UN chief: Israel is violating humanitarian law
UN chief: Israel is violating humanitarian law
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Sunday, 23, Jul 2006 08:07
The UN humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, has condemned Israel's continued air-strikes upon Lebanese territory and accused the Jewish state of being in "violation" of international humanitarian law by not allowing relief aid to arrive.
Mr Egeland was speaking from Beirut itself after flying to the capital city to survey the damage caused by Israeli bombardment, with residents reeling after 12 successive days of artillery fire.
Israel insists it is targeting Hizbullah strongholds to prevent militants from firing rockets into its territory, while it is also pressing for the release of soldiers taken hostage, the capture of whom is the underlying cause of the crisis.
The UN chief walked through the "horrific" rubble of areas of Beirut levelled by Israeli strikes, which Mr Egeland denounced as "disproportionate".
He will now turn his attention to securing safe passage for aid to arrive in the areas of Lebanon that need food, water and medicine, although he believes the total cost of aid will be about £54 million.
"It is already a very major crisis. More than half a million people are directly affected, either because they are refugees or internally displaced. They have had to flee their homes, or they are trapped," Mr Egeland said.
"This number will grow dramatically. We are very concerned that the whole population in southern Lebanon has been asked to leave by Israel.
"At the moment, we are not able to get relief into the country in any quantities and more importantly, we are not able to distribute it beyond certain points which we can reach at the moment. But we need safe access. So far Israel is not giving us access," he added.