New Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who as defense minister was the main architect of Israel's invasion of Lebanon, has adopted an aggressive strategy in the current conflict, vowing to send more troops into Palestinian-controlled lands if the violence doesn't stop. There are vast differences, however, between Israel's war in Lebanon and what's happening now, starting with the fact that Lebanon was a sovereign nation of far less strategic, historic and emotional importance to Israel than the West Bank or Jerusalem. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is over a small, dry corner of the Mediterranean that both peoples claim as their own. The changing nature of the conflict is visible in a landscape that more and more resembles Lebanon, with its gutted buildings, sandbagged checkpoints, armored convoys and helicopter gunships hovering like buzzards. Israeli forces have carved the Gaza Strip into patches guarded by checkpoints, tanks and new concrete forts to protect Jewish settlements.
Jewish settlers use separate roads to travel.
They stare at the red roofs of the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim and its beach, where Israeli surfers mingle with soldiers in bulletproof vests. The Palestinian teens have stopped talking about throwing rocks. What we have are Kalashnikovs or Molotov cocktails. Some Palestinians say the Israelis are ratcheting up the conflict because they want a Lebanese-style war. They are provoking more violence and escalation.