Israel-Gaza Violence Flares
March 25, 2019 A rocket destroys a house in Mishmeret, 20 miles north of Tel Aviv, and injures seven people. In response, Israel Defense Forces planes bomb suspected Gaza military locations 12 hours later and…
IDF Strikes 80 Gaza Targets
In response to an overnight barrage of roughly 30 rockets from the Gaza Strip toward Sderot and other Israeli towns near the border, the IDF strikes 80 Gaza targets by air.
Hamas Military Chief Killed as Pillar of Defense Begins
November 14, 2012 Ahmed Jabari, the Hamas military chief, is killed in an Israel Defense Forces airstrike on Gaza that marks the start of Operation Pillar of Defense. The strike comes in response to an…
Ex-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir Dies
Yitzhak Shamir, Israel’s seventh Prime Minister and staunch advocate for settlements in the West Bank, passes away in Tel Aviv at the age of 96.
Israel Responds to Rockets From Gaza With Operation Cast Lead
Nearly 12,000 rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli civilian areas over eight years. On December 27, 2008, Israel responds with Operation Cast Lead.
Gilad Shalit Is Captured
IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is captured by a group of Palestinian militants and is held hostage for over five years before being exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.
Bus Bombings in Beersheba Kill 16 Israelis
August 31, 2004 Bombs explode on a pair of buses 100 yards apart along Beersheba’s main street, Ranger Boulevard, shortly after leaving the central bus station. Sixteen Israelis, one as young as 3 years old,…
Israel Swaps 430+ Prisoners for Man, 3 Bodies
January 29, 2004 Israel releases more than 430 Arab prisoners — more than 400 to the Palestinian Authority, 29 to surrounding Arab nations, and one German citizen who worked with Hezbollah to Germany, from where…
Suicide Bomber Strikes Haifa Restaurant
A suicide bombing kills 17 Jews and four Arabs and injures some 60 others at Maxim restaurant in Haifa.
23 Killed in Jerusalem Suicide Blast
August 19, 2003 A suicide bomber kills 23 people and injures more than 130 others by detonating an 11-pound explosive packed with ball bearings on a bus in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Shmuel Hanavi in…
Palestinian Cabinet OKs Plan for Israeli Withdrawal
August 7, 2002 The Palestinian Authority Cabinet agrees to a truce deal proposed by Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to withdraw the Israel Defense Forces from Palestinian-controlled parts of the Gaza Strip and from the…
Suicide Bomber Kills 15 While Bush, Sharon Meet
May 7, 2002 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon flies home to Israel, cutting short a visit to the United States, after a suicide bomber kills 15 Israelis and wounds 55 others in a pool hall in…
Powell Seeks Mideast Cease-Fire
April 11, 2002 U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell calls for an immediate West Bank cease-fire during a press conference in Madrid before he flies to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah II the day…
Sharon Singles Out Arafat After Haifa Bombing
March 31, 2002 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declares Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat “the enemy of Israel and the enemy of the free world” in an angry, five-minute, mid-Passover address to the nation after…
Israel Launches Operation Defensive Shield
In September 2000, following the breakdown of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians at Camp David, the Palestinians launch the Second Intifada. Operation Defensive Shield is an Israeli military operation devised to curtail violence associated with the Second Intifada.
Israel Launches Operation to Capture Weapons Being Smuggled Into Gaza
Israeli commandos overtake a weapons ship, the Karine-A, and seize fifty tons of Iranian weapons, including a number of long-range rockets.
Bus Bombing in Haifa Kills 16
December 2, 2001 Maher Habashi, a 21-year-old Palestinian plumber from Nablus, boards a No. 16 Egged bus driving from Neve Sha’anan to the Giborim bridge in Haifa just after noon and, moments after paying for…
Suicide Bombing Kills 14 at Dizengoff Center
March 4, 1996 Abdel-Rahim Ishaq, 24, a Palestinian resident of Ramallah, detonates a 45-pound bomb packed with nails outside the Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv, killing himself and 13 Israelis. Later identified by a caller…
Yitzhak Rabin Is Assassinated
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a prominent actor in virtually all of Israel’s modern history, is assassinated by Yigal Amir at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
Hamas Abducts Israeli Soldier
Hamas terrorists abduct Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman from the Bnai Atarot junction in central Israel by offering him a ride while wearing kippot, playing Hasidic music and carrying a prayer book.
PLO and Israel Recognize Each Other’s Existence
After nine months of secret contacts mediated by Norwegian diplomats, the PLO and Israel recognize each other’s existence.
Bus 405 Suicide Attack Kills or Wounds 33
When Bus 405 passed a ravine near Jerusalem, a Palestinian terrorist seizes control of the wheel and runs the bus over the cliff, killing 16 passengers and injuring 17 others.
First Intifada Breaks Out
December 9, 1987 Riots erupt in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in what comes to be recognized as the start of the First Intifada, an Arabic word meaning “awakening.” The immediate cause of…
Terrorists Capture Flyer Ron Arad
Ron Arad, the 28-year-old navigator of an Israeli F-4 Phantom II, is captured by the Shia terrorist group Amal after parachuting out of his burning aircraft over Lebanon.
