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While the UN negotiates, Western powers and Arab nations should institute a diplomatic push in the Middle East, a region dragged into an even deeper quagmire as Israel and Hezbollah engage in escalation of conflicts.

 

The Western powers have been fiddling while the region burns. Busy with evacuating their citizens from Lebanon, they have yet to efficiently respond so as to cease hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah as soon as possible.

 

The US has rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire, saying it does not make sense to change the "status quo."

 

Bearing this in mind, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's mission to the Middle East, where she headed after 13 days of Israeli strikes on Lebanon, is unlikely to end the hostilities.

 

Israel resorted to military action after two of its soldiers were taken hostage by Hezbollah.

 

As a result, over 500,000 Lebanese people have been forced from their homes. The casualty rate is growing as the fighting intensifies, which hurts Lebanese, Palestinians and Israelis. The bombings on Hezbollah are wrecking the reconstruction Lebanon has achieved since the end of its 15-year civil war while Hezbollah has been raining rockets on northern Israel.

 

The Western powers, the US in particular, could bring the fighting to an end if they wanted to. Unfortunately, they have not done so. Israel is being allowed at least another week to take action against Hezbollah.

 

In order to find a solution, diplomacy should be done immediately and open to all parties in the region.

 

Due to their deep-rooted suspicion, mistrust and antagonism, neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians nor Hezbollah can resolve the problem on their own.

 

There is no time to lose. The more lives lost, the harder it will be to build a lasting peace. Whatever the calculations of the Western powers, their reaction to the mounting deaths in the latest crisis and grave consequences it may lead to is inappropriate. Support from the powers that have traditionally played a big part in the region for Israel sends the wrong signal and cannot get the problem solved.

 

The Middle East has long been a battlefield. The Israelis and Arabs, who have contributed a lot to human development, have failed to live side by side due to historical and present grudges and grievance.

 

The past fightings and blood-for-blood strategy have never found them peace. Violence is a dangerous fuse that could set off a new round of hate and distrust. Faith in military strikes will have the opposite of their desired effect.

 

More fighting will mean more suffering on both sides of the border, and more anger towards each other.

 

The crisis in the Middle East is a challenge for the international community, Israel's allies in particular. It needs to step in and guarantee the security of Israel and Lebanon. The political settlement should induce Hezbollah to return the two soldiers it seized.

 

If the crisis continues to worsen, then the chances for peace in the Middle East will be set back.

 

(China Daily July 25, 2006)