The latest Israeli air strikes against Lebanon targeting suspected Hezbollah strongholds have led to numerous civilian casualties and destroyed three Lebanese power stations.

The strikes came in response to the killings, by Hezbollah guerillas, of Israeli soldiers in the Israeli-held "security zone" in southern Lebanon.

This was supposed to be a year of peace in the Middle East. Has the time now come for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, or would this amount to giving in to 'terrorism'?

What do you think? Should Israel pull out of Lebanon?

Israel doesn't want to be in Lebanon anymore than anyone else wants them to be there. But its responsibility is for those people who are in danger of attack in the northern settlements. Hezbullah hide behind innocent civilians and should be blamed for any fatalities... not Israel who are only protecting their citizens. Until Israeli citizens are safe from the threat of attack, Israel has no choice but to continue it's occupation.
Dave, UK

I was unaware that I was stuck in a time warp, but after reading the majority of the contributions I have come away with the impression that we are still stuck in the 1980s fighting to prove that Zionism does not equal racism. Israel, like every other country in the region, has a legitimate right to protect their borders. The debate going on in Israel at the moment is not about if but when Israel should withdraw. As a country that is now focused primarily on economic development the security zone is primarily a means for protecting the northern cities from Hezbullah attacks and not some kind of expansionist foothold. It is incredibly quaint to assume that if Israel withdraws from Lebanon that somehow the threat from Hezbullah will be dissipate. Until Iran show real commitment to peace by cutting off the supply of arms and funding to Hezbullah and Syria removes her forces from Lebanon only the naive or ideologically driven would imagine that Israel would withdraw.
Nick Conway, London, England

Ask Clinton and Blair with the recent "Clinton" style election financing scandal, with big dollars ex-USA and UK, with campaign gurus for both politicians involved they are probably in a better position to comment that Barak.
Robert Walton, Australia

Bottom line is Israel is the aggressor, and everyone in the Middle East fighting Israel (the aggressor) is rightfully doing so. One thing Israel needs to realise, no matter how the separated and different the Arab nations may be, they will always stick together. With that, the argument that this is Lebanon's battle not Syria's or any other Arab neighbour is not applicable.
Salah, USA

Israel should pull out of all the territories it has invaded, and Hezbullah is only carrying its patriotic duty of liberating their land. With the support of all the Lebanese people they shall triumph.
Walid Waked, Colombia

For us Christians, Israel is the only hope to get our old lives back in Lebanon. If Israel does pull out what will happen to us. Or should we just immigrate just like most of us here already have? The story our Lebanon is being told by Lebanese government (the reason for a civil war in a first place). All Israel wants is to get their security and it's allies in Lebanon to have normal lives. If Israel withdraws we Christians will be killed by terrorists like Iran and Syria. Most media does not reflect the truth about Lebanon, all they say is that Israel is being aggressive again. No one cares when one of our brothers dies because of terrorist attacks. Israel is the only country that is loyal to us, while everyone else has already forgot about us. Israel will be more than happy to put out, but they will never leave behind their allies.
Chris Levi, South Lebanon

Of course Israel should pull out and they sure will, as long as Syria and Iran will stop terrorist attacks on Israel. That is why the Israel was there in a first place. Most people do not know that Lebanon used to be a Christian country, but then everyone else moved in and wanted things their way. How can you trust Lebanese government?
Misha Bobrusnikov, Russia

Israel should leave Lebanon. Let the Lebanese people live without fear. Let them all learn forgiveness. Only then will there any chance of peace.
Claire McAlpine, UK

People are forgetting that Israel is just one of many occupiers of Lebanon. There are also Iran and Syria. Shouldn't they pull out as well? I think Israel should leave Lebanon because it has no reason to be there. Israel is a strong country and can successfully protect itself from the international border. What's more important is that Israel withdraws on its own terms, without rewarding Syrian tyrants with Golan Heights. It is clear that Syrians are dreaming of a day when they can wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Giving them Golan Heights will only help that dream to become a reality.
Bob, USA

