There were no Hezbollah missile launchers or fighters in or around the building that the Israeli Air Force destroyed in Qana on Sunday.

August 1, 2006

In its lead story [1] today (August 1), the Hebrew edition of Ha’aretz Online reported that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) claim that Hezbollah missile launchers and Hezbollah fighters were in and around the building in Qana which they shelled early Sunday morning was false.

Oddly, this article which points to Israeli culpability and recklessness in what some are calling the IDF's second massacre in Qana (the first was in 1996), has been largely ignored in the international press.

According to the newspaper, the IDF “decided to attack houses in a specific radius of a place that was used in the past to launch missiles.” The article states that the tactic of choosing buildings as targets that are near areas from which rockets were launched in the past has been used before.

Initially, Israeli military sources had reported [2] that the deaths in Qana where caused not by the Israeli air attack early Sunday morning, but by an accidental explosion, many hours later, of Hezbollah ordinance which was stored inside the building. According to the Ha’aretz article, this is not true. Israeli Air Force sources have admitted, according to Ha'aretz that the deaths in Qana where caused by the Israeli shelling. Between 30 and 60 deaths were reported as a result of the building collapse. Many bodies are still believed to be buried beneath the rubble.

Additionally, the claim of the IDF that leaflets were dropped on the weekend which warned of an attack were also untrue. The leaflets were actually delivered "some days" before the weekend, according to military sources.

[1] Ha'aretz Online, August 1, 2006, "Call For A Official Commission to Investigate the Explosion at Qana" http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/745130.html

[2] Jerusalem Post, July 30, 2006, "Kana Collapse Was Hours After Attack," http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1153292036218&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull