The frenzied attack on Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in Jerusalem, in which Palestiniansshot and hackedfour rabbis to death, is shocking even for this part of the world. Two Palestinian men used meat cleavers and a gun to carry out the gruesome attack, which also left eight people wounded. The assailants were later shot dead by police. An officer who responded to the attackdied of his injuriesearlier this week.As horrifying as this incident is, it's just the latest in a series of deadly attacks and violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians over the past five months.To put this latest attack in context, we've pulled together this timeline of the major incidents since June:An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement that went into effect on Aug. 27 ended the fighting, but has failed to restore peace to the troubled region, with Palestinian and Israeli leaders accusing each other of fueling the latest outbreak of deadly violence.Long-simmering tensions between the two sides boiled over this summer following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, which sparked a seven-week war between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. More than 2,200 people were killed in the conflict, most of them Palestinians.June 12/13 'ThreeIsraeli teenagersare kidnapped and killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas later claims responsibility.July 2 'A Palestinian teenager is abducted in East Jerusalem andburned to deathin an apparent revenge killing for the murder of the three Israeli youths.July 8 'Israel launches'Operation Protective Edge,'sparking a seven-week war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. More than2,200 peoplewere killed in the conflict, according to UN figures, most of them Palestinians.Aug. 27 'An open-endedceasefirebetween Israel and Hamas is announced.Sept-Oct 'Palestinians stage frequentprotestsin Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, fueled by tensions overaccessto the holy site known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary.Oct. 16 'Israeli troops shoot dead a13-year-oldPalestinian boy during clashes in the West Bank.Oct. 19 'An Israeli settler runs over and kills a5-year-oldPalestinian girl in the West Bank.Oct. 22 'A Palestinian driver rams his vehicle into a crowd ofcommuterswaiting for a train in Jerusalem, killing a baby and injuring several others.Oct. 24 'Israeli forces shoot and kill a14-year-oldPalestinian-American boy during clashes in the West Bank.Oct. 27 'The Israeli government approves plans to build more than1,000new settler homes in mainly Arab East Jerusalem, drawing international condemnation.Oct. 29 'A Palestinian shoots prominent right-wing religious activistYehuda Glickduring a conference in Jerusalem. Glick, who backs greater Israeli control over the highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site, survives the attack.Oct. 30 'Israelclosesaccess to Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary for the first time since 2000, fueling violent clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians.Nov. 5 'A Hamas militant driving aminivankills one person and injures more than a dozen others after ploughing his vehicle into pedestrians in Jerusalem. Israeli police shoot dead the driver.Nov. 6 'Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahurejects callsto lift restrictions on Jews praying at the Jerusalem holy site as deadly violence continues.Nov. 10 'Two separateknife attacksby Palestinians leave an Israeli woman and a soldier dead in Tel Aviv and the West Bank.Nov. 11 'Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accuses Israel of igniting a'religious war'and demands 'extremists' stay away from Muslim holy sites.Nov. 12 'Israeli authorities grantinitial approvalfor the construction of 200 homes on disputed territory in Jerusalem.Nov. 13 'Netanyahu holdstalkswith US Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordan's King Abdullah II to ease tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.Nov. 16 'An Israeli man is stabbed in the back with ascrewdrivernear central Jerusalem.Nov. 17 'Palestinian bus driverYousuf al-Ramouniis found hanged in his bus near Jerusalem. Police say it was suicide, but Palestinians claim he was the victim of foul play.Nov. 18'Five Israelisare killedin an attack at a synagogue in Jerusalem. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine praised the attack in a statement and said the two men responsible were its members. The statement stopped short of claiming responsibility, but Hani Thawbta, a PFLP leader in Gaza, told Reuters: 'We declare full responsibility of the PFLP for the execution of this heroic operation conducted by our heroes this morning in Jerusalem."Join the conversation about this story
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