This article really got my blood boiling. Do we, as humans, really find it necessary to inflict that much pain and suffering on fellow humans? Do we really need to possess such harmful weapons whose use needs to be regulated by international treaties that are not obeyed most of the time?!
Israelis dropped phosphorous bombs in
warRAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
October 23 2006The Israeli army dropped phosphorous bombs against Hizbollah
guerrilla targets in Lebanon during the war in August, an Israeli minister said
yesterday, confirming Lebanese allegations for the first time.Phosphorus weapons
can cause severe burns and are banned for use in civilian areas, but Israel
insisted it used the weapons in accordance with international law."The Israeli
army made use of phosphorous shells during the war against Hizbollah in attacks
against military targets in open ground," Cabinet Minister Yaakov Edri said.The
Lebanese government had accused Israel of dropping such bombs during the
conflict.Until now, Israel had said it used the weapons only to mark targets or
territory, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.Edri said international law did
not ban the use of phosphorous weapons. However, many rights groups, including
the Red Cross, have pushed to ban the weapons. The Geneva Conventions ban using
white phosphorous against civilians or civilian areas. More than 1200 civilians
were killed on both sides during the conflict, which started with Hizbollah's
kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers in July.Israel has been accused of firing up
to four million cluster bombs into Lebanon during the war, especially in the
hours before the ceasefire. UN experts say up to one million cluster bombs
failed to explode immediately and continue to threaten civilians.The UN Mine
Action Centre says at least 21 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded
by cluster bombs since the end of the war. A cluster bomb killed a 12-year-old
boy and injured his brother in southern Lebanon yesterday. Hizbollah has been
criticised for failing to distinguish between Israeli civilian and military
targets. Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said air force flights
over Lebanon would continue because arms smuggling to Lebanese guerrillas had
not stopped.Several ministers also called for a military operation to retake
control of Gaza's southern border and prevent Palestinian militants smuggling
weapons from neighbouring Egypt.-AP
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