The distances from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to Gaza have never seemed so great, although they are only a few dozen kilometers. Less than an hour’s drive separates the three locales. On May 14, three events, from seemingly distant planets, took place in them almost simultaneously.

In Jerusalem, the US Embassy was inaugurated with much fanfare, national pride and religious ritual, both Jewish and Christian. In Tel Aviv, secular liberal Israel celebrated Netta Barzilai’s win at the eminently popular Eurovision song contest. Meanwhile, Gaza counted at least 60 Palestinian deaths at the border, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spent the day fighting tens of thousands of Palestinians attempting to reach or break through the fence at what has been billed as the Great Return March. Thus, the national capital was filled with hymns, flags, prayers and festive speeches; the cultural, secular and free-thinking capital was replete with pop, trash and colorful costumes; and besieged Gaza was filled with fire and blood.

The IDF is now conducting two active, open military conflicts, albeit at relatively low intensities. In the north, the conflict with Iran turned into a day of real warfare May 10 and was crowned with a decisive Israeli victory. In the south, however, seven successive weeks of Palestinian marches to and assaults on the Gaza border fence were blocked by an “iron wall” of snipers that the IDF erected.

“Yesterday’s activity [at the border fence] was completely different than the earlier weeks,” a senior Israeli officer told Al-Monitor on May 15, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We expected the 100,000 people that Hamas promised to bring, and only around 40,000 were there. But the violence level was still much higher than we had become accustomed to in the previous weeks.”