In some ways, the specifics of Bashir’s decision to maintain silence with Dalia do not matter. They are symptomatic of a steady deterioration of relations between Israelis and Palestinians, as Israel claims ever more West Bank land, the settler population exceeds half a million, hundreds of checkpoints and other barriers continue to dot the land, and Israeli military forces retain control of sixty percent of the West Bank, and of Gaza by air and sea. Since Dalia and Bashir last saw each other, in 2005, multiple wars have devastated Gaza, killing an estimated 2,400 Palestinian civilians,
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