Timeline
Palestine 2001- 2003
Return to home
2001 Jan 1, In
Israel a car bomb wounded at least 40 people in Netanya and gunfire
killed 4 Palestinians in the West Bank.
(SFC, 1/2/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 2, Pres. Clinton met with
Yasser Arafat and coaxed Arafat to curb the Middle East violence.
(SFC, 1/3/01, p.A1)
2001 Jan 3, Yasser Arafat accepted
"with reservations" Pres. Clinton’s outline for an Israeli-Palestinian
settlement.
(SFC, 1/4/01, p.A8)
2001 Jan 4, It was reported that
Saddam Hussein had sent moral support and distributed some 270 checks
for $10,000 each to the families of Palestinians killed in clashes with
Israelis since Nov.
(SFC, 1/5/01, p.A17)
2001 Jan 8, Palestinian’s rejected
Pres. Clinton’s formula for a permanent Mideast settlement.
(SSFC, 12/30/01, p.D2)
2001 Jan 13, The Palestinian
Authority executed the 1st 2 Palestinians ever convicted of
collaborating with Israel.
(SSFC, 1/14/01, p.D1)
2001 Jan 15, The Palestinian
authority offered amnesty to suspected collaborators with Israel.
(SFC, 1/16/01, p.A9)
2001 Jan 17, Hisham Miki (54),
head of Palestinian TV, was shot to death by 3 masked men in Gaza City.
(SFC, 1/18/01, p.A13)
2001 Jan 18, Ofir Rafum (16) of
Israel was murdered in the West Bank after being lured over by a woman
via an internet relationship.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A11)
2001 Jan 19, The US and Israel
signed an agreement to phase out economic aid by 2008. Half the aid
would be replaced by military aid. Separately $80 million was pledged
to a UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A11)
2001 Jan 20, In Israel Prime
Minister Barak agreed to a Palestinian proposal for a fresh round of
peace negotiations in Taba, Egypt.
(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.D3)
2001 Jan 20, In the West Bank
Israeli soldiers captured Mona Najar (25), suspected in the Jan 18
luring and murder of Ophir Rakhum.
(SSFC, 1/21/01, p.3)
2001 Jan 22, Israeli and
Palestinian negotiators met in Taba, Egypt.
(SFC, 1/23/01, p.A12)
2001 Jan 25, Israel and Palestine
continued talks in Egypt as an Israeli motorist was killed in an ambush
by the "Thabet Thabet Brigade."
(SFC, 1/26/01, p.A12)
2001 Jan 27, Israel and Palestine
ended 6 days of talks in Egypt. They failed to reach a peace accord but
declared that they were never closer.
(SSFC, 1/28/01, p.A18)
2001 Feb 9, In Israel Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon asked Ehud Barak to serve as defense minister. A
Palestinian shepherd was killed by an Israeli bullet.
(SFC, 2/10/01, p.A10)(SSFC, 2/11/01, p.C5)
2001 Feb 10, Israel said it would
not cooperate with the newly arrived UN human rights mission for a
fact-finding tour of Palestinian areas.
(SSFC, 2/11/01, p.C1)
2001 Feb 12, Israeli soldiers shot
and killed 2 Palestinians in the West Bank and dozens of Palestinians
were wounded in a gunbattle in the Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 2/13/01, p.A10)
2001 Feb 13, Israeli gunships
killed Massoud Ayyad (57), a Palestinian security official, with
anti-tank missiles fired at his car in Gaza.
(SFC, 2/14/01, p.A14)
2001 Feb 14, Khalil Abu Olbeh
(35), a Palestinian bus driver, drove his bus into a group of Israelis
in Tel Aviv and killed 8 people. The dead included 3 male and 4 female
soldiers and 1 civilian woman. Olbeh, was later sentenced to eight life
terms.
(SFC, 2/14/01, p.A14)(SFC, 2/15/01, p.A12)(AP,
2/14/02)
2001 Feb 19, In the West Bank
Mahmoud Madani (25), a Hamas activist, was shot to death from long
range.
(SFC, 2/20/01, p.A9)
2001 Feb 23, Palestinians
demonstrated against the visit of Colin Powell and one was killed in
clashes with Israeli security forces.
(SFC, 2/24/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 1, In Israel a
Palestinian in a taxi detonated a bomb that killed one passenger,
injured 9 and blew off his own legs.
(SFC, 3/2/01, p.A17)
2001 Mar 4, In Israel a
Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and 3 Israelis in Netanya.
(SSFC, 3/4/01, p.A27)
2001 Mar 12, Israel sealed off the
city of Ramallah, the unofficial seat of the Palestinian Authority.
(SFC, 3/13/01, p.A15)
2001 Mar 15, Israel arrested 3
members of an elite Palestinian security force who allegedly planned a
bomb attack on Israeli West Bank military headquarters.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A14)
2001 Mar 18, Palestinians first
used mortars on Israel proper and hit the army base near Nahal Oz
kibbutz.
(SFC, 4/10/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 26, In Hebron a
Palestinian sniper shot and killed a 10-month-old Jewish girl. A
15-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and wounded in Gaza.
(SFC, 3/27/01, p.F1)
2001 Mar 27, Two bombings in
Jerusalem wounded some 35 people.
(SFC, 3/28/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 28, Two Israeli teenagers
were killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber. Israeli gunships followed
up with missile strikes at Arafat’s personal security forces and at
least 3 Palestinians were killed.
(SFC, 3/29/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 30, Israeli Arabs
observed Land Day with peaceful marches. Israeli soldiers shot to death
6 Palestinians and wounded over 100.
(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A10)
2001 Apr 2, An Israeli helicopter
rocketed a truck and killed an Islamic Jihad militant. In Bethlehem a
sniper killed an Israeli soldier.
(WSJ, 4/3/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 3, Israel fired rockets
at 4 Gaza Strip targets after a 10-year-old boy was injured in a mortar
assault on a Jewish settlement.
(SFC, 4/4/01, p.A10)
2001 Apr 5, Iyad Hardan, head of
Sarai al-Quds, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, was killed in
the explosion of a booby trapped pay phone in the West Bank.
(SFC, 4/6/01, p.A16)
2001 Apr 11, Israel sent tanks and
bulldozers into the Khan Yunis refugee camp and demolished over 2 dozen
homes. 2 Palestinians were killed and 25 injured in ground fighting.
(SFC, 4/12/01, p.A12)(WSJ, 4/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 16, Israeli warplanes
struck deep in Lebanon and attacked a Syrian radar site. 3 Syrians were
killed. In the evening Israeli helicopters hit Palestinian positions in
Gaza in retaliation for a mortar attack on an Israeli town. Bulldozers
were sent to tear up farmland near Beit Hanoun, the suspected source of
the mortar fire.
(SFC, 4/16/01, p.A9)(WSJ, 4/16/01, p.A1)(SFC,
4/17/01, p.A8)
2001 Apr 17, Israeli tanks,
bulldozers and ground troops seized Palestinian territory but withdrew
under US pressure after 18 hours.
(SFC, 4/18/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 18, Israel raided
southern Gaza and leveled a Palestinian police station in response to
mortar attacks.
(SFC, 4/19/01, p.A10)
2001 Apr 19, Israel removed road
blocks to Palestinian travel in the Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 4/20/01, p.A15)
2001 Apr 20, Yasser Arafat
proposed that he and Ariel Sharon simultaneously call for an end
Israeli-Palestinian violence.
(SFC, 4/21/01, p.A12)
2001 Apr 22, In Israel a suicide
bomber killed himself and an Israeli physician at a bus stop in Kfar
Sava. 40-50 others were wounded.
(SFC, 4/23/01, p.A8)(WSJ, 4/23/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 23, In Gaza a 12-year-old
Palestinian boy was shot and killed during the funeral of a Palestinian
police officer. 11 others were wounded. Near Tel Aviv a 3rd bomb blast
in 2 days injured 4 people.
(SFC, 4/24/01, p.A10)
2001 Apr 24, Israel promised to
ease restrictions on Palestinian towns in exchange for Palestinian
efforts to prevent violence. Fighting left 2 Palestinians dead.
(SFC, 4/25/01, p.A12)(WSJ, 4/25/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 25, In Gaza an explosion
killed 4 Palestinian police.
(SFC, 4/26/01, p.A14)
2001 Apr 30, Five Palestinians
were killed in bomb blasts in Gaza and the West Bank.
(SFC, 5/1/01, p.A10)
2001 May 1, In the West Bank Assaf
Hershovitz (31), a Jewish settler, was killed when his van was hit by
27 bullets outside Ramallah.
(SFC, 5/2/01, p.A8)
2001 May 2, Israeli bulldozers
demolished 20 houses in the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza and killed one
teenager during the predawn operation.
(SFC, 5/3/01, p.B1)
2001 May 4, Sen. George Mitchell,
head of the US-led mission on Israeli-Palestinian fighting, issued a
report and said Israel should freeze settlement constructions.
(SFC, 5/5/01, p.D1)
2001 ` May 5, In the West Bank
Ahmed Khalil Assad (37), a Palestinian militant, was shot to death in
front of his 2-year-old niece, who was injured. In Jericho Israeli
soldiers rocketed a Palestinian police base and 17 people were injured.
(SSFC, 5/6/01, p.A14)
2001 May 7, Israeli tank fire
killed Iman Hijo, a Palestinian 4-month-old baby in Khan Yunis. A
Palestinian police officer in the West Bank was also killed.
(WSJ, 5/8/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/8/01, p.C5)
2001 May 9, In the West Bank 2
Israeli teenagers, Koby Mandell (13) and Yossi Ishran (14), were stoned
to death and found in a cave.
(WSJ, 5/10/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/10/01, p.A16)
2001 May 10, Israel retaliated for
a roadside bomb that that killed 2 Romanian workers. Rockets were fired
at Palestinian police headquarters and Fatah offices in Gaza.
(WSJ, 5/11/01, p.A1)
2001 May 11, In Gaza Israeli
bulldozers flattened a police station and 5 homes. Tanks fired at the
Jabaliya refugee camp. Surface to air missiles hit downtown Gaza City.
(BS, 5/12/01, p.9A)(SFC, 5/11/01, p.A16)
2001 May 12, In the West Bank
Moutasem Sabaa (26), a Palestinian militant, and Ala’a Jaloudi, a
Palestinian policeman, were killed in an Israeli helicopter attack. 3
members of the Tanzim militia escaped.
(SSFC, 5/13/01, p.A13)
2001 May 13, Israeli helicopters
rocketed Palestinian police compounds in the Gaza Strip. Navy ships
fired shells at the Palestinian navy office in the Nusseiraqt refugee
camp.
(SFC, 5/14/01, p.A9)
2001 May 14, Israeli forces gunned
down 5 Palestinian police officers (18-29) at a checkpoint in Beitunia,
a suburb of Ramallah. Israel later admitted that the men killed were
mistaken for members of Force 17.
(SFC, 5/15/01, p.A9)(SFC, 5/17/01, p.A10)
2001 May 15, On Israel’s 53rd
birthday Israeli troops shot and killed at least 4 Palestinians and
over 200 were wounded. An Israeli woman was also killed in the West
Bank.
(SFC, 5/16/01, p.A10)(WSJ, 5/16/01, p.A1)
2001 May 15, Tens of thousands of
Palestinians packed town squares in the West Bank town of Ramallah as
they marked what they called the day of "catastrophe" in 1948, when
they were uprooted and the state of Israel created.
(AP, 5/15/02)
2001 May 18, In Israel a suicide
bomber killed 7 others and wounded over 100 women and children at a
shopping mall in Netanya. Israeli F-16 jets retaliated and killed at 10
Palestinian security personnel in 3 Palestinian cities. Near the Neve
Tzuf Jewish settlement Yair Nebentzal (22) was killed by sniper fire.
(SFC, 5/19/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 8/31/01, p.A1)(AP, 5/18/06)
2001 May 21, Amid escalating
Middle East violence, an international commission submitted a report
calling for end to violence, but it was never implemented.
(AP, 9/6/03)
2001 May 23, An Israeli contractor
was killed in an ambush in the West Bank. 38 Palestinians including 15
children were wounded in a firefight at the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza.
(SFC, 5/24/01, p.A14)
2001 May 24, The Israeli Air Force
shot down a small plane off the coast and killed a Lebanese student
pilot (43). Israel sent tanks into the Gaza Strip and 2 people were
killed.
(SFC, 5/25/01, p.A14)(WSJ, 5/25/01, p.A1)
2001 May 25, Three Palestinian
suicide bombers attacked in Hadera and Gaza but only killed themselves.
(SFC, 5/26/01, p.A8)
2001 May 28, Israel and the
Palestinians agreed to resume talks on security cooperation.
(SFC, 5/29/01, p.A12)
2001 May 29, In Israel and the
West Bank 3 Palestinians and 3 Israelis were killed.
(SFC, 5/30/01, p.A10)
2001 May 31, In Israel a Jewish
settler was killed in the West Bank and Palestinian (17) was killed
during a clash in Ramallah. Since Sept. 483 Palestinians have died and
88 Israelis including 24 settlers.
(SFC, 6/1/01, p.D6)
2001 May 31, Faisal Husseini (60),
a Palestinian leader, died in Kuwait of a heart attack. He was a member
of the PLO’s 18-strong executive committee and head of the Fatah on the
West Bank.
(SFC, 6/1/01, p.D5)
2001 Jun 1, In Israel a
Palestinian suicide bomber killed 21 young people at a Tel Aviv disco.
At least 80 people were injured in the Hamas attack.
(SFC, 6/2/01, p.A1)(SFC, 12/30/01, p.D3)
2001 Jun 2, In the West Bank
Yasser Arafat announced that he would make every effort to bring about
an unconditional cease-fire.
(SSFC, 6/3/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 4, As Israeli soldiers
and Palestinians exchanged fire in Rafah, Hamas said that it would join
the cease-fire.
(SFC, 6/5/01, p.A12)
2001 Jun 9, Israeli tank shells
killed 3 Palestinian women, Nessra Malaha (65), Salimia Malaha (46) and
Hikmet Malaha (17), in the Gaza Strip.
(SSFC, 6/10/01, p.A15)
2001 Jun 12, Israel and the
Palestinians agreed to a cease-fire following 6 days of mediation by US
CIA director George Tenet.
(SFC, 6/13/01, p.D2)
2001 Jun 13, Israel eased travel
restrictions into the West Bank and Gaza as the armistice went into
effect. Under the agreement Israel had 48 hours to pull tanks and
troops back and Palestinians were due to start arresting militants
planning attacks.
(SFC, 6/14/01, p.A14)
2001 Jun 14, In Israel Lt. Col.
Yehuda Edri (45) was killed by a Palestinian man, who was then killed
by Edri’s bodyguard. Another Palestinian man was killed in a driveby
shooting in the West Bank and Jewish settlers were suspect.
(SFC, 6/15/01, p.A18)
2001 Jun 17, Israeli soldiers shot
and killed Ali Abu Shaweesh (5) when they fired on
Palestinian demonstrators near Jewish settlements in Gaza.
(SFC, 6/18/01, p.A10)
2001 Jun 22, In Israel settlers
blocked West Bank roads and scuffled with soldiers in a 3rd day of
right-wing violence. A Palestinian suicide bombing killed 2 Israeli
soldiers.
(SFC, 6/23/01, p.A8)
2001 Jun 24, In the West Bank town
of Nablus Osama Jawabri (29), a Palestinian activist, was killed by a
bomb planted in a public phone.
(SFC, 6/25/01, p.A8)
2001 Jul 1, Israel hit a Syrian
radar site in Lebanon. In the West Bank Israeli helicopters rocketed a
car with 3 Islamic Jihad members. Israeli infantry killed 2 Hamas
members.
(WSJ, 7/2/01, p.A1)(SFC, 7/2/01, p.A8)
2001 Jul 2, An Israeli was killed
while shopping near the West Bank and a Palestinian was killed by
Israeli troops. The US scrambled to salvage the cease-fire.
(WSJ, 7/3/01, p.A1)(SFC, 7/3/01, p.A7)
2001 Jul 7, In the Gaza Strip a
Palestinian boy was shot and killed and 2 others injured by Israeli
soldiers. Palestinian militants were said to have been shooting in the
Raffah refugee camp area.
(SSFC, 7/8/01, p.A13)
2001 Jul 8, Israeli agents in
Hebron abducted Ayoub Sharawi, a member of Hamas. In Gaza Palestinians
and Israelis exchanged gunfire in Rafah.
(SFC, 7/9/01, p.A8)
2001 Jul 8, Israeli wrecking crews
destroyed 14 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem at the edge of the
Shuafat refugee camp.
(SFC, 7/10/01, p.A7)
2001 Jul 10, Israel destroyed at
least 10 Palestinian structures in Rafah in the Gaza Strip and ignited
a fierce gun battle.
(WSJ, 7/10/01, p.A1)(SFC, 7/11/01, p.A7)
2001 Jul 11, An Israeli soldier
shot and killed a Palestinian woman after her taxi evaded a roadblock.
Israeli police in Afula captured a Palestinian would-be suicide bomber.
(SFC, 7/12/01, p.A12)
2001 Jul 12, Israeli tanks shelled
police posts in Nablus after Palestinian gunmen wounded Israeli
motorists. One Palestinian police officer was killed.
(SFC, 7/13/01, p.A14)
2001 Jul 13, In Gaza and the West
Bank 2 Islamic Hamas militants were killed. Israeli soldiers shot and
killed one in Tulkarm. Fawaz Badran (27) was killed when his car
exploded.
(SFC, 7/14/01, p.A10)
2001 Jul 15, In Israel PM Sharon
and his Cabinet decided to build new towns in the Halutza Sands region
of the Negev Desert. Shimon Peres met with Arafat in Cairo and a
gunbattle in Hebron left 20 Palestinians wounded.
(SFC, 7/16/01, p.A8)
2001 Jul 16, In Israel a
Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and 2 Israelis at a bus stop
north of Tel Aviv. The bombing was believed to be an effort to mar the
opening of the Macabiah, the Jewish Olympics in Jerusalem. Israel
retaliated by shelling Palestinian police posts in 2 West Bank towns.
(SFC, 7/17/01, p.A6)(WSJ, 7/17/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 17, An Israeli helicopter
fired missiles at a hut in Bethlehem and 4 Palestinians were killed. A
few hours later Palestinians fired a mortar shell into a Jewish
neighborhood of Jerusalem.
(SFC, 7/18/01, p.A12)
2001 Jul 19, The US joined major
powers in calling for 3rd parties to monitor a cease-fire between
Israel and the Palestinians.
(SFC, 7/20/01, p.A14)
2001 Jul 19, In the West Bank
Jewish extremists, who identified themselves as the Committee for Road
Safety, killed 3 Palestinians including a 3-month-old girl, in a
drive-by shooting near Hebron.
(SFC, 7/20/01, p.A14)
2001 Jul 20, In the West Bank an
explosion leveled the office of Yasser Arafat in Hebron and Rajai Abu
Rajab, an activist in the Tanzim, was found dead. Israel denied firing
any missiles.
(SFC, 7/21/01, p.E1)
2001 Jul 23, Israeli police killed
a Palestinian who drove a would-be bomber toward Haifa. In Gaza Israeli
soldiers killed a Palestinian teenager.
(WSJ, 7/24/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 25, Israeli troops killed
Salah Darwazeh, a Hamas militant, with antitank rockets as he drove
near Nablus. Informant Ahmed Abu Issah, father of nine, was paid $50
for information on Darwazeh and was later condemned to death by a
Palestinian court.
(WSJ, 7/26/01, p.A1)(SFC, 8/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 26, An Israeli youth was
killed in a drive-by shooting and 3 bombs went off in the West Bank
with no injuries.
(WSJ, 7/27/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 28, An Israeli helicopter
attack in the Gaza Strip destroyed a workshop making munitions and was
followed by armed clashes.
