What if they gave a cease-fire...

...and nobody ceased firing? An impending truce should occasion a lessening of hostilities, not an all-out push to get as much killing and destruction in as you can before the clock runs out. Both Israel and Hezbollah have so much momentum that they may find it impossible to apply the brakes in time.

Israeli Cabinet Approves U.N. Cease-Fire Deal

JERUSALEM, AUG. 13 -- The Israeli cabinet voted Sunday to accept a U.N.-declared cease-fire, even as Israeli military forces and Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon launched some of their most intense barrages of the war in anticipation of the Monday morning deadline. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah agreed to the cease-fire Saturday.

Prospects for an immediate halt in the fighting appeared unlikely as Hezbollah's leader said his militia would keep fighting Israeli troops as long as they remained in southern Lebanon, and Israeli officials insisted they would not withdraw their soldiers until an international force and the Lebanese army take control of the border area. It is expected to take at least two or three weeks to assemble the international military force in Lebanon.

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