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The worst violence in years between Israelis and Palestinians leads off today's show. The roots of their ongoing conflict date back more than 100 years.
The two sides have fought over land, borders and the status of Jerusalem which both sides revere as a holy city. The latest flare up seems to have started with daily fighting between Palestinians and Israeli police in mid- April.
That's when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began. Palestinians were concerned that Israeli settlers would evict some Palestinian families from their homes in east Jerusalem. There was an Israeli police raid on an Islamic holy site earlier this week after Palestinians reportedly barricaded themselves inside it with stones and homemade weapons.
Since then, the situation has gotten more violent. Militants in the Palestinian controlled territory of Gaza have fired more than 1,000 rockets into Israel this week. Many of them were intercepted by an Israeli missile defense system but dozens have landed in Israel whose military says at least seven Israelis have been killed and hundreds of others injured.
Israel has launched air strikes into Gaza whose Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 56 people have been killed and hundreds more injured there.
Israel says it's eliminated a number of militant commanders and that there's no end date for its operation into Gaza. A leader of the Palestinian territory says if Israel wants to escalate the situation, Palestinians are ready for it.
But both sides say they'll stop when the other one does. Aside from these operations, some Israeli towns have also seen fighting between their Arab and Jewish populations. Leaders from around the world are calling on all sides to stop the violence.