(SSFC, 7/29/01, p.A18)
2001 Jul 30, In the West Bank 6
Palestinian Fatah activists were killed in an explosion near the
Al-Fara refugee camp. Israeli helicopters soon after rocketed a weapons
storage center in Gaza and at least 7 Palestinian police officers were
wounded.
(SFC, 7/30/01, p.A6)(WSJ, 7/30/01, p.A1)(SFC,
7/31/01, p.A6)
2001 Jul 31, In the West Bank
Israeli gunships killed 8 people in Nablus including 2 Hamas leaders,
Jamal Mansour and Jamal Salim, and 2 children.
(SFC, 8/1/01, p.A1)(SFC, 8/2/01, p.A7)
2001 Aug 1, Israeli troops killed
a Palestinian man in heavy fighting in Hebron.
(WSJ, 8/2/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 2, Palestinian judges
sentenced 4 Palestinian men to death for helping Israel’s army carry
out lethal attacks. 3 Palestinian men, suspected of collaboration, were
recently gunned down in the streets.
(SFC, 8/3/01, p.A12)
2001 Aug 3, Yasser Arafat’s news
agency called for a halt to armed attacks against Israel.
(SFC, 8/4/01, p.A6)
2001 Aug 4, The Israeli army fired
missiles at a convoy carrying the Palestinian West Bank leader Marwan
Barghouti.
(SSFC, 8/5/01, p.A12)
2001 Aug 5, In Israel a
Palestinian gunman shot into a crowd of soldiers in Tel Aviv and
injured 10 people before he was fatally shot. In 2 other incidents an
Israeli woman was killed in a drive-by shooting and a Palestinian
attempting to plant a bomb in Tulkarm was killed by Israeli troops.
(SFC, 8/6/01, p.A1,A10)
2001 Aug 7, Two Israelis were shot
dead on the West Bank. Israel gave its soldiers a freer hand to fire on
Palestinians.
(WSJ, 8/8/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 9, In Jerusalem a
Palestinian suicide bomber, Izzadine Masri, killed himself and 15
others at the Sbarro pizzeria. 90 people were wounded. Hamas claimed
responsibility.
(WSJ, 8/10/01, p.A1)(SFC, 7/24/02, p.A14)(AP, 8/9/06)
2001 Aug 10, Israeli forces took
over 9 buildings in East Jerusalem in retaliation for the suicide
bombing that killed 15 people.
(SFC, 8/11/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 12, In Israel Palestinian
suicide bomber Muhammad Nasser (28) blew himself up at the Wall Street
Café in Kiryat Motzkin near Haifa. 21 other people were injured.
In Hebron a Palestinian girl died in a clash with Israeli troops.
(SFC, 8/13/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 8/13/01, p.A1)(AP, 8/12/02)
2001 Aug 14, Israeli tanks rolled
into Palestinian-controlled Jenin. Bulldozers destroyed a Palestinian
police station and Israeli forces took back with them some 70
Palestinians, who had been jailed in Jenin for collaboration with
Israel. In Nablus Shadi Affori (19), a Fatah member, was killed in an
explosion at his home.
(SFC, 8/14/01, p.A1)(SFC, 8/15/01, p.A6)
2001 Aug 15, Israeli undercover
troops in Hebron killed Emad Abu Sneiheh (25), an activist in the
Tanzim militia.
(SFC, 8/16/01, p.A9)
2001 Aug 19, In the West Bank
Israeli troops killed Mohammed Abu Arrar (14) at Rafah and Muin Abu
Lawi (38) near Nablus. Samir Abu Zaid and his 2 sons were killed when
their house was shelled in Rafah. Palestinians blamed Israeli missiles,
while the Israelis blamed Palestinian mortar rounds. Israel later said
Zaid and his children were killed by a bomb he was making.
(SFC, 8/20/01, p.A8)(WSJ, 8/21/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 21, Yasser Arafat agreed
to truce talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
(SFC, 8/22/01, p.A10)
2001 Aug 22, Israeli forces killed
7 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
(SFC, 8/23/01, p.A8)(WSJ, 8/23/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 23, Israeli forces raided
Palestinian neighborhoods in Hebron following the shooting of 2 young
Jewish brothers. One Palestinian was reported killed and a dozen
wounded. In Gaza Israeli forces killed Mahmoud Zourab (11), a
Palestinian boy throwing stones.
(SFC, 8/24/01, p.A16)
2001 Aug 25, Palestinian
commandoes killed an Israeli officer and 2 soldiers in a pre-dawn raid
in Bedolah, Gaza Strip. 2 commandoes of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
were killed a 1 escaped. Palestinian gunmen north of Jerusalem killed 3
members of an Israeli family in a car ambush. 2 children were wounded.
(SSFC, 8/26/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 26, Israeli jets
flattened the Palestinian Gaza City police headquarters in retaliation
for the shooting ambush of a settler family. Other Palestinian police
buildings and checkpoints were bombed.
(SFC, 8/27/01, p.A6)
2001 Aug 27, Israeli helicopters
fired missiles into the offices of Mustafa Zibri, chief of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in El Bireh. Zibri was killed
and thousands of Palestinians began protests.
(SFC, 8/28/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 28, Israeli force
occupied parts of Beit Jala in the West Bank.
(SFC, 8/29/01, p.A1)
2001 Aug 29, Four Palestinians and
1 Israeli were killed in ongoing violence.
(SFC, 8/30/01, p.A8)
2001 Aug 30, Israeli forces began
pulling out of Beit Jala. 3 Palestinians were killed in gunbattles with
Israeli troops. One Israeli was killed in a Palestinian village in a
restaurant that he helped a friend establish.
(SFC, 8/30/01, p.A1)(SFC, 8/31/01, p.A14)
2001 Aug 31, Israeli troops
battled Palestinian gunmen and 19 Palestinians were wounded.
(SFC, 9/1/01, p.A6)
2001 Sep 1, In Gaza Col. Tayser
Khattab (52), Palestinian intelligence aide, was killed by a car bomb.
Near Tulkarem a Palestinian woman (22) was killed from a blast in a
taxi.
(SSFC, 9/2/01, p.A20)
2001 Sep 3, In Jerusalem 4 bombs
exploded on the streets and Israelis fired missiles into a Palestinian
security building. Two Palestinians were killed during fighting in
Hebron. In Jerusalem a suicide bomber, dressed as an Orthodox Jew, blew
himself up on the Street of the Prophets.
(SFC, 9/4/01, p.A8)(SFC, 9/5/01, p.A8)
2001 Sep 6, Israel’s PM Sharon
said he was considering a buffer zone to foil terrorists. Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres said he would meet with Yasser Arafat next week.
Israeli gunships killed 2 Palestinian men. In an apparent reprisal an
Israeli soldier was shot dead and an Israeli woman seriously wounded
along the "green line."
(SFC, 9/7/01, p.A14)
2001 Sep 7, In Gaza City Yasser
Arafat was reported to be in discussions with Hamas on a power-sharing
proposal.
(SFC, 9/8/01, p.A8)
2001 Sep 8, Israeli helicopters
fired missiles at offices of the Fatah in Ramallah. Palestinian police
said a 13-year-old boy was killed by Israeli gunfire n Rafah.
(SSFC, 9/9/01, p.A18)
2001 Sep 9, In Nahariya, Israel,
an Israeli Arab, Muhammad Saker Habashi (55), killed himself and 3
others in a suicide bombing. At least 71 other people were wounded. 4
other people were killed in the West Bank and Gaza.
(SFC, 9/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 10, Israeli forces and
Palestinians exchanged gunfire in Jenin and Gaza and 3 Palestinians
were killed.
(SFC, 9/12/01, p.C3)
2001 Sep 11, Israeli tanks moved
into Jenin and tore down the Palestinian police headquarters. This
prompted fighting that killed 2 Palestinians.
(SFC, 9/12/01, p.C3)(WSJ, 9/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 11, World leaders
expressed outrage at terrorist attacks in NYC and the Pentagon and
pledged solidarity with the US. In the West Bank town of Nablus, some
3,000 people celebrated the attacks and chanted "God is great." Later
the estimates of the WTC dead dropped to 4,396. In 2004 the count was
reduced to 2,749.
(SFC, 9/12/01, p.A14)(SFC, 11/3/01, p.A3)(SFC,
11/21/01, p.A2)(USAT, 10/30/03, p.7A)(WSJ, 1/26/04,
p.A1)(www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1M4eH9Kk7I)
2001 Sep 12, An Israeli woman was
killed by a Palestinian shooting ambush in the West Bank.
(SFC, 9/13/01, p.A12)
2001 Sep 13, Israeli forces
entered Jenin and Jericho and Palestinian officials reported that 10
people were killed.
(SFC, 9/13/01, p.A12)
2001 Sep 14, A Palestinian attack
wounded 2 Israeli policemen.
(SSFC, 9/16/01, p.A28)
2001 Sep 15, Gunfire between
Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza and Jerusalem left 3 Palestinians
dead and 2 Israelis wounded.
(SSFC, 9/16/01, p.A28)
2001 Sep 16, Israeli forces
invaded Palestinian territory at Ramallah. One Israeli soldier and 1
Palestinian security officer were killed. Many people were wounded.
(SFC, 9/17/01, p.A18)
2001 Sep 17, Yasser Arafat ordered
his forces to observe a cease-fire as Israel began to observe its
Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana. In clashes 1 Palestinian was killed and
15 wounded, while 4 Israelis were wounded.
(SFC, 9/18/01, p.B10)
2001 Sep 18, Pres. Yasser Arafat
declared "a cease-fire on all fronts" and Israel responded by
suspending military operations against Palestinian targets and
withdrawing from Palestinian-ruled areas.
(SFC, 9/19/01, p.B2)
2001 Sep 20, An Israeli woman,
Sarit Amrani (25), was killed in a drive-by shooting by the Al Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades. A Palestinian man was killed in Gaza following a
grenade assault. Another Palestinian police officer was killed,
possibly by militants he was trying to restrain near Hebron. The
violence threatened the recent truce.
(SFC, 9/21/01, p.D2)
2001 Sep 23, PM Sharon cancelled
talks with Yasser Arafat after Palestinians fired 3 mortar shells in
the Gaza Strip, 2 of which hit Jewish settlements and the 3rd fell
inside Israel. There were no injuries.
(SFC, 9/24/01, p.B1)
2001 Sep 26, Israel’s Shimon
Peres and Yasser Arafat met for peace talks. They pledged a new drive
for peace and agreed to resume cooperation between their security
forces as Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops exchanged gunfire. Gaza
fighting left a Palestinian youth dead.
(SFC, 9/26/01, p.C2)(SFC, 9/27/01, p.A11)(WSJ,
9/27/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 27, Israeli-Palestinian
fighting left 5 Palestinians dead. Israel demolished some houses in a
Gaza camp in response to a Hamas attack.
(WSJ, 9/28/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 28, Israeli-Palestinian
security officials met to work out details for ending the bloodshed as
fighting left at least 3 Palestinians. 1 Palestinian apparently blew
himself up in Hebron while making a bomb. Another 3 Palestinians were
later killed while planting a mine in Rafah.
(SFC, 9/29/01, p.B1)
2001 Sep 29, Tens of thousands of
Palestinians marched in Gaza and the West Bank to support their
uprising against Israel. 3 Palestinians were killed in confrontations
with Israeli troops.
(SSFC, 9/30/01, p.A17)
2001 Sep 30, Israeli troops killed
3 Palestinians in the West Bank. The Palestinian death toll reached 18
since the cease-fire pledge last week.
(SFC, 10/1/01, p.A8)
2001 Oct 2, Palestinian gunmen
attacked an Israeli settlement in Gaza and killed a teenage couple. At
least 15 others were wounded. 2 gunmen were killed by Israeli
sharpshooters.
(SFC, 10/3/01, p.A11)
2001 Oct 3, Israeli forces in Gaza
cleared a half mile buffer zone and killed 6 Palestinians when tank
shells ripped their cars.
(SFC, 10/4/01, p.C2)
2001 Oct 4, In Israel PM Sharon
warned the US that it risked appeasing the Arab nations: "Do not try to
appease the Arabs at our expense." A Palestinian posing as an Israeli
soldier killed 3 Israelis in Afula. A Palestinian was killed during a
2nd day of fighting in Hebron.
(SFC, 10/5/01, p.D4)(WSJ, 10/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 5, In Israel PM Sharon
ordered the largest military assault in a year and 5 Palestinians were
killed in Hebron.
(SFC, 10/6/01, p.A11)
2001 Oct 7, A Palestinian suicide
bomber, Ahmed Daraghmeh (17), killed himself and 1 Israeli near the
settlement of Kibbutz Shluhot.
(SFC, 10/8/01, p.F1)
2001 Oct 8, A Palestinian rally
turned violent as police forces attempted to quell some 2,000 students
supportive of Osama bin Laden. 2 students were killed.
(SFC, 10/9/01, p.A10)
2001 Oct 11, A Palestinian
militant blew himself up while trying to plant a bomb along a West Bank
road used by Israelis.
(SFC, 10/12/01, p.D3)
2001 Oct 12, Israeli and
Palestinian officials resumed peace talks. Thousands of Palestinians
held marches in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Nablus.
(SFC, 10/13/01, p.A13)
2001 Oct 14, An Israeli sniper
shot and killed Abed Rahman Hamad, a Hamas leader, hours before the
government announced that it would withdraw troops from Hebron and ease
Palestinian travel restrictions.
(SFC, 10/15/01, p.E2)
2001 Oct 15, Britain’s PM Tony
Blair said his country favors "a viable Palestinian state, as part of a
negotiated and agreed settlement" during a news conference with
visiting Yasser Arafat.
(SFC, 10/16/01, p.A8)
2001 Oct 16, In Israel PM Sharon
said he would accept the creation of a Palestinian state if Israeli
security needs were met.
(WSJ, 10/17/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 17, Rehavam Zeevi,
Israeli tourist minister, was shot dead at the Hyatt Regency in East
Jerusalem. The PFLP claimed responsibility and Yasser Arafat promised
to hunt down the perpetrators. Hambi Quran, Basel al-Asmar, Ahmed
Gholmy and Majdi Rimawi were later convicted for the murder. Ahmed
Saadat, head of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, was imprisoned in Jericho. In 2007 Hamdi Quran was sentenced
to 100 years in prison for gunning down the minister as well as bombing
and shooting attacks against Israelis. In 2008 Bassel Asmar was
sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, attempted murder and
belonging to a terror organization.
(SFC, 10/18/01, p.A1)(SFC, 4/30/02, p.A16)(AP,
3/7/06)(AP, 2/6/08)
2001 Oct 18, Atef Abeiyat, a
militia commander in Arafat’s Fatah, was killed with 2 others when
their car exploded near Bethlehem. 3 other Palestinians were killed by
Israeli fire including an 11-year-old school girl.
(SFC, 10/19/01, p.A1,18)
2001 Oct 19, Israeli troops and
tanks invaded Bethlehem and left 6 Palestinians dead. A Palestinian
fighter was killed in Ramallah.
(SFC, 10/20/01, p.E1)
2001 Oct 20, Israeli tanks and
troops seized control of Kalkilya and Tulkarm and moved into the heart
of Bethlehem. At least 8 Palestinians were killed.
(SSFC, 10/21/01, p.A19)
2001 Oct 21, Israeli forces
continued to occupy West Bank territory and 3 Palestinians were killed
including Johnny Thaljieh, a 16-year-old Christian.
(SFC, 10/22/01, p.B1)
2001 Oct 22, Israeli forces held
on to Palestinian territory despite US demands for withdrawal. 3
Palestinians were killed as fighting spilled into Lebanon.
(SFC, 10/23/01, p.A13)
2001 Oct 23, Israel rejected a
request by Pres. Bush to withdraw from Palestinian territory as the
violence continued.
(SFC, 10/24/01, p.C3)
2001 Oct 24, Israeli forces
stormed into Beit Rama and killed at least 5 more Palestinians. 11 were
arrested including 2 who allegedly helped kill an Israeli Cabinet
minister on Oct 17.
(SFC, 10/25/01, p.A15)
2001 Oct 25, Israel withdrew from
Beit Rama and pledged phased withdrawals if demands for a total
cease-fire were met. Three Palestinians were killed in Bethlehem.
(SFC, 10/26/01, p.D2)
2001 Oct 26, Israel agreed to pull
back from Bethlehem and Beit Jalla as a test of Palestinian guarantees
of security.
(SFC, 10/27/01, p.A9)
2001 Oct 27, Israel called off a
planned withdrawal from Palestinian territory citing a handful of
shooting attacks.
(SSFC, 10/28/01, p.A16)
2001 Oct 28, Israel pulled out of
Bethlehem and Beit Jala. In Hadera suspected Palestinian gunmen sprayed
gunfire and killed 4 women along a main boulevard before they were shot
dead by police. Drive by shooters killed an Israeli soldier near the
northern West Bank frontier.
(SFC, 10/29/01, p.A9)
2001 Oct 29, Israel said it would
leave Palestinian territory if the cease-fire is maintained.
(SFC, 10/30/01, p.A11)
2001 Oct 30, In Israel Shimon
Peres reportedly prepared a peace initiative with plans to dismantle
Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the creation of a Palestinian
state.
(SFC, 10/31/01, p.C3)
2001 Oct 31, An Israeli helicopter
missile in Hebron killed Jamil Jadallah, a senior Hamas member. 5 other
Palestinians were also killed in West Bank attacks.
(SFC, 11/1/01, p.A13)
2001 Nov 1, Israeli helicopter
missiles killed 2 Palestinians in a taxi in the West Bank. Yasser
Asideh was identified as a suicide bomber being driven to a target by
Fahami Abu Eisha.
(SFC, 11/2/01, p.D2)
2001 Nov 2, The Bush
administration imposed stringent financial sanctions on Hamas,
Hezbollah and 20 other suspected terrorist groups.
(SFC, 11/3/01, p.A5)
2001 Nov 4, In Israel Khatem
Shweili (24), a Palestinian gunman, fired an M-16 at a school bus in
Jerusalem and killed Shoshana Ben-Yisgai (16) and a boy (13-14). The
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
(SFC, 11/5/01, p.A12)
2001 Nov 5, Israeli tanks pulled
out of Qalqilya and soon after a bomb exploded at the Jewish settlement
of Shaked, 6 miles west of Jenin. The Islamic Jihad claimed
responsibility.
(SFC, 11/6/01, p.A13)
2001 Nov 6, Israeli troops pulled
out of Ramallah. 5 Palestinians were killed along with 1 Israeli
soldier in an attack on an Israeli army post and a car bomb blast.
(SFC, 11/7/01, p.A13)(WSJ, 11/7/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 7, Israeli lawmakers
lifted Parliamentary immunity from Azmi Bishara, a representative of
the Arab party Balad, for statements that allegedly threatened Israeli
security. Israel ended its occupation of Ramallah and Israeli forces
killed 2 Palestinians.
(SFC, 11/8/01, p.A19)(WSJ, 11/8/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 8, Israeli border police
stormed a building in Baka al-Sharkiyeh where a suicide bomber killed
himself and wounded 2 commandos.
(SFC, 11/9/01, p.A18)
2001 Nov 9, An Israeli settler was
shot and killed in her car and a Palestinian was shot and killed as he
approached an Israeli army position. In Gaza a 12-year-old Palestinian
boy was wounded and died 3 days later.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A12)(SFC, 11/13/01, p.A14)
2001 Nov 12, Israeli tanks and
troops raided the West Bank village of Tel and killed Muhammed Reihan
(25), a Hamas member. 45 residents were detained.
(SFC, 11/13/01, p.A14)
2001 Nov 15, Israeli troops raided
a Gaza Strip refugee camp and a West Bank village. One Palestinian was
killed and 14 were wounded.
(SFC, 11/16/01, p.A23)
2001 Nov 22, In the Gaza Strip 5
Palestinian boys (6-14) were killed when a bomb exploded beneath them
as a walked to school.
