Israeli airforce kills Siniora's plan: another massacre in Qana

Israel’s mighty air force has killed tens of women and children in Qana, the site of a massacre in 1996.

The missiles destroyed several homes in the village of Qana as people were sleeping. Rescue officials said at least 50 people were killed, and the bodies of 27 children were found in the rubble. Israel said it targeted Qana because it was a base for hundreds of rockets launched at Israel, including 40 that injured five Israelis on Sunday. Israel said it had warned civilians several days before to leave the village. (link expired, death toll rose to 56)

The LBC reporter says the targeted building did not appear like a launching site for rockets. The Qana residents reportedly stayed in their village because all roads leading out of the village were being bombed by the Israeli air force.

Siniora asked Rice, expected in Beirut today, not to come. The 7-point plan is dead.

Saniora said Lebanon would be open only to an immediate cease-fire. "There is no place at this sad moment for any discussions other than an immediate and unconditional cease-fire as well as international investigation of the Israeli massacres in Lebanon now," he told reporters Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would not rush into a cease-fire until it achieved its goal of decimating Hezbollah, whose July 12 capture of two Israel soldiers provoked the fighting.

Siniora spoke during a joint press conference with Nabih Berri.

British FM agrees that the strike on Qana has derailed the efforts to reach a ceasefire.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said strike on Qana was a "tragedy for the people affected," especially so since negotiators had been close to reaching "the basis for a cease-fire." She said the U.N. resolution was no longer on track to being reached by Monday or Tuesday. "We need to go back and pick up the pieces," Beckett told Sky News. But she stopped short of calling for a cease-fire. "We have repeatedly called on the Israelis to act proportionately," Beckett said. (link to AP story quoted here expired. Try this.)

Refugees are currently storming the UN headquarters in downtown Beirut, taking out their rage on the building. They are reportedly demanding the US ambassador quit the country.

Video of the second Qana massacre here.

Video of the UN building riots here.

Note: the link to the AP story quoted above expired.

Comments

[Hmmm]

And it begins.

The US and the UN need to quit Lebanon. The country may o longer be viable. If Israel is pressured into a cease fire and the rockets continue, there will be only one remaining solution. Israel will have to do what the Lebanese refuse to.

Evicting the US and UN would be great for the West. We could then cease this awkward charade and let things go as they truly need to.

[Exposing Israeli Aggression]

Kofin needs to quit in shame and return to Ghana where he can become a corrupt president.

The UN has been worthless in this entire crisis. Time to destroy it like the good ol' League of nations

[Hmmm]

I think that is true. The UN has failed.

The Bush administration has failed, too. But that does not excuse the impotence of the UN. No one is offering real solutions, real compromise.

[Andrea Baucero]

I don't know how, but I'm 100% sure that this was Hezbollah's way of killing Seniora's plan without having to actually refuse it. I'm sure that in some way they managed to send out false information about that building in Qana, so that Israel looks like a monster and Seniora feels obliged to cut any negotiations. Well done Hezbollah, and well done Lebanese bloggers for becoming useful tools of propaganda. That "spontaneous" demonstration in front of UN hedquarters looked too much like the storming of Danish embassy earlier this year. You will always be enemies with Israel, and in the long term you will become like all other Arabs, who feed themselves with hate and self-delusion. I thought Lebanon was different.

[someone]

Things are going to be clearer now.Americans wants war there ,but this time there is no Mass destructions weapons ,and US are still forcing UN to go its way,and the old Europe should sit and watch again.

What will happen is not only Lebanon will be destroyed (which is the other hidden goal) but the government there too,because it still refuse to help "israel" achieving its goals ,i mean refusing to protect "israel" and by refusing this job ,it is declared non-democratic and terrorist government ,and desrve disolution and re-habilitation of Lebanon, to become more safe for "israel".

Now ,if the US wants it a bigger war ,by urging Syria to join the war ,and then Iran,so the thing is clear ,it will not be a short war ,and there will be no peace for "israel" either,and no cheap oil and energy for the US.

[michael]

So where does this leave everything can we now expect long rang missels in netanya and telaviv if that happens all bets are off

[Miss Lebanon]

Andrea--if you believe that Israel can do no wrong, then we don't need to read your utter bullshit all the time. Over
30 children have been killed by Israeli/American weapons. That's enough. But not for you apparently.

[Hmmm]

Yeah, well, they are still dead.

Whatever your conspiracy theory, the bomb still fell and the kids still died. At some point you are going to have to step away from the false comfort of motive and look at the hard truth of actuality. Reasons are not as important as results when human life hangs in the balance.

