As recently as a few weeks ago, the Middle East seemed relatively calm.
The principal story coming out of the long-troubled region was a positive one, the possible normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
All this and more is now among the many casualties of Oct. 7, when Hamas militants stormed an unprepared Israel, killing more than 1,300 people and taking several hundred hostages.
Israel has responded with aerial strikes on Gaza meant to degrade Hamas’s military capability, as well as by cutting off supplies of electricity, food, water and fuel.
Israel has called on the Palestinian population to relocate away from the north of Gaza, allowing its military to act against Hamas strongholds with greater freedom and fewer civilian casualties.
Locations:
Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Gaza