Has Israel Tipped the Conflict Toward Regional War?

An Israeli attack in Qana, Lebanon last night may have tipped the entire mideast conflict toward a regional war:

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 56 people, including at least 34 children, in a southern Lebanese village Sunday, the Lebanese Red Cross said. It was the deadliest attack in 19 days of fighting. Lebanese security officials put the toll at 57 dead. Security officials said the toll rose dramatically after 18 people from two families were found in a single room of the building, where dozens of people had been taking refuge from the fighting.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice postponed a visit to Lebanon in a setback for diplomatic efforts to end hostilities.

Infuriated Lebanese officials said they had asked Rice to postpone the visit after Israel's missile strike on Qana. But Rice said she called Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to say she would postpone the trip, and that she had work to do in Jerusalem to end the fighting.

The missiles destroyed several homes in the village of Qana as people were sleeping.

Israeli said it targeted Qana because it was a base for hundreds of rockets launched at Israeli, including 40 that injured five Israelis on Sunday. Israel said it had warned civilians several days before to leave the village.

"One must understand the Hezbollah is using their own civilian population as human shields," said Israeli Foreign Ministry official Gideon Meir. "The Israeli defense forces dropped leaflets and warned the civilian population to leave the place because the Hezbollah turned it into a war zone."

Regardless of what attempts the Israelis may have made to warn the populace, there is no way this attack can help their cause because the only thing most of the world will see is the image of dead children. Hezbo will be motivated to ramp up their attacks, and if possible, use bigger and longer range weapons. Fears about a wider war just got a lot stronger as the outrage will flood through the Arab world, along with demands for retaliation.

As I write this I'm watching Israeli video of rockets being fired from the area immediately adjacent to the building in Qana that was destroyed in the attack. While the evidence of rocket attacks from that area may be convincing to many of us in the West, it won't help the Israeli cause in the rest of the world. Why? They just don't want to be bothered with facts.

I think this attack could well be the tipping point that pushes this conflict to a wider war.

UPDATE: Lebanese storm UN headquarters in Beirut. They can storm all of their headquarters as far as I'm concerned.

UPDATE 2: Just because they look like civilians doesn't mean they are civilians. Here are photos of Hezbo fighters in civilian dress.

UPDATE 3: Questions are being raised about the timing of the building collapse. Could a group of civilians been sacrificed by Hezbo in order to gain condemnation for Israel?

UPDATE 4: Hezbo given 48 hours to regroup and rearm. The PR campaign against Israel seems to have worked.