adventures in “outrage”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5223940.stm
US ‘outrage’ over Israeli claims
The US state department has dismissed as “outrageous” a suggestion by
Israel that it has been authorised by the world to continue bombing
Lebanon.
“The US is sparing no efforts to bring a durable and lasting end to
this conflict,” said spokesman Adam Ereli.
Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon made the suggestion after powers
meeting in Rome refrained from demanding an immediate ceasefire.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is heading to Washington for talks on
the crisis.
His meeting with US President George W Bush comes amid growing
pressure for the UK and US to join calls for an immediate ceasefire
between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel has carried out dozens of fresh strikes on Lebanon. Estimates
of the number of people killed range from three to 13.
Two mortar rounds have hit a convoy of vehicles carrying civilians
escaping the violence in southern Lebanon.
The BBC’s Jim Muir, who was with the convoy, said two people - a
driver and a television cameraman in a German television car - were
wounded when the rounds exploded next to their vehicle.
The convoy, organised by the Australian embassy, was returning to the
port city of Tyre from the border village of Rmeish, where hundreds
of people have been trapped by the Israeli offensive.
Our correspondent says the cars were clearly marked as a press and
civilian convoy, and that individual journalists had been in contact
with the Israelis who knew about the journey.
A BBC security adviser travelling in a car behind the German
television car said he believed the mortar rounds had been fired from
the Israeli side.
At talks in Rome on Wednesday, the US, UK and regional powers urged
peace be sought with the “utmost urgency”, but stopped short of
calling for an immediate truce. That prompted Mr Ramon to declare
Israel had received “permission from the world… to continue the
operation”.
But questioned by reporters on the sidelines of a summit in Kuala
Lumpur, Mr Ereli said: “Any such statement is outrageous.”
The US has said a ceasefire is only worth it if it can be made to
last. Mr Bush reiterated the US’s rejection of a “false peace” on
Thursday evening.
But the BBC’s world affairs correspondent, Nick Childs, points out
that Mr Bush also emphasised how troubled he was by the mounting
casualties, a suggestion - perhaps - that he is increasingly
conscious of the price Washington is paying for its closeness to Israel.
Air strikes
Some 425 Lebanese, the vast majority civilians, are confirmed killed
in the 17 days of the conflict - but a Lebanese minister has
suggested scores more bodies lie under the rubble, yet to be recovered.
Fifty-one Israelis, including at least 18 civilians, have been
killed, mostly by rockets fired over the border by the Lebanese
guerrilla group Hezbollah.
The Israeli assault began after Hezbollah captured two Israeli
soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on 12 July.
In the latest developments:
A Jordanian man was killed and at least three other people wounded in
one of several strikes in Kfar Joz, close to the southern Lebanese
market town of Natabiyeh
A Lebanese couple in Kfar Joz died when their bomb shelter collapsed
on top of them, and at least three children were wounded
There were multiple strikes on the Bekaa Valley to the east, on
villages around Tyre, and roads in the south-east
Sporadic clashes were also reported in Bint Jbeil, where Israel
suffered its worst single losses on Wednesday
Unarmed UN observers have been temporarily relocated from border
positions in southern Lebanon to posts manned by the UN peacekeeping
force Unifil. It follows the deaths of four UN observers in an
Israeli strike on Tuesday
Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel have continued, but there
have been no reports of any injuries.
In Israel, few people still speak of being able to neutralise
Hezbollah, our correspondent in Jerusalem Katya Adler says.
Instead Israel speaks of trying to establish a “secure zone” empty of
Hezbollah fighters north of the border with Israel.
The Israeli government’s announcement that it is calling up three
divisions of reservists - said to number between 15,000 to 40,000 -
suggests it is preparing for the possibility of a protracted war, our
correspondent says.