The United Nations is warning the week-old ceasefire in the Middle East could soon unravel. On Saturday, Israel airlifted a team of commandos to raid a Hezbollah outpost. Dressed as Lebanese troops, the Israeli soldiers carried out the attack apparently as part of a rescue mission or to capture a high-ranking Hezbollah official named Sheik Mohammed Yazbek. One Israeli officer was killed in the raid. No Hizbollah leaders were arrested. Israel claimed it was trying to stop the shipment of arms to Hezbollah.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called the Israeli raid a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.

• Senior UN Envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen: “At the same time, we are at the tilting edge still and this can easily start sliding again and lead us quickly into the abyss of violence and bloodshed. This is why diplomacy is so important because it is only forceful, energetic diplomacy in the political field, nationally in the region and internationally, which can produce that up side and prevent that horrible down side which we have seen the results of over the last few weeks.”

Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mark Regev defended the raid.

• Mark Regev: “We had specific information that a weapons shipment from Syria for Hizbollah. That is in direct violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution that established the ceasefire and we were responding to that violation of the ceasefire. Had the Lebanese forces and the international forces been there at the border as the resolution says they should be preventing such a shipment of weapons of course we wouldn’t have had to act.”

Over the weekend, Israeli officials vowed to assassinate Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. In addition, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Israel is making preparations for what he called the “next round” of war.