Israel and the Palestinian territories (the West Bank and Gaza Strip) have experienced a wave of civil unrest and associated violence since early October. The primary hotspots for protests have been religious sites, borders between Jewish settlements and Palestinian communities, as well as Israeli security force posts, checkpoints and border crossing points. Coinciding with this violence, knife, vehicular and shooting attacks have spiked considerably and have spread to Israel with notable recent incidents reported in Beersheba, Tel Aviv, western Jerusalem and Dimona. The protests and violence are linked to disputes over access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, the third-holiest site in Islam. Palestinian Muslims have accused the Israeli authorities of attempting to change the status quo in the area regarding access to the site. Visits by right-wing Jewish and Israeli political personalities have further stoked tensions and mistrust though the course of 2015. Indeed, associated low-level unrest and tensions as well as the general relationship between the Palestinians and Israelis have declined since the events of July and August 2014, when Israel and Hamas fought a major conflict in the Gaza Strip.
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