The magnitude of the barbarity of the Israeli operations definitely called for a quick response from the international community in general and the UN Security Council in particular. But that was not forthcoming even after it became clear that Israelis were targeting civilians in violation of all international conventions and norms. And this is certainly a one-sided war as unarmed people are being bombed and shelled only because Prime Minister Ehud Olmart believes that there was no other option open to his country.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has put forward his plan to send a UN force to Lebanon with the objective of giving the Lebanese government a stronger grip on Hezbollah activities. The proposal for sending a stabilisation force to the beleaguered country has been made by the G-8 leaders. Without question, Lebanon needs help from the international community as it is now exposed to the monstrous firepower of Israel. However, time is an important factor that must be attached due importance to. Loss of time will certainly mean loss of more lives in Lebanon.

The UN Secretary General might just be doing as much as he can. But the point that we want to make is, why can't the Security Council convene an emergency meeting to discuss the Lebanon situation and appeal for an immediate cessation of hostilities? The world body must also issue a direct condemnation of Israeli atrocities.

If the Bush administration, which has not yet thrown its full weight behind a ceasefire move, is not convinced that Israelis are actually massacring people for no reason, it should listen once more to what the British expatriates leaving Lebanon said about the Israeli attacks. They have very rightly termed the aggression as a "crime against humanity." And accepting this crime as an exercise in Israel's "self-defence" will only make peace a more and more elusive goal in the Middle East. The world leaders can ill afford to ignore this plain truth.