Middle East crisis — explained The conflict between Israel and Palestinians — and other groups in the Middle East — goes back decades. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them.
Special Series
Middle East crisis — explained
Tuesday
Monday
A forklift driver loads a truck with food on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with southern Gaza on Wednesday. Israel says food is going into southern Gaza daily but is piling up on the Gaza side because the United Nations and aid groups aren't distributing it in a timely fashion. The U.N. says Israeli military operations and other war-related obstacles hamper its efforts. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption
Food aid is piling up inside Gaza. Here's why it's not reaching those in need
Members of the Lebanese army and the Italian contingent of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force inspect a house destroyed by an Israeli attack during a patrol in Yarine on June 10, 2024. Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR hide caption
Saturday
Palestinians gather near the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, on Saturday. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP hide caption
Wednesday
Protesters march to call for the release of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in Gaza since the October attacks, in Jerusalem on July 7, amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian militant Hamas group. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Tuesday
Sunday
Palestinians look at the aftermath of the Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on July 6. Saher Alghorra/AP hide caption
Saturday
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who continues to break with progressives within his party by backing Israel in the war with Hamas, visited the country this week and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption
John Fetterman meets Netanyahu in Israel to show support for the war
Aid trucks of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) deliver aid to Salah al-Din Street on the fourth day of Eid al-Adha in the east of Gaza City, Gaza on June 19, 2024. Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption
Thursday
Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system (left) intercepts rockets (right) fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza on May 14, 2021. Over the years, Iron Dome has stopped thousands of rockets headed for Israeli cities, but experts warn that in a war with Hezbollah, new tactics and sheer numbers could cause it to fail. Anas Baba/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Could Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system hold up in a war with Hezbollah?
Wednesday
People walk outside the European hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 17, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the militant group Hamas. AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Tuesday
Fatma Hijazi holds the lifeless body of her 10-year-old child, Mustafa Hijazi, who died due to malnutrition and lack of medication in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. The photo is from June 14. Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption
Sunday
A cloud of smoke billows during an Israeli army raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on June 6. The Israeli military said it was investigating an incident in which a wounded Palestinian man was strapped to an Israeli military jeep while forces carried out "counterterrorism operations" in Jenin on Saturday. Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Saturday
The U.S. aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as "IKE," sails in the Red Sea on June 12, 2024. Bernat Armangue/AP hide caption
Thursday
Hezbollah supporters raise their fists and cheer as they watch a speech given by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a ceremony to commemorate the death of a senior Hezbollah commander in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, on Wednesday. Bilal Hussein/AP hide caption