Hospitals & Asylums
1. In SG/SM/10563 of 12 July 2006 the Secretary-General condemns the attacks by Hizbollah across the Blue Line, which resulted in Israeli deaths and injuries, and the capture of two Israeli soldiers. This violent act is a blatant breach of Security Council resolutions 425, 1559, 1655 and 1680. The Secretary-General calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the Israeli captives. This incident, and subsequent developments, which endanger an already volatile region, demonstrates once again how urgent it is that the Lebanese Government extends its control over all Lebanese territory and prevents such attacks across the Blue Line. is essential that all concerned exercise maximum restraint at this time to avoid any further escalation. All should respect fully their obligations under international humanitarian law. The Secretary-General appeals to leaders in the region and beyond to do their utmost to contain this conflict by obtaining the release of the soldiers and pressing for restraint.
2. In SG/SM/10566 of 13 July 2006 the
Secretary General decided to dispatch a three-person team led by his Special
Political Adviser, Vijay Nambiar, to the Middle East to help defuse the major
crisis in the region. The other members will be senior United Nations
officials Alvaro de Soto and Terje Roed-Larsen. The team will first visit Cairo to meet
with Egyptian officials and consult with Arab League foreign ministers, who
will be meeting there on Saturday. Mr. Nambiar and his team are also
expected to travel to Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Lebanon,
and Syria. The Secretary General stated to the press, “I am deeply
alarmed at the escalation of violence in Lebanon and Israel. Parts of Lebanon
are under blockade and heavy Israeli military action, while Israel is being
subjected to indiscriminate attacks by Hezbollah. Both sides have threatened
further escalations, leaving the populations of Lebanon and northern Israel in
fear for their safety”.
3. On 13 July the United States vetoed a
Security Council resolution whereas the language was outdated and did not
sufficiently redress the situation. On
14 July, in SC/8777 the Security Council
welcomed the Secretary-General’s decision to dispatch to the Middle East a
senior-level team. The Security Council
calls on all concerned states and parties to extend their full cooperation to
the team. The Security Council looks
forward to the earliest possible report of the team’s mission. On 14 July the High Commissioner for Human
Rights underscored the Secretary-General’s condemnation of all actions that
target civilians, or which unduly endanger them due to their disproportionate
or indiscriminate character.
4.
On Friday 14 July Sam F. Ghattas of the AP wrote that, “Israel Continues
Assault on Lebanon”. -- Israel blasted
the home and office of Hezbollah's leader in the capital on Friday, vowing to
fight until the guerrilla group was neutralized. Its warplanes smashed
Lebanon's links to the world one by one, punishing the country for Hezbollah's
capture of two Israeli soldiers. The
death toll, by Friday, after three days of fighting rose to 73 killed in
Lebanon and 12 in Israel, as international alarm grew over Israel's onslaught
and oil prices rose to above $78 a barrel.
Israeli warplanes and gunboats blasted the crowded Shiite neighborhood
of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, who was not hurt in the strikes.
Less than an hour later, he issued a taped statement on the group's TV telling
Israelis: "You wanted an open war and we are ready for an open war."
He vowed to strike even deeper into Israel with rockets.
5. Israel's army chief, Brig. Gen. Dan Halutz,
said Friday that Hezbollah guerrillas have rockets that can reach as much as 70
kilometers (43.5 miles) or more. A
rocket hit an Israeli warship off Lebanon's coast in a strike timed to coincide
with Nasrallah's message. "The surprises that I have promised you will
start now. Now in the middle of the sea, facing Beirut, the Israeli warship ...
look at it burning," Nasrallah boasted, though Israel said the hit caused
only light damage. Hezbollah escalated
its retaliation, raining dozens of rockets on towns in northern Israel. One
rocket hit a home in Meron, killing a woman and her grandson. Some 220,000
people in northern towns hunkered down in bomb shelters amid the barrage.
"We know it's going to be a long and continuous campaign and operation,
but it's very clear. We need to put Hezbollah out of business," Brig. Gen.
Ido Nehushtan told The Associated Press.
6.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed the campaign would continue until
Hezbollah guerillas are disarmed. But he agreed in a phone call with U.N. chief
Kofi Annan to allow U.N. mediation for a cease-fire - but only if the terms for
the truce included the return of the soldiers and the disarming of the
guerrillas. Israel's campaign - its
largest in Lebanon in 24 years - appeared to have a two-pronged goal. One was
to batter Hezbollah and end its near control of the south on Israel's borders.
The other goal was to seal off Lebanon by repeatedly striking its airport and
main roads - including the coastal highway from north to south and the
Beirut-Damascus highway, Lebanon's main land link to the outside world. At the
same time, it was gradually escalating the damage to the country's vital
infrastructure, painstakingly rebuilt since the civil war ended in 1990.
7.
Israel holds Lebanon responsible for the snatching of its two soldiers in a
surprise Hezbollah raid. The Lebanese government insists it had nothing to do
with the move - but Israel wants it to take action to rein in the guerrillas –
as inconclusively debated earlier this year by the Lebanese government. The European Union accused Israel of using
excessive force, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said both sides must
"immediately cease military action."
