- Via the BBC, aid agencies are having a difficult time reaching those in need due to the massive damage to Lebanon's infrastructure; Lebanon's PM now says 900 Lebanese have died (that number changes with almost every source reporting on the casualties); 3,000 are estimated to be wounded; the death toll in Israel is reportedly at 63 (or 67) now; the UN appears to be close to a resolution that may be acceptable to members of the Security Council but, according to Reuters:
...splits between the United States and France, a possible leader of the new force, over the timing of a ceasefire have complicated diplomatic efforts to end the fighting.
France's U.N. ambassador said he was less confident that a Security Council resolution could be adopted within days.
"Yesterday morning I was confident that we could have a resolution adopted in the coming days, but by the end of the day I was less confident," Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said.
- Hezbollah's Narallah has just appeared on Lebanese TV. More on that later.
- While Israel's government has concluded its investigation into the Qana massacre, saying that Hezbollah used civilians as 'human shields', Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation instead, calling the IDF's report a 'whitewash'.
The investigation carried out by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) into the air-missile attack on Qana was clearly inadequate and reinforces the need for the urgent dispatch of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission (IHFFC).
"We cannot allow any investigation into the events in Qana to be a whitewash. What is needed here is an independent investigation which can look at all credible reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law taking place in this conflict. Any investigation needs the capacity to cross borders and talk to survivors of the attack as well as to the forces involved," said Kate Gilmore, Executive Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International.
"It is not enough that the Israeli army investigates themselves. Israel has a history of either not investigating civilian deaths, or conducting similarly flawed inquiries."
The results of the IDF investigation state that the IDF "operated according to information that the building was not inhabited by civilians". Yet survivors of the attack interviewed by Amnesty International researchers in Qana shortly after the bombing, stated that they had been in the building for some two weeks and that their presence must have been known to Israeli forces whose surveillance drones frequently flew over the village.
more...
- Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch reports the number of casualties in Qana was 28, including 16 children.
The initial estimate of 54 persons killed was based on a register of 63 persons who had sought shelter in the basement of the building that was struck, and rescue teams having located nine survivors. It now appears that at least 22 people escaped the basement, and 28 are confirmed dead, according to records from the Lebanese Red Cross and the government hospital in Tyre.
- Lebanon's PM says his country only has one week's worth of fuel left.
Lebanon has been under an Israeli sea and air blockade for three weeks since Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
U.N. agencies have reported that filling stations, water pumping sites and electrical power centers are running out of supplies and the shortages could lead to lights going out across the country in a few days.
- Meanwhile, Israeli troops Israel readies for deeper push into Lebanon:
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the army to prepare for the possible push north to the Litani river, some 20 km (13 miles) north of the border, security officials said.
Launching a ground offensive as far as the Litani would need the approval of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet, since it would mean sending forces well beyond a planned "security zone".
"No decision has been made," Brigadier-General Ido Nehushtan told Reuters. But, he added, the army "is ready and prepared to take what action is required." An invasion up to the Litani would be Israel's deepest push into Lebanon since 1982.
Political sources said Olmert has so far objected to sending soldiers as far the Litani and is not convinced it would halt Hizbollah rocket fire into Israel.
Hizbollah rockets killed eight Israeli civilians on Thursday. The guerrilla group also killed four Israeli soldiers, making Thursday Israel's bloodiest day yet in the war.
Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah threatened to target Tel Aviv if Israel attacked central Beirut.
more to come...
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