(SFC, 11/23/01, p.A17)
2001 Nov 23, Israeli helicopter
gunships near Nablus killed Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a senior Hamas leader,
along with 2 assistants.
(SFC, 11/24/01, p.A1)
2001 Nov 24, Tens of thousands of
Palestinians marched in the West Bank and Gaza city to protest the
Israeli killing of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud and 2 assistants. A Palestinian
mortar attack killed one Israeli soldier.
(SSFC, 11/25/01, p.A14)(SFC, 11/26/01, p.A9)
2001 Nov 25, Israeli soldiers shot
and killed a 13-year-old Palestinian youth during a clash in the West
Bank. Israeli forces carried out missile strikes in the Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 11/26/01, p.A9)
2001 Nov 26, A Palestinian suicide
bomber sd’d (self destructed) at an Israeli checkpoint on the edge of
the Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 11/26/01, p.A9)
2001 Nov 27, Two Israelis were
killed in Afula by 2 Palestinian gunmen, who were killed by police.
Another Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli woman near a Jewish
settlement in the Gaza Strip and he was killed by Israeli soldiers.
(SFC, 11/28/01, p.A4)
2001 Nov 29, A bomb attack in
northern Israel and shootings in the West Bank left 4 Israelis and 3
Palestinians dead.
(SFC, 11/30/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 1, In downtown Jerusalem
2 Palestinian suicide bombers self-destructed and killed 11 others. A
car bomb detonated shortly after and another dozen were injured. Hamas
claimed responsibility.
(SSFC, 12/2/01, p.A1)(SFC, 7/24/02, p.A14)(AP,
12/1/02)
2001 Dec 2, The weekend’s 3rd
Palestinian suicide bomber, Maher Habashi (21), sd’d in Haifa and 15
bus passengers were killed. Hamas took responsibility. Israel warned
Arafat of his regime’s annihilation. Arafat condemned the attacks and
declared a "state of emergency" in Palestinian territories.
(SFC, 12/3/01, p.1,3,11)(WSJ, 12/3/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 3, Israel struck the West
Bank and Gaza Strip and destroyed 3 Palestinian Authority helicopters.
In the wake of bombings that killed 26 Israelis, PM Ariel Sharon
declared war on terror. Arafat was effectively confined to Ramallah
after Israel destroyed his helicopters.
(SFC, 12/4/01, p.A1)(AP, 12/3/02)(SFC, 11/11/04,
p.A18)
2001 Dec 4, Israeli troops moved
into Palestinian-controlled territory in Ramallah and Nablus and closed
off 7 West Bank cities. Israeli warplanes and helicopters bombed at
least 8 targets in 5 cities and towns including a police building near
Arafat’s headquarters. A police officer and a 15-year-old boy were
killed.
(SFC, 12/4/01, p.A12)(SFC, 12/5/01, p.A1,16)
2001 Dec 5, In Jerusalem another
suicide bomber sd’d outside a hotel and 2 people were injured. Sharon
gave Arafat a 12-hour reprieve to arrest those responsible for the
attacks.
(SFC, 12/6/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 6, Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat continued a roundup of Hamas militants based on a list of
36 suspects provided by Israel. His crackdown on Islamic militants met
angry resistance as 1,500 Hamas supporters battled Palestinian riot
police outside the home of the group's leader. Israeli warplanes bombed
a Gaza police station and 15 Palestinians were wounded.
(SFC, 12/7/01, p.A3)(WSJ, 12/7/01, p.A1)(AP, 12/6/02)
2001 Dec 7, Israeli helicopters
fired missiles at a Palestinian security compound in Gaza. Arafat said
his forces had arrested 17 of 33 militants wanted by Israel.
(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 9, A suicide bomber
injured 9 Israelis in Haifa. Israeli troops killed 4 Palestinian police
officers in their cars. Israeli soldiers also killed a Palestinian taxi
driver trying to enter Jenin, which was sealed off. 30 suspected
militants were arrested in Israeli raids.
(SFC, 12/10/01, p.A3)(WSJ, 12/10/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 10, Israeli helicopters
fired missiles at a car in Hebron. 2 boys aged 3 & 13 were killed
and 7 people were wounded.
(SFC, 12/11/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 11, Israeli helicopter
attacks in the Gaza Khan Younis refugee camp killed 3 people and
wounded 20.
(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A1)(SFC, 12/12/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 12, Palestinian militants
detonated bombs beneath an Israeli bus in the West Bank and gunned down
passengers as they fled. 10 people were killed. Police killed 1 of 3
militants. 2 Hamas suicide bombers sd’d near an Israeli settlement in
the Gaza Strip and injured 4 others.
(SFC, 12/13/01, p.A1,17)
2001 Dec 13, The Israeli
government broke off contact with Yasser Arafat and began hitting
targets in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Israeli forces destroyed
Palestinian TV and radio transmission facilities and divided the Gaza
Strip into 3 parts. In Ramallah Israeli soldiers seized the home and
family of a Palestinian militia commander.
(SFC, 12/13/01, p.A1)(SFC, 12/14/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 14, Israeli troops raided
four Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank, killing eight
Palestinians and arresting dozens of suspected militants.
(AP, 12/14/02)
2001 Dec 15, Anthony Zinni, US
envoy to Israel, left after his 20 days in the region failed to produce
a cease-fire.
(SSFC, 12/16/01, p.A14)
2001 Dec 15, Israeli forces swept
into Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip and bulldozed houses and police
outposts. 6 Palestinians were killed and 50 injured from fighting.
(SSFC, 12/16/01, p.A14)
2001 Dec 16, Yasser Arafat
appealed for a halt of armed activities and suicide bombings. He
accused PM Sharon of waging a "brutal war" against Palestinians.
(SFC, 12/17/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 17, Israel continued
military sweeps as Hamas and the Popular Front rejected Arafat’s call
to end attacks.
(WSJ, 12/18/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 18, Yasser Arafat closed
6 Hamas offices in a crackdown on militant groups. Israeli forces
arrested 10 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 12/19/01, p.A4)
2001 Dec 20, Following a 3-day
lull Palestinian police in Gaza clashed with Hamas supporters and one
Palestinian was killed. Another died in a gunfight with Israeli troops
in the West Bank.
(SFC, 12/21/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 21, Six Palestinian
teenagers were killed in skirmishes with the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas called a halt to suicide bombings and mortar attacks.
(SFC, 12/22/01, p.A1)(SSFC, 12/23/01, p.A12)(AP,
12/21/02)
2001 Dec 23, In Israel Foreign
Minister Shimon Peres and Ahmen Qureia, speaker of the Palestinian
parliament, drafted a new Middle East peace plan that called for Israel
to recognized a Palestinian state within 8 weeks.
(SFC, 12/24/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 23, Israel barred Yasser
Arafat from making his annual Christmas Eve visit to Bethlehem, the
traditional birthplace of Jesus.
(AP, 12/23/02)
2001 Dec 27, Israeli troops raided
Palestinian territory for a 2nd day and arrested 7 suspected militants.
(SFC, 12/28/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 28, Israeli troops killed
a suspected Palestinian bomber in the Gaza Strip. The blockade of
Bethlehem was eased. The body of a Jewish settler, missing for over a
week, was found in a West Bank cave near the village of Jaba.
(SFC, 12/29/01, p.A3)
2001 Dec 30, Israeli forces killed
6 Palestinians in 2 incidents in the Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 12/31/01, p.A3)
2002 Jan 3, Israel seized a ship,
Karine A, in the Red Sea carrying 50 tons of advanced weapons allegedly
for the Palestinian Authority. Most of the equipment was from Iran.
Operation Noah’s Ark was not reported until the next day when US envoy
Gen. Zinni arrived to promote peace talks. Hezbollah helped broker the
deal and it was reported to have been overseen by Fuad Shubaki, a close
aide to Arafat. Captain Omar Akawi, a member of Fatwah, said he was in
contact with Adel Awadallah, an alias for Adel Mughrabi, a weapons
buyer for the Palestinian Authority.
(SFC, 1/5/02, p.A1,9)(SFC, 1/7/02, p.A3)(SFC,
1/8/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 9, In Israel 2 Hamas
gunmen attacked a military post and killed 4 Israeli soldiers. Israel
halted work on a mosque next to the Christian Basilica of the
Annunciation.
(SFC, 1/10/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 10, Israel demolished
dozens of Palestinian homes in Rafah.
(SFC, 1/11/02, p.A3)
2002 Jan 10, Israel demolished
dozens of Palestinian homes in Rafah. The Islamic Jihad said it would
resume attacks as Palestinian police arrested 2 of its members
(SFC, 1/11/02, p.A3)(WSJ, 1/11/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 11, Israeli tanks and
bulldozers plowed up runways at the Gaza Int’l. Airport. Palestinian
police detained 2 Palestinian officials suspected of smuggling arms
into Gaza.
(SFC, 1/11/02, p.A3)(SFC, 1/11/02, p.A6)
2002 Jan 12, Israeli missile boats
hit a Palestinian fuel depot in a 4th day of reprisals.
(SSFC, 1/13/02, p.A20)
2002 Jan 14, An Israeli bomb in
the West Bank killed Raed Karmi (27), a Palestinian militia leader. A
short time later a Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli and wounded
another in a roadside ambush.
(SFC, 1/15/02, p.A8)
2002 Jan 15, Palestinian gunmen
killed 2 Israelis in separate attacks in the West Bank and near
Jerusalem. Avi Boaz (71) was abducted and killed after visiting with a
Palestinian family. The Palestinian Authority arrested Ahmed Saadat,
sec. gen’l. of the PFLP.
(SFC, 1/16/02, p.A7)(SFC, 1/17/02, p.A11)
2002 Jan 16, In the West Bank a
Palestinian killed another Palestinian, who was mistaken for an Israeli.
(SFC, 1/17/02, p.A11)
2002 Jan 17, In Hadera, Israel, a
Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a bat mitzvah party and killed 6
people before he was beaten and killed. 30 more were wounded.
(SFC, 1/18/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 18, Israeli forces bombed
the Palestinian town of Tulkarm and at least 2 Palestinians were
killed. Israeli troops took up positions in Ramallah.
(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 19, Israeli forces blew
up the Voice of Palestine radio station in Ramallah.
(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 21, Israeli forces took
control of Tulkarem in the West Bank and soldiers arrested dozens of
suspected militants.
(SFC, 1/21/02, p.A7)
2002 Jan 21, Israeli forces
invaded Nablus, killed Palestinians and arrested 9 suspected militants.
PM Sharon decided to reopen the Temple Mount to non-Muslims. The Waqf
clerical trust imposed a ban on non-Muslims in Sep, 2000.
(SFC, 1/22/02, p.A7)
2002 Jan 22, Israeli troops killed
4 Hamas militants in Nablus. Yousef Soragji (42), mastermind of several
suicide bombings, was among the dead.
(SFC, 1/23/02, p.A6)(SFC, 1/24/02, p.A7)
2002 Jan 22, In Israel a
Palestinian gunman killed 2 women in Jerusalem and wounded 14 others
before he was killed by police.
(SFC, 1/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 24, Israeli troops killed
a Palestinian intelligence officer and 2 others died in what looked
like a failed suicide mission.
(WSJ, 1/25/02, p.A1)
2002 Jan 25, A Palestinian suicide
bomber sd’d in a Tel Aviv neighborhood and at least 25 people were
wounded following an Israeli missile attack in the Gaza Strip that
killed a senior Hamas commander. Separately 2 Hamas members were killed
by Israeli troops.
(SFC, 1/26/02, p.A6)
2002 Jan 26, The Palestinian
Authority again called for an end to all bombing and shooting attacks
against Israel. Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian passing
through an army checkpoint and militants were hit by an tank shell when
they tried to lay an explosive near a border fence.
(SSFC, 1/27/02, p.A18)
2002 Jan 27, A Palestinian woman,
Wafa Idris (28), exploded herself on Jaffa St. in Jerusalem and killed
one other Israeli man. Over 150 others were injured.
(SFC, 1/28/02, p.A1)(SFC, 1/31/02, p.A8)
2002 Jan 28, Israeli police killed
a Palestinian man as barreled through an army checkpoint in a stolen
car.
(SFC, 1/29/02, p.A8)
2002 Jan 29, Israeli troops raided
the Palestinian village of Artas and arrested Mohammed Eyosh (31), a
local Jihad leader. 4 others were wounded in gunfire.
(SFC, 1/30/02, p.A8)
2002 Jan 30, A Palestinian suicide
bomber, Murad Abu Asal (23), killed himself and wounded 2 Israeli Shin
Bet officers near Taibe.
(SFC, 1/31/02, p.A8)
2002 Jan 31, An interview was
published in which Israeli PM Ariel Sharon said that he regrets that
Israel failed to take the opportunity to kill Palestinian leader Yasir
Arafat in Lebanon 20 years ago.
(EB, 2002, p.11)
2002 Feb 1, In Israel over 100
reserve combat officers denounced the army for immoral behavior toward
Palestinian civilians and placed ads in newspapers including Haaretz:
"We will no longer fight beyond the Green Line with the aim of
dominating, expelling, starving and humiliating an entire people."
(SFC, 2/2/02, p.A7)
2002 Feb 3, In Israel the Cabinet
backed PM Sharon for initiating talks with Palestinian officials.
(SFC, 2/4/02, p.A4)
2002 Feb 4, In the Gaza Strip 5
Palestinians were killed when their car exploded. Israeli military said
the men were carrying an explosive device that went off early. 5
Palestinians died in a Gaza helicopter attack.
(SFC, 2/5/02, p.A5)(WSJ, 2/5/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 5, In Jenin, 3
Palestinians members of the Kameel clan were killed by a mob after a
court sentenced them to 15 year jail terms for the murder of another
clan member.
(SFC, 2/6/02, p.A9)
2002 Feb 6, The PLO issued a
17-page document that listed their actions to stop terrorism.
Meanwhile, Hamas gunman, Mohammed Ziad Khalili (26), killed 2 Israelis
in Hamra, a mother and daughter, before he was killed by commandos.
Israel responded with 2 missiles shot at a Palestinian prison and
government complex in Nablus.
(SFC, 2/7/02, p.A10)(SFC, 2/8/02, p.A8)
2002 Feb 7, Pres. Bush met with
Israel’s PM Sharon and said he would continue to press the Palestinian
Authority to crack down on terrorism. Bush rebuffed a plea to sever
ties with Arafat.
(SFC, 2/8/02, p.A8)(WSJ, 2/8/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 8, In Israel at least 2
Palestinians were killed when a bomb exploded prematurely. In Jerusalem
an Israeli woman was stabbed to death while strolling in the Peace
Forest. Police caught 4 Palestinians and one died following his arrest.
(SFC, 2/9/02, p.A7)
2002 Feb 10, Two Palestinian Hamas
gunmen attacked Israeli soldiers at Beersheva. 2 soldiers were killed
before the gunmen were slain.
(SFC, 2/11/02, p.A3)
2002 Feb 11, Israel bombed the
Palestinian security headquarters in the Gaza Strip for a 2nd day in
response to the use of a Kassam-2 rocket by Hamas.
(SFC, 2/12/02, p.A8)(AP, 2/11/03)
2002 Feb 13, Israeli troops seized
3 Palestinian towns and a refugee camp in Gaza Strip from where rockets
and mortars were fired and at least 5 people were killed. 3 Palestinian
police officers were killed in Deir al-Balah where 3 police posts were
destroyed.
(SFC, 2/13/02, p.A9)(WSJ, 2/14/02, p.A15)
2002 Feb 14, Militant Palestinians
attacked an Israeli tank in the Gaza Strip and 3 soldiers were killed.
(SFC, 2/15/02, p.A10)
2002 Feb 14, Palestinian Abu
Zubaydah (30) was identified as the new chief of operations for al
Qaeda and was believed to be organizing al Qaeda remnants for new
attacks against the US.
(SFC, 2/14/02, p.A10)
2002 Feb 15, An Israeli commando
leader was killed by a falling wall as his troops demolished a
Palestinian militant’s home in the West Bank. Israel fired rockets at
PLO offices in the Jabalija refugee camp and one security officer was
killed. Israeli Sgt. Lee Nahman Akunis (20) was killed by Fatah gunmen
outside the West Bank village of Skurda.
(SFC, 2/16/02, p.A9)(SSFC, 2/17/02, p.A12)
2002 Feb 16, Some 20,000 Israelis
rallied for peace in Tel Aviv. 2 Israelis were killed when a
Palestinian suicide bombed sd’d in a pizza restaurant in the West Bank
settlement of Karnei Shomron. In Jenin Nazih Abu Sabaah, a Hamas
leader, was killed by a car bomb. In the Bureij refugee camp 3
Palestinians were killed in gunfire with Israeli troops.
(SSFC, 2/17/02, p.A12)
2002 Feb 17, Israeli police foiled
an attempted suicide bombing near Hadera. One man was shot and killed
and another killed when his stolen car exploded. The Al Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades claimed the 2 dead as its members.
(SFC, 2/18/02, p.A9)
2002 Feb 17, Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah presented a Middle East peace plan to NY Times columnist
Thomas Friedman. It included Arab recognition of Israel’s right to
exist if Israel pulled back from lands that were once part of Jordan,
including East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
(SFC, 2/26/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 18, A Palestinian
militant ambushed a settler’s convoy, shot 3 people dead and blew
himself up. A car bombing outside Jerusalem killed an Israeli policeman
along with the bomber. 2 Palestinian gunmen attacked a settlement in
the Gaza Strip and one was killed.
(SFC, 2/19/02, p.A6)
2002 Feb 19, Israeli-Palestinian
fighting left 15 people dead. 6 Israeli soldiers died at a checkpoint.
(SFC, 2/20/02, p.A8)(SFC, 2/21/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 20, Israeli forces fired
on Palestinian police compounds and killed 12 security officials
including 4 guards at Gaza police compounds and 6 policemen in Nablus.
(SFC, 2/20/02, p.A8)
2002 Feb 21, Israeli tanks and
troops pushed into Gaza City and destroyed a broadcast facility. 6
Palestinians were reported killed. Yasser Arafat repeated a call to
halt violence and his security forces arrested 3 suspects in the Oct 17
assassination of Israeli Cabinet minister Zeevi. PM Sharon called for
buffer zones and the disarming of Palestinians.
(SFC, 2/21/02, p.A1)(SFC, 2/22/02, p.A9)(WSJ,
2/22/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 24, A Palestinian woman
(27) gave birth after being shot by Israeli troops as she was being
driven to a hospital.
(SFC, 2/26/02, p.A11)
2002 Feb 25, Two women, Israeli
(Tamar Lifshitz) and a Palestinian (Maysoun Hayek), gave birth after
being shot in separate incidents. The Palestinian’s woman’s husband was
shot to death as they drove to a hospital in Nablus. The Israeli
woman’s father was killed in an ambush along with another man. 4
Israelis were killed at a bus stop in Jerusalem by a gunmen who was
killed.
(SFC, 2/26/02, p.A11)(WSJ, 2/26/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 27, Israeli troops killed
4 armed Palestinians and a Palestinian worker killed an Israeli factory
manager. A Palestinian woman killed herself and wounded 4 others at a
road block in the West Bank.
(SFC, 2/28/02, p.A8)
2002 Feb 28, Israeli troops
assaulted 2 West Bank refugee camps. One Israeli soldier and 12
Palestinian fighters were killed.
(SFC, 3/1/02, p.A13)(WSJ, 3/1/02, p.A10)
2002 Mar 1, Israeli troops swept
through refugee camps in Jenin and Nablus looking for terror suspects.
One solder was killed along with 6 Palestinians fighters and a
10-year-old girl.
(SFC, 3/2/02, p.A7)
2002 Mar 2, In Jerusalem a suicide
bomber killed himself and 9 others including several children. In the
West Bank gunmen opened fire on Israeli motorists and killed 9 people.
