A first-hand account of how the Israeli strikes have traumatised Beirut asks why the EU and America have done so little to help Lebanon

Just two days ago, this city had blown away every preconception of the Middle East that a westerner could hold. The 17-year civil war had left scars, of course - terracotta French Mandate buildings, complete with ornate balconies, were riddled with the pockmarks of shelling and sniper fire. Yet like remnants of a childhood disease, the markers resembled memories that were being pushed far away.

The Beirut I have seen seemed, until yesterday, to be a place of dreams coming true. Its residents, toned and coiffeured amid the rose-flavoured haze of narghileh smoke, make looking good an art form. Nowhere in the west can quite compete with the glitz and razzmatazz the like of a night out here. Young Beirutis everywhere speak in east coast American accents, mingled with the French of a bygone era, blended with the local lilting Arabic. Downtown has been rebuilt with such speedy finesse that one marvels at the Lebanese ability to move on to the good life and forget the armed militias and shelled-out buildings once housed there.

Last Sunday this city was caught up in a friendlier battle. The Lebanese, without their own national team in the World Cup Finals, had taken ardent sides with other national sides and the city seemed roughly divided between supporters of Italy, France and Brazil. People were still fixated on whether Zizou had responded to vicious taunts from Materazzi when the news filtered in that Hezbollah had taken two Israeli soldiers.

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It's very sad that one week they could be enjoying the world cup, and then the next week they are being murdered, bombarded and terrorized by Israel.

Since our Jew hating buffoon 'toady' can't get Hebrew grammar right, he didn't curse Israel correctly so his curse is invalid. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Since our Arab hating buffoon 'scapegoated' is so psychotic that he believes in curses, our case is rested. He is now dismissed as a complete whack job basket case orangutan who is too far gone for hope.

Just kidding. Anyone dumb enough to believe in "curses" ooooohhhhh!!! deserves to be llaughed at heartily. I laugh at you merrily.

11 July 2006: Human rights groups to Israeli High Court: Stop the harm to the civilian population in Gaza

Today, July 11, 2006, six human rights groups petitioned the Israeli High Court demanding that the crossings in Gaza be opened to allow for the steady and regular supply of fuel, food, medicine, and equipment, including spare parts needed to operate generators.

The groups – The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Hamoked: Center for Defence of the Individual, B’tselem, The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and Gisha - Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement also asked for an urgent hearing in order to prevent serious harm to the health of the civilian population, especially patients in hospital, and to prevent the breakdown of the water and sewage system in Gaza.

During the current military operation in the Gaza Strip the Israeli military has interrupted the supply of fuel to Gaza and kept Gaza's crossings mostly closed to supply of food and other humanitarian goods. The uninterrupted supply of fuel and equipment is necessary for the functioning of Gaza's health and sanitation systems, and Gaza requires a steady supply of food and medicine.

Since Gaza's power station was destroyed on June 28, there is an increased need for fuel to power the generators in Gaza and for spare parts to keep the generators running at such a high capacity. The closure of Karni Crossing has led to shortages in food at a time when, given the difficulty of obtaining electricity to prepare and refrigerate foodstuffs, Gaza requires increased shipments of dairy products, meat, flour, and other goods.

Without a steady supply of fuel and parts, hospitals cannot perform life-saving surgery and treatment plants cannot pump and treat sewage in Gaza. Gaza hospitals have reduced their activities to life-saving procedures. Since the bombing of the power plant, Gaza's water utility has been dumping 60,000 cubic meters of raw sewage into the sea each day, for lack of power and equipment to run the treatment plants, and there is concern that untreated sewage will pollute the aquifer or spill into the streets.

Because of the electricity shortages, stores in Gaza have stopped selling meat and dairy products. Trucks laden with food and medicine have been stuck at Karni Crossing, which has been closed since July 6, including 230 containers from international aid organizations.

Withholding fuel, food, and equipment from Gaza residents constitutes collective punishment, in violation of international law. The petition argues that Israel is not fulfilling its legal obligations to provide for the needs of the civilian population and to distinguish between military and civilian targets.

According to Faysal Shawa, a businessman and Gaza resident: "We have been thrown back to the way people lived 100 years ago ... We don't have water, we don't have milk for our kids."

According to Maher Najer, Deputy Director of Gaza's Water Company: "We face severe shortages in the electricity, fuel, and spare parts needed to operate Gaza's water and sewage systems. These shortages threaten to create a public health catastrophe."