-Caveat Lector-
http://www.moqawama.tv/isr_aggr/doc_2000/forces.html
Amnesty International: Attacks on Lebanese civilians in
south Lebanon by Israeli forces
On 22 and 23 May 2000, during the withdrawal of the Israel Defence
Force (IDF)* from south Lebanon and the collapse of the South
Lebanon Army (SLA)**, Israel's proxy militia, a number of Lebanese
were killed by Israeli or SLA fire. Information gathered by Amnesty
International, including during a fact-finding visit to south
Lebanon, suggests that in at least four incidents over the two days
Israeli forces directed tank fire from the Israeli side of the
border at Lebanese civilians, killing four people.
This paper provides details of the four incidents and calls for
a full investigation into them, as the killings appear to have
resulted from direct attacks on civilians. If committed wilfully,
such attacks would constitute a grave breach of international
humanitarian law and therefore a war crime.
1. Background: the Israeli withdrawal and the demise of the SLA
In the days immediately preceding the attacks referred to in this
report, the IDF was withdrawing from the area of south Lebanon it
called its �security zone�. Israel had militarily occupied this
area since 1985 with the assistance of the SLA -- and effectively
controlled much of it since 1978 -- arguing that it was meant to
constitute a buffer protecting its northern borders against
attacks. In recent years Lebanese fighters belonging to what has
been referred to as the �Resistance�, particularly those belonging
to the armed political group Hizbullah, had increased their attacks
against IDF and SLA personnel in the �security zone�. Over the
years, Amnesty International has repeatedly called on all parties
to this conflict to respect their obligations under international
humanitarian law to protect civilians.
The Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak elected in
1999 promised to withdraw the IDF from Lebanon with or without an
overall peace agreement with Lebanon and Syria. After inconclusive
negotiations with Syria over the Golan Heights occupied by Israel
in 1967 and continued casualties among IDF troops caused by
Hizbullah fighters, the Israeli government decided to withdraw
unilaterally and set 7 July as the date by which it would complete
the withdrawal. The IDF began to hand over its positions to the SLA
in mid-May.
However, events moved rapidly. By the end of Monday 22 May
the �security zone� had been cut into two sections by returning
civilians and Hizbullah members, without serious fighting taking
place. By the morning of Tuesday 23 May the western sector of the
�security zone� collapsed, with more Lebanese civilians and armed
fighters streaming in from the north. The IDF accelerated its
pull-back, blowing up or shelling abandoned IDF or SLA positions
and materiel, while SLA fighters were giving themselves up or
heading for Israel. The IDF withdrawal was completed on the night
between Tuesday 23 May and Wednesday 24 May, with thousands of SLA
fighters and their families, among other Lebanese, crossing the
border to seek refuge in Israel.
2. The general circumstances of the attacks
On Monday 22 May hundreds of Lebanese started returning to the
villages of Hulah and Markaba. Among them were armed Lebanese
fighters. These movements of civilians and fighters were
effectively cutting the �security zone� in two in its central area,
without meaningful resistance by the IDF or the SLA.
According to Nicholas Blanford of the Lebanese newspaper Daily
Star and British newspaper The Times who was in the area that day,
around midday three to five Israeli helicopters flying on the
Israeli side of the border were firing on the road between Markaba
and 'Adaysah. Two Israeli tanks positioned on the border near the
Israeli village of Misgav Am also started firing on the road, while
further Israeli fire was destroying positions and materiel
abandoned by the IDF and the SLA.
Nicholas Blanford told Amnesty International that on the
morning of 22 May an SLA tank was hit by IDF fire after it had
broken down and was abandoned near the road some 1,500 metres north
of the bend where three of the attacks detailed in this report took
place (one cannot see the bend from where the tank was). He was
near this burning tank, in the early afternoon, with a group of
about 50 civilians and some armed men who were stopping people from
going further down the road:
�We were standing some 100 to 150 metres from the smouldering
tank. I was there with Stephen Wallace and an unarmed man with a
Hizbullah flag who told us he wanted to plant the flag on the tank.
At that point a tank shell slammed into the dirt just below the
asphalt of the road a few metres away from were we were, kicking
stones and dust into the air but without causing injuries. The
shell could only have come from the trees around Manara in Israel.
