Israeli shelling kills 5 INDIAN soldiers and 4 UN workers

[Neo]

Thanks for the links Jay.

India has lodged a protest with Tel Aviv after an Indian soldier, part of the UN Peace Keeping Mission in Lebanon, was injured in Israeli military action. Israel has expressed regret over the development.

Quite a 'soft' reaction from Delhi, but politically correct...

 

[Neo]

New Delhi: July 25th

India on Wednesday condemned Israel's 'disproportionate and excessive use of force' in Lebanon but at the same time criticised Hizbullah for kidnapping two Israeli soldiers.

Junior foreign minister Anand Sharma in a statement to parliament demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities, saying Lebanon had become a "victim by default."

His comments came in response to criticism from the Congress-led government's communist allies that New Delhi had not reacted to Israel's bombardment and raids on Lebanon.

The issue was raised in the lower house of parliament by Communist Party of India leader Basudeb Acharia, who described the Israeli blitz as "a full-scale assault" in "brazen violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions."

In a statement on July 13, the Indian foreign ministry had called on Israel and Lebanon to "eschew violence, de-escalate the situation, and return to the path of negotiations."

"India condemns the abduction of two Israeli soldiers ... by Lebanese militants and calls for their immediate release," the foreign ministry statement said.

"We equally strongly condemn the excessive and disproportionate military retaliation by Israel which has targeted civilian infrastructure," it said.

On Wednesday, Sharma gave Indian lawmakers details of the government's plans to evacuate an estimated 12,000 Indians in Lebanon, mostly unskilled or semi-skilled labourers working in factories, farms and industrial units.

A spokesman for India's foreign ministry said that some 1,500 people including Indians and others from Nepal and Sri Lanka had already been evacuated from conflict-torn Lebanon.

New Delhi had also taken up with Israel's ambassador to India the death of an Indian glass factory worker killed in Israel's blistering bombardment of Lebanon, the spokesman said.

Israel launched an offensive on July 12 on Lebanon in response to the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by the Shiite Muslim group Hizbullah.

After decades of cold relations and Indian support for the Palestinian movement, India and Israel established diplomatic ties in 1992.

Relations have warmed dramatically since 1998 after India's Hindu nationalists took office.

Though the Hindu nationalists were replaced by a left-leaning Congress-led alliance in elections in May 2004, co-operation is continuing.

 

[Neo]

There was fierce fighting in the Khiam area for six hours

Details of the circumstances in which the Israeli air force bombed a United Nations observation post in south Lebanon, killing four UN peacekeepers have begun to emerge.
According to diplomats familiar with the UN's initial report into the incident, the post in the town of Khiam was hit by precision-guided munition, says the BBC's Paul Adams in Jerusalem.
The report says there was fierce fighting in the area for about six hours before the post was hit, during which time UN personnel contacted the Israel military 10 times, urging them to stop firing.
Our correspondent says the UN claims that after each call, it was assured the firing would stop.
The Irish foreign ministry said one of its officers in the UN's Unifil peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, placed six warning calls to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) prior to the attack.
"On six separate occasions he was in contact with the Israelis to warn them that their bombardment was endangering the lives of UN staff in South Lebanon," Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed foreign office spokesman as saying.
"He warned: 'You have to address this problem or lives may be lost'," the spokesman said.
The Associated Press news agency named the officer as Lt Col John Molloy.
The bomb which killed the unarmed peacekeepers - Canadian, Austrian, Finnish and Chinese soldiers - hit the building and shelter of the observation post, near the eastern end of the Lebanese-Israeli border, UN spokesman Milos Struger said.
Israel has launched an investigation. The UN post was on high ground, in an area once occupied by Israel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5216230.stm

 

[Averroes]

the page was updated shortly after i posted , i guess they confused 4 ghanian + 1 indian soldier hurt as 5 indians.

 

[sigatoka]

There is one dead Indian soldier i think? I thought i saw a pic. of Sikh soldiers carrying a dead body on BBC?

 

[TexasJohn]

There is one dead Indian soldier i think? I thought i saw a pic. of Sikh soldiers carrying a dead body on BBC?

No that was not an Indian soldier. I strongly believe Israel's strategy is flawed. The more you pound Lebanon, the more Hezbollah will get popular support. Condi's visit was a joke. She is missing the point!

 

[Officer of Engineers]

You cannot win a war from the air, no matter what those USAF birdbrains say. In the final say, you have to have bellycrawlers taking, holding, and denying ground to the enemy.

 

[sigatoka]

You cannot win a war from the air, no matter what those USAF birdbrains say. In the final say, you have to have bellycrawlers taking, holding, and denying ground to the enemy.

But isnt Israel doing exactly what you are saying, they are pushing troops into southern Lebanon. Do you think they will push up all the way to Beirut?

 

[Officer of Engineers]

Pushing?

They're encrouching, giving time for the residents (and resistance fighters) to organize and leave.

 

[Bull]

There is one dead Indian soldier i think? I thought i saw a pic. of Sikh soldiers carrying a dead body on BBC?

No there were carrying the body of the comrades in UN.