Opinion | Editorials
Late deal cannot undo the damage
Why did Israel go to war with Lebanon if it could have agreed to swap prisoners?
- Gulf News
- Published: 20:41 June 30, 2008
In the end a deal was done, but it is legitimate to ask why it had not been done sooner. The deal, to free Hezbollah fighters in exchange for the bodies of the two Israeli soldiers whose abduction culminated in the 2006 Lebanon war begs the question; what was that war for? There is a moral bankruptcy at the heart of Israeli policy.
Colonies are built to scupper any hopes of a viable Palestinian state, talks of peace breakthroughs are met with attacks on Palestinian civilians, and Gaza is turned into an open prison.
Two summers ago Hezbollah fighters captured the two soldiers in a cross-border raid, provoking a 33-day war with Israel that killed 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis.
Just why did Lebanon go through the torment when a deal was always possible, when blood did not have to be spilt?
In return for the servicemen's bodies Israel must release Samir Kantar - a Lebanese fighter who has been serving four life sentences since 1979 - four other Hezbollah fighters, and the remains of dozens of other Lebanese and Palestinians who infiltrated Israel's northern border before 2000.
The deal is controversial in Israel and so it should be, not least, since it could have been done sooner.
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