(SSFC, 3/3/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 3, Israel used jets and
helicopters to strike Palestinian targets. 4 Palestinians were killed.
(SFC, 3/4/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 4, Israeli forces killed
at least 14 Palestinians including the wife of an Islamic militant and
their 3 children.
(SFC, 3/5/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 5, In Tel Aviv a gunmen
killed 3 people at a restaurant in the early hours and wounded 31 other
before he was killed. A suicide bomber blew himself up at the Afula bus
station and 1 Israeli was killed. In Dura a Palestinian police officer
was killed and 4 wounded during a gunfight with Israeli soldiers.
(SFC, 3/5/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 6, Israeli forces struck
Palestinian targets by land and sea. 13 Palestinians and 2 Israelis
were left dead.
(SFC, 3/7/02, p.A6)(WSJ, 3/7/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 8, A gunman killed 5
Israelis in Gaza. Israeli forces attacked Palestinian positions and
killed 36 including Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mefraj. This was the deadliest day
in 17 months of fighting.
(SFC, 3/8/02, p.A11)(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 9, A pair of Palestinian
gunmen tossed grenades and opened fire at a seafront hotel in Netanya
and 3 people were killed including a baby. A Palestinian suicide bomber
blew himself up in a Jerusalem café and killed 11 others.
Israeli forces destroyed Arafat’s office building in Gaza and left 6
Palestinians dead including a 15-year-old girl. Hamas claimed
responsibility.
(SSFC, 3/10/02, p.A1,16)(SFC, 7/24/02, p.A14)
2002 Mar 10, Israeli helicopters
destroyed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's office in Gaza City, hours
after 11 Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing in a cafe across the
street from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's residence in Jerusalem.
(AP, 3/10/07)
2002 Mar 11, Israeli forces swept
into the Jabaliya camp in Gaza and 23 residents were killed in heavy
fighting. PM Sharon announced that Arafat was free to resume traveling
about the West Bank and Gaza.
(SFC, 3/12/02, p.A6)(WSJ, 3/12/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 12, Israeli forces took
control of Ramallah. 35 Palestinians were killed in the last 24 hours
along with 7 Israelis.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/13/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 12, The UN Security
Council endorsed a Palestinian state for the 1st time and called for an
immediate cease-fire.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 13, Palestinians set off
a bomb next to an Israeli tank escorting a convoy in Gaza and 3
Israelis were killed. 2 Palestinians stabbed an Israeli husband and
wife in Nachliel.
(SFC, 3/14/02, p.A6)
2002 Mar 14, The Bush
administration demanded that PM Ariel Sharon order a withdrawal from
Palestinian controlled areas.
(SFC, 3/15/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 14, PM Ariel Sharon
announced a staged withdrawal from Ramallah ending the 2-week
"Operation Vital Security" and met with US envoy Anthony Zinni.
(SFC, 3/15/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A7)
2002 Mar 15, Adm. Zinni, US envoy,
met with Yasser Arafat in Ramallah and demanded that he reign in
militants and enforced a cease fire.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A7)
2002 Mar 17, Israeli and
Palestinian officials met to prepare for a cease-fire following
meetings with US envoy Adm. Zinni. A Palestinian gunman opened fire in
Kfar Saba. He killed an Israeli high school student (18) and was shot
dead. A suicide bomber detonated himself in Jerusalem.
(SSFC, 3/17/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/18/02, p.A3)
2002 Mar 18, Israel withdrew some
forces from Palestinian-ruled territory as VP Cheney arrived to help
with peace talks.
(SFC, 3/19/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/19/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 20, In Israel a suicide
bomber blew himself up on a crowded bus and 7 people were killed. The
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
(SFC, 3/20/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/21/02, p.A9)
2002 Mar 21, In Jerusalem Mohammed
Hashaika (22) blew himself up on King George St. and killed 3 Israelis.
Truce talks were cancelled.
(SFC, 3/22/02, p.A9)(WSJ, 3/22/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 22, Israelis and
Palestinians resumed cease-fire negotiations despite another suicide
bombing outside Jenin. Only the bomber was killed.
(SFC, 3/23/02, p.A10)
2002 Mar 24, Israeli troops and
tanks entered the Rafah refugee camp and 3 residents were killed. 2
more Palestinians were killed as they tried to throw a grenade at a
military post near Dugit. Clashes between Israelis and Palestinians
left at least 9 Palestinians dead along with 2 Israelis. US envoy Zinni
presented a cease-fire proposal to Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
(SSFC, 3/24/02, p.A14)(SFC, 3/25/02, p.A8)
2002 Mar 25, The US pushed for
Ariel Sharon to allow Yasser Arafat to attend an Arab summit in Beirut.
(SFC, 3/26/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 26, Yasser Arafat
declared that he would not attend the Arab league conference in Beirut
due to restrictions imposed by PM Sharon. Israeli security forces
stopped a car that exploded with 2 men inside.
(SFC, 3/27/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 27, A Palestinian Hamas
suicide bomber killed 28 Israelis gathered at the Park Hotel in Netanya
for the Passover Seder.
(SFC, 3/28/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/29/02, p.A11)(SFC,
4/15/02, p.A12)
2002 Mar 28, A Hamas attack left 4
Israelis dead in a West Bank settlement. Arafat said he was ready to
call for a cease-fire.
(WSJ, 3/29/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 28, In Beirut the Arab
League committed to accepting Israel as a neighbor under conditions
that included the creation of an independent Palestinian state and
Israel's full withdrawal from war-won lands, an offer that Israel did
not accept.
(SFC, 3/29/02, p.A15)(AP,
3/28/03)(www.mideastweb.org/saudipeace.htm)
2002 Mar 29, Israel declared
Yasser Arafat an "enemy" and sent troops and tanks to isolate him in
his Ramallah headquarters in Operation Defensive Shield. 5
Palestinians, possibly executed, and 2 Israelis were killed in the
takeover. In Jerusalem a suicide bomber, Ayat Akhras (18) killed
herself and 2 Israelis. In the Gaza Strip a Palestinian man stabbed to
death 2 elderly Israelis and was shot to death by soldiers.
(SFC, 3/29/02, p.A1)(SFC, 3/30/02, p.A1,11)(SSFC,
3/31/02, p.A18)(AP, 9/6/03)
2002 Mar 30, The United States
joined other U.N. Security Council members in adopting a resolution
calling on Israel to withdraw its troops from Palestinian cities,
including Ramallah, where Yasser Arafat headquarters was under siege.
(AP, 3/30/03)
2002 Mar 30, A suicide bomber,
Mohannad Salahat (22), struck in Tel Aviv and 32 people were injured.
Israeli troops sealed Arafat in his Ramallah compound.
(SSFC, 3/31/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/1/02, p.A1)(SFC,
7/24/02, p.A14)
2002 Mar 31, Israeli forces
entered Qalqilya and Bethlehem. 2 Palestinians were killed after they
fired on Israeli soldiers. Some 40 European and American peace
activists joined Yasser Arafat. Israeli PM Ariel Sharon vowed to smash
Palestinian militants in a broadcast speech that came the same day as a
suicide bombing in Haifa that killed 15 Israelis. In 2009 Shimon Shiran
died of wounds suffered in the bombing that also killed his daughter
Adi (17).
(SFC, 4/1/02, p.A1,10)(AP, 3/31/07)(AP, 4/12/09)
2002 Apr 1, Israeli forces
expanded their hunt for militants and terrorists to included ranking
officials of Arafat’s Palestinian Authority. Israeli tanks and
bulldozers rumbled into more Palestinian towns and massed on the edge
of Bethlehem in an expansion of a West Bank offensive. A sniper killed
an Israeli in Har Homa. A bomber blew up in his car in West Jerusalem
and killed the Israeli police officer who stopped him.
(SFC, 4/2/02, p.A1)(AP, 4/1/07)
2002 Apr 2, The Israeli army
attacked the headquarters of Jibril Rajoub, security chief of the
Palestinian Authority. The Israeli Army said it found a letter in
Arafat’s compound that detailed money requests for building bombs. PM
Sharon offered Yasser Arafat a one-way ticket to exile and battles with
Palestinian militiamen continued and at least 13 Palestinians were
killed.
(SFC, 4/2/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A1,10)(WSJ,
4/3/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 2, Israel seized control
of Bethlehem; Palestinian gunmen forced their way into the Church of
the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, where they began a
39-day standoff.
(AP, 4/2/03)
2002 Apr 3, Israeli tanks entered
the Wet Bank cities of Jenin, Salfeet and Nablus. At least 1 Israeli
soldier and 12 Palestinians were killed. Gunners from Lebanon’s
Hezbollah exchanged artillery and mortar fire with Israeli troops.
Scores of Palestinian gunmen were holed up in the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem. The Egyptian government announced a cutoff of
official contacts with Israel. Syria shifted 20,000 troops in Lebanon
toward the Lebanese-Syrian border reportedly in accord with the 1989
Taif agreement.
(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A1,13)(WSJ,
4/4/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 4, Israeli officials made
public 2 documents signed by Arafat that authorized payments to
Palestinian militants wanted for attacks on Israel.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A15)
2002 Apr 4, Israel continued for a
7th-day its offensive titled Operation Defensive Shield. Tanks entered
Hebron house-to-house fighting with Palestinian gunmen in the Jenin
refugee camp. 3 Israeli soldiers were killed. Guerrilla fighters fired
9 rockets into Israel.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A16)
2002 Apr 4, Pres. Bush demanded
that Israel withdraw from West Bank cities and end settlement activity
in occupied territories. He blasted Arafat and other Arab leaders for
abetting terrorism and dispatched Sec. of State Colin Powell to push
for a political settlement.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A1,14)
2002 Apr 5, US mediator Anthony
Zinni met with Yasser Arafat in Ramallah as Israeli forces continued
their offensive. At least 35 Palestinians were killed.
(SFC, 4/6/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 6, Pres. Bush repeated
his call for Israel to "withdraw without delay" from West Bank towns it
had occupied since launching an offensive after a string of suicide
attacks. Bush also demanded the Palestinians call "an immediate and
effective cease-fire."
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A3)(AP, 4/6/03)
2002 Apr 6, Arab League ministers
in emergency session denounced the Bush administration’s handling of
the Middle East conflict. Some 15k Jordanians marched in Ibrid. Over
20k marched in Paris and another 20k marched in Rome.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A7)
2002 Apr 6, Israeli troops
intensified their assault on West Bank towns and refugee camps. Over 20
thousand Jews and Arabs marched in Tel Aviv demanding that the
government withdraw from the West Bank and resume talks.
(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 7, Israeli forces
continued Operation Defensive Shield and news reporters were kept away.
12 Palestinians were killed in Nablus with stiff resistance in the
Jenin refugee camp. Worldwide protests included a march in Morocco by a
half million people and in Brussels by some 10,000.
(SFC, 4/8/02, p.A1,8)(AP, 4/7/03)
2002 Apr 9, Sec. of State Colin
Powell met with Pres. Mubarek in Egypt and stated that he would meet
with Yasser Arafat.
(SFC, 4/10/02, p.A18)
2002 Apr 9, The 12 day Israeli
offensive continued and dozens of Palestinians were reported dead in
the fiercest fighting to date. An explosion in the Jenin refugee camp
killed 13 Israeli soldiers. PM Sharon declared Israel to be in a
struggle for survival.
(SFC, 4/10/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/10/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 10, In Ramallah Manal
Sofran, a Palestinian housewife, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers.
(SFC, 4/12/02, p.A17)
2002 Apr 10, Sec. of State Colin
Powell stopped in Spain to gather EU support in the Middle East
conflict. He again called for an immediate end to Israel’s military
operations.
(SFC, 4/11/02, p.A14)
2002 Apr 11, US Sec. of State
Colin Powell arrived in Israel to push for peace talks. Israel sent
tanks and troops into 2 more Palestinian villages. A Palestinian
suicide bomber died when his explosives blew up prematurely.
(SFC, 4/11/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/12/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 12, Arab militant groups
including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood issued a
manifesto declaring that Arab governments had betrayed the Palestinians
and called holy war “the religious duty of every Muslim.”
(SFC, 4/17/02, p.A14)
2002 Apr 12, Colin Powell arrived
in Israel as another suicide bombing killed 6 people in Jerusalem at
the Mahane Yehuda market. Powell failed to PM Sharon to set a timetable
for withdrawal from West Bank cities. Powell postponed a meeting with
Arafat and demanded that Arafat condemn the latest attack. Estimates of
Palestinian dead from Israeli operations in Jenin reached 100-200. An
elderly Palestinian couple were rescued after being buried for 7 days
by an Israeli bulldozer in Jenin.
(SFC, 4/13/02, p.1,13)(SFC, 4/15/02, p.A11)
2002 Apr 13, Yasser Arafat issued
a statement condemning terrorism and planned to meet with Colin Powell
the next day. Hamas declared it had no intention of halting attacks.
(SSFC, 4/14/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 14, PM Sharon’s peace
plan was outlined and included 2 West Bank security zones, border
controls, a demilitarized Palestinian state, and economic development
assistance. Colin Powell met with Yasser Arafat and later with PM
Sharon, but made little headway on a cease-fire or Israeli withdrawal.
Some restrictions on reporters in the West Bank were lifted.
(SSFC, 4/14/02, p.A12)(SFC, 4/15/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 15, Israeli forces in
Ramallah seized Marwan Barghouti, a top Arafat lieutenant and alleged
leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Two Palestinians were killed in
fighting near Bethlehem and 2 of some 200 Palestinians surrendered at
the Church of the Nativity Israeli forces played high-decibel sounds
around the clock.
(SFC, 4/16/02, p.A1,10)
2002 Apr 17, Colin Powell ended
his Middle East mission and returned to the US as fighting continued.
Pres. Mubarak cancelled their meeting in Cairo. Israel commemorated its
independence.
(SFC, 4/18/02, p.A1,13)
2002 Apr 18, Omar Abu Selmia (15),
wired with grenades, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers as he
tried to enter a Jewish settlement in Gaza.
(SSFC, 4/21/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 19, Israel announced that
"Operation Defensive Shield is over" and their forces completed
withdrawal from Jenin. Israeli military reported the capture of Husam
Ataf Ali Badran, a Hamas leader, near Nablus. 2 Palestinians were
reported killed by Israeli gunfire in Gaza. A suicide bomber blew
himself up in central Gaza. 3 Palestinians were reportedly killed by
Israeli fire in Gaza. The UN approved a fact-finding mission into
Israeli actions at Jenin.
(SFC, 4/19/02, p.A20)(SFC, 4/20/02, p.A1,14)
2002 Apr 20, Eiman Judeh, a
Palestinian gunman, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at the Erez
Checkpoint, Gaza, after he killed border guard, Uriel Ben Maimon (21).
(SSFC, 4/21/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 22, Israeli-Palestinian
fighting left 7 Palestinians dead in the West Bank and Gaza along with
1 Israeli soldier. A leader of the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade was killed
in an Israeli helicopter attack.
(SFC, 4/23/02, p.A10)(WSJ, 4/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 24, Israeli tanks rolled
into Hebron. 3 Palestinian boys (14) were killed as they tried to
attack a Jewish settlement.
(WSJ, 4/25/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 25, A Palestinian
military filed court sentenced 4 Arafat followers to prison terms for
their roles in the 2001 slaying of Israeli minister Rehavan Zeevi.
Israel called the trial a sham.
(SFC, 4/26/02, p.A20)
2002 Apr 26, Israeli forces moved
into Qalqilya and 3 smaller settlements. Raed Nazal, a Qalqilya leader
of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was killed and 16
militants were captured. Fighting took place in Ramallah and 4
Palestinians surrendered at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Ismael Abu Shanab, a Hamas spokesman, said Hamas has accepted the terms
of the Saudi peace proposal.
(SFC, 4/27/02, p.A14)(SSFC, 4/28/02, p.A15)
2002 Apr 27, A UN team scheduled
to arrive in Israel for an inspection at Jenin was postponed for a day
over differences in the teams objectives.
(SFC, 4/27/02, p.A13)
2002 Apr 27, Palestinian gunmen
attacked the Israeli settlement of Adora and killed 4 people including
a 5-year-old girl. 3 gunmen escaped but one was later found and killed
in a nearby village.
(SSFC, 4/28/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 28, The Israeli Cabinet
approved a deal to lift the siege of Arafat’s compound in Ramallah
after promises that US and British jailers would guard the terrorist
suspects held there. The Cabinet refused to allow a UN team to
investigate charges of a massacre at Jenin. Israeli troops had
surrounded the compound in Ramallah demanding Arafat turn over the six
men who had sought refuge inside. Five of the men, including Ahmad
Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
were implicated in the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister
Rehavam Zeevi. The sixth, Fuad Shobaki, masterminded an illegal weapons
shipment to the Palestinian Authority on a ship called the Karine A.
President Bush brokered a deal with Israeli PM Ariel Sharon that sent
the six men to a Palestinian prison in Jericho, where they were guarded
by US and British monitors. In return, Israeli troops pulled back from
Arafat's West Bank compound.
(SFC, 4/29/02, p.A1)(AP, 3/15/06)
2002 Apr 29, Israeli forces went
into Hebron and at least 9 people were killed and dozens arrested. It
was a retaliation for the Apr 27 attack.
(SFC, 4/30/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 30, Israel blocked the UN
proposed fact-finding mission to Jenin. Israeli forces pulled out of
Hebron and 26 Palestinians emerged from the Church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem.
(SFC, 5/1/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr, Israeli police arrested
2 Jewish settlers for planting a bomb at a Palestinian girl’s school. 4
more were later taken into custody including Noam Federman, head of the
outlawed Kach movement. A bomb attack on an Arab boy’s school was also
recently foiled.
(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A10)
2002 Apr, Rageb Jaradat killed 8
people and injured 22 when he blew himself up on a bus between Jenin
and Haifa.
(SFC, 10/11/03, p.A7)
2002 May 1, Israeli forces
withdrew from Ramallah and Yasser Arafat, under siege since Mar 29,
emerged from his West Bank compound. 6 wanted Palestinian men were
driven to Jericho under US and British supervision.
(SFC, 5/2/02, p.A1)
2002 May 2, Yasser Arafat emerged
from his West Bank headquarters, hours after Israeli troops withdrew
from his compound and released the Palestinian leader from months of
confinement.
(AP, 5/2/03)
2002 May 5, Middle East
negotiations over the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
approached agreement with a deal to send some of the Palestinians into
exile and others to the Gaza Strip for trial. Startled Israeli soldiers
killed a mother and 2 children (4&6) near Jenin.
(SFC, 5/6/02, p.A1)
2002 May 7, Pres. Bush met with PM
Ariel Sharon. They called for sweeping changes to Palestinian governing
institutions and a new Palestinian security service but they failed to
agree on many other issues.
(SFC, 5/8/02, p.A18)
2002 May 7, In Israel a Hamas
suicide bomber killed 15 people in a pool hall in Rishon Lezion. Hamas
claimed responsibility.
(SFC, 5/8/02, p.A1)(SFC, 7/24/02, p.A14)(AP, 5/7/03)
2002 May 8, In Israel a suicide
bomber detonated himself prematurely. Israeli sappers used a robot to
drag the man, still alive, across a road for inspection.
(SFC, 5/8/02, p.A12)
2002 May 10, Arab leaders pressed
Yasser Arafat to stop suicide bombings as Israel delayed a strike into
Gaza.
(SFC, 5/11/02, p.A8)
2002 May 10, In Jerusalem 120
Palestinians left the Church of the Nativity following complex
negotiations and 39-day standoff. 13 senior militants faced deportation
to Cyprus and 26 were transferred to the Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 5/10/02, p.A1)
2002 May 11, In Tel Aviv,
Israel, some 50,000 protested for peace. A military attack on Gaza was
put on hold. Israel pulled out of the West Bank town of Tulkarem,
leaving Palestinian-run territories free of Israeli troops for the
first time in six weeks.
