Israel's military operation in southern Lebanon to secure the release of its two soldiers has been backed by devastating attacks on Lebanon's key infrastructure, including international airport, seaports, roads, bridges and other facilities. Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for failure to secure its border and for allowing Hezbollah militia to use southern Lebanon as a staging area to launch guerrilla and rocket attacks on Israel's northern border towns and cities.

There may be justification for Israeli concern about Hezbollah's growing capability to attack deeper inside its territory from southern Lebanon using more sophisticated, longer-range missiles with the support of Iran. According to the Israeli military, if nothing is done Hezbollah could eventually acquire rockets that could reach Tel Aviv.

With Syria and Iran implicated by Israel as backers of Hezbollah, a wider conflict that could engulf the whole Middle East region cannot be ruled out. Syria, which wants the return of the Golan Heights from Israel and Iran, which is in an international stand-off over its nuclear programme, stand to gain from an escalation and widening of conflicts in the volatile region.

Israeli forces are also involved in an ongoing lower-key operation in Gaza after a group of Palestine militants made a cross-border raid and took one Israeli soldier captive on June 25.

In an emotional plea to the international community on Saturday, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora condemned Israel's military for the attack that had turned his country into a "disaster zone" and called for intervention to bring about a cease-fire.

Siniora said the Lebanese government and the entire Lebanese population should not be held responsible for the actions of Hezbollah, which operates independently outside of government control. He promised that with the international community's help his government would try to exert control over all Lebanese territory, including areas now held by the Hezbollah militia.

No one should question Israel's right to self-defence. But as it carries out the mission to remove what it regards as an immediate threat to its population the Jewish state must be careful not to damage the fledgling democratic government of Lebanon. Instead of imposing collective punishment on the Lebanese government and people for crimes committed by Hezbollah, Israel may serve its interest best by sparing the country from unnecessary collateral damage in terms of civilian casualties and destruction of its key infrastructure. It may well be true that the government in Beirut was too weak to deal with Hezbollah before the Israeli onslaught, but Jerusalem will gain nothing from seeing Lebanon descend into anarchy and join the ranks of failed states.

Siniora's plea for international help to rein in Hezbollah and to secure its border with Israel merits serious consideration. Demilitarising Hezbollah may take time, but the prerequisite for that process is a strong and democratic Lebanese government.

Most unhelpful has been the Arab League. Dominated by rejectionists who continue to deny Israel's right to exist, it has stuck to its position of condoning terrorist acts as a legitimate tool to coerce Israel into making impossible concessions, including giving up more land that would make it virtually impossible for Israel to protect itself.

Palestine and its Arab backers tend to disregard the substantial concessions made by Israel, which has pulled out entirely from Gaza. Instead of seizing the momentum for peace based on positive developments, Palestine, now headed by the hardline group Hamas, has made things worse by tough bargaining to force further concessions from Israel without having anything tangible to offer towards enabling both states to co-exist in peace and security.