IDF: We did cooperate with UNFIL over munitions in Lebanon

Army rejects Ki-Moon claims of refusal to provide cluster bomb data, says it relayed maps of areas it suspected contained unexploded ordinance.

By YAAKOV KATZ
cluster bombs in lebanon (photo credit: AP)
cluster bombs in lebanon
(photo credit: AP)
The IDF on Sunday rejected claims made by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon over the weekend that Israel had refused to provide UNIFIL with information regarding the location of munitions it fired into Lebanon during the war this past summer. Last week, Ban issued a report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 and claimed that Israel has repeatedly refused to transfer data related to the use of cluster bombs by the IDF during the Lebanon war. The report also claimed that Israel had dropped cluster bombs on 854 targets during the war. In response, the IDF Spokesperson's Office released a statement claiming that the military had cooperated with UNFIL and even relayed maps of areas that it suspected contained unexploded ordinance. The IDF claimed that UNIFIL sources have informed their Israeli counterparts that the information provided by Israel was assisting them in clearing the areas. "UNIFIL's requests for information and clarifications have been answered by the IDF," the statement read, adding that parts of southern Lebanon were also hit by Hizbullah munitions that did not explode.