Jul. 29, 2006 23:37 | Updated Jul. 29, 2006 23:43
UN to enter IDF control room
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM
Israel brought a UN observer into an IDF control room Saturday to help oversee the transfer of aid to south Lebanon, the army said, amid growing criticism that Israel was not doing enough to ensure the protection of civilians trapped in the war zone.
Aid workers in Lebanon have complained that it was not safe to travel south under Israel's forceful aerial bombardment, and civilians take their chances of being hit when they try to escape the area.
Earlier Saturday, Israel rejected a UN proposal to observe a three-day cease-fire so civilians could get out, but said the new policy of installing an observer was to make sure that aid could get in.
"Ultimately, Israel does not see the Lebanese people as the enemy, and we want to make sure that aid gets in to the people who need it," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
