Deadly violence in Israel and Gaza raises concerns of war

The World
A group of people are shown carrying a body draped in white and the green flag of Hamas.

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Israel-Gaza
Israel carried out more airstrikes in Gaza, killing as many as 10 senior Hamas leaders and destroying a couple of high-rise buildings as the militant Hamas returned fire, sending a barrage of rockets at Israeli cities. Since Monday, 83 people have been killed in Gaza and seven in Israel. The fighting has triggered rioting in the streets and violent clashes between Arab and Jewish Israelis in several cities, with mobs destroying businesses, stoning cars and dragging people from vehicles and severely beating them.

COVID-19 outbreak in Asia and the Pacific
The International Federation of the Red Cross has warned about the surge of coronavirus cases in countries in Asia and the Pacific, pushing health systems to the brink of collapse. Over 5.9 million infections have been reported in the region in the past two weeks and many countries are also seeing their vaccination efforts hampered by shortages and costly logistics.

China-Uyghurs
Research by the Uyghur Human Rights Project has found evidence of imprisonment and detention of at least 630 imams and other Muslim religious figures in China’s Xinjiang region since 2014, under charges of "propagating extremism," "gathering a crowd to disturb social order," and "inciting separatism." In cases where information was available, court documents and testimony show harsh prison sentences, including 17 life sentences.

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Listen: Deadly Israel-Gaza crisis deepens

A person is shown in soft focus wearing a shirt with the word "Black" printed on it with the rubble of a bombed building a car in the background.

Damaged building are seen following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, May 12, 2021.

Credit:

Khalil Hamra/AP

Escalating violence in Israel and Gaza continues, with exchanges of rocket fire and airstrikes. Officials in the Gaza Strip say that at least 65 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes launched after the Palestinian militant group Hamas fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli towns, resulting in the death of six Israelis. And, the US is defying an international treaty that would classify used plastic as hazardous waste. Also, the number of days until the Tokyo Olympics are dwindling down. But the pressure to cancel them continues to increase.

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