2021 Israel–Palestine Crisis
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The 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, sometimes called the Unity Intifada, was a major outbreak of violence in the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
that mainly commenced on 10 May 2021, and continued until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May. It was marked by protests and police riot control, rocket attacks on Israel by
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), commonly known simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary organization formed in 1981. PIJ formed as an offsh ...
(PIJ), and Israeli airstrikes in the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
. The crisis was triggered on 6 May, when
Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...
in
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...
began protesting over an anticipated decision of the
Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...
on the eviction of six Palestinian families in the
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...
neighborhood of
Sheikh Jarrah Sheikh Jarrah (, ) is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, north of the Old City, on the road to Mount Scopus. It received its name from the 13th-century tomb of Hussam al-Din al-Jarrahi, a physician of Saladin, located ...
. Under international law, the area, effectively annexed by Israel in 1980, is a part of the Israeli-occupied
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
; On 7 May, according to Israel's Channel 12, Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police forces, who then stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound using tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades. The crisis prompted protests around the world as well as official reactions from world leaders. The violence coincided with
Qadr Night In Islamic belief, Laylat al-Qadr () or Night of Power is an Islamic festival in memory of the night when the Quran was first sent down from heaven to the world, the first revelation the Islamic prophet Muhammad received from the angel Gabrie ...
(8 May), observed by Muslims, and
Jerusalem Day Jerusalem Day (, ) is an Public holidays in Israel, Israeli national holiday that commemorates the "reunification" of East Jerusalem (including the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City) with West Jerusalem following the Six-Day War of 1967, which s ...
(9–10 May), an Israeli national holiday. The confrontations occurred ahead of a planned Jerusalem Day parade known as the
Dance of Flags The March of Flags (), or Dance of Flags (), is an annual flag flying parade on Jerusalem Day to celebrate what some Israelis term the " reunification of Jerusalem", but more widely-recognised as the military occupation and annexation of East ...
by far-right Jewish nationalists, which was later canceled. More than 600 people were injured, mostly Palestinians, drawing international condemnation. Israel's Supreme Court ruling on evictions from Sheikh Jarrah was then delayed for 30 days as
Avichai Mandelblit Avichai Mandelblit (; born 29 July 1963) is an Israeli jurist who served as the Attorney General of Israel from 2016 to 2022. Mandelblit had a long career in the Israel Defense Forces legal system, eventually serving as the Chief Military Advoc ...
, the erstwhile
attorney general of Israel The attorney general of Israel (, ''Ha-Yo'etz Ha-Mishpati La-Memshala'', ) heads the legal system of the executive branch and the public prosecution of the state. The attorney general advises the government in legal matters, represents the stat ...
, sought to reduce tensions. On the afternoon of 10 May, Hamas gave Israel an ultimatum to withdraw its security forces from both the Temple Mount complex and Sheikh Jarrah by 6 p.m. When the ultimatum expired without a response, both Hamas and PIJ launched rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel; some of these rockets hit Israeli residences and a school. Israel then began a campaign of airstrikes against Gaza; by 16 May, some 950 targets had been attacked, demolishing completely or partially 18 buildings, including four high-rise towers, 40 schools and four hospitals, while also striking the
al-Shati refugee camp Al-Shati (), also known as Shati or Beach camp, is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the northern Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean Sea coastline in the Gaza Governorate, and more specifically Gaza City. Al-Shati was established in 1948 fo ...
. Additionally, at least 19 medical facilities were damaged or destroyed by the Israeli bombardment. By 17 May, the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
estimated that Israeli airstrikes had destroyed 94 buildings in Gaza, comprising 461 housing and commercial units, including the al-Jalaa Highrise; housing offices of the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
, the
Al Jazeera Media Network Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media media conglomerate, conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera E ...
, and other news outlets; and 60 condominiums. As a result of the violence, at least 256 Palestinians, including 66 children, were killed (including at least seven from friendly fire). In Israel, at least 13 people were killed, including two children. The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that more than 1,900 Palestinians were injured, and as of 12 May, at least 200 Israelis were reported to have been injured. As of 19 May, at least 72,000 Palestinians have been displaced. Around 4,360 Palestinian rockets were fired towards Israel, of which 680 landed within the Gaza Strip, and over 90 percent of rockets bound towards populated areas were intercepted by Israel's
Iron Dome Iron Dome () is an Israeli mobile all-weather air defense system, developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired f ...
. Israel conducted around 1,500 aerial, land, and sea strikes on the Gaza Strip. Calls for a ceasefire were first proposed on 13 May by Hamas, but rejected by Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
. On 18 May,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, along with
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
, announced the filing of a United Nations Security Council resolution for a ceasefire. Egypt mediated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which came into effect on 21 May 2021, ending 11 days of fighting in which both sides claimed victory. On 16 June 2021,
incendiary balloon An incendiary balloon (or balloon bomb) is a balloon inflated with a lighter-than-air gas such as hot air, hydrogen, or helium, that has a bomb, incendiary device, or Molotov cocktail attached. The balloon is carried by the prevailing winds to ...
s were launched from Gaza into Israel, which the
Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...
responded to with multiple airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, resuming the fighting.


Background


April–May 2021 Ramadan events

At the beginning of the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
in 2021,
Jerusalem Islamic Waqf The Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, also known as the Jerusalem Waqf, the Jordanian Waqf or simply the Waqf, is the Jordanian-appointed organization responsible for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on ...
officials said that on the night of 13 April, the Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and severed the loudspeaker cables used to broadcast the
muezzin The muezzin (; ), also spelled mu'azzin, is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque from the minaret. The muezzin ...
's ritual call to prayer so that the
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...
speech being delivered by President
Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Rivlin was Minister of Communications from 2001 to 2003, and su ...
below at the
Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...
would not be disturbed. Israeli police declined to comment. The incident was condemned by
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
, and the
Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a c ...
President
Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...
called the incident "a racist hate crime", but it did not draw other international attention. In the same month, Israeli police closed the staired plaza outside the Old City's
Damascus Gate The Damascus Gate is one of the main Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side and connects to a highway leading out to Nablus, which in the Hebrew Bible was called Shechem or Sichem, and from the ...
, a traditional holiday gathering spot for Palestinians. The closure triggered violent night clashes, the barricades were removed after several days. On 15 April, a
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
video of a Palestinian teen slapping an ultra-orthodox Jewish man went viral, leading to several copycat incidents. The next day, tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers were turned away from al-Aqsa, on the first Friday of Ramadan when Israel imposed a 10,000-person limit on prayers at the mosque. On the same day, a rabbi was beaten in Jaffa, causing two days of protests. On 22 April, the
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
Jewish supremacist group
Lehava Lehava ( "Flame," ''LiMniat Hitbolelut B'eretz HaKodesh''; Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land) is a far-right and Jewish supremacist organization based in Israel that strictly opposes Jewish assimilation, objecting to most personal r ...
held a march through Jerusalem chanting " death to Arabs." On 23 April, after fringe military groups fired 36 rockets at southern Israel, the IDF launched missiles at Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. The barrage of rocket fire came as hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem and on 25 April, the United Nations envoy
Tor Wennesland Tor Wennesland (born 21 August 1952) is a Norwegian diplomat. Holding the cand. theol. degree, he was first hired in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983. He served as the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process from 20 ...
condemned the violence and said, "The provocative acts across Jerusalem must cease. The indiscriminate launching of rockets towards Israeli population centers violates international law and must stop immediately." On 26 April, after more than 40 rockets have been launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel while one projectile exploded inside the Gaza Strip over of the previous three days, the
Security Cabinet of Israel The State Security Cabinet (SSC; , ''HaKabinet HaMedini-Bithoni''), also known as the Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs (, ''Va'adat HaSarim Le'Inyanei Bitahon leomi'') or National Security Affairs Committee (NSAC), is an "Inner ...
voted in favor after an hours-long debate of an operational plan to strike Hamas if rocket fire from Gaza continues. In the following days, a Palestinian boy and a 19-year-old Israeli settler were killed. On 6 May, the Israel Police shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian during a raid of
Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
in the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. According to
Addameer Addameer (), officially Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (), is a Palestinian NGO based in Ramallah. Addameer monitors the treatment of Palestinian prisoners arrested in the West Bank by Israel and the Palestinian Author ...
, Israeli police arrested at least 61 children from mid-April during clashes in and about East Jerusalem, and 4 were shot dead in three weeks.
Itamar Ben-Gvir Itamar Ben-Gvir ( ; born 6 May 1976) is an Israeli far-right politician and lawyer who is serving as the Minister of National Security since 2025. He is the leader of Otzma Yehudit ('Jewish Power'), a Kahanist and anti-Arab party that won ...
visited Sheikh Jarrah shortly before the clashes began, where he said that the houses belonged to Jews and told police to "open fire" on protesters.
Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...
reported that
Israeli settlers Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...
had been seen in Sheikh Jarrah openly carrying assault rifles and revolvers leading up to the clashes. According to author Ramzy Baroud, a video was posted of Ben-Gvir, in a joking exchange with the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Arieh King, mocking a Palestinian resident shot by Israeli police during a protest.


