Is Israel reprising the Lebanon war in Gaza?

By Dan Williams - Analysis

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's Gaza offensive, with its unprecedented toll on Palestinian lives and infrastructure, aims to pummel Hamas Islamists into a truce on terms more favorable to the Jewish state's long-term diplomatic goals.

Israeli officials have likened the aerial onslaught launched throughout the Gaza Strip on Saturday to the opening strategy of the 2006 Lebanese war, where a border ambush by Hezbollah guerrillas triggered a devastating surprise bombing campaign.

The fact Israeli troops and tanks then poured into Lebanon, gaining ground and pressuring the international community into imposing a ceasefire, suggests what might come next for Gaza if Hamas does not halt cross-border rocket attacks.

"There are definite similarities to what we are seeing now and the execution of the war in Lebanon," said Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Worried foreign powers have urged the resumption of an Egyptian-brokered truce which Hamas, chafing at an ongoing Gaza blockade, called off on December 19. The Israelis have other plans.

They are talking about absolute quiet, rather than the sporadic rocket salvoes which Hamas often used to back up demands for an end to the Gaza embargo or to warn Israel not to attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"We will not allow a return to the last seven years, the bad years," cabinet secretary Oved Yehezkel told Israel Radio.

For now, the Gaza assault appears to be largely free of the tactical setbacks that dogged Israel during the Lebanon war.