DEATH IN LEBANON: LEBANON;ISRAELI BARRAGE HITS U.N. CAMP IN LEBANON, KILLING AT LEAST 75 (original) (raw)
World|DEATH IN LEBANON: LEBANON;ISRAELI BARRAGE HITS U.N. CAMP IN LEBANON, KILLING AT LEAST 75
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DEATH IN LEBANON: LEBANON
- April 19, 1996
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April 19, 1996
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Section A, Page
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The Israeli Army fired an artillery barrage into a United Nations peacekeeping camp today, killing at least 75 Lebanese civilians and wounding more than 100. The attack, which Israel said came in response to rocket and mortar fire by guerrillas near the base, was by far the deadliest yet in the eight-day-old offensive in southern Lebanon.
The civilians were among hundreds of local people who had taken refuge in the camp, the headquarters of a Fijian infantry battalion. Most died when the shells set a recreation center and two prefabricated buildings ablaze.
Israel said the attack on the base was a grave error. It prompted worldwide outrage and a rapid intensification of diplomatic efforts to bring a halt to the conflict.
For hours after the midafternoon attack, smoke and smoldering flames continued to pour from the shattered camp, and Fijian officers who pulled the dead and wounded from the wreckage described a scene of carnage, with many dismembered bodies.
Israel had warned civilians here and across much of southern Lebanon to flee or risk being caught up in its attacks. A United Nations spokesman said Hezbollah guerrillas had launched Katyusha rockets and mortar rounds toward Israel from a site near the camp only minutes before the Israeli bombardment began.
But the spokesman, Mikhal Lindvall, said he could see no excuse for hitting the well-marked United Nations compound, where officers fired red warning flares in vain before taking shelter when the shells began to fall about 2 P.M.
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