Sheikh Jarrah controversy

The Sheikh Jarrah district houses the descendants of
refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
expelled or displaced from their homes in
Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
and
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
in the
Nakba The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...
of 1948. Today, around 75 Palestinian families live on this disputed land. The long-running dispute over land ownership in
Sheikh Jarrah Sheikh Jarrah (, ) is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, north of the Old City, on the road to Mount Scopus. It received its name from the 13th-century tomb of Hussam al-Din al-Jarrahi, a physician of Saladin, located ...
is considered a microcosm of the Israeli–Palestinian disputes over land since 1948. Currently, more than 1,000 Palestinians living across
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...
face possible eviction.
Israeli law Israeli law is based mostly on a common law legal system, though it also reflects the diverse history of the territory of the State of Israel throughout the last hundred years (which was at various times prior to independence under Ottoman, t ...
allows Israeli land owners to file claims over land in East Jerusalem which they have owned prior to 1948, except where expropriated by the Jordanian government, but rejects Palestinian claims over land in Israel which they owned. The international community considers East Jerusalem to be Palestinian territory held under
Israeli occupation Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...
and the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...
(OHCHR) has called on Israel to stop all forced evictions of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah, saying that if carried out the expulsions of the Palestinians would violate Israel's responsibilities under international law which prohibit the transfer of civilians in to or out of occupied territory by the occupying power. A spokesman for the OHCHR said that such transfers may constitute a "war crime". Human rights organizations have been critical of Israeli efforts to remove Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah, with
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
releasing a statement saying that the disparate rights between Palestinian and Jewish residents of East Jerusalem "underscores the reality of apartheid that Palestinians in East Jerusalem face." Israeli human rights group estimate that over 1,000 Palestinian families are at risk of eviction in East Jerusalem. A Jewish trust bought the land in Sheikh Jarrah from Arab landowners in the 1870s in
Ottoman Palestine The region of Palestine (region), Palestine is part of the wider region of the Levant, which represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia.Steiner & Killebrew, p9: "The general limits ..., as defined here, begin at the Plain of ' ...
. However, the purchase is disputed by some Palestinians, who have produced Ottoman-era land titles for part of the land. The land came under Jordanian control following the
1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...
. Following the war, Jewish residents were expelled from East Jerusalem, and Palestinians from Israel. In 1956, the Jordanian government, in cooperation with the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
' organization for refugees, housed 28 of these Palestinian families on land owned by Jewish trusts. After the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
the area fell under Israeli occupation. In 1970, Israel passed a law that allowed previous owners to reclaim property in East Jerusalem that had been taken by Jordan without having ownership transferred. Under this law, in 1972, the Israeli Custodian General registered the properties under the Jewish trusts which claimed to be the rightful owners of the land. In 1982, an agreement was endorsed by the courts which the families later said had been made without their knowledge and disputed the original ownership claims by the Jewish trusts. These challenges were rejected by Israeli courts. The trusts then demanded that the tenants pay rent. Eviction orders began to be issued in the 1990s. Palestinian tenants say that Israeli courts have no jurisdiction in the area since the land is outside Israel's recognized borders; this view is supported by the
UN Human Rights Office The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...
. In 2003, the Jewish trusts sold the homes to a right-wing settler organization, which then made repeated attempts to evict the Palestinian residents. The company has submitted plans to build more than 200 housing units, which have not yet been approved by the government. These groups succeeded in evicting 43 Palestinians from the area in 2002, and three more families since then. In 2010, the
Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...
rejected an appeal by Palestinian families who had resided in 57 housing units in the area of Sheikh Jarrah, who had petitioned the court to have their ownership to the properties recognized.Yitzhak Reiter, Lior Lehrs
'The Strategic Implications of Jewish Settlement in an Arab Neighborhood in East Jerusalem,'
The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies __NOTOC__ Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research (JIPR), formerly the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, is an independent policy think tank located in Jerusalem. The institute conducts policy studies on Jerusalem, innovation policy (R&D), ...
2010 pp.1–96 p.6
An Israeli court had previously ruled that the Palestinians could remain on the properties under a legal status called "protected tenants", but had to pay rent. The move to evict them came after they refused to pay rent and carried out construction. In 2021 Israel's Supreme Court was expected to deliver a ruling on whether to uphold the eviction of six Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood on 10 May 2021, after a court ruled that 13 families comprising 58 people had to vacate the properties by 1 August. On 9 May 2021, the Israeli Supreme Court delayed the expected decision on evictions for 30 days, after an intervention from
Attorney General of Israel The attorney general of Israel (, ''Ha-Yo'etz Ha-Mishpati La-Memshala'', ) heads the legal system of the executive branch and the public prosecution of the state. The attorney general advises the government in legal matters, represents the stat ...
Avichai Mandelblit Avichai Mandelblit (; born 29 July 1963) is an Israeli jurist who served as the Attorney General of Israel from 2016 to 2022. Mandelblit had a long career in the Israel Defense Forces legal system, eventually serving as the Chief Military Advoc ...
. On 26 May 2021, the court ordered Mandelblit to submit his legal opinion on the matter within two weeks. In a related case, the Jerusalem District Court is holding a hearing on appeals filed on behalf of seven families subject of eviction orders from the Batan al-Hawa section of Silwan. According to Haaretz, Mandelblit notified the court on 7 June that he would decline to present a view on the case; a new hearing date of 2 August was set. According to the
Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research __NOTOC__ Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research (JIPR), formerly the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, is an independent policy think tank located in Jerusalem. The institute conducts policy studies on Jerusalem, innovation policy (R&D), ...
, this approach to property rights is unacceptable in international law. The Jerusalem-based non-profit organization B'Tselem and the international Human Rights Watch cited discriminatory policies in East Jerusalem in recent reports, alleging that Israel is guilty of the
crime of apartheid The crime of apartheid is defined by the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppres ...
. Israel rejected the allegations. East Jerusalem is effectively annexed by Israel, and Israel applies its laws there. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the area is a part of the
Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
territories that Israel currently occupies.
United States secretary of state The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...
Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...
warned Israel that evicting Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem is among the actions by both sides that could lead to "conflict and war."


Political instability

The 2021 Palestinian legislative election for the
Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinians, Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the Wes ...
, originally scheduled for 22 May 2021, was indefinitely postponed on 29 April by President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas, which was expected to do well in the elections, called the move a " coup", and some Palestinians believed Abbas had delayed the election to avoid political defeat for his party
Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
. Analysts say the postponement contributed towards the current crisis, and encouraged Hamas to resort to military confrontation rather than diplomatic tactics. Opinion pieces in
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
, ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' and ''
Foreign Policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
'' argued that by taking responsibility for the rocket fire, Hamas had improved its standing among Palestinians wary of the delayed elections. In Israel, a
political crisis A cabinet crisis, government crisis or political crisis refers to a situation where an incumbent government is unable to form or function, is toppled through an uprising, or collapses. Political crises may correspond with, cause or be caused by an ...
saw four inconclusive elections since 2019, which left Israel functioning under a caretaker government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to persuade several extreme-right politicians to form a coalition. The presence of right-wing Israeli politicians Ben-Gvir and King contributed to the crisis. ''The New York Times'' said Netanyahu was trying to instigate a crisis to build support for his leadership, and thus allowed tensions to rise in Jerusalem. An article in ''The Conversation'' dismissed this as "conspiratorial", arguing that although the crisis has given Netanyahu a political opportunity, he "was not looking or hoping for a major conflict with the Palestinians to help him hold onto power".


