• What were the salient features of the Annapolis talks?

Annapolis marked a departure from earlier peace conferences involving West Asia. It was the first time that both the Israelis and the Palestinians had begun peace talks with a prior understanding that peace must result in a Palestinian state. It was also after decades that the UN and the EU fully backed the US effort without questioning Israel. Two other highlights of the conference were the fact that the Palestinians spoke for themselves for the first time, instead of being a part of a larger Arab delegation and the fact that Syria’s participation indicated a recognition on its part of the progress made by Israel and the Palestinians.

• When did the present crisis begin?

In February, when Hamas rockets targeted Israeli towns along the Gaza border and Israel retaliated. However, the conflict intensified with an increase in the rocket attacks against Israel and a major Israeli military offensive on March 1 that left about 120 Palestinians dead, some of them children.

• How bad is the situation in Gaza?

In January 2008, the Hamas aided the breach of the steel reinforcements along the Gaza-Egypt border and Palestinians poured into Egypt for provisions. Behind this desperation lay the Israeli blockade on Gaza that has caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip in 40 years, as claimed by human rights groups led by Amnesty International. Despite the Israeli pullout of 2005, its significance in Israeli-Palestinian relations did not diminish. In fact, there is a possibility of Israel re-occupying Gaza in the present context. In June 2007, when the Palestinian civil war intensified, the Hamas threw the Fatah out of Gaza and has controlled the territory militarily since.