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So, which year do we find ourselves? A US president, subsequent to lengthy of implicit backing, has at last become involved to halt an offensive by Israeli forces that has transformed large areas of a Middle Eastern city to debris, leaving thousands killed and prompting international condemnation.

The offensive has been preceded by a succession of assaults on Israel. Presently, facing demands from American leadership, the Israel's leader, a conservative politician with a talent for appealing language and a deep conviction of historic Zionist mission, has agreed to a halt in hostilities.

Past Echoes

The year is not present day, but the early 1980s. The location is not present-day Gaza, but the Lebanese capital. The US leader is the Reagan administration, not today's leadership.

We find numerous variations between the situation in the Lebanese nation over four years past and current circumstances in Gaza in the past two years. The militant assault of last year, which resulted in 1,200 and involved two hundred fifty seized, bears little comparison with the somewhat modest activities of the PLO in the year or so prior to the Israeli incursion of the Lebanese nation.

Remarkable Resemblances

Several similarities are remarkable. The president ultimately picked up the phone the Israeli leader, telling him that what was happening in the capital was "a catastrophe" and indicating the diplomatic ties between their states could be seriously harmed if the conflict persisted.

At that time, much as today, the conflict played out in live on televisions worldwide. Numerous reporters flew into Beirut to report on for the initial instance an regional battle without media restrictions by any party.

Results and Outcomes

What happened after the conversation from American leadership and the truce in Lebanon is educational. The PLO, its groups and representatives were spread across thousands of miles and a dozen countries.

The US administration then pulled out US-led peacekeepers – a breach of the understanding with Arafat. The elected leader, the country's newly elected president and Israeli-supported figure, was killed by Syrian intelligence.

Regional Transformation

The same was true across the rest of the region. By the end of the 1970s, the increasingly non-religious and modern approaches that had looked to deliver the promise of a different tomorrow in the Arab and Islamic worlds previously were weakened.

The results of this emerged rapidly, in short order

Across the region, Israel and the United States now encountered enemies who were much more stubborn, deadly and effective than the leftists and patriotic organizations of previous times.

Western Response

Among Western nations, the consequences of this were perverse. During the seventies, western analysts and government representatives had sought to understand what led to militant radicalism.

Then, in the early 1980s, this ended. Government officials in the United States, the UK and additional countries were lost interest in "root causes" of unrest.

Current Similarities

Last week, reports indicate that current leadership told government representatives that the country could not confront global opinion and acknowledged national hopes for a sovereign entity.

This too was an repetition of 1982. In the consequence of the Israeli invasion of that nation, past government told the nation that the strength of its armed forces alone could not "achieve just and lasting peace" and acknowledged "proper claims of the Palestinian people."

But a US-led diplomatic initiative intended to resolve those complaints went nowhere. From exile, Palestinian leadership watched powerlessly.

Worldwide concern in the area waned. Israel resisted any concessions. Subsequently, there was the major unrest, and the establishment of additional militant groups.

• The repetitions of the past provide thought-provoking insights for present-day resolution attempts
• Lasting solutions require addressing root causes rather than short-term truces
• Local circumstances continue to develop in complex and frequently surprising ways