Tensions have escalated in recent weeks between Palestinians and Israelis, triggered in part by recent protests related to a decades-long land dispute that could lead to the removal of Palestinian families from their homes in an East Jerusalem neighborhood. Israeli security forces confronted demonstrators on the site known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, injuring hundreds of Palestinians. Militants in the Gaza Strip began firing rockets into Israel, and Israeli forces have conducted air strikes in Gaza in response, leading to the deaths of more than 55 Palestinians and seven Israelis over the past few days.
Photos: Violence Explodes Across Israel and Gaza
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![Smoke, dust, and fire erupt around a multistory tower as it collapses amid many other buildings.]()
Read moreSmoke and flames rise from Al-Sharouk Tower as it collapses after being hit by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on May 12, 2021. #
Qusay Dawud / AFP / Getty -
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![More than a dozen riot-police officers walk down broad steps near Al-Aqsa Mosque.]()
Read moreIsraeli police used tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades to disperse Palestinians who were gathered at Al-Aqsa Mosque amid protests and heightened tensions in East Jerusalem on May 10, 2021. #
Eyad Tawil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
![Two Israeli police run after a Palestinian demonstrator.]()
Read moreIsraeli police run after a Palestinian demonstrator at Al-Aqsa Mosque on May 10, 2021, in Jerusalem. #
Laurent Van Der Stockt / Getty -
![Protesters take cover and throw stones in a large compound.]()
Read morePalestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem's Old City, on May 10, 2021. Palestinian medics say at least 180 Palestinians were hurt in the violence, including 80 who were hospitalized. #
Mahmoud Illean / AP -
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![Two men carry a wounded protester.]()
Read morePalestinians evacuate a wounded man during clashes with Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in Jerusalem, on May 10, 2021. #
Mahmoud Illean / AP -
![Soldiers in a guard tower point weapons out windows.]()
Read moreOn May 11, 2021, at the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers prepare to fire tear gas at Palestinian demonstrators during an anti-Israel protest. #
Abbas Momani / AFP / Getty -
![Protesters throw stones near a fire.]()
Read morePalestinians throw stones at Israeli soldiers during an anti-Israel protest at the Qalandiya checkpoint on May 11, 2021. #
Abbas Momani / AFP / Getty -
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![A missile launches into the sky, amid other missile trails and an explosion.]()
Read moreIsrael's Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepts a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip above the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11, 2021. #
Jack Guez / AFP / Getty -
![Several people take cover outside, crouching low behind a short wall.]()
Read moreIsraeli firefighters take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon, on May 11, 2021. #
Ariel Schalit / AP -
![A man stands beside a burning car.]()
Read moreJacob Simona stands by his burning car during clashes between Israeli Arabs and police in the Israeli city of Lod on May 11, 2021. #
Heidi Levine / AP -
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![A Palestinian woman carrying a baby evacuates an area after an air strike.]()
Read moreA Palestinian woman carrying a baby evacuates following an Israeli air strike on a building in Gaza City on May 11, 2021. #
Mohammed Salem / Reuters -
![Smoke billows from an Israeli air strike as a large building falls.]()
Read moreSmoke billows from an Israeli air strike on the Hanadi compound, in Gaza City, on May 11, 2021. #
Mohammed Abed / AFP / Getty -
![A boy cries among others during a funeral.]()
Read moreThe brother of Ahmed Al-Shenbari, a Palestinian man who was killed amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, reacts as mourners carry his body during his funeral in the northern Gaza Strip on May 11, 2021. #
Mohammed Salem / Reuters -
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![Soldiers walk through a damaged building.]()
Read moreSoldiers work in a building damaged by a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, in Ashdod, southern Israel, on May 11, 2021. #
Avi Roccah / Reuters -
![Several people and a dog take cover, getting low beside a concrete wall.]()
Read moreIsraelis take cover under a bridge at the entrance of Tel Aviv on May 11, 2021, after rockets were launched toward Israel from the Gaza Strip. #
Gil Cohen-Magen / AFP / Getty -
![More than a dozen anti-rocket missiles are seen in the night sky.]()
Read moreStreaks of light are seen as Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on May 11, 2021. #
Nir Elias / Reuters -
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![Sparks fly from a tear-gas launcher mounted on a police vehicle.]()
Read moreIsraeli soldiers fire tear gas at Palestinian protesters during an anti-Israel protest near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, on May 12, 2021. #
Abbas Momani / AFP / Getty -
![Demonstrators run from tear gas.]()
Read morePalestinian demonstrators run from tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers near the Jewish settlement of Beit El on May 12, 2021. #
Abbas Momani / AFP / Getty -
![People inspect destroyed buildings.]()
Read morePeople inspect destroyed buildings after Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on May 12, 2021. #
Adel Hana / AP -
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![An F16 warplane flies overhead.]()
Read moreAn Israeli F16 warplane flies over the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, as air strikes on Gaza continue, on May 12, 2021. #
Emmanuel Dunand / AFP / Getty -
![Black smoke billows among buildings after an air strike.]()
Read moreBlack smoke billows after a series of Israeli air strikes in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, early on May 12, 2021. #
Youssef Massoud / AFP / Getty -
![Soldiers fire a howitzer.]()
Read moreIsraeli soldiers fire a 155-mm self-propelled howitzer toward targets in the Gaza Strip from their position near the southern Israeli city of Sderot on May 12, 2021. #
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty -
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![Several security officers face the camera.]()
Read moreIsraeli security forces take position amid clashes with Palestinian demonstrators following a protest in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, on May 12, 2021. #
Hazem Bader / AFP / Getty -
![A woman walks beside the ruins of a fallen multistory building.]()
Read moreA Palestinian woman walks past a destroyed building in Gaza City early on May 12, 2021, after Hamas militants and the Israeli army exchanged a barrage of deadly fire in the early hours of the day, as intense fighting continued for the second day in a row. #
Mohammed Abed / AFP / Getty -
![A large group of people help carry a body in a village street.]()
Read moreA funeral is held for Ahmed Daraghmeh, who was shot to death at the entrance of the Zaatara military checkpoint, in Al Lubban village, in Nablus, West Bank, on May 12, 2021. #
Issam Rimawi / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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![A despondent woman leans over the body of her son, among other mourners.]()
Read moreA Palestinian woman mourns over her son Rasheed Abu Arra, who was killed in clashes with Israeli forces, during his funeral in the village of Aqqaba, near the West Bank town of Tubas, on May 12, 2021. #
Majdi Mohammed / AP
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