QANA, Lebanon: Over 60 people were killed, many of them sleeping children, when Israeli warplanes blitzed the Lebanese village of Qana yesterday, triggering global outrage and warnings of retribution for a "war crime" as a truce appeared more remote than ever.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose latest Middle East mission was thrown into turmoil by the attack, said it was time to "get to a ceasefire" in Lebanon but stopped short of calling for an immediate halt to hostilities.
A Lebanese foreign ministry official told an urgent session of the UN Security Council that more than 60 people were killed, mostly women and children. Police earlier put the toll at 54, 37 of them children.
It was the bloodiest attack since Israel launched its war on the Shia Muslim group Hezbollah following the capture of two soldiers on July 12.
Israel expressed "regret" over the civilian deaths and ordered an inquiry but said it had warned residents to leave and pinned the blame on Hezbollah for launching rockets from the village.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he was in "no rush" for a truce and told Rice that Israel needed 10 to 14 days more to continue its offensive against Hezbollah, an Israeli government official said.
Later, however, US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said that Israel had decided to suspend the air strikes for 48 hours while it investigated the Qana bombings,.
"Israel has agreed to a 48-hour suspension of aerial activity in south Lebanon," Ereli told reporters after talks between Rice and top Israeli officials.
Israel would also co-ordinate with the United Nations on a 24-hour period of "safe passage" for civilians that wish to leave the area, Ereli said.
Amid faltering diplomatic efforts to staunch a conflict now in its 19th day, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan asked the Security Council in an emergency meeting to call for an immediate ceasefire.
"We must condemn this action in the strongest possible terms, and I appeal to you to do likewise," Annan told the meeting of the 15-member council. – AFP |
