WHEN the United States gathered together the unprecedented coalition of support in the wake of the September 11 atrocities, there were hopes expressed that the spirit of understanding would prompt a breakthrough in the Middle East crisis.

This morning, those hopes look forlorn, as the region reflects on yet another day of carnage.

There appears little chance of peace being brokered by the Israeli and Palestinians on their own. Certainly not as long as Israeli ministers are intent on putting an end to Yasser Arafat's rule, and the Palestinian leadership accuses Ariel Sharon of wanting to destroy peace and security in the whole region.

In such a climate of mutual hatred and distrust there can be no end to the vicious cycle of violence and bloodshed.

The case for international mediation is overwhelming. And yet there is diplomatic inaction from both the US and British governments.

Surely the tit-for-tat round of terrorist attacks and military reprisals resulting in the loss of innocent lives is precisely the sort of crisis to which the international coalition should turn its attention.

But instead, it is likely that the attention of President Bush and Tony Blair will focus on Iraq when they meet later this month.

We do not seek to belittle the scale of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and his access to weapons of mass destruction.

But to make Iraq the immediate priority of the international community while so many lives are being lost in Israel and the Palestinian territories is an error of judgement.

Crackpot figures like Saddam Hussein and the Taliban leadership may be easy targets against which world opinion can gather.

But neither the US nor Britain can afford to wash their hands of the problems in Israel and Palestine, just because the task of finding a practical solution is intractable.

To allow the present conflict to go unchecked threatens to destabilise the whole of the Middle East. The danger of the crisis escalating into a full-scale war is very real indeed.