No charges over Israeli cluster bombs
Israeli military prosecutors have announced they will not press charges over the army's use of cluster bombs during the war against Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon, actions that had been widely criticised by human rights organisations.
The announcement came as Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams met here for the second time since the US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland.
Cluster bombs are not prohibited in warfare, but their use is criticised because they contain "bomblets" that explode over a wide area and may strike unintended targets. In addition, bomblets that fail to explode become, in effect, land mines that can be detonated by civilians long after fighting has stopped.
More than 30 Lebanese are believed to have been killed by munitions left behind after the month-long war in the northern summer last year.
In a statement on Monday, the army said its chief investigator, Major-General Gershon Hacohen, had determined that the use of the cluster bombs did not violate international law, and that "the majority of the cluster munitions were fired at open and uninhabited areas, from which Hezbollah forces operated and in which no civilians were present".
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