Israel is bolstering extremists by antagonising moderates

UNDER international law, reprisal actions are supposed to be commensurate with the provocation.

Israel’s response to the kidnapping of her two soldiers has been totally disproportionate. Yet the international community is standing idly by in a kind of stunned silence.

Hezbollah started the latest conflict by kidnapping the Israeli soldiers. The Israelis have a right to defend their territory and their citizens but in response to the kidnapping of those two soldiers, they have killed more than 600 Lebanese civilians, many of whom were in the act of merely fleeing the fighting. Israeli action has also killed four UN peacekeepers.