Leading article: The betrayal of the Lebanese nation

Published: 21 July 2006

Before this latest Middle Eastern crisis began, the Israeli army's chief of staff threatened to "turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years". That process is now nearing completion. Israeli military action in Lebanon has brought the country to its knees. Tens of thousands of refugees have been created in just nine days. Evacuated foreign nationals have overwhelmed ports in Cyprus. But these are the lucky ones. Some 500,000 Lebanese civilians have been forced from their homes. And there will be no evacuation to safety for these unfortunates.

Lebanon's infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli air strikes. So many roads and bridges have been bombed out that the distribution of water, sanitation and medical facilities for the displaced is proving almost impossible. Transporting the injured to hospitals in the south is proving particularly hazardous as Israel will, it seems, bomb anything that moves there. United Nations aid agencies are warning of an unfolding humanitarian disaster.