Most Israelis view Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan as the most realistic path to ending this round of the Arab-Israeli conflict. But for his strategy to succeed, Israeli forces must ensure that Palestinian terrorists cannot escalate their attacks against Jewish targets, particularly in and around Gaza. This is the main reason for the current flare-up, in which Palestinians have attempted to thwart Israeli efforts to destroy arms-smuggling tunnels from Egypt, missile factories and explosives laboratories hidden in Gaza’s densely populated cities.

In contrast to West Bank cities such as Jenin, where Israeli forces have dismantled the Palestinian terror network, the cities of Gaza remain under Palestinian control -and terrorists brandish weapons openly. Terror groups have launched rockets against Israeli targets; and have killed Israeli civilians -including Tali Hatuel and her four children, gunned down this month at point-blank range. Gaza is the last bastion of Yasser Arafat’s war, and therefore provides Palestinian leaders with their only hope of a decisive military victory. A major “success,” such as a missile attack against an Israeli school or a chemical facility, and perhaps they can bring the Jewish state to its knees, or at least so they hope.

Indeed, Hamas recently smuggled explosives and two “militants” out of Gaza in an effort to blow up the port of Ashkelon. It was in response to this that Israel finally launched its major Gaza offensive.

The difficulties that Israel faces in Gaza result from the flow of arms and explosives that began with the Oslo process in 1993 and the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Instead of pursuing peace, the Palestinians used Gaza’s sea access and European-built airport to build up their arsenal. After Israel halted air and sea traffic as terror attacks escalated in late 2000, the Palestinians expanded the network of tunnels along the Egyptian border, through which missiles components were delivered to launch points in Gaza. (Despite its 1979 peace treaty with Israel, the Egyptian government has turned a blind eye.)

The Israeli military has tried to avoid direct fighting in Gaza’s densely packed cities. Knowing the Israeli aversion to civilian casualties, the Palestinians built the tunnel entrances and munitions factories in the most crowded areas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have thus been forced to stage raids with their ground forces rather than destroy the facilities from the air. Last week, Israeli troops were ambushed, resulting in the deaths of 13 soldiers. Palestinians celebrated. And in a particularly hateful gesture, the soldiers’ body parts were paraded through the streets of Gaza.

This is clearly a confrontation from which Israel cannot afford to walk away. If the flow of weapons and explosives from Gaza continues, the terror attacks will escalate, particularly following an Israeli withdrawal. In practical terms, this means the IDF must fortify the narrow road leading from Israel to the Rafah border area. The Palestinians have built structures along the edge of this road -both because land is in short supply, but also to provide a cover from which to attack Israeli forces seeking to interdict weapon smuggling. To widen the road, and expose the entrances and construction activity to air attack, Israel has no choice but to destroy some of these structures.

The optics of this demolition project are not good for Israel, and have engendered the usual one-sided condemnations from the United Nations, European politicians and human-rights groups. But, as the Israeli High Court recently noted, none of the critics have devised a workable alternative. Ritual calls to return to the negotiating table are unrealistic given there is no serious Palestinian peace partner.

Once the smuggling of weapons has ended, Sharon can proceed with his plan to evacuate civilian settlements from Gaza without risking missile attacks against nearby cities. And perhaps the realization that the military defeat of Israel is not an option will lead the post-Arafat generation of Palestinian leaders to more constructive approach.

Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg directs the Program on Conflict Management and Negotiation Political Studies at Bar Ilan University in Israel and a member of the Board of Directors of Scholars For Peace in the Middle East