Violence in Gaza and Israel
As Palestinians protest against their rulers, violence with Israel
flares again. A bus bombing on the Jewish side of Jerusalem on March 23,
which killed one person and injured scores more, was the first such
attack for six-and-a-half years.
As The Economist went to press, no group had claimed responsibility.
But the event followed a sudden sharp increase in the firing of rockets
into Israel from Gaza, the Palestinian coastal strip run by Hamas, the
Islamist movement that refuses to recognise Israel.
On March 19, in 15 minutes, Hamas and its Gazan cohorts fired 50
mortars into Israel, more than a third of the total for the past two
years. Hamas may also have relaxed its efforts to bridle other groups:
Islamic Jihad recently fired several Grad rockets at two Israeli ports
and at Beersheba, 40km (25 miles) away.
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