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QANA (Lebanon), July 30: An Israeli air strike on a shelter for displaced people killed more than 60 civilians, including at least 37 children, on Sunday, fuelling world pressure for a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Lebanon against Hezbollah guerillas.
The raid on the southern village of Qana — the bloodiest single attack during Israel’s 19-day-old war on Hezbollah — prompted Lebanon to tell US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice she was unwelcome in Beirut for talks.
Rescue workers dug through the rubble with their hands for hours, lifting out the twisted, dust-caked corpses of children.
A Lebanese foreign ministry official told an urgent session of the UN Security Council that more than 60 people were killed, mostly women and children. Police earlier put the toll at 54, 37 of them children.
As anger convulsed Lebanon and the Arab world, protesters smashed their way into the United Nations headquarters in downtown Beirut as thousands massed outside chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America”.
MEDIATION IN TATTERS: Rice, who was in Israel, said she was saddened by the Qana air raid, but stopped well short of calling for an immediate ceasefire. Her mediation drive in tatters, Rice will leave for Washington on Monday to work on a UN resolution that could achieve what the White House called a “sustainable” ceasefire.
It also said the Qana raid showed the critical need for Israel to take “the utmost care” to avoid civilian casualties.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said fighting had to stop once a UN resolution demanding a ceasefire is passed. “What has happened in Qana shows this is a situation that simply cannot continue,” he said.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he would not hold negotiations before a ceasefire, scuppering Rice’s visit. Rice later said she had called off her trip to Beirut.
Siniora, often at odds with Hezbollah, thanked its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and “all those who sacrifice their lives for the independence and sovereignty of Lebanon”.
Police said Qana, about 11 km from the border with Israel, was bombed at 1:30 am (2230 GMT on Saturday). The raid flattened a three-storey building where more than 60 displaced people were in the basement. Many died as they slept.
Hezbollah vowed to retaliate. “This horrific massacre will not go without a response,” it said. The governing Palestinian movement Hamas also pledged to hit back with attacks on Israel.
Another Israeli air strike killed five civilians, including two children, in village of Yaroun.
About 146 rockets hit Israel on Sunday, wounding six people, police said. At least three slammed into Haifa.—Reuters
