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On July 24, 2006, Human Rights Watch was the first to confirm Israel’s use of cluster munitions in Lebanon, when it broke the news that a July 19 attack on the village of Blida left one civilian dead and 12 wounded. Human Rights Watch tracked the use of cluster munitions throughout the conflict, and successfully urged the United States not to ship new cluster munitions to Israel. Since the end of the fighting, Human Rights Watch has investigated the humanitarian impact of dangerous unexploded submunitions on civilians in southern Lebanon. Below is a complete guide to Human Rights Watch’s work on cluster munitions in Lebanon.
Briefings
First Look at Israel’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon in July-August 2006
Events in Lebanon show that cluster munitions pose unacceptable dangers to civilians
Press Releases
United States: Cut Off Cluster Munition Sales to Israel
Israeli Cluster Munitions Hit Civilians in Lebanon
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U.S.: Deny Israeli Request for Cluster Munitions
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Lebanon: Protect Civilians From Unexploded Weapons
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Lebanon: Israeli Cluster Munitions Threaten Civilians
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Advocacy Letters
Letter to National Security Advisor Hadley on Requested U.S. Cluster Munitions Transfer to Israel
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Resources
Cluster Munition Questions and Answers: The M26 Rockets
Human Rights Watch’s complete work on cluster munitions
Human Rights Watch’s complete coverage of the Israeli-Lebanon Conflict
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Fast Facts on Israel’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Southern Lebanon |
| The UN Mine Action Coordination Center South Lebanon (UNMACC) has estimated that Israel fired as many as four million submunitions into Lebanon during the conflict in July and August 2006. For comparison, Coalition forces used about 1.9 million submunitions in Iraq in 2003, and the U.S. Air Force used about 248,000 submunitions in Afghanistan in 2001-2002. |
| UNMACC has identified 841 cluster munition strike locations, with more being discovered every day. |
| The UN has stated that around 90 percent of all cluster munitions were fired into south Lebanon during the last 72 hours of the conflict. Most cluster munitions were delivered by artillery or ground rockets; a limited number appear to have been dropped by aircraft. |
| The UN has estimated that one million hazardous unexploded submunitions may litter the ground. Demining experts are estimating that the failure rates of Israel’s submunitions were between 30 and 40 percent. |
| As of November 4, 2006, more than 58,000 submunitions have been cleared and destroyed by UNMACC and its contractors, UNIFIL, and the Lebanese Armed Forces. |
| Unexploded submunitions are killing or injuring an average of three people daily in Lebanon. As of January 25, at least 30 people had been killed and at least 184 injured by cluster submunitions. |
| Many farmers have not been able to harvest current crops or plant their winter crop due to the submunition contamination. Unexploded submunitions also pose a threat to returnees, humanitarian workers, and peacekeepers. |
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Photos of cluster submunitions in Lebanon.
© 2006 Reuters
Related Material
Israel/Lebanon: Hezbollah Must End Attacks on Civilians
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Lebanon: Hezbollah Rocket Attacks on Haifa Designed to Kill Civilians
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Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon
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