World News U.N. observers killed in Israeli attack

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BEIRUT (AP) — As Israel continued to bomb southern Lebanon from the air July 25, an Israeli bomb destroyed a U.N. observer post on the border, killing three observers and leaving another feared dead

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Israel appeared to have deliberately destroyed the site. He said that the post had been there for a long time and was marked clearly.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has since expressed "deep regret" over the killings and said the peacekeepers were killed mistakenly

World leaders meet in Rome

Top U.S. and European officials, meeting in Rome, agreed July 26 on urgent action to halt the fighting in Lebanon and on the creation of a multinational peacekeeping force

But the United States and Europe had clearly divergent views of what that means.

Most Europeans want Israel to stop its offensive against Hezbollah now and institute an immediate ceasefire

The United States, represented by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, wants to give Israel more time to pound the militia into submission as part of the wider war on terror.

The Rome conference, which included foreign ministers and senior officials from 15 nations, as well as Annan and representatives from the European Union and the World Bank, ended with little more than promises of aid and a declaration of "deep concern" for the high number of civilian casualties.

Death toll grows, mainly civilians

As of July 27, more than 420 people have been killed in Lebanon and 1,596 injured, most of them civilians.

Israeli bombing has forced an estimated 750,000 people in Lebanon to flee their homes. Many are trapped in combat areas.

On the Israeli side, 41 have been killed, more than half of them military, and around 300 civilians have been injured.

Fighting started with abductions

The fighting began July 12 when Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which has the moral support of Iran and Syria, captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid.

Hezbollah has demanded talks for a prisoner exchange as well as an immediate ceasefire, but Israel, with apparent U.S. approval, will press on with the offensive.

Violence continues in Gaza

Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, another Israeli offensive continued. Israel has killed 141 Palestinians in a campaign to recover a soldier captured by Palestinian militants.

イスラエルが国連施設空爆

イスラエルによるレバノン攻撃で7月25日、レバノン南部の国連施設が空爆され、停戦監視要員が死亡した。

Shukan ST: Aug. 4, 2006

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