[The Perpetual Refugee]

I don't understand how people can be so cold. Ruthless. Inhumane. And give excuses for this terror.

Israel has committed war crimes.
Full stop.
Period.
Crimes against humanity.

For God's sake. How many innocent people have to die before you open your eyes? This is not the first massacre in Qana. This is not the first massacre of this 'war'.

Turn off NBC. CBS. ABC.
Turn on Al Arabiya. Al Jazeera. LBC. If only for a moment.

Take a good look at the images. And then turn it off.

See how you sleep.

[Ghassan Karam]

I do not know whether it is possible ti be level headed in such a charged atmosphere but I sure will try.

The horific results of the bombing in Qana speak for themselves. Almost sixty people ( women and children) lost their lives for no reason whatsoever except for being in the wrong place at the wrong time for no fault of their own. We should all grieve for them , their families and thie communities but we should also show grief for all the other killed in this conflict and all other conflicts. Human life is just as valuable all over the globe.

The trgedy at Qana should be viewed as a strong indictment of war and violence because violence only begets violence. It is difficult when the tragic events occur to those that are dear and near but the call for revenge will only widen and deepen this vicious circle of death and destruction. I hope that these difficult times will teach us something valuable that few of us seem to have learned. War is hell. It is not a game and its results are always tragic. I hope that we can find it in ourselves to decry killing wherever and whenever it happens. We all know how painful such tragic losses to life can be and so as we condemn Israeli aggression on Lebanese civilians we must also condemn the random ly fired rockets at Israel.

It is true that the Israeli air force has managed inadvertantly or on purpose to arouse the passions of the masses in order to kill the ill fated Siniora plan but I am not sure that the plans' chances of susrvival were that great anyway. I submit that the most significant development might be The Hizbolanization of Siniora to replace the Lebnanonization of HA. And that is even a more tragic development than the Qana massacre.

[Gary]

Perhaps Hezbollah should not fire rockets from civilian areas, which is in itself a warcrime. Civilian casualties are thus a Hezbollah aim, not an Israeli aim -- Hezbollah attacks from civilian areas, then uses civilian deaths to call for a "cease fire"...it's easy when the UN and the world community hates Israel. Oh, and guys, maybe ransacking the United Nations HQ isn't such a good idea -- the West is waking up to the "rage" of the Arab Street.

[Johannjs]

.
A solution to end the war in Lebanon

The Lebanese could take their fate into their own hands, and not wait for the US to tell Israel to stop (actually, we know the US has rushed and is rushing more bombs to the Israelis for the continuation of the "war", which is clearly no more than the coldblood onslaugh by the Israelis of Lebanese civilians using US precision laser-guided bombs)

Don't WAIT for a cease-fire!

My solution to immediately end this continuing massacre is this:

All the refugees who had fled must now rise from their shelters and, with their children, march back south, unarmed, and drive the Israelis army out of South Lebanon.

If you agree with me, then please suggest this solution by posting on all forum boards which you know.

Thank You.
.

[Miss Lebanon]

Funny Gary, HA wasn't shooting rockets from the building in which Israel just massacred little children. At least according to Israel they weren't. I thought Israel's military was oh-so-accurate? Why didn't they bomb where missiles were actually coming from then? I know, Israel is holier than thou, and can do no wrong. We ALL know this.

"The building was not the target. There were missiles being launched 100 to 300 meters from the building. We don't target civilians and had we known there were civilians there we would not have fired on that site," Meir said. (An Israeli military spokeswoman, Capt. Noa Meir) Washington Post

[Andrea Baucero]

Miss Lebanon, I'm not convinced that Israel can do no wrong as you say, I also think that they've been too careless in bombing that building, and I'm also sure that there've been many other big mistakes, but you can't be totally blind to the fact that this massacre is what was needed in order to kill Seniora's plan without Hezbollah having to look unreasonable. I'm sure that rockets were fired from that position or a very close one, if you're sincere with yourself you have to know that civilian deaths on both sides are the precise aim of Hezbollah, which started this war and now wants to end it without having to make any concession. In the long run, this massacre will give Lebanon a harder time, and when hearts will cool down you'll see how this bloodbath has killed your last chance of becoming a normal and independent country.

[Bad Vilbel]

I am too speechless to really have anything to say right now.

