Hamas-Israel Confrontation Sees Notable Differences from Past Fights

The Palestinian Hamas movement threatened Tuesday to redouble its rocket assault on Tel Aviv as Israel maintained its pounding of Gaza with airstrikes, dashing the hopes of US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators to pull off a ceasefire to end a confrontation that has seen both warring sides cross lines observed in previous duels.

Unrelenting Israeli airstrikes have killed scores of Palestinians, including at least 60 children, in the Gaza Strip since May 10. Israeli casualties have been much smaller — ten people, including a six-year-old boy, have been killed in Israeli towns and cities by rockets launched from Gaza. That’s largely thanks to Israel’s sophisticated anti-missile defense system.  The rapid outbreak of violence, which has now entered its second week, took many seasoned observers by surprise, although others say there were clear discernible factors leading up to the clash and that a heated confrontation was all but inevitable.   Hostility between Israel and the Gaza-based Islamist Hamas movement erupted into war in 2009, 2012 and 2014.  But this latest clash of arms and is seeing some notable differences from past confrontations, say diplomats and observers.