Lebanese leader reveals only one death in Houla 'massacre'
The conflict appears no closer to a resolution after 27 days of fighting
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Monday, 07, Aug 2006 08:13
The Lebanese prime minister has 'thanked God' that an Israeli air strike at Houla killed only one person, despite earlier claiming that at least 40 civilians had died in a "horrific massacre".
However, despite this fatality revision, almost 1,000 people are still thought to have lost their lives as a result of the violence between Hizbullah militants and Israel.
An emotional Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese premier, had earlier made the announcement to foreign ministers at a meeting between the Arab league today, while air strikes across the country killed more than 20 others, as the conflict shows no sign of abating on its 27th day.
A UN security council resolution led by the US and France calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the creation of an international peacekeeping force has been blocked by Lebanon after its delegates refused to accept the proposal unless it explicitly called for a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from within its borders.
Israel has also been hit by accusations that it is hampering the relief effort to Lebanese civilians by targeting the country's transport infrastructure, with roads in and out of Tyre rendered unusable.
Hizbullah has said it will stop launching missiles of its own into Israel once the Jewish state withdraws from Lebanon, but Israel is maintaining that the release of two captured soldiers, the root of the entire conflict, remain a precursor to any eventual ceasefire.
Both sides insist that they will not stop hostilities until their seemingly conflicting demands are met.
Lebanese health officials claim that about 950 people, mostly civilians, have died in their country since Israel began strikes, with the prime minister explaining that the death toll at Houla had been revised after initial fears that a building housing 50 people had been directly hit.
Mr Siniora said: "They thought that the whole building smashed on the heads of 40 people. Thank God that they have been saved."
Israel has previously claimed the town was a base for Hizbullah militants and said that its forces will remain there until an international force is deployed to prevent rocket attacks carried out on its cities.
Yesterday, Israeli civilians sustained hundreds of casualties from rocket attacks fired from southern Lebanon, with ten people killed in the village of Kfar Giladi and at least three killed and about 100 injured in a later attack on Haifa.
The Israeli army said that it had destroyed rocket launchers used in the Haifa attack near the Lebanese town of Qana and the port of Tyre.
More than 80 Israelis are now thought to have died in the conflict.