U.N. Chief Says Israel Has Been Waging Full-Scale War
Secretary General Kofi Annan, employing his bluntest criticism of Israel in the latest
Middle East violence, has told Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Israeli forces have been
waging what looks like an all-out conventional war on Palestinian civilians.

In a forceful letter to Mr. Sharon last Tuesday, Mr. Annan said he wanted to call Mr.
Sharon's attention to "disturbing patterns" in the treatment of civilians, including aid
workers, by the military, known officially as the Israeli Defense Forces.

The secretary general said he was "especially dismayed" by the "failure to protect and
respect ambulances and medical personnel."

"Judging by the means and methods employed by the I.D.F. — F-16 fighter bombers,
helicopter and naval gunships, missiles and bombs of heavy tonnage — the fighting has
come to resemble all-out conventional warfare," Mr. Annan wrote Mr. Sharon. "In the
process, hundreds of innocent noncombatant civilians — men, women and children —
have been injured or killed, and many buildings and homes have been damaged or
destroyed."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/19/international/middleeast/19LETT.html