What is happening between Palestine and Israel? The keys to understanding the conflict

The Israeli Army and the Palestinian militias Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been facing each other since last Monday, May 10, in an open contest, with little hint of a truce, and which is close to 200 fatalities, the vast majority due to the bombings of the Israeli aviation and artillery over the Gaza Strip. International mediation attempts, especially from the United Nations, Egypt and Qatar, have so far failed. Hamas calls for the withdrawal of the soldiers from the Al Aqsa mosque and Israel wants to end its offensive against the militia commanders, their bases and supply tunnels. This Sunday, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, called on Israelis and Palestinians to cease fire immediately, given the risk of an uncontrollable regional conflict and a human crisis of unstoppable consequences.Hostilities have reached a level of violence not seen since the 2014 conflict.

These are the keys that summarize the latest war escalation in the Middle East:

What has been the trigger for the conflict?

The level of violence unleashed between the Israeli Armed Forces and the Palestinian militias has been simmering during the month of Ramadan.

Already on the night of April 22-23, more than a hundred Palestinians were injured in clashes with the police, of which about twenty had to be hospitalized.

The protesters were protesting against a march of hundreds of Israeli ultra-rightists who headed towards the Old City of Jerusalem in the middle of the Muslim holy day shouting "Death to the Arabs!"

The malaise of the Arab population had been

in crescendo

in the face of the restrictions by the pandemic wielded by the police to prevent the traditional concentrations of Palestinians in Ramadan at the Damascus gate of the Old City.

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Around the same entrance, Palestinian youths engaged in harassing ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys who were on their way to pray at the Western Wall.

The clash reached its peak on Monday, the 10th, when more than 300 Palestinians were injured in clashes with the police after prayer at the Al Aqsa mosque, the third holy place for Islam.

Following this, Palestinian militias launched rockets into Jerusalem and central Israel.

What do holy sites have to do with fighting?

As every year, not without tension, last Monday thousands of Israelis prepared to walk through the Old City of Jerusalem to the Wailing Wall, at the foot of the Esplanade of the Mosques - called by the Jews Temple Mount -, in the Jerusalem Day celebration. These visits are traditional in commemoration of the capture of the eastern part of the city by the Israeli Army during the Six Day War in 1967. In the presence of dozens of Palestinians stationed in the Al Aqsa Mosque and in anticipation of In an open clash, the police first banned Jewish groups from visiting the religious compound. The nationalist parade, hours later, was finally diverted towards the Jaffa Gate, through the Christian and Armenian neighborhoods, in the direction of the Wailing Wall.But the tension was already high and the armed wing of Hamas fired a salvo of rockets towards Jerusalem. The Israeli Army intercepted one of the shells with the Iron Dome defensive missile shield, causing explosions to be heard around the Holy City for the first time since 2014.

A man waves the Palestinian flag in Al Aqsa, Jerusalem, during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations this Thursday.Mahmoud Illean / AP

The evictions from the Sheikh Yarrah district.

The threat of eviction that weighs on dozens of Palestinian families from Jerusalem who have lived in the Sheikh Yarrah district (north of the Old City) for seven decades has been another reason for the confrontation between protesters and police in recent weeks.

Settler groups linked to the Israeli extreme right brandish property titles to the houses, which they claim to have acquired from Jewish owners prior to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. The Supreme Court on Sunday postponed the publication of the final sentence.

Who are they facing today?

The so-called Israel Defense Forces, the Armed Forces, command retaliation for the launch of rockets from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Army has reinforced the border areas with the Palestinian enclave with battalions of infantry and tanks. More than 3,000 reservists have been mobilized by the command of the Southern Division. The aviation has carried out half a thousand operations against the Palestinian militias positioned in Gaza. According to the latest military information, of the 3,150 missiles launched from the Strip as of this Monday, May 17 - 460 fell in Gaza - 90% had been intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.

The Israeli offensive points to two Palestinian armed groups, the Ezzedin al Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Hamas militia-party, which rules de facto in the Gaza Strip, and the Al Quds Brigades, of Islamic Jihad, both considered terrorist groups by the Hebrew state.

Since Monday, May 10, during the first four days of the offensive, more than 3,000 rockets have fled from the Strip towards central and southern Israel.

The spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Abu Obaida, has said: "Hitting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Dimona - where there is an Israeli nuclear plant - Ashdod or Beersheba is easier than drinking a sip of water."

Palestinians rescue a girl from the rubble of a building in Gaza this Sunday.MOHAMMED SALEM / REUTERS

What damage has the current conflict caused?

At least 207 people have lost their lives during the first seven days of hostilities between the Israeli Army and Palestinian militias.

Most of the fatalities have been registered in Gazati territory.

There, 197 Palestinians, including civilians and militiamen, have died from the Israeli bombings, of which at least 58 are minors and 34 are women.

In Israel, 10 civilians have died, including two children, and a soldier.

In addition, Operation Guardian of the Walls the Army has killed around a score of Palestinian militia commanders and destroyed several buildings where, according to information from the Shin Bet (the Israeli internal intelligence service), dependencies were located of the two Islamist groups in the Gaza Strip.

On Saturday, the Israeli army tore down a 12-story tower in Gaza, home to the US news agency Associated Press and the Qatari television network Al Jazeera.

Are there prospects for a truce?

Hamas has linked any cessation of hostilities to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Esplanade of the Mosques, while Israel conditions the truce to guarantee security for its population, which would end with Operation Guardian of the Walls.

None of the mediation attempts, not by Egypt, Qatar or the United Nations, have succeeded so far.

The reluctance of the US administration of Joe Biden has so far held back the adoption of a resolution in the UN Security Council.

A 12-story tower, which housed the local Associated Press and Al Jazeera offices, is hit by an Israeli missile in Gaza City on Saturday. Mahmud Hams / AP

What stages are open for the next few days?

At least 42 people, including 10 children, have died this Sunday in Gaza in the deadliest bombardment launched by Israel since the beginning of the attacks, last Monday.

A few hours earlier, more than 120 rockets launched from the Palestinian enclave fired alerts in central Israel, particularly in the overcrowded area of ​​Tel Aviv, where they caused a dozen injuries.

Israeli aviation has again attacked 35 militia targets in the north of the Strip early Monday morning to destroy 15 kilometers of Hamas' tunnel network.

Despite the fact that last Thursday night, the Israeli Army announced to the foreign press the start of a land incursion, so far this has not been the case and there are no signs that Israel will choose to cross the border.

In the early hours of Monday, the Palestinian militias launched around 60 rockets, half of those they had launched in previous nights, which suggests a slowdown in their offensive.

The strong Israeli offensive in Gaza has also led to demonstrations throughout Israel in cities where Arab and Hebrew citizens coexist.

More than 700 protesters have been detained since May 10.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that there is no greater risk for the country than that of riots in its cities due to protests by the Arab population.

The Israeli offensive against Gaza, day by day

The King of Jordan, Abdullah II, assured this Sunday that he had undertaken intense diplomatic mediation, in his capacity as custodian of the holy places in Jerusalem, to promote a truce agreement between the contenders.

Egypt, for its part, has partially reopened the Rafah border post, in the south of the enclave, to allow the evacuation of the most seriously wounded.