The current crisis in the Middle East involves a constellation of players. Hizbullah is tied to Iran and Syria; the Lebanese militant group shares common cause with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Israel is committed to protecting itself and wants to see its soldiers returned. The US wants Hizbullah disarmed and supports the Lebanese government, which is now facing a destabilizing barrage of Israeli bombs. The Monitor's Dan Murphy looks at all sides of the escalating conflict.

Before dawn on June 25, an eight-man team of Palestinian militants tied to Hamas, the Islamist party that now controls the Palestinian Authority after a January electoral victory, entered Israel through a half-mile long tunnel under the border and attacked an Israeli Army post, killing two soldiers and capturing 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

The next day Hamas demanded the release of Palestinians from Israeli prisons in exchange for Corporal Shalit.

A second Israeli, 18-year-old Eliahu Asheri, was captured on June 27 (his body was found two days later near Ramallah). The next day, Israeli responded with strikes on power stations, bridges, and basic infrastructure in Gaza.

Over the following week, Israel continued to strike Gaza and arrested a third of the Palestinian cabinet. Palestinian militants fired rockets deep into Israel's territory. About 50 Palestinians, most civilians, were killed in this round of war.

On July 10, Khaled Mashal, the hard-line Hamas leader in Damascus, believed to have ordered the cross-border attack, vowed that Shalit won't be released unless 1,000 Palestinians are freed by Israel.

Two days later, Lebanese Hizbullah militants crossed the Israeli border and captured two Israeli soldiers. Hassan Nasrallah, the Shiite cleric who runs the militant organization that is part of the Lebanese government, has promised for years to capture Israeli soldiers to trade for Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.

Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in this attack and subsequent fighting. Israel called the attack an "act of war."

Because Hizbullah is part of the Lebanese government and the government has either been unwilling or unable to disarm the Shiite militia, Israel holds Beirut accountable for the cross-border attack and capture of the soldiers.

Tuesday, Israel said the offensive could last several more weeks and could involve large numbers of ground forces. Already at least 200 Lebanese have been killed, along with 25 Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government has vowed it won't back down until its prisoners are released and Hizbullah's military abilities are destroyed.

In 2004, Israel agreed to a prisoner swap with Hizbullah, releasing about 200 militants in exchange for the remains of two Israeli soldiers and an Israeli businessman kidnapped outside of Israel.

But now Mr. Olmert argues that deals like that one have only encouraged more kidnappings and says the fact that Hizbullah struck inside Israel to take its two captives was a red line that precludes bowing to Hizbullah's demands.

Members of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government have argued that a strong move against the Shiite Hizbullah, which essentially runs the southern part of the country, could reignite the sectarian tensions that fed its ruinous 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.

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