(SSFC, 5/12/02, p.A10)(AP, 5/11/03)
2002 May 12, In Israel PM Ariel
Sharon's Likud Party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, voted to never allow
the creation of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority told 26
men transferred from the Church of the Nativity that they could have
jobs in any government bureaucracy including positions in Gaza's Tanzim
militia.
(SFC, 5/13/02, p.A1,12)(AP, 5/12/03)
2002 May 15, In Palestine Yasser
Arafat conceded mistakes and proposed new elections and political
changes.
(WSJ, 5/16/02, p.A1)(SFC, 5/16/02, p.A6)
2002 May 15, In Israel Binyamin
Ben-Eliezer, the defense minister, proposed a peace package that called
for sharing Jerusalem with the Palestinians and granting them most of
the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
(SFC, 5/16/02, p.A6)
2002 May 16, Yasser Arafat agreed
to revamp his cabinet and hold elections within 6 months.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A1)
2002 May 17, Yasser Arafat changed
his previous day’s remarks and said balloting would only take place if
Israel withdraws from occupied territory.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A1)
2002 May 19, Sanabel Al-Fararja
(15) and Kayan Al-Saify (16), West Bank teenagers, ended an 8-week trip
in the US where they crossed the country and spoke on behalf of peace
in Palestine.
(SFC, 5/16/02, p.A13)
2002 May 19, In Israel a suicide
bomber killed himself, 3 Israelis and wounded over 50 in a market in
Netanya.
(SFC, 5/20/02, p.A1)
2002 May 20, In Israel a
Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and Israeli troops in
Tulkarem arrested a women who planned a suicide attack. It was also
reported that a Palestinian plan to bomb the twin 50-story towers in
Tel Aviv had been thwarted 3 weeks earlier.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A1)
2002 May 20, In Lebanon a car bomb
killed Jihad Jibril (38), head of local military operations for the
PFLP-GC. He was the son of Palestinian guerrilla leader Ahmed Jibril
who headed the Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command, founded in 1968. In 2008 a retired Lebanese
police officer and a Palestinian were indicted for allegedly working
with Israeli intelligence to assassinate Jibril.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)(AP, 6/18/08)
2002 May 22, In Israel a
Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and 2 Israelis in Rishon
Letzion, a Tel Aviv suburb. Some 3 dozen people were injured. A
Ukrainian Christian woman, previously misidentified, and her
Palestinian husband drove the suicide bomber to the site. Irena Plitzik
said she did not know about the suicide mission. A 2nd bomber, Tauurya
Hamamra, backed out.
(SFC, 5/23/02, p.A10)(WSJ, 5/23/02, p.A1)(WSJ,
5/31/02, p.A1)(SFC, 5/31/02, p.A10)(SSFC, 6/2/02, p.A11)
2002 May 25, Israeli troops seized
Bethlehem and surrounded the house of Muhammed Shehade, a leader of the
Islamic Jihad. A Palestinian woman and her daughter (13) were killed by
Israeli fire on a farm in the Gaza Strip.
(SSFC, 5/26/02, p.A13)
2002 May 26, Israeli forces moved
into Bethlehem for the 2nd time in 2 days.
(SFC, 5/27/02, p.A3)
2002 May 27, In Israel a
Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and 2 Israelis, a toddler and
her grandmother, at a mall in Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv.
(SFC, 5/28/02, p.A6)
2002 May 28, A Palestinian gunmen
attacked an Israeli settlement near Nablus and killed 3 students at an
Orthodox high school. The gunman was killed.
(SFC, 5/29/02, p.A8)(WSJ, 5/29/02, p.A1)
2002 May 30, Israeli forces
entered Nablus and raided Hebron and Jenin.
(WSJ, 5/31/02, p.A1)
2002 May 30, Yasser Arafat signed
the Basic Law package that granted his people basic rights and
regulated government operations.
(SFC, 5/31/02, p.A10)
2002 Jun 1, Israeli forces
detained hundreds of Palestinians in 4 West Bank cities. Tareq
el-Kharaz (24), who defied a curfew to pray in a mosque, was killed in
Nablus.
(SSFC, 6/2/02, p.A11)
2002 Jun 2, Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat offered Cabinet posts to Hamas and other militant groups
as part of his government reshuffle.
(SFC, 6/3/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 3, US CIA director George
Tenet met with Israeli leaders as Israel stepped up seizures of Arab
land for use as security buffer zones.
(SFC, 6/4/02, p.A7)
2002 Jun 5, In Israel a car bomb
went off next to a bus near Megiddo and at least 17 people were killed.
(SFC, 6/5/02, p.A1)(SFC, 6/6/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 6, Israeli forces
attacked Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah in response to a
Palestinian suicide attack on a bus that killed 17 Israelis. 2
Palestinians were reported killed.
(SFC, 6/6/02, p.A1)(SFC, 6/7/02, p.A10)(AP, 6/6/03)
2002 Jun 7, Palestinian gunmen
attacked the Karmei Tsur settlement in the West Bank and killed 2
Israelis. 1 attacker was killed, a 2nd escaped.
(SFC, 6/8/02, p.A12)
2002 Jun 8, Palestinians entered a
Jewish settlement in the West Bank early Saturday and killed three
Israelis in a shooting attack, the military and paramedics said. Three
Israelis and seven armed Palestinians were killed.
(AP, 6/7/02)(AP, 6/9/02)
2002 Jun 8, Pres. Bush met with
Egypt’s Pres. Hosni Mubarek, who said Middle East violence would
continue until Israel withdraws from Palestinian territory and hope for
a future is restored to the Palestinian people.
(SSFC, 6/9/02, p.A12)
2002 Jun 10, Israeli tanks and
troops charged into Ramallah before sunrise Monday, surrounding the
compound of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and arresting 20 suspected
militants in searches throughout the city.
(AP, 6/10/02)(SFC, 6/10/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 10, A bomb exploded near
an armored bus in the West Bank, injuring three teenaged students from
a religious seminary at a nearby Jewish settlement on their return from
picking cherries.
(Reuters, 6/11/02)
2002 Jun 12, Israeli troops shot
and killed five armed Palestinians and a 9-year-old boy in separate
incidents near a Jewish settlement, while a Palestinian suicide bomber
blew up a fast food restaurant in a Mediterranean resort town, killing
a 15-year-old Israeli girl. Israeli forces pulled out of the West Bank
town of Ramallah, lifting their latest blockade on Yasser Arafat's
office, as Secretary of State Colin Powell raised the idea of a
provisional Palestinian state.
(AP, 6/12/02)(AP, 6/13/02)
2002 Jun 13, Pres. Bush met with
Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal and indicated that he would support the
creation of a Palestinian state.
(SFC, 6/14/02, p.15)
2002 Jun 15, Four Israelis were
injured, two critically, when at least one Palestinian opened fire at a
Jewish settlement in the northern Gaza Strip.
(AP, 6/15/02)
2002 Jun 17, A Palestinian suicide
bomber blew himself up on Israel's frontier with the West Bank, shortly
after Israel angered the Palestinians by starting work on a security
fence between the two territories.
(Reuters, 6/17/02)
2002 Jun 18, A Palestinian man,
Muhammad al-Ghoul (22), detonated nail-studded explosives on a
Jerusalem bus crowded with high school students and office workers,
killing himself and 19 passengers in the city's deadliest suicide
attack in six years. Fifty-five people were wounded in the Hamas attack.
(AP, 6/18/02)(SFC, 6/19/02, p.A10)(SFC, 6/19/02,
p.A10)
2002 Jun 19, Israel launched
Operation Determined Path and announced it will gradually reoccupy
Palestinian areas until terrorism stops in a major policy change
prompted by a deadly bus bombing. Israeli troops raided three West Bank
towns from which dozens of terror attacks have been launched. Seven
Israelis were killed when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up
at a crowded bus stop in northern Jerusalem. About 50 people were
injured. Hamas declared a war on buses.
(AP, 6/19/02)(AP, 9/6/03)
2002 Jun 20, Palestinian gunmen
killed 5 Jewish settlers at the Itamar settlement in the West Bank. The
2 assailants were killed.
(SFC, 6/21/02, p.A1)
2002 Jun 21, Israeli tanks opened
fire on the market in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, killing 4
Palestinians, including 3 children, hospital officials said. The
Israeli army said soldiers had mistakenly fired on a group of curfew
violators. Israelis from the West Bank settlement of Itamar returning
from funerals killed a Palestinian during a rampage in the village of
Hawara.
(AP, 6/21/02)
2002 Jun 24, Israeli forces killed
six Palestinians in a helicopter missile strike on a car carrying
Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip on Monday and surrounded Yasser
Arafat in his headquarters in the West Bank.
(AP, 6/24/02)
2002 Jun 24, Pres. Bush outlined
his blueprint for peace in the Middle East. His statement included a
call on Palestinians to replace Yasser Arafat with leaders "not
compromised by terror" and adopt democratic reforms that could produce
an independent state within three years.
(SFC, 6/25/02, p.A1)(AP, 6/24/03)
2002 Jun 25, Israeli soldiers
stormed the fortress-like Palestinian headquarters in the city of
Hebron, occupying the seventh of eight main West Bank centers.
Palestinian security officials said four policemen were killed.
(AP, 6/25/02)
2002 Jun 26, The Palestinian
Authority, under pressure from President Bush to dump Yasser Arafat as
its leader, announced that presidential elections will be held in
mid-January.
(Reuters, 6/26/02)(SFC, 6/27/02, p.A8)
2002 Jun 27, Israel's army urged
Palestinians holed up under fire for a third day in a West Bank
compound to surrender Thursday, warning it will overrun the battered
Hebron government complex if those inside refuse to come out.
Helicopter gunships fired missiles into the Hebron complex.
(AP, 6/27/02)(SFC, 6/28/02, p.A10)
2002 Jun 27, In Khartoum, Sudan,
representatives of 57 Muslim nations pledged support for Palestinians
in a resolution that made no mention of President Bush's call for
Palestinians to elect a new leadership. In 21 months of violence, 1,739
people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 564 people on the
Israeli side.
(AP, 6/27/02)
2002 Jun 28, The Israeli army
smashed through an outer wall of the Palestinian Authority headquarters
in Hebron to try to flush out suspected militants. An Israeli military
court sentenced a 16-year-old Palestinian from the militant Hamas
movement to life in prison for trying to blow himself up when
confronted by Israeli police, the first time a would-be bomber was
brought to trial.
(Reuters, 6/28/02)(AP, 6/28/02)
2002 Jun 29, The Israeli army
ended a four-day siege of a Palestinian police headquarters by blowing
up the hilltop compound where about 15 suspected militants had taken
refuge. 2 Palestinians died in clashes with Israeli soldiers.
(Reuters, 6/29/02)(SSFC, 6/30/02, p.A14)
2002 Jun 29, Israel’s Defense
Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer called for the immediate dismantling of
10 illegal outposts in the West Bank.
(AP, 6/29/02)(SSFC, 6/30/02, p.A14)
2002 Jun 30, An Israeli tank
shelled a house in Nablus and killed Mohammed Tahir, a local Hamas
leader and bombmaker, along with an aide.
(SFC, 7/1/02, p.A3)
2002 Jul 4, The Palestinian police
chief Ghazi Jabali decided to resign and run for president following a
controversy over whether Yasser Arafat had tried to oust both him and
security commander Jibril Rajoub.
(Reuters, 7/4/02)(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A7)
2002 Jul 4, An explosion shattered
a white Mercedes, killing two people including Jihad Amerin (38), a
Gaza leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Palestinian police said
their initial suspicions were Israeli agents had planted a bomb.
(AP, 7/4/02)(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A7)
2002 Jul 6, Randi Hindi (44), a
Palestinian woman, and her 2-year-old daughter were shot to death while
riding in a taxi in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians claimed Israeli troops
were responsible. But the Israeli army said its soldiers did not fire
anywhere in the area.
(AP, 7/6/02)(SSFC, 7/7/02, p.A9)
2002 Jul 9, A Palestinian gunman
opened fire on Israeli police officers just outside the walled Old City
of Jerusalem, wounding one, and a passer-by was killed in the ensuing
gunbattle.
(AP, 7/9/02)
2002 Jul 10, Palestinian gunmen
shot and killed an Israeli army lieutenant on patrol in the southern
Gaza Strip, and Israeli troops fatally shot a 19-year-old Palestinian
in the West Bank.
(AP, 7/10/02)
2002 Jul 12, Palestinian
free-lance photographer Imad Abu Zahra died of a gunshot wound in the
northern West Bank, and a fellow photographer said the shots came from
a machine gun on an Israeli tank July 11. 2 Palestinians were killed in
an exchange of gunfire in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 7/12/02)(SFC, 7/13/02, p.A9)
2002 Jul 14, A Palestinian
man, on trial for allegedly collaborating with Israel, was killed by
Palestinian militants after an Israeli airstrike disrupted court
proceedings. Israeli aircraft fired missiles and destroyed a building
in the southern Gaza Strip, injuring about 10 Palestinians.
(AP, 7/14/02)
2002 Jul 16, In the West Bank
Palestinian gunmen ambushed a bus at the Emmanuel settlement left 8
Israelis dead.
(SFC, 7/17/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 7/18/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 17, In Israel 2 bombers
blew themselves up in Tel Aviv and injured over 40 people.
(WSJ, 7/18/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 19, Israel introduced
collective punishment on the family of Ali Ajouri, following his role
in the July 17 suicide bombing.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Jul 20, A car exploded near a
mosque in an Israeli Arab neighborhood of Tel Aviv, killing the driver.
(AP, 7/20/02)
2002 Jul 22, Israeli troops killed
2 Islamic Jihad members in a clash near the Gush Katif settlement.
(SFC, 7/23/02, p.A10)
2002 Jul 23, An Israeli F-16
warplane fired a missile that flattened a Gaza City apartment building,
killing Salah Shehadeh, the leader of Hamas' military wing, and at
least 14 other Palestinians, including nine children. Shehadeh was at
the top of Israel's most wanted list. The dead included Shehadeh’s wife
and 3 kids. In 2009 a Spanish judge began an investigation into seven
current or former Israeli officials over the 2002 bombing.
(AP, 7/23/02)(SFC, 7/23/02, p.A1)(AP, 1/29/09)
2002 Jul 25, Israeli police said
an Israeli policeman has been arrested on suspicion of selling
ammunition to Palestinians, raising to ten the number of suspects
detained in the case.
(AP, 7/25/02)
2002 Jul 25, Palestinian gunmen
shot dead a Jewish rabbi settler in what militants called the first
response to an Israeli air strike that killed 15 Palestinians including
a top militant.
(Reuters, 7/25/02)
2002 Jul 26, Israel sent tanks and
troops into Gaza City. Troops fatally shot a Palestinian man as he
stood in his kitchen in Qalqiliya. Palestinian security officials said
Israeli soldiers were firing live ammunition as they searched houses,
and that the man had been hit in the head.
(AP, 7/26/02)
2002 Jul 26, Palestinian gunmen
waiting in ambush fired on two passing Israeli cars near a Jewish
settlement in the southern West Bank, killing four people and injuring
two children before fleeing.
(AP, 7/26/02)
2002 Jul 28, Jewish settlers went
on a rampage as they returned home from the funeral of an Israeli
soldier, shooting dead a 14-year-old girl and wounding several other
Palestinians.
(AP, 7/28/02)(SFC, 7/31/02, p.A12)
2002 Jul 29, Thousands of
Palestinians defied the Israeli army's around-the-clock curfew for the
second straight day, and took to the streets of Nablus as shops and
banks opened to accommodate them.
(AP, 7/29/02)
2002 Jul 30, A Palestinian suicide
bomber blew himself up at a central Jerusalem fast-food stand popular
with police, wounding four Israelis. In the West Bank, gunmen killed
two Israeli settlers who had entered a Palestinian village.
(AP, 7/30/02)
2002 Jul 31, In Israel a bomb
exploded in a crowded cafeteria at Hebrew University during lunchtime,
killing 7 people including 5 Americans and wounding more than 70. Hamas
claimed responsibility.
(AP, 7/31/02)(SFC, 8/2/02, p.A1)
2002 Jul 31, An Israeli man, his
hands and feet bound, was found shot and killed in his factory office
near the West Bank town of Tulkarem.
(AP, 8/1/02)
2002 Aug 2, The Israeli army blew
up two buildings with explosives labs and arrested at least 50
Palestinians in house to house searches as troops took control of
Nablus, a city Israel called "the main factory of suicide bombings."
Israelis killed 3 people in Nablus and 3 Palestinians in Gaza including
a woman (85) and a girl (9).
(AP, 8/2/02)(SFC, 8/3/02, p.A1)
2002 Aug 4, In northern Israel a
Palestinian suicide bomber blew apart a bus during rush hour, killing
at least nine people, wounding dozens. 3 more people died in a gun
battle outside the Damascus Gate. 7 Arabs with Israeli citizenship were
later arrested for assisting the bomber.
(AP, 8/4/02)(SFC, 8/5/02, p.A1)(SFC, 8/27/02, p.A10)
2002 Aug 5, Israel announced a
"total ban" on Palestinian travel in much of the West Bank and sealed
off a chunk of the Gaza Strip with tanks in response to Palestinian
attacks on Israelis that killed 13 people over 24 hours. Israeli
helicopters fired missiles at a suspected weapons factory in Gaza City.
(AP, 8/5/02)(AP, 8/5/07)
2002 Aug 6, Israeli troops killed
the suspected mastermind of a Tel Aviv suicide bombing, while U.S.
diplomats said the United States was considering moving consular
offices out of traditionally Arab east Jerusalem due to security
concerns.
(AP, 8/6/02)
2002 Aug 7, About 30 Israeli tanks
firing heavy machineguns raided the northern Gaza Strip in a sweep for
militants and troops shot dead a Palestinian policeman.
(AP, 8/7/02)
2002 Aug 7, The Palestinian
Cabinet accepted Israel's proposal for a troop withdrawal from some
areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinian
security guarantees, even as Israeli troops hunting terror suspects
killed five Palestinians in three raids.
(AP, 8/7/02)
2002 Aug 8, Israeli troops and
tanks briefly swept into a town in the northern Gaza Strip for the
second time in two days, killing a youth and wounding three others in a
clash with Palestinian stone throwers. Negotiators failed to reach
agreement, but scheduled more talks on a gradual Israeli troop pullback
from some Palestinian areas.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Aug 10, Israeli soldiers shot
dead a Palestinian electricity department worker as he sat in his
city-owned truck and the army expressed its sorrow and said it had
opened an investigation. Gunfire in a Jordan Valley settlement killed a
suspected Palestinian militant and an Israeli woman.
(AP, 8/10/02)
2002 Aug 11, Israeli troops shot
and killed Basil Naji (22), a Palestinian gunman, after he opened fire
on Israeli road workers in the northern Gaza Strip, wounding one of
them.
(AP, 8/11/02)(SFC, 8/12/02, p.A10)
2002 Aug 12, Palestinian factions
met to create a "national unity leadership" to include all major
groups, including militant ones such as Hamas. They endorsed a
continuation of their uprising and rejected language to end attacks on
civilians inside Israel.
(AP, 8/12/02)
2002 Aug 14, Israel's military
intelligence chief told parliament that Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat has amassed a personal fortune of about $1.3 billion.
(AP, 8/14/02)
2002 Aug 16, Sabri al-Banna, aka
Abu Nidal (65), Palestinian guerrilla commander and head of the
Fatah-Revolutionary Council, died from gunshot wounds in his Baghdad
home. Iraqi officials said he killed himself.
(Reuters, 8/19/02)(WSJ, 8/20/02, p.A18)(AP, 8/21/02)
2002 Aug 18, Israel agreed to a
partial withdrawal from Palestinian territory in exchange for reduced
tensions in the areas.
