1. Current situation:
Israel's powerful war machine pounded Lebanon for the 17th day on Friday, Israeli planes and warships hammered southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley. The United Nations interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) issued a statement on Friday warning that, because of the heavy Israeli shelling and "intensive aerial bombardment" on several southern towns, "There are a number of civilians who are still stranded in these towns". (I think the Israelis are contemplating flattening villages down to the last house," said Richard Morczynski, UNIFIL's political officer).
Israeli warplanes, tanks and warships targeted "any moving vehicle on the roads in the south and the Bekaa" on Friday, according to the Lebanese National news agency.
i. "The Israeli bombing wounded one French journalist in the southern town of Ainata and another media convoy was bombed on the road leading to the southern town of Rmeich.
ii. At least 15 civilians, including a Jordanian, were killed by Israeli raids Friday and several others wounded, including four children, while a church was demolished in Safad-al- Batikh.
iii. An agriculture tractor was bombarded near Anjar, another one carrying potatoes was hit near Ali-al-Nahri. A trailer was destroyed near Kamed-el -Loz.
iv. A building was destroyed in Kafar joz, Killing 3 persons and injuring 10.
v. Israel warplanes and powerful war machines bombarded all villages and towns situated along the Lebanese/Israeli borders, destroying civilian houses, roads and water storage tanks
The cumulative figures of casualties described here bellow:
|
Estimated No. of Death:
|
615
|
| Estimated No. of Injured people: |
3020
|
Aid workers are finding it impossible to get medical supplies and food safely to isolated villages in southern Lebanon due to the Israeli bombardment, aid agencies said on Friday.
A humanitarian corridor has allowed the United Nations to truck food and basic medical supplies to the southern port of Tyre, but getting a safe passage beyond that is another matter.
"For us the major issue is clearly the impossible access in south. This talk of a humanitarian corridor should not mask the real situation," said Christopher Stokes, director of operations for Medecins sans frontiers." It's a kind of humanitarian alibi because in effect there is no real humanitarian access in the south. And we are deluding ourselves, the international community is deluding it self, if it believes there is," he said in his Beirut office.
Contacts with Israel to secure safe passage had not been encouraging, meaning access was worse than in other war zones, such as Chechnya, "it wasn't completely reliable there. But you had something to work with. But here, it seems you are taking your chances," he said, adding that Lebanese aid workers were the backbone of the emergency aid effort." I've rarely seen people so committed, who are staying in the areas under really impossible conditions. They have no protection whatsoever," he said. "And they are the ones doing most of the work. It's not the international aid community, that's quite clear." UN official said.
(pdf* format - 33 KB)