What sparked the latest violence in Israel?

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Monday, May 18th, 2021.

So glad you’ve joined us for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

First up, war in the Middle East.

After weeks of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem, Palestinian militants began firing rockets into Israel ...

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... setting off air raid sirens in the center of Tel Aviv.

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Israel’s Iron Dome defense system intercepted many rockets but could not stop them all.

The missile attack triggered a fierce response from the Israeli military ...

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which began pounding Hamas targets in the Gaza strip.

The conflict has raged on for more than a week now with hundreds killed in fighting.

Here now to help us understand what’s happening and why is Jonathan Schanzer. He’s the Senior Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Good morning!

SCHANZER: Good morning!

REICHARD: Well, we know that it was Hamas that fired the first shots this time and started this battle, and there’s certainly no justification for their attacks. But this conflict is always simmering on some level. There were some weeks of tension that preceded this. From the Palestinian perspective, why has this boiled over right now?

SCHANZER: Sure, well, I mean, look, the conflict has gone on for seven decades. And at the heart of it is a Palestinian desire to reclaim what they call the land of Palestine. Since 1948, the Israelis have controlled different components of this land. All of the territory that they've conquered has been conquered in defensive battles, making it therefore legitimate. But nevertheless, what we see now particularly in Gaza, is that there is a blockade around this territory. It's under the full control of Hamas, again, a terrorist organization sponsored by Iran, and the Israelis have done everything they can to prevent certain goods from coming into the country. And they've definitely made it harder to govern over there. So you see some frustration boiling over on the part of the population. But I—at least from my perspective, there isn't a whole lot the Israelis can do to make this better, so long as Hamas remains in control of this coastal enclave.

REICHARD: What is Israel actually doing in Gaza and what specifically is the Israeli military trying to accomplish?

SCHANZER: Sure, so you know, the first thing that they try to do is take out all the rocket production facilities, as well as the storage facilities where the bulk of the rockets have been based. Gotta remember Hamas has around 30,000 of these Iran provided rockets. So that is not a small job. There was also an effort by the Israeli military to take out what they call the metro system in downtown Gaza. This is a labyrinth of underground tunnels that Hamas created for commando strikes. Now the Israelis fake them out. They basically said they were going in on the ground. Hamas sent all of its fighters into this so called metro system, and that's when the Israeli started bombing. They took out I'm going to say roughly 100 or 200 of Hamas is top fighters. So that was, I think, a major objective for the Israelis.

They've taken out a couple of large buildings that reportedly contained Hamas, military intelligence or other assets. They've taken out the homes of some of the senior leaders, and they've taken out a good number—I understand it's nine or 10 of Hamas' top leaders so far. Most of these strikes, in fact, I think all of them have been surgical in nature. This is not carpet bombing the way that Hamas is trying to attack Israel, but really very, very specific munitions for very specific targets. And right now, it seems anyway, that the Israelis are asking for at least a few more days to achieve some of their objectives now that this war has started.

REICHARD: You mention Hamas offices. We’ve seen some controversy after the Israeli military destroyed a building in Gaza that housed Associated Press and Al Jazeera offices. Israel gave warning ahead of time to allow them to evacuate. But the AP is furious about that. Israel says they have intel that Hamas was officed there and it was a legitimate target. Is it typical for Hamas to have offices or facilities in a building like that?

SCHANZER: Well, Hamas engages in a practice widely known as human shields. So what they do is they place their military assets in civilian areas, and we've seen it—they've done it with the UN. They've done it with the media. They do it in apartment buildings. They have their some of their assets next to schools and hospitals. So this is, I think, the Hamas way of waging war. They actually typically enjoy it when there is collateral damage, because this means that there's a public relations disaster that Israel then needs to clean up. I think so far the Israelis have navigated this pretty well. Yes, there have been casualties, but the numbers are low. It's—I think it's somewhere around 200 or 250 people in eight days of fierce fighting. So I think the Israelis have really minimized it up until now. Of course we lament all loss of life. But I think this AP Al Jazeera building really just gives us a sense of the way that this Iran backed terrorist organization likes to do battle.

REICHARD: The U.S. State Dept. has said repeatedly that Israel has a right to defend itself against rocket attacks. Does that mean the White House is in Israel’s corner? Where does the Biden administration come down on this?

SCHANZER: Look, I think the Biden ministration has been muted, and in some cases, it actually has come to the defense of Israel, particularly at the UN. There was about to be a harsh statement issued against Israel, and the US vetoed that. And that's a positive. I see two reasons for the Biden administration allowing this to continue. If the administration doesn't want another one of these battles in another three or four years, then I think they need to let the Israelis weaken Hamas significantly. So it's in their interest to let Israel try to run the table for at least another couple of days and weaken Hamas even further than it has been.

And then I think the other part of this is, they also know that a major problem is coming, that when they enter into this Iran nuclear agreement that is going to be coming probably within the next few weeks or a few months, there's going to be a huge amount of money that is sent to Iran. And then Iran is going to send that money straight on to terrorist groups like Hamas. And that tension will boil over with the Israelis, because they will, I think justifiably, see the United States as having funded both sides in this conflict.

REICHARD: What do you think it’s going to take for this current flare-up to end?

SCHANZER: Well, both sides right now are looking for signs that they can declare victory. So, you know, I think Hamas is beginning to see that there is an end of the conflict for them, and it's probably not going to end well. I think the Israelis are looking for achievements that they can tout to their own public to be able to tell the public that they're not just mowing the lawn in Gaza, that they're not just beating back the latest threat, but that they will have more years of relative quiet than they have in the past. I think that's what the Israelis are looking for. My sense is that we probably have a few more days of this conflict unless something really terrible happens. I think both sides are starting to get a little tired. You know, we see enough signs have after having seen enough of these conflicts that we've reached probably the final stanza.

REICHARD: Jonathan Schanzer with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, thanks so much for your insight.

SCHANZER: My pleasure.

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