Sir, - As an Irish citizen living in Beirut, and having witnessed the Israeli military strike against Lebanon over the past two weeks, I am compelled to voice my strongest objections and concerns against this act of state terrorism, which Israel continues to administer with apparent impunity among the international community.
The toll of some 150 dead and hundreds other injured, the overwhelming majority of whom are innocent civilians, does not sit comfortably with the familiar rhetoric of surgical precision and pre-emptive strikes which the Israeli reports would suggest. The pictures on Lebanese television, some of which I am told have been too shocking to show on the major international networks, bear witness to the failure of this Israeli military campaign. Wounded infants in an ambulance writhe in agony covered in blood beside their dead siblings. A headless baby of no more than a few months old is carried from the scene of the Qana massacre by a rescue worker. An entire family, including seven children, the youngest of whom was just four days old is killed when an Israeli rocket collapsed their house above them. The father was spared because he had travelled to the Jaij pilgrimage in Mecca. How can these acts, clearly designed to terrorise the population of South Lebanon be tolerated without arousing the strongest criticism of the Israelis tactics, from the United States, the United Nations, European Union and other international bodies. For the Israelis to dismiss such attacks as unfortunate consequences of a necessary campaign completely misses the point. These attacks are crimes in themselves against the innocent civilians of a troubled area. They cannot and should not be tolerated.
There is a further aspect to this campaign which has, in my view, gone largely unreported, that is that a major factor in Israel's campaign has been to damage the Lebanese economy and the Lebanese infrastructure. The government of Mr Hariri, the Lebanese Prime Minister, has worked tirelessly over the last few years to restore a country so badly damaged after 17 years of civil war. That work has suffered tremendous damage since the beginning of the current hostilities. Last Monday, I watched Israeli jets completely destroy a brand new electricity plant north of Beirut, cutting off supplies to most of the city of 1.5 million people. The government had just managed to restore 24 hour electricity supply to Beirut after the long years of civil war, with I might add the help of our own ESB International, only to watch it blown apart in 30 seconds, sentencing the entire population of Beirut to probably another 12 months of four hours mains supply per day. The cost of repairs in that sector alone will run in excess of $100 million. This is not to mention the massive physical damage in the south, the destruction of bridges and the shelling of the coastal highway between Beirut and Sidon. Prime Minister Peres was very calculating when he said he could not tolerate seeing Lebanon's economy continue to grow at rates of about 8 per cent per annum, when regional peace was not yet signed.
It is clear that achieving peace in the Middle East is not an easy task. I do not want to get involved in a political debate concerning the many complex issues that need to be addressed. My criticism is against the tactics and cynicism of the Israeli action in Lebanon, driven, in part, by the need to appear "strong" in the run up to next month's elections. The civilian population of Lebanon, especially those killed, injured and displaced in the south, have been targeted during a campaign which has totally failed to fulfill its military or political objectives. From the beginning of this debacle, Mr Hariri has been calling for a negotiated settlement on the grounds that military action would only succeed in hurting the innocent. Let all sides recognise this and cease these hostilities without further delay, The only thing which has been proved is that the Israeli action over the last two weeks does nothing to further the cause of peace. - Yours, etc.,
Beirut,
Lebanon.