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War Leads to Diplomacy`s Beginnings

The military situation in the Middle East seemed to take a political turn on Tuesday as a United Nations special envoy arrived in the region for talks with Israeli government officials in Jerusalem. Israeli officials were quick to state that the ?start of diplomacy? did not mean that operations of the Israel Defense Forces in Lebanon were to be scaled back just yet. Meanwhile, rockets fired by Hezbollah terrorists continued to rain down on northern Israel, and security sources indicated that one of the rockets which hit Israel?s third-biggest city yet again, Haifa, was smaller than previously fired missiles.

There were indications that Hezbollah?s backers might be getting jittery as reports surfaced which said that Iran?s foreign minister would be traveling to Damascus, Syria in order to tell Hezbollah to cease firing on Israeli targets, and that the reason for this was a warning from a European diplomat who stated Israel might not be long from striking targets in Syria. However, the firing of rockets into Israel has only seen sporadic moments of stoppage before Hezbollah, whether out of impatience or plan, begins launching again. Iran and Syria share a mutual defense pact.

In previous days both Damascus and Tehran have spoken big about coming to the aid of Hezbollah, but have been remarkably reluctant to join in the hostilities. On Monday night, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a speech before the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in which he said that Israel would not be held hostage to ?axis of evil? states like Iran and Syria. However, Israeli military officials have been quick to deny any plans of attacking the countries that, by supporting Hezbollah, have led to this war breaking out in the first place.