This page is a partial listing of incidents of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2004.
IDT = Israeli (civilians/soldiers) killed by Palestinians; cumulative
PDT = Palestinians (civilians/militants) killed by Israelis; cumulative.
Note: This compilation does not include all the casualties of the violence. Many of the Attacks which resulted in Death are not included also many of the attacks that did cause injury are not included.
January (IDT: 16(12/4), PDT: 15(6/9) )
January 3: Israeli soldiers kill three Palestinians: one with a pistol, one lighting a Molotov cocktail, and one throwing rocks in
Nablus in the
West Bank. The stone thrower was a 15-year-old boy. Later, during the funeral service for the three dead, another Palestinian was shot dead after drawing his pistol. Three others were wounded.[1][3]
January 13: A father of five was shot dead and three Israelis were injured in a roadside ambush by the
Fatah's
Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.[2]
January 29:
Jerusalem bus 19 massacre ā Eleven Israelis killed and 50 wounded in a suicide bombing of a city bus in Jerusalem. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility. Hamas also claimed responsibility the next day. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a
video documenting the sights that police forensic expert encountered at the scene. (contains graphic content).[2]
January 30: Three armed Palestinians were killed in gun fights with IDF forces. Two were killed while carrying explosives near Dugit. The third died in a gunfight at
Bethlehem.
[5]
February (IDT: 28(23/5), PDT: 32(13/19) )
February 2: Yasser Abu al-Aesh, an alleged local leader of Islamic Jihad, was among four militants killed during an Israeli raid in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The house where the men had been staying was later destroyed.[3]
On 2 February 2004, Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon announced his plan to transfer all the
Jewish settlers from the
Gaza Strip. The Israeli opposition dismissed his announcement as "media spin" but the
Israeli Labour Party said it would support such a move. Sharon's right-wing coalition partners
National Religious Party and
National Union rejected the plan and vowed to quit the government if it were implemented.
February 11: Twelve Palestinian militants and civilians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in
al-Shojaeya neighbourhood in
Gaza city. In
Rafah refugee camp one Palestinian civilian was killed by Israeli sniper fire. During the day more than 50 Palestinians were wounded, 23 of them children.
February 26: Sgt.-Maj.(res.) Amir Zimmerman, 25, of Kfar Monash was killed and two other soldiers wounded when two Palestinian
guerrillas opened fire near the
Erez Crossing between the
Gaza Strip and Israel. The guerrillas were killed by IDF forces. The
FatahAl-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.[2]
February 27: An Israeli couple (parents of a 2-year-old girl) were shot dead in their car on their way home, in the northern
Negev. After firing at the car from a distance, causing the driver to lose control, the
terrorists approached the car and shot the couple at
point-blank range. Altogether, over 40 bullets were used.
Yasser Arafat's
Fatah's
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
[6],[2]
February 28: Mahmud Jhouda, head of Islamic Jihad's "military wing" in Gaza was killed together with another Islamic Jihad member and a relative of his, when the car in which the three were driving was targeted by an Israeli helicopter.
[7]
March (IDT: 29(24/5), PDT: 44(18/26) )
March 3: Three
Hamas militants were killed in the Gaza Strip when their car was targeted by an Israeli helicopter. Hamas said the three were on "a jihad mission".
[8]Archived 2005-05-07 at the
Wayback Machine
March 13: Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers near the
Karni border crossing in
Gaza.
[9]
March 18: Four Palestinians, two militants and two children, die in two Israeli air strikes on
Rafah refugee camp in
Gaza. Several more are wounded.
[10]
March 19: An Israeli man, George Elias Khouri, is shot dead from a passing vehicle while jogging in the French Hill neighborhood of
Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim the attack, and later apologize when it becomes known that the victim was
George Khouri, a
ChristianArab.[2]
March 22:
Ahmed Yassin, wheelchair bound leader of
Hamas, and six Palestinian bystanders killed by an Israeli missile from a helicopter gunship.[4][5]
April (IDT: 32(25/7), PDT: 44(18/26) )
April 3: Yaakov Zagha, a 40-year father of six, is shot dead outside his house after his daughter Chana, 14, was wounded by a Palestinian from nearby
Tul Karem. The shooter was later killed by
IDF forces.
Hamas claimed responsibility.[2]
April 7: A demonstration of Palestinians and international activists against the
West Bank wall was fired upon by Israeli soldiers. Twenty people were injured, none seriously.
