JERUSALEM (AP) – It has been a difficult year for Israelis and Palestinians, with the failure of peace talks and a string of violent incidents that shows no signs of ending. Here is a look at some key recent events:
April 24: Nine months of U.S.-mediated peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapse.
May 15: Two Palestinian teens are killed in a West Bank clash with Israeli troops on the day that Palestinians mark their uprooting during the Mideast war over Israel’s 1948 creation. Video footage indicates the teens were not participating in violence at the time of shooting.
June 2: A Palestinian unity government is sworn in, a major step in reconciliation between the rival Fatah and Hamas factions. Israel denounces the government because it includes Hamas.
June 12: Three Israeli teenagers – Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship – are abducted and killed by Hamas operatives in the West Bank.