Xinhua - English

Special report: Israel-Lebanon conflicts [Gallery] [Videos]

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz attends a meeting in Jerusalem on Nov. 19, 2006. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery >>>
JERUSALEM, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said on Monday that the order to cautiously and limitedly use cluster bombs during the recent Lebanese war was "explicit", Israel's local newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

Halutz made the comments after he decided to investigate into IDF field commanders' disobedience of his orders.

"There is no question that one of the things that must be investigated is the way in which the orders were given and implemented," Halutz was quoted as saying Monday morning. "Were the orders explicit? I believe that they were," he added.

According to the report, Halutz ordered the IDF to use cluster bombs with extreme caution and not to fire them into populated areas during the war.

Despite of the orders, Israeli forces did so anyway, primarily using artillery batteries and the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).

These artillery batteries and MLRS are estimated to have delivered thousands of cluster bombs, containing a total of some 4 million bomblets, during the conflict.

Following some media reports and criticism from international organizations, Halutz appointed IDF Brigadier General Mishel Ben Baruch to head a probe into the use of the weapons.

The inquiry's findings were handed over to Halutz and IDF Advocate General Avichai Mendelblit, who will determine whether the case merits court-martial proceedings.

Since the cease-fire went into effect on August 14, at least 22Lebanese civilians, including many children, have been killed and 134 others injured by unexploded bomblets.

Each rocket or shell can contain as many as several hundred bomblets, which are meant to disperse over an area of hundreds of square meters, exploding as they hit the ground.

To date, roughly 58,000 unexploded bomblets have been discovered at about 800 different sites in southern Lebanon. Most of them are near populated areas.

JERUSALEM, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Dan Halutz will appoint a major-general to investigate the use of cluster bombs during the Lebanon war, Israeli television Channel One reported on Sunday. >>>

Report: cluster bombs used in Lebanon by IDF

JERUSALEM, Sept.12 (Xinhua) -- Israel Defense Forces (IDF) heavily used cluster bombs and phosphorous shells during the Lebanese war, local daily Ha'aretz reported on Tuesday.

Ha'aretz quoted the head of an IDF rocket unit in Lebanon as reporting that the IDF fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets, in the 34-day offensive in Lebanon. Full Story

UN official criticizes Israel's use of cluster bombs

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- UN Relief Work Coordinator, Norway's Jan Egeland, has strongly criticized Israel's use of cluster bombs in Lebanon, according to reports reaching here from Oslo on Thursday.

UN experts have so far found 100,000 undetonated cluster bombs in more than 350 spots in Lebanon, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported. Full Story

Annan denounces Israel use of cluster bombs

AMMAN, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan denounced here on Thursday during a news conference the Israel's use of cluster bombs during the war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.

After his talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II, Annan said that "those kinds of weapons should not be used in civilian and populated areas". Full Story