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.