A few seconds later we heard machine-gun fire and bullets cracking
past us. With the rest of the crowd we took cover around the
corner, out of sight of Manara. About two or three minutes later we
heard the shriek of a missile and saw it explode some 40 or 50
metres away.�
Three attacks took place on 22 and 23 May between the villages
of Hulah and Mays al-Jabal on a stretch of road facing the Israeli
village of Manara which is located close to the border fence with
Lebanon. For those coming from Hulah the road at this point slopes
down and turns sharply, with the bend in full view of Manara. The
only construction alongside the road facing Manara is a building
containing a gas station. There are no trees or other vegetation
obstructing the view from Manara and from a section of the Israeli
road along the fence, which are placed on higher ground than the
road in Lebanon.
On either 22 or 23 May, Amnesty International is not aware of
any reports of Israeli or SLA personnel being present on Lebanese
territory between the border fence and the road in Lebanon in the
specific area where the three attacks took place. While a number of
Lebanese armed people carrying weapons such as AK 47s were mixed
with large numbers of Lebanese civilians moving on the roads, the
general atmosphere was celebratory, especially on 22 May. Similar
circumstances seemed to be prevailing in the village of 'Adaysah
further north, where a fourth attack took place, on 22 May,
apparently launched from near the Israeli village of Misgav Am.
Amnesty International has no report of any firing or other
military hostile action directed at the Israeli border on either
day in these areas at the time of the attacks. These attacks appear
to have taken place, without warning, after the IDF and SLA had
already pulled back from the areas. It actually appears that no
fire was directed at Israel from within Lebanon throughout the
period of the IDF withdrawal. Also, Hizbullah did not launch
retaliatory attacks against Israel in response to the killing of
these and other people, contrary to past practice.
A fifth attack on a car which may have resulted in civilian
casualties was witnessed by Alan Philps of the British Daily
Telegraph. He was near Misgav Am in Israel on 23 May and recalls
that the attack took place about half an hour before the attack on
'Abd al- Rahman Taqqush (see below), which he also witnessed. Alan
Philps told Amnesty International that he saw a car moving on a
dirt road towards the border fence being hit by what he presumed
was a tank shell. It was too far for him to be able to tell whether
flags or weapons were in the car. Amnesty International does not
have further details on this attack.
3. Killing of 'Abd al-Karim 'Assaf (22 May 2000)
'Abd al-Karim 'Assaf, from Mays al-Jabal, was in a Mercedes
automobile with five friends, driving down the sloping road below
Manara around 1pm. According to his family, the six had left
earlier in the morning to meet up in Hulah with the people who were
returning to the village, and were now on the way back to the
village of Mays al-Jabal. 'Abd al-Karim 'Assaf had with him a
Lebanese flag while another friend was waving a flag of the Amal
movement.
Fatmah 'Assaf, 'Abd al-Karim's sister, was walking in front of
the Mercedes together with her son Muhammad and daughter Zaynab.
There were many other civilians around. Fatmah 'Assaf told Amnesty
International:
�'Abd al-Karim was so happy on that day. He had left taking
with him a Lebanese flag, flowers and some rice [throwing rice is a
traditional welcoming custom]. There were many other people,
perhaps 50 or 60, and other cars, slowly moving down the road,
families, women, kids, in a festive mood.�
According to her account, all of a sudden the Mercedes exploded
after being hit by a shell, and she and the others ran for cover
into the building with the gas station that was only a few metres
away. She saw 'Abd al-Karim lying on the road near the car. She
said she did not recognize him at first as the man she saw on the
ground was not wearing the black shirt that 'Abd al-Karim was
wearing when he left home -- apparently he had given it to one of
his friends in the car to wave.
[ 'Abd al-Karim 'Assaf � private
]
The car was on fire. One of 'Abd al- Karim's brothers who was
also in the group move d to reach him, but as he got close to him
anoth er shell landed nearby and he threw himself to the ground.
According to Fatmah 'Assaf and other relatives, two more shells
exploded nearby. Event ually the brother managed to bring 'Abd al-
Kari m to the building where the others were seeki ng shelter. He
seemed to be already dead, with a massive injury to the back of his
head.
