On The Defensive

IT'S BEEN A BAD SPELL IN THE MIDST OF A BAD SEAson. Gunmen shot an Israeli couple in their automobile last Sunday, injuring both; the next day stone throwers who hit a car fractured the skull of an infant passenger. At a Jerusalem bus stop on the same day, an assailant believed to be Palestinian stabbed a man to death and injured a woman before fleeing. Israeli soldiers shot and killed five Palestinians last week, for a total of 18 this month. The blood swapping comes amid tensions over the deportation in December of about 400 Palestinians as well as the current effort to resume Middle East peace talks. Worsening the climate, Israeli and South Lebanese Army units killed six Lebanese and Palestinian gunmen as well as two civilians in clashes north of the security zone. U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher waltzed into the region's ferment, arriving in Cairo at the start of a six-country tour. His task: to get the peace talks moving again.