Escalation

Palestinian protests began on 6 May in Sheikh Jarrah, but clashes soon spread to the
al-Aqsa Mosque The Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel is the main congregational mosque or Musalla, prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also n ...
,
Lod Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...
, other
Arab localities in Israel Arab localities in Israel include all population centers with a 50% or higher Arab population in Israel. East Jerusalem and Golan Heights are not internationally recognized parts of Israel proper but have been included in this list. According to ...
, and the West Bank. Between 10 and 14 May Israeli security inflicted injuries on approximately 1,000 Palestinian protesters in East Jerusalem.


Sheikh Jarrah

Palestinians and Israeli settlers first clashed on 6 May in Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families are at risk of being evicted. Palestinian protesters had been holding nightly outdoor
iftar ''Iftar'' () is the Fasting in Islam, fast-breaking Supper, evening meal of Muslims in Ramadan at the time of ' (call to prayer) of the Maghrib prayer. Iftar is the second meal of the day; during Ramadan, the daily fast begins immediately a ...
s. On 6 May, Israeli settlers and members of the far-right political party
Otzma Yehudit Otzma Yehudit () is a Far-right politics in Israel, far-right, ultranationalist, Kahanism, Kahanist, and Anti-Arab racism, anti-Arab List of political parties in Israel, political party in Israel. It is the ideological descendant of the outlawe ...
set up a table across the street from Palestinians. Social media videos showed both sides hurling rocks and chairs at each other. Israeli police intervened and arrested at least 7 people. Israeli police subsequently engaged in extensive spraying of Sheikh Jarrah's Palestinian homes, shops, restaurants, public spaces and cultural institutions with
Skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or gi ...
, a lasting stench used to contain protests.


Al-Aqsa Mosque compound

On 7 May, large numbers of police were deployed on the Temple Mount as around 70,000 worshippers attended the final Friday prayers of Ramadan at al-Aqsa.The Israeli police said that some protestors had thrown stones and fireworks at them; however, it was unclear what sparked the violence. Police officers fired stun grenades into the mosque compound and into a field clinic. A mosque spokesman stated the clashes broke out after Israeli police attempted to evacuate the compound, where many Palestinians sleep over in Ramadan, adding that the evacuation was intended to allow access to Israelis. More than 300 Palestinians were wounded as Israeli police stormed the mosque compound. Palestinians threw rocks, firecrackers, and heavy objects, while Israeli police fired stun grenades,
tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...
, and
rubber bullet Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Altho ...
s at worshippers. The storming came ahead of a
Jerusalem Day Jerusalem Day (, ) is an Public holidays in Israel, Israeli national holiday that commemorates the "reunification" of East Jerusalem (including the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City) with West Jerusalem following the Six-Day War of 1967, which s ...
flag march by Jewish nationalists through the Old City. More than 600 Palestinians were injured, more than 400 of whom were hospitalised. Militants in Gaza fired rockets into Israel the following night. More clashes occurred on 8 May, the date of the Islamic holy night of
Laylat al-Qadr In Islamic belief, Laylat al-Qadr () or Night of Power is an Islamic holidays, Islamic festival in memory of the night when the Quran was first sent down from Heaven in Islam, heaven to the world, the first Waḥy, revelation the Islamic proph ...
. Palestinian crowds threw stones, lit fires, and chanted "Strike Tel Aviv" and "In spirit and in blood, we will redeem al-Aqsa", which ''
The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' (ToI) is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist Dav ...
'' described as in support of
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
. The
Israel Police The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...
, wearing
riot gear Riot control is a form of public order policing used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest. If a riot is sp ...
and some on horseback, used
stun grenade A stun grenade, also known as a flash grenade, flashbang, thunderflash, or sound bomb, is a Non-lethal weapon, non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient an enemy's senses. Upon detonation, a stun grenade produces Flash blindness, ...
s and water cannons. At least 80 people were injured. On 10 May, Israeli police stormed al-Aqsa for the second time, injuring 300 Palestinians and 21 Israeli police. According to the
Red Crescent The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human ...
, 250 Palestinians were hospitalized for injuries and seven were in critical condition. Also on 10 May, a video showing a tree burning near al-Aqsa began to circulate on social media. Below in the Western plaza, a crowd of Jewish Israelis was singing and dancing in celebration of Jerusalem Day. Yair Wallach accused them of singing "genocidal songs of vengeance." The crowd cheered the flames with words from a song from Judges 16:28 in which
Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...
cries out before he tears down the pillars in Gaza, "O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!" Witnesses differed as to whether the fire was caused by an Israeli police stun grenade or by fireworks thrown by Palestinian protesters. Although the fire happened just 10 meters away from al-Aqsa, there was no damage to the mosque.


West Bank

After
Friday prayers Friday prayer, or congregational prayer (), is the meeting together of Muslims for communal prayer and service at midday every Friday. In Islam, the day itself is called ''Yawm al-Jum'ah'' (shortened to ''Jum'ah''), which translated from Arabic me ...
on 14 May, Palestinians protested in more than 200 locations in the West Bank. Protesters hurled stones and Israeli soldiers responded with live fire and tear gas. As a result, 11 Palestinians were killed in the clashes. A Palestinian man who attempted to stab a soldier was shot, but survived; no Israeli soldiers were wounded in the incident. More than 100 Palestinians were injured. There have been daily demonstrations since the escalation in Gaza. As of 16 May, a total of 13 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank in clashes with Israeli troops by 14 May. On 17 May, three Palestinian demonstrators were killed in clashes with the IDF. According to
Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...
, Fatah has backed a call for a general strike on 18 May in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Palestinians in Israel have been asked to take part. In an unusual display of unity by "Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up 20% of its population, and those in the territories Israel seized in 1967" the strike went ahead and "shops were shuttered across cities in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and in villages and towns inside Israel". During the day of protests and strikes, a Palestinian man was killed and more than 70 wounded in clashes near Ramallah and two Israeli soldiers were injured in a shooting attack. Large crowds also gathered in Nablus, Bethlehem and Hebron while police deployed water cannons in Sheikh Jarrah.


