Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Despite peace talks, crisis persists throughout Middle East
By Courtney Burks
The California Aggie (UC-Davis)
07/28/2006

(U-WIRE) DAVIS, Calif. — Since the cross-border raid and capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12, violence from both the Israeli government and the Lebanese group Hezbollah has not subsided. Missile and groundforce attacks have continued to intensify, now involving the diplomatic influence of outside powers in the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

After a stint of relative quiet in Lebanon and Israel during peace-talk visits by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, attacks from both sides have escalated.

With debates about the possibility of a ceasefire, countries from the region are getting involved in order to help curb the crisis from evolving into a larger war. Syria, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the European Union have urged some form of a ceasefire and have pledged to provide funds for reconstruction and humanitarian aid that will help improve the situation in Lebanon.

On July 25, Rice announced the United States' support for "urgent and enduring peace" between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Together, U.S., British and Israeli authorities claim a precursor for such a ceasefire includes Israel's ability to disarm Hezbollah and remove their forces from the Israel-Lebanon border. In addition, the release of the two captured Israeli soldiers, the capability of the Lebanese government to confidently hold sovereignty over their territory and a security zone with multinational force in place is said to be required for an armistice of the current conflict.

Recently, Israel has been criticized by the international community to have taken their strikes too far. Although the conflict lies not between the citizens of Israel and Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert claims Israel is taking the most relentless measures in defending itself against terrorism, regardless of his admitted consciousness about the suffering of thousands of Lebanese civilians.

The Israel Defense Force claims that in Israel, a minimum of 41 people have died — 19 civilians and 22 soldiers — and at least 388 people have been wounded from Hezbollah-launched missile attacks.

According to a CNN report, at least 392 people have been killed and as many as 1,383 wounded in Lebanon during the last 15 days of conflict. Over 600,000 Lebanese have also been forced to evacuate their homes due to the increase of Israeli air strikes.

Most recently, an Israeli air strike on a southern Lebanese observation post killed four U.N. officers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland. At an international crisis conference in Rome, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said the attack was an apparently deliberate target of the post and that he was shocked to hear what happened.

In an Associated Press interview, members of Hezbollah said they did not expect Israel's reaction to include such an extreme retaliation, but that Hezbollah will not surrender and their attacks will continue beyond the northern Israeli city of Haifa in the near future.

Moreover, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, noted that aside from the physical firing of missiles, the Shiite militant group anticipates the international community will grow angry with Israel's attacks. He counts on other states potentially siding with Hezbollah and argues that Israel has killed too many innocent Lebanese civilians.

Currently, neither the Israeli forces nor Hezbollah seem to be relenting. The launching of more missiles and Katyusha rockets is mounting, as is Hezbollah's vow for the continued firing into Israel in order to offset Israeli advances into southern Lebanon.

Eran Singer, Israeli analyst, said citizens and the government need to cooperate in order for an end in the near future.

"The prime minister of Israel and the government of Israel understand that the only way to achieve a military victory in Lebanon, on Hezbollah, of course, is by getting the full support of the people of Israel," he said in an interview with CNN.

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