Israel has a right of self-defence found in both the United Nations Charter and customary international law. However, the right of self defence is not unlimited. Israel commenced its military campaign against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon after the capture of two of its soldiers in mid-July. The scale and intensity of the Israeli military campaign has clearly moved well beyond efforts to retrieve its soldiers.

Israel is also bound by international humanitarian law based upon the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Israel can legitimately attack Hezbollah fighters and justify the targeting of certain objects based on military necessity. However, humanitarian law requires a distinction between civilian and military targets.

The bombing of large tracts of southern Lebanon, the bombing of civilians, children, refugees and Maronite Christian areas are in violation of international law - Housing blocks have been reduced to rubble, leaving thousands homeless. Villages have been bombed without justification. Aid and humanitarian workers including the Red Cross have been targeted. Israel has shattered Lebanon's infrastructure and economy, homes, factories and warehouses have been destroyed, roads severed, bridges smashed and airports disabled.

Yes, Lebanon's failure to control Hezbollah must be acknowledged. It has failed to meet the requirements of Security Council Resolution 1559 calling for the disarming and disbanding of Hezbollah.

However, do Lebanon's failings justify the scale and intensity of the Israeli assault? No. The reconstruction of the last 15 years has been obliterated in a few weeks.