'Abd al-Karim 'Assaf was 22 years' old. Between 1998 and 1999
he had performed his military service in Beirut. He had then return
ed to the village of Mays al-Jabal and was unem ployed. His body
was taken to the hospital in Tibnin and was then returned to his
village by an ambulance of the Lebanese Red Cross.
The five other people who were in the car and were injured are
Husayn Hamadeh, who was driving; his two sons 'Ali Husayn Hama deh
and Sa'id Husayn Hamadeh; and their cousins Tariq Fawzi Hamadeh and
Hasan Mahmud Hamadeh. Amnesty International understands that they
sustained various injuries but does not have details of them.
Amnesty International saw the wreck of the burned-out Mercedes
on the side of the road on 29 and 31 May. It appeared to have been
hit from its left, with the shell impacting on the asphalt under
the car, the interior of which was torn from below.
4. Killing of Ibrahim Maruni (22 May 2000)
Ibrahim Maruni, from Shaqrah, was with 22 other young men in a
pick-up truck coming down from Hulah towards Mays al-Jabal, 20 in
the open back of the truck and one sitting next to the driver.
Muhammad Ibrahim, from Hula, drove the truck. He told Amnesty
International that between 1pm and 2pm on 22 May they were driving
down the road with others walking around them, perhaps 50 or 60
people, with no armed people among them. Those on the back of his
truck carried flags of Amal and Hizbullah.
[ Ibrahim Maruni � private ]
Muhammad Ibrahim said that they approached the point on the
road where the Mercedes, in which 'Abd al-Karim 'Assaf died, had
been hit and was burning. They could see his body on the tarmac.
Muhammad Ibrahim almost stopped and was about to turn to pass the
burning car when a shell was fired from a tank from the same
position from where the Mercedes was hit. The shell exploded in the
dirt just off the road a few metres away from the truck, which was
not damaged. Muhammad Ibrahim then drove into the gas station
nearby and it became clear that the only one hit was Ibrahim
Maruni. According to Muhammad Ibrahim:
�Ibrahim Maruni was the only one crouching and holding on to
the back of the driver's cabin, while the others were standing.
Shrapnel had torn into his side and he seems to have died
instantly.�
According to his relatives, just before the explosion Ibrahim
Maruni had told his friends �Look at the tank!�. After a while, the
body of Ibrahim Maruni was taken away to the hospital in Tibnin. An
ambulance of the Lebanese Red Cross then took him back to his
village.
Ibrahim Maruni was a 16-year-old student. He was born in Kuwait
but had returned to his family village when he was one year old. He
was the only boy and had 11 sisters. One of them, Amal, was killed
aged 12. Her family told Amnesty International that she was killed
by one of four shells fired from the Israeli / SLA side on 30 June
1995, as she was leaving home for the religious ceremonies of the
'Ashura.
[
The burned-out Mercedes in which 'Abd al-Karim 'Assaf died. Behind
it is the pick-up truck parked where it was when Ibrahim Maruni was
hit. In the background are the trees and houses of the Israeli
village of Manara . � Ina Tin / AI ]
5. Kil li ng of Salman 'Abd al-Rasul Rammal (22 May 2000)
In the late afternoon of 22 May Salman Rammal was operating his
bulldozer to remove a roadblock in the village of 'Adaysah, which
is at the foot of hills on which the border fence with Israel runs
near the Israeli village of Misgav Am. According to his family,
because he had a bulldozer Salman Rammal had been forced by the SLA
to put up this roadblock of earth and rubble at around 1pm, some
200 metres from his house. Now that the SLA had pulled back from
the area Salman Rammal was removing it.
His family told Amnesty International that there were dozens of
people on the road around his bulldozer celebrating, men, women and
children, including people waving Lebanese and Hizbullah flags. At
around 6pm what appeared to be a tank shell exploded, without
warning, where Salman Rammal was, fatally wounding him in the back
of the head. No one else was injured. The shell appeared to have
been fired by a tank overlooking 'Adaysah. The tank was visible
from the village and fired two more shells.
Salman Rammal was a farmer aged 35. He was married to Taghrid,
aged 28, and had four children, two boys, Bilal and Muhammad aged
12 and eight, and two girls Diana and Mariana aged 10 and four.
