Paris, France -- The problem is that none of the present actors in the Middle East have a coherent, long-term and positive strategy for achieving peace. Determination to use or resist violence is a motto, not a political program.
Israel, by choosing the heavy hand, wants to deter Hamas and Hezbollah from resorting to violence, but it does not offer them a clear political program. It can neither destroy Hamas and Hezbollah nor put enough pressure on their Syrian patrons to wither them.
Hamas went too far but has no way to step back because of the quasi collapse of its political leadership. So Hezbollah is happily back at the center of Lebanese politics, after having been sidestepped for its support for Syria. Damascus is playing on brinkmanship because it has nothing to lose and is convinced that Israel will never dare to topple the regime, fearing that it would be succeeded by the Muslim Brothers. Iran just wishes for increased Middle East tensions to show the West what an oil crisis would feel like and to so deter a U.S. strike on its nuclear facilities. And as usual the Lebanese pay for the others.
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