Shift in Palestinian tactics

An Israeli tank enforcing the blockade near Bethlehem

BBC Defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus

The killing of Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank and Gaza on Monday suggests a significant shift in Palestinian tactics.

An ambush on a West Bank road serving settlements killed two soldiers and a settler. In Gaza, an Israeli bus driver was shot dead.

For all its armed might, Israeli civilians and military personnel are vulnerable when moving around territory the Palestinians view as occupied - something the militants are exploiting in this latest phase of the uprising.

The political and security geography of the West Bank and Gaza Strip also seem tailor-made to foster tensions.

Gaza fish market: The blockade severely hurts the Palestinian economy

Israel's decision to impose a strict closure on the occupied territories in the wake of Monday's violence can only be a temporary measure.

Many thousands of Palestinians work in Israel and depend upon these jobs to provide for their families. Closure stokes up more bitterness.

But the apparent shift in Palestinian tactics towards armed ambushes by the side of the road has revealed a new Israeli vulnerability.

Short-term separation

Closure of the West Bank and Gaza is an effort to impose short-term separation between Israelis and Palestinians.

If the ambushes continue Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will be pushed - not least by his own army commanders - to step up the military pressure on the Palestinian leadership

But separation between these two communities is almost impossible to achieve.

Quite apart from the economic ties between them, the human and political geography of the occupied territories has created a patchwork of different security arrangements.

Some areas are under full Palestinian control. The Israeli Army has responsibility for overall security in others but with local law and order run by the Palestinians.

And yet other areas, including Jewish settlements and the road network, are fully under Israeli control.

Interspersed communities

The Israelis may control much of the high ground but communities are interspersed. Jewish settlements stand close to Palestinian towns and villages.

Access roads must be patrolled but as Monday's events show it is impossible to secure the whole road network.

The security implications of this cheek-by-jowl existence are best illustrated in Jerusalem itself where gunfire has been exchanged between troops guarding the Jewish suburb of Gilo and Palestinian fighters in nearby Arab-populated Beit Jala.

The new Palestinian tactic may be a short-term response to Israel's recent helicopter attack on a local Fatah leader.

But if the ambushes continue, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will be pushed - not least by his own army commanders - to step up the military pressure on the Palestinian leadership.