U.N. Report Disputes Israel on Shelling

JERUSALEM — In a devastating blow to Israel’s credibility, a United Nations report released Tuesday rejects the government’s assertion that the shelling of a U.N. base last month in which about 100 Lebanese refugees died was the result of technical or human error.

The nine-page report stops short of accusing Israel of having intentionally fired on the base on April 18 during its “Operation Grapes of Wrath” campaign against Islamic guerrillas in southern Lebanon. And it notes that the guerrillas had fired from positions near the base and sought refuge with family members inside.

But the U.N. investigation takes apart point by point the Israeli Defense Forces’ explanation that the incident was an accident.

Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, said before the report was released that “only a disturbed mind would think that we wanted to hit the U.N. compound at Qana deliberately.”

Israeli television reported that Foreign Minister Ehud Barak telephoned U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali before the report was released to demand that Israel’s account be included--it was. Barak reportedly called the U.N. finding “absurd.”

In the report, Boutros-Ghali’s military advisor, Maj. Gen. Frank van Kappen, says, “While the possibility cannot be ruled out completely, it is unlikely that the shelling of the United Nations compound was the result of gross technical and/or procedural errors.”

Israeli officials had maintained that the army fired at two targets--Hezbollah rocket or mortar sites--200 to 300 yards from the base after an Israeli patrol came under fire from Qana. Maj. Gen. Matan Vilnai, Israel’s deputy chief of staff, said Sunday that the base could have been hit by as many as five rounds of 155-millimeter artillery shells that overshot their marks.

Israel launched the 16-day operation in Lebanon because it said it wanted to stop the Iranian-backed guerrillas of Hezbollah, or Party of God, from firing small rockets, called Katyushas, on northern Israeli communities.

The U.N. report noted that Hezbollah guerrillas were firing from positions only 200 yards from the compound at Qana. It also said that “two or three Hezbollah fighters” entered the compound where their families had taken shelter, although it was unclear whether they went inside before or after the Israelis fired.

Van Kappen, a Dutch officer, traveled to southern Lebanon to investigate the incident and compile a report for the U.N. Security Council. He wrote that he found evidence of 13 shell detonations in and around the compound. Additionally, he said:

* “The pattern of impacts is inconsistent with a normal overshooting of the declared target (the mortar site) by a few rounds as suggested by the Israeli forces.

* “During the shelling, there was a perceptible shift in the weight of fire from the mortar site to the United Nations compound.

* “There were no impacts in the second target area which Israeli forces claim to have shelled.”

Israeli radar had identified two targets, about 200 yards southwest of the U.N. compound and more than 300 yards southeast.

The most damaging point of the report--and most undermining of Israel’s case--has been proof that Israel flew surveillance aircraft over the camp while the firing was going on. “Contrary to repeated denials, two Israeli helicopters and a remotely piloted vehicle were present in the Qana area at the time of the shelling,” the report concludes.

Israel denied this to the United Nations and publicly until Britain’s Independent newspaper reported the existence of an amateur videotape showing an Israeli pilotless reconnaissance aircraft--the kind used by artillery spotters to perfect their aim--over Qana during the shelling.

Once it became aware of the footage of the plane, the army changed its story and said that the pilotless aircraft, or drone, had been in the area but on a different mission. Israeli officials said the aircraft was dispatched to Qana only after the shelling ended.

The army also said there had been an error in its maps, which placed the U.N. camp 150 yards from its actual position.

From the beginning, Israel has said it had no idea that 800 Lebanese civilians had taken refuge in the camp. At a news conference Sunday, just before the Independent was to publish its article, the army showed aerial photographs of the camp taken two days before the shelling to prove it had no evidence of mass civilian activity there.

Van Kappen said, “I did not pursue this question, since I considered it irrelevant because the United Nations compound was not a legitimate target, whether or not civilians were in it.”

But Prime Minister Shimon Peres repeated the Israeli assertion on Tuesday in an interview broadcast on CNN. Asked if Israel had known about the civilians, he answered: “Definitely not. We didn’t have the slightest idea, and I think it was a scandal that they were permitted into the camp without letting us know about it.”

Aware the U.N. investigation was about to be released, Israel and the U.S. have been engaged in damage-control efforts for days.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns tried to focus attention on Hezbollah for taking shelter among civilians. And Israeli television said U.S. officials had leaned on Boutros-Ghali to water down the report, although U.S. officials denied this.

Burns criticized the United Nations findings. “We are disturbed that the secretary-general chose to draw unjustified conclusions about this incident that can only polarize the situation rather than to draw practical lessons to prevent its recurrence,” Burns told reporters.

Associated Press reported that U.N. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had feared that a report that stopped short of flatly accusing Israel would be seen in the Arab world as a U.S.-inspired cover-up.

But they said that a report accusing Israel of purposefully launching such an attack will also increase pressure on the Security Council to take strong action against the country--a move that would create problems for the United States in attempting to shore up the cease-fire in southern Lebanon.

The report is embarrassing to the U.N. in that it acknowledges Hezbollah was using the Qana base for cover. It says Hezbollah installed a mortar about 200 yards from the center of the compound about two hours before the weapon was used to fire on Israeli troops but that no action was taken by U.N. personnel to remove it.

The report says that three days earlier, a U.N peacekeeper was shot in the chest as he tried to prevent Hezbollah fighters from firing rockets.