(SFC, 8/19/02, p.A1)
2002 Aug 20, Palestinian police
were back on the streets of Bethlehem after Israeli forces left the
town as part of a trial that could lead to further Israeli withdrawals
in the West Bank.
(AP, 8/20/02)
2002 Aug 20, An Israeli soldier
was killed by a Hamas sniper. Hamas vowed to undermine the new security
agreement.
(WSJ, 8/21/02, p.A1)
2002 Aug 21, Israeli troops blew
up two apartment buildings in a Gaza Strip refugee camp, just hours
after undercover forces killed the brother of a radical Palestinian
leader during an arrest raid in the West Bank. Israeli security
officials announced the breakup of a Hamas cell in East Jerusalem.
(AP, 8/21/02)(SFC, 8/22/02, p.A7)
2002 Aug 24, A Palestinian militia
shot and killed a Palestinian woman suspected of collaborating with
Israel, then dumped her bullet-riddled body on a street in the West
Bank town of Tulkarem. The next day her son said that Palestinian
gunmen tortured him until he invented a story about his mother's
involvement.
(AP, 8/24/02)(AP, 8/26/02)
2002 Aug 26, Israeli troops
arrested Jamal Abdel Salam Abu el-Heijah, leader of Hamas in the Jenin
region in a West Bank raid as Israel's defense minister said a security
deal to ease violence was still in force.
(AP, 8/26/02)
2002 Aug 29, Israeli tank shells
slammed into a Bedouin encampment in Gaza, killing four members of a
Palestinian family and wounding four others.
(AP, 8/29/02)
2002 Aug 29, Hezbollah guerrillas
shelled Israeli positions in a disputed border area, wounding 3
soldiers and drawing fire from Israeli warplanes and artillery.
(AP, 8/29/02)
2002 Aug 31, Israeli soldiers
arrested Hasan Yousef, the Islamic militant group Hamas' top political
leader, in the West Bank town of Ramallah. An Israeli helicopter fired
three missiles at a Palestinian car, killing three men inside and two
children standing nearby.
(AP, 8/30/02)
2002 Aug 31, A Palestinian gunman
opened fire in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, seriously wounding
two people before being shot dead.
(AP, 8/31/02)
2002 Sep 1, Israeli troops shot
dead four Palestinians not far from a Jewish gravesite near the West
Bank city of Hebron, adding to an already bloody weekend in which seven
other Palestinians, including two children, were killed.
(AP, 9/1/02)(SFC, 9/2/02, p.A3)
2002 Sep 3, Israeli tank shells
killed Bahir Eid (22) and Hussein Najar (22) residents of the village
of Burin, a West Bank village.
(AP, 9/3/02)
2002 Sep 5, Palestinian
fighters blew up an Israeli tank in Gaza, killing the driver instantly.
Another Palestinian, linked to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, killed an
Israeli officer and wounded another soldier before he was shot dead.
(SFC, 9/6/02, p.A14)
2002 Sep 6, Israel attacked
a factory in the Gaza Strip with missiles fired from helicopters after
a Palestinian "mega" bomb attempt was thwarted a day earlier.
(AP, 9/6/02)(SFC, 9/6/02, p.A14)
2002 Sep 11, The 21-member
Palestinian Cabinet resigned after Yasser Arafat lost a showdown with
parliament, the most serious challenge to the Palestinian leader since
he returned from exile in 1994.
(AP, 9/11/02)
2002 Sep 13, Four Palestinians
were killed in Gaza, including three in an explosion at a home believed
to harbor a bomb workshop. Elsewhere, a Palestinian gunman died in a
firefight with Israeli soldiers.
(AP, 9/13/02)
2002 Sep 13, Iraq will pay up to
$5,000 each to Palestinians whose home is demolished in the Israeli
campaign against suspected militants, a pro-Iraqi group said Friday,
hinting also that Iraq is supplying weapons to the Palestinians.
(AP, 9/13/02)
2002 Sep 17, The United States and
its key global partners in Middle East peacemaking agreed to try to
establish a provisional Palestinian state next year.
(AP, 9/17/02)
2002 Sep 18, A Palestinian suicide
bomber blew himself up at a bus stop in the Arab-Israeli village of Umm
al-Fahm in northern Israel, wounding several people.
(AP, 9/18/02)
2002 Sep 19, A Palestinian blew
himself up on a crowded bus in downtown Tel Aviv, killing at least five
other people and wounding 49. It was the second suicide bombing in two
days after a six-week lull.
(AP, 9/19/02)
2002 Sep 20, Israel tightened its
siege on Yasser Arafat, using tanks to destroy a stairwell in his
compound, digging a deep trench and running coils of barbed wire around
his offices.
(AP, 9/20/02)
2002 Sep 21, Explosions rocked
Yasser Arafat's compound, including one that showered him with debris,
as the Israeli army systematically blew up or bulldozed nearly every
building around him in the Palestinian Authority's headquarters.
(AP, 9/21/02)
2002 Sep 22, Thousands of
Palestinians, many defying military curfews, poured into West Bank and
Gaza streets to protest Israel's assault on Yasser Arafat's
headquarters, and 5 demonstrators were killed by army fire.
(AP, 9/22/02)(WSJ, 9/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Sep 23, A defiant Yasser
Arafat dug in at his besieged West Bank compound, rejecting Israel's
demand to hand over the names of all those holed up inside.
(AP, 9/23/03)
2002 Sep 23, A Palestinian gunman
opened fire on visitors attending Jewish holiday celebrations In
Hebron, killing a man and wounding three of his sons.
(AP, 9/24/02)
2002 Sep 24, Israel defied a
U.N. Security Council demand to end its six-day siege of Yasser
Arafat's devastated West Bank headquarters. 9 Palestinians were killed
in an Israeli strike against alleged munitions factories and other
targets in Gaza City. Israeli troops demolished three houses of
Palestinian terror suspects, while Jewish settler leaders inaugurated a
new Jewish settlement near the Palestinian city of Nablus.
(AP, 9/24/02)(AP, 9/25/02)
2002 Sep 26, Israeli helicopter
gunships fired missiles into Gaza City, killing two Palestinians in an
escalation of violence. The attack was bid to kill Hamas bomb maker
Mohammed Deif.
(AP, 9/26/02)(WSJ, 9/27/02, p.A1)
2002 Sep 29, Israel withdrew
forces from Yasser Arafat's headquarters compound Responding to U.S.
pressure, but said the hunt for men inside whom it accuses of terrorism
would continue. Some 250 Palestinian militiamen were granted
conditional freedom.
(AP, 9/29/02)(SFC, 9/30/02, p.A3)
2002 Oct 5, Israeli soldiers
enforcing a curfew shot Amer Hashem, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in
Nablus, during clashes with stone-throwing protesters. It was the eve
of an international round of peace diplomacy.
(AP, 10/5/02)(SFC, 10/5/02, p.A8)(SSFC, 10/6/02,
p.A18)
2002 Oct 7, Israeli forces killed
16 Palestinians in Gaza that included a missile strike that killed 11.
Hamas vowed revenge attacks.
(SFC, 10/7/02, p.A1)(SFC, 10/8/02, p.A1)(WSJ,
10/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 8, Israeli forces entered
Hebron following a sniper attack that wounded 4 Israelis. Israeli
tankfire killed a Palestinian girl in the Gaza Strip.
(WSJ, 10/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 13, Israeli troops backed
by tanks and a helicopter entered the Rafah refugee camp hunting for
tunnels used to smuggle weapons and drugs into the Gaza Strip. Two
Palestinians were killed and 28 wounded.
(AP, 10/13/02)
2002 Oct 13, A Palestinian
militant, whose clan has been targeted previously by Israeli security
forces, was killed when a public telephone exploded in his hand. He was
one of six Palestinians to die in a day of violence.
(AP, 10/13/02)
2002 Oct 17, Israeli tanks fired
artillery shells and machine guns after coming under attack by
anti-tank missiles, killing at least 6 Palestinians and wounding more
than 40 in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
(AP, 10/17/02)(SFC, 10/18/02, p.A18)
2002 Oct 21, A bus bombing near
Hadera killed 14 Israelis, along with two attackers. Israel held off on
immediate retaliation, but troops next day destroyed the homes of a
suicide bomber and a suspected militant.
(AP, 10/22/02)(SFC, 10/22/02, p.A1)
2002 Oct 27, A Palestinian suicide
bomber blew up as Israeli soldiers were shooting him, killing three
people and himself at a gas station just outside Ariel, one of the
largest Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The 18 people injured
included several soldiers. Hours later, Israeli troops shot and killed
two armed Palestinian militants in the nearby Palestinian city of Nablus
(AP, 10/27/02)
2002 Oct 29, The Palestinian
parliament approved the new 19-member Cabinet of Yasser Arafat.
(AP, 10/29/02)
2002 Oct 30, A Palestinian gunman
killed two teenage girls and a woman in a Jewish settlement in the West
Bank before being shot dead in a firefight with soldiers and
residents.
(AP, 10/30/02)
2002 Nov 4, Two Palestinians,
including a Hamas militant wanted by Israel, were killed when their car
exploded in the middle of the street in the West Bank city of Nablus.
(AP, 11/4/02)
2002 Nov 5, Israeli soldiers came
under fire and responded by killing a Palestinian and injuring 16
others in the southern Gaza Strip.
(AP, 11/5/02)
2002 Nov 6, A Palestinian laborer
opened fire in a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip where he worked,
killing his employer and another Israeli before being shot dead.
(AP, 11/6/02)
2002 Nov 9, Iyad Sawalha, a senior
member of the militant Islamic Jihad group, was killed in an overnight
army operation in the West Bank.
(AP, 11/9/02)
2002 Nov 10, A car carrying two
Palestinians exploded as Israeli police moved to stop the vehicle near
Israel's border with the West Bank.
(AP, 11/10/02)
2002 Nov 10, A Palestinian gunman
crawled under a security fence at the Kibbutz Metzer communal farm,
burst into a home and shot dead a mother and her two children as she
was reading them a bedtime story. The gunman then killed two more
Israelis before escaping in the dark.
(AP, 11/11/02)
2002 Nov 14, Israeli troops
captured the alleged mastermind of a shooting attack on an Israeli
kibbutz in his West Bank hideout, and seized suspected weapons makers
in the deepest raid into Gaza City in two years.
(AP, 11/14/02)
2002 Nov 15, Palestinian militants
raked Israeli troops and settlers with gunfire in an ambush, killing 12
Israelis in Hebron.
(AP, 11/15/03)
2002 Nov 16, Israeli troops retook
control of Hebron blindfolding Palestinian suspects and herding them
into army buses, after militant gunmen ambushed a procession of Jewish
worshippers, killing 12 Israelis, mostly security forces.
(AP, 11/16/02)
2002 Nov 17, Tawfiq Fukra (23), an
Israeli Arab accused of trying to hijack an El Al Airlines flight,
wanted to copy the September 11 suicide attacks on the United States
and fly the aircraft into a public building in Tel Aviv.
(Reuters, 11/18/02)
2002 Nov 19, Five Palestinians
died when Israeli soldiers swept through the West Bank town of
Tulkarem, one a leading militant and another a teenager who had climbed
on top of an Israeli armored vehicle.
(AP, 11/19/02)
2002 Nov 20, Israeli troops shot
and killed Amr Qudsi (15), a Palestinian teenager in a confrontation in
Tulkarem.
(AP, 11/20/02)
2002 Nov 21, A Palestinian man
wearing a bomb belt blew himself up on a Jerusalem city bus packed with
high school students and soldiers, killing 11 passengers and wounding
dozens in a morning rush hour attack. Four of the victims were aged 8
to 16.
(AP, 11/21/02)
2002 Nov 22, A senior U.N.
official from Britain was shot and killed during an exchange of fire
between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank refugee
camp of Jenin.
(AP, 11/22/02)
2002 Nov 23, Two Palestinian
suicide bombers blew up an explosives-laden fishing boat close to an
Israeli patrol craft, wounding four sailors, in the first such attack
since the start of the Palestinian uprising.
(AP, 11/23/02)
2002 Nov 25, Israeli troops shot
and killed an 8-year-old Palestinian boy in Nablus as hundreds of
youths ignored a curfew and threw stones at soldiers on their way home
from school. Israeli troops and armored vehicles pulled out of
Bethlehem.
(AP, 11/25/02)
2002 Nov 26, Israeli aircraft
attacked a building in Jenin’s refugee camp and killed 2 Palestinian
militants.
(WSJ, 11/27/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov 28, A shooting attack in
northern Israel killed 6 Israelis. Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire
on a Likud Party office crowded with voters casting ballots in a
leadership race and also attacked passengers at a nearby bus terminal
in northern Israel.
(AP, 11/28/02)(SFC, 11/29/02, p.A1)
2002 Nov 29, Israeli troops blew
up the homes of two Palestinian gunmen who attacked an office of Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party during a primary vote, killing six
Israelis and wounding more than 20.
(AP, 11/29/02)
2002 Nov 29, Tens of thousands of
people demonstrated across the Middle East in a day of solidarity with
Palestinians in the annual Jerusalem Day, which marked the 1947 UN
partition of Palestine.
(AP, 11/29/02)
2002 Nov 30, A 16-year-old
Palestinian boy was shot and killed on his way home from school east of
Gaza city, and another was wounded.
(AP, 11/30/02)
2002 Nov 30, Israeli troops shot
dead one Palestinian and a second Palestinian man died under the rubble
of one of the three homes the soldiers demolished in an overnight
operation in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 12/1/02)
2002 Dec 2, Israeli troops shot
dead a Palestinian gunman trying to enter a Jewish settlement in the
Gaza Strip, and a Palestinian teenager was killed when a mob of stone
throwers clashed with troops in the West Bank town of Jenin.
(AP, 12/2/02)
2002 Dec 3, An Israeli soldier in
Ramallah shot and killed a 95-year-old Palestinian woman as her taxi
tried a back road to go around an Israeli checkpoint.
(SFC, 12/4/02, p.A14)
2002 Dec 6, Ten Palestinians,
including two U.N. employees, were killed in chaotic battles that
erupted when Israeli troops, tanks and helicopter gunships poured into
a Gaza Strip refugee camp, searching for a fugitive militant allegedly
involved in a fatal bombing.
(AP, 12/6/02)
2002 Dec 8, Israeli soldiers
killed a Palestinian woman and wounded her 3 children at the Tel sultan
refugee camp near the settlement of Rafiah Yam.
(SFC, 12/9/02, p.A12)
2002 Dec 9, Israeli soldiers
killed Basem Kou (28), a mentally handicapped Palestinian near Beit
Lid. At Nablus Israeli soldiers fired on a taxi and killed Rehaneh
Hesham Kilani (25) and injured 2 other passengers.
(SFC, 12/10/02, p.A8)
2002 Dec 11, Israeli troops killed
a suspected Palestinian militant in a West Bank refugee camp as he
tried to escape.
(AP, 12/11/02)
2002 Dec 11, Israeli troops in
Gaza shot and killed 5 unarmed Palestinians trying to penetrate a
security fence.
(SFC, 12/13/02, p.A22)
2002 Dec 12, Israeli troops near
Hebron shot and killed 2 armed Palestinians in separate incidents.
(SFC, 12/13/02, p.A22)
2002 Dec 13, Hamas marked its 15th
anniversary with a rally that drew some 30,000 supporters in southern
Gaza.
(SFC, 12/14/02, p.A6)
2002 Dec 15, Israel barred
Palestinian Pres. Yasser Arafat from visiting Bethlehem for Christmas
and decided to keep its army in the West Bank city over the holiday.
(Reuters, 12/15/02)
2002 Dec 16, Israeli soldiers
killed three Palestinians, including two armed Hamas fighters, and
troops also destroyed 16 shacks, leaving more than 200 people homeless
in confrontations in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 12/16/02)(SFC, 12/17/02, p.A13)
2002 Dec 21, An 11-year-old
Palestinian girl died of a gunshot wound in the Gaza Strip, where
Israeli troops reinforced a blockade.
(AP, 12/21/02)
2002 Dec 23, Israeli troops killed
two Hamas activists, including a leading militiaman, as the men rode a
tractor near the West Bank town of Jenin.
(AP, 12/23/02)
2002 Dec 24, Israeli soldiers
killed a Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 12/24/02)
2002 Dec 25, Israeli troops killed
a member of the militant Hamas group and arrested another in the West
Bank city of Nablus.
(AP, 12/25/02)
2002 Dec 26, Israeli soldiers
hunting militiamen in the West Bank killed 9 Palestinians in separate
clashes across the West Bank and Gaza.
(AP, 12/26/02)(SFC, 12/27/02, p.A12)
2002 Dec 27, Palestinian gunmen
killed 4 Israelis at the Otniel religious community near Hebron.
(SFC, 12/28/02, p.A9)
2002 Dec 28, Israeli troops
clashed with Palestinian university students, a day after four Israelis
died in a Palestinian attack on Jewish seminary students.
(AP, 12/28/02)
2002 Dec 29, Israeli soldiers
fired toward Palestinian protesters in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
killing an 11-year-old boy and wounding a cameraman on assignment for
AP TV News.
(AP, 12/29/02)
2002 Dec 30, Israeli soldiers
killed three Palestinians, including a gunman, while Israel's Supreme
Court ruled that reserve soldiers have no right to refuse service in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Border policemen Shahar Botbeka and Denis
Alhazov and 2 others abducted several Hebron residents, among them
17-year-old Amran Abu Hamadiya, and took them for a ride in their jeep.
They abused the men and beat them with truncheons and rifles. They
hurled Abu Hamadiya out of the moving vehicle, causing his death. In
2008 Botbeka and Alhazov were convicted of manslaughter for their
part in the kidnapping and wrongful death of Hamadiya.
(AP,
12/30/02)(www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1017498.html)
2002 Israel closed to Palestinians
the West Bank section of Route 443 linking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,
after militants shot at Israeli vehicles on the highway and killed
several motorists.
(AP, 12/30/09)
2003 Jan 1, In Gaza 3 Palestinian
boys were shot and killed by soldiers after scaling a fence around
Jewish settlements. Thousands of Palestinians marched in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip to mark the 38th anniversary of the founding of Arafat’s
Fatah movement.
(AP, 1/2/03)(SFC, 1/2/03, p.A5)
2003 Jan 2, A Palestinian gunman
was killed several hours after he tried to shoot an Israeli couple and
then holed up inside their house in the Israeli village of Maor.
(AP, 1/2/03)
2003 Jan 5, In Israel 2
Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up minutes apart in a
central Tel Aviv area crowded with foreign workers, killing 23
bystanders in the bloodiest attack in six months.
(AP, 1/5/08)
2003 Jan 7, Israeli troops
exchanged fire with Palestinian militiamen for 4 hours, killing 3
gunmen before withdrawing from the outskirts of a refugee camp. The
Israeli government put new restrictions on travel by Palestinians.
(AP, 1/7/03)(SFC, 1/8/03, p.A11)
2003 Jan 12, Three missiles fired
from an Israeli helicopter missed their apparent target, Islamic
militants riding in a car, and killed two 15 year-old Palestinian boys,
seriously wounding another teen. In Israel 7 Palestinians, two other
Arab attackers and two Israelis were killed in raids and infiltrations.
(AP, 1/13/03)(SFC, 1/13/03, p.A3)
2003 Jan 13, Two Palestinians
threw grenades at an Israeli bus in the Gaza Strip and were shot dead
by Israeli troops, and an Islamic Jihad activist was killed in an
explosion in the West Bank.
(AP, 1/14/03)
2003 Jan 15, Israel shut down two
Palestinian universities in the divided town of Hebron, while Israeli
soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians in West Bank clashes.
(AP, 1/15/03)
2003 Jan 17, Two Palestinian
gunmen infiltrated the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, killing an
Israeli man as he opened the door of his home and wounding three other
people. One gunman was shot and killed in the attack.
(AP, 1/17/03)
2003 Jan 21, Israel razed 62 shops
and market stalls in a Palestinian village Tuesday as troops clashed
with protesters.
