'Catastrophe' looms in Lebanon as Israel pushes offensive
'... "And God said kill the innocent of that land, smite the children ... destroy them!" ...'
'The United Nations warned of a humanitarian "catastrophe" in Lebanon as Israel launched more deadly air attacks on the seventh day of an assault that has killed at least 245 and displaced half a million people. Helicopters, ferries and cruise liners began taking foreign nationals to safety but Lebanese civilians remained trapped in a cycle of violence that has left them in fear of each new attack and their infrastructure in tatters.
"The situation is both alarming and catastrophic. There are about 500,000 people displaced already. The situation is extreme" the representative of the United Nations Children's Fund ( UNICEF) in Beirut, Roberto Laurenti, told AFP.'