Israel should pull out of Lebanon when Syria pulls out. Maybe if Lebanon was prepared to make some effort to control Hezbollah, Israel could withdraw sooner. But, remember, as soon as Israel does leave, all of Lebanon will be totally under the control of Syria.
Martin, UK

Should Israel pull out of Lebanon, the Security pact must be signed by the two parties May Peace Reign Supreme in SL !!
Tajudeen Isiaka, Nigeria

Israel should NOT pull out of Lebanon. Since the emergence of the PLO in 1964 Lebanon has failed to govern its country and maintain law and order. The Lebanon was created as a Christian country and ruled as such but with the influx of other religious groups rapidly lost its identity. These groups from the PLO to Hizbollah maintain that there is no place for a Jewish State in the Land of Israel and have used their power to destroy the quiet of Lebanon.

Today the Arab world's peace is a cold peace, full of rehetoric and xenophobia on a scale not see since the end of the Nazi era. The object of these countries is the ultimate destruction of the Jewish State. Israel has every right to defend itself in the manner is sees fit.
Chaim, UK

It is high time that these Israeli occupiers should leave Lebanon. How many more innocent lebanese people do they want to hurt, kill, bomb and destroy? Why is that Israel can violate all UN and international laws.
Basheer Azeemuddin, US

Israel should follow UN resolutions and leave the Golan Heights and southern Lebanon--UNCONDITIONALLY as per UN decision. Israel is not above the international law, and instead of breaking UN resolutions, they should be thankful and grateful for where they are now.
Greg Davies, USA

Yes. It is such a shame that the whole world does not see the level of atrocities committed by Israel and supported 100% by the US Government. I think it is about time the world will look at the issue on hand. The issue is about occupation. This resistance is the result of Occupation, nothing else. I do wonder after these repeated attacks the type of peace we will have in the Middle East. I think that Israel has blinded the world with their cry-baby acts. What's next for Israel, they force their will on Lebanon, they want to dissolve an elected government in Austria, what is next. I think the whole world should start to worry!
R Cianfarra, Canada

Yes, Israel should pull out from Lebanon, as should India from Kashmir, Russia from Chechnya.... It is sad that when Muslims fight for their inalienable rights it is termed "terrorism." The ideals of all these people who are fighting for what rightfully belongs to them, their motivation really comes from nothing more than their belief that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is their right as well. May peace prevail and a day come when we all live in harmony with each upholding the life and liberty of their neighbour as if it were their own. A distant dream, but a hope nevertheless.
Sami, USA

Israel will stop only when it becomes too expensive for the United States to subsidise them militarily, financially and spiritually. The thing about guilt is that it keeps on giving, but the US is not guilty of anything except supporting Israel in its random excesses of fighting fire with napalm. This situation is not a matter of biblical geography about who was first where and for how long. The three-millennium argument of a land deed from Yahweh to the Hebrews is nilpotent. Naming these places by their biblical names does not convey perpetual ownership title. Sooner or later, the fate of Absalom will have to be visited upon the heads of the presumptuous with a wrath consistent with actions over the past two generations.
Loukas Loukopoulos, US

Yes, Israel should leave Lebanon unconditionally. Only then if there are any cross-border attacks does Israel have the right to attack. But from what I see, they have NO right whatsoever to attack civilian targets for Hezballah killing Israeli soldiers on Lebanese land. No conditions are necessary for Israel to leave.
Maher, USA

There is no legal or moral reasoning behind the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. Rather than disproportionate bombing campaigns that kill Lebanese civilians in retaliation for Israeli MILITARY losses, the solution is complete withdrawal from Lebanon. It was the Israeli invasion of Lebanon that gave rise to Hezbollah in the first place and the Lebanese have every right to defend their territory against foreign occupation.
Peter Kiernan, Australia

