  Israel-Palestine conflict

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde visited Israel this week - the first official visit to the country by a Swedish top diplomat in over ten years. In 2014, Sweden was one of the first European countries to recognise Palestine as a state, after which Israel withdrew its ambassador. The press welcomes the thaw in relations.

The US ice cream company Ben and Jerry's plans to stop selling its products in the West Bank and East Jerusalem from 2022. The text announcing the move on its website says it is inconsistent with the company's values "for Ben and Jerry's ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)". Ultimately it's all about marketing, commentators say.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Jerusalem and Ramallah on Tuesday to meet with Israeli and Palestinian representatives. The US government wants to help the reconstruction effort in Gaza, at the same time making sure that the funds for this purpose bypass Hamas. The ceasefire negotiated between Israel and Hamas is holding for the time being, but commentators doubt that a lasting solution can be found.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has taken on new levels of violence in recent days, and yet much of what is happening appears to follow a familiar pattern. The radical Hamas fires rockets at Israeli cities, and Israel's army responds with counterattacks on Gaza, invoking the right to self-defence. Europe's press discusses ways out of the deadlock.

As the situation escalates in the Middle East, Europe has seen a spate of anti-Israeli demonstrations and anti-Semitic attacks in recent days. Commentators voice concern and discuss strategies to combat anti-Semitism.

While the UN Security Council was still unable to agree on a joint statement in its fourth emergency session on the conflict over Gaza, individual international players have taken action. The US has called on Israel to de-escalate, China has invited both parties to negotiations, and Turkey's President Erdoğan has raked Israel and the West over the coals. Europe's press comments.

Israel's army has intensified its attacks on the Gaza Strip. Air and ground troops have been deployed, but so far no soldiers have entered the area. The move came after Hamas carried out further rocket attacks on Israel on Thursday. Europe's media examine the interests driving the escalation.

The Israeli government is currently considering controversial plans to annex areas in the occupied West Bank. US President Donald Trump gave the green light for the move at the beginning of the year with his peace plan. Soon after, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the annexation would begin in the summer. His government's coalition agreement sets July 1 as the date.

In the effort to provide balanced commentary on the Middle East crisis, the Swiss daily Le Temps is publishing four very different points of view starting today - coinciding with missile attacks from Gaza against Israel. We publish excerpts from the first two texts.

Europe's journalists are preoccupied with the escalation of violence on the border between Gaza and Israel, where at least 60 Palestinians have died in an Israeli military operation against Palestinian demonstrators and Hamas targets. Among the most recent press voices is an article on Palestine's "victim myth" and criticism of Hamas for exploiting Palestinian civil society.

In May 1948 David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the founding of the State of Israel with the Declaration of Independence. The 70th anniversary has been overshadowed by the conflict with the Palestinians and domestic problems. Is this the state its founders dreamed of seven decades ago?

For the Palestinians 15 May 1948 marked the beginning of the Nakba - the Arabic word for "catastrophe". On this day they traditionally commemorate the flight and expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homeland as a result of the war waged by Arab states against the newly founded Israel. Journalists take the opportunity to look back on the past.

Soldiers shot at Palestinians during protests near the Gaza-Israel border and killed at least 17 people. In the run-up to the anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel and the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem European commentators fear the violence will escalate and call for moderation.