International Red Cross president visits northern Israel

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross ducked into a bomb shelter as air raid sirens wailed over northern Israel today, and said he was distressed at civilian suffering from the war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

Jakob Kellenberger toured shelters and talked with residents in Nahariya who have spent nearly a month under fire from Hezbollah rockets.

Kellenberger, who crossed the Lebanese-Israeli border earlier today, said he was distressed to see that it was “always civilians on both sides who pay the price” for war.

Nahariya has been one of the hardest-hit areas in Israel in the nearly month-long conflict with the Shiite militia based. Hezbollah guerrillas have fired more than 3,100 missiles into northern Israel since the fighting started July 12.

When the sirens went off, Kellenbeberger’s convoy quickly pulled to the side of the road and the ICRC president, his aides and journalists scrambled into a public bomb shelter where two Israeli families already had taken cover.

The thump of two rockets were heard as the group entered the concrete underground room. Israeli rescue services gave the all clear to leave after 10 minutes.

Travelling with the convoy was Israeli magician Uri Geller, who acted as an unofficial spokesman for the Israeli delegation.

Asked by one of the children in the shelters what magic he could do, Geller said: “The magic will be that the war will end and you’ll get out of here.”

Then he performed his trademark trick, bending a spoon with the power of his mind.