Earlier this week demonstrators burned Israeli flags outside synagogues in the cities of Bonn and Münster. Three men were detained in Bonn and admitted they had thrown stones at the synagogue windows, while in Düsseldorf officers said a fire was set on a stone memorial for a synagogue destroyed by the Nazis in 1938.

Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has told the Funke media group, external there can be "zero tolerance for attack on synagogues" in Germany.

"We will not accept it if people of the Jewish faith in Germany are held responsible for events in the Middle East - on the street as well as on social media," he said.

Image source, Reuters

An Israeli Arab member of Israel's parliament has alleged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately stoking communal tensions in the belief that it may benefit him politically.

"There is a political intention by... Netanyahu and his ministers to escalate the situation more and more," Aida Touma-Sliman tells the BBC.

“If the debate in Israel under discussion and the tension till last month was between [Netanyahu's] camp and the anti-Benjamin Netanyahu camp, they wanted to divert it into a kind of a war, a citizens' war between Jews and Arabs.”

The violence in Israeli cities and towns with mixed Jewish-Arab populations, and the hostilities between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants in Gaza, have disrupted efforts by the prime minister’s political opponents to replace him by forming a new government with a parliamentary majority. Mr Netanyahu was given the first opportunity to do so after March’s inconclusive general election, but he was unable to do so. Opposition leader Yair Lapid has 20 days left before his mandate expires.

Ms Touma-Sliman, whose Hadash party backed Mr Lapid's candidacy, says she fears even greater violence if the authorities do not act swiftly to rein in armed groups and stop incitement.

Mr Netanyahu said on Wednesday that what had been happening in Israeli towns was "unacceptable".

"Nothing justifies the lynching of Arabs by Jews, and nothing justifies the lynching of Jews by Arabs," he added.

Avi Mayer of the American Jewish Committee says Hamas is committed to Israel's destruction.

BBC OS

Image source, Getty Images

Michal Abraham lives in the Israeli city of Lod with her husband and four children. She’s been speaking to BBC OS on World Service radio.

“The last three days were very, very disturbing, seeing all this anger and violence coming out,” she said.

“We've lived here for four years and never felt something like this. Our relationship with our neighbours is good - not perfect, but it’s something that we both can work with.

"We have friends from the Arab community that we really like and they're good friends of ours, and we want them to be happy and have good lives next to us.

“And suddenly we feel like we’re caught in this scene that we never wanted to be part of. We saw our neighbours telling Arab people about our cars and telling them where our cars are parked, and they came and burned both of our cars.

“That was very, very hard and heart-breaking to explain to our kids. The police did not come. Our neighbours did not help us.

"We have to start thinking about how to continue living together after seeing this stuff. We want to live here because we believe we can do better. We believe that the communities can work things out.”

Image source, Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that he is considering deploying troops and approving the detention of suspected rioters without charge, under a controversial measure known as "administrative detention", if the violence between Jewish and Arab communities in Israeli cities and towns continues.

On Thursday morning, a Jewish man was stabbed in the central town of Lod. And on Wednesday, a mob beat a man they thought was an Arab in Bat Yam.

“We have no bigger threat now than these pogroms, and we have no choice but to restore law and order via determined use of force,” Mr Netanyahu told reporters in Lod, according to the Times of Israel., external

Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, external describes administrative detention, which is currently being used to hold more than 300 Palestinians, as "incarceration without trial or charge, alleging that a person plans to commit a future offence". It has no time limit, and the evidence on which it is based is not disclosed.

Image source, Getty Images

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has warned that heavy Israeli bombing is "pushing Gaza to the edge of catastrophe".

In a statement, external, MSF said it finds the use of force by Israeli police unacceptable and raises the alarm on the devastating impact of any escalation in the Gaza Strip.

"The Israeli bombing is incredibly heavy and stronger than previous bombing campaigns,” said Hellen Ottens-Patterson, MSF head of mission in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

“Relentless bombing has destroyed many homes and buildings all around us. It’s not safe to go outside, and no one is safe inside, people are trapped. Emergency health workers are taking incredible but necessary risks to move around.”

