2021 Israel–Palestine crisis

On 6 May 2021, a conflict began between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli Police over a planned Supreme Court of Israel decision about the evictions of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Hamas began to launch rockets into Israeli cities. The clashes injured more than 300 people, mostly Palestinian civilians.^[1]

Protests began on 6 May in Sheikh Jarrah. On 8 May, crowds threw rocks at the Israeli Police and chanted "Strike Tel Aviv" and "in blood, we will redeem al-Aqsa." On 9 May, the Israeli Police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in response to Palestinian crowds, which were throwing stones.^[2][3] In response, on May 10, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad started firing rockets into Israel,^[4] which responded with airstrikes into Gaza.

Startigng in 10 May, 62 Palestinians were killed, including 14 children, and 335 more were wounded.^[5] According to the Israel Defense Forces, at least 15 of the Palestinian casualties were Hamas members, and some were killed by Palestinian rockets. Israel reported that Palestinian rockets hit homes and a school, which killed four Israeli civilians and an Indian citizen who lived in the country^[6] and injured at least 70 Israeli civilians.^[7][8]

On 20 May 2021, Israel agreed a ceasefire agreement with Gaza militants after 250 deaths from the conflict. The ceasefire came into effect the next day.^[9]

The 2021 Palestinian legislative election for the Palestinian Legislative Council, which was originally scheduled for 22 May 2021, was indefinitely postponed on 29 April by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.^[10][11][12] Hamas, which was expected to do well in the elections, called the move a "coup,"^[12] and some Palestinians believed Abbas had delayed the election to avoid political defeat for his political party, Fatah.^[13]

Analysts said that the postponement had contributed towards the current crisis and encouraged Hamas to resort to military confrontation, rather than diplomatic tactics.^{[14][15][16][17]} Opinion pieces in NBC News, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Policy argued that by taking responsibility for the rocket fire, Hamas had improved its standing among Palestinians who were upset of the delay in the elections.^{[18][19][20][17]}