Israel to submit report on death of Finnish UN observer this week

print this

Israeli tourism minister Isaac Herzog reported to Helsingin Sanomat on Monday that the country's investigations into the artillery shelling leading to the deaths of Finnish Navy Lieutenant Jarno Mäkinen and three other United Nations military observers in Southern Lebanon will be completed during this week.
     
The Finnish Navy Lieutenant, 29-year-old Jarno Tapio Mäkinen, died on July 25th when Israel launched an air strike on the United Nations observation post in the Lebanese village of Khiam. The post was destroyed, and among the four dead were also a Canadian, an Austrian, and a Chinese officer.
      According to Herzog, "a thorough and detailed" investigation into the incident has been carried out.
      "If it was an operational error, we will take the blame for the attack. We will not deny our responsibility", the minister added.
     
The bombardment raised a storm of disapproval, and Israel was accused of launching a deliberate strike, which it has vehemently denied.
      According to several experts, there is no doubt that the incident involved negligence at the very least. The final strike followed several hours of artillery shelling by Israeli forces in the immediate vicinity, even though the UN Truce Supervision Organization's military observers stationed in the area had requested repeatedly that Israel call off the bombardment. Every time the Israeli had promised to stop shelling.
      According to Herzog, Hezbollah was simultaneously firing hundreds of rockets at Israel from the neighbourhood of the UN observation post.
      Providing military observers to the region, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) is an organization set up in 1948 for peacekeeping in the Middle East.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish peace monitor still unaccounted for in Lebanon (3.8.2006)
  Jerusalem memorial ceremony for four UN observers killed in Israeli bombing (31.8.2006)

Links:
  UN News Centre: Annan mourns 4 UN observers who died in southern Lebanon

Helsingin Sanomat