“Only the fear of the abyss could lead the Palestinian armed factions and Israel not to go too far”

At least fifty-three dead in the Gaza Strip and five in Israeli towns: the armed clash between Hamas and the Hebrew state gives no sign of running out of steam on Wednesday, May 12. There have also been three deaths in the West Bank in separate incidents with the military. During the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, the violence spread to several Israeli Arab localities.

In recent days, claims by Jewish settlers over houses in Jerusalem inhabited by Palestinians have added to weeks of tension during Ramadan. The intervention of the Israeli police on the Mosque plaza on Friday prompted Hamas to unleash its first rocket attacks on Israel on Monday, drawing an immediate response.

Since then, demonstrations and riots unprecedented for decades have multiplied in Palestinian and mixed towns in northern Israel, in the Galilee, in the Arab “triangle” and on the coast. Piotr smolar, Middle East specialist and former correspondent for World in Israel, answer your questions about the crisis in a chat, starting at 3 p.m.

To read on Lemonde.fr :

The decryption: How to explain the new clashes?
The latest developments: Dozens of dead after another night of violence
The story : Anger sets Palestinian towns in Israel
The analysis: A conflict the world chose to ignore
Our editorial: The vertigo of the political vacuum