On Sunday the United States announced Israel would suspend air attacks for 48 hours in order to investigate the killings. But Israel is reserving the right to carry out attacks from the ground and to strike at suspected militants preparing to launch rockets. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman accused Hezbollah of possibly being responsible for the civilian deaths.

• Dan Gillerman: “Israel has besieged and asked repeatedly for the residents of Qana to leave. I would not be surprised if the Hizbollah made them stay.”

The Israeli military said that Qana had been targeted because Hizbullah had been using the village as a base from which to launch rockets. Two days before the Qana bombing Israel’s Justice Minister Haim Ramon said “All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah.” The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, also blamed Hezbollah.

• John Bolton: “Hizbollah’s actions as a terrorist organization are obviously the fundamental cause of the current conflict and it says something about the morality and respect for human life of Hizbollah that they would use innocent civilians as shields.”