Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza early Tuesday, hitting a pair of high-rise buildings believed to be housing militants.
Israel unleashed new airstrikes on Gaza early Tuesday, hitting a pair of high-rise buildings believed to be housing militants, as Hamas and other armed groups bombarded southern Israel with hundreds of rockets.
Hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians are not new and have gone on for decades. However, the latest violence follows a month of rising tensions between both sides. The tensions are often high between Israel and Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank.
This time things escalated since the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in mid-April 2021, with nightly clashes between police and Palestinians. The threatened eviction of some Palestinian families in East Jerusalem has also caused rising anger.
Since Monday, 26 Palestinian including nine children and a woman were killed in Gaza, most by airstrikes, Gaza health officials said. The Israeli military said at least 16 of the dead were militants.
During the same period, Gaza militants fired hundreds of rockets toward Israel, killing two Israeli civilians and wounding 10 others. Hundreds of Palestinians and more than 20 Israeli police have been injured in the latest clashes in Jerusalem.
Gaza - Problem and challenges
Gaza is ruled by a Palestinian militant group called Hamas, which has fought Israel many times.
Israel and Egypt tightly control Gaza's borders to stop extremist group Hamas from getting weapons.
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank say they're suffering because of Israeli actions and restrictions.
Israel says it is only acting to protect itself from Palestinian violence.
Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, a status not generally recognised internationally.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem - captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, as the capital of a future state.
Peace talks have been taking place on and off for more than 25 years, but so far have not solved the conflict.
The main challenges include what should happen to Palestinian refugees, whether Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank should stay or be removed
Another big challenge faced by both is whether the two sides should share Jerusalem.
The most tricky challenge is whether a Palestinian state should be created alongside Israel or not.
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