Israeli strike kills U.N. peacekeepers
Contributed by Bill Faith
Israeli strike kills 2 U.N. peacekeepers
By Nicholas Kralev
The Washington Times
ROME -- An Israeli artillery strike killed at least two United Nations peacekeepers yesterday in what U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called an "apparently deliberate strike" on the eve of a major peace conference here today.
Two more peacekeepers were feared dead in the attack on their post in southern Lebanon.
Hours earlier Israel began outlining its terms for the deployment of an international stabilization force of up to 20,000 troops along its border with Lebanon ahead of today's conference to which the Jewish state is not invited.
The U.N. chief said the strike on a clearly marked U.N. border outpost was "apparently deliberate" and demanded Israel investigate. A bomb dropped by an Israeli warplane scored a direct hit on the post in the town of Khiyam, near the eastern sector of the border, U.N. officials said.
The victims were from Austria, Canada, China and Finland, U.N. and Lebanese military officials said. It was not immediately known which two were confirmed dead.
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This is not a "screw them" moment; it's always unfortunate when anyone dies who didn't need killin'.
I have to admit though that my first reaction when I read the above was about something else: Is there no one writing for any of the papers that knows even a little about things military? An Israeli artillery strike ... A bomb dropped by an Israeli warplane ... So which was it? How are we supposed to blame the filthy Jews for deliberately murdering people they probably had no idea were there if we can't even get the basic facts straight? So, how much of the rest of the story did you screw up?
This one's even worse: Israeli Airstrike Hits U.N. Outpost
4 Observers Killed; Olmert Pledges to Allow Lebanon Aid
By Scott Wilson and Robin Wright
Washington Post Foreign Service
JERUSALEM, July 25 -- An Israeli airstrike hit a United Nations post in southern Lebanon late Tuesday, killing four international observers, hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to lift Israel's 14-day blockade of Lebanon for shipments of humanitarian aid to reach the swelling ranks of displaced Lebanese civilians.
U.N. officials said an aerial shell struck an observer post in the hilltop town of Khiyam, and rescue teams reached the site soon after to search for survivors in the rubble. Milos Strugar, a senior adviser for the mission, known by the acronym UNIFIL, said the four observers inside the post had taken cover in bunkers after 14 Israeli airstrikes landed nearby throughout the afternoon.
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And of course "Filthy Jews murder innocent peacekeepers" rates page A01.
*** Israeli PM Expresses Deep Regret
Over Bombing of U.N. Post in Lebanon
BEIRUT, Lebanon — An Israeli bomb destroyed a U.N. observer post on the border in southern Lebanon Tuesday, killing three observers and leaving another feared dead, officials said. U.N. chief Kofi Annan said Israel appeared to have struck the site deliberately.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday expressed "deep regret" over the killings and said the peacekeepers were killed mistakenly. He spoke on the phone with Annan, expressing dismay over Annan's accusation and promising a thorough investigation, according to Olmert's office.
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