- Israel's Foreign Minister admits that the Qana massacre was a tipping point that has caused some of Israel's allies to rethink their support of the military campaign. What happened at Qana is slowly being made public as well:
As the Israel Air Force continues to investigate the air strike, questions have been raised over military accounts of the incident.
It now appears that the military had no information on rockets launched from the site of the building, or the presence of Hezbollah men at the time.
The Israel Defense Forces had said after the deadly air-strike that many rockets had been launched from Qana. However, it changed its version on Monday.
The site was included in an IAF plan to strike at several buildings in proximity to a previous launching site. Similar strikes were carried out in the past. However, there were no rocket launches from Qana on the day of the strike.
There has also been much chatter on right-wing blogs as to why rescuers only arrived in the morning or why the building the civilians were hiding in seemed to collapse several hours after the early morning/late nite bombings. Some skeptics actually believe that Hezbollah staged the event. Here's what the military has to say about that.
The IDF account and those of survivors present contradictory versions of the Qana deaths. The IDF said that there is an unexplained gap of about seven hours between the IAF strike and the first report that the building had collapsed. Residents' accounts say only 10 minutes went by between the strike and the collapse.
The survivors say rescue teams arrived only in the morning, as night conditions made the rescue mission difficult. The Red Cross in Tyre received a call for help only in the morning, explaining their late arrival.
Sami Yazbek, chief of the Tyre department of the Red Cross, said his office received a call only at 7 A.M. The ambulances were further slowed by the bombed roads leading to Qana.
[...]
The media first heard of the bombing at 8 A.M. The foreign press quoted Lebanese sources explaining the late announcement, saying the electricity and phones in the village of Qana were almost entirely cut-off by IAF attacks.
[...]
The IAF admits the village was struck three times between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Two bombs were dropped on the building in the first strike. Channel 10, however, said on Monday that the initial investigation shows the bombs did not immediately explode, and an explosion in the early morning caused the casualties.
The IDF provided no explanation for the second explosion, and it is not clear whether the bomb was moved, or whether Hezbollah ammunition stored in the building caused the explosion.
- The BBC has this article about the battle in Bint Jbeil.
Nine Israelis were killed in fierce fighting. The Israelis shelled the town into rubble.
In the ruins of houses we found old people trapped by the fighting. One woman was desperate for water.
There were no rescue workers in this part of town so it fell to journalists to carry them out to the ambulances.
We could do little but offer water. "If I had a gift I would give it to you," one elderly woman told us.
- Via the Globe and Mail: Ignatieff criticizes Harper, suggests immediate ceasefire
- Hezbollah a 'cancer,' MacKay says:
Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said Tuesday that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that is like a "cancer" destroying democracy in Lebanon and made it clear that the Canadian government blames Hezbollah for the current conflict with Israel.
In an appearance before a special session of the House foreign affairs committee, however, Mr. MacKay also called on Israel to exercise the "utmost restraint" in dealing with the provocation so as to limit further civilian casualties.
Steve (our sockpuppet Prime Minister) already said that Israel's repsonse was 'measured'. Now Pete is calling for restraint? What happened Steve and Pete? Did the reality of Qana get to you? If it didn't, it damn well should to show you how wrong you really were to begin with. They're both obviously in way above their heads here.
- CBC has more about MacKay's remarks.
more to come...
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