Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Monday, 9 July 2007.

Israel and Lebanon: Cluster Munitions

Question: My Lords, does the noble Baroness agree with the head of an Israel Defence Forces rocket unit based in southern Lebanon who said: "““What we did was insane and monstrous; we covered entire towns in cluster bombs.””?" Is she confident that the Israelis know, as they are supposed to, where these bombs were dropped? Is this not an argument, as the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, said, for a comprehensive ban on these bombs, both the dumb ones and the so-called smart ones?

Answer: My Lords, we cannot be entirely confident that Israel knows exactly where all the cluster bombs are—I am not sure that any Government could be—but I am as a confident as I can be that it knows where they are. As for the abolition of cluster bombs, the Government are working within the Oslo process and the CCW precisely to try to ensure that there are no more dumb cluster bombs, but that if cluster bombs are used, they are used in full respect of human rights.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 693 c1229
Session: 2006-07
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Disclosure of information Armed conflict Cluster munitions Bomb disposal Location United Nations Israel Middle East Lebanon
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk