Military prosecutors uphold cluster bomb use

? The Israeli army on Monday said it will not press charges against officers who ordered the use of cluster bombs during last year’s war in Lebanon, brushing off international criticism that the weapons unnecessarily put Lebanese civilians at risk.

Announcing the results of a more than yearlong probe, the army said investigators determined Israel’s use of cluster bombs was a “concrete military necessity” and did not violate international humanitarian law. Lebanese officials accused the army of covering up war crimes.

Cluster bombs open in flight and scatter dozens of bomblets over wide areas. The United Nations and human rights groups have accused Israel of dropping about 4 million cluster bomblets during its 34-day war against the Hezbollah guerrilla group.

They say as many as 1 million bomblets failed to explode and now endanger civilians, and earlier this year, the U.S. State Department said Israel probably misused American-made cluster bombs in civilian areas. More than 30 people have been killed by cluster bomb and land mine explosions in Lebanon since the 2006 summer war.