2 more Israelis and roughly 23 more Lebanese were killed today in the war.
Press Coverage of Civilian Casualties:
AP/Yahoo
AP returned to common sense and basic news reporting fundamentals, telling readers the numbers of Lebanese civilians and non-civilians killed based on the most reliable and `confirmed' figures. This had been AP's procedure last Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, of using health ministry figures for the numbers of Lebanese killed. I believe the health ministry is the most reliable and conservative source available on these matters. The story quoted below was not on Yahoo's main page, but could be linked from the Lebanon conflict story on the main page.
At least 715 people have been killed in Lebanon since fighting erupted July 12_ including 628 civilians confirmed dead by the Health Ministry, 29 Lebanese soldiers and at least 58 Hezbollah guerrillas. The Lebanese government's Higher Relief Council put the number higher -- at 973.
Authorities in Israel said 120 Israelis have been killed, including 82 soldiers and 38 civilians.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
FoxNews/AP
A secondary story on the Fox mainpage is the AP story above.
http://www.foxnews.com/...
CNN
CNN continues its recent practice of using Lebanese security forces figures, which as I've said apparently do not distinguish civilian and non-civilian deaths. Also, I believe these figures are intrinsically less reliable than health ministry figures derived from hospital, mortuary, and police statistics, and are the product of a security forces bureaucracy less regularized, `experienced' and, considering the circumstances, `objective'.
Since the conflict began, 834 Lebanese have been killed and more than 3,200 wounded, Lebanese security forces said Thursday. The Israel Defense Forces reported that 122 Israelis, including 40 civilians, have been killed, and nearly 900 wounded.
http://www.cnn.com/...
Reuters
Reuters continues its practice of not attributing its Lebanon figures, which in all likelihood largely derive from provided by the Lebanese security forces' casualty reports. My guess is that uncorrected duplication has led to Reuter's unusually high figures.
The war has cost the lives of at least 1,011 people in Lebanon and 122 Israelis.
http://today.reuters.com/...
AFP
Once again, I think the data provided to AFP is coming from a government source relying less on confirmed deaths than does the Lebanese health ministry.
The White House said divisions between council members, Lebanon and Israel made it impossible to set a date for a vote, but it warned the warring parties against any "escalations" in a conflict that has killed more than 1,000 civilians in Lebanon in a month and nearly 40 in Israel.
But in Paris, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said a deal was immiment on a draft resolution to end the conflict.
http://www.afp.com/...
BBC
Same old same old, lack of specificity, from the BBC.
More than 1,000 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have now been killed in the hostilities, the Lebanese government has said. Some 122 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Please donate to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, at www.ifrc.org, to assist Lebanon.
P.S.
Despite the intensified fighting, the concept of allowing Lebanese troops to be the major element in the border patrol force is still alive, and it is an idea I think all sides generally accept. Optimistically, we may be a few days from implementation of a ceasefire agreement. Perhaps the most optimistic paragraph is the second one in the AFP section above. But below is a little more detail on negotiations.
The fighting intensified even though Israel said plans for an expanded ground offensive, approved on Wednesday, had been put on hold to allow more time for U.S.-led diplomatic efforts.
Diplomats said U.S. and Israeli officials were discussing what they described as a "consecutive ceasefire" under which Israeli military operations would be scaled back in stages when Lebanese troops and more foreign soldiers begin deploying.
"The breakthrough is based on the inclusion in the call for a cessation of hostilities for a progressive Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory to go simultaneously with the deployment of the Lebanese army backed by reinforced U.N. peacekeepers," a senior Lebanese political source said.
A deal had been delayed because of divisions between the United States and France over when Israeli troops would leave. ...
France, which may lead the foreign force, does not want it to deploy before a ceasefire and a political agreement.
From the Reuters article above.