'Israel dropped 4m bomblet in Lebanon'

MHE/MMN
Press TV
Iran
14 Nov 2007

Cluster bombs are produced in 34 countries

The United Nations estimates that Israel has dropped over 4 million cluster bombs, during its invasion of southern Lebanon last summer.

The estimate indicated that 40 percent of the cluster bombs Israel dropped in Lebanon failed to explode on impact.

Since Israel's invasion of Lebanon, the detrimental consequences of the bombs have been a major concern; therefore the issue was considered a priority for the week-long UN weapons conference, which ended in Geneva on Tuesday.

Diplomats from 102 nations agreed to "negotiate a proposal to address urgently the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, while striking a balance between military and humanitarian considerations.''

Human rights groups have criticized the conference outcome as 'inadequate' and have deemed that it 'would not produce any meaningful result.'

The groups have urged countries to join the 80 countries already involved in the Oslo process, an effort outside the UN framework for a global ban on cluster bombs.

Upon explosion, cluster bombs disperse hundreds of small bomblets over an area the size of a football field.