The fighting came amid serious Palestinian factional violence and reports of growing level of humanitarian crisis in the region. Hamas said they will continue to retaliate against Israeli strikes. In September 2007, citing an intensification of Qassam rocket attacks, Israel declared Gaza “hostile territory.”

Twenty-two countries ban direct flights and overflights to and from Israel. These are Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen.

Russia has an embassy in Tel Aviv and a consulate in Haifa. Israel has an embassy in Moscow and a consulate-general (to open) in Yekaterinburg. Russia is a member of the Quartet on the Middle East. For many years, Israel was a sanctuary for many Russian Jews.

37% of Germans supported Israel against 18% who supported Palestinians. In a similar poll by Pew, conducted in 2007, 34% of the German public supported Israel, while 21% supported Palestinians.

As of December 2020, Israel has received international recognition by 164 of the other 193 UN member states. Besides not having diplomatic relations, Israel’s sovereignty is disputed by some countries….UN member states.

China has criticized Israel’s construction of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. China’s then Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing called the Israeli West Bank barrier wall an obstacle to peace in a September 2006 statement during a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

Israel is designated by the United States as a major non-NATO ally, and was the first country to be granted this status alongside Egypt in 1987; Israel and Egypt remain the only countries in the Middle East to have this designation.