No. 72/06
August 18, 2006

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN LEBANON: COMMISSIONER MICHEL'S VISIT TO TEL AVIV TO URGE FOR ISRAELI ACTION

Meeting Israel's Minister of Defense, Amir Peretz (above, right), in Tel Aviv on Thursday, 17 August, EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel (above, left), urged Israel to bring to an immediate end its blockade of Lebanon so that urgently needed humanitarian aid can reach the people. Louis Michel also met with officers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responsible for IDF's Center for Coordination of Humanitarian Relief (CCHR) to discuss possibilities for expanded and improved access to the victims of the conflict in Southern Lebanon. He called for the respect of the international humanitarian rules that are designed to limit the effects of armed conflict on non-combatants. The Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Paula Lehtomäki (above, center), representing the EU Presidency, accompanied Louis Michel on his visit.

The two EU representatives, who had previously spent three days in Lebanon, described to their Israeli counterparts the emergency situation the Lebanese people are facing, despite the cessation of hostilities, due to the lack of basics such as food, medicines, fuel and electricity and destroyed infrastructure (houses, roads, bridges, etc.). The Commissioner also urged Israel to provide all remaining maps of landmines in Lebanon. He said: "Displaced Lebanese people now returning to South Lebanon are going back to a dangerous environment where unexploded ammunition and land mines can cause great harm, especially to children at play." It is estimated that around 10% of ammunition did not explode when fired.

Visit to Haifa

The two EU representatives also went to Haifa to visit houses damaged by Hezbollah rockets and talked to families whose homes were destroyed. Commissioner Michel strongly condemned all attacks on civilian targets, stressing that people had suffered on all sides. In Haifa's Rambam hospital (below), which itself had been in the firing line of Hezbollah rockets, they visited injured soldiers.

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