Israelis
Accused Of Using
Illegal Weapons
By Dahr Jamail
29 July, 2006
Inter Press Service
BEIRUT, Jul 28 (IPS) - The Israeli military is using
illegal weapons against civilians in southern Lebanon, according to
several reports.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch
(HRW) said this week that Israel had used cluster bombs in civilian
areas of Lebanon, in clear violation of international law.
The group said cluster bombs
killed a civilian and injured 12 others in Blida village in the south
of Lebanon last week. Cluster bombs disperse hundreds of tiny shrapnel-filled
'bomblets' that are "unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable",
and should not be used in civilian areas, HRW said.
Lebanese doctors, aid workers
and refugees are reporting that the Israeli military has used the incendiary
weapon white phosphorous in civilian areas, also in violation of the
Geneva Conventions.
Dr. Bachir el-Sham at the
Complex Hospital in Sidon in the south of Lebanon told IPS in a telephone
interview that he has received civilian patients injured by incendiary
weapons.
"We are seeing people
that are all blackened, with charred flesh that is not burned by normal
bombs and flames," he said. "I am sure this is a special bomb.
They are using incendiary weapons on civilians in the south. We are
seeing these patients."
The doctor also told IPS
that the Israelis are again using suction bombs, which they used heavily
during the Lebanese civil war.
"They are using suction
bombs that implode our buildings," he added, "With implosive
bombs...instead of the glass blasted out, it is inside the building.
These kill everyone inside the building. There are rarely survivors
when they use these bombs."
Bilal Masri, assistant director
of the Beirut Government University Hospital (BGUH) had told IPS earlier
that "many of the injured in the south are suffering from the impact
of incendiary white phosphorous."
Wafaa el-Yassir, Beirut representative
of the non-governmental organisation Norwegian People's Aid, told IPS
that several of her relief workers in the south had reported assisting
people hit by incendiary weapons.
"The most important
thing is that we have an investigation for the Israelis' use of banned
weapons," she said. "They have used phosphorous in Nabatiyeh
and cluster bombs in Dahaya district of Beirut."
She also told IPS that a
doctor at the Bint Jbail hospital, in the small city near the southern
border of Lebanon where much of the fierce fighting has taken place,
had told her agency that he was certain that white phosphorous had been
used against civilians there.
Zacharia al-Amedin, an 18-year-old
refugee being treated for lacerations from bomb shrapnel told IPS, "I
was in a village near Tyre, and the Israelis were dropping incendiary
bombs all around us, even though there weren't fighters near us. So
many civilians were hit by these weapons."
The Lebanese ministry of
interior has officially said that the Israeli military has used this
weapon.
President Emile Lahoud said
recently on French radio: "According to the Geneva Conventions,
when they use phosphorous bombs and laser bombs, is that allowed against
civilians and children?"
An Israeli military spokesman
told Reuters news agency, "Everything the Israeli defence forces
are using is legitimate." International law requires that the military
distinguish between combatants and civilians. Incendiary weapons and
cluster bombs when used in areas where there may be civilians contravene
international humanitarian law.
"We are a country of
humans, not animals," Sham told IPS. "Real people are dying
here. You must ask this of the world, to please help."