Premier Puts Lebanese Death Toll At 900
August 03, 2006
Lebanese soldiers processing humanitarian aid in Beirut on August 2 (epa)
In a video message to the emergency summit of Muslim leaders convening in Malaysia today, Siniora said one-third of the casualties were children.
He also said one-quarter of his country's population -- or 1 million people -- has been displaced.
OIC Demands UN Action
Leaders of Muslim states gathered for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in the Malaysian city of Putrajara are demanding that the UN decide on and enforce an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon.
In a draft resolution, OIC members also call for a special UN investigation into what they call flagrant human rights violations by Israel in its offensive against Hizballah.
Israel Renews Strikes
Israeli warplanes today renewed air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and elsewhere in southern Lebanon, while some 8,000 ground troops battled Hizballah fighters in border areas.
An Israeli military inquiry released today admits the bombing of a building in the village of Qana on July 30 was a mistake. That attack killed more than 50 people, many of them women and children. But it charges Hizballah guerrillas are using civilians as shields for their rocket attacks.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch today accuses Israeli forces of "indiscriminate attacks against civilians."
(Reuters, AP)