Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside Israeli consulate in LA - LA Daily News

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• Noelle Bellil, 60, of Hawthorne, leads a chant as Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Dali Alqaza, 7, of Anaheim, waves a Palestinian flag on top of her cousin’s car during a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Gee Jimzo, of Whittier, waves a Palestinian flag on top of his car on Wilshire Boulevard during a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

• Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, holds a demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles to support the rights of Palestinians in their conflict with Israel on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

More than 100 people gathered for a pro-Palestinian rally on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Granville Avenue, outside Israel’s consulate in Los Angeles, Tuesday, May 11, while bloody fighting intensified between Israelis and Palestinians in and around the Gaza Strip.

Battles between Israel and Hamas, an Islamist political organization and militant group, have intensified in recent weeks, triggered largely by disputes over holy locations in Jerusalem and claims of discriminatory policies by Israeli government toward Palestinians living there.

In Gaza, at least 30 Palestinians, including 10 children, had been killed by Tuesday night, and 203 others were wounded, according to health officials.

In Israel, three people were killed in strikes on Tel Aviv and the seaside city of Ashkelon, and at least 100 were wounded, according to medical officials.

The clashes spurred diplomatic efforts around the world, including by Qatar, Egypt, the U.S. and United Nations officials, working to bring an end to the deadly clashes. President Joe Biden directed U.S. officials to engage Israeli and Palestinian leaders in talks to ease tensions.

Animosity between Israelis and Palestinians stretches back several decades to the post-World War II era when Palestinians were displaced to make room for Jewish refugees following the Holocaust. Many Palestinians now desire the right of return – the right of the displaced and their descendants to return to the land that once belonged to them. Both sides maintain that the area is their rightful homeland.

At Tuesday’s Los Angeles protest, speakers accused Israel’s government of human rights abuses and oppressive measures. “You can see Israeli aggression especially in Northern Jerusalem and Gaza,” said Sami Wassef, who attended the protest and held a Palestinian flag. “Houses are being confiscated and families thrown out.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his nation’s actions, saying they came in response to violence by Hamas and other Islamic Jihad militants. The groups “have paid, and I tell you here, will pay a heavy price for their aggression,” Netanyahu said.

For the Israeli’s part in the violence, it’s high civilian casualty rate seems unintentional, according to Professor Dov Waxman, director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Waxman said that because of the relative size Israel’s army to Hamas’ forces, Hamas doesn’t engage with the army directly, so Israel must attack the targets wherever they may be – and they are usually in centers populated with civilians.

“This allows Hamas to say ‘Oh, look Israel is attacking Palestinians’, but Israel isn’t talking civilians,” Waxman said. “It’s targeting Hamas political leaders, Hamas installations, but often civilians do get killed.”

Waxman did note, however, that this begs the question of whether Israel could be doing a better job to avoid these civilian casualties.

The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and the New York Times contributed to this report. 

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