Arab communities in Israel

During the evening and night of 10 May, Arab rioters in Lod threw stones and firebombs at Jewish homes, a school, and a synagogue, later attacking a hospital. Shots were fired at the rioters, killing one and wounding two; a Jewish suspect in the shooting was arrested. Widespread protests and riots intensified across Israel, particularly in cities with large Arab populations. In Lod, Arab rioters threw rocks and firebombs at Jewish apartments, set fires, tore down street signs, set five synagogues on fire, and attacked a school, a pre-army military academy, and city hall. They also raised Palestinian and Hamas flags and called to "liberate Palestine." A Jewish man, Yigal Yehoshua, was critically wounded after being struck in the head by a brick and died six days later. The violence led to some Jewish residents being evacuated from their homes by police. Armed Jewish residents killed one Arab man, Musa Hassuna, and wounded two others. Police later accepted Hassuna's shooting as an act of self-defense amid the riots. A Muslim cemetery was also vandalized. In
Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
, the Effendi hotel was torched by Arab rioters, injuring several guests. One of them, Avi Har-Even, a former head of the
Israel Space Agency The Israel Space Agency (ISA; , ''Sokhnut heKhalal haYisraelit'') is a governmental body, a part of Israel's Ministry of Science and Technology, that coordinates all Israeli space research programs with scientific and commercial goals. The ag ...
, suffered burns and smoke inhalation, and died on 6 June. In the nearby city of
Ramle Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph Su ...
, Jewish rioters threw rocks at passing vehicles. On 11 May, Mayor of Lod Yair Revivio urged
Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
to deploy the
Israel Border Police The Israel Border Police () is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border guard; its members are colloquially known as ''magavnikim ...
to the city, stating that the municipality had "completely lost control" and warning that the country was on the brink of "civil war". Netanyahu declared a
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
in Lod on 11 May, marking the first time since 1966 that Israel has used emergency powers over an Arab community. Border Police forces were deployed to the city. A nighttime curfew was declared and entry to the city was prohibited for non-resident civilians. Minister of Public Security
Amir Ohana Amir Ohana (; born 15 March 1976) is an Israeli lawyer, former Shin Bet official and politician who has served as the Speaker of the Knesset since 2022, and as a member of the Knesset for Likud. He previously held the posts of Ministry of Just ...
announced the implementation of emergency orders. Unrest continued on 12 May. In Acre, a Jewish man was attacked and seriously injured by an Arab mob armed with sticks and stones while driving his car. In
Bat Yam Bat Yam ( ) is a city on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In , it had a population of . History British Mandate Bat Y ...
, Jewish extremists attacked Arab stores and beat pedestrians. An Arab motorist was pulled from his car and severely beaten in the street. The incident was caught live by an Israeli news crew. As of 13 May, communal violence including "riots, stabbings, arson, attempted home invasions and shootings" was reported from Beersheba, Rahat, Ramla, Lod, Nasiriyah, Tiberias, Jerusalem, Haifa and Acre. An Israeli soldier was severely beaten in Jaffa and hospitalized for a skull fracture and cerebral hemorrhage, a Jewish paramedic and another Jewish man were shot in separate incidents in Lod, a police officer was shot in Ramla, Israeli journalists were attacked by far-right rioters in Tel Aviv, and a Jewish family that mistakenly drove into
Umm al-Fahm Umm al-Fahm ( , ''Umm al-Faḥm''; ''Um el-Faḥem'') is a city located northwest of Jenin in the Haifa District of Israel. In its population was , nearly all of whom are Palestinian citizens of Israel. The city is situated on the Umm al-Fahm ...
was attacked by an Arab mob before being rescued by other local residents and police. Israel Border Police forces were deployed throughout the country to quell the unrest, and 10 Border Police reserve companies were called up. In an address to police in Lod, Prime Minister Netanyahu told them not to worry about future commissions of inquiry and investigations into their enforcement during the riots, reminding them of the way the police had suppressed the Palestinian Land Day riots of 1976. By 17 May, the rioting had mostly died down. However, on 18 May, Israeli-Arabs, together with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, held a general strike in protest against Israeli policies toward Palestinians. Numerous employers threatened to fire Arab workers who participated in the strike. The management of
Rambam Hospital Rambam Health Care Campus () commonly called Rambam Hospital, is a teaching hospital in the Bat Galim neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. Rambam Health Care Campus is a part of Tertiary Referral Center for Northern Israel, It was founded in 1938. It ...
in Haifa sent letters to their Arab employees warning against participating in the strike, and the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
came under heavy criticism from teachers throughout Israel after it sent requests to the principals of schools in Arab towns asking for a list of teachers who participated in the strike. There were some instances of employees who participated in the strike being unlawfully dismissed without a prior hearing as required under Israeli law. The Israeli telecommunications company Cellcom paused work for an hour as an act in support of coexistence. The move led to calls for a boycott of Cellcom among Israeli right-wingers who accused it of showing solidarity with the strike, and several Jewish settlement councils and right-wing organizations cut ties with it. Cellcom's stock subsequently dropped by two percent. Throughout the riots, Arab rioters set 10 synagogues and 112 Jewish homes on fire, looted 386 Jewish homes and damaged another 673, and set 849 Jewish cars on fire. There were also 5,018 recorded instances of stone-throwing against Jews. By contrast, Jewish rioters damaged 13 Arab homes and set 13 Arab cars on fire, and there were 41 recorded instances of stone-throwing against Arabs. One Arab home was set on fire by Arab rioters who mistook it for a Jewish home. No mosques were set on fire and no Arab homes were reported looted during the unrest. By 19 May, 1,319 people had been arrested for participating in the riots, of whom 159 were Jewish, and 170 people had been criminally charged over the riots, of whom 155 were Arab and 15 Jewish. On 23 May, it was reported that 10% of those arrested over the riots were Jews, with the vast majority of those arrested being Arabs. On 24 May, the police launched a sweeping operation to arrest rioters called Operation Law and Order, deploying thousands of police officers to carry out mass arrests of suspected rioters. By 25 May, over 1,550 people had been arrested. On 3 June, the police announced the completion of arrests. Of the 2,142 arrested, 91% were Arab. As of May 2022, around 90% of 600 people indicted over the rioting were Arabs. Seven men, five Lod residents and two West Bank Palestinians who had been in Israel illegally, were indicted on murder, terrorism, and racism charges over the death of Yigal Yehoshua. Another seven suspects were indicted for arson and rioting over the burning of the Effendi hotel, but none were charged with homicide over the subsequent death of Avi Har-Even, as the fire's short duration and limited area within the hotel affected made it difficult for prosecutors to connect it to Har-Even's death. Three Jews were indicted for attempted terrorist murder over the beating of an Arab man in Bat Yam. According to
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
, most of the arrests of Israeli-Arabs were for "insulting or assaulting a police officer" or "taking part in an illegal gathering" while right-wing Jewish extremists were mainly able to organize freely. The organization claimed that a "catalogue of violations" was committed by Israeli police against Palestinians in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem. "On at least two occasions in Haifa and Nazareth, witness accounts and verified videos showed police attacking groups of unarmed protesters without provocation", Amnesty reported.