[11]
April 17:
Israeli border policeman Kfir Ohaiyon, 20, of
Eilat was killed and three other Israelis injured in a
suicide bombing at the
Erez Crossing in northern
Gaza. Hamas and
Fatah claimed joint responsibility for the attack.[2]
April 25: Border Policeman Cpl. Yaniv Mashiah, 20, of Jaffa, was killed and three others lightly wounded just an hour after the beginning of Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers, when shots were fired at their vehicle near
Hebron. The
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.[2]
May 11: Six IDF soldiers were killed during an IDF operation to target
Qassam rocket workshops in Gaza City, when an
armored personnel carrier was struck by an explosive device planted by Palestinian militants.
Hamas and the
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The soldiers killed: Sgt. Adaron Amar, 20, of Eilat; Sgt. Aviad Deri, 21, of Ma'aleh Adumim; Staff-Sgt. Ofer Jerbi, 21, of Moshav Ben-Zakai; Staff-Sgt. Ya'akov (Zelco) Marviza, 25, of Kibbutz
HaMa'apil; Sgt. Kobi Mizrahi, 20, of Moshav Mata; and Staff-Sgt. Eitan Newman, 21, of Jerusalem.[7]
May 12: An IDF officer and four soldiers were killed, and three IDF soldiers were lightly injured, while preparing to detonate a weapon-
smuggling tunnel on the
Philadelphi Route near the Israeli-Egyptian border near Rafah. Their armored personnel carrier exploded, apparently after being hit by an
RPGanti-tank rocket. The
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The soldiers killed: Cpl. Elad Cohen, 20, of Jerusalem; Sgt.-Maj. Aiman Ghadir, 24, of Bir Makhsur; Capt. Aviv Hakani, 23, of Ashdod; Sgt. Za'ur (Zohar) Smelev, 19, of Ofakim; and Sgt. Lior Vishinski, 20, of Ramat Gan.[7]
May 14: Staff-Sergeant Rotem Adam, 21, Rishon LeZion and Sergeant Alexei Hayat, 21, of Beer Sheva were killed and two soldiers moderately wounded by Palestinian sniper fire in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.[7]
May 18: In response to previous attack on Israeli troops at the Gaza Strip, the IDF launches
Operation Rainbow (2004) with a stated aim of striking the terror infrastructure of Rafah, destroying
smuggling tunnels, and stopping a shipment of
SA-7 missiles and improved
anti-tank weapons. The operation ended after the IDF killed 40 Palestinian militants and 12 civilians and demolished about 45ā56 structures. The great destruction and killing of 10 protesters led to a worldwide outcry against the operation.
May 29: Major Shachar Ben-Yishai, 25, of Menahemia was killed by Palestinian gunfire following a search in the Balata camp near Nablus. The
Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.[7]
June (IDT: 56(34/22), PDT: 44(18/26) )
June 21: Weerachai Wongput, 37, from the Nong Han District of the northeastern province of Udon Thani in
Thailand, died after being hit by shrapnel from a
mortar fired into greenhouses in Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip. The mortar was fired by Palestinians trying to divert attention from an attempt to infiltrate the settlement.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.[2]
June 27: Staff-Sergeant Ro'i Nissim, 20, from Rishon LeTzion, was killed and five others were injured when a tunnel laden with more than 1000
kg of
explosives detonated under
IDF outpost of the "Urhan" junction near
Gush Katif in the
Gaza Strip.
Hamas and
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.[2]
June 28: Four-year-old Afik Zahavi, and Mordehai Yosefof, 49, were killed in
Sderot by a Palestinian
Qassam rocket that hit a
kindergarten, the first fatal Qassam attack. The boy's mother, Ruthie Zahavi, 28, was critically wounded.
Hamas claimed responsibility.[7]
June 29: Moshe Yohai, 63, from Ashdod, an Israeli truck driver, was shot dead near
Ramallah. The
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.[2]
July (IDT: 59(36/23), PDT: 44(18/26) )
July 4: Victor Kreiderman, 49, was killed and his wife, Emma, wounded, in a shooting attack between Mevo Dotan and Shaked. The
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility. The
militant fled to the nearby Arab village of Yabed.[7]
July 6: Captain Moran Vardi, 25, of
Shayetet-13 was killed during a battle with two militants barricaded in a house in
Nablus. In that battle four Palestinians were killed, two of them were
PFLP militants.[7]
July 11: A remote-control bomb killed Sgt. Ma'ayan Naim, 19 and wounded 34 others, in a bus station in Har-Zion Boulevard in
Tel Aviv.
