UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Four independent U.N. rights experts are calling for further investigations to determine whether war crimes were committed by Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Presenting a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday they also highlighted the disastrous effects of around 1 million cluster bomblets dropped by Israel in the recent 34-day conflict in Lebanon, saying they have already killed 14 people since the fighting ended in August, and urge the international community to ban such weapons.
"Serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law were committed by Israel... In many instances, Israel failed to distinguish between military and civilian objectives... The mission also calls for further investigations to be undertaken to evaluate whether war crimes were committed by Israel," they said in a joint statement.
"The experts also concluded that Hezbollah violated humanitarian law in many instances by targeting civilian populations and by disregarding the principle of distinction... The U.N. Human Rights Council should ensure a thorough investigation of whether Hezbollah's attacks on heavily populated civilian areas in northern Israel amounted to war crimes."
"The international community should take urgent action to ban the use of cluster munitions under international law," said the report, which was based on visits last month to Israel and Lebanon.
