Posted on 07/15/2006 2:22:32 PM PDT by yankeedame
ELEVEN children and seven adults were killed overnight in southern Lebanon, their bodies consumed by flames when an Israeli warplane opened fire on the convoy they were in, UN peacekeepers and hospital sources said. Their charred remains were extracted from the wreckage of the minibus and car they were travelling in and taken to hospital.
A doctor, Ali Zeineddine, said they were burned alive.
"It is very difficult to identify the bodies or to distinguish between girls or boys, as the 18 victims perished from the fire triggered by incendiary shells. They grilled," he said.
They had been among residents fleeing villages close to the Israeli border and were killed when missiles struck a car and a minibus near Shamaa, hospital sources said. The children were aged between 7 and 12.
An officer with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), who was involved in the evacuation operation, told AFP that his team removed most of the burnt bodies.
"Some of them were thrown on olive trees and even on haystacks," said the officer, who declined to be named.
An AFP correspondent saw the blackened bodies of five of those killed, a father and his four children, at the hospital in Tyre.
The father of two of the other children killed, Mahmoud Ghannam, 55, who was not with the targeted convoy, broke down when he arrived at the hospital.
"My God, my God. I can't make out the faces of my children. They are burnt black... Which ones are my children?" he cried, repeatedly hitting his head with his hands.
"My God, Israel is the enemy of mankind," he wailed.
Ten other people were transported to hospital for treatment for burns and fractures, medics said.
Initial reports had put the number of children killed at nine and said the missiles had been fired by an Israeli helicopter gunship.
One of the survivors, nine-year-old Batoul Aatrissi, said from her hospital bed: "There was a plane over our heads. My father parked on the side of the road. There was an explosion, the car was picked up and knocked over and we were thrown around the place."
Her 13-year-old cousin Sadeq, badly peppered with shrapnel, added: "I remember only one thing, finding myself alone in the car with its wheels in the air. I called out but there was nobody. Then I found myself here."
The deaths of the 18 in the convoy contributed to a total of 30 civilians killed in a series of Israeli raids across Lebanon on Saturday. Another 45 people were wounded.
A Lebanese army soldier was also killed in an Israeli military strike on the coastal city of Batroun, north of Beirut.
At least 92 civilians have been killed and 252 wounded in Lebanon since Israel began its assault on Lebanon after the capture of two soldiers and the killing of eight others by the Syrian-backed militant group Hezbollah early Wednesday.
The Israeli army said it regretted the deaths of civilians, but said Hezbollah militias were to blame for putting their lives in danger.
It said in a statement that it had targeted the area near Tyre because it was "used as launching grounds for missiles fired by Hezbollah terror organisation at Israel".
"The IDF (Israeli Defence Force) regrets civilian casualties while targeting the missile launching area," it said.
"Responsibility for endangering the civilian population rests on the organisation which operates and launches missiles at Israel from populated civilian areas," the army said.
Guerrillas have fired over 100 rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel over the past three days, killing four Israeli civilians.
Three people were also killed in another raid Saturday when Israeli jets struck the road leading to the main crossing of Masnaa between Lebanon and Syria, blocking passage across the border, police said.
And another three civilians were killed when Israeli jets fired missiles near a bridge on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Hermel on the border with Syria.
An Iraqi was killed and three other workers were wounded in an attack at a fuel station near the southern coastal city of Sidon, police said.
That tells it all doesn't it?
This enemy, the islamonazis, always hide behind their women and children. They use them as shields. They think nothing of using the roofs of orphanages and hospitals for their guns.
So it could have happened, but might not have. They also use the propaganda of false atrocities to slur their enemies.
In either case, I just ain't impressed, and we really need to censor this kind of unsubstantiated or misleading enemy propaganda.
FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
If these were the wives and children of the Hizbollah murderers, I have zero sympathy. They are fair game.