President Bush said that Israel should try to limit civilian casualties. In a statement, the Lebanese Cabinet said
that Italy had relayed Israeli conditions to stop the offensive: Hezbollah
guerrillas should release the two Israeli soldiers and withdraw to beyond a
river 18 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border, pushing back the threat of
rocket fire on northern Israel.
8. There are two UN Peacekeeping
Missions in the area overseen by the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO). Set up in 1948, UNTSO was the first peacekeeping operation
established by the United Nations. UNTSO military observers remain in the
Middle East to monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent
isolated incidents from escalating and assist other UN peacekeeping operations
in the region. The intention was to
disband UNIFIL this 31 July 2006 however the mission has already been extended
numerous times.
9. The UN Interim Force in
Lebanon (UNIFIL) has 1,991 UN troops
in Lebanon, assisted by some 50 military observers of UNTSO; and supported by 95 international
civilian personnel and 295 local civilian staff 1 troops, assisted by some 50
military, they have suffered 257 fatalities.
The UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF)
in Golan Heights on the Syrian border has 1,033 troops, assisted by some 57
military observers of
UNTSO's Observer Group Golan; and supported by 33 international civilian personnel and 107 local
civilian staff, they have
suffered 42 fatalities.
10.
Article 2(4) of the UN Charter is considered the jus cogens,
universal norm of international law, and is commonly known as the principle
of non-use of force. It states,
“all Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or
use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any
State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United
Nations” It is an accepted principle of international law that self defense is
only justification for a proportional military response in Military and
Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United
States of America)
IC.J. No. 70 1986.
11.
The Advisory Opinion regarding the Legal Consequences of Constructing a Wall in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory No.
131 on 9 July 2004 was reviewed in the third and final, Armistice
Day, draft, the Will of the Palestinian People HA-11-11-04
where the court is cited as recalling the established jurisprudence
that “The essential principle contained in the actual notion of an illegal
act . . . is that reparation must, as far as possible, wipe out
all the consequences of the illegal act and re-establish the situation which
would, in all probability, have existed if that act had not been
committed.”
12.
Both Israel and Hezbollah are clearly in breach of their international treaty
obligations to refrain from the threat and use of force against the political
independence of any State. The State of
Lebanon is obviously the innocent victim entitled to reparations for damages
caused by the illegal acts and constitutional authority now obligated to
disciple the Hezbollah who must return their hostages and submit themselves to
the Lebanese government for realignment, retirement and disarmament. Israel, is responsible for disproportionate
attacks upon the territorial integrity of Lebanon without regard for the
civilian population. Israel will have
to pay reparations to Lebanon for damages to human life, health and
infrastructure on the condition that the Lebanese government fires Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, releases the
hostages or their remains to their families and prohibits the Hezbollah from
sustaining any militia whatsoever, on threat of the dissolution of non
governmental organization. UN should do
their utmost to see that the UNIFIL Mission is terminated this 31 July so that
UN Peacekeepers do not stay in harms way.
Only constitutional law will restore international peace and
security and the UN is directed to respect the guidelines of the supreme
national law.
13. Israeli Basic Law explains that the Army has
taken advantage of the incompetence of the Government since Ariel Sharon ate
his last latke the Knesset are sought to render a vote of no confidence in
regards to the State of Emergency whereby the offensive would cease before the
specially elected Prime Minister got into trouble. The Constitution of Lebanon of 1947 explains, Lebanon is a
parliamentary democratic republic based on respect for public liberties,
especially the freedom of opinion and belief, and respect for social justice
and equality of rights and duties among all citizens without
discrimination. All Lebanese are equal
before the law. They equally enjoy civil and political rights and equally are
bound by public obligations and duties without any distinction. The Parliament and Council of Ministers will
need to establish incompatibility by law of Hizbollah to support a militia or
run for political office out of deference to their work on the educational,
social, and economic levels in the conflict prone border region that shall be a
basic pillar of the unity of the state and the stability of the system as a non
governmental organization that makes no claims to political power.
14.
The terms of the truce between Israel and Lebanon are simple. Israel shall strictly respect the territorial
integrity and political independence of Lebanon and immediately cease military
action against and withdraw forces from Lebanon in return Hizbollah shall do
likewise. Lebanon shall discipline the
Hizbollah who, as a nongovernmental organization, must repatriate their prisoners
of war and can no longer be permitted to bear arms or run for Parliament or
Government office until they have satisfactorily demonstrated that they respect
the division between political and military power. Having disciplined Hizbollah, as explained in this treaty, Israel
shall pay reparations for the damages caused to Lebanese people and property. Hizbollah shall do the same for Israel and
if they don’t have enough money shall be dissolved. If this peace treaty goes
smoothly the UNIFIL Mission will be terminated as planned on 31 July 2006 and
relations along the border will take place between trained and cooperative
Lebanese and Israeli soldiers, without a third party.
Tony
Sanders