Gaza

Hamas delivered an ultimatum to Israel to remove all its police and military personnel from both the Haram al Sharif mosque site and Sheikh Jarrah by 10 May 6 p.m. If it failed to do so, they announced that the combined militias of the Gaza Strip ("joint operations room") would strike Israel. Minutes after the deadline passed, Hamas fired more than 150 rockets into Israel from Gaza. The
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
(IDF) said that seven rockets were fired toward Jerusalem and
Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh () is a city council (Israel), city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District. A center of Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodoxy, Beit Shemesh has a population of 170,683 as of 2024. The city is named afte ...
and that one was intercepted. An anti-tank missile was also fired at an Israeli civilian vehicle, injuring the driver. Israel launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip on the same day. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad called the ensuing conflict the "Sword of Jerusalem Battle" (). The following day, the IDF officially dubbed the campaign in the Gaza Strip "Operation Guardian of the Walls." On 11 May, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched hundreds of rockets at
Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...
and
Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...
, killing two people and wounding more than 90 others. A third Israeli woman from
Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion ( , "First to Zion") is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Founded in 1882 by Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire who were ...
was also killed, while two more civilians from Dahmash were killed by a rocket attack. On 11 May, the 13-story residential Hanadi Tower in Gaza collapsed after being hit by an Israeli airstrike. The tower housed a mix of residential apartments and commercial offices. IDF said the building contained offices used by Hamas, and said it gave "advance warning to civilians in the building and provided sufficient time for them to evacuate the site"; Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired 137 rockets at
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
in five minutes. Hamas stated that they fired their "largest ever barrage." In addition, an Israeli state-owned
oil pipeline A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...
was hit by a rocket. On 12 May, the
Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; , commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial and space warfare branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Indep ...
destroyed dozens of police and security installations along the Gaza Strip; Hamas said its police headquarters were among the targets destroyed. Over 850 rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel on 12 May. According to the IDF, at least 200 rockets launched by Hamas failed to reach Israel, and fell inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas also struck an Israeli military jeep near the Gaza border with an anti-tank missile. An Israeli soldier was killed and three others were wounded in the attack. On 13 May, Israeli forces and militant groups in Gaza continued to exchange artillery fire and airstrikes. Hamas attempted to deploy
suicide drone A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.
s against Israeli targets, with an Israeli F-16 engaging and shooting down one such drone. The
Iron Dome Iron Dome () is an Israeli mobile all-weather air defense system, developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired f ...
intercepted many of the rockets fired at Israel. A series of Israeli strikes targeted the headquarters of Hamas' internal security forces, its central bank, and the home of a senior Hamas commander. On 14 May, Israel Defense Forces claimed to have troops on the ground and in the air attacking the Gaza Strip, although this claim was later retracted and followed with an apology for misleading the press. Israeli troops were reportedly told that they would be sent into Gaza and ground forces were reportedly positioned along the border as though they were preparing to launch an invasion. That same day, the Israeli Air Force launched a massive bombardment of Hamas' extensive underground tunnel network, which was known as "the metro", as well as above-ground positions, reportedly inflicting heavy casualties. It was suspected that the reports of an Israeli ground invasion had been a deliberate ruse to lure Hamas operatives into the tunnels and prepared positions above ground to confront Israeli ground forces so that large numbers could then be killed by airstrikes. According to an Israeli official, the attacks killed hundreds of Hamas personnel, and in addition, 20 Hamas commanders were assassinated and most of its rocket production capabilities were destroyed. However, the estimated Hamas death toll was revised to dozens, as information came out that senior Hamas commanders had doubted that the ruse was genuine and only a few dozen Hamas fighters took positions in the tunnels. In total, 160 Israeli Air Force aircraft fired 450 missiles at 150 targets, with the attacks lasting about 40 minutes. Also on 14 May, a Hamas drone was downed by Israeli air defense forces. On 15 May the IDF destroyed the al-Jalaa Building in Gaza, which housed the Al Jazeera Media Network and Associated Press journalists, and a number of other press offices and apartments. The building was hit by three missiles, approximately an hour after Israeli forces called the building's owner, warning of the attack and advising all occupants to evacuate. The press agencies demanded an explanation; the IDF said at the time that the building housed assets of Hamas military intelligence. On 8 June, Israel stated that a Hamas electronic warfare unit developing a system to jam the Iron Dome was based in the building. AP demanded proof of this; Hamas did not immediately make any comment. Israel said that it did not suspect that AP personnel knew of Hamas's use of the building, and offered to assist AP in rebuilding its offices and operations in Gaza. Israel stated that it provided the US government intelligence on the strike but would not make the information public. US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...
confirmed that Israel had sent the US information and said "It's my understanding that we've received some further information through intelligence channels, and it's not something I can comment on." On the same day — the 73rd anniversary of the
nakba The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...
, in the first of several attacks on Gaza's industrial infrastructure, Israel fired an estimated six canisters of M150 Smoke HC 155mm shells between 5:46 and 5:48 pm into the Khudair Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Tools warehouse in
Beit Lahiya Beit Lahia or Beit Lahiya () is a city in the Gaza Strip, north of Jabalia, in the North Gaza Governorate of the State of Palestine. It sits next to Beit Hanoun and close to the border with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of ...
in northern Gaza. Such munitions are designed to create smoke screens to cover troop movements, though no Israeli forces were present in the area. The Khudair Warehouse stores roughly 50% of all vital
agricultural chemicals An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of ''agricultural chemical'', is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical typically refers to biocides (pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicid ...
used in the besieged strip. The strike caused hundreds of tons of pesticides, fertilisers, plastics and nylons to go up in flames, with a toxic plume spreading 5.7 km2. A year later the forensic architectural unit of the Palestinian NGO
Al-Haq Al-Haq (; or "the Right") is a Palestinians, Palestinian non-governmental organization, non-governmental human rights organization based in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. Founded in 1979, Al-Haq monitors and documents human rights vi ...
concluded a study claiming that the strike amounted to the deployment by Israel of 'indirect ... chemical weapons'. Israel had foreknowledge of the contents of the warehouse, the materials all having been imported from Israel. According to legal experts, the incident may be prosecutable under the
Rome Statute The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...
of the
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
. The single deadliest incident of the campaign occurred on 16 May, when Israeli warplanes fired 11 missiles along a stretch of Wehda Street, in the upscale
Rimal Rimal or Remal () is a neighborhood in Gaza City located from the city center. Situated along the coastline, it was considered the most prosperous neighborhood of Gaza.Jacobs, 1998, p.455. The main street that runs through Gaza, Omar Mukhtar ...
neighborhood. According to the IDF, a Hamas tunnel and underground command center were the targets of the attack which destroyed two residential buildings, killing 44 civilians. According to the IDF, the extent to which the underground military infrastructure had extended under civilian buildings in the area had not been known, and when the missiles exploded underground and destroyed the facilities targeted, they unexpectedly dislodged the foundations of civilian buildings above them, causing them to collapse. The IDF said that it had not expected the extent of the civilian casualties which occurred. Speaking to ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', a senior Israeli military official said that the civilian death toll was unexpected and that the attack had been aimed at the center of the road to minimize collateral damage, but that the IDF's calculations had failed to anticipate the collapse of nearby buildings. The official said that the Israeli Air Force suspected that there may have been explosives or munitions stored in the underground infrastructure targeted which ultimately caused the buildings to collapse. Another senior Israeli official later said that the estimated 1/1 ratio between militants and civilians in the strike was 'phenomenal' given how deeply military infrastructure was embedded in civilian areas of the neighborhood. On May 26, Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Hamas political wing in Gaza, denied that any of their tunnels were under civilian areas and dismissed the accusation as "baseless". On June 5, Sinwar admitted that Hamas did embed military command centers in civilian locations. Sinwar said "We and other factions have initiated a gradual transfer operation with the aim of relocating a number of military headquarters from within the civilian population." The Israeli Air Force carried out another large-scale series of raids against Hamas' tunnel network on 17 May, bombing over 15 kilometers of underground passages, with 54 Israeli jets dropping 110 bombs. The homes of nine Hamas commanders and a home used by Hamas' military intelligence branch were also bombed. During the fighting, Hamas militants with
anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulde ...
s repeatedly took positions in apartments and behind dunes. These teams were identified by IDF reconnaissance units and subsequently destroyed in pinpoint attacks. At least 20 such teams were destroyed by Israeli air and ground forces. On 20 May, a Hamas anti-tank missile attack on an IDF bus lightly wounded one soldier. The attack came moments after a group of 10 soldiers had disembarked from the bus. In addition, the IDF sank Hamas' fleet of small unmanned submarines designed to explode under or near Israeli naval vessels or oil and gas drilling rigs. Hamas tried repeatedly to attack Israel's
Tamar gas field The Tamar gas field is a natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel. The field is located in Israel's exclusive economic zone, roughly west of Haifa in waters deep. The Tamar field is considered to have proven reserves ...
. At two least attempts to launch attacks with autonomous submarines were intercepted. In one instance, a Hamas team was spotted launching the submarine. An Israeli navy vessel destroyed the submarine while it was still close to the shore and the Israeli Air Force subsequently attacked the team which launched it. By the end of the campaign, over 4,360 rockets and mortar shells had been fired at southern and central Israel, an average of 400 per day. About 3,400 successfully crossed the border while 680 fell in Gaza and 280 fell into the sea. The Iron Dome shot down 1,428 rockets detected as heading toward populated areas, an interception rate of 95 percent. Some 60–70 rockets hit populated areas after the Iron Dome failed to intercept them. The attacks killed 6 Israeli civilians, among them a 5-year-old boy and two Israeli-Arabs, as well as three foreign nationals working in Israel: an Indian woman working as a caregiver in Ashkelon and two Thai workers who were killed when the packing house of a community in southern Israel close to the Gaza border took a direct hit. Three other Israeli civilians including an 87-year-old woman died from injuries sustained after they fell while running to bomb shelters during attacks. The IDF estimated that it destroyed 850 rockets in strikes on the Gaza Strip and also severely degraded local rocket manufacturing capabilities in strikes on about three dozen rocket production centers. In addition, Israel assassinated numerous Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders with airstrikes. Nearly 30 senior Hamas commanders were assassinated by the IDF during the campaign. Israel's ability to locate senior commanders to such an extent indicated extensive Israeli intelligence penetration of Hamas' ranks. In three instances, Hamas attempted to launch cross-border raids into Israel to kill or kidnap soldiers and civilians, utilizing tunnels that approached but did not cross into Israeli territory to enable its fighters to get close. All of these attacks were foiled. In one instance, a group of Hamas fighters were struck before entering a tunnel and in two other instances the groups were targeted while in the tunnels. A total of 18 Hamas fighters were killed. The IDF also stated that seven Hamas drones that crossed into Israeli airspace were shot down, including at least one by an Iron Dome battery. An Israeli drone was also accidentally shot down by an Iron Dome battery. According to Israeli journalist
Haviv Rettig Gur Haviv Rettig Gur (; born April 4, 1981) is an Israeli journalist who serves as the political correspondent and senior analyst for ''The Times of Israel''. Early life Haviv Rettig (later Rettig Gur) was born in Jerusalem. His parents were Americ ...
, Israel systematically thwarted Hamas' tactical innovations and destroyed the military infrastructure it had prepared for a future war, which proved "ineffective or outright useless". The United Nations said that more than 72,000 Palestinians had been internally displaced, sheltering mostly at 48 UNRWA schools in Gaza. After the ceasefire, less than 1,000 displaced Palestinians were sheltering in UNRWA schools, down from a peak of around 66,000. UNWRA discovered a cavity 7.5 metres under one of its two schools in Gaza that had been damaged by Israeli air strikes. The structure had neither an exit from or entry into the school's premises, and the organization strongly condemned both the IDF and the Palestinians responsible for building the "possible" tunnel.


