The Israeli air force's night-time bombing of an apartment building in the occupied Palestinian territories has been widely condemned for its disregard for civilians. But it is Israelis, not the world community, who can exert the most pressure to stop a repeat of such acts.
The raid on a crowded section of Gaza City killed its target, the military chief of the radical Palestinian militant group Hamas. His bodyguard also died, but so too did 13 civilians, among them nine children.
As a crime of war, it was no worse than any of the dozens of suicide bombings carried out during the past 20 months by Palestinians on Israeli targets. Many young people at busy nightspots have been murdered by the bombers.
Israel's actions on Monday night were different. It was sanctioned by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with the knowledge that a powerful bomb dropped from an F-16 plane on sleeping people provided no chance for escape.
Mr Sharon has long argued that palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is a war criminal who has personally ordered the suicide bombings. While Mr Arafat's denials of the charge cannot be proved, there is also little doubt that some attacks have been individually planned or directed by groups who no longer support Mr Arafat.
The debate at the United Nations Security Council is that a case against Israel's leaders should be filed with the newly-established International Criminal Court. Although the court's statutes were created with serious crimes such as genocide in mind, some articles could be legally interpreted to include any crime committed during a conflict.