6. Killing of 'Abd al-Rahman Taqqush (23 May 2000)
'Abd al-Rahman (known as 'Abed) Taqqush was killed in his
stationary Mercedes car on 23 May at around 12pm. He had driven BBC
journalist Jeremy Bowen and cameraman Malik Kan'an from Mays
al-Jabal towards Hulah. They passed the burned out wreck of the
Mercedes hit the day before and decided to film it, together with
the village of Manara. According to Jeremy Bowen:
�'Abed stopped the car on the bend. Malik and I got out,
unloaded the camera gear from the boot and walked back round the
bend. 'Abed stayed in the car, making a phone call [his family said
later that he was speaking with his son Muhammad]. I saw what
looked like some sort of observation position in the Manara
settlement in front of us. Assuming they would be looking at us, I
waved my arms to show I was not carrying a weapon or anything else
suspicious. We were not wearing flack jackets or helmets. Malik set
up the tripod and camera in the middle of the road, and started
filming. We wanted to film Manara and the Mercedes together. About
three or four minutes had passed since 'Abed parked the car.�
The tripod was placed some ten metres away from the wreck of
the Mercedes and Jeremy Bowen had his back to 'Abed Taqqush's car.
He continues:
�I heard a very loud explosion. A few small pieces of debris
flew over my head. I turned around and saw a ball of flames. For a
split second I thought the grass was on fire and then I realized it
was 'Abed's car. The fire in the car took hold immediately and
after 10 or 20 seconds it was blazing.�
Jeremy Bowen says that a white car had just passed by 'Abed
Taqqush's car when the shell hit. As evident from the wreck, the
shell had hit directly the back of the car. Jeremy Bowen, Malik
Kan'an and two other Lebanese journalists who were also there
sought shelter in the gas station building. After about 10 minutes
Jeremy Bowen decided to move slightly into the road to see if it
was safe enough to walk up to 'Abed Taqqush's car, which was
burning furiously.
�At that point there was a burst of heavy machine-gun fire. I
heard bullets whiz over my head. I took cover again and gave up any
thought of moving out into the open towards the car.�
Jeremy Bowen says that Malik Kan'an managed to call for
assistance. Rescue cars arrived but did not move up to the burning
car for fear of being shot at. Eventually Jeremy Bowen and Malik
Kan'an hitched a ride to Mays al-Jabal and made further phone
calls. An ambulance of the Lebanese Red Cross received a call at
about 2.30pm and moved to recover the body, but desisted before
getting there when warned that the situation was still unsafe
because of firing from the Israeli side. Three or four hours after
the attack 'Abed Taqqush's body was finally recovered by a civil
defence team.
In the course of the telephone exchanges from Mays al-Jabal,
Jeremy Bowen had two conversations, some 15 minutes apart, with the
IDF Spokesperson Col. Sharon Grinker:
�In the first phone call he said the attack was carried out by
the SLA. In the second he asked me if I wanted him to try to
arrange a ceasefire; the problem, he said, was that he didn't know
who was firing in the area.�
[ 'Abd al-Rahman Taqqush � private ]
On the Israeli side of the border, on a platform near Manara
overlooking the road in Lebanon, Johnny Irvine from the British
television company ITN was watching events with other journalists,
camera crews and other onlookers. He saw cars driving down the road
and an Israeli tank some 300 to 400 yards from where he was
standing. He told Amnesty International:
�The tank fired, I could tell also by the dust coming from
where it was located, and hit one of the cars. Then two Israeli
spotters arrived with binoculars and radio. After they arrived, I
heard two bursts of machine-gun fire, one some five minutes after
the tank had fired, another one 10 minutes after the first burst. I
could not tell who was firing.�
Alan Philps of the Daily Telegraph arrived at the observation
point in Manara just as the tank fired and hit 'Abed Taqqush's car.
He told Amnesty international:
�The car was burning. Word went around that two people had
survived the attack on the car. There was a burst of heavy
machine-gun fire apparently as the Israelis tried to target the
survivors, although I could not tell if it came from the tank below
us or from somewhere else. I noticed three Israeli soldiers that
had arrived in a Humvee. One was carrying a back-pack radio with a
five or six foot antenna, another had field binoculars. �
Sam Kiley, correspondent for the British newspaper The Times,
told Amnesty International that he saw the explosion of the car and
noticed the dust coming from where the tank had just fired. He also
saw the Israeli spotters on the platform, and his driver told him
that he overheard them saying that �two had escaped�. Those remarks
were followed shortly afterwards by bursts of machine-gun fire.