(AP, 1/21/03)
2003 Jan 18, Israeli soldiers
tracked and killed a 2nd Palestinian assailant who fled after an attack
on a Jewish outpost in the West Bank. The two slain Palestinians had
earlier killed one Israeli and injured three others the previous night.
(AP, 1/18/03)
2003 Jan 23, Hamas gunmen
opened fire on a vehicle south of the West Bank city of Hebron and
three Israelis were killed. Retaliatory raids wounded 6 in Gaza.
(AP, 1/23/03)(SFC, 1/24/03, p.A11)
2003 Jan 24, Israeli soldiers
killed at least 12 Palestinians as helicopter gunships hit Gaza City
with 11 missiles.
(SFC, 1/25/03, p.A5)(SSFC, 1/26/03, p.A16)
2003 Jan 28, An explosion leveled
a Gaza City house, killing three Palestinians, including a teenage
brother and sister, and wounding 11. In Jenin four Palestinians were
killed in battles with Israeli troops.
(AP, 1/28/03)
2003 Jan 30, An Israeli undercover
unit shot dead two Palestinian militants in Tulkarem, including a
militia leader. Army bulldozers demolished a Palestinian vegetable
market and closed Palestinian police and TV stations in Hebron.
(AP, 1/30/03)
2003 Jan 31, Israeli undercover
troops killed a fugitive Islamic militant and a Palestinian night
watchman in a two-hour gun battle at a Jenin firehouse.
(AP, 1/31/03)(SFC, 2/1/03, p.A11)
2003 Feb 3, Israeli tank fire
killed two Palestinian farmers in the Gaza Strip on Monday, and
soldiers arrested a leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah group on the West
Bank.
(AP, 2/3/03)
2003 Feb 5, The Israeli military
demolished the home of a Palestinian militant in the Gaza Strip,
killing an elderly woman inside. Israeli troops killed a total of 5
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
(AP, 2/5/03)(WSJ, 2/7/03, p.A1)
2003 Feb 9, Three Palestinians
were killed when their explosives-laden car blew up outside an Israeli
army post after crashing into a cement block barrier. In secret talks
last week Israel offered the Palestinians a gradual cease-fire.
(AP, 2/9/03)(SSFC, 2/9/03, p.A22)
2003 Feb 10, Israeli troops killed
2 suspected Palestinian militants, including an unarmed fugitive, in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
(AP, 2/10/03)
2003 Feb 11, Israeli troops killed
an armed Palestinian in the Gaza Strip, and Israel imposed a blanket
closure on the Palestinian areas during the Muslim Hajj because of
warnings of possible attacks. Israeli soldiers killed an 8-year-old boy
in the West Bank and an Israeli was killed by a Palestinian gunman in
Bethlehem.
(AP, 2/11/03)(SFC, 2/12/03, p.A13)
2003 Feb 15, A roadside
bomb exploded next to an Israeli tank in the Gaza Strip, killing all
four soldiers inside. Hamas claimed responsibility.
(AP, 2/15/03)(SSFC, 2/16/03, p.A10)
2003 Feb 16, Yasser Arafat
affirmed in a letter to Britain’s Tony Blair that he will honor a
pledge to appoint a prime minister. 8 Palestinians were killed, 6 in a
mysterious explosion in Gaza City and 2 by Israeli army fire in the
West Bank.
(AP, 2/16/03)(SFC, 2/17/03, A3)
2003 Feb 17, Israeli
soldiers killed a top Hamas fugitive in a roadside ambush. In another
operation they raided a stronghold of the militant Islamic group,
shooting dead 2 Palestinians and blowing up the house of a suspected
bombmaker.
(AP, 2/17/03)
2003 Feb 18, At least 40
Israeli tanks headed for Gaza City, accompanied by bulldozers and
attack helicopters.
(AP, 2/18/03)
2003 Feb 19, Israeli tanks
and soldiers battled Palestinian militants in the streets of Gaza City
before dawn in violence that left 11 Palestinians dead, including a
suicide bomber who tried to blow up a tank. Hamas fired 4 Qassam
rockets into Sderot in retaliation.
(AP, 2/19/03)(SFC, 2/20/03, A6)
2003 Feb 20, Israeli
soldiers killed a Palestinian and carried out house-to-house searches
in the West Bank and divided the Gaza Strip into three parts,
restricting the movement of more than 1 million Palestinians.
(AP, 2/20/03)
2003 Feb 21, Israeli troops
killed 2 Islamic militants during separate attempts to attack an army
post and a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 2/21/03)
2003 Feb 22, Israeli troops
opened fire on a crowd in Nablus after clashes erupted while soldiers
were searching door to door for militants. 2 Palestinians were killed
in the gunfire.
(AP, 2/22/03)
2003 Feb 23, Israeli troops
raided Beit Hanoun in Gaza, blew up five homes of suspected militants,
battled masked gunmen and shot from tank-mounted machine guns toward
dozens of stone throwers. Six Palestinians were killed and 28 wounded.
2 more Palestinians were killed elsewhere in Gaza.
(AP, 2/23/03)
2003 Feb 25, Israeli
soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip, and
a Hamas activist was critically wounded in an explosion in his home.
(AP, 2/25/03)
2003 Mar 2, Israeli troops
backed by tanks and helicopters raided a Gaza Strip town, killing two
Palestinians in fierce fighting and demolishing an apartment building
and the exterior wall of a hospital.
(AP, 3/2/03)
2003 Mar 3, Israeli troops
raided a Gaza refugee camp and arrested Hamas co-founder Mohammed Taha.
He founded Hamas in 1987, along with the group's spiritual leader,
Sheik Ahmed Yassin, and three other senior clerics. Israel released
Taha 14 months later. 8 Palestinians, among them a pregnant woman, were
killed in clashes in the camp.
(AP, 3/3/03)(AP, 3/3/08)
2003 Mar 4, Israeli troops
killed one Palestinian and wounded another in an shootout at an
Internet cafe in the West Bank.
(AP, 3/4/03)
2003 Mar 5, In Israel a
Palestinian suicide bombing, the 1st in two months, tore apart a packed
Israeli bus in the port city of Haifa, killing 14 Israelis and an
American teenager, and wounding about 55.
(AP, 3/5/03)(AP, 3/5/08)
2003 Mar 6, Israeli troops
hunting Islamic militants after a deadly suicide bombing stormed the
Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza in a raid that left 11 Palestinians dead
and 110 wounded.
(AP, 3/6/03)
2003 Mar 8, An Israeli helicopter
missile strike killed Ibrahim Makadmeh (51), the top commander of
Hamas' military wing and three other militants in a car in the Gaza
Strip. Hamas vowed revenge; the Israeli army promised to strike the
militants again.
(AP, 3/8/03)(AP, 3/8/08)
2003 Mar 10, The
Palestinian parliament approved the new position of PM as part of
reforms sought by the US, Europe and Israel to curb Yasser Arafat’s
near absolute powers. Mahmoud Abbas became PM without control of the
security forces or peace talks. Abbas had a doctorate in history and
his books included "The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between
Nazism and the Zionist Movement."
(AP, 3/10/03)(WSJ, 3/11/03, p.A1)(SSFC, 7/13/03, Par
p.2)
2003 Mar 11, Israeli troops
fired a tank shell at a 3-story apartment building, then razed it,
killing a Palestinian gunman who several hours earlier had attacked an
Israeli army patrol.
(AP, 3/11/03)
2003 Mar 14, Pres. Bush promised
to reveal a US "road map" to Middle East peace. It was contingent on
the confirmation of a Palestinian prime minister with real authority.
(SFC, 3/15/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 16, In the Gaza Strip
Rachel Corrie (23) of Washington State was crushed to death by and
Israeli Army bulldozer as she tried to block the demolition of
Palestinian homes.
(SFC, 3/17/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 17, Israeli forces
invaded 2 communities in the Gaza Strip and gun battles left 10
Palestinians dead including a 4-yer-old girl.
(SFC, 3/18/03, p.AA6)
2003 Mar 18, The Palestinian
parliament established the post of prime minister. It gave Mahmoud
Abbas (Abu Mazen), the new PM, control of domestic affairs and internal
security issues.
(SFC, 3/19/03, p.A3)
2003 Mar 18, Israeli forces killed
2 Hamas militants in West Bank clashes. One Israeli solder was killed.
(SFC, 3/19/03, p.A6)(WSJ, 3/19/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 19, In Palestine
Mahmoud Abbas accepted the new post of prime minister.
(SFC, 3/20/03, p.A13)
2003 Mar 20, The Palestinian
Authority broke up a Hamas training session and a firefight followed
that killed one militant.
(SFC, 3/21/03, p.A15)
2003 Mar 24, Israeli forces near
Hebron shot dead Ahmed Abahreh (14), who was throwing stones at an
Israeli armored vehicle.
(SFC, 3/25/03, p.A6)
2003 Mar 25, Israeli troops killed
2 wanted Hamas militants. Sprayed bullets also killed a girl (10). A
West Bank boy (14) throwing stones was shot dead.
(SFC, 3/26/03, p.A1)
2003 Mar 27, In Israel Israeli
forces killed 3 Palestinian police officers in Beit Hanoun, Gaza.
(SFC, 3/27/03, p.A10)
2003 Mar 29, Israeli troops shot a
killed a 17-year-old Palestinian throwing stone at troops near Nablus.
(SSFC, 3/30/03, p.A9)
2003 Mar 30, In Netanya, Israel,
Rami Ghanem (20), a Palestinian suicide bomber, exploded near the
London Café and at least 30 people were injured. The Islamic
Jihad called the attack "Palestine's gift to the heroic people of Iraq."
(SFC, 3/31/03, p.A1)(AP, 3/30/04)
2003 Mar, In 2007 British media
reported that Iran had offered to cut off aid and support for the
Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas, and
promised full transparency on its nuclear program in a secret letter to
the US soon after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Iran also offered to use
its influence to support stabilization in Iraq, and in return asked for
a halt in hostile American behaviour, an abolition of all sanctions,
and the pursuit and repatriation of members of the Mujahedeen Khalq
(People's Mujahedeen MKO). Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to
Colin Powell, said: “As soon as it got to the Vice-President's (Dick
Cheney) office, the old mantra of 'we don't talk to evil' ...
reasserted itself."
(AFP, 1/18/07)
2003 Apr 2, Israeli forces raided
Gaza and 6 Palestinians were killed.
(SFC, 4/3/03, p.A12)(WSJ, 4/3/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 3, Israeli forces evicted
some 1,500-3,000 Palestinian men from their homes in the Tulkarem
Refugee Camp and told them to stay out for 3 days. Several Palestinians
were killed in Gaza and West Bank raids.
(SFC, 4/4/03, p.A8)(WSJ, 4/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 4, Israeli troops
uncovered an explosives lab and arrested Anwar Alian (22), a senior
Islamic Jihad militant, during a sweep of Tulkarem.
(SFC, 4/5/03, p.A9)
2003 Apr 5, In Israel Brian Avery
(23), a peace activist from Albuquerque, NM, was wounded when Israeli
troops opened fire in Jenin.
(SSFC, 4/6/03, p.A8)
2003 Apr 6, Israeli troops in the
Gaza Strip killed a Hamas gunman and a 14-year-old boy.
(SFC, 4/7/03, p.A8)
2003 Apr 7, Israeli soldiers shot
and killed a Palestinian man who approached the fence of a Jewish
settlement in the Gaza Strip overnight. In Tulkarem, Israeli troops
arrested Maslama Thabet, a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
(AP, 4/7/03)
2003 Apr 8, An Israeli AH-64
Apache helicopter fired a missile at a car in Gaza City after sundown,
killing at least 6 people, including Saed Arabeed, a Palestinian
militant, and 2 boys aged 4 and 15.
(AP, 4/8/03)(SFC, 4/9/03, p.A3)
2003 Apr 9, Israeli forces in the
Gaza Strip killed 5 Palestinians following rocket fire on Sederot.
(SFC, 4/10/03, p.A10)
2003 Apr 10, An Israeli missile
strike in Gaza City killed Mahmoud Zatme, an Islamic Jihad commander,
and injured 12 bystanders. In Tulkarem Israeli troops fired on a car
carrying members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The driver was killed
and 4 others were injured. 2 gunmen shot 2 Israeli soldier dead in the
Jordan Valley and were themselves killed.
(SFC, 4/11/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/11/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 11, Israeli troops
critically wounded Thomas Hurndall (21), a British peace activist, as
he tried to remove 2 children from a line of fire outside the Rafah
refugee camp.
(SFC, 4/12/03, p.A6)
2003 Apr 13, Israel’s PM Ariel
Sharon in a published interview said Israel will hand over some Jewish
settlements for peace, but the Palestinians must give up their demand
that refugees be allowed to return to their former homes.
(AP, 4/13/03)
2003 Apr 15, Israeli-Palestinian
clashes in Gaza and the West Bank left 6 people dead.
(SFC, 4/16/03, p.A7)
2003 Apr 19, Nazeh Darwazeh (45),
a cameraman with Associated Press TV News, was killed while covering
skirmishes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians who were throwing
rocks and firebombs. He died of a bullet wound to the head and
Palestinian witnesses said he was shot by an Israeli soldier.
(AP, 4/19/03)
2003 Apr 19, The Israeli army
killed 5 Palestinians and wounded around 70, many of them civilians, in
a raid on the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Near the West Bank
city of Qalqilya, soldiers shot dead a Palestinian who threw a petrol
bomb at them.
(Reuters, 4/20/03)
2003 Apr 24, A Palestinian suicide
bomber killed a guard in a rush-hour attack at an Israeli train station.
(AP, 4/24/03)
2003 Apr 29, The Palestinian
parliament approved Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister, clearing the final
obstacle to the launch of a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace.
(AP, 4/29/04)
2003 Apr 29, A Palestinian suicide
bombing killed 3 Israelis in a crowded Tel Aviv nightclub. The bomber,
Asif Hanif (21), grew up in Britain. A 2nd bomber escaped.
(AP, 4/30/03)(SFC, 5/2/03, p.A8)
2003 Apr 30, Mahmoud Abbas took
office as Palestinian prime minister.
(AP, 9/6/03)
2003 Apr 30, US Ambassador Dan
Kurtzer met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to present him
with an internationally backed Mideast peace plan, that envisioned
Palestinian statehood within three years. Mediators presented Israeli
and Palestinian leaders with a new Middle East "road map," a
U.S.-backed blueprint for ending 31 months of violence and establishing
a Palestinian state.
(AP, 4/30/03)(AP, 4/30/04)
2003 May 1, Israeli troops raided
a Hamas stronghold and exchanged fire with dozens of masked gunmen. At
least 13 Palestinians were killed, including two boys ages 2 and 13. 2
Palestinian militants were killed in the West Bank.
(AP, 5/1/03)(SFC, 5/2/03, p.A8)
2003 May 2, James Miller (34), a
British journalist filming a documentary in the southern Palestinian
city of Rafah, was shot and killed during an exchange of fire between
Israeli soldiers and Palestinians. In 2006 a British jury ruled that
the shooting was an act of murder. In 2009 Israel agreed to pay about
$2 million to the family Miller.
(AP, 5/2/04)(AP, 4/6/06)(AP, 2/1/09)
2003 May 7, In Israel a Hamas
militant was killed when a bomb exploded in his West Bank apartment. In
northern Gaza a Hamas member was killed near a Jewish settlement. In
the southern Gaza Strip a Palestinian toddler was killed from Israeli
gunfire.
(SFC, 5/8/03, p.A17)
2003 May 8, Israeli helicopters
fired 3 missiles at a car in northern Gaza, killing a senior Hamas
militant.
(AP, 5/8/03)
2003 May 11, A Palestinian gunmen
killed an Israeli motorist in the West Bank and Israeli troops raided a
Palestinian town. Palestinian leaders put aside reservations to
parts of the US-developed plan for peace and PM Mahmoud Abbas said
Israel was ready to get started on it.
(AP, 5/11/03)
2003 May 12, Israel sealed the
Gaza Strip, imposing the most sweeping restrictions in years, and its
troops killed three Palestinians in clashes there.
(AP, 5/12/03)
2003 May 14, An Israeli helicopter
fired a missile into a crowd in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip,
wounding 30 people and killed three Palestinian policemen, after 10
Israeli soldiers were wounded nearby in a mortar attack.
(AP, 5/13/03)
2003 May 15, Israeli troops killed
5 people including 3 youths during a raid at Beit Hanoun aimed to stop
Palestinian fighters from firing rockets into Israel.
(SFC, 5/16/03, p.A10)
2003 May 17, A Palestinian suicide
bomber blew himself up in the West Bank city of Hebron, killing an
Israeli man and his pregnant wife.
(AP, 5/17/04)
2003 May 18, A Hamas suicide
bomber killed seven passengers on a Jerusalem bus, while a second
bomber blew himself up on the city's outskirts. Israeli PM Ariel Sharon
postponed a trip to Washington. Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip shot
and killed a Palestinian man. On June 3, 2010, Steve Averbach (44), who
had been hit by shrapnel on the bus and paralyzed from the neck down,
died as a result of complications from his wounds.
(AP, 5/18/03)(AP, 6/4/10)
2003 May 19, A Palestinian riding
a bicycle blew himself up near an Israeli army jeep. A female suicide
bomber detonated at the entrance to a shopping mall in Afula and killed
3 others in the 5th suicide bombing in 48 hours.
(SFC, 5/20/03, p.A1)(AP, 5/19/04)
2003 May 21, Israeli troops shot
to death 2 Palestinians including a mother of 8 during a clash at the
West Bank village of Qarawat Bani Zeid.
(SFC, 5/22/03, p.A3)
2003 May 23, Israel's PM Ariel
Sharon agreed to work with a US-backed peace plan to end 32 months of
fighting and to set up a Palestinian state.
(AP, 5/23/03)
2003 May 24, Israeli troops shot
and killed a Palestinian man near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
(AP, 5/24/03)
2003 May 25, Israel's Cabinet
approved a US-backed Middle East peace plan, recognizing for the first
time the Palestinians' right to establish an independent state in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
(AP, 5/25/03)
2003 May 26, PM Sharon said Israel
must end its occupation of Palestinian lands. Sharon declared in a
speech to his Likud Party that he was determined to reach a peace deal
and end 36 years of rule over the Palestinians.
(SFC, 5/27/03, p.A1)(AP, 5/26/08)
2003 May 27, Israeli troops shot
and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and critically wounded two
children, ages 7 and 9, during confrontations.
(AP, 5/27/03)
2003 Jun 1, The Israeli military
eased travel restrictions and allowed thousands of Palestinian workers
to enter the country in an effort to lower tensions and build goodwill.
(AP, 6/1/03)
2003 Jun 3, Israel released about
100 prisoners, a goodwill gesture ahead of a Mideast peace summit with
U.S. President George W. Bush.
(AP, 6/3/03)
2003 Jun 4, In Jordan Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to dismantle illegal settlements in
Palestinian areas, while the new Palestinian leader renounced all
terrorism against Israel. Both steps were sought by President Bush as
he brought the two sides together in a bid to advance Middle East peace.
(AP, 6/4/03)(SFC, 6/4/03, p.A1)
2003 Jun 8, Three Palestinians
disguised as Israeli military sneaked into an army post and killed 4
soldiers before being killed by troops in the first major attack on
Israelis since last week's Mideast summit. Another Israeli soldier was
killed in Hebron. 6 Palestinians died in the violence.
(AP, 6/8/03)(SFC, 6/9/03, p.A1)
2003 Jun 10, Israel launched a
rocket attack in Gaza and wounded Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas
spokesman. Israeli counterfire to Hamas rockets killed 3 Palestinians.
(WSJ, 6/11/03, p.A1)
2003 Jun 11, A Palestinian blew
himself up on a Jerusalem bus and killed 16 other people. Israel
retaliated with 2 rocket strikes that killed 11 Palestinians in Gaza
City.
