Threat of "Israeli" cluster bombs still plagues South Lebanon

Threat of "Israeli" cluster bombs still plagues South Lebanon
Munitions have killed or wounded over 200 people since cease-fire
Source: Daily Star, 03-1-2007
BEIRUT: Even as the Lebanese begin 2007, it remains important to watch one`s step, especially in South Lebanon. The threat of cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance (UXOs) still plagues South Lebanon after "Israel" fired 4 million cluster bombs during the summer 2006 war. An estimated 1 million cluster bombs failed to explode on impact and have effectively become land mines, according to the UN.
Since the start of the cease-fire on August 14, over 200 people have been either killed or wounded, many requiring amputations of a hand or a foot. This number is only expected to increase in 2007.
The year 2006 started with a conference highlighting the dangers of UXOs and de-miners optimistically continued efforts to clear some of the 500,000 land mines planted by "Israel" during its 22-year occupation of the South. On July 12, the country spiraled into war with "Israel" firing thousands of rounds of ammunition into Lebanon, dropping 90 percent of the cluster bombs in the last 72 hours of the war - when all parties knew a cease-fire was imminent.
Four months after the war ended, the UN Mine Action Coordination Center in South Lebanon (UNMACC) had identified at least 832 sites contaminated with "Israeli" cluster bombs. And this was not the first time. "Israel" also used them against Lebanon in 1978, 1996 and 2005, and the residue jeopardized safety in the South even before the most recent conflict.
The first news on land mines in 2006 was educational and charitable - the Lebanon Mine Resource Center and Mines Action Canada organized a workshop on engaging youth in mine action in Lebanon from January 16-19. On April 4, a fundraiser was held to commemorate the first international day for "Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action."
A possible foreshadowing of trouble was Lebanon`s hesitation to adopt the Mine Ban Treaty last spring, arguing that it was unable due to the continuing "state of war" with its southern neighbor.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines` diplomatic adviser, retired Ambassador Satnma Jit Singh, met with Premier Fouad Siniora, who indicated that he was not opposed to the Mine Ban Treaty but pointed to "Israel`s" position on land mines as being a regional obstacle necessary to overcome.
The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) brought in a Chinese de-mining contingent in April after the entire Ukrainian contingent of UNIFIL left.
The Chinese sent two police dogs to help clearance, an engineering firm, a logistics firm, a field hospital and road-construction personnel. Belgian and French contingents have also offered considerable de-mining help and the United Arab Emirates donated teams and funds toward the de-mining efforts.
Before the war began, three men had died from land mines or UXOs and one woman was wounded by a grenade, compared to 22 land-mine/UXO casualties in 2005.
The flagrant and widespread use of cluster munitions by "Israel" in civilian areas in South Lebanon led to national and international condemnation of the weapons. As the UN headed de-mining on the ground, the international community began to press for tighter control of cluster munitions.
Cluster bombs did not only harm residents of South Lebanon. The agriculture sector was badly hit since most banana, tobacco and olive fields were rendered too dangerous to enter and farmers could not harvest their crops. Many people were wounded as they risked their lives to salvage what they could.
By September, the outcry reached the other side of the Atlantic as Democratic senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Dianne Feinstein of California submitted an amendment to the defense-appropriations bill designed to prevent cluster-bomb use in or near populated areas. It failed.
The US State Department`s Office of Defense (War) Trade Controls opened an investigation into the use of American-made cluster munitions in South Lebanon, most likely to determine whether their use violates the terms of bilateral "Israeli"-US military agreements.
A US congressional probe into the munitions` use after "Israel`s" 1982 invasion of Lebanon pressured the Reagan administration to ban sales of cluster weapons to "Israel" for six years.
As a local response with international implications, Beirut organized its first "Say No to Cluster Bombs" day near Martyrs Square on November 5, co-sponsored by Handicap International, to raise awareness in the capital and gathered nearly 1,000 signatures condemning the use of cluster bombs. Over 500 schoolchildren learned about the dangers of UXOs and could experience the feeling of walking with a prosthetic limb. The petition was mailed to Geneva, where a 10-day conference to review the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons convened the following week.
In November, Norway became the second country after Belgium to impose a moratorium on cluster bombs, as many countries protested the practice.
On November 20, "Israel`s" Haaretz newspaper reported that "Israeli" Lieutenant General Dan Halutz claimed the orders he gave to limit the use of cluster bombs during the summer war were "explicit." "Israel" initially denied using cluster bombs during the war, then relented but argued that their use was legal and necessary.
Halutz appointed a commission of inquiry to look into the use of cluster munitions during the war. "Israeli" officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that while the air force followed orders, it was the ground forces that fired thousands of cluster bombs in the final 72 hours of the war.
After Halutz` remarks and just as UNMACC, the National De-mining Office and the British Mine Action Group were beginning to comprehend the full scope of dangers presented by the cluster bombs, two de-miners accidentally discovered newly planted "Israeli" land mines in Deir Mimas on November 24.
The mines killed four goats in the area and the two de-miners each lost a leg from the knee down as they were not expecting land mines but surface UXOs. A third de-miner lost his foot the following day in the same location. The mines found were newly laid "Israeli" No. 4 anti-personnel mines.
"Israel" denied the charges but when asked how the UN knew they were "Israeli" mines, Chris Clarke, program manager of UNMACC, said not only were the same kind of mines used by "Israel" during their 18-year occupation of the South but "they had Hebrew writing on them."
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett toured Lebanon in the first week of December but received criticism for not taking a louder stance against the cluster munitions.
"As any military person would tell you," she said afterward, "[cluster bombs] are unfortunately a useful tool, which is why they are so widely used."
As 2006 drew to a close, Amnesty International (AI) revised its September assessment of the situation to sum up the dangers of cluster munitions and UXOs. The report published an interview with an "Israeli" officer claiming that the "Israeli" Army does not possess maps showing in detail the locations where "Israeli" forces used cluster munitions in Lebanon during the July-August war.
"If this is correct, and "Israel" does not possess maps of the areas into which its forces fired cluster bombs, this would be a further indication that "Israeli" forces used these weapons indiscriminately and without taking due precautions to protect civilians who could be placed at risk by their use," said the AI report.
The "Israeli" Army reportedly provided UNIFIL with maps on October 9, 2006, but according to UNIFIL, they were "maps of minefields in South Lebanon as of June 2000."
"We have been requesting maps over and over since the cease-fire. "Israel" has never said they don`t have them or if they do. They just didn`t react to our requests," UNMACC spokeswoman Dalya Farran told The Daily Star.
Between Christmas and New Year`s Eve two Belgian de-miners were wounded while five Lebanese, including two children, were also severely wounded after unknowingly handling a cluster bomb.
Although initially worried about finding enough donors, Clarke says UNMACC has received enough funding to finish clearing the remainder of the cluster bombs, expected to keep de-miners busy until 2008. Only then can the de-miners return to the task of clearing "Israeli" landmines from previous conflicts.