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So, what year are we in? A US president, after months of tacit encouragement, has ultimately stepped in to halt an Israeli military offensive that has turned large areas of a urban center in the region to rubble, causing numerous individuals deceased and generating global outrage.

The campaign has followed a series of assaults on Israel. Currently, under pressure from American leadership, the Israel's leader, a right-leaning figure with a gift for popular speech and an intense sense of Zionist historical purpose, has approved a halt in hostilities.

Historical Parallels

The year is not the current year, but 1982. The city is not the Gaza Strip, but Beirut. The US leader is President Reagan, not today's leadership.

Exist numerous variations between the situation in the Lebanese nation over four years past and what has happened in Palestinian territories in the last 24 months. The Hamas raid of recent times, which caused over a thousand and involved 250 taken hostage, bears little comparison with the comparatively limited actions of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the year or so prior to military entry of the Lebanese nation.

Remarkable Resemblances

Several similarities are remarkable. Reagan finally contacted the counterpart, informing him that what was happening in Beirut was "a disaster" and saying the relationship between their countries could be gravely damaged if the conflict carried on.

In 1982, much as today, the war developed in immediate coverage on televisions worldwide. Hundreds correspondents flew into the city to cover for the initial instance an regional battle without information control by either side.

Aftermath and Consequences

What happened following the call from the US president and the truce in Lebanon is instructive. The Palestinian organization, its divisions and officials were spread across multiple countries and a multiple nations.

American leadership then pulled out multinational troops – an infringement of the understanding with Arafat. The Lebanese president, the country's recently chosen leader and Israel's preferred proxy, was killed by Damascus operatives.

Middle Eastern Changes

Similar patterns emerged across the wider Middle East. By the late seventies, the increasingly non-religious and modern approaches that had appeared to provide the promise of a different tomorrow in the Arab and Islamic worlds years before were undermined.

The outcomes of this became very clear, almost immediately

Across the region, the Israeli state and the America now encountered opponents who were considerably more intractable, dangerous and effective than the secular movements and patriotic organizations of the past.

International Reaction

In the west, the consequences of this were perverse. During the seventies, global observers and policymakers had sought to understand what caused violent extremism.

Then, in the beginning of that decade, this ceased. National figures in the America, the United Kingdom and additional countries were lost interest in "fundamental sources" of violence.

Current Similarities

Recently, reports indicate that present administration communicated to the nation's leadership that the state could not confront global opinion and acknowledged national hopes for a sovereign entity.

This too was an repetition of that earlier period. In the wake of the military incursion of that nation, earlier administration told Israel that the strength of its defense establishment alone could not "establish just and lasting peace" and acknowledged "proper claims of the Arab residents."

Yet a internationally-backed comprehensive agreement meant to resolve those complaints failed to progress. Overseas, national representatives watched helplessly.

Global attention in the area decreased. The state resisted any concessions. Subsequently, there was the initial uprising, and the establishment of further armed organizations.

• The repetitions of history provide thought-provoking insights for present-day diplomatic initiatives
• Permanent settlements require addressing root causes rather than short-term truces
• Area politics continue to evolve in complex and sometimes unexpected ways