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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hezbollah rocket attacks are “probable” war crimes: rights group
2006-07-18
WASHINGTON - Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel with imprecise rockets in civilian areas violated international humanitarian law and most likely constituted “war crimes.” The attacks Sunday and Monday were “at best indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas, at worst the deliberate targeting of civilians,” the New York-based group said in a statement. “Either way, they were serious violations of international humanitarian law and probable war crimes,” it said.
Ok, my surprise meter is working after all.
Some of the rockets launched against Haifa contain hundreds of metal ball bearings and were of little military use but could cause serious harm to civilians, the group wrote. “Attacking civilian areas indiscriminately is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and can constitute a war crime,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the group’s Middle East and North Africa division. “Hezbollah’s use of warheads that have limited military use and cause grievous suffering to the victims only makes the crime worse.”

International humanitarian law prohibits warring parties using weapons in civilian areas that are so inaccurate that they cannot be directed at military targets without a substantial risk of causing harm to civilians, Human Rights Watch said. The group has urged both Hezbollah and Israel to respect the prohibition against targeting civilians or conducting indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas. Human Rights Watch on Monday called on the Israeli government to divulge details about a bombing over the weekend that reportedly killed 16 civilians in a convoy near the village of Marwahin.
Posted by:Steve

#24  Mr. Levant should be behind the times. He's been dead for 35 years. He was great with Jack Parr.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-07-18 20:58  

#23  "Poor Mr. Levant is behind the times"

It, and the rest of the Arab world.
Posted by: Fordesque   2006-07-18 20:55  

#22  Poor Mr. Levant is behind the times. Human Rights Watch just denounced Hizb'Allah's actions as war crimes, and I misdoubt Hamas will be far behind. The tides of History have passed your people by, Mr. Levant, and the world has no sympathy for losers, no matter what pride Mr. Levant may take in such barbaric behaviour.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-07-18 19:41  

#21  JOE is coherent and funny, not like levintine.
Posted by: 6   2006-07-18 19:34  

#20  And how many years (and subsequent deaths) have this Hezy bombs been going?
Posted by: Captain America   2006-07-18 18:23  

#19  hee hee.... a Paleo Joe M
Posted by: Frank G   2006-07-18 17:15  

#18  You weren't born yesterday planetdan, were you? Rockets, bombs, nails etc. hitting OCCUPIERS are not considered war crimes by the civilized world. But rockets hitting the OCCUPIED are!
Posted by: the Levant   2006-07-18 17:14  

#17  What about all those rockets shot from gaza since Israel left? Wouldn't those be war crimes too? Isn't Hamas culpable, as they're the government?
Posted by: PlanetDan   2006-07-18 15:51  

#16  Hmmmm what's that "international humanitarian law"? Does it apply to NK? Arabs? Paleos? Cuba? Venezuela? Burma? China?.....
Posted by: Frank G   2006-07-18 15:09  

#15  International humanitarian law prohibits warring parties using weapons in civilian areas that are so inaccurate that they cannot be directed at military targets without a substantial risk of causing harm to civilians.

So much for that ARCLIGHT strike, I guess. Unless we fill the 40 BUFF's up with 500-lb JDAMs?
Posted by: mojo   2006-07-18 14:43  

#14  You recall correctly, a5089. Brer Rabbit, the formerly great New York Times and CNN never bother to mention such little trifles, however much the perpetrators boast about it... and it doesn't change the raw casualty numbers, just the quality of life of the wounded. Rat poison on the nails and ball bearings packed in the boom vests has been standing operating procedure for years and years and years.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-07-18 13:35  

#13  I'd have something to say about this but I'm too busy trying to pick my jaw up from the floor.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-07-18 13:08  

#12  How come I never heard this said about explosive vests packed with nails?

Dipped in rat poison, to slow coagulation and intensify bleeding, a practice common enough for israeli ER to deal with that on a regular basis... IIRC, there was also an attempt at blowing bags of aids-tainted blood along with shrapnels... didn't work, but the intent was there. Of course, Lotp is right. Freedom fighters(Tm).
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-07-18 12:45  

#11  Because those are Brave Resistance Fighters.
Posted by: lotp   2006-07-18 12:36  

#10  How come I never heard this said about explosive vests packed with nails?
Posted by: BrerRabbit   2006-07-18 12:36  

#9  Dr. Seuss's ABC We read that to trailing daughter#1 from Frankfurt to Prague and back again in 1991. My still-unmarried girlfriend who accompanied us on that trip can recite the whole thing from memory even yet. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-07-18 12:22  

#8  A serious violation of human rights, ya say? I'm gonna report you to the govamint. What a bunch of delusional loons the HRW are. Hizb'Allah is a serious human rights violation themselves. HRW, wacha gonna do, wacha gonna do when they come for you? Who ya gonna call, the ACLU?
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2006-07-18 12:07  

#7  Oscar's only ostrich oiled an orange owl today.

zazz: Thank you for that blast from my past!
Posted by: Xbalanke   2006-07-18 11:23  

#6  Definitely a lagging indicator.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-07-18 11:17  

#5  NS, if uncertain, follow the money, I'd guess.

Oscar's only ostrich oiled an orange owl today. Or someone else may have oiled an orange owl today.

If even HRW is pointing a finget at Hizbullah, they are screwed, I tell ya.
Posted by: zazz   2006-07-18 11:04  

#4  It's not like it's the first time ball bearings have been used. Is that getting big negative media play? It's almost as though a bit flipped for a lot of folks with this last set of attacks, even the Saudis. I can believe the Saudis see the hand of Iranian Shiites and want to stop them. But what moved HRW?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-07-18 10:43  

#3  The ball bearings in the warhead that struck the railstation were a mistake.
Posted by: lotp   2006-07-18 10:30  

#2  Let's give them the Milosovic treatment.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-07-18 10:13  

#1  Hezbollah: "We didn't fire any rockets, the Jooooos shoot them straight up in the air and they come down on their own cities so they can blame us".
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2006-07-18 10:12  

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