Tuesday 1st August/Day 20

The invasion of Lebanon expanded today as the Israeli cabinet agreed to widen their ground offensive. This news came as three civilians, a mother and her two daughters were killed by an Israeli rocket launched on the southern Lebanese town of Lweizeh. There were further air strikes targeting the Lebanese border villages of Bayyada and Mansoureh as well as attacks on eastern Lebanon. The most severe clashes however have taken place in Ait al Shaab. According to Israel Army Radio, Israel wishes to continue its invasion until her army reaches the Litani River which is 18 miles north of the Israeli-Lebanese border. Tuesday evening saw a full scale operation in which Isreali troops were deployed deep into Lebanon in the Beeka valley where they encountered resistance from Hizbullah.

 Humanitarian aid agencies continued to protest that they were unable to carry out their desperately required aid operations because of Israeli air strikes which could not guarantee them safe passage. One BBC reporter described the situation in Lebanon where up to 900,000 people have lost their homes as “desperately serious”. Furthermore two Belgian military airplanes carrying much required aid supplies were refused landing permission into Beirut today as Israel claimed their safety could not be assured. 

Meanwhile the EU pealed under pressure from Britain and Germany not to call for a ceasefire and instead reconciled member states by calls for “an immediate end to hostilities to be followed by a sustainable ceasefire”. This was despite an initial draft circulated to ministers by the EU's Finnish presidency which said flatly: "The Council called for an immediate ceasefire."  It certainly seems while the diplomacy continues so will the killing. Once again the lack of calls for a ceasefire will be seen by Israel as a green light to continue its aggression against the Lebanese people. This evening full air strikes returned to the Lebanon following a 48 hour aerial ceasefire which was dully broken by the Israeli army when it saw fit with no regard for the civilians who continually add to the exodus of people trying to leave the war torn country. This ceasefire was called after the fatal Qana massacre in which 50 civilians were brutally murdered – mainly children. The horrors of this massacre are yet to be seen by the world’s media. Claims by Israel that this was in response to rockets fired from Qana have since been quashed by Red Cross aid workers who categorically deny these claims. Click here to see the innocent who Israel has waged its war against.

The insistence by Bush and Blair to obstruct calls for a total ceasefire is as deeply regrettable as it is criminal. We urge our readers to remain steadfast in lobbying their MP’s in order to force a resolution in which Israeli aggression will be forced to stop. Mpac calls upon all Muslims whose hearts ache when witnessing the atrocious images of our children's bodies blown to pieces to continue to lobby MP's and media for their bias. Once is not enough!

Three weeks of fighting has resulted in the deaths of 750 people by the Israeli army, the majority of which have been civilians . On the other side of the conflict, 51 Israelis including 18 civilians have been killed by the Hizbullah resistance movement.

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