I think this debate is rather moot. Israel may not have much of an option but to pull. The Hezbullah have mounted a strong challenge to their authority in the Southern Lebanon. This bogey about needing "security zone" is getting rather old now. In the last three years since the agreement was signed regarding not bombing the civilian targets, not a single violation took place from the Hezbullah side (even though they were capable of doing so). This should alleviate the concern someone rose about Muslims breaking their treaty. In fact, it was the Israelis that violated it.
Andrew, USA

What is very ironic is that Madeline Albright blames the latest escalations in the South of Lebanon on the Hezbollah, even though the guerrilla group has been doing what it had been doing for the past 3 years. The difference now is that they have been succeeding in causing a greater number of Israeli soldier casualties than before. The decision by Barak to bomb Lebanese power plants is a political decision designed to persuade the Israeli public that he is doing something to protect them. Meanwhile Barak talks of Syria refusing to his security guarantees. The truth is, the Lebanese government should have security guarantees from Israel that not every time a prime minister wants to boost up his popularity, he would go on a bombing campaign targeting Lebanon's infrastructure and civilians.
Maher Goodman, USA

How double sided could anyone get, they (Israelis) want to convince the world that they are the peace angels surrounded by Arab terrorists, while we see that they have violated every International Law, ignore every UN resolution and still get away with it. While countries like Iraq and Yugoslavia get the most severe punishment for the same or even maybe less serious crimes. When will the world stop Israel?
Ahmad, USA

It is ironic even to ask the question whether Israel should leave or stay in south Lebanon. Who gives the right to any country on earth to occupy any part of another country? According to the UN resolution 425, Israel must withdraw their aggressor army from Lebanon unconditionally. Hezbollah has the right to fight the occupiers in any way possible. Hezbollah never was the aggressor against the Israeli people. There is the 1996, April agreement to avoid civilian targets. But yet again, Israel breaks the agreement every time they are unable to match the Hezbollah fighting ability.
Hassan, Canada

They say that they have to stay in Lebonan to insure safety! Well I say they don't deserve safety! Did they give safety to the Palestinians when they invaded their country and drove 3 million of their people out of their land or when they invaded part of Egypt in 1967 or when the invaded the Golan Heights in Syria? I think USA's little baby daughter (Isreal) should pull out of all Arab land and I think "mummy America" should stop helping them in everything, and start doing something good!
Mike, UK

Yes, Israel must leave from all occupied lands including Jerusalem. They should realise that Israel was created to compensate the Jews for the Holocaust at the expense of Arabs who had no parts in the atrocities. It is time now, US and UK admit this and compensate the Arabs for shoving this down their throat and making them suffer for the past 50 years. A true compensation for the Jews would have been by carving Germany and it's partner countries who committed those atrocities, perhaps it's not too late yet!
Faruk, Canada

Hezbollah are just fighting for what belongs to them. Israel caused this problem by invading south Lebanon and now they are paying the consequences. And how could Israel label Hezbollah as terrorists when they are really freedom fighters. Any Muslim people going against a non-Muslim government are always labelled as terrorists or rebels and I'm sick of it. They aren't terrorists or rebels they're patriots who are going against TYRANTS like Israel, Russia, India, etc. who use terrorism as a way to justify their aggression. People need to realise who the actual aggressors and terrorists are. And by the way, Israel should pull out of Lebanon.
Ibrahim, USA

Israel should never return Golan to the Syrians. If you look back in history, Islamic countries have a very good record of violating treaties, conditions and mutual understanding, all in the name of Allah.
Dipta, USA

Well, of course Israel should pull out of Lebanon. It should also pull out of the Golan Heights in Syria as well as the land it has been occupying since 1948, "Israel" . This land is called Palestine and belongs to the Palestinian people. However, the whole world knows that Israel will never stop occupying Arab land because the world's remaining superpower has, is, and will always be behind the Israeli nation.
Zaid Issa, Jordan

