Israel pressed on cluster targets

BBC NEWS:



"Humanitarian co-ordinator David Shearer says Israel's failure to provide the co-ordinates has hampered a clear-up effort that could take many months.

An average of three people are killed or wounded a day by cluster munitions since the fighting ended on 14 August.

Thousands of cluster bomblets landed in farms and villages, some 30-40% of which failed to explode at the time.


It seems to me extraordinary they were fired in the last hours of the war where civilian populations were known to be going
UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator David Shearer
Israel denies using the munitions illegally against civilian targets during the conflict.

But Mr Shearer said Israel has yet to explain why 90% of its cluster munitions were fired in the last days of the conflict, as UN members were finalising a ceasefire resolution.

'We know these munitions have a failure rate and it seems to me extraordinary that they were fired off in the last hours of the war into areas where civilian populations were known to be going,' "