March 15 – A teenage Palestinian commits a stabbing attack on the
Jerusalem Light Rail within
Pisgat Ze’ev in Jerusalem, seriously wounding a 19-year-old female soldier before fleeing. The attacker was captured several hours later at the
Kalandia north of Jerusalem while trying to flee back to Palestinian Authority-controlled territories.[7]
June 6 – Hours after a bill to legalize settlement outposts is rejected, Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu orders the construction of 300 new homes at the Jewish settlement of
Beit El in the
West Bank.[9]
June 7 – An additional 550 settler homes are announced by Israeli construction minister
Ariel Attias.[10]
June –
Israeli transfer of Palestinian militant bodies: Israel hands over the bodies of 91 Palestinian suicide bombers and other militants as part of a goodwill gesture to PA chairman
Mahmoud Abbas to help revive the peace talks and reinstate direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.[11]
June 18 – a militant squad kill an Israeli construction worker and wound two of his colleagues in an attack carried out on the border between
Israel and
Egypt.
June 23 –
Palestinian militants fire rockets from the
Gaza Strip into
Israel severely injuring an elder. Israel launches a missile strike in return, killing two Palestinians.[12][13]
November 15 –
Operation Pillar of Defense: Two rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip at
Tel Aviv, with one landing in the sea and the other hitting an uninhabited area in the city's suburbs.
Iranian backed
Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the incident, which was the first attack against the city since the 1991
Gulf War.[20]
November 16 –
Operation Pillar of Defense: Palestinian militants fired a rocket aimed at Jerusalem setting off air raid sirens in the city.[21]
December 8 –
25th anniversary of Hamas: The 25th anniversary of the founding of
Hamas took place in the Palestinian territories. A rally involving at least 200,000 people was held in
Gaza and various celebrations were conducted all over the Palestinian territories.
Hamas leader
Khaled Mashal arrived in
Gaza for the first time ever to celebrate as well. In
his speech, which Mashal gave at a mass rally attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters, he stated explicitly that the
Palestinian people would never compromise with
Israel's existence and that the organization will act decisively to gradually conquer and achieve full control over the territories which encompass both
Israel and the
Palestinian territories in order to establish one
Islamic state in that area.[26][27]