(AP, 6/11/03)(AP, 6/11/08)
2003 Jun 12, Israeli helicopters
fired rockets at two cars carrying Hamas activists in Gaza killing
seven people, including a young child, and wounding 29. The first
strike killed two low-level Hamas activists, ages 22 and 24, from a
unit that guards city streets.
(AP, 6/12/03)
2003 Jun 13, Israel decided to
target top Hamas leaders, including founder Sheik Ahmed, saying it
would strike political as well as military leaders who targeted Israel
with terrorism. An Israeli helicopter attack killed one Hamas member
and injured 22 Palestinians including 8 children.
(SFC, 6/14/03, p.A1)(AP, 6/13/08)
2003 Jun 18, Israel agreed to curb
its "track-and-kill" operations against Palestinian militants in a deal
struck with US officials to help them salvage a new peace plan torn by
violence.
(AP, 6/18/03)
2003 Jun 20, Secretary of State
Colin Powell met separately with the leaders of Israel and the
Palestinian Authority, praising the Israelis for efforts toward an
eventual peace settlement and urging speed on the Palestinians.
(AP, 6/20/04)
2003 Jun 21, The Israeli army
killed Abdullah Kawasme, a local Hamas leader, in the West Bank town of
Hebron.
(AP, 6/22/03)(SSFC, 6/22/03, p.A9)
2003 Jun 24, Israel arrested more
than 130 Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron, targeting Hamas
as the Palestinian government awaited word on whether the Islamic
militant group would agree to a cease-fire.
(AP, 6/24/03)
2003 Jun 25, Three Palestinian
militant groups agreed to halt attacks on Israel for 3 months.
(BS, 6/26/03, 1A)
2003 Jun 27, Israeli and
Palestinian leaders agreed for Israel to begin withdrawing forces from
areas of the Gaza Strip and returning security control to Palestinian
officers. In 33 months of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 2,414
people have been killed on the Palestinian side and 806 on the Israeli
side.
(AP, 6/27/03)(SFC, 6/28/03, p.A1)
2003 Jun 28, An Islamic Jihad
leader announced that the group accepted a conditional three-month halt
to attacks on Israelis — the first open confirmation of the deal from a
militant leader.
(AP, 6/28/03)
2003 Jun 29, The militant Hamas
and Islamic Jihad groups agreed to suspend attacks against Israel for
three months.
(AP, 6/29/03)
2003 Jun 30, Israeli and
Palestinian commanders shook hands, bulldozers dismantled checkpoints
and Palestinian traffic flowed freely in the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian
shooting killed a Romanian truck driver in the West Bank.
(AP, 6/30/03)
2003 Jul 1, At a summit, Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas
rededicated themselves to peace efforts and spoke of a shared future
for their peoples.
(AP, 7/1/04)
2003 Jul 2, Palestinian police
moved into the West Bank town of Bethlehem, the second area handed over
by Israel under a U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan.
(AP, 7/2/03)
2003 Jul 8, Palestinian PM Mahmoud
Abbas resigned from a top post in the Fatah movement.
(AP, 7/8/03)
2003 Jul 9, The US cleared $20
million in direct aid to the Palestinians.
(WSJ, 7/10/03, p.A1)
2003 Jul 20, The Israeli and
Palestinian prime ministers held a two-hour meeting, kicking off 10
days of international diplomacy aimed at solidifying a fragile Mideast
cease-fire.
(AP, 7/20/03)
2003 Jul 25, An Israeli soldier
fired a tank-mounted machine gun at a pickup truck carrying a
Palestinian family, killing a 4-year-old Palestinian boy and wounding
two other children.
(AP, 7/25/03)
2003 Jul 25, Palestinian PM
Mahmoud Abbas met with Pres. George Bush in Washington DC. Abbas
thanked Bush for his efforts in pursuit of a peaceful Middle East and
for a recent grant of $20 million in direct aid to the Palestinian
Authority.
(AP, 7/26/03)
2003 Jul 27, The Israeli Cabinet
voted to release up to 540 jailed Palestinians.
(SFC, 7/28/03, p.A1)
2003 Jul 31, The Israeli
parliament voted to block Palestinians who marry Israelis from becoming
Israeli citizens of residents. The legislation was enacted for one
year. In 2006 the Supreme Court rejected petitions to overturn the law.
(SFC, 8/1/03, p.A20)(Econ, 5/20/06, p.47)
2003 Aug 6, Israel freed 334
Palestinian prisoners in a bid to jump-start peace efforts, but the
gesture fell flat among Palestinians.
(AP, 8/6/04)
2003 Aug 8, A West Bank raid on a
bomb lab by Israeli troops killed 2 members of the Islamic militant
group Hamas. An Israeli soldier also was killed.
(AP, 8/9/03)
2003 Aug 12, Two teenage
Palestinian suicide bombings less than an hour apart killed at least 2
Israelis at a shopping plaza in Israel and a bus stop in the West Bank.
(AP, 8/12/03)
2003 Aug 14, Israeli troops killed
Mohammed Sidr, a top Islamic Jihad commander, in a gun battle at his
hideout in Hebron.
(AP, 8/14/03)(WSJ, 8/15/03, p.A6)
2003 Aug 18, Israel delayed plans
to hand over Jericho and Qalqiliya, two West Bank towns to Palestinian
control.
(AP, 8/19/03)
2003 Aug 19, A Hamas bus bombing
in Jerusalem killed 22 people, including as many as six children.
(AP, 8/20/03)(AP, 8/19/04)
2003 Aug 21, Israel killed Ismail
Abu Shanab, a senior Hamas political leader, in a missile strike,
retaliating for a suicide bombing of a bus in which 20 people died
including six children. Abu Shanab was widely regarded as a
moderate in the group, and served as a liaison with Abbas during the
prime minister's efforts to persuade Hamas to halt attacks. Palestinian
militants abandoned a two-month-old truce after Israel killed the Hamas
leader.
(AP, 8/21/03)(AP, 8/21/08)
2003 Aug 22, Israeli troops killed
a Palestinian militant and wounded two others in a shootout Friday at a
West Bank hospital.
(AP, 8/22/03)
2003 Aug 24, Palestinian militants
carried out their deepest rocket strike against Israel. A Qassam-2
rocket, a makeshift weapon produced by the militant Islamic group
Hamas, landed near a lifeguard station on Zikim beach with no damages
or casualties. Israeli missile fire killed 4 Palestinian militants in
Gaza City.
(Reuters, 8/24/03)(SFC, 8/25/03, p.A1)
2003 Aug 30, An Israeli helicopter
gunship fired several missiles at a Palestinian car driving through a
refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing two Hamas militants.
(AP, 8/30/03)
2003 Sep 5, Israeli commandos
killed a Hamas bombmaker in a firefight and pulverized the West Bank
apartment building in which he had been hiding.
(AP, 9/5/04)
2003 Sep 6, An Israeli missile
strike on Gaza City lightly wounded Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin,
the highest-ranking member of the militant group to be targeted by
Israel in recent weeks.
(AP, 9/6/03)
2003 Sep 6, Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas, whose support was considered essential to any
prospect of peace success, submitted his resignation.
(AP, 9/6/03)
2003 Sep 6, The European Union
said it will declare all wings of the militant Palestinian group Hamas
a terrorist organization and freeze its assets after dozens of deadly
attacks in Israel.
(AP, 9/6/03)
2003 Sep 7, Palestinian Pres.
Yasser Arafat tapped the parliament speaker, Ahmed Qureia, to take over
as prime minister following the resignation of Mahmoud Abbas.
(SFC, 9/8/03, p.A1)(AP, 9/7/08)
2003 Sep 8, Palestinian parliament
speaker Ahmed Qureia said he will accept the prime minister's job only
if Washington guarantees Israeli compliance with a US-backed peace
plan, including a halt to military strikes.
(AP, 9/8/03)
2003 Sep 9, Israeli troops killed
three Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy, in an arrest raid in
the West Bank city of Hebron, as Israel signaled both reluctant
acquiescence and disapproval of the Palestinians' candidate for prime
minister. In Jerusalem twin suicide bombings, 5 hours apart, killed 16
Israelis. One suicide bomber chose a nightspot packed with young
Israelis, the other a bus stop where soldiers were waiting for their
ride homes.
(AP, 9/9/03)
2003 Sep 10, Israeli warplanes
flattened the home of senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar with a half-ton
bomb, wounding him and killing his eldest son and a bodyguard, in
retaliation for twin suicide bombings that killed 15 Israelis a day
earlier.
(AP, 9/10/03)
2003 Sep 11, The Israeli security
Cabinet decided in principle to authorize the expulsion of Yasser
Arafat. The Cabinet also decided that the construction of the security
fence between Israel and the West Bank will be accelerated.
(AP, 9/11/03)(SFC, 9/12/03, p.A3)
2003 Sep 12, The Palestinians
urged the UN Security Council to demand that Israel not expel Yasser
Arafat and halt any threats to his safety.
(AP, 9/12/03)
2003 Sep 16, The US vetoed a UN
resolution demanding that Israel not harm or expel Arafat.
(WSJ, 9/17/03, p.A1)
2003 Sep 25, Israeli troops killed
4 Islamic militants, including a senior fugitive, in gunbattles in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip. One soldier was killed and six were wounded
in the fighting.
(AP, 9/25/03)
2003 Sep 25, Edward Said,
Palestinian American journalist, critic and author. His books included
"Orientalism" and "Culture and Imperialism."
(SSFC, 12/28/03, p.E9)
2003 Sep 26, A Palestinian gunman
killed 2 people including a baby girl in an Israeli settlement outside
Hebron.
(SFC, 9/27/03, p.A8)
2003 Sep 27, A Palestinian
militant was killed when a bomb he was making blew up on as Israel
maintained a high alert over a New Year holiday weekend.
(Reuters, 9/27/03)
2003 Sep 28, Israeli and
Palestinian fatalities over the last 3 years totaled some 3,277 with
860 on the Israeli side and 2,417 Palestinian dead. An additional 60
Palestinians were killed by militants for informing to Israel.
(SSFC, 9/28/03, p.A14)
2003 Oct 4, In Haifa, Israel,
Hanadi Taysser Darajat (29), a female Palestinian lawyer, blew herself
up in a crowded Mediterranean beach restaurant, killing 21 people
including 4 children. A brother and cousin, Jihad terrorists, had been
killed in June. Her suicide inspired a piece of installation art in
2004 at the Stockholm Museum titled "Snow White and the Madness of
Truth."
(SFC, 10/11/03, p.A7)(WSJ, 1/22/04, p.D6)(AP,
10/4/04)(LSA, Fall/06, p.32)
2003 Oct 5, Israeli warplanes
bombed the Ein Saheb base northwest of Damascus, Syria, in retaliation
for a suicide bombing at a Haifa restaurant. Israeli military called it
an Islamic Jihad training base. Residents later told the Associated
Press the camp was abandoned years ago.
(AP, 10/5/03)(AP, 10/6/03)
2003 Oct 7, Yasser Arafat swore in
new Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and a skeleton emergency
Cabinet.
(AP, 10/7/03)
2003 Oct 10, Israel sent dozens of
tanks into a Gaza refugee camp to destroy tunnels allegedly used by
Palestinians to smuggle weapons. Israeli forces killed seven
Palestinians, including an eight-year-old boy, in the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 10/10/03)(Reuters, 10/10/03)
2003 Oct 11, Israeli forces killed
a Palestinian and razed dozens of homes in a Gaza Strip refugee camp as
Israeli opposition politicians and Palestinian officials sought to
revive peace talks.
(AP, 10/11/03)(Reuters, 10/11/03)
2003 Oct 15, In the Gaza Strip a
remote-controlled bomb exploded under a US diplomatic convoy, ripping
apart an armored van and killing three Americans.
(AP, 10/15/03)
2003 Oct 16, Palestinian police
arrested 7 suspects in Jebaliya for a deadly attack on US diplomats,
briefly exchanging fire with the militants during a nighttime raid. The
suspects were members of the Popular Resistance Committees, a group of
dozens of armed men from various factions, former members of the
security forces and disgruntled followers of Yasser Arafat.
(AP, 10/16/03)(WSJ, 10/17/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 18, In southern Gaza
Israeli forces looking for smuggling tunnels killed 3 Palestinians,
including a senior member of the violent Islamic Hamas group, and
wounded 10.
(AP, 10/18/03)(SSFC, 10/19/03, p.A11)
2003 Oct 19, Palestinian gunmen
attacked an Israeli army foot patrol near a West Bank village, killing
three soldiers and wounding a fourth.
(AP, 10/19/03)
2003 Oct 20, Israeli helicopters
and warplanes unleashed a string of missile strikes in Gaza City. At
least 11 people were killed and over 90 wounded.
(AP, 10/20/03)(SFC, 10/21/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 21, The U.N. General
Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding that Israel
tear down a barrier jutting into the West Bank.
(AP, 10/21/04)
2003 Oct 22, Israeli troops shot
and killed 2 suspected Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
(AP, 10/22/03)
2003 Oct 23, Masked Palestinian
gunmen killed two men suspected of being informers for Israel, then
displayed their bodies in the central square of the Tulkarem refugee
camp.
(AP, 10/23/03)
2003 Oct 24, Palestinian militants
cut through a fence and crept up on the army base inside the Netzarim
settlement in Gaza. The militants entered the barracks and shot
soldiers as they slept, killing three including two women, and wounding
two others.
(AP, 10/26/03)
2003 Oct 26, In the largest
demolition of Palestinian Authority buildings in Gaza in 3 years, the
Israeli army blew up 3 apartment towers in retaliation for a deadly
settlement attack.
(AP, 10/26/03)
2003 Oct 28, It was reported that
Forbes Magazine had estimated Yasser Arafat's fortune at some $300
million, with much of it controlled by adviser Mohammed Rachid.
(SFC, 10/28/03, p.A3)
2003 Nov 2, More than 6,000
Palestinian laborers crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on as
Israel slightly eased restrictions that had prevented them from
reaching their workplaces for more than a month.
(AP, 11/2/03)
2003 Nov 3, A suicide bomber,
Sabih Abu Saud (16), blew himself up near an army checkpoint in the
West Bank, killing himself but causing no other casualties.
(AP, 11/3/03)(SFC, 11/4/03, p.A10)
2003 Nov 9, Palestinian PM Ahmed
Qureia announced the formation of a Cabinet and said he will present it
to parliament this week. It left Yasser Arafat in control of security
forces.
(AP, 11/9/03)
2003 Nov 12, Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat swore in a new Palestinian Cabinet.
(AP, 11/12/08)
2003 Nov 13, Palestinian and
Israeli officials said they expect their leaders to meet for peace
talks, possibly within 10 days.
(AP, 11/13/03)
2003 Nov 14, In Israel 4 former
security chiefs warned that the country is headed for disaster unless
PM Ariel Sharon reverses course and moves to settle the conflict with
the Palestinians.
(AP, 11/14/03)
2003 Nov 17, An Egyptian mediator
reached agreement with Palestinian leaders to start cease-fire talks
among militants within 2 days.
(SFC, 11/18/03, p.A3)
2003 Nov 18, A Palestinian gunman,
his rifle wrapped in a prayer mat, walked to a West Bank checkpoint and
killed two Israeli soldiers at close range.
(AP, 11/18/03)
2003 Nov 30, Some 200 Palestinians
attacked Palestinian negotiators traveling to Geneva for the signing
ceremony of symbolic deal, reached by former Israeli and Palestinian
negotiators, that would establish a Palestinian state with
unprecedented concessions by both sides.
(AP, 11/30/03)
2003 Nov 30, A Gaza Strip car
explosion in Rafah killed Yusuf Matar, an Islamic Jihad activist.
(SFC, 12/1/03, p.A3)
2003 Dec 1, Dignitaries from
around the world, including former Pres. Jimmy Carter, gathered in
Geneva to sign a draft peace accord, called the Geneva Accords, drawn
up between Israeli and Palestinian activists.
(SFC, 12/1/03, p.A1)
2003 Dec 1, Israeli troops
launched a sweeping raid on Ramallah, killing a 9-year-old boy and 3
Hamas gunmen and leaving 60 people homeless after blowing up their
apartment building.
(AP, 12/1/03)
2003 Dec 2, Israeli troops killed
an armed Palestinian trying to flee in the West Bank town of Jenin.
(AP, 12/2/03)
2003 Dec 4, Palestinians opened
formal talks in Egypt aimed at forging a cease-fire they hope will
induce Israel to halt its attacks on militants and lead to renewed
peace negotiations.
(AP, 12/4/03)(WSJ, 12/5/03, p.A1)
2003 Dec 5, Israeli military
allowed a market in the divided West Bank city of Hebron to open for
the first time in more than a year.
(AP, 12/5/03)
2003 Dec 5, The Israeli military
shot and killed two Palestinians, armed with grenades and an explosive
device, crawling toward a security barrier separating the Gaza Strip
from Israel.
(AP, 12/6/03)
2003 Dec 7, Palestinian militants
rejected a comprehensive truce offer to Israel despite intense pressure
from Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Egypt to sign onto a deal.
(AP, 12/8/03)
2003 Dec 12, Fadwa Toukan
(b.1917), Palestinian poet, died in Nablus at age 86.
(SSFC, 12/14/03, p.A31)
2003 Dec 13, Israeli troops fired
on a taxi that drove through a West Bank checkpoint, killing a female
passenger.
(AP, 12/13/03)
2003 Dec 14, Palestinians fired a
barrage of mortars at Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and Israeli
troops killed a fugitive from the Islamic Jihad group in the West Bank.
(AP, 12/14/03)
2003 Dec 15, Israeli soldiers shot
dead 2 Palestinians in Gaza.
(WSJ, 12/16/03, p.A1)
2003 Dec 18, Israel's PM Sharon
said that if talks with Palestinians failed, Israel would unilaterally
withdraw from some settlements in order to establish a more defensible
border.
(SFC, 12/19/03, p.A17)
2003 Dec 20, The third year of
fighting between Israelis and Palestinians saw a decline in the number
of people killed, according to an AP count. Violence claimed nearly 800
lives in 2003.
(AP, 12/20/03)
2003 Dec 21, Israeli troops
conducted a series of raids in the West Bank city of Nablus, arresting
Hamas leader Adnan Asfour and killing a 5-year-old Palestinian boy.
(AP, 12/21/03)
2003 Dec 22, Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmed Maher (68) was attacked by Islamic extremists at the Al
Axsa mosque in Jerusalem. He said the incident would only strengthen
his country's resolve to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
(AP, 12/23/03)(SFC, 12/23/03, p.A3)
2003 Dec 23, An Israeli raid on
the Rafah refugee camp killed 9 Palestinians and left over 40 wounded
in the worst violence in the Gaza Strip in two months. Hours earlier
Israel lost its first two soldiers in a month of relative calm.
(AP, 12/23/03)(AP, 12/24/03)
2003 Dec 25, Israeli troops shot
and killed a Palestinian man carrying explosives toward a Jewish
settlement in Gaza.
(AP, 12/25/03)
2003 Dec 25, Israeli helicopter
gunships killed a senior Islamic militant and at least four other
people in a missile strike on a car in Gaza City.
(Reuters, 12/25/03)
2003 Dec 25, A suicide bombing
killed four Israelis near a bus stop outside Tel Aviv. The victims were
identified as 3 soldiers and a 17-year-old Israeli girl. At least 13
other people were wounded. The PFLP identified the bomber as Said
Hanani (18) from the village of Beit Furik.
(AP, 12/26/03)(SFC, 12/26/03, p.A1)
2003 Dec 26, Hamas, the Islamic
group responsible for most suicide bombings in three years of violence,
called off attacks inside Israel. In response, Israel will hold off
targeting Hamas leaders but will still go after other Palestinian
militants.
(AP, 12/27/03)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Palestine
Go
to
Palestine 2004-2006