There are four iron laws of the Middle East: that the Palestinians will always end up at the bottom of the heap and that they will always be let down by their Arab bretheren; that Israel will act unilaterally whenever it sees it in its interest to do so and that the international community will do nothing to stop them, only intervening once the battle is drawn and they can help bring a messy end to the bloody proceedings.
It was true when the Israeli tanks went into the West Bank during the two intifadas. It was true the last time Israeli forces went into Gaza. It was true of both invasions of Lebanon and it is true of Gaza today. After relentless bombardment and days of invasion, war, war seems to be giving way to jaw, jaw as the French and Egyptians push their ceasefire plan and Israel calculates whether the military gain of going on bashing Gaza is outweighed by the loss of public sympathy.
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