The United Nations’ Middle East envoy warned Wednesday that tensions “escalating towards a full-scale war" between Israel and Palestinian militants after Israeli airstrikes and rockets fired from the Gaza strip claimed more lives Wednesday morning.

Dozens have died this week in the violence, most of them Palestinian, as Israeli airstrikes leveled Palestinian apartment towers and Palestinian militant groups fired rockets at Israeli cities. It’s the worst violence in years for a conflict that goes back decades.

Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd speaks with Hanan Ashrawi, a former member of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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