BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In the Middle East, it has been nearly a year and half of sustained violence between Israel and the Palestinians. In the past few days there, it has only gotten worse. And now, there is talk that some sort of turning point may have been reached here. Mike Hanna here, live in Jerusalem, where the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon now vowing a change of course. How do we define that course, do we know, Mike?</s>MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, certainly in these months of ongoing conflict, it has not been waged with an intensity that has been seen over the past 24 hours. Israel has struck at numerous Palestinian targets in the West Bank City of Ramallah. One of the targets there, offices very close to those inhabited by Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat, who's been held in virtual house arrest in Ramallah since the beginning of December. Also, a particular target in the course of this day, the West Bank city of Nablus. Their tanks are reported to be on the outskirts of the city. At least 10 people are reported to have been killed in the Israeli operations there, which have involved</s>HEMMER: And, Mike, quickly on the political front here, what we are hearing in the U.S. is the increased pressure within Ariel Earl's own government to crank up something and do something at this point. How intense are you able to gauge that pressure might be right now?</s>HANNA: Well very much, and that pressure within the government, which you must remember is a coalition, is a reflection of the pressure emanating from Israeli society as a whole. The society and the government are split along two lines. One is the camp that is saying that Sharon is not doing enough to end this confrontation. And another is a camp that is saying that Sharon is relying too much on military means to end this confrontation, and he should be making more use of political approaches. There is this division within the Israeli society and the division within his coalition government, Bill.</s>HEMMER: Mike Hanna, many thanks, Mike Hanna there live in Jerusalem.
In Middle East, Nearly a Year and a Half of Sustained Violence