Qana. AP: "Israeli missiles hit several buildings in a southern Lebanon village as people slept Sunday, killing at least 56, most of them children, in the deadliest attack in 19 days of fighting. ... The missiles destroyed several homes in the village of Qana as people were sleeping. Rescue officials said at least 50 people were killed, and the bodies of 27 children were found in the rubble. ... Jordan's King Abdullah II condemned 'the ugly crime perpetrated by Israeli forces in Qana,'' calling it 'a blatant violation of the law and all international conventions.''' British Foreign Secretary Margaret Becket, responding to ...[the strike that killed 37 children] said Sunday that the attack was "absolutely dreadful" and "quite appalling." AP: "[Israeli prime minister Ehud] Olmert expressed 'great sorrow' for the airstrikes but blamed Hezbollah guerrillas for using the area to launch rockets at Israel."

WP: Rice cancels trip to Beirut after airstrike. "In Beirut, following the attack, Lebanese government officials said Rice was not welcome. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he would not hold talks with Rice until a ceasefire is called. ... Appearing defensive and somewhat shaken, Rice told reporters traveling with her in Jerusalem that she had called Siniora to delay her visit in light of events." In Beirut, "Protesters angry over an Israeli air strike in Qana that killed up to 50 refugees broke into the main UN building in the Lebanese capital Sunday, burning UN and American flags. ...[Protesters] pushed through police barricade, smashed windows and broke inside the building. Outside, demonstrators chanted slogans against Israel and the United States and denounced Arab governments for not doing enough to stop Israel's 19-day bombardment of Lebanon."

Ha'aretz: "Qana was the scene of an April, 1996, in which Israeli shelling of a base of United Nations peacekeepers in Qana killed more than 100 civilians sheltering there during Operation Grapes of Wrath. The international outcry over the 1996 Qana village shelling effectively ended the operation."

The Qana tragedy comes as the IDF has reportedly been ordered to accelerate its offensive and expand its target list as the diplomatic clock ticks down:

The deal being put forth by Rice is for the deployment in Lebanon of an "international stabilization force" comprising 10,000 to 30,000 troops in return for Israel's withdrawal from the controversial Shaba Farms, on the western slopes of Mount Hermon. ...

Rice did not ask Olmert during their meeting to end the fighting at this stage, but it is assumed at the Defense Ministry that the Israel Defense Forces has 7 to 10 days to continue its operation in Lebanon.

By Wednesday the U.S. would like to gain approval for a new Security Council resolution that will call for an end to hostilities.

Israel sources estimate the U.S. will allow a few more days for mopping up operations by the IDF.

According to the sources, the General Staff has received orders to accelerate its offensive on areas close to the border in order to deepen any possible attack on the Hezbollah before the declaration of a cease-fire.

Update: WP: Rice abandons Middle East negotiations.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was forced to cancel a trip to Beirut Sunday after an Israeli airstrike killed more than 50 people, mostly women and children, in the southern Lebanese town of Qana in the bloodiest attack since the hostilities began between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia. But she did not call for an immediate ceasefire.

Rice will abandon her Middle East negotiations at least temporarily to return to Washington Monday, U.S. officials said Sunday. Rice will shift her diplomatic efforts to the United Nations, aides say. The U.N. Security Council is planning an emergency session this morning. [...]

A senior U.S. official traveling with Rice told reporters that the United States is making "very clear to the Israelis our distress at this incident." He said Rice was "looking to wrap things up and move things to New York," where the United Nations Security Council is expected this week to try to pass a resolution on terms to end hostilities.

UN Security Council emergency meeting in session now. Rice seems to be staying in Israel overnight for more meetings with Olmert. Israeli ambassador Dan Gillerman at the UN today: civilians killed at Qana victims of Hezbollah. NBC's Richard Engel, asked why the Qana civilians had not left the town when Israelis dropped leaflets telling civilians to leave: Qana victims "poorest of the poor." No cars, no taxi service, no place to go. Had fled their homes for shelter in the basement of the houses where they had been hit.

Posted by Laura at July 30, 2006 08:30 AM