Israel and Hamas march to war after tensions in Jerusalem boil over
Dozens are killed, but it is not clear where this cycle of violence endsTHE DRUMS of war are beating again in Israel and Gaza. Over the past two days Palestinian militants in the territory have fired hundreds of rockets at Israel. Israel, in turn, has carried out hundreds of air strikes against targets in Gaza associated with Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the territory, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant faction. The violence spiked on May 11th. Israeli bombs caused an apartment building in Gaza (allegedly housing an office used by Hamas) to collapse. Southern Israel and Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital, were hit by a new barrage; a fuel depot in Ashkelon was set on fire. So far at least 43 Palestinians and six Israelis have been killed, and the death toll is sure to rise.It is the most intense round of warfare between Israel and the Palestinians since 2014. America, the European Union and other countries called for de-escalation, but both sides have threatened more intense violence. Israel mobilised troops to the border with Gaza, and told residents to stay in bomb shelters. It also imposed a state of emergency in the mixed city of Lod following riots by Israeli Arabs and the killing of an Arab man by a Jewish resident. The UN envoy to the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, warned that fighting was “escalating towards a full-scale war”.Like much of the fighting between the two sides, the latest violence began as a dispute over a small bit of land, and was intensified by the religious power of Jerusalem. In this case it was the sunken plaza and wide steps around Damascus Gate, one of the ancient entrances to the old walled city at the heart of Jerusalem. For the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem (the part of the city that Israel occupied in 1967, including the walled city) the plaza is a gathering spot. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan thousands come for coffee and sweets after breaking the day’s fast.So it was no surprise when the decision by Israel’s inexperienced police chief to fence off the area “for security reasons” at the start of Ramadan last month led to clashes. The move was later reversed, but tensions remained high. Street battles between young Palestinians and Israeli police culminated in two big incidents in which the police entered the area around al-Aqsa, firing stun-grenades and rubber bullets. Hundreds were injured. Then on May 10th Hamas fired more than 150 rockets towards Jerusalem and towns in southern Israel in retaliation for the “crimes and aggression” in the Holy City. Israel responded with air strikes on Gaza and things escalated from there.A case before Israel’s Supreme Court has added to the febrile atmosphere. In light of the violence the court postponed ruling on the possible eviction of some Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem. The land on which their homes sit was owned by Jews before Jordan occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem in 1948. Jordan used it to resettle Palestinian refugees from the western part of the city, which had been taken by Israel. Under Israeli law the heirs of the original owners, as Israelis, can reclaim the property. The Palestinian families have no such rights over their former homes in West Jerusalem. In fact, all property once owned by “absentee” Palestinians was expropriated by Israel and can no longer be claimed by its original owners.The Jewish settler organisations pursuing the evictions are connected to far-right groups that, under the banner of the “Religious Zionism” party, are represented in the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) and allied with Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister. They have taken to the streets in recent weeks, increasing the tension. On May 10th thousands of Jewish nationalists marched on “Jerusalem Day”—a holiday marking Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and other territories in the six-day war in 1967. The annual march is seen by Palestinians as a provocation. This year, at least, Mr Netanyahu ordered a last-minute change to the route, away from Damascus Gate. That rankled the marchers, but just as they were gathering at the roadblock preventing their progress to the gate, Hamas launched its rockets, setting off air-raid sirens and forcing them to disperse.Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem is about to enter its 55th year. It claims to have “reunified” the city. But it remains irrevocably divided. Over a third of its population are Palestinians, most of whom have “residency” rights, which gives them access to Israeli social security and health care, but are not treated as equals to Israelis and face a variety of pressures to move out.Israeli and Palestinian officials hoped the end of Ramadan later this week would calm the city. Before the escalation on May 11th, Israel’s spooks thought Hamas would try to avoid a conflict like the one in 2014 that lasted seven weeks and killed over 2,300 people, mostly Palestinians. Political machinations on both sides may have contributed to the violence. Hamas had been expecting to make big gains in the Palestinian parliamentary elections on May 22nd (the first such ballot in 15 years). But Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of Fatah, a rival party, indefinitely postponed the elections on April 29th, ostensibly because Israel won’t let some Palestinians vote at post offices in East Jerusalem. So Hamas may have decided to assert its leadership in other ways.On the Israeli side, Mr Netanyahu is tired and distracted. He has fought four elections in two years, none of which has produced a conclusive result. His rivals have been edging closer to a deal that will remove him from power and thus leave him little hope of curtailing his trial on corruption charges, at which witnesses recently began testifying. Were he in a stronger position, he might have done more to rein in the police and his far-right supporters. And now that fighting has started, he has a chance to portray himself as a trusted wartime leader.Meanwhile, Joe Biden’s administration seems torn about how to respond. The State Department blamed both sides for stoking tensions, but America later stalled a similar statement by the UN Security Council. Donald Trump, the former president, said the violence was caused by “Biden’s weakness and lack of support for Israel”.Editor’s note (May 12th 2021): This article has been updated since it was published on May 10th