Professor of International Affairs Manochehr Dorraj joined Fox 4 Good Day to discuss the state of the dispute between Israel and its neighbors to the west in Gaza.
“It began over two key issues,” Dorraj said. “One was the issue of Palestinian refugees being evicted by Israeli forces in order to make room for Israeli settlers to settle in their homes, and this promoted protests and then protests went to the Al-Aqsa mosque.”
He went on to explain that Al-Aqsa is considered one of the most holy mosques in the Muslim world, and – coupled with the timing during Ramadan – galvanized Palestinians and created anger among Hamas.
“Hamas … decided to use rockets against Israel in retaliation of that and therefore the confrontation between Israel and Hamas began and, as we know, Israel began bombing numerous targets inside the Gaza strip territory,” Dorraj said.
While the Palestinian issue is not a top priority for most Arab nations who have made peace with Israel, he said, Israel’s response could impede talks between Israel and remaining Middle Eastern countries.