Israel, Hizbullah a Disgrace, Says Un As Aid is Blocked

The United Nations emergency relief coordinator yesterday branded Israel and Hizbullah a disgrace for their refusal to stop fighting long enough to allow vital aid to enter southern Lebanon. Jan Egeland said there were 120,000 civilians stranded without necessary supplies in southern Lebanon.

"It's a disgrace really, because the parties to the conflict, Hizbullah and the Israelis, could give us access in a heartbeat, and then we could help 120,000 people in southern Lebanon," he said in Geneva.

"I don't think any military advantage has been gained in these last days or will be gained in the next hours but we could save a lot of lives."

Mr Egeland's comments were backed up by a warning from the UN World Food Programme, which urged a cessation of hostilities to allow aid supplies through.

"Above all, we require a cessation of hostilities by both sides to allow humanitarian aid through," Zlatan Milisic, WFP emergency coordinator in Lebanon, said in a statement. "Our aid operation is like a patient starved of oxygen, facing paralysis, verging on death, if we can't open up our vital supply lines."

Médecins Sans Frontières said a warning by Israel that it might attack any vehicle south of the Litani river in Lebanon which had not been given security clearance would worsen the plight of civilians.

"The people in the south are afraid. They are terrified to move," Rowan Gillies, president of MSF International, said in Beirut. "To forbid all forms of movement, without distinction, will lead to even more civilian deaths and suffering."

Agencies said hospitals in southern Lebanon were running out of food and fuel. The national grid was also in danger of collapsing because oil could not be shipped to Beirut. Israel has bombed bridges and roads and threatened to attack trucks in southern Lebanon, making the distribution of aid almost impossible.

The warnings came on a day of bitter fighting after a Hizbullah rocket killed a woman and her two-year-old child in an Arab village in northern Israel.

Israeli troops entered villages across the border from near Metulla in northern Israel where thousands of people are stranded. Witnesses saw Israeli troops moving on foot through Marjayoun, about five miles inside Lebanon, and neighbouring villages. "I can see two tanks burning 500 metres from Marjayoun," one resident told Reuters. A third tank arrived later and removed several casualties, he said, adding that Hizbullah fighters were raining rocket and mortar fire on the Israeli force between Marjayoun and Khiam.

Dozens of Israeli tanks were peppered with anti-tank fire as they approached the border. Some tank crews said they were like "sitting ducks" for Hizbullah missiles in spite of their armour and air support. One was hit by a missile and its crew escaped within a quarter of a mile of Metulla. The tank blazed and the crew climbed on another tank and were driven to safety. As more tanks returned, pumping out smoke for cover, several more missiles were fired, narrowly missing their targets and setting vegetation on the valley floor alight.

Israeli troops succeeded in taking control of one ridge east of Metulla. Scores of soldiers could be seen standing on the ridge next to a quarry, looking at the action in the valley below. Throughout the day, columns of Israeli troops reinforced their positions by foot in preparation for an assault on suspected Hizbullah positions a few hundred metres away.

On a ridge west of Metulla, Hizbullah fighters fired anti-tank missiles across the valley, which look like red darts and explode in a ball of fire on impact.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said serious exchanges of fire were going on throughout southern Lebanon but could not reveal the number of Israeli casualties until relatives had been informed.

According to agencies, Israeli airstrikes killed at least two people as other jets dropped warning leaflets. The leaflets read: "To the residents of Hay al-Sellom, Burj al-Barajneh and Shiyah, for your own safety, you must flee those suburbs immediately. After the continued launching of Hizbullah terrorist rockets ... the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] intends to widen its offensive on Beirut." The leaflets in Arabic were signed "The State of Israel".

Aircraft and artillery bombed border areas that had been the scene of overnight fighting. Throughout the night, the valleys were illuminated and shaken by an endless bombardment. Tracer fire and rockets could be seen in the darkness. The problems the Israeli army is facing taking control of the hills close to Metulla are the same all along the border. Although 10,000 troops and hundreds of tanks are deployed, Hizbullah fighters can easily evade them and attack when convenient.

"The problem is that there are Hizbullah fighters in the ridges over Metulla. It is very difficult for a hundred tanks to find teams of three or four men running over the hillside," said one soldier in Metulla.

Following the withdrawal of tanks, their crews sat by the roadside awaiting transport to take them for two days' leave. Some slept upright and others looked dazed and drained.

Amiram, a member of a tank crew, said tanks were ineffectual in this kind of battle. "At night they are hiding and in the morning our vision is impaired by the sun and the haze. We were warned of attacks so we closed the hatches. Our vision is extremely limited and we can only feel the anti-tank missiles landing.

"We had no support from artillery. You would have to ask our commanders why."

Casualties


Lebanon yesterday

Hizbullah: 2 killed

Civilians: 4 killed

To date

Civilians: 1,009 killed

Hizbullah: 100 (Israel claims up to 500)

Israel yesterday

Military: 8 wounded

Civilians: 2 killed

To date

Military: 78 killed

Civilians: 37 killed

· All figures revised daily and based on Lebanese and Israeli government estimates