A deadly day in Lebanon
Israel's campaign of military retaliation in Lebanon moved to a new plane of violence on Thursday with the accidental shelling of a U.N. base in Lebanon that killed at least 75 Lebanese civilians and injured more than 100 others. All had fled to the compound in recent days seeking shelter from Israeli attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
President Clinton rightly urged both sides to agree to an immediate cease-fire and dispatched Secretary of State Warren Christopher to the Middle East to help end the confrontation. Prime Minister Shimon Peres said after the attack that Israel was prepared to accept a cease-fire. Hezbollah and its sponsors in Lebanon and Syria should do the same before more innocent people are killed.
U.N. officials on the scene reported that just before the Israeli attack, Hezbollah terrorists had launched rockets and mortar fire at Israeli positions from 300 yards outside the U.N. base. By doing so, Hezbollah put the civilians at risk. But Israel cannot escape its share of responsibility for the casualties.
Only days ago, Israel declared that its forces would avoid operations that might endanger civilians and that it would refrain from firing on U.N. positions under any circumstances. These new guidelines came after two incidents last weekend. In one, an Israeli rocket killed six Lebanese civilians riding in an ambulance. In the other, Israeli shellfire wounded a Fijian peacekeeper.
Investigators must now determine exactly how Thursday's episode happened despite these constraints. Israeli television coverage of the military campaign has shown mostly surgical strikes, and until Thursday Israeli forces had managed to keep civilian casualties relatively low, given the scale of military operations.
Israel's goal has been to create an unmanageable number of refugees in Lebanon, pressuring the Lebanese government and its sponsors in Syria to restrain Hezbollah's attacks. As many as 400,000 Lebanese have streamed north from their homes since the Israeli raids began eight days ago.
American diplomats are pressing Damascus and Beirut to renew a 1993 agreement curbing Hezbollah attacks. So far they have declined. The cessation of Hezbollah attacks is a legitimate objective and politically popular in Israel. But it is no longer necessary to pursue it by military means.
Israel has fully demonstrated its will and capacity to retaliate for terrorist attacks against its people. Surely Lebanon and Syria understand by now the costs of continuing to indulge Hezbollah. Thursday's incident brought the civilian death toll in Lebanon to well over 100. Rather than risking more bloodshed, all sides should suspend the fighting.
-- The New York Times