If you haven’t visited Israel or the Gaza Strip or spent much time thinking about their geography, it can be hard to understand how compact they are and how violence in one spot can feel immediate and personal throughout the area. Maps of the region often look like this: Israel fills the frame. To people who are used to looking at maps of the United States, there seems to be plenty of space between major cities. But America is vast. A road trip across the continental U.S. takes days.
All told, Israel plus Gaza and the West Bank cover about 10,600 square miles of land — 2½ times the area of Los Angeles County. On Oct. 7, the first day of the latest eruption of violence between Hamas and Israel, Hamas fired rockets that hit targets throughout Israel while militants on the ground attacked Israeli communities and a music festival close to Gaza. Israel responded the next day with airstrikes, and the conflict has continued to escalate.