"Israeli" official claims army does not possess maps of cluster-bomb sites in Lebanon

Source: Compiled by Daily Star, 22-12-2006
BEIRUT: 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, the Jewish state`s deputy defense minister told Amnesty International (AI) in a report issued Wednesday.
"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," observed the AI report, a revision to a September 1 AI urgent action report, entitled "Fear for safety: Civilians in Lebanon, particularly children."
A spokesperson for the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC), which is responsible for organizing clearance of unexploded ordnance in Lebanon, told The Daily Star Ephraim Sneh`s claims were "interesting."
Sneh was interviewed by AI on December 1, three months after AI`s initial report on the dangers of cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance (UXO).
"We have been requesting maps over and over since the [August 14] cease-fire. `Israel` has never said they don`t have them or if they do. They just didn`t react to our requests," Farran said. UNMACC filed official requests through the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and with UNMACC headquarters in New York.
The number of civilians killed and wounded as a result of unexploded cluster bombs dropped by "Israeli" forces in South Lebanon during the summer war is rising steadily. Some 26 people have reportedly lost their lives, and another 186 have been wounded.
Cluster munitions spread small bomblets over a wide area, many of which do not explode, remaining live and lethal. UNMACC estimates there are a million unexploded cluster bombs in the South Lebanon. To date, 78,000 bomblets have been cleared according to UNMACC.
On December 14, UNMACC reported that it had identified some 832 sites contaminated with "Israeli" cluster bombs in South Lebanon. Ninety percent of the cluster-bomb strikes, according to a senior UN official, occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict, when a cease-fire was known to be imminent.
"Israel" has yet to respond adequately to UN requests to hand over maps detailing the areas it targeted with cluster bombs.
According to the UNMACC, "Israel" had provided only some maps which are inadequate, as they refer only to areas "likely to contain unexploded ordnance," and do not indicate whether they are cluster bombs or other unexploded ordnance," the AI report revealed.
Although the "Israeli" Army reportedly provided UNIFIL with maps on October 9, 2006, these covered only minefields it laid during its occupation of South Lebanon from 1978-2000. According to UNIFIL, the "Israeli" Army gave them "maps of minefields in South Lebanon as of June 2000 after their withdrawal." The maps, in turn, were given to UNMACC.
In addition, UNMACC discovered on November 24 newly planted "Israeli" land mines laid during the summer. The land mines killed four goats in the area of Deir Mimas and two de-miners each lost a leg from the knee down as they were expecting not 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.
"We filed a separate report asking `Israel` to urgently provide us with information on specific locations plus information on where they could have been laid so we can clear them before there are more injuries," Farran said.
Following these incidents, the UN made an urgent request to the "Israeli" authorities via the UNIFIL to provide information detailing the locations where "Israeli" occupation forces laid land mines during the conflict. UNMACC however has heard no response from the "Israeli" military.
The AI reports call on "the "Israeli" authorities to take immediate action to hand over to the UN maps and other information detailing comprehensively and specifically the locations in Lebanon where cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance were dropped, to enable the UN to coordinate the clearance of these devices."
The AI report also calls on the "Israeli" government to announce an immediate moratorium on the use of cluster munitions by its forces in view of the danger they pose to civilians in the areas in which they are used and expresses concern that civilians in Lebanon, particularly children, remain at risk of death or serious harm from cluster bombs and other unexploded munitions fired or left by the "Israel" Army during the 34-day war.