Israel and Hamas move closer to war

last month as a dispute over metal barricades in Jerusalem has now, in the surreal logic of the Holy Land, brought Israel and Gaza to the brink of war. Since May 10th Palestinian militants in the territory have fired more than 1,600 rockets at Israel, which in turn has carried out hundreds of air strikes. It is by far the most intense round of warfare since 2014. Israeli bombs have destroyed three tower blocks in Gaza, in operations reportedly aimed at offices of Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls the territory. Hamas and its allies have fired huge barrages of rockets at Tel Aviv and southern Israel. Scores of people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed.Both sides have threatened more violence, despite calls for the opposite from America, the European Union and Arab countries. Israel moved troops to the border with Gaza and told residents to stay in bomb shelters. Clashes between Arabs and Jews spread across Israel, which imposed a state of emergency in the city of Lod following riots by Israeli Arabs and the killing of an Arab man by a Jewish resident. The United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, warned that fighting was “escalating towards a full-scale war”.