Israeli-Palestinian tensions near snap point

The explosion of a car bomb Sept. 17 in the southern Lebanese port of Sidon, killing 17 people and injuring 80, is renewing concern in the Mideast that the 7 -week-old cease-fire that stopped Palestinian-Israeli fighting is near the breaking point, reports Monitor correspondent John Yemma.

Although the Palestinian and leftist Lebanese joint command -- outside whose offices the bomb went off -- blamed Israel, Mideast analysts saw it as more likely the work of anti-Palestinian Lebanese, possibly connected with the Lebanese Phalangists. This is because the easiest route into Sidon would have been from the north rather than through United Nations checkpoints from Israel.

Still, the Palestinian-leftist Lebanese charge against Israel is another in a series of charges and countercharges of cease-fire violations.