Latest Israeli-Palestinian violence reaffirms holy mess in the Middle East

This week, the world wants to put a Band-Aid on a bloodletting.

That's what a cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel will be. It's a necessary nonsolution. The recent Israeli air assault on the Gaza Strip, the fourth such operation in recent years, will happen again—maybe in a year, maybe in three—if the world doesn't convene and engage on meaningful issues such as the blockade, the settlements and the embargoes.

Unfortunately, international consensus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn't likely. Congress is dysfunctional, and Secretary of State John Kerry's recent peace efforts were a flop. The Europeans are split, the wealthy elites supporting Israel's rights to defense and the general populace is sympathetic of the Palestinian plight. China's more concerned with its own “Muslim problem.” And the rest of the Middle East is neck-deep in its own unique brands of religious and sectarian violence.

But after eight years of lopsided warfare between Israel and Hamas, shouldn't the world realize by now that there will be no military solution in the Holy Land? Anyway, don't hold hope for a Hail Mary political solution any time soon.

But a cease fire of course would actually save lives for the time being. So let's hope that President Barack Obama and world leaders pressure Israel to stop all air attacks and a ground-troops invasion.

That might be hard. The United States is in Austria this week, negotiating with Iran on its nuclear program. Egypt appears poised for a long fight with the Muslim Brotherhood and is reluctant to engage, or at least in a way Hamas will find acceptable. Meanwhile, Iraq is more volatile than ever. Lebanon's run by Hezbollah—which means Iran calls the shots. And Syria remains a crisis.

What a holy mess.