The fact Hizbollah militants often use civilians as cover and even hide their rocket launchers and arms caches in densely-populated areas does not give the Israelis the right to disregard the huge civilian casualties that would be part of such an attack. It only requires Israel, with its overwhelming military superiority, to assume greater responsibility in the manner it chooses to engage its ruthless foes, who not only deny the Jewish state the right to exist, but who have no qualms about killing innocent Israeli civilians.

Israel's retaliatory attack, which appears to be a punishment of Lebanon as well, is counterproductive to efforts to achieve peace in the region. Israel's actions may end up making Hizbollah more politically powerful and their hateful ideology more pervasive than it ever has been.

Everybody, including the Israeli government and its staunchest ally the United States, knows that in the aftermath of the Qana incident Israel will now have to wrap up its military operations in Lebanon sooner rather than later under mounting international pressure.

That is not to say the world denies Israel the right to self-defence against its enemies. Israel may have felt frustrated or betrayed by the international community on many occasions in the past for its failure to help secure its border with Lebanon since the Israeli army withdrew in 2000. The international community and the Lebanese government have neither the will nor the wherewithal to disarm Hizbollah, as they promised they would. But this time, Israel should give the international community the benefit of the doubt and seriously consider a "sustainable" cease-fire, as proposed by the United Nations Security Council and the US. This promises to address long-term solutions to help Israel secure its border with Lebanon.

It must be made clear from the outset that any cease-fire agreement that does not lead to the immediate disarming of Hizbollah and the strengthening of the Lebanese government's armed forces to secure its border with Israel will be unacceptable. The Israel-Lebanon crisis threatens to destabilise the Middle East. If the cease-fire proposal is to be credible and provide a lasting solution, Nato troops - with a high level of combat-readiness and clear-cut rules of engagement - must be deployed immediately to help Lebanese armed forces disarm Hizbollah. Multinational and Lebanese government troops must be prepared to use lethal force to disarm Hizbollah if the militants put up armed resistance. To reduce the likelihood of resistance from Hizbollah, an international embargo must be imposed to the prevent arms being shipped from Syria and Iran to Hizbollah.

Realistically, the Israeli military can be expected to continue to wage a ground war to secure a workable buffer zone, which could be handed over to Lebanese armed forces backed by a UN-sponsored multinational force at a later point. But the kind of indiscriminate air-strikes that have the potential to kill innocent civilians must be limited if not suspended altogether. The challenge for all parties involved is immense. But Israel and Lebanon, with the help of the international community, must be prepared to take a leap of faith and work together toward a lasting peace. After a cessation of hostilities, the international community, under the auspices of the UN, should consider setting up a fund to help rebuild Lebanon, which has been devastated by the war.

Only after Hizbollah has been disarmed, Lebanon's democracy strengthened, and peace restored, can reconciliation between Lebanon and Israel become a possibility. International reconstruction efforts should involve Israel. Obviously this is a best-case scenario, but it's a challenge the international community must accept and not allow to fail.