Report
Editor's note: The following is the first section of a report issued by Human Rights Watch on Sunday, entitled "Flooding South Lebanon: Israel's Use of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon in July and August 2006." The Daily Star will publish the rest of the report on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Israeli military issued a short statement on December 24, 2007, on the results of an internal inquiry into its controversial use of cluster munitions during the 34-day war in Lebanon in July and August 2006. During that short conflict, the Israeli military rained an estimated 4 million submunitions on South Lebanon, the vast majority over the final three days when Israel knew a settlement was imminent. The inquiry was the second internal Israeli military investigation into the use of the weapon, and like its predecessor it exonerated the armed forces of violating international humanitarian law (IHL). Neither a detailed report nor the evidence supporting conclusions has been made public, however, making it impossible to assess whether the inquiry was carried out with rigor and impartiality, and whether it credibly addressed key issues about targeting and the lasting impact of cluster munition strikes on the civilian population.