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So, which year do we find ourselves? A US president, after months of quiet support, has finally intervened to halt an Israeli military offensive that has transformed swaths of a city in the Middle East to rubble, leaving numerous individuals dead and sparking worldwide anger.

The offensive has been preceded by a series of strikes on the Israeli nation. Currently, under pressure from the US administration, the Israel's leader, a right-leaning figure with a talent for appealing language and an intense sense of historic Zionist mission, has approved a ceasefire.

Historical Comparisons

The year is not present day, but four decades ago. The urban center is not Gaza City, but Beirut, Lebanon. The president is Ronald Reagan, not today's leadership.

There are many differences between the situation in the Lebanese nation over four decades ago and what has happened in Palestinian territories in the last 24 months. The Hamas raid of last year, which caused 1,200 and included 250 taken hostage, bears little comparison with the relatively paltry activities of the Palestinian leadership in the period prior to Israel's invasion of the Lebanese nation.

Remarkable Resemblances

Some are uncanny. The president ultimately made the call the prime minister, informing him that what was happening in the city was "a disaster" and indicating the diplomatic ties between their countries could be significantly impaired if the conflict continued.

During that period, much as today, the conflict played out in immediate coverage on millions of screens. Numerous correspondents flew into Beirut to document for the first time an regional battle without censorship by the combatants.

Subsequent Developments

What happened following the conversation from American leadership and the truce in the city is revealing. The Palestinian organization, its groups and leaders were spread across thousands of miles and a dozen countries.

Washington then withdrew multinational troops – a breach of the agreement with the Palestinian leader. Bashir Gemayel, the nation's newly elected president and Israel's preferred proxy, was murdered by Syrian security services.

Regional Transformation

Similar patterns emerged across the wider Middle East. By the conclusion of that decade, the more secular and forward-thinking concepts that had looked to deliver the promise of a different tomorrow in the Arab and Islamic worlds previously were undermined.

The outcomes of this became very clear, in short order

Across the region, Israel and the America now encountered enemies who were significantly more unyielding, lethal and efficient than the secular movements and nationalists of previous times.

Global Approach

In the west, the results of this were counterintuitive. During the seventies, international experts and policymakers had tried to analyze what generated armed fundamentalism.

Then, in the early 1980s, this stopped. National figures in the United States, the United Kingdom and additional countries were lost interest in "fundamental sources" of violence.

Contemporary Echoes

In recent days, accounts show that current leadership communicated to Israeli counterparts that the state could not confront global opinion and acknowledged territorial ambitions for a state.

Similarly was an parallel of historical precedent. In the wake of the armed entry of that nation, earlier administration told Israel that the strength of its defense establishment alone could not "achieve just and lasting peace" and acknowledged "justified demands of the Palestinian population."

However a internationally-backed diplomatic initiative intended to resolve those complaints stalled completely. Abroad, Palestinian leadership watched helplessly.

Worldwide concern in the Middle East decreased. Israel rejected accommodations. Later, there was the initial uprising, and the creation of new resistance movements.

• The repetitions of previous events present sobering lessons for contemporary diplomatic initiatives
• Permanent settlements require addressing underlying issues rather than short-term truces
• Local circumstances continue to change in complicated and sometimes unexpected ways