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Tuesday, July 18, 2006 

Has Human Rights Watch been reading the Syria News Wire?

At 2.50pm on Saturday I posted this:


10 Lebanese civilians killed fleeing border

Israeli jets have attacked a van driving AWAY from the border area. Ten civilians dead, many more injured.

There seems to be a clear attempt to injure people trying to escape the danger areas. There is no escape by sea or air, and the land borders are blocked. I hope Amnesty and Human Rights Watch are taking note.


Then yesterday I posted this at 12.06am (it was a warning given on Saturday):


Israeli Army says 'get out of Southern Lebanon'

The Israeli Army has issued an incredible warning to the millions of Lebanese in the south of the country: GET OUT.

They gave people two hours to leave or face the consequences. Anyone remaining would pay the price, and civilian casualties would not be the Israelis' fault.

But leaving is difficult - as the Israelis well know. They have bombed roads, bridges and petrol stations across the south specifically to STOP people leaving.

Getting out - let alone getting out in two hours - is almost impossible. Even in normal conditions driving from the south to the centre would take about two hours.

Israeli Brigadier General Udi Adam: "We have now released a warning, an alert to Lebanon, to the residents of south Lebanon, that in two hours we recommend they leave their homes in some of the areas and move north because within a few hours we are going to attack that area, using all our military means."


Now Human Rights Watch says this:


On Saturday, a number of families fled the southern Lebanese village of Marwahin after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned them to evacuate ahead of a threatened attack. On the road leading to the coast through Chamaa, however, Israeli missiles struck a convoy of the civilians. Maps of southern Lebanon show this road to be the only direct route for escaping the dangerous border area.

Having warned civilians to evacuate their village, Israeli forces should have been aware that civilians would be using this road and should have taken great care to avoid harming them.

Based on information provided by relatives, news sources identified the victims of the attack on the convoy as:

`Ali Kamil Abdullah and his son `Ali, Sana’ Muhammad Abdullah, Subha Abdullah and the children: Hadi Muhammad Abdullah, Rym Ibrahim Abdullah, Kamil Abdullah, Hassan Kamil Abdullah, Muhammad Kamil Abdullah, Hussain Kamil Abdullah, Zahra Faris Abdullah
Muhammad Musa Ghannam, his wife Suha, and their children: Qassim, Mustapha, Hussain, Zaynab, Da`a’, Amina `Ali Ghannam.


While I am glad they've taken notice of this atrocity, a quick skim through the posts on here will show that many more civilians have been attacked, and civilian infrastructure has been targeted. Yesterday a Lebanese Army base was struck killing 9 Lebanese soldiers. And Israel claims its war is with Hizbollah.

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