Why Hamas and Israel reached this moment now — and what comes next

Palestinians attend a rally in support of Hamas and the Gaza Strip in the West Bank city of Nablus on Monday.

Majdi Mohammed / Majdi Mohammed

It’s not uncommon for violence to break out between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. It typically goes like this: Hamas throws rockets over the Gaza border into Israel, most of which are intercepted by the Iron Dome — Israel’s very sophisticated missile defense system. The impact in Israel is usually minimized.

Israel then responds with airstrikes on the densely populated Gaza Strip.

But what happened last weekend was unprecedented in its scale and coordination.