Violence flared again in the Middle East last week, with a tit-for-tat confrontation in Gaza that briefly threatened to escalate into a wider war. Although the incident ended with condemnation of Israel, both at home and abroad, for what was widely viewed as a military and diplomatic fiasco, the lesson remains the same as it has throughout the now seven-month-long faceoff between Israel and the Palestinians: Unless restraint is practiced, both sides will suffer even more. But no one appears to be ready to do more than pay lip service to this essential commitment.
What happened was that on Tuesday the Palestinians mortared a Jewish settlement, and almost immediately Israeli forces penetrated and briefly reoccupied a small area of Gaza that had been turned over to the Palestinian Authority.
The incursion represented a violation of the Oslo Accords and, as such, exceeded any reasonable response. In the most strongly worded statement directed against Israel since the new Bush administration took office, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called it "excessive and disproportionate."