At 6.30am on Saturday, October 7, Hamas fighters crossed from Gaza into southern Israel as more than 5,000 rockets were fired by the militants from the enclave into towns and cities. The group called the attack Operation Al Aqsa Flood.
In the hours and days that followed, more than 1,000 people were killed on both sides as fighters opened fire at a music festival and then staged running battles with residents and armed forces. In response to the unprecedented breach in its security, Israel fired a barrage of rockets into Gaza and has threatened to destroy Hamas.
Israeli officials are calling the attacks "their 9/11" and have declared a total blockade of Gaza.
In this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Nada AlTaher looks at what is happening in Israel and Gaza, how the people of both sides are dealing with the escalation of violence and what’s next, as the fighting, at the time of recording, shows no immediate signs of ending.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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