UN, UK officials denounce Israeli attacks

Further isolating the US in its refusal to rein in Israel's attacks on Lebanon, UN and UK officials touring Lebanon became increasingly vocal in their denunciation of the killing of Lebanese civilians and the widespread destruction of the Lebanese infrastructure. Britain dramatically broke ranks with the US on July 22, publicly criticizing Israel's military tactics and urging the US to "understand" the price being paid by Lebanese civilians. The comments, made by the British Foreign Office minister Kim Howells and Foreign Secretary Margaret Becket, were the first public criticisms by Britain of Israel's military campaign, and reflect an emerging difference–at the very least tone–between the UK and US governments over Israel's conduct of the war. Becket warned that the ground invasion could create "a very dangerous situation." She said that the invasion "could have dramatic effects, and that I find deeply alarming. We have been urging caution and restraint on Israel from the beginning and we continue to do so with ever greater concern as time goes on." After examining the destruction of Beirut, Howells told a BBC reporter: "The destruction of the infrastructure, the death of so many children and so many people: these have not been surgical strikes." UN humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland echoed those concerns during his visit to Lebanon, saying civilians were paying a "disproportionate price" in the attacks targeting of Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon. "It's terrible. I see a lot of children wounded, homeless suffering–I hadn't believed it would be block by block leveled to the ground." UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour stated that Israel's "indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable targeting of civilians," and that "the most basic human rights of the population are at risk of or are being violated, including their rights to life, health and food." Arbour issued a strong warning that civilian causalities in both Lebanon and Israel could amount to war crimes: "international humanitarian law is clear on the supreme obligation to protect civilians during hostilities." Criticisms of the Israeli offensive have drawn a sharp rebuke from Israel. Mark Regev, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: "Under very difficult circumstances, Israel is being as surgical as possible.... We put time and effort into urging civilians to vacate the areas of the fighting because we don't want to see civilian casualties. But on the other hand, the Hezbollah military infrastructure continues to bombard Israeli cities with missile after missile. We have to act to neutralize the threat." UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and much of the international community have called for a cessation of the violence and negotiations, but the US has blocked any movement in that direction in the UN Security Council or elsewhere. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has dismissed calls for a ceasefire as a "false promise" that would leave Hezbollah in a position to threaten Israel and allow for a fresh crisis within months. President Bush used his weekly radio address on July 22 to place the blame for the crisis squarely on Hezbollah and its alleged Syrian and Iranian backers. He said that Rice, in her visit to the Middle East, would "make it clear that resolving the crisis demands confronting the terrorists group that launched the attack and the nations that support it."