UN rights mission says Israel broke law in Lebanon
Source: Reuters
(Writes through with Israeli reaction, detail and background) By Richard Waddington GENEVA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - A U.N. mission of inquiry on Tuesday accused Israel of committing "flagrant violations" of international human rights law in its month-long war with Hezbollah Islamist fighters in Lebanon. A team of three legal experts sent to Lebanon by the United Nations' top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, said Israel was guilty of "excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force" in the conflict. Israel failed to give adequate warning to Lebanese civilians of attacks, had not limited assaults to military targets and had made excessive use of cluster bombs, which take a heavy toll on civilians and their property, they said. "The commission has formed a clear view that, cumulatively, the deliberate and lethal attacks by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) on civilians and civilian objects amounted to collective punishment," read their report on the Council's Web site
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