Lebanon and Syria

On 13 May at least three rockets were fired from the coastal area of
Qlaileh Al-Qlailah () is a municipality in the Tyre District in South Lebanon. Etymology According to E. H. Palmer in 1881, the name ''Leileh'' comes from a female proper name; it also means “night”. History In 1875, Victor Guérin describes a rui ...
just south of the Palestinian refugee camp of
Rashidieh Rashidieh, or Ar-Rashidiyah is the second most populous Palestinian refugee camps, Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast about five kilometres south of the city of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre (Sur). ...
in the Southern Lebanese district of Tyre across the Israeli–Lebanese border, according to the IDF, landing in the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
.
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
denied responsibility for the rocket launches and Lebanese Army troops were deployed to the area around the refugee camp, finding several rockets there. On 14 May, dozens of Lebanese demonstrated on the Israel-Lebanon border in solidarity with the Palestinians. A small group of demonstrators cut through the border fence and crossed into Israel, setting fires near
Metulla Metula () is a town in the Northern District of Israel. It abuts the Israel-Lebanon border, and had a population of in . History Bronze and Iron Age Metula is located near the sites of the biblical cities of Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and Ijon ...
. IDF troops fired at them, killing one who was later identified as a member of Hezbollah. Another was wounded and later died of his injuries. That evening, three rockets were fired from
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, while two of them hit the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...
but fell in uninhabited places. The following day, Lebanese demonstrators damaged the border fence with Molotov cocktails and other items. On 17 May, six rockets were fired by Palestinian militants towards Israel but the rockets failed to cross the Lebanese-Israeli border. The Israeli military responded by firing artillery shells across the border in the direction of the rocket fire. No one was injured in the incident. The IDF said that on 19 May four rockets were fired from near Siddikine village in the
Tyre District The Tyre District is a district in the South Governorate of Lebanon. Municipalities The following 72 municipalities are all located in the Tyre District: * Al-Aabbassiyah * Aaitit * Aalma ash-Shaab * Ain Abu Aabdallah * Ain az-Zarqa * Ain ...
of Southern Lebanon towards Haifa. One was intercepted, another landed in an open area, and the remaining two fell into the sea. The Israeli army responded with artillery fire.


Casualties and damage

Thirteen people were killed in Israel, including two children, one
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n woman and two Thai men living and working in Israel. By May 18, the
Magen David Adom The Magen David Adom (, abbr. MDA, pronounced ''MAH-dah'' per its Hebrew acronym, ) is Israel's national emergency medicine, emergency medical, Emergency management, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The literal meaning of the name is ...
ambulance service had treated 114 injuries directly related to rocket attacks, and another 198 indirectly related to rocket attacks. The UN and Human Rights Watch reported that 260 Palestinians were killed during the hostilities, half of them (129) civilians,'Gaza: Apparent War Crimes During May Fighting,'
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
27 July 2021
including 66 children and 40 women. Some 243 were reportedly killed by Israeli Defense Forces. The Gazan Health Ministry stated that 1,948 individuals were wounded, of whom 610 were children, and 400 women. Four of the women killed were pregnant.'Flash Update #02: Situation in the occupied Palestinian territory,'
OCHA The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...
24 May 2021
Israel reported killing 200 militants, while 80 Palestinian fighters were killed according to Hamas. Among militant casualties, the Gaza Brigade commander, Bassem Issa, was killed on 12 May, together with Jomaa Abdullah Talha and some of Hamas top officials and engineers, while Iyad Sharir, commander of an anti-tank unit, was killed the next day alongside his wife and daughter. One of the dead children was claimed by the Al-Mujahideen Brigades as one of their own. Some Palestinian rockets fell short and landed in the Gaza Strip resulting in at least seven casualties. According to Israel, approximately 640 rockets did so. It is disputed whether some of the first victims on 10 May died as a result of an Israeli airstrike or an errant Palestinian rocket. On 13 May, as part of a feint intended to deceive Hamas into sending their men into tunnels before they were programmed to be bombed, the IDF's 162nd Division subjected a section of the northern Gaza Strip to an intense artillery barrage of 500 shells. Some of the ordnance hit an agricultural site, the al-Karya compound, close to Beit Lahia. As a result, 3 daughters – aged 17, 26 and 28 – and a 9-month old baby son from a single family were killed, together with a two members of another family in their home next door. A follow-up investigation by the IDF concluded there had been some negligence and those involved were assigned to retraining. According to a report by the
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), also known as Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center in honor of Meir Amit, is an Israel-based research group. ITIC has close ties to the Israel Defense Forces. Its repor ...
, which has ties to the IDF, 48% of the Palestinians killed in Gaza were militants. The report noted varying figures of Palestinians killed in Gaza ranging between 240 and 260 and analyzed the deaths of 234 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It identified 112 of those 234 as militants, of whom 63 were members of Hamas, 20 were members of the Islamic Jihad Movement, 25 were members of an armed faction of Fatah, and the rest were members of smaller militant splinter groups. According to the ITIC report, 21 Palestinians were killed by misfired Palestinian rockets which landed in the Gaza Strip. According to
Amira Hass Amira Hass (; born 28 June 1956) is an Israeli journalist and author, mostly known for her columns in the daily newspaper ''Haaretz'' covering Palestinian affairs in Gaza and the West Bank, where she has lived for almost thirty years. Biogra ...
, 15 Israeli strikes have targeted individual family dwellings, causing multiple deaths among members of the 15 families living there. When the ceasefire came into effect, the Palestinian National Authority set the number of entire families killed at 20, and announced it will lodge a complaint at the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
for "
war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
" in that regard. Palestinian journalist Yusuf Abu Hussein was killed in an Israeli airstrike in his home on 19 May, prompting outcry from the
International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...
. An Israeli airstrike on 20 May killed a disabled Palestinian man, his pregnant wife, and their three-year-old daughter. A later investigation found that Hamas militants had built a military structure inside a Palestinian elementary school. A Hamas commander, identified as Mohammed Abdullah Fayyad, as well as three high-ranking Islamic Jihad commanders were also killed. Another Hamas member was killed on 11 May. The deaths of the five commanders were confirmed by official statements of both the groups. The deaths of other militants are suspected but not confirmed. Bassem Issa, a top Hamas commander, was killed together with several others,including Jomaa Talha and Jamal Zibdeh. On 18 May, Egypt pledged $500 million in efforts to rebuild Gaza after the missile strikes. Qatar likewise pledged $500 million.


Medical facilities and personnel

Hamas has been accused by Israel of using medical facilities to cover its activities. The Ministry of Health is run by the Hamas government, and wounded militants are often treated in civilian hospitals. As of 17 May, the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have caused the following damage, according to the UN's
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...
: * 4 hospitals run by Gaza's ministry of health, including the Indonesian and
Beit Hanoun Beit Hanoun or Beit Hanun () is a Palestinian city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 52,237 in 2017. As a result of the ongoing Gaza war, Beit Hanou ...
hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip. * 2 hospitals run by
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
s * 2 clinics, one run by
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), known in some English-speaking settings as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zo ...
, and one, the Hala al-Shawa clinic, in disuse at the time. * 1 health centre * 1
Palestine Red Crescent Society The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS; ) is the humanitarian organization that is the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in the State of Palestine, which includes the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. ...
facility. Personnel killed: * Dr Moein Ahmad al-Aloul (66), a leading Gaza neurologist, killed when his house in the Rimal quarter collapsed after an Israeli strike on shops on the building's ground level. His 5 children were also killed in the strike. * Dr Ayman Abu al-Auf, the
Al-Shifa Hospital Al-Shifa Hospital ( ''Mustašfā aš-Šifāʾ'' ) was the largest medical complex and central hospital in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, located in the neighborhood of northern Rimal in Gaza City. The hospital was first established by the govern ...
's head of
internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...
and director of Gaza's COVID-19 response, killed by falling rubble after a strike on al-Wehda Street, a controversial strike that killed over 40 people. 12 members of his extended family were also killed. By 18 May, seventeen hospitals and clinics in Gaza had suffered damage, according to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. The Israeli strike near the Rimal clinic, the only major
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
laboratory in the Strip, caused it to be temporarily shut down, with the PLO claiming on Twitter that this rendered the entire strip unable to conduct further screening for the pandemic.