Woman, grandson killed in Meron rocket attack
Woman, four-year-old grandson killed by Katyusha that hit house in Meron; child's parents, six others, including 10-year-old girl, also hurt; earlier, Katyusha rocket hits house in Safed, wounding 12 people. One person in serious condition after sustaining head injuries; some 14 rockets hit town Friday afternoon. Simultaneously rockets fired at Nahariya, land in heart of town; two lightly injured in strike
Hizbullah continues to strike north: A woman and her four-year-old grandson who were injured by a Katyusha rocket that hit a house in the Meron community near Safed early Friday evening died of their injuries.
The child’s parents, along with six other people, were injured in the attack.
Among the wounded is a 10-year-old girl who is said to be in serious condition after shrapnel struck her neck.
Some of the injured, including the girl and her grandfather, who sustained injuries to his leg, were evacuated to Ziv Hospital in Safed. Three people suffering from anxiety were also taken to the hospital. Loud explosions were heard near the hospital during the wait for those injured in the attack on Meron, and staff members were instructed to enter the building.
At least 300 Katyusha rockets and 500 motar shells have been fired by Hizbullah into Israel since violence started three days ago.
The cities of Carmiel and Nahariya suffered direct Katyusha hits earlier Friday. Paramedics reported that two people were lighlty injured in Nahariya.
Throughout the day, Katyusha barrages landed in Safed, Nahariya, Hatzor, Kiryat Shmona, Karmiel, Matat, Sasa, Pki'in and Beit Jan. One of the rockets directly hit a house in Safed, injuring 12 people. One person sustained a very severe head injury.
Rockets fired from southern Lebanon have also landed on Shomra, Metula, Zarit, and Even Menachem. Magen David Adom paramedics said over 50 civilians have been treated so far, including two in Yesod Hamaale where two katyusha rockets exploded.
Head of the emergency room in Ziv Hospital, Dr. Hussein Amar, said that one of the injured sustained serious wounds, two are in moderate condition and the rest were lightly injured by shrapnel and shock wave. Magen David Adom teams are set to evacuate more people to the hospital.
At least 14 rockets landed in the town in three or four barrages and the town's residents still suffer from disruptions to the power supply caused by earlier rocket attacks.
At least two barrages fell near Kiryat Shmona. One barrage landed near a factory in the city's northern industrial zone and the second landed near the community of Beit Hillel.
Deputy director-general of the hospital, Dr, Shapira Klein, said: "The sights of the injured arriving at the hospital remind us of the Lebanon War. Although Katyushas didn't land in Safed then, they hit Kiryat Shmona and the area."
Lior Lasri, 16, witnesses one of the strikes: "I heard a loud blats, I was walking in the street and suddenly heard a shriek. I saw fire and bent down quickly."
The Ziv Hospital has been on high alert since Wednesday, and will continue to operate at the same preparedness level throughout the weekend. The hospital staff has been asked to be available for call 24 hours and able to come in to work on a short notice.
Simultaneously, a rocket barrage landed in the heart of Nahariya, lightly injuring six people.
The Katyushas landed close the town's center in Weizmann Street, just meters away from where a meeting of heads of the Nahariya authorities was held at the time. Vice Premier Shimon Peres and other ministers were attending the meeting.
Additional rockets hit Hatzor Haglilit near Rosh Pina. Several people suffered from shock after a rocket landed near a bomb shelter and avehicle that was parked nearby caught on fire. One rocket landed in the village of Beit Jan.
Tt least two barrages fell near Kiryat Shmona. One barrage landed near a factory in the city's northern industrial zone and the second landed near the village of Beit Hillel.
Meanwhile, other rockets landed in the communities of Biranit, Matat and Sasa on the northern border.
Karmiel residents were told to enter bomb shelters and protected structures, after a number of Katyusha rockets landed near the city. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
IDF strikes in Lebanon
The IDF said that since the morning hours the Air Force struck 17 targets across Lebanon. Six Qassam launchers were hit, as well as runways and fuel depots at Beirut's international airport, and a Katyusha warehouse in southern Lebanon.
