Israel and the Palestinians are mired in their worst conflict in years, in which Islamists have fired rockets and Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with air strikes and artillery.

One week since violence escalated with heavy military exchanges of fire on May 10, here is a recap.

- Israel-Hamas escalation

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 clashes 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.

- Riots in mixed towns -

On the evening of May 11, unrest flares in mixed Jewish-Arab towns.

Israel 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.

Up to 1,000 border police are called up as reinforcements. More than 400 people, Jews and Arabs, are arrested.

- Build-up near Gaza -

On May 12, the US says it is rushing an envoy to Israel and the occupied territories. 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.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells US President Joe Biden that Israel is doing its utmost to safeguard civilians in Gaza, as Biden expresses his "grave concern" over the flare-up.

The White House says it has cautioned Israel about the importance of protecting independent media.

- West Bank clashes -

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.

- US blocks UN declaration -

On the 17th, the Islamic Jihad, the second biggest armed group in Gaza, says one of its commanders has been killed in an Israeli strike.

The United States blocks -- for the third time in a week -- the adoption of a joint UN Security Council statement calling for a halt to Israeli-Palestinian violence and the protection of civilians, diplomats said.

Since conflict escalated on May 10, the death toll has risen to 200 people in the crowded coastal enclave of Gaza, including at least 59 children. More than 1,300 have been injured.

Israel's army says over 3,150 rockets have now been fired from Gaza, killing 10 people, including one child, and injuring 294.

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Fears of 'full-scale war' as Israel-Palestinian clashes kill 40
Tel Aviv (AFP) May 12, 2021
The worst Israeli-Palestinian violence since 2014 saw 1,000 rockets fired at the Jewish state by Wednesday, the Gaza Strip pounded by relentless air strikes and at least 40 people killed, fuelling fears of a descent into "full-scale war". In another night of escalating conflict, Palestinian militants attacked Israel's commercial centre of Tel Aviv and other cities, while the Israeli army bombed more targets of the Hamas Islamist group in the crowded costal enclave. The most intense hostilities i ... read more