Smoke billows from the Israeli village of Beit Hillil adjacent to Lebanon after being hit by Hizbullah's mortar August 2, 2006. No casualties is reported. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    GENEVA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- A fact-finding mission designated by the UN Human Rights Council said on Tuesday that Israel broke human rights law in Lebanon during its month-long conflict with Hezbollah militias.

    Israel engaged in "a significant pattern of excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate force" against Lebanese civilians that amounted to "a flagrant violation" of international law, said the inquiry mission in a draft report.

    The mission of three legal experts, which visited Lebanon from September to October, said "Israel failed to give adequate warning to Lebanese civilians of attacks, had not limited assaults to military targets."

    "Cumulatively, the deliberate and lethal attacks" by the Israeli defense forces against civilians and infrastructure "amounted to collective punishment," it said.

    The investigators focused specifically on Israel's use of large numbers of cluster bombs.

    "Their use was excessive, and not justified by any reason of military necessity," the draft report said, concluding that "these weapons were used deliberately to turn large areas of fertile agricultural land into 'no go' areas for the civilian population."

    The investigators also said they found no justification for attacks by Israeli forces against positions of the UN peacekeeping force, including one strike that killed four UN soldiers.

    Quoting figures from the Lebanese government, the report said that Israeli attacks killed 1,191 people, wounded 4,409 and drove more than 900,000 people from their homes.

    The attacks on the Lebanon's infrastructure would take years to rebuild, even with international help, it said.

Israeli warplanes keep overflying southern Lebanon

    JERUSALEM, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israel Air Forces warplanes have not stopped violating Lebanese air space since Israeli ground troops completed withdrawal from southern Lebanon in early October.

    Irritated by Israeli fighters' ongoing operations, Major General Alain Pellegrini of France, commander of UN Interim Forcein Lebanon (UNIFIL) warned last week that the UN troops might need to change the rules of engagement to allow the use of anti-aircraft missiles against Israeli jets. Full Story

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