Israel and Palestine: a look back at a year of violence and change

Hundreds killed in the Gaza war, Israel's worst civilian disaster and an unprecedented coalition

Palestinians at the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City in July. Reuters

With a war, protests and political upheaval, 2021 has been marked by violent and unexpected events for Israelis and Palestinians.

The darkest month of the year was certainly May, when the Israeli military and Gaza militants fought an 11-day war which had ramifications for people well away from the line of fire.

The conflict was preceded by weeks of protest in occupied East Jerusalem, initially sparked by the Israeli police refusing to allow Palestinians to gather at the Old City’s Damascus Gate during Ramadan.

The rallies coincided with an increase in demonstrations against a lawsuit filed by Israeli settlers to evict Palestinians from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. The case is before Israel's Supreme Court, which has yet to issue its decision.

More than 1,000 Palestinians and a few dozen Israeli police officers were wounded in Jerusalem before the war broke out, according to paramedics and police.

Thirteen people in Israel and 261 Gazans were killed during the conflict, UN figures indicate.

Rockets fired towards Israel from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Friday. Anas Baba / AFP

Smoke and flames rise after an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza early on Friday. Gaza’s Health Ministry said 109 Palestinians, including 28 children and 15 women, had been killed by air strikes. EPA

Rockets launched towards Israel from northern Gaza Strip are countered by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system overnight on Thursday. Seven people in Israel have been killed in the cross-border rocket exchanges. Fatima Shbair / Getty Images

Smoke and flames caused by an Israeli air strike on Gaza city early on Friday. Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

A policeman stops traffic to allow police cars to make their way towards reported rioting in Haifa, Israel, on Thursday. Jews and Arabs have been involved in mob violence. Daniel Rolider / Getty Images

A fire blazes in the middle of a street in Haifa's Hadar neighbourhood on Thursday night, as rioting continued in several Israeli cities. Daniel Rolider / Getty Images

Rockets fired towards Israel from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Friday. Israel massed troops on the border as barrages were fired by both sides. AFP / Mohammed Abed

Smoke rises over houses in Ashkelon, in southern Israel, after a rocket attack launched from Gaza. Reuters / Amir Cohen

An explosion during an Israeli air strike on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Friday. AFP / Mohammed Abed

An explosion lights up the sky during an Israeli air strike on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Friday. AFP / Mohammed Abed

A Palestinian family flee from their home in the east of Gaza city during Israeli air strikes early on Friday. EPA / Mohammed Saber

Rockets are fired towards Israel from Rafah in southern Gaza on Friday. AFP / Said Khatib

A field blazes after an explosion in Ramla, Israel, caused by a rocket launched from Gaza on Thursday night. Amir Levy/Getty Images

Palestinian families take shelter in a UN school in Gaza city on Thursday, after fleeing their homes in the town of Beit Lahia. Israel pounded Gaza and sent extra troops to the border as Palestinians fired barrages of rockets back. AFP / Mahmud Hams

A Palestinian family takes shelter in a UN school in Gaza city on Thursday, after after fleeing their home Beit Lahia. AFP / Mahmud Hams

Intercommunal violence broke out across Israel. In the West Bank, the UN documented 34 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during May and one case of a Palestinian killing an Israeli.

The violence followed a landmark report by Human Rights Watch, which accused Israel of the international crime of apartheid against Palestinians. The charge, which the government denies, was also laid by Israeli rights group B'Tselem in January.

While 2021 saw a shift in the language used by NGOs, Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as its blockade of Gaza, continued this year without significant policy changes.

Israeli politicians were largely focused on their own internal strife, with March resulting in the fourth inconclusive election in less than two years.

With voters exhausted at the prospect of yet another trip to the polling station, politicians from across the political spectrum united to build an unprecedented coalition.

An Arab-Israeli party entered government for the first time, working alongside left-wing legislators in an eclectic cabinet led by right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

They were united by one aim: to oust Benjamin Netanyahu.

After 12 consecutive years in office, the former prime minister was consigned to the opposition in June. Mr Netanyahu’s political misfortunes have played out against the backdrop of his continuing trial on corruption charges that he denies.

While Israel was getting its political house in order, there were hopes at the start of the year that Palestinians would vote for the first time in 15 years.

A symbolic end to the Netanyahu era - in pictures

Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has left his government residence, pictured, on Balfour Street, Jerusalem, a month after leaving office.

Mr Netanyahu was officially ousted after 12 years as prime minister, having spent weeks trying unsuccessfully to form a coalition government to remain in power.

Despite efforts to expose Israeli general election results as fraudulent, Mr Netanyahu was unseated eventually by a rival coalition and replaced by new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

Mr Netanyahu left shortly after the deadline he agreed to. A group that organised regular street protests against his leadership described him as ‘Crime Minister’ and wrote on Facebook: ‘The defendant and his family fled as the last of the thieves in the night.'

Legislative elections were slated for May 22, only to be scrapped at the end of April by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The elderly leader blamed Israel for failing to guarantee voter rights in East Jerusalem, though his detractors claim he feared losing the elections.

The same night the Palestinian president cancelled the vote — April 29 — Israel experienced the worst civilian disaster in the country’s history.

Forty-five people were crushed to death during a Jewish holiday on Mount Meron, in northern Israel, where an estimated 100,000 worshippers had gathered. The new government ordered a state inquiry, which started hearing witnesses in August.

While Mr Bennett’s coalition has been labouring over home affairs, it has also been trying to forge relationships with its closest ally in Washington.

Since taking office in January, US President Joe Biden has sought to reverse some of the controversial policies enacted by his predecessor Donald Trump.

Spyware firm blacklisted

At the end of the year, Israel remained at loggerheads with Washington over its plans to reopen its consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Bilateral relations were further strained in November by the US blacklisting Israeli spyware firm NSO, whose technology has allegedly been misused to target activists around the world.

The Palestinians have also been wooing the Biden administration, which in April restored funding to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

By the end of December, ties with Washington had largely returned to their pre-Trump norms for both Israelis and Palestinians.

As in the preceding few years, 2021 passed without peace talks.