Israel should not only pull out of Lebanon, but should have the decency to pull out of the Golan Heights, return occupied land to Palestinians and to welcome Palestinian refugees back to their homes. Only then can there be a sustainable peace process.
A.H., Canada

Israel should definitely withdraw from Lebanon, from Palestine and from any other occupied meter. The Israeli Zionist entity should realise that their un-factual and arrogant rhetoric will not last them long. They are simply the occupiers and the oppressors in the Middle East. There are millions of Palestinians who live in exile and refugee camps because of the atrocities and crimes that Israel committed in 1948. The atrocities continue till this day.
Randa, USA

It seems that Lebanon has been victimised by a number of parties outside the country. Israel and Syria, and for that matter, many other countries have shoved this little country around. And, it is not fair. What was at one time a 'jewel' in the Middle East, - is no longer the place it was. It has been ransacked and plundered by outside forces. And, if anything, Israel and all of the countries in that area would be doing the right thing to help build this place back. It is a good country with good people. I hope that Israel will support this little Arab country. It the right thing to do. And, as for the other major powers, - they should do what they can to help that to happen. That is fair.
Dave Adams, USA

The day Lebanon will become a free country, they will be able to make peace with Israel. As it is today, Lebanon a puppet country controlled by Syria and Iran.
A. Cittone, USA

Of course Israel should withdraw from Lebanon. I can't believe that even after so many strikes, countries like the USA is backing Israel even after Levy's threats to burn the soil of Lebanon. If it is truly the Hezbollah they are attacking why attack civilian compounds? How can the USA still stand behind a country that is totally sabotaging the peace process?
Dalila, United States

Israel is the source of war in Middle East. Israel has no right whatsoever to enter into territory of Lebanon. Israel has made severe alleged attacks to innocent Lebanese people and including power stations recently. Also the UN force should stay away from protecting Israel.
Mohamed Soliman, UK

Israel should pull out of Lebanon. They are the party occupying 10% of the Lebanese territories and we as Lebanese have to be blamed and attacked if an Israeli soldier is killed by the Lebanese resistance on our occupied land! Thank you for asking this question. Hope someone will hear the Lebanese opinion once - at least.
Ramez , The Netherlands

Of course, Israel should withdraw from Lebanon but it is naive to believe that somehow that will resolve all Mid-East problems. What is needed is a comprehensive peace whereby Syria, the real power broker, and Iran, which supplies Hezbollah, finally realise that Israel is here to stay and that it has the right, as every country does, to live behind secure borders.
Stephen Mendelsohn, USA

We in Lebanon are much like England in year 1941. We are fighting for our land against the Israeli-Nazi regime. The air strike were aimed to demoralise the people as Hitler tried to do by bombing London. But as the English stood firm at that time, we are resisting with all our poor means, while the pretended "free/democratic world" watch us dying... WE WILL FIGHT FOR OUR LAND
Chris, Lebanon

This is a hard question - Israel is only breaking about every law under the sun. If there were any justice in this world, Israel would be tried for war crimes. If invading and occupying another country and terrorising the population are not crimes than I don't know what is. I dare say that if Lebanon were occupying and bombing Israel, no one would be asking if "Lebanon should leave Israel?"
Ed, USA

How would Israel react if another country has a self declared safety zone in their own sacred land?
Nicole Burr, Chile

What Israel is doing in Lebanon would be classified as terrorism if it were being done by anyone else in the world. I am Lebanese by birth and I do not condone what Hezbollah is doing. But when you are dealing with a bully such as Israel what are defenceless people to do? Israel should withdraw out of Lebanon and leave the Lebanese people to solve their own problems. The Lebanese people do not interfere with Israel's internal problems and Israel should do the same. I can't help but to think that Israel has some ulterior motives which prevent it from withdrawing from Lebanon.
Moe, Canada

The Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon must end. It is a blatant act of aggression by the Israeli government and military against the sovereignty and freedom of Lebanese civilians and Lebanese territory. The resistance movement that exists, was a direct response to the Israeli occupation, and shall continue until the Israeli occupation is but a memory.
Rima, USA

No Israel should not pull out until peace is restored and the Syrians control the terrorist guerrillas. The actions taken by Israel are appropriate and of proper weight and shows that terrorism doesn't work with them.
Shardool Vyas, USA

What can one expect of a Country, which has violated every UN resolution in the past 40 years? It is the robber who claims to have been robbed. Shalom Barak is no better than his predecessors were.
Le Gall, France

Israel will withdraw from Lebanon, not because it wants to, but because the Lebanese resistance has made it impossible for them to stay. The west (US) always portray the Israelis as humans that need to be protected from the Lebanese while the lives of 4 million people whose life is always under threat from Israel are not human. Three days of air and ground attacks have not killed or injured a single hezbollah fighter. Only civilian casualties and targets were hit. If the Israelis don't want any casualties in Lebanon they can obey UN resolution 425 which they should have done 22 years ago. Israel's actions in Lebanon can be only described as terrorist. Killing occupying Israeli soldiers in Lebanon is Freedom Fighting.
Mahmoud, UK

Yes. The USA's pals are the 'goodies'; the USA's enemies are the 'baddies' and since the rest of the world's governments have neither the power nor the will to redress this distortion of reality, there's not much hope for justice on the international scene - for the Palestinians or many other 'baddies'.
Tracy, Colombia

There is no argument over whether Israel should leave South Lebanon or not. Everybody in Israel wants the troops back home. But Hezbollah has many times declared that it will continue Jihad even if Israel pulls out. So, Israel needs guarantees of safety on the northern border. These guarantees could be given by Syria, which controls Lebanon. Israel is ready to withdraw from Golan Heights if Syria guarantees that Hezbollah will not hit Israeli northern settlements after Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon. But Syria uses Hezbollah as mean of pressure on Israel. This style of negotiation is unacceptable.
Outis, Israel

No, Israel should not pull out of Lebanon so long as Hizbollah continues its attacks on Israel. That Hizbollah has an avowed intent to continue to harass Israel & that its purpose is to drive Israel into the Mediterranean is a fair indication of how long it may be necessary for Israel to occupy Lebanon. I find it hard to believe, given their history, that Syria can or will exert any pressure on Hizbollah, either. So what does that say about the so-called peace process?
Geoff Hawkes, Sweden

I find it ironic that Israel claims that it needs to maintain 'security' and 'peace' by aggressively occupying another country. The only way justice can be served in this senario is for Israel to withdraw unconditionally from Lebanon and from Syria's Golan Heights. As far as I am concerned Israel began this political quagmire back in 1982 when they initially pursued colonisation in Lebanon. What's worse is that my American tax paying dollars are going toward Israel's assault against my Arab brethren.
Nancy Sami Mahmoud, USA

It appears that airlifting and implantation of Israelis by the British into the Middle East created a constant situation of pain and misery to all within that region. Why is it that from the 1960s to the present we continuously hear about "Israeli Occupied Territories"? Does Israel backed by the US have the irrevocable right to acquisition of territory, as they desire? Everyone has the right to defend his property. If that defence is called terrorism then the Israelis are clearly its creators. Israel should remove its illegal presence from everyone's territory.
Cyrilla Steele, Grenada West Indies

Yes, Israel should and will pull out of Lebanon, and as soon as it possibly can. As a resident on the Jordanian/Syrian border, I know how important it is for secure borders, but until Syria and Lebanon are willing to play their part, how can we live here like sitting ducks. Mr. Arif of Pakistan, get your facts right about Israel - as the Jewish people have lived here for over 3000 years, I reckon it has every right to be here so blame the unrest on someone else please.
Ilana Stone, Israel

