The bombings last night which killed eighteen people have forced at least three hundred people into refugee camps after Israeli warplanes struck at a residential area in southern Beirut. The plight of these refugees remains extremely desperate.

The Independent reported on the refugee camp of Mar Elias now being shared by Lebanese and Palestinians alike, both sheltering in fear from the constant bombing. Robert Fisk writes of the irony of how “…the Palestinians and their descendants of the 1948 flight from Palestine - are now hosting thousands of Shia refugees from southern Lebanon, just as those refugees' grandparents once hosted the Palestinians of 1948.” Despite remaining a key target of the bombing, the 100,000 refugees in Beirut are the lucky few who can receive aid which is being stockpiled in warehouses because it simply cannot reach those civilians caught up in the bombings in southern Beirut.

The UN in response to Israel’s imposed curfew of the whole area south of the river Litani said, it would no longer be sending the few conveys previously journeying to the south because of the threat that the Israeli warplanes posed with their indiscriminate attacks. Tyre, the once bustling port and hub of Lebanon’s tourism industry is now a ‘ghost town’ – no one dares venture out of their houses for fear of being shot. A leaflet dropped by the Israeli army on Tyre and other towns south of the Litani River warned that any vehicles travelling on the roads were now a target because of the imposed curfew. 

The murder continued today as thirteen people were killed and twenty three wounded in the savage bombing of the southern Lebanese town of Ghaziyeh. The first death came as a building was bombed close to a funeral procession to which the 1,500 mourners greeted with cries of “Allah hu Akhbar”. The funeral had been for the burial of fifteen people killed in air strikes the previous day. Further air strikes smashed into two buildings and killed twelve people.  There were reports the strikes were aimed at a cleric affiliated to Hizbullah but it was unknown whether he was among the dead. In a country where Hizbullah are part of the Governemnt and so many other institutions one must ask who is not affiliated to Hizbullah. It seems clear with the deaths of 900 or so civilians everyone is a target to be bombed at in the Israeli perception of warfare.

Bint Jbeil saw the deaths of three Israeli soldiers when their tank was fired at while Israeli admitted to the killing of fifteen Hizbullah fighters there. Fighting continued in many areas including the coastal town of Naqoura, Khiyam and the village of Ainata. Israel today announced it had extended its occupation up to 8km into Lebanon. Meanwhile Hizbullah seeming undeterred continued to launch rockets into northern Israel although there were no reports of any casualties today.

In total 961 Lebanese, forty-five percent of whom have been children and 98 Israelis, 69 of which are Israeli soldiers have been killed in the conflict. 913,000 Lebanese have been displaced. The destruction of Lebanon has been estimated to be at a cost of $2.5 billion to the economy and has included the destruction of 146 bridges and 72 roads.

UN Resolution

Security-Council officials and members of the Arab league are currently working on an acceptable resolution to the Lebanese and many other Arab nations who see evident bias in favour of Israel. Lebanon has demanded the resolution to include a withdrawal of the 10,000 strong Israeli army for fear of indefinite occupation by the current occupier of the Palestinian territories. The Lebanese Prime Minster announced yesterday that Lebanon would call up 15,000 reservist soldiers to help monitor the southern Lebanese border along with a UN force to help to facilitate a lasting peace in the area.

Israel backed by President Bush however insists the troops will remain until the UN force arrives which will take many weeks or perhaps months to organise. How these leaders expect peace to follow from a resolution which endorses occupation for whatever length of time is farcical when one only has to look a stones throw away at another occupation which has prompted two intafadas because of Israel’s brutal actions toward civilian populations.

Other News

Israel announced its intentions to evacuate 15,000 residents from the city of Kiryat Shmona which has come under increasing fire from Hizbullah. The citizens of Tyre and so many other towns in southern Lebanon were however not so fortunate enough to earn such a respite from the misery of war – nothing can get in or out of Tyre as all bridges and roads have been destroyed. Reports show that as the killing continue; countless numbers of the dead remain unburied. This is because those would carry out the burial either fear attacks on them or there are simply no relatives remaining to carry out these last rights. Al Jazeera reported that “More than 70 bodies, recovered from various southern villages and brought to the Lebanese government hospital in Tyre, are still waiting to be laid to rest.”

The media today also highlighted the issue of an oil spill which took place as a result of the bombing of a power plant by Israel nearly a month ago on July 14. It is reported that up to 30,000 tons of oil has leaked fifty miles off the Lebanese coast and has now spread north into Syrian waters causing excessive damage to the environment. Many are labelling this as the “Mediterranean’s worst ever environmental catastrophe”. A Lebanese parliamentarian described the bombing as part of the war of hatred by the Israel.

---