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| - Israel and the Palestinians are mired in their worst conflict in years with Israel pounding the Gaza Strip with air strikes and artillery and Hamas militants lobbing rockets into the Jewish state. This is a recap of the escalating violence since heavy exchanges of fire began on May 10. On the evening of May 10, Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas launch volleys of rockets towards Israel in "solidarity" with Palestinians in annexed east Jerusalem. Israel responds with deadly strikes on the Palestinian enclave. The exchanges of fire come on the fourth day of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in east Jerusalem. The clashes were sparked by a years-long bid by Jewish settlers to take over Arab homes. The next day, Hamas rains rockets down on Tel Aviv after an Israeli air strike destroys a Gaza City tower block where senior Hamas officials are said to have offices. The next day unrest flares in mixed Jewish-Arab towns in Israel. It declares a state of emergency in Lod near Tel Aviv after police report rioting by some Arab residents following the death of an Arab Israeli. More than 400 people, Jews and Arabs, are arrested. On May 12, Russia calls for an emergency meeting of the Middle East Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations. The next day Israel masses armoured vehicles and troops along Gaza's border. The defence ministry gives the army the green light to mobilise thousands of reservists. On May 15, an Israeli air strike on a building in Gaza's Shati refugee camp kills 10 members of an extended family. Hours later a strike flattens a 13-floor building in Gaza City housing Qatar-based Al Jazeera television and the US news agency the Associated Press. US President Joe Biden expresses his "grave concern" over the strike with the White House saying it has cautioned Israel about independent media. Demonstrations across the occupied West Bank lead to clashes with the Israeli army, leaving 11 dead on Friday alone, according to Palestinian sources. On May 16, Israel says strikes destroyed the home of Hamas' political leader in Gaza. Medics say raids across the territory left at least 42 dead, the highest daily death toll. UN chief Antonio Guterres appeals for an immediate end to the "utterly appalling" violence. On the 17th, Islamic Jihad, the second biggest armed group in Gaza, says one of its commanders has been killed in an Israeli strike. The US blocks -- for the third time in a week -- the adoption of a joint UN Security Council statement calling for a halt to the violence and the protection of civilians. With no sign of a let up, at least 212 Palestinians in the crowded coastal enclave of Gaza have so far been killed, including 61 children. More than 1,300 have been injured. Israel's army says over 3,220 rockets have now been fired from Gaza, killing 10 people, including one child, and injuring almost 300. With the Security Council due to hold a fourth emergency meeting Tuesday since the conflict began, the UN welcomes an Israeli decision to open a crossing to allow aid into Gaza but says it also needs a second "for the entry and exit of critical humanitarian staff". France's President Emmanuel Macron, his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II are due to hold talks to broker up a ceasefire. burs/acm/fg/yad
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