In December 1985, I travelled to Maseru, capital of the sovereign state of Lesotho. I was an emerging photojournalist sent to cover the assassination of two people in their home. The assassins were from the defence force of SA, itself a sovereign country. The crossborder attack was endorsed, justified or at least considered to be permissible by the US and Britain because, it was said at the time that SA was fighting a war against “terrorists”. The sovereignty of Lesotho was rendered irrelevant. 

Recent exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah have been between a state and a nonstate actor. In this situation the state, a legal sovereign entity, has the right to defend itself from external attacks. It is not the Lebanese state that is attacking Israel, but Hezbollah. This is what we learn from daily reports. There is little reason not to believe it. The state of Israel is violating the sovereignty of Lebanon, and the Lebanese should have the legal right to defend their so...

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