'Abed Taqqush was 53 years' old. He was married to Hana and had
three sons, Muhammad aged 21; Marwan aged 19; and Tariq aged 14. He
had been working for the BBC as a driver for 25 years.
7. The rules: international humanitarian law
The laws of war included in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and its two
1977 Additional Protocols categorically prohibit any direct attack
against civilians or civilian objects, including in reprisal. They
also prohibit attacks which do not attempt to distinguish between
military targets and civilians or civilian objects and attacks
which, although aimed at a legitimate military target, have a
disproportionate impact on civilians or civilian objects. Finally,
international humanitarian law requires that specific precautions
be taken to protect civilians when carrying out an attack.
The fullest statement of the rules governing the conduct of
hostilities in international armed conflict is in Protocol I
Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, relating to the
Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol
I). This Protocol has been ratified by 156 states, including
Lebanon, but not by Israel. However, the fundamental provisions of
this Protocol, including the rules referred to above, are
considered part of customary international law and are therefore
binding on all states.
Distinguishing between civilians and combatants
Article 48 of Protocol I sets out the �basic rule� regarding the
protection of civilians (often referred to as the principle of
distinction):
�In order to ensure respect for and protection of the civilian
population and civilian objects, the Parties to the conflict shall
at all times distinguish between the civilian population and
combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and
accordingly shall direct their operations only against military
objectives.�
Article 44(3) obliges combatants �to distinguish themselves
from the civilian population while they are engaged in an attack or
in a military operation preparatory to an attack.� However, Article
50(3) specifies that �[t]he presence within the civilian population
of individuals who do not come within the definition of civilians
does not deprive the population of its civilian character.�
Regarding objects, Article 52 (2) defines military objectives
as �those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use
make an effective contribution to military action and whose total
or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the
circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military
advantage.� Under Article 52(3), where it is unclear whether a
target is used for military purposes, �it shall be presumed not to
be so used.�
The prohibition of direct attacks against civilians and of
indiscriminate attacks
Article 51(2) of Protocol I spells out categorically that �the
civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall
not be the object of attack.� When committed wilfully and causing
death or serious injury such an attack constitutes a �grave breach�
of international humanitarian law and is therefore a war crime.
In addition to prohibiting direct attacks against civilians,
international law also prohibits indiscriminate attacks. In the
language of Article 51(4), indiscriminate attacks are those �of a
nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian
objects without distinction.� Article 51(5)(b) includes, among
those to be considered indiscriminate, a type of attack which
violates the principle of proportionality, specifically:
�an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of
civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or
a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the
concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.�
The duty to take precautionary measures
International humanitarian law requires that armed forces make all
feasible efforts to avoid inflicting civilian casualties. Under
Article 57, �[I]n the conduct of military operations, constant care
shall be taken to spare the civilian population, civilians and
civilian objects.�
Article 57(2)(a) specifies precautionary measures that should
be taken by those launching an attack. They include, among others,
doing �everything feasible to verify that the objectives to be
attacked are neither civilians nor civilian objects and are not
subject to special protection� and taking �all feasible precautions
in the choice of means and methods of attack with a view to
avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental loss of
civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects�.
Article 57(2)(c) requires that �effective advance warning shall
be given of attacks which may affect the civilian population,
unless circumstances do not permit.�
Article 58 obliges parties to a conflict to take all necessary
precautions to protect civilians under their control against the
dangers resulting from military operations, including by removing
civilians from the vicinity of military objectives and avoiding
locating military objectives within or near densely populated
areas.
Violations of the laws of war: state responsibility
Article 85 of Protocol I defines certain �grave breaches� of the
Protocol. These are war crimes and include -- when they are
committed wilfully and cause death or serious injury -- �making the
civilian population or individual civilians the object of attack�
and �launching an indiscriminate attack affecting the civilian
population or civilian objects in the knowledge that such attack
will cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to
civilian objects� which would be excessive in relation to the
concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.
