Israel attacked Hezbollah launching positions in the ancient city of Qana, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians. Ehud Olmert and his staff immediately expressed regret for the deaths, but pointed out that Hezbollah's positioning made this kind of collateral damage unavoidable:

Olmert expressed deep regret for the harm inflicted on the civilians in Qana Sunday morning when at least 57 civilians - 37 of whom were children - were killed as the IAF fired missiles at a building in the southern Lebanese town.

"I express deep regret, along with all of Israel and the IDF, for the civilian deaths in Qana," said Olmert. "Nothing could be further from our intentions and our interests than harming civilians - everyone understands that. When we do harm civilians, the whole world recognizes that it is an exceptional case that does not characterize us."

"In contrast," Olmert said, "Hizbullah has launched rockets with the aim of murdering innocent civilians in northern Israel." ...

Olmert said that the area was a focal point for the firing of Katyusha rockets on Kiryat Shmona and Afula. He said that from the outset of the conflict, "hundreds of rockets have been fired from the Qana area."

Defense Minister Amir Peretz was also profoundly repentant for the fatal strike, saying, "this is a tragic incident that is a result of war. Hizbullah operates in the heart of populated centers with the full knowledge of endangering the lives of innocent civilians."

Qana is considered the same town where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding feast. Unfortunately for Qana, no miracle will bring the residents back to life after this destruction. Nor is this the first time that a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah resulted in civilian deaths in Qana; ten years ago, an Israeli strike on this town killed over 100 civilians, under similar circumstances as today.

The IDF has video showing that Hezbollah positioned its rocket launcher adjacent to the bomb impact site, making it an open target for military response. Militarily, the Israelis have plenty of justification for the attack. Politically, however, they may have run out the string on their operation. The attacks comes as the UN Security Council meets to debate any action that can be taken to put an end to the fighting -- one of the key roles for the almost-toothless body -- and with civilian deaths escalating, there will be a lot of pressure to enforce some kind of cease-fire,

This could play out well for Israel, at least in one aspect. Israel has made clear that they will not accept another UNIFIL mission -- useless, toothless, and eventually hostage to Hezbollah terrorists themselves. The UN and NATO nations had been reluctant to suggest anything else but a UNIFIL-like force to replace them. With the deaths escalating, the UN and/or NATO will have more pressure put on them to create an effective force to keep this kind of war from breaking out again.

Israel has two choices: occupy Lebanon again or smooth the ground out for a buffer force to protect their northern border. The Israelis do not want another 20-year occupation on their backs, for understandable reasons, so they have to do what they can now to make the alternative as successful as possible. It looks like time may run out more quickly, in terms of political cover, than they may have considered.

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