TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- An Israeli military inquiry into the bombing of a United Nations position in southern Lebanon during this summer's war has blamed the attack on army errors.
The Jerusalem Post said Friday it obtained an internal military document that found "severe professional errors" by the army's Operations Directorate when on July 25 an Israeli fighter plane fired a precision guided missile at the U.N. patrol base in al-Khiam in the eastern sector of south Lebanon, killing four observers from China, Finland, Canada and Austria. The blast completely destroyed a three-storey building and the position there, the U.N. International Force in Lebanon reported.
The Israeli report was presented to those countries' ambassadors and military attachés. The newspaper said the bombing was a mistake due to the army's insufficient planning and neglectful conduct.
A military force unfamiliar with Khiam had been assigned to that sector on short notice and its preparations for operations there "were performed in an abbreviated process."
Manual aids listing potential targets erroneously presented the U.N. site as a Hezbollah position.
The report does not refer to U.N. claims that the observers stationed there had called the Israeli liaison officers on ten different occasions after the outpost was shelled 14 times, The Jerusalem Post noted.
UNIFIL's spokesman, Milos Strugar, declined comment. He said that U.N. Headquarters in New York investigated the incident and it is up to them to comment.
A military attaché of one of the countries involved in the incident told United Press International he did not believe the explanation. The source, who asked not to be identified, noted the Israelis are reputed to have very good intelligence.
"Before the war we talked with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) many times ... (asking them to) take good care of the U.N. personnel," the source said. "We were very angry." The source did not expect any further action since "the incident already happened (and the) people already killed."