Article 86 requires that �Parties to the conflict shall repress
grave breaches, and take measures necessary to suppress all other
breaches, of the [1949 Geneva] Conventions or of this Protocol
which result from a failure to act when under a duty to do so.�
Article 91 makes clear that each party to the conflict �shall
be responsible for all acts committed by persons forming part of
its armed forces�. Accordingly, a �Party to the conflict which
violates the provisions of the Conventions or of this Protocol
shall, if the case demands, be liable to pay compensation.�
Individual responsibility
Individuals, whether civilians or military, regardless of rank, can
be held criminally responsible for serious violations of
international humanitarian law. Commanders can be held responsible
for the acts of their subordinates. In the words of Article 86(2):
�The fact that a breach of the Conventions or of this Protocol
was committed by a subordinate does not absolve his superiors from
penal disciplinary responsibility, as the case may be, if they
knew, or had information which should have enabled them to conclude
in the circumstances at the time, that he was committing or was
going to commit such a breach and if they did not take all feasible
measures within their power to prevent or repress the breach.�
Superior orders cannot be invoked as a defence for violations
of international humanitarian law although they may be taken into
account in mitigation of punishment. This principle has been
recognized since the Nuremberg trials which followed World War II
and is now part of international customary law.
Jurisdiction over serious violations of international humanitarian
law
In line with the common provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions,
which are recalled in their Protocols, each state party undertakes
�to enact legislation necessary to provide effective penal
sanctions� for persons involved in grave breaches. In addition, the
principle of universal jurisdiction would apply to such crimes.
Therefore, each state party:
�shall be under the obligation to search for persons alleged to
have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such grave
breaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their
nationality, before its own courts.�
The Geneva Conventions allow a party, if it prefers, to hand
such persons over for trial to another state party, and require
that, �in all circumstances, the accused persons shall benefit by
safeguards of proper trial and defence�.
In addition to being obliged to exercise universal jurisdiction
for grave breaches, states are permitted to exercise universal
jurisdiction for other war crimes. If, following an investigation,
there is sufficient admissible evidence and the suspect is within
their jurisdiction, states should prosecute, in a fair trial, or
extradite the suspect to another state willing and able to hold a
fair trial.
8. Conclusions and recommendations
The information available to Amnesty International suggests that in
the four incidents detailed above Israeli forces directed tank fire
from the Israeli side of the border at Lebanese civilians, killing
four people. These killings appear to have happened in a context in
which the IDF and SLA had already withdrawn from the area and,
especially on 22 May, many Lebanese civilians were on the move
celebrating the withdrawal and their return to their villages.
Whatever armed presence was there, it did not appear to either have
had the intention or the capability to launch attacks on the
border. The people killed appear all to have been targeted, without
warning, even though they were not engaged in hostilities.
On the basis of the evidence gathered, Amnesty International
believes that serious violations of international humanitarian law,
possibly war crimes, have taken place. It therefore recommends the
following:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The Israeli authorities must immediately carry out a
thorough investigation into these attacks. The methods and findings
of this investigation should be made public.
2. In pursuing this investigation Israel should consider asking
the assistance of the International Fact-Finding Commission
established under Article 90 of Protocol I, an independent
commission of experts which would be able to operate on both sides
with the agreement of both Israel and Lebanon.
3. Should there be enough admissible evidence of serious
violations of the laws of war, Israel must bring to justice those
responsible.
4. Other states should investigate available evidence of grave
breaches of international humanitarian law and, if there is
sufficient evidence and the suspect is within their jurisdiction,
such states should prosecute or extradite the suspect to another
country willing and able to hold fair trials and without the
possibility of death penalty.
5. Israel must also review and publish to the maximum extent
possible its rules of engagement with regard to incidents at the
Israeli-Lebanese border and ensure that they reflect the highest
standards of international humanitarian law.
6. Israel should also ensure that victims of serious violations
of international humanitarian law receive full redress, including
compensation.
7. Israel should accede without delay or reservations to the
Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions.
* This term is absolutely unacceptable. "Israel's" Army is that of
war and aggression for it protects land gained by force,
confiscation and war in contradiction with the simplest rights of
human confessed by the international laws and conventions. (IDF)
** It is an "Israeli" nomination we absolutely reject for it
contradicts with Lebanon's independence and sovereignty. This army
is not but an "Israeli" agent working for realizing "Israel's"
goals in Lebanon. (SLA)
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