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May. 12, 2021 10:44 PM
Benjamin Netanyahu’s gray face at 2 A.M. on Wednesday morning said it all. Not that he had expected to be in bed. It was the second day of a major escalation in Gaza, rockets had fallen hours ago on Tel Aviv.
But this wasn’t anything like the many nights he has spent in meetings with security chiefs. He had been called out for a token show of leadership in Lod, the city next to Ben-Gurion Airport, just 10 minutes away from Tel Aviv, which for the second night running had descended into chaos as gangs of Arab residents took to the streets.
Weeks of violent clashes in East Jerusalem have ignited the heaviest fighting in years between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. At the core of the violence that has left dozens dead are tensions between Israelis and Palestinians over Jerusalem, which contains sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity. As both sides appear to be digging in for more prolonged fighting, here are some of the factors that triggered the escalation.
RAMADAN PROTESTS, JERUSALEM EVICTIONS Since the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in mid-April, Palestinians have faced off nightly with Israeli police in East Jerusalem, who put up barriers to stop evening gatherings at the walled Old City s Damascus Gate.
Explainer: How clashes in Jerusalem have sparked the heaviest Israel-Gaza fighting in years theglobeandmail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theglobeandmail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After days of escalating tension and violence, Israel and Palestine appear on the verge of all-out war. Israel’s bombing of Gaza has now killed at least 49 people, including 14 children, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have launched thousands of rockets, at Israeli towns and cities, and while the vast majority have been intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, at least six Israelis have been killed.
It’s possible for outside observers to look at this as just another of this long-running conflict’s periodic eruptions. The Israeli demolitions of homes in East Jerusalem that began this escalation are part of a long-running campaign, and there have been violent confrontations in the past over access to Al-Aqsa Mosque. The situation has escalated much faster and with more ferocity than expected, and there’s a serious possibility of a repeat of something like the devastating 2014 Gaza War, but the conflagration still seems likely to die do