Israel, Hamas keep fragile truce

Israeli police escorted 250 Jewish visitors Sunday to a flashpoint holy site—the Al-Aqsa Compound to Muslims and the Temple Mount to Jews—in Jerusalem's historic Old City. Islamic authority overseeing the site said police cleared young Palestinians out of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and detained six people. On Friday, Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli police after prayers at the mosque. But the cease-fire that ended 11 days of rocket attacks and airstrikes between Israel and Hamas held. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against further rocket launches from Gaza, saying Israel would respond with “a new level of force” if they resumed.

Who won the short-lived war? Thousands of Palestinians rallied in the Gaza Strip on Friday in celebration of what they considered a successful rebuke of Israel. Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza, began launching rockets on May 10 in retaliation for Israeli security crackdowns in East Jerusalem. Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khameini congratulated Palestinians on a victory on Friday. But the number of Palestinian casualties in the fighting dwarfed the Israeli death toll by a count of 243 to 12.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s report on the Trump administration’s efforts to improve Arab-Israeli relations.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.