You can put the question this way: "Should Israel be allowed to exits as a nation?" Most of the comments that say Israel should pull out of Lebanon probably agree with Mohammed Arif that Israel should pull out of the Middle East all together. Ask yourself what you would do if all your neighbours hated your guts and conspired to drive you out of the neighbourhood or even kill you and your family. Move to another neighbourhood? Fight back?
Flemming Schultze, Denmark

Isn't it ironic that UN Resolutions only apply to Arab countries but not Israel? When an Arab country fails to comply with a UN Resolution, the West is quick to condemn and send their army to force them to comply. Lets see those same bombs that were reigning down the skies of Baghdad City reign on Tel Aviv City to force them to comply withU.N. Resolution 425. Israel should pack up and leave Lebanon or declare their true intention of annexing the Occupied Zone.
M. Nasralla, USA



Israel can only hold the Lebanese government accountable when they completely withdraw to the international border, without any tricky land-carving tactics, as stipulated by UN resolution 425. When and if they do that, I would support Israeli air raids in Lebanon if there are any cross-border attacks. We must remember, the Lebanese/Israeli border was quiet in 1967. The Lebanese were never aggressors. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 to fight Palestinians that they dumped there themselves. In 1992 Rabin also tried to dump over 100 Hamas terrorists in Lebanon. Israel keeps complaining about terrorists that they have created.
Danny, NY, USA

They should only pull out if the Syrians (Syria has more than 40,000 troops in Lebanon with Beirut teeming with pictures of the dictator Hafez-al Assad similar to posters of Khomeini in Tehran and Sadam Hussein in Baghdad). The withdrawal should be done only if Syria withdraws and contains the terrorists Hezbollah.
Arjun S, India

It is outrageous that Israel is occupying parts of other countries including Lebanon. Israel seems to get away with anything these days, mainly due to support from the US who do not wish to alienate 20% of their voters.
DMM, UK

Israel should withdraw from South Lebanon to create a new atmosphere and build trust of its intention for peace. This will facilitate negotiations with Syria to reach a peace agreement which includes Lebanon.
Saad Elshelmani, UK

If the roles had been switched, i.e. Lebanon was occupying Israeli land, there would be sanctions and troops sent in from the US, yet this way around Hezbollah - who are freedom fighters trying to rid THEIR Occupied land of Israeli troops and Militias - are labelled as terrorists. Yesterday (8/2/2000) the ITV news said Israel bombed a number of terrorist bases in Lebanon - referring to the 3 Power Stations destroyed during the air strikes.
Zafar Nadeem, England

I don't believe a word Barak says. Remember, this is from someone who was found guilty of breaking his country's laws as regards raising money to help fund his election campaign and yet the result was allowed to stand.
Dr R. A. Coxall, Scotland

Yes, Israel should withdraw from the Lebanon. The occupation does not serve any purpose and has incurred more losses during the occupation. The definition of terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. It is very ironic that we don't call the Israeli government terrorists.
B Bazzi, USA

Israel should pull its forces out of Lebanon BUT NOT UNTIL every Syrian and Iranian terrorist are also out of that nation, plus the disarming of Hizbullah. The man behind Lockerbie, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, and the murders of Bashir Gemayel and Dany Chamoun, the murderous Syrian Premier Hafez Al Assad made perfectly sure that all militias in Lebanon save one were disarmed. That group was Hizbullah... If they continue to use terrorism, then Israel has the legitimate right to destroy Syrian military and infrastructure targets - though the innocent people of Lebanon should not suffer.
Alan Rockman, United States

On the basis that not only should Israel not be in possession of the territory taken by force from the Palestinians, systematically since 1948, it has no business in any part of Syria, Jordan or the Lebanon. To put it bluntly, it should have been expelled years ago in precisely the same way as Iraq was from Kuwait. But the fact that the "West" continues to indulge Israel in its brutal military adventures against defenceless neighbours. Meanwhile, Israel continues to ignore the UN whilst it conducts its campaign against the victims it created.
John Borrett, England

Hezbollah made its goal to kick Jewish people out of Israel - that's their ideology. Lebanon is responsible by letting them fight from within their sovereign state. And Syria is no more than cynical in blaming Israel when they are in fact running Lebanon as part of their state and keep forces on Lebanese soil. The warning of the Israeli Foreign Minister is an expression of Israel's frustration with the way Lebanon handles, or more accurately manhandles, the situation.
Ron Ventura, Israeli in UK

If the West, or whoever is asking why suddenly the Hezbollah carried out the attack, they need to look at the situation in Chechnya, Kashmir, and other places. If the matter concerns the land of the Muslim Nation there is not better response than by physical force. Those Israeli's will never let Muslims free, they will always find ways to harass them.
Mahadi Sibon, Malaysia

Yes, of course Israel should pull out of Lebanon. It is an occupied territory and the Lebanese should never stop the resistance until their land is free. There is no justification what-so-ever for this occupation. Do you think that the Lebanese and Hezbollah should just sit around waiting for Israel to GRANT the Lebanese their land back.
Gehan, Egypt

The civilised world should finally make a stand against this intolerant menace who give Islam an extremely bad reputation. It is a similar situation to Russia's ejection of Chechen terrorists, a struggle that if the West had helped the Russians then the civilian casualties would have been greatly reduced. Hezbollah guerrillas are a much bigger threat to world security than the Serbs ever could be, so where's Nato?
IL, UK

Considering that the term "Security Zone" is merely a facade for what was an Israeli invasion of Lebanon, it is imperative that they do what they should have done years ago and give it back to those they stole it from.
Grainne Phillips, Northern Ireland

I'm no military strategist, but I'm also quite confident that Hezbollah guerrillas would not have set up camp in a power station? I've always sympathised with the Israelis and agreed with their brand of retaliatory counter-terrorism, but in light of recent events I'm beginning to question my sympathies.
It seems to me that the Israelis are often over zealous in their use of retaliatory force. There seems to be no rationale in their strategy, other than hit back harder and damn the consequences. Why did they bomb power stations that supply the Lebanese civilian population with their electricity (who for the most part are removed from Hezbollah). It just seems that Israel wants the majority of Lebanese people to pay for actions carried out against Israel by a minority belonging to Hezbollah. It seems to me that they are declaring war on the Lebanese nation as a whole. Consequently, they should be prepared to reap the whirlwind that results from their actions. They have no-one to blame but themselves.
Jean-Marc Watson, UK

Sixty-odd years ago, another army was in the habit of carrying out reprisals against innocent civilians in occupied territories. The people of Israel would do well to ponder on this piece of history.
Carl, UK

Israel is the root problem of all conflicts in the Middle East. It has no right to the land it currently occupies that includes the "country" of Israel. It should pull out entirely from the Middle East and leave the area to rebuild itself in peace.
Mohammed Arif, Pakistan

Israel must stay in Lebanon for as long as it takes to insure the safety of its northern settlements. The danger in a withdrawal is the proximity between Hezbollah terrorists and Israeli settlements on the Lebanese border. Only after Hezbollah has been crippled by military strikes and by an end to funding from Iran and an end to support from Syria can Israel realistically withdraw from Lebanon, while safeguarding the rights of its citizens.
Aryeh Levin, United States

Yes, Israel should withdraw from the Lebanon. Honestly, why do people want war? Revenge, spite, tit-for-tat, vengeance... some things never change!
Colin, Netherlands

Yes, Israel should pull out of Lebanon to prevent Lebanese and Israel civilians being killed. This illegal occupation is the reason behind the absence of peace in the Middle East. But of course it's all right for Israel to disobey UN laws and Muslim countries to suffer because of them. How dare the Israel Foreign Minister threatens to 'burn' Lebanon. I hope for the day the Muslim countries can be united to push Israel out of the Middle East and return the land to the Palestinians, to whom this land legally belongs.
Faisal, UK