Thursday, July 27, 2006
By now everyone has seen this story, but forgive me if I'd like to get it on the record here, as well: UN humanitarian chief blasts Hizbullah
Jan Egeland spoke with reporters at the Larnaca airport in Cyprus late Monday after a visit to Lebanon on his mission to coordinate an international aid effort. On Sunday he had toured the rubble of Beirut's southern suburbs, a once-teeming Shi'ite district where Hizbullah had its headquarters.
During that visit he condemned the killing and wounding of civilians by both sides, and called Israel's offensive "disproportionate" and "a violation of international humanitarian law."
On Monday he had strong words for Hizbullah, which crossed into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12, triggering fierce fighting from both sides.
"Consistently, from the Hizbullah heartland, my message was that Hizbullah must stop this cowardly blending ... among women and children," he said. "I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this. I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men."...
Here's a short video of an IDF strike on a Hizballah rocket launcher ensconced in a civilian neighborhood.
Also, here's a PowerPoint presentation on Hizballah used by the IDF that dates to early 2004, though it's still interesting.
Finally, TigerHawk reminds us of a recent Hizballah policy statement: "Death to America is not a slogan. Death to America is a policy, a strategy and a vision."
