thanks to JE:
UNITED NATIONS – Israel’s air raid on in the Lebanese town of Qana, which killed 28 people, may be part of a larger pattern of violations of international law in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report Monday.
In that light, Annan said that the July 30 attack was sufficiently serious to merit a more comprehensive investigation.
The attack should be seen “in the broader context of what could be, based on preliminary information available to the
United Nations … a pattern of violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law committed during the course of the current hostilities,” Annan wrote.The Security Council had asked Annan last week to report back on the circumstances of the attack, when it approved a statement expressing its “extreme shock and distress” at the bombing. It deplored the loss of civilian life in the conflict.
In the six-page report, Annan acknowledged requests from Lebanon, the League of Arab States and the Non-Aligned Movement for a full investigation. Yet the report said the seven days Annan was given were not nearly enough for such a task, particularly because the war has made getting to Qana difficult and U.N. observers weren’t there when the attack occurred.
Funny. The press had no trouble getting there.
Initial accounts had said that some 56 people were killed in the attack. But the toll was later lowered by half. Of the 28 bodies pulled from the rubble, some 14 were children, Annan said.
Annan’s report said the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known by its acronym UNIFIL, could not confirm or deny Israel’s contention that Hezbollah was launching attacks from Qana before the July 30 attack….
Two letters from Lebanon “” one from its U.N. mission and the other from its Foreign Ministry “” said the Qana attack was one of several violations of humanitarian law Israel has committed during the fighting against Hezbollah.
The letter from the U.N. mission said that the civilians who remained in Qana, which had been bombarded heavily in the previous two weeks, either found escape blocked by destroyed roads and buildings, or were too old, sick or poor to leave.
That letter claimed that 62 people were killed and that Israel had presented no evidence showing Hezbollah was operating among them. The warnings Israel delivered do not absolve it of its humanitarian obligations, the letter said.
“In Qana, Israeli forces deliberately attacked the civilian population sheltering in an unadulterated residential area,” the letter said. “This, without any doubt, represents a war crime committed against (the) civilian population not taking direct part in the hostilities.”
The other Lebanese letter conformed with Annan’s conclusion that 28 people were killed.