On Monday, MSF said it supported the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the assessment and stabilisation of hundreds of patients injured by the Israeli police during earlier unrest in Jerusalem. MOst of the patients had sustained rubber bullet, stun grenade, and blunt trauma injuries, it said.

"Our teams were confronted with serious injuries caused by the Israeli police to men, women and children,” said Ottens-Patterson.

“They treated children as young as 12 who had been injured by rubber bullets. The violence was the worst that MSF teams had witnessed in Jerusalem in years.”

Image source, Reuters

A number of major international airlines have now suspended flights to and from Israel's main Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv because of the threat from rocket fire.

Among the airlines who have decided to act are America's United, Delta and American Airlines, as well as Germany's Lufthansa, the UK's British Airways and Spain's Iberia.

Meanwhile, Israeli airport authorities have closed Ben Gurion to inbound flights and have re-routed air traffic to Ramon airport near Eilat, southern Israel.

Hamas militants said they had fired a large rocket at the airport - a claim denied by Israel.

Israel's national airline El Al has said it is ready to provide additional aircraft to make up for shortfalls in foreign carriers.

Image source, Getty Images

Train traffic from Tel Aviv to the city of Lod has been suspended due to an escalation of violence in the mixed Jewish and Arab city, the Jerusalem Post reports., external

Israel declared a state of emergency in Lod on Tuesday after rioting by Israeli Arabs as conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants intensified.

Protests by Israeli Arabs broke out in Lod, a city near Tel Aviv, and escalated to full-scale rioting, with protesters throwing rocks at police, who responded with stun grenades.

The protests followed the funeral of an Israeli Arab man who died during unrest in the city a day earlier.

At least 12 people were injured in the clashes, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, external. As night fell, the situation degenerated in Lod, police said.

On Wednesday morning, a 52-year-old Arab Israeli father and his 16-year-old daughter were killed when a rocket fired from Gaza hit their car, also seriously injuring the mother.

Violence in the Gaza Strip and Israel - the worst in years - is showing no sign of abating amid continued rocket fire and air strikes.

Here are pictures from both sides of a conflict that threatens to escalate into an all-out war.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A number of public figures are attracting applause and controversy for voicing their opinions on the growing violence between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants.

Rock band Rage Against The Machine have tweeted their support, external for "the Palestinian people as they resist this colonial terror in all its forms", while US model Bella Hadid - whose father is Palestinian - posted on Instagram, external: "You are either on the right side or you are not."

Israeli actress Gal Gadot also tweeted about what she called the "vicious cycle".

"I pray for the victims and their families. I pray for this unimaginable hostility to end, I pray for our leaders to find the solution so we could live side by side in peace. I pray for better days."

You can read more about it here

Israel's military says it has called up 7,000 reservists and cancelled leave for all combat units.

About half of the reservists will be working in air-defence, artillery and medical units, spokesperson Hidai Zilberman is quoted as saying by The Times of Israel, external.

The moves come as Israeli tanks and troops move towards the border with the Gaza Strip.

Bassem Naeem, a spokesperson for the Islamist militant group gives his assessment of the situation.

According to Ynet news, external, a report by the Israel Builders Association shows more than half of Israeli's residential apartment buildings lack a bomb shelter.

Jerusalem tops the list with 180,000 apartments without shelters, while Tel Aviv has 160,000 and Haifa more than 98,000.

Israel has a sophisticated missile detection system that can give a short warning to residents when a rocket is en route, allowing them to head for shelter. A 1951 civil defence law mandated that all homes or residential buildings must have a shelter, although they can join together and share one shelter.

Gaza however has no air raid system or public shelters. Residents have no option but to hide in their homes.

You can read more about civilians under fire in the fighting here

Israeli media are reporting that Hamas militants have begun launching "suicide drones" into the country.

Also known as kamikaze drones or loitering munitions, a suicide drone is a type of weapon packed with explosives that hovers over an area looking for targets before attacking rapidly.

The Times of Israel has published a video released by the Israeli military, external, which they say shows a jet destroying one of the suicide drones. According to the newspaper Israeli forces have downed every suicide drone launched so far.