Infrastructure


Gaza

232 housing units in high-rises were bombed over 11 days. According to a 23 May post-ceasefire
UNOCHA The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...
estimate, * 1,042 housing and commercial units, spread over 258 buildings, were destroyed * 769 further units suffered severe damage. * 53 schools were damaged * 6 hospitals and 11 clinics were damaged. * The IDF said it had destroyed of Hamas's underground tunnel system, nicknamed the ''Metro''. On 18 May an Israeli airstrike demolished the buildings where one of the major booksellers in Gaza was sited, Samir Mansour's 2 story bookshop along with its stock of an estimated 100,000 books.


Israel

3,424 claims of compensation for property damage have been filed by Israelis as a result of the fighting: 1,724 related to damage to motor vehicles.


War crimes

In late July 2021,
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
(HRW) raised the possibility that both parties in the conflict had engaged in war crimes on the basis of field reports regarding specific incidents. The organization said that several Israeli bombing attacks were listed as appearing to have killed entire families in areas where no military targets have been ascertained to have existed, and that these may amount to warcrimes, and that the firing by Palestinian militants of unguided rockets towards Israeli civilian centres was a war crime. B'Tselem has also accused both parties of war crimes. HRW called on the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli strikes during the May operation. In August, 2021, HRW issued a report stating that the thousands of rockets fired by the Palestinian militant group Hamas during the 11-day war with Israel "violated the laws of war and amount to war crimes." Investigations were made into Hamas rocket attacks that killed 12 civilians in Israel, as well as a misfired rocket that killed seven Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip. HRW said that Israel refused to allow the organization's senior investigators to enter Gaza, and instead relied on a local Gaza researcher, in addition to using satellite images, expert analysis of photos and munition fragments, and phone and video interviews. HRW said it "focused its investigation on three Israeli attacks that resulted in high numbers of civilian casualties and where there was no evident military target": * The Israeli missile strike at 6 p.m. on May 10 against one of 4 buildings owned by the al-Masri brothers led to the deaths of 8 people, 6 of whom were children. Israeli military sources said the following day that 6 of the killed had died as a result of a failed launching of a rocket by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. On the 16th, the IDF stated that 8 activists had been killed, posting a photo of the grain dealer killed in this strike. The family denies he had any links to militant groups. At the time, according to survivors and witnesses, the family was engaged in packing processed barley into sacks. The high number of children killed, 6, was attributed by eyewitnesses to the fact that they had crowded around the trader's horse-drawn cart on its arrival at the site to pick up the barley. A video taken in the immediate aftermath, deemed authentic, exists that shows empty, overturned sacks of barley. No evidence exists that the family had any connection to Gaza militant groups. * At 1:40 a.m. on May 15, an Israeli strike launched with what appears to be a fuse-delayed GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb demolished a three-story building owned by Alaa Abu Hattab in the al-Shati refugee camp, killing 10 people: 2 women and 8 of their children. The owner was momentarily away, to find snacks and some food for the
Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...
meal. The IDF stated that senior Hamas officials were inside one of the building's apartments, and the strike also aimed at a bunker beneath the block. Human Rights Watch found no evidence for any such structure. * The strike on al-Wehda street, just before 1 a.m. on May 16, consisted of between 18 and 34 strikes, employing 1,000-kilogram GBU-31 bombs, along roughly 1,030 meters of road which destroyed 3 buildings and caused the death of 44 civilians – 18 children, 14 women, and 12 men, with a further 50 injured. The IDF stated that it sought to destroy suspected underground military infrastructure. Hamas has denied the existence of any such infrastructure in civilian areas, though, after an Israeli strike on a deserted UNRWA preparatory school in Gaza's Rimal district, UN observers stated that a tunnel had come to light as a result of the bombing. HRW states that no evidence has been given that tunnels or an underground centre existed in the area. No advance warnings were given to the civilians foreseeably effected by the bombing. On 24 May 2022, the Palestinian human rights organizations Al-Haq, Al-Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights filed a report to the International Criminal Court concerning the attacks in the Gaza strip.


Diplomacy and ceasefire

China, Norway and Tunisia requested a public
United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
meeting for 14 May while the United States objected. The council has met privately twice but has not been able to agree on a statement over United States objections. On 12 May, it was announced that
Hady Amr Hady Amr (born April 8, 1967) is an American government official who served as special representative for Palestinian affairs from 2022 to 2025. He was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs in the Bureau of ...
, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs and Press and Public Diplomacy, would be sent to the region "immediately." Truce efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations showed no sign of progress. Amr arrived in Tel Aviv for discussions on how to achieve a "sustainable calm" ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting on 16 May. On 13 May, Hamas made a proposal for a
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...
, stating that it was prepared to halt attacks on a 'mutual basis'. Netanyahu informed his cabinet that Israel had rejected the overture. On 13 May, U.S. president
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
held telephone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden stated that "Israel has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory." UN Secretary-General
António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...
called for an immediate ceasefire, "out of respect for the spirit of Eid", making reference to
Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...
, an Islamic festival which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. On 16 May, Biden held telephone calls with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Mahmoud Abbas. Following the third UN Security Council emergency meeting in a week, the United States used its
veto power A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto p ...
to block a proposed statement drafted by China, Norway, and Tunisia and supported by the other 14 members of the council. No vote was held on the statement. The draft statement called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and condemned the violence in Gaza; it urged all parties, especially Israel, to use restraint, but made no mention of the rocket attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. On 18 May, the Greek foreign minister
Nikos Dendias Nikolaos "Nikos" Dendias (; born 7 October 1959) is a Greek lawyer and politician of the conservative New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy party who has been serving as Minister for National Defence (Greece), Minister for National Defence in th ...
becomes the first European official to visit Israel and Palestine, followed by a visit to Jordan, in consultation with France, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United States as part of the efforts for brokering a ceasefire between the two parties, while France announced the filing of a resolution with the UN Security Council calling for a cease-fire, in coordination with Egypt and Jordan. The resolution could be circulated as soon as 19 May. Security Council press and presidential statements require approval of all 15 members while resolutions do not. On 19 May, Biden held a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing to his Israeli counterpart that "he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire." On 20 May, the foreign ministers of Germany, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia visited Israel to express support and solidarity with Israel. Israel and Hamas agreed to cease hostilities from 20 May. A ceasefire deal brokered by
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
, and the United Nations between Israel and Hamas was enacted at around 2:00 AM on 21 May 2021, ending 11 days of fighting. The final proposal by Egypt was voted on by the Israeli cabinet and was unanimously approved, and Hamas also indicated their acceptance of the peace deal. Other than a minor skirmish at Al-Aqsa Mosque, there were no substantive violations of the ceasefire throughout the day on 21 May. In the hours before the Egypt-brokered deal, Biden had spoken with Egyptian president
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...
about brokering such a deal. Biden later described the deal as "mutual" and "unconditional" and expressed his belief that both sides deserved to live in safety. Both sides claimed victory in the conflict. The truce tentatively concluded the fourth war between Israel and the Islamist militant group since 2008.


