While officials in Washington describe an opportunity to extend and stabilize the cease-fire under U.S. mediation, a Lebanese government source and residents in the south say there is little belief in its durability, warning that neither Beirut nor the army expects a genuine halt to hostilities as long as Israeli air operations continue and Hezbollah remains under fire

According to the government minister in charge, the Israel Antiquities Authority's purpose is not to reveal this land's history scientifically, but rather to prove the Jewish people's right to the land. Like other authoritarian regimes, Israel's government views science as an enemy