A pair of bodies on the pavement, covered in blood-spattered white sheets. Dozens of police officers sweeping through Jabal al-Mukaber, a rough neighborhood in East Jerusalem, searching cars and clashing with local youth. An emergency cabinet meeting to discuss home demolitions and closing the Palestinian parts of Israel’s “eternally reunited” capital to traffic.
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Life in the West Bank: What is the Palestinian Authority for?
The men who patrol the isolated village of Douma after nightfall cannot do much except raise the alarm; they must hope it will be enough to prevent another tragedy. Two Palestinian homes in the village, outside Nablus, were firebombed early on the morning of July 31st, killing an 18-month-old toddler named Ali Dawabsheh, and leaving his parents and young brother severely burned.
Read MoreIs the Islamic State on the rise in Gaza?
Iyad al-Buzm leaned forward against his lavender desk and tried to sound reassuring. “Gaza is perfectly safe. You can walk anywhere at three in the morning,” said the spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry. “There is no Islamic State in Gaza.”
Read MoreMuzzled democracy
The rally at Birzeit University felt more like a military parade than campus politics. Set in the green hills of the West Bank, north of Ramallah, the Palestinian college has long been affiliated with nationalist movements. But on April 22nd a bloc linked with Hamas, the radical Islamist militant group, won a rare majority in student elections. Dozens of supporters marched through campus the next morning (pictured above), waving green flags and chanting about last summer’s war in Gaza. “We have brought the spirit of resistance to Birzeit,” one campaigner shouted.
Read MoreA 'declaration of war' in Jerusalem
After a week of photo ops and press conferences by Israeli police and politicians aimed at reassuring the public that Jerusalem is safe, tensions in this disputed city skyrocketed on Oct. 29 with the attempted assassination of right-wing activist Yehuda Glick, who was shot at close range after leaving a conference.
Read MoreThe false front of the Gaza invasion
The day started with a cease-fire, and ended with a ground invasion. Israeli troops moved across the border into the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday night, the first large-scale ground offensive since a 2008-2009 war that killed more than 1,400 people and caused widespread destruction. The invasion, announced at around 10:30 p.m. local time, followed hours of heavy shelling aimed at clearing improvised explosive devices from the border.
Read MoreIs this Hamas' last war?
Down in the south there is a feeling of déjà vu: Israeli jets have dropped thousands of tons of bombs on Gaza, hundreds of rockets have been launched into Israel and troops are amassing along the border ahead of a possible ground invasion.
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