IDF Admits Targeting Civilian Areas With Cluster Bombs

Haaretz
November 20, 2006

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday admitted for the first time to having targeted populated areas with cluster munitions during the recent war in Lebanon. The IDF Spokesman's Office said in a statement that "the use of cluster munitions against built-up areas was done only against military targets where rocket launches against Israel were identified and after taking steps to warn the civilian population." The upper echelons of the IDF ordered the use of cluster munitions during the war in Lebanon and authorized every target north of the Litani River, including those in densely populated areas, a commander in the IDF's Multiple Launch Rocket System unit said Monday.

As a result of this information, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered an "extensive inquiry" into the use of these munitions before the war's end.

MK Ran Cohen (Meretz), a reserves colonel who led an artillery support unit in the first Lebanon war, called the use of cluster bombs a "very unusual" measure. He added that in his experience, every such use must receive the approval of the division commander or even the regional general officer. "This is a very grave matter," Cohen said. "If cluster bombs were used in populated areas, it is an indescribable crime. There is no goal that can't be reached without the use of clusters. The massive use the IDF employed during the war testifies to a lack of control, to complete hysteria."

To date, roughly 58,000 unexploded bomblets have been discovered at about 800 different sites in southern Lebanon. Most are near populated areas. According to the officer, in order to compensate for the rockets' lack of precision, they were told to "flood" the area with them. "We have no option of striking an isolated target, and the commanders know this very well," he said. [Read More]