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
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.
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Middle East crisis — explained
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
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?
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
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
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
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
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
Israel and Lebanese militia Hezbollah are ratcheting up the firepower on the border
Palestinians are walking along Salah al-Din Road in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on Feb. 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption
Soldiers and civilians enter a rocket shelter as sirens sound in the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on the Lebanese border on June 10. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption
Is Humanitarian Aid Getting Into Gaza?; Searching for the Origins of James Bond
Israeli army bulldozers are seen near the Gaza Strip border, in southern Israel, on Thursday. Israel's military said on Saturday that eight soldiers were killed in southern Gaza in the deadliest attack on Israeli forces in months. Ohad Zwigenberg/AP hide caption
Ahmad Jumaa, Fathi Jumaa's son, holds parrots from their zoo in Rafah. Anas Baba for NPR hide caption
A checkpoint at the entrance to Baram, where security has been heavily heightened since the war started on October 7, and rockets have been coming from Iran backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield (center) votes during a U.N. Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East at U.N. headquarters on Monday. The Security Council adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution supporting a cease-fire plan in Gaza. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, is seen talking to the media after a meeting at the U.S. Capitol on March 4 in Washington, D.C. He resigned from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency government on Sunday. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images North America hide caption
The rescued hostages were identified as Noa Argamani, 26 (upper left); Almog Meir Jan, 22 (upper right); Shlomi Ziv, 41 (bottom left); and Andrey Kozlov, 27 (bottom right). /AP hide caption
This file image provided by U.S, Central Command, shows U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), U.S. Navy sailors assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion 1, and Israel Defense Forces placing the Trident Pier on the coast of Gaza Strip on May 16, 2024. AP/U.S. Central Command hide caption
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting at the Kirya military base, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defense, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Dec. 24, 2023. Ohad Zwigenberg/AP/AP Pool hide caption
This image, taken from Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip, shows smoke billowing in the Palestinian territory at sunset following Israeli bombardment on June 2. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Examining the state of Hamas on 3 fronts: troops, governance and narrative
Fadi Zant, aged 9, experiencing malnutrition, receives treatment after evacuated from the northern Gaza Strip to the IMC field hospital in Rafah, Gaza on March 24, 2024. The Gaza Strip is on the brink of famine as Israeli attacks on the area enters its sixth month. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption