, Columnist
May Is Likely to Be an Ugly Month in Gaza
Palestinians are angry at both Israel and their own leaders, and feel they have nothing to lose.
Nothing left to lose.
Photographer: Said Khatib/AFP/Getty ImagesThe violence last Friday in Gaza, in which 18 Palestinian protesters were killed by Israeli troops near the border, was the worst since the war of 2014. But everything is in place for a significant escalation in coming weeks, particularly in mid-May.
A series of major tripwires are clustered tightly together: commemorations of the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding on May 14-15; mourning by Palestinians who regard the same event as their “catastrophe” and observe May 15 as “Nakba Day”; and the scheduled opening of a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, courtesy of the administration of President Donald Trump.