A number of bridges and a storage structure for anti-tank missiles owned by Hizbullah were hit, as well as another airport.
"We defined a clear mission to the IDF," a senior officer said Friday noon. "Our aim is to hit Hizbullah badly. Everyone affiliated with this organization is a target. Hizbullah tries to set Israel up by firing the Katyusha at Haifa and create deterrence, but we won't let this group bring us down," he said.
North under fire
Six Katyushas landed Friday at about 1 p.m. in the western Galilee region. Two of the rockets landed near Nahariya's cemetery and industrial zone. The other four landed in the area of kibbutz Kabri, kibbutz Gesher Haziv, kibbutz Saar and the community of Ban Ami.
No injuries or damage were reported in the incidents, but several fires broke at the rockets' landing sites that are now being extinguished.
Earlier, serious damages have caused interferences to the electrical grid in the Safed area, following the Katyusha rocket attacks on town Friday.
The Electric Company is working in coordination with security officials to repair the damages and has called on citizens to keep their distance from torn power cables.
A Katyusha rocket barrage landed Friday morning in an open area in the Moshav Biria, near Safed. There were no reports of injuries, and firefighters were working to put out the fire that started in the area.
Simultaneously, rockets were fired at Rosh Pina. There were no reports of injuries. Earlier, rockets landed in open areas near Kibbutz Baram in the Galilee panhandle.
Hanan Greenberg, Neta Sela, Aviram Zino and Ahiya Raved contributed to the report
Human shields. Terrorists never leave home without them.
I regret the 500 Israelis injured, incl. a handful dead, as a result of Hezbollah rocket attacks. Praises offered up for the fact that the figure isn't higher.
May the good Lord protect innocent civilians everywhere.
But then again, many of the MSM believe that anyone who engages in war operations is "the aggressor".
This jumped out at me: An officer with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), who was involved in the evacuation operation, told AFP that his team removed most of the burnt bodies.
"Some of them were thrown on olive trees and even on haystacks," said the officer, who declined to be named."
I don't want to be morbid here BUT If a burning body drops on a haystack wouldn't it start a rather large fire? Wouldn't the fire be mentioned also? When I lived in a house surrounded by hay fields, as soon as it was cut, we were terrified of fire.
"ELEVEN children and seven adults were killed"
eleven kids and seven wives... must be the family of the imam.
Uh, it's the Muslims who keep the terror going. The day Muslims love their children more than they hate Israel, is the day this will stop. They send their little children in to be suicide bombers. What do they expect Israel to do?
We've seen Palestinians use children as human shields before. Look at this photo of a Hezbollah shooter using a teenager to shield him from return fire by shooting between his legs and all the others milling around to make it difficult for the IDF to return fire without hitting one of them.
Toy gun, suicide belt, and Hamas martyr headband.
I agree it is sad news. Like they say War is hell and this stuff happens. That being said I am not going to jump on the amen corner and condemm the dad that can't identify his kids. I am not sure what my reaction would have been and seen my kids die. For all the breathless pictures of muslims celebrating Hezebullah there are countless others that hate them with a vengance
People get down on the average Lebanese for not facing down these terrorist. But often people forget the very man that masterminded the Beriut Marine Barrack bombing possibly the Towers Bombing in Saudi Arabi is the same man that masterminded the kidnapping of this Israeli soliders. Well back in 83 to be blunt we ran out of there and continued on our on vacation from reality til 911 happened. So I am a tad wary before I condemn people that have seen death and destruction for so long and felt they had to accomadate it for some peace. We made that same judgment and had our own awakening on 911.
So I don't condem Israel, and I don't condeem that dad for speaking out in pain or whatever if this story is true. I am sure if it is not true there are stories like that can be as heartgripping that are not reported. War is generally hell.
...Timmy can't help himself any longer.
Great quote. Veronica, we don't often agree with political candidates, but we obviously agree with this quote by Golda Meir. Thanks for posting it.
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