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Israel and the Palestinians
Only negotiations will bring lasting peace
It was a confrontation waiting to happen, in a conflict the world would rather ignore. Israelis and Palestinians have once again goaded each other to the brink of war in the Holy Land. Hundreds of rockets, fired by Palestinian militants, have been aimed at Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and southern Israel. Gaza, the Palestinian territory run by Hamas, a violent Islamist movement, has been hit even harder by Israeli air strikes. Arabs and Jews have clashed in the streets of Israeli cities. Dozens of people, most of them Palestinian, have been killed.
The worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in years has Jerusalem at its heart, as so often (see Middle East & Africa section). In April, at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Israel's police chief fenced off the plaza around the Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to Jerusalem's old walled city and a gathering spot for Palestinians. The move, made for "security reasons", led to clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police. Hundreds were injured. Then the rockets started flying.
The violence, as ever, is counterproductive. Turning Israeli cities "into hell", as Hamas threatens, will not help the Palestinians who suffer grievously in...