U.N. official says Hezbollah 'cowardly'

LARNACA, Cyprus, July 25 (UPI) -- A U.N. official in Cyprus says Hezbollah is being "cowardly" if it is proud more Lebanese civilians are dying than fighters in Israeli airstrikes.

Jan Egeland, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, accused Hezbollah of "cowardly blending" among civilians, Israel's Arutz Sheva news service reports.

"I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this," India's Zee News quoted him as saying. "I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men."

He called such a practice a violation of humanitarian law, Zee News said.

Egeland on Sunday accused Israel of using "disproportionate" strikes against civilians in Lebanon.

Speaking in Cyprus Monday, Egeland also appealed for $150 million in humanitarian relief for Lebanon, saying the country needed the money for emergency medicine, food and other supplies, The New York Times reports.

He said about 800,000 Lebanese have been affected by the bombardment of Lebanon.