[Hassan]

Andrea,
As much as I loathe HA, I have to stress that your argument is absolutely retarded.
Do you honestly believe that HA people enjoy watching their wives and children die in their sleep under tons of rubble. Knock some sense into your brain, please.
Israel is consistently giving HA legitimacy by committing such atrocities. When will you people wake up and realize that you have screwed up far beyond repair.
You call this massacre another "careless" move on the Israeli army's behalf, "careless" my dear is a vile understatement. This is MURDER. Cold blooded murder.
And finally,
" In the long run, this massacre will give Lebanon a harder time, and when hearts will cool down you'll see how this bloodbath has killed your last chance of becoming a normal and independent country,"
we'll have the glorious, "professional" israeli army that boasts of its "purity of arms" to thank for it.

[Asiason]

It is reaching a point where there should be a new word in the dictionary

Lebanon- a mythic nation once thought to love democracy and freedom now ruled by terrorists, battered by zionists, manipulated by jihadists and a paupered nation seeking scraps from the world.

Its enough to make me want to cry ... no its more then enough.

I am so sorry for the children of Lebanon.. so very sorry. They are innocents...

But I want the HA blood more then ever, for their tactics of firing from behind women and children and forcing the Zionist hand as such may they be damned forever more.

[someone]

Even if the millitants launched rockets 300 meters from this building , then the response will not be okay then shoot this building , because children who were inside ALLOWED this rockets firing ,then ther are legitime targets ,and this is legitime defense...

IF some group take children as hostages ,in a building, then shoots the policemen from the windows,then the police will say ,okay, drop a bomb on this bulding and we are done,these kidnappers are the cause of this masacre.

Then you say to people , we wanted to rescue these children ,but the kidnappers wanted to kill them but shoting us ,they should have taken care of these childrens, it was not our fault.

Who is arguing like this here??

[Hmmm]

the riot at the UN site won't go over well in the West. Today it will, but long term it will not. The lawyers always say you have to come to Equity with clean hands. Just a law term, but it means a lot. Lebanon needs friends, and it needs to act in a way that encourages the world to help.

Lebonese will say, Why should we care? The real damage will be that no one will volunteer troops for a buffer force now. A UN force needs troops to effect peace, to stop the fighting. Why would Europeans sends young men to an area enraged at the UN?

Even if you believe the UN has not done all it could, the riot was a futile and damaging act. It will force activity in the short term, but has sealed the country's fate long term. Lebanon has chosen to stand alone - at least that is what most Western mothers saw on TV this morning.

And about the bombing...

(1) Israel committed a terrible act today. I am not sure the action reflects their intentions, but the action itself was a disaster. That fact has to stand. That one bomb (at least) was absolutely wrong, and Israel needs to apologize and take responsibility.

(2) Even so, their intentions are suspect because this was not an isolated act. It is but the latest in weeks of similar acts, including the slaughter of a UN observation post. So, it is fair to say Israel knew something like this WOULD be the result of their target selection process.

A disaster that everyone saw coming. Pro-Israeli voices need to speak to that. This is not something you dismiss with the standard tired litany of 'but they struck first' comments. Someone needs to be accountable.

[Joe]

If Hezbollah launches attacks from population centers and near UN facilities, common sense and international law puts the death and destruction of those shields squarely on Hezbollah.
They don't just hide behind women and children; they essentially strike from under the woman's skirt, then immediately run away leaving the woman and her children to take the response strike.
I can't imagine a more cowardly act.

[Joseph D]

I would like to make one comment. How on earth was Israel meant to know that there were that many people in the basement. I don't think they can see through buildings. I am of the belief (and please don't massacre me) that Hezbollah might have provoked Israel to fire at that location in order to generate a massive reaction and a surge of support for them (which they got in Beirut).

I would also like to add that the riots following the attacks were absolutely pathetic and have shamed the country (once again). Why attack the UN? The have failed but do we need to destroy their offices. Typical Hezbollah reaction (reminds me of the Danish embassy incident and those Bass Mat Watan riots). Absolutely pathetic behavior.

Finally, what have all these civilians died for? What? A handful of Lebanese prisoners in Israel who deserve to be there. And a tiny peace of land who nobody but Hezbollah give a shit about. Why aren't people asking these questions instead of destroying buildings and blindly supporting Hezbollah.

[someone]

"the riot at the UN site won't go over well in the West. "

Okay , the riot in Beirut cant go over well in the west, but similarly the bombing on UN building in the south of Lebanon and the killing of 4 international soldiers cant go go over in the west either.

The riot also was a mistake ,and lebanese government felt sorry for that.

[a]

to all the people writing in this post. It is LEBANESE, NOT lebOnese or lebanonese.
Know our name first and then talk to us. It is like bush calling the Greeks greecians.

[Oh!]

All this unbelievable talking! Sorry, I got to the wrong place... So this is the Far West educated people's land! please, carry on. Very interesting read anyway. Thanks.