Incorrectly marked Israel Defense Forces maps may have caused the deaths of four officers serving in UN forces in Lebanon, a government report revealed on Thursday.

After investigating the troops' deaths in an Israel Air Force air strike, the government presented the report to diplomats and military attaches from the officers' countries of origin - Finland, Austria, China and Canada. The report was presented to the UN at the beginning of the week.

On July 26, a UN outpost was hit in an IAF air strike. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke with UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan to express his condolences and vowed to investigate the event and report back to Annan on the results of the probe.

	Advertisement

The report gave a lengthy description of Hezbollah's operations in southern Lebanon, and said the air strike was meant to hit a Hezbollah stronghold 180 meters from the UN outpost at Al-Hayam.

In the days before he was killed, the Canadian officer wrote that IDF tank shells had fallen only two meters away from the UN troops, but that the shelling was justified due to Israel's tactical needs in the area.

In the aftermath of the event, some had interpreted the Canadian officer's testimony as verification of Israeli claims that Hezbollah guerrillas had been firing Katyusha rockets at the outposts. The UN said it had complained about the shelling, but that the IDF had not called off its fire.

After the four officers were killed, Annan accused Israel of attacking the UN post on purpose, saying that he was shocked and disturbed by the strike. Israel was furious at the accusation, and the UN chief later retracted his statement.

The UN chief had also said after the attack that the outpost had been set up a long time before and was well marked.