(Spectator-UK) Stephen Daisley - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the slaughter of 12 children on an Israeli soccer pitch in Majdal Shams but called for "maximum restraint" to avoid "any further escalation" and urged all parties to "recommit to the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701." This resolution was the UN's solution to the Second Lebanon War. It called on Israel and Hizbullah to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese government to exert control over its territory and prevent it being used by Hizbullah to resume hostilities. Israel withdrew, Hizbullah didn't, Beirut never exerted control and Hizbullah continued to use southern Lebanon as a base from which to attack Israel. Since Oct. 7, Hizbullah has fired 5,000 rockets at Israel. Restraint, like proportional responses and international law, is something forever enjoined on Israel but seldom her enemies. But what is the restrained response to those who blow children to pieces in front of their soccer coach? There is no appetite in Israel for another ground war. Israel will extract a price from Hizbullah but it will be much less than they deserve. Much less than would be required to deter them from further attacks. Yet when that price comes to be paid, expect the UN and the NGOs and the British Foreign Office to scold and condemn and denounce. They simply do not regard Israeli self-defense as legitimate.
2024-08-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive