Travis
Michael Pugliese wrote:
> JPost.com » Israel » Article
> Jul. 29, 2006 23:37 | Updated Jul. 29, 2006 23:43
> UN to enter IDF control room
> By ASSOCIATED PRESS
> JERUSALEM
>
> Israel brought a UN observer into an IDF control room Saturday to help
> oversee the transfer of aid to south Lebanon, the army said, amid
> growing criticism that Israel was not doing enough to ensure the
> protection of civilians trapped in the war zone.
>
> Aid workers in Lebanon have complained that it was not safe to travel
> south under Israel's forceful aerial bombardment, and civilians take
> their chances of being hit when they try to escape the area.
>
> Earlier Saturday, Israel rejected a UN proposal to observe a three-day
> cease-fire so civilians could get out, but said the new policy of
> installing an observer was to make sure that aid could get in.
>
> "Ultimately, Israel does not see the Lebanese people as the enemy, and
> we want to make sure that aid gets in to the people who need it," said
> Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
>
> Regev said a senior UN observer was already installed in an army
> control room to help coordinate relief efforts.
>
> "The (IDF) is committed to helping aid convoys to get in," Regev said.
>
> In the Lebanese capital of Beirut, humanitarian aid has begun to pile
> up, with many aid groups saying it was too risky to travel under IDF
> bombardment and bring medicine, food, water and fuel to the south.
>
> IAF air strikes have exploded near some of the truck convoys that were
> making their way to south Lebanon, officials from the International
> Red Cross, UN and other agencies said. Earlier in the week, four
> unarmed UN peacekeepers were killed, apparently by an errant IDF
> strike.
>
> The installation of a UN observer with IDF decision-makers is meant to
> keep things like that from happening again, and could help deflect
> criticism that Israel was not doing enough to ensure that Lebanese
> civilians were protected.
>
> The UN observer will oversee and help coordinate the passage of
> convoys from Beirut International Airport and from the Lebanese
> seaports of Tyre and Sidon to areas in the south, the army said.
>
> Col. Eitan Avraham, one of the army officers in the situation room,
> said preference is given to getting the convoys through, even at the
> expense of the army's operational needs. Once a foreign embassy or aid
> group requests to get a convoy through, the war room gets a
> description, including number of vehicles, type of flags or sheets on
> the roof, he said.
>
> He said some 30 convoys were allowed safe passage on Saturday.
>
> Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner had earlier blamed Hizbullah
> for blocking aid convoys, saying the group was trying to deliberately
> create a humanitarian crisis that they could blame on Israel.
>
> That comment was immediately rejected by the top UN humanitarian
> coordinator in Lebanon, Mona Hammam. She said convoys had so far met
> "no problems" from Hizbullah.
>
> After an aid convoy was hit in south Lebanon on Friday, IDF spokesman
> Jacob Dallal told The Associated Press that Israel was committed to
> the safe passage of convoys, but said they must be coordinated in
> advance.
>
> He did not elaborate on precautions normal civilians should take,
> except to say, "they should travel during daylight, they should travel
> together."
>
> Civilians in southern Lebanon have been living under fear of being
> attacked from the air since Israel's offensive in Lebanon began more
> than two weeks ago, and have recently taken to traveling in large
> convoys as they try to escape to points farther north.
>
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