A/HRC/2/7 page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston; the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Paul Hunt; the Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights of internally displaced persons, Walter Kälin; and the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, Miloon Kothari, visited Lebanon from 7 to 10 September and Israel from 10 to 14 September 2006 at the invitation of the two Governments and in accordance with their respective mandates. 2. The main objectives of the mission were (i) to assess, from the perspective of international human rights and humanitarian law as covered by their respective mandates, the impact on the civilian populations of the armed conflict that affected southern Lebanon and other parts of the country and northern Israel between 12 July and 14 August 2006; (ii) to advise the authorities on fulfilling their responsibility to protect and assist affected civilians in accordance with their human rights obligations and in light of the challenges faced by the respective Governments; and (iii) to make recommendations to United Nations agencies and other relevant actors on how best to address the protection needs of the people concerned, especially the most vulnerable among them. 3. The mission was undertaken by the four mandate holders on their own initiative in response to a suggestion by the President of the Human Rights Council. The mission was entirely independent of the Commission of Inquiry established on the basis of Council resolution S-2/1. 4. In Lebanon, the mission met with President Lahoud, Prime Minister Siniora, and the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Health, the Interior, Justice, and Social Affairs as well as with representatives of several governmental agencies and the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, the Lebanese Armed Forced and international agencies. It visited the southern suburbs of Beirut and travelled to the south, including Tyre, Bint Jbeil and Ayta ash-Shab. In Israel, the mission met with the Chief Justice and government officials, including the Minister of Tourism, the senior Media Adviser to the Prime Minister, senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, the former Intelligence Research Chief, and the Head of the control department in the operations division and officers of the Home Front Command of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), the parliamentary commission on human rights as well as the legal advisers to IDF and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The mission also travelled to the north of the country, including Mrar, Kiriat Shmona, Majd al Krum, Nahariya, Haifa and Nazareth. In both countries, the mandate holders met with representatives of civil society organizations as well as victims of the conflict.1 5. The members of the mission express their appreciation for the full cooperation of the relevant authorities and for the open and constructive manner in which discussions took place in both countries. They are also very grateful to members of civil society for the meetings held and information provided, and to the many individual victims who shared their stories.