The Israeli Palestinian Conflict began with the formation of Israel. After World War II, the United Nations divided the region into an Arab and a Jewish state. Both sides refused to recognize each other as legitimate states and have been fighting intermittently ever since. The conflict recently escalated when three Israeli teens were abducted in the West Bank and murdered. Israel blames Hamas, a terrorist organization who controls the Palestinian territories, for their deaths. Israeli troops were sent into Gaza to arrest the suspected murderers. Hamas has been using this, along with the death of a Palestinian teen who was murdered in retribution by an orthodox Jewish extremist group, as an excuse to launch long range missiles into Israel. In turn, Israel has been launching airstrikes into Gaza to destroy Hamas missile cashes. Casualties on the Israeli side have been limited due to their Iron Dome defense system. Civilians of Gaza, however, have not been so lucky. This is further complicated by Hamas asking Palestinians not to evacuate despite Israeli warnings that there will be an airstrike.
For more information about the history of the Israel Palestine Conflict read this article by Global Issues:
http://www.globalissues.org/article/119/the-middle-east-conflict-a-brief-background
For more information on the recent escalation of the conflict read this article by NPR:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/07/14/331321398/israel-shoots-down-drone-as-clash-with-hamas-continues
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