Meanwhile Hamas has released footage of the drones being launched

The Israeli town of Lod, just outside Tel Aviv, is under a state of emergency after riots by Arab residents on Tuesday night.

The unrest followed the funeral of Musa Hassuna, an Arab man who was shot dead on Monday as a protest in sympathy with Palestinians in Gaza and Jerusalem moved towards a Jewish neighbourhood.

Three Jewish suspects were arrested, who said they had acted in self-defence - though Mr Hassuna's father said his son had only been passing through the area during the demonstration and was shot a "point-blank" range.

Now, the Times of Israel reports, external that the three suspects will be released on bail. A court has also imposed a gag order on any details that could identify the three because of death threats against them and their families.

You can read more about the divided town, where about 30% of the population are Arabs, here.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says "the defence activity" of his country's Iron Dome anti-missile system "is giving us an offensive space".

He is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have already attacked hundreds of targets in Gaza in response to Palestinian rocket-fire and "will soon pass 1,000".

"We continue striking Hamas while defending our citizens," Mr Netanyahu says, adding that the operation "will take more time".

"But with great firmness in offence as well as defence we will achieve our goal of bringing back calm to the State of Israel," the prime minister stresses.

Image source, Getty Images

If you are just joining us, here are some of the day's key developments with Israel's military operation as the violence on both sides intensifies:

• Israel has started sending thousands of troops to its border with Gaza and has warned it may carry out a ground operation
• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said its troops should "prepare for battle" as Israel's military chiefs discuss the plans
• Meanwhile, Israel has carried out further air strikes in Gaza, with new targets such as banks and intelligence buildings being hit as rockets continue to be fired towards Israel by Palestinian militant groups
• The IDF says it will continue targeting sites linked to Hamas, and says it has struck a generator near the home of the Palestinian group's leader Ismail Haniyeh - who is currently in Qatar
• The death toll continues to increase, with at least 83 people now killed in Gaza and seven in Israel

BBC OS

Image source, Abd Elkader

Abd Elkader, 26, works in Haifa - a city with a mixed Arab and Jewish population.

“People here are not feeling safe at all,” he told BBC OS on World Service radio.

“I’ve notified my employer that I won’t be able to take the 30 minute drive to work. You cannot know when you’ll face a lynch attempt similar to the scenes we’ve seen in several cities. People are not feeling safe even in their homes.

“This time of year we’re supposed to be enjoying our time celebrating Eid al-Fitr, especially in a beautiful city like Haifa. But apparently not this time.”

Image source, Getty Images

Several international airlines say they are temporarily suspending flights to Israel's main airport near Tel Aviv because of the hostilities.

Three US carriers - United, Delta and American Airlines - as well as Germany's Lufthansa and British Airways have halted flights to and from Ben Gurion airport due to safety and security concerns.

Airport authorities at Ben Gurion have re-routed incoming aircraft to Ramon airport near Eilat in southern Israel because of the dangers of rocket fire from Gaza. Hamas said earlier that it had fired a large rocket at Ramon, but an Israeli official denied the claim.

Jonathan Marcus
Foreign affairs analyst

Image source, Getty Images

While death, damage and suffering have been caused to both sides in the escalating hostilities between Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli military, this remains a hugely asymmetric struggle.

Israel is the vastly more powerful player and its air force, armed drones and intelligence-gathering systems enable it to strike targets in Gaza pretty much at will.

It insists that its targeting is restricted to sites used for military purposes but the density of the Palestinian population and the fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad facilities are located close to, and often hidden under, civilian buildings makes the avoidance of civilian casualties altogether impossible.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, though the weaker parties, have weapons enough with which to attack Israel. They have already tried a variety of tactics.

By far and away the most significant weaponry in the Palestinians' arsenal is their wide variety of ground-to-ground missiles. The bulk of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad arsenals come from a dynamic and relatively sophisticated manufacturing capability inside the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, says 90% of all missiles reaching Israel have been intercepted by its Iron Dome anti-missile system.

• Read more from Jonathan here