November 21, 2012

A bomb explosion aboard a crowded bus left 21 people injured in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital, and 11 people were killed by Israeli missiles in Gaza City today in the continuing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip. At least 150 Palestinians and 5 Israelis have died so far in the latest flare-up between the Israelis and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which began eight days ago. On November 14, Israel responded to rocket fire from Gaza with an air strike that killed the head of the military wing of Hamas.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Cairo, Egypt, today to discuss a possible peace plan with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the only world leader with effective lines of communication to both Israel and Hamas. Earlier in the day, Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon were in the West Bank meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The secretary of state met yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

Gaza Strip is a piece of land administered by Palestinians. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, where Egypt and Israel meet. (World Book map)

In Iran’s capital, Tehran, the speaker of the Iranian parliament announced today that his country was “proud” to be providing assistance “both financial and military” to Hamas-controlled Gaza. Iran is known to supply Hamas with the rockets that the Islamist militant organization regularly lobs into Israel.

Additional World Book articles:

• Egypt 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• A Special Day in Israel (a special report)