The State Department urged today that steps be taken to prevent violence against the various groups in south Lebanon, including the Palestinians, after Israel begins to withdraw from the area.
“The United States has repeatedly expressed its concern about the potential for communal violence, including anti-Palestinian violence, in the wake of an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon,” State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb said.
“We urge those responsible to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to provide for the safety of all the civilians in the areas of south Lebanon which Israeli forces are scheduled to vacate.”
Kalb would not say to whom the appeal was addressed. But it was apparent that with the first stage of the Israeli pullout scheduled for February 18, there is a belief here that the Lebanese army and others in the area should be making plans now to prevent any outbreak of violence.
Kalb added that “the United States has fully supported the Nakura process as a means of developing security arrangements needed to provide for an orderly withdrawal and to avert further human tragedy.” He pointed out that the U.S. is “providing financial support to the International Rescue Committee’s Sidon-based clinic which is engaged in providing basic health services to needy Palestinians and Lebanese in the area.
He said the U.S. was also providing “substantial support to UNWRA which plays a major role with regard to the welfare of the residents of the Palestinian camps in southern Lebanon.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
