What's Hebrew for "Pyhrric"?

Well, it looks like there's a possible cease-fire in Lebanon and, mirable dictu, all sides seem to be agreeing to it.

From the Yahoo link:

U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution seeking a "full cessation" of violence between Israel and Hezbollah, offering the region its best chance yet for peace after a month of fighting that has killed more than 800 people and inflamed Mideast tensions.

The resolution, adopted unanimously, authorizes 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israeli forces that have occupied the area withdraw.

Um - so, in effect, this is pretty much what was the case back in 1978, with UNFIL in place (but supposedly stronger) and both sides sent back to their corners. Which lasted until 1982 last time, so it might at least calm things down for now if not in the long run.

Which seems kind of an odd result for people who started out so determined that "we cannot return to a status quo".

So some 1000 dead, almost a million Lebanese refugees, and over $2 billion in damages to get right back to where things stood before all this happened.

Hopefully, as I said, this will mean an end to the bloodshed, at least for now. But from a historical perspective I'm not so sure.