Irwin, I may be wrong here. But I thought there was a cease-fire and a fragile peace agreement, until Ariel Sharon decided he wanted to go walkabout in Palestinian-controlled territory, in violation of the peace agreement. The Israeli army had two choices, either let him go on his own and get killed, or give him bodyguards. And when the Israeli army came over into the Palestinian area, the whole damn thing started going again.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the impression I got from the news is that Ariel Sharon provoked the Palestinians, and then points the finger and says "Look, we can't trust them".

Graham.