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So, which time period are we in? A US president, following an extended period of quiet support, has at last become involved to halt an offensive by Israeli forces that has reduced swaths of a urban center in the region to debris, leaving thousands deceased and prompting worldwide anger.

The campaign has come after a sequence of strikes on Israel. Presently, facing demands from American leadership, the prime minister of Israel, a rightwinger with a gift for popular speech and a strong feeling of historical Jewish national duty, has consented to a halt in hostilities.

Historical Parallels

The year is not present day, but the early 1980s. The city is not present-day Gaza, but Beirut. The American president is Ronald Reagan, not the current administration.

Exist numerous variations between the events in Lebanon over four years past and recent developments in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 months. The Hamas raid of last year, which caused over a thousand and involved 250 taken hostage, differs significantly with the somewhat modest activities of the Palestinian leadership in the year or so preceding Israel's invasion of the Lebanese nation.

Uncanny Similarities

Several similarities are remarkable. Reagan finally contacted the prime minister, stating to him that events in Beirut was "a disaster" and explaining the relations between their countries could be significantly impaired if the fighting continued.

In 1982, much as today, the war played out in immediate coverage on global media. Many reporters flew into the capital to report on for the first time an Middle Eastern conflict without censorship by any party.

Results and Outcomes

The situation subsequent to the call from Reagan and the truce in the city is revealing. The liberation movement, its groups and officials were scattered across thousands of miles and a dozen countries.

American leadership then removed multinational troops – an infringement of the understanding with Arafat. Bashir Gemayel, the country's freshly appointed head of state and Israel's chosen ally, was assassinated by Syrian intelligence.

Middle Eastern Changes

Similar patterns emerged across the wider Middle East. By the end of the 1970s, the more secular and modern approaches that had appeared to provide the hope of a new future in the Middle Eastern nations previously were discredited.

The outcomes of this became very clear, almost immediately

In various nations, Israel and the US now encountered enemies who were much more intractable, deadly and capable than the secular movements and independence advocates of previous times.

Global Approach

Among Western nations, the results of this were unexpected. During the that decade, international experts and policymakers had attempted to comprehend what led to armed fundamentalism.

Subsequently, in the start of the eighties, this ceased. National figures in the America, the Britain and elsewhere were ceased being concerned in "root causes" of conflict.

Current Similarities

In recent days, sources suggest that current leadership communicated to the nation's leadership that Israel could not fight all the world and recognized territorial ambitions for a independent nation.

This too was an echo of historical precedent. In the consequence of the Israeli invasion of the neighboring country, earlier administration told the nation that the strength of its defense establishment alone could not "achieve permanent resolution" and accepted "justified demands of the Arab residents."

However a American-sponsored regional peace plan meant to resolve those complaints failed to progress. Abroad, Palestinian leadership looked on impotently.

Global attention in the Middle East decreased. The nation resisted any concessions. Subsequently, there was the initial uprising, and the founding of new resistance movements.

• The repetitions of history offer serious insights for present-day resolution attempts
• Lasting solutions require addressing root causes rather than brief halts
• Regional dynamics continue to change in complicated and often unpredictable ways