While officials had put the [Qana] death toll at 56 in the attack, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday there were 28 known dead and 13 missing.
AP
I feel more confident, after reading the above, about having returned to the official figures yesterday, which had reduced my reported confirmed civilian death toll. AFP reports that Lebanese security sources officially reduced the number of killed in Qana, and that is proper and commendable, but it is clear that some officials -- perhaps local officials -- outraged at the immediate death and destruction before them, have over-estimated the numbers of Lebanese civilians killed. My response to that, and to the varying official and semi-official figures below in the `Press Coverage' section, is to stay with the conservative and reliable. Today's mathematical estimate's math is 468 times 548 divided by 540 = 474.93, since civilian deaths were again not distinguished from total Lebanese deaths.
Whatever the exact numbers, donations for Lebanon ...
... are needed at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, at www.ifrc.org. The United Nations also has a fundraising effort, and the links are at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
* * * *
Press Coverage of Civilian Casualties
AP/Yahoo
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said more than 900 people had been killed and 3,000 wounded, but he did not say whether the new figure -- up from 548 confirmed dead -- included the missing. ...
Meanwhile, an Israeli military inquiry on the bombing Sunday of a building in the south Lebanese village of Qana, which killed mostly women and children, admitted a mistake but charged that Hezbollah guerrillas used civilians as shields for their rocket attacks. ...
While officials had put the death toll at 56 in the attack, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday there were 28 known dead and 13 missing.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
CNN
CNN reported no casualty totals in its main story on the conflict. It did report the deaths of 5 Israelis from Hezbollah rocket attacks. And it reported 120 Israeli air attacks on "Hezbollah targets," but did not report on those air strikes resulting in any civilian deaths. Every other mainstream news source I looked at did report and describe such casualties. Disgracefully, CNN's Lebanese civilian victim phobia continues
Hezbollah fired more rockets into Israel, killing five people, Israeli police said. ...
Overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said it pounded Hezbollah targets across Lebanon with 120 airstrikes, a day after the militant group fired 230 rockets into northern Israel.
http://www.cnn.com/...
FoxNews (w/AP)
Fox has consistently been much more fair and balanced than CNN in its coverage of the conflict's impact on civilians (as if you didn't already know my answer to the poll question). Okay, Fox isn't at all balanced, just much more so than CNN. Look, for example, at the first 7 paragraphs - especially paragraphs 6 and 7 -- of its main Lebanon conflict article and contrast it with CNN's coverage.
Six Israelis were killed, three of them children, and several others wounded by Hezbollah Kaytusha rockets in northern Israel Thursday, Israeli police said.
A barrage of rockets rained down on the towns of Acre and Maalot, where three people died in each town, a day after Hezbollah volleyed a record number of rockets into Israel. It's the deadliest day in Israel since eight people were killed July 16 when a rocket struck a train maintenance depot in Haifa.
Police said almost 100 rockets hit northern Israel in half an hour.
In Acre, a rocket hit people who were standing on their balcony, Mayor Shimon Lankry told Israel's Channel 2 Television. The three people in Maalot were killed when a rocket struck a car, police said. Rockets, unlike missiles, can't be guided.
Two Israeli Defense soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire in the southern Lebanon town of Rajmin, the army reported. Nearly 10,000 troops were on the ground engaged with Hezbollah guerrillas throughout southern Lebanon.
In Lebanon, an Israeli missile slammed into a house in a border village early Thursday, killing a family of three, and airstrikes across the country's south wounded at least six people, Lebanese security officials said.
Another Lebanese woman was killed when a missile hit her house near the Christian town of Marjayoun, they said. The first missile attack occurred in the village of Taibeh, less than five kilometers from the Israeli border. ...
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said more than 900 people had been killed and 3,000 injured in the fighting, though [sic] did not say whether the new figure -- up from 548 confirmed dead -- included those missing.
http://www.foxnews.com/...
Reuters
Reuters' has used its own tally, based on official reports. That tally now seems less reliable, particularly in light of the latest on official numbers of civilians killed.
Israeli jets pounded Lebanon and troops battled Hizbollah guerrillas on Thursday while world powers struggled for a plan to end a war which Beirut said has killed 900 people and wounded 3,000.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said a third of the casualties in the 23-day-old conflict were children under 12. He said a million Lebanese, one quarter of the population, had been displaced and the country's infrastructure devastated.
His remarks were in a video message to a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Malaysia. His death toll was higher than a Reuters tally of at least 683.
Fifty-six Israelis, including 37 soldiers, have been killed in the conflict. A Lebanese security source said that 80 Hizbollah fighters had been killed so far -- well below the Israeli estimate of 300-400.
http://today.reuters.com/...
BBC
More than 900 Lebanese people have been killed in the three-week conflict, Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora has said. ...
In a video message to Muslim leaders meeting in Malaysia, Lebanon's prime minister said more than 3,000 people had been wounded, and that one million people - a quarter of the country's population - had been displaced.
The latest Israeli casualties bring its death toll to 62, including 24 civilians.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
AFP
Israel has launched fresh air strikes on Beirut after a lull of several days in its onslaught which Lebanese officials say has killed more than 900 nationals and wounded over 3,000 others in three weeks. ...
Israel had called a 48-hour partial halt to air attacks after it raided the Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday. Reports that 52 civilians had been killed, mostly women and children, fuelled worldwide calls for an immediate ceasefire.
On Thursday, however, Lebanese officials reduced the Qana toll to 28 dead, including 16 children.
http://www.afp.com/...
UK Guardian
In a video statement to the Malaysian conference, the Lebanese prime minister said 900 people have killed and 3,000 injured so far, and one third of the casualties are children under 12. Israel's offensive on Lebanon "is taking an enormous toll on human life and infrastructure, and has totally ravaged our country and shattered our economy," Mr Siniora added.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
Daily Star (Lebanon)/&AFP?
The figures below were not in the main AFP article on the conflict, so perhaps they were added by the Daily Star.
Some 835 Lebanese have been killed and 3,210 wounded in the Israeli response to that attack, according to official figures. Hundreds of thousands more have been forced to flee their homes.
Lebanese officials estimate that Israeli bombardments have caused losses of 2.5 billion dollars.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/...