Yasser Arafat's
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim responsibility. Israeli prime-minister
Ariel Sharon said that: "Today's fatality [in the Tel Aviv bombing] was the first act of murder perpetrated under the protective wing of the Hague ruling".
[12],[7]
August 11: Two people were killed and 16 wounded when an explosive device was detonated by Palestinian militants inside an Arab taxi as it attempted to cross the Qalandia checkpoint just north of Jerusalem. Two Palestinians were killed, and about 20 people, the majority of them Arabs, were wounded. The
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades faction of
Fatah claimed responsibility and expresses regret that Arabs were among the dead and wounded.[8][14]
August 13: Shlomo Miller, 50, father of seven children, was shot dead and another person wounded in an ambush near Itamar. The gunman was killed by Israeli security forces and was identified as an officer in
Yasser Arafat's Preventative Security Force.
Fatah claimed responsibility.
[15]
August 15: A
MAGAV policeman was slashed with a knife across the neck by an
Arab from Shuafat, in the Old City of
Jerusalem. The officer managed to kill the attacker, but was seriously wounded and underwent emergency surgery.
[16]
August 20: Nail Khalil Abu Ghulah, reported to suffer a psychological disorder, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers east of Wadi Gaza village while climbing the fence of an Israeli community.
[17]
August 30: An Israeli civilian was wounded by gunfire directed towards an IDF position near
Khan Yunis. He was evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in
Ashkelon.
[19]
August 31: Two
Palestiniansuicide bombers kill 16 Israelis and wound more than 94 others aboard two city buses in
Beer Sheva. Among the dead is four-year-old Avial Atash.
Hamas claims responsibility. The victims, all residents of Beersheba: Shoshana Amos, 64; Aviel Atash, 3; Vitaly Brodsky, 52; Tamara Dibrashvilli, 70; Raisa Forer, 55; Larisa Gomanenko, 48; Denise Hadad, 50; Tatiana Kortchenko, 49; Rosita Lehman, 45; Karine Malka, 23; Nargiz Ostrovsky, 54; Maria Sokolov, 57; Roman Sokolovsky, 53; Tekele Tiroyaient, 33; Eliyahu Uzan, 58; Emmanuel Yosef (Yosefov), 28.
[20][dead link],
[21][22]
September (IDT: 84(54/30), PDT: 97 (14/83) )
September 3: Two Arabs transporting a
bomb are hit by Israeli gunfire causing the bomb to explode. Both Arabs die.
[23][permanent dead link]
September 8: An Arab
fugitive was killed and two others wounded in
Jericho during a shootout with Israeli soldiers trying to arrest them.
[28][dead link]
September 10: Abdel Aziz Ashkar, 34, a
Hamas leader was killed by Israeli forces.
[29]
September 15: Nine Palestinian militants and a child were killed in two IDF operations in
Nablus and
Jenin. In Nablus,
Shayetet-13 killed four
Fatah militants, and one from
Islamic Jihad. A child was killed in the crossfire. In Jenin, four wanted
Fatah militants were killed by undercover
Border Police troops. Two
female suicide bombers turned themselves in to IDF forces following the death of their handler Hanni Aqad.
[32],
[33]
September 20: Senior
Hamas commander in
Gaza Khaled Abu Shamiyah was killed by Israeli forces.
[34],
[35]
September 20: Two
Hamas members, Rabah Zakut and Nabil al-Saidi, while on their way to launch
Qassam rockets into Israel, were killed by Israeli forces in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza.
[36][37]
September 22: A
female suicide bomber killed herself, wounding some 15 people and killing Momoya Tahio, 20, from
Rehovot, and Menashe Komemi, 19, from Moshav Aminadav. Both were
MAGAV officers who stopped her from approaching the nearby bus stop in the French Hill neighborhood of
Jerusalem. The
Fatahal-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.
[38]
September 23: A
Qassam rocket attack on
Sderot resulted in eight Israelis being treated at Barzalai Hospital in
Ashkelon.
[39]
September 23: Three militants were killed during an attack on the Israeli community of Morag.
[40][41]
September 23: Three Israeli
soldiers were killed defending the community of Morag, Captain Tal Bardugo, 22, from Jerusalem; St.-Sergeant Nir Sami, 21, from Jerusalem; St.-Sgt. Yisrael Lutati, 20, from N'vei Dekalim.
[42]
September 24