Israel-Lebanon-Hezbollah round-up #3

Some important stories to follow:

From The Washington Post:

Israeli warplanes hunting Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon on Sunday killed at least 57 civilians, most of them children, huddled inside a three-story building in a small village. In response, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appeared to abandon diplomacy in the region and said she would return to Washington Monday. After an intense day of negotiations in Jerusalem, Israel agreed to suspend air attacks on southern Lebanon for 48 hours.

The attack on the small Lebanese village of Qana was the bloodiest single incident in 19 days of warfare between Israel and Hezbollah. Among the dead were 37 children and a large number of women, according to the Lebanese health minister. Hezbollah, the radical Shiite Muslim movement, vowed revenge, and more than 150 rockets slammed into northern Israel, wounding at least five people. It was the highest number of rockets fired at Israel since the conflict began.

The New York Times notes that the strike on Qana "[marks] the bloodiest day of this conflict and [puts] enormous pressure on Israel and the United States to move rapidly toward a cease-fire." The Jerusalem Post has more here, CNN here.

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Nonetheless, Haaretz is reporting that "Israel would continue its military assault on Hezbollah targets for at least two more weeks." This according to Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

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The Jerusalem Post is reporting that the IDF is prepared for a Syrian attack -- even though Israel has signalled that it has no interest engaging Syrian forces.

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Haaretz's Gideon Levy offers a devastating view of the Israeli homefront:

In war as in war: Israel is sinking into a strident, nationalistic atmosphere and darkness is beginning to cover everything. The brakes we still had are eroding, the insensitivity and blindness that characterized Israeli society in recent years is intensifying. The home front is cut in half: the north suffers and the center is serene. But both have been taken over by tones of jingoism, ruthlessness and vengeance, and the voices of extremism that previously characterized the camp's margins are now expressing its heart. The left has once again lost its way, wrapped in silence or "admitting mistakes." Israel is exposing a unified, nationalistic face.

Make sure to read the whole piece.