Israeli Prime Minister on Qana. "Olmert: Hezbollah used Qana as base to launch 100s of rockets", so we decided to kill all the women and children who are launching these rockets. I proudly announce to the Israeli nation that we have succeeded in killing a large number of the women and children of the enemy today, and will kill more tomorrow. This is the essence of Zionism. And we shall continue to kill their women and children; this has been the mission of our proud IDF. And if anybody protests, we can easily call those women and children terrorists--whether they are PLO, Hizbullah, Communists, it does not matter.

As the only democracy in the Middle East, we have the moral duty to kill their woman and children. I ask the people of Israel to stand behind the Israeli army in its moment of glory as they continue to kill the women and children of Lebanon and Palestine. And I have received the full support of the US administration (and 70% of the American public), and the US Secretary of State assures me that she only hears the "pangs of birth" of the New Middle East with every cry and scream from women and children under the rubble all over Lebanon. Secretary Rice has asked for more cries and screams of women and children in the rubble of destroyed buildings in Lebanon because she strongly feels that the "pangs" are very necessary for the birth of its "New Middle East."

Olmert Justifies Israeli Blitz On Lebanon Village
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004376922

July 30, 2006 1:30 p.m. EST

Ankit Gupta - All Headline News Staff Writer

Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - The Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese town of Qana which killed at least 51, many of them children, has been condemned the world over even as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert justified the action, saying Tel Aviv had warned residents to leave and put the blame on Hezbollah for launching rockets from the area.

Visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Jerusalem at the time of the attack, said she is "deeply saddened by the terrible loss of innocent life."

Rice called Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to postpone a scheduled visit to Beirut, saying she had work to do in Jerusalem to end the fighting. "We are also pushing for an urgent end to the current hostilities, but the views of the parties on how to achieve this are different," she said.

Saniora denounced Israel's "heinous crimes against civilians" and said there was "no room on this sad morning" for talks until Israel has halted the attacks.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas condemned the deadly Israeli raid as a crime.

Militant group Hizbollah called the air raids a "horrible massacre" and said "like the others, will not remain unpunished."

Justifying the Israeli attack in Qana, Olmert said that "the village was being used as a Centre for launching rockets" on Israel, a media report said.

"Hundreds of rockets have been fired from the village's surroundings and dozens have been fired from inside the village," Olmert was quoted by 'Ynetnews' as saying.

Olmert was briefed on the incident by his military secretary Gad Shmani, the report said.

"All the residents were warned and called to leave. There are hiding places for rockets inside the village, and the village itself constitutes a shelter for rocket launchers," Olmert said.

"No one gave an instruction to fire on civilians, and this doesn't mean that any of us gave an order to fire at civilians. We have no policy of killing innocent civilians. For 18 days hundreds and thousands of missiles have been fired, aimed at murdering innocent civilians in the north."

The Israel defence forces, in their reaction said "the responsibility for any civilian casualties rests with the Hezbollah who have turned the suburbs of Lebanon into a war front by firing missiles from within civilian areas".

Olmert told his cabinet ministers before the start of a weekly meeting that Israel is not in a hurry for a ceasefire.

"I think that it must be clear that Israel is not rushing into a ceasefire before we reach a situation in which we can say that we have achieved the main goals that we set for ourselves", a statement from his adviser quoted him as having told the cabinet.

"This also requires the maturation of the diplomatic process and reaching a detailed agreement regarding the stationing of forces that will secure the areas from which Israel has been endangered during this period", he noted.

Britain called the strike a "tragedy" and a "setback for any peace deal". "We need to go back and pick up the pieces," Britain's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told sky news in an interview, promising to continue working with all players in finding a solution to end the violence.

"We have repeatedly called on the Israelis to act proportionately," Beckett said.

French President Jacques Chirac learnt with "dismay" the act of violence that cost the lives of numerous innocent victims, notably woman and children in Qana overnight, his office said in a statement.

"France condemns this unjustifiable action, which shows more than ever the need to move toward an immediate cease-fire, without which other such dramas can only be repeated," it said.

Neighbouring Jordan, which has friendly ties with Israel, called the incident a "criminal aggression" which targeted innocent civilians.

"This criminal aggression constitutes a blatant violation of the law and all international conventions," Jordan's King Abdullah was quoted as saying in a statement.

He condemned "the ugly crime perpetrated by Israeli forces in Qana, which led to the killing of innocent civilians, including a large number of children and women."

Angry Beirut residents broke into the main UN building following the incident burning UN and American flags.

Around 500 protesters massed outside the building, while others chanted slogans against Israel and the united states and denounced Arab governments for not doing enough to stop Israel's 19-day bombardment of Lebanon.

Pope Benedict XVI today appealed for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East. "In the name of god, i appeal to all those responsible for this spiral of violence, so that they immediately put down their arms on all sides," he said.

Iran said the attacks were the outcome of a visit by rice to the region. "The result of rice's trip to the region is the Qana massacre," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.

(On the van (above) is written "Lebanese Red Cross")