Aftermath and post-ceasefire tensions

Just hours after the ceasefire came into effect, what ''The New York Times'' described as a "small skirmish", in which 20 Palestinians were reportedly wounded, and 16 arrested, between Israeli police and Palestinians took place just outside the Al Aqsa mosque. The incident occurred after noon prayers, when most of the tens of thousands of worshipers had left the site. A few in the remaining group waved Palestinian flags; Israeli police entered to confiscate the flags and disperse the crowd. The Israeli version is that hundreds of Palestinians threw stones and firebombs on the arrival of the Israeli police. The Palestinian version is that the violence erupted only when the police entered the compound. On 22 May, according to an Egyptian diplomat, two teams of Egyptian mediators were in Israel and the Palestinian territories with the intent to "firm up" the cease-fire deal and to secure a long-term calm.
Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...
, a US diplomat and state secretary, planned to visit Israel and the West Bank on 26–27 May with the same idea. The UN security council finally released an agreed statement calling for full adherence to the truce and stressing the immediate need for humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians while reiterating the need for the
two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...
. The statement made no reference to Hamas. After international pressure was applied, on 23 May Israel agreed to permit the transfer of food and medical supplies furnished by the United Nations and
Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New Y ...
, aid workers, and journalists into the Gaza Strip, but on 24 May refused transfer. On 25 May, coinciding with a state visit by Blinken to Israel, aid was permitted to enter the strip. At the end of May, Hamas said it would begin launching rockets again if the evictions in Sheikh Jarrah were allowed to go ahead; a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court was expected within a month.
UNHRC The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The ...
was to investigate "systematic discrimination and repression" in Israel and Palestine to identify the root causes of the crisis, after a resolution drafted for the
Organisation of Islamic Conference The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC; ; ), formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1969. It consists of 57 member states, 48 of which are Muslim-majority. The Pew Forum on ...
received 24 supporting votes and 9 opposing ones. Subsequently, on 22 July 2021, UNHRC announced that former United Nations high commissioner
Navi Pillay Navanethem "Navi" Pillay (born 23 September 1941) is a South African jurist who served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. A South African of Indian Tamil origin, Pillay was the first non-white woman judg ...
would head the international commission of inquiry into alleged crimes committed during the crisis and report in June 2022. Amid continuing communal tension and protest, the Israeli police force said it had arrested 348 suspects in late May as it rounded up alleged participants in the unrest, confirming reports from human rights organisation Adalah which said at least 200 Palestinians in Israel had been arrested that week, and described the raids as a way to "intimidate and exact revenge". On 5 June, at Sheikh Jarrah, border police forcefully detained an Al Jazeera reporter wearing body armor marked "press". Israeli police said the journalist was detained after she was asked for identification, refused and pushed a police officer. On 6 June Israeli police detained Muna al-Kurd. Her father told reporters that the 23-year-old activist was detained after police raided their home in Sheikh Jarrah and said that the police also delivered a notice ordering her twin brother Mohammed El-Kurd to surrender himself to authorities. He and his sister are running a social media campaign against the expulsions of Palestinians from their homes. The pair were later released. Efforts to broker a longer-term truce between Israel and Hamas followed a day of escalating tensions on 15 June after a new Israeli government allowed a scaled down and rerouted march by far-right Israelis through the city, with dozens chanting "Death to Arabs". Gaza militants sent several incendiary balloons into Israel, causing 26 fires, and Israeli aircraft struck military posts in Gaza. Some reconstruction material has begun to enter Gaza through Egypt but Israel is currently limiting what can arrive through its crossing points and blocked the supply of financial aid from Qatar. Israel and Hamas disagree on whether to include a prisoner swap as part of any stronger cease-fire deal. "The U.N. is in contact with all relevant parties on matters related to the cessation of hostilities", said Tor Wennesland, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process. "This has been going on for a while and will continue with the view of having some arrangements put in place that could stabilize the situation. This is still a work in progress with more to be done."


Israeli and Palestinian reactions

On 9 May 2021, the Israeli Supreme Court delayed the expected decision on evictions for 30 days, after an intervention from Attorney General of Israel Avichai Mandelblit. Israel Police also banned Jews from going to the al-Aqsa plaza for Jerusalem Day festivities. On 10 May, Israel closed the
Kerem Shalom border crossing Kerem Shalom border crossing (, "Vineyard of Peace"; , ''Karem Abu Salem'') is a border crossing at the junction of two border sections: one between the Gaza Strip and Israel, and one between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. It is used by trucks car ...
, including for humanitarian aid. Due to rocket fire on 11 May, the
Israel Airports Authority The Israel Airports Authority (IAA, , ''Reshut Sdot HaTe'ufa BeYisra'el''; ) was founded in 1977 as a Government-owned corporation, public corporation mandated by the Israel Airports Authority Law. The authority is responsible for the management ...
briefly halted air travel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the actions of the Israeli police and said that Israel "shall not allow any radical element to undermine the calm." He also said "we firmly reject the pressure not to build in Jerusalem." Israeli officials asked the Biden administration not to intervene in the situation. On 10 May 2021, Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, issued a statement that the "brutal storming and assault on worshipers in the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards is a new challenge to the international community." On two separate occasions, Christian groups in Jerusalem issued statements commenting on the outbreak of hostilities.
Kairos Palestine Kairos Palestine is an organization primarily known for its issuance in Bethlehem in December 2009 of the Kairos Palestine document, full title of which is "A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope, and love from the heart of Palestinian sufferi ...
attributed the uprising to deprivations suffered, and called for the recognition of the rights of everyone as the only way to break the cycle of destruction. A joint declaration on 7 May, signed by the
Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...
,
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
and
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
Patriarchs of the city, together with prominent Heads of Churches of Jerusalem – who had all earlier expressed deep concern for Israeli plans under radical settler pressure to annex unilaterally West Bank land- blamed the growing tensions 'mainly' on the destabilizing effects of right-wing settler groups on the fragile realities of Jerusalem. Their denunciation was followed up by a similar statement issued on 12 May by the
Middle East Council of Churches The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) was inaugurated in May 1974 at its First General Assembly in Nicosia, Cyprus, and now has its headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. Initially it consisted of three "families" of Christian Churches in the Mid ...
, representing 28 denominations in the area. Israel's Minister for Public Security Amir Ohana called for the release of the Israeli man arrested for the shooting of an Arab in Lod, arguing without providing evidence that the suspect was acting in self-defense and law-abiding citizens bearing arms assist the authorities. According to a report in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', the statement seemed to encourage mob violence. A spokesman for
Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), commonly known simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary organization formed in 1981. PIJ formed as an offsh ...
said that Israel "started the aggression on Jerusalem. If this aggression does not end, there is no point to diplomatic efforts to reach a cease-fire." Hamas gave an
ultimatum An ; ; : ultimata or ultimatums) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a coercion, threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the ...
to the Israeli government, saying if they did not remove forces from the mosque by 2 a.m. on 11 May, then they would conduct another rocket strike. Netanyahu convened an emergency security meeting on 11 May, and schools in several parts of Israel were closed. Israeli president Reuven Rivlin condemned the riots in Lod, describing them as a
pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
. A poll cited by ''
The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' (ToI) is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist Dav ...
'' on 20 May found that 72% believed the military operations targeting Gaza should have continued without a ceasefire and that 66% believed Israeli forces had achieved more in recent fighting than in previous campaigns, with a total of 684 Israelis having been surveyed.


See also

* 2018–2019 Gaza border protests *
2021 in Israel 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to s ...
* List of battles in the 21st century *
List of modern conflicts in the Middle East This is a list of modern conflicts ensuing in the geographic and political region known as the Middle East. The "Middle East" is traditionally defined as the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia), Levant, and Egypt and neighboring areas of Arabia, An ...
*
List of ongoing armed conflicts The following is a list of ongoing armed conflicts that are taking place around the world. Criteria This list of ongoing armed conflicts identifies present-day conflicts and the death toll associated with each conflict. The criteria of inclu ...


Notes


References


External links


Israel-Gaza violence: The conflict explained
BBC News.
4–10 June OCHA update


* ttps://www.terrorism-info.org.il/app/uploads/2021/05/E_086_21.pdf The summary of the operation
Examination of the names of the fatalities


* [https://archive.today/20240821141827/https://www.aljazeeramubasher.net/news/politics/2021/5/31/%D8%AD%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%B4%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3-%D9%85%D9%87%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B3-%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA Al Jazeera article about one of the killed Qassam Brigade UAV engineer,Mahmoud Fares,killed in 12th May 2021] {{DEFAULTSORT:Israel-Palestine crisis, 2021 2021 in Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah 2021 airstrikes 2021 controversies 2021 in Israeli politics 2021 in the Gaza Strip 2021 in Palestine 2021 protests 2021 riots Attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound Attacks on buildings and structures in 2021 Attacks on buildings and structures in Palestine Attacks on buildings and structures in Israel Israel-Palestine crisis Controversies in Israel Controversies in Palestine Ethnic riots Gaza–Israel conflict Hamas attacks Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip Jerusalem in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Law enforcement controversies Lod May 2021 in Asia Protests in Israel Protests in Palestine Riots and civil disorder in Israel Riots and civil disorder in Palestine 2020s political riots Articles containing video clips 21st-century attacks on mosques