Israel Faces Hostile UN Human Rights Session Over Lebanon

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GENEVA (AP)--The new U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday will hold its second emergency session this summer on Israel, urged by Islamic countries to condemn the Jewish state for "massive bombardment of Lebanese civilian populations" and other "gross and systematic human rights violations."

The 57-country Organization of the Islamic Conference, which gathered enough signatures to require the meeting, have put together a harshly worded draft resolution that blames Israel without any mention of Hezbollah, whose capture of two Israeli soldiers a month ago triggered the attack on Lebanon.

The council, which in a similar session July 6 voted 29-11 to deplore Israel's military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, is to "consider and take action on the gross human rights violations by Israel in Lebanon," according to the request filed by Tunisia on behalf of the OIC.
The statement said the council should also consider the July 30 Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese town of Qana, which killed 28 people, as well as "countrywide targeting of innocent civilians and destruction of vital civilian infrastructure."

European diplomats said late Thursday that they were to negotiate with the OIC to put more balance into the proposed resolution, which they considered completely one-sided, but that it was unclear whether the OIC was willing to compromise.

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