As most people probably have... I have been watching, with horror, the escalating crisis happening in the middle east.
We have 10,000 British citizens in Lebanon and another 10,000 dual nationality citizens over there too.
HMS Bullwark and Illustrious are ready to sail to the region to help evacuate these citizens. The damage caused to the Lebonese airports and ports by Israeli strikes will make this a difficult task. However, Bullwark has 500 marines onboard and Illustrious has helicopters and fighter bombers to help aid the mission if it goes ahead.
Aside from that, 80 Lebonese civilians have been killed so far since Israel launched the strikes.
Before the conflict started, Lebanon was looking forward to a summer of tourism with Beirut having become an increasingly popular tourist destination.
Hezbollah, the organisation responsible for the kidnappings of the two Israeli soldiers, represent Lebanon's Shia Muslims but have the respect of many Lebanese for providing social services and health care. The Lebanese government should have persuaded Hezbollah to demilitarise in line with the UN resolution 1559 but is probably powerless to do so as Hezbollah is heavily funded by both Syria and Iran. However, before anyone criticises the Lebanese government, let us not forget the 65 UN resolutions which have been targeted at Israel over the years which have largely been ignored.
Israel will not cease its onslaught until Hezbollah return the two Israeli soldiers... which will probably not happen. The Lebanese government and its civilians are powerless to do anything but watch their country reduced to rubble.
The Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, has called for a ceasefire and has asked the US to intervene,
"Lebanon is a disaster zone... and it pleads to its friends in the world to rush to its aid."
On a BBC message board, a Lebanese civilian explains,
"The whole country is destructed ,innocent people are dying and we as lebanese people are not able to do anything we are just watching things being destructed.Imagine you watching your home being destructed and your hands are chained,imagine you seeing your baby killed and your chained, you cannot move.As it is said it's not a war against Lebanon but our land is being destructed and our people are being killed,and the worst part is that countries are just watching us being destroyed."
Vana, Beirut
It is unlikely that the US will call for restraint from the Israeli's. They use Israel as a stronghold in the oli-rich middle east and provide the Israeli government and military with $15,139,178 a day. It might be Israeli's firing the guns but it is the US that is providing them.
Although Hezbollah's actions were foolish, it may be worth thinking about what they are fighting for which is the release of the 9,559 Palestinian political prisoners currently held by Israel.
"Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This forms approximately 20% of the total Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)."
"Palestinians are tried within Israeli military courts located within Israeli military centers in the OPT. These military tribunals are presided over by a panel of three judges appointed by the military, two of whom often do not have any legal training or background. These tribunals rarely fall within the required international standards of fair trial."
"Under military regulations in force in the OPT, a child over the age of 16 is considered an adult, contrary to the defined age of a child as under 18 in the Convention of the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory. In practice, Palestinian children may be charged and sentenced in military courts beginning at the age of 12."
"Between the ages of 12-14, children can be sentenced for offences for a period of up to six months – meaning that a child accused of throwing a stone can be sent to prison for six months;
After the age of 14, Palestinian children are tried as adults, in violation of international law;
There are no juvenile courts and children are often held and serve their sentences in cells with criminal prisoners and are often not separated from adults, also in violation of international law."
"Prison conditions in Israeli military detention camps are inhumane. Detainees are held in overcrowded prison tents that are often threadbare and do not provide for adequate shelter against extreme weather. Prisoners are not provided adequate food rations, neither in quantity nor quality, nor provided with clean clothes or adequate cleaning supplies. Many of the detainees currently being held in military detention camps were injured during their arrests and have not been provided the necessary medical attention, like those who suffer from chronic illnesses."
The Palestine Monitor
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