Interesting commentary from the BBC

As so often in the Middle East, text and sub-text are inextricably bound up.

Thus a crisis that at first sight pits Israel against Hamas and Hezbollah, inevitably reaches out to involve Syria and Iran, both strong supporters of the Lebanese-based Shia movement.

This is what makes this crisis so difficult to resolve. But it also underlines how dangerous its ramifications could be unless the fighting is halted.

Inevitably then, events in the Middle East have pushed themselves onto the G8 summit agenda here in St Petersburg. Hostility envelops wider region by Jonathan Marcus

Mark Alexander