Israel Won’t Prosecute for Use of Cluster Bombs in Lebanon
By ISABEL KERSHNER
New York Times
JERUSALEM — Israeli military prosecutors announced Monday that they would not press charges over the army’s use of cluster bombs during the war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, actions that had been widely criticized by human rights organizations.
The announcement came as Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams met here Monday evening for the second time since the American-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md.
Cluster bombs are not prohibited in warfare, but their use is criticized because they contain “bomblets” that explode over a wide area and may strike unintended targets. In addition, bomblets that fail to explode become, in effect, land mines that can be detonated by civilians long after fighting has stopped. More than 30 Lebanese are said to have been killed by munitions left behind after the monthlong war in 2006.
Soon after the fighting stopped, a top United Nations aid official, Jan Egeland, described Israel’s use of cluster bombs as “shocking” and “completely immoral,” not least, he said, because most had been fired in the last 72 hours of the war, when it was clear that the conflict was moving toward a resolution.
In November 2006, the Israeli Army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, ordered an investigation into whether the bombs had been fired according to his orders. He resigned in January amid widespread domestic criticism over the way the war had been fought.
(Continued here.)
New York Times
JERUSALEM — Israeli military prosecutors announced Monday that they would not press charges over the army’s use of cluster bombs during the war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, actions that had been widely criticized by human rights organizations.
The announcement came as Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams met here Monday evening for the second time since the American-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md.
Cluster bombs are not prohibited in warfare, but their use is criticized because they contain “bomblets” that explode over a wide area and may strike unintended targets. In addition, bomblets that fail to explode become, in effect, land mines that can be detonated by civilians long after fighting has stopped. More than 30 Lebanese are said to have been killed by munitions left behind after the monthlong war in 2006.
Soon after the fighting stopped, a top United Nations aid official, Jan Egeland, described Israel’s use of cluster bombs as “shocking” and “completely immoral,” not least, he said, because most had been fired in the last 72 hours of the war, when it was clear that the conflict was moving toward a resolution.
In November 2006, the Israeli Army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, ordered an investigation into whether the bombs had been fired according to his orders. He resigned in January amid widespread domestic criticism over the way the war had been fought.
(Continued here.)
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