DontRunMeOver

If we could, I'd be interested to take a step back now and see where these different arguments are coming from. In this debate, I'm definitely on the Lebanese side and to be honest I'm currently feeling a lot more respect for Hezbollah than the Israeli military. Why? Well, this is the kind of news coverage we get in the UK. (Copied and pasted from the BBC news website).

What kind of news coverage have you been getting on the subject?

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More than 54 civilians, at least 34 of them children, have been killed in a town in south Lebanon in the deadliest Israeli strike of the conflict so far. Displaced families had been sheltering in the basement of a house in Qana, which was crushed after a direct hit. Lebanon's prime minister denounced "Israeli war criminals" and cancelled talks with the US secretary of state. Israel said it regretted the incident - but added that civilians had been warned to flee the village.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would "continue to act with no hesitation against Hezbollah" which has been firing rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon. What has happened in Qana shows this is a situation that simply cannot continue.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair:
'Lebanon crisis 'cannot continue'

Hundreds of Lebanese protesters staged a violent demonstration, ransacking the UN headquarters in Beirut, chanting slogans against the US and Israel and in support of the Hezbollah militants. Several countries have condemned the attack and renewed their calls for an immediate ceasefire - opposed by Israel and the US. At an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, Mr Annan urged members to strongly condemn the Qana attack and to put aside differences to call for an immediate ceasefire.

"May God have mercy on the children. They came here to escape the fighting."
Qana survivor

[In pictures: Qana strike
Carnage at Qana ]

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Sunday the situation could not continue and that all hostilities ought to cease once a UN resolution is adopted. Lebanon's health minister now says about 750 people - mainly civilians - have been killed by Israeli action in Lebanon since their operations began 19 days ago.

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Intense bombing

Witnesses said the early-morning strike hit the three-storey building where families had been sheltering in the basement, crushing it sideways into an enormous crater. One survivor said the "bombing was so intense that no-one could move". Elderly, women and children were among those killed in the raid, which wrought destruction over a wide area.

Mid-East crisis map
Qana: Echo of 1996 attack

Reporters spoke of survivors screaming in grief and anger, as some scrabbled through the debris with bare hands.

"We want this to stop," a villager shouted.
"May God have mercy on the children. They came here to escape the fighting."

Rescuers found the experience too much to cope with. Our correspondent saw a Red Cross rescue worker sitting in the sunshine just sobbing, overcome with emotion.

Israel said the Shia militant group was responsible for the Qana strike, because it used the town to launch rockets. The BBC's Jim Muir, in Qana, says many did not have the means - or were too frightened - to flee.

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