Quite wrong, Richard. I'm all too well aware of the culpability of Iran and of Hezbollah. I don't take one side in the conflict. I take the side of those who are suffering, and all I can see now is that the greatest suffering currently is that of innocent Lebanese civilians caused by Netanyahu's horrendous bombing of densely crowded urban areas. Even if the bombing is intended to take out Hezbollah militants, the collateral damage to innocent civilians is wholly disproportionate, and a war crime under the Rome Statute (Art. 8(2)(b)(iv)) Frankly, I don't give a damn as to whether the negotiators forgot to include Israel in the ceasefire agreement. That argument is just moral evasiveness. Nor has Iran been a paragon of virtue since the ceasefire was negotiated - it has launched several attacks on various Gulf states, but nothing that even comes close to the death and destruction wreaked on Beirut in the two days immediately after the ceasefire.As to your argument that Netanyahu would have had no excuse to bombard Lebanon "if Hezbollah were not there in force firing rockets into Israeli territory", it is undermined by your (deliberately?) muddled chronology. Hezbollah of course launched a lot of rockets against Israel prior to the ceasefire, but perhaps you'd like to back up your argument by giving examples of rocket activity since the ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday. I try to apportion blame where I see it, but everything you post shows that you are irredeemably parti pris.
Robert Fish ● 2h