UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Israel's recent offensive resembled all-out conventional warfare, resulting in illegitimate attacks on civilians, ambulances and schools, according to a letter obtained today.
The blunt letter, unusual for Mr Annan, was sent to Mr Sharon on March 12th during a week of increasing world criticism of Israel's use of heavy weaponry against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza that Israel occupied after the 1967 war.
Judging from the means and methods employed by the Israel Defense Force -- F-16 fighter bombers, helicopter and naval gunships, missiles and bombs of heavy tonnage -- the fighting has come to resemble all-out conventional warfare, he said.
Israel is fully entitled to defend itself against terror, Mr Annan wrote. But this right does not discharge it of its obligation to respect the fundamental principles and rules of international law.
Specifically, Mr Annan pointed to the killing and injuring of civilians and the firing at hospitals and schools, in one case shooting to death a UN guard who was escorting a wounded man to a hospital. All these actions violated the principle of protection of civilians.
He called unfounded and unsubstantiated statements by Israeli government spokesmen that ambulances may have been used to smuggle Palestinian militants and weapons.
"These allegations can only result in further danger to medical workers and further impede their vital mission," Mr Annan said in the letter.
Mr Annan requested Mr Sharon initiate a full investigation into Israeli soldiers firing at ambulances and medical personnel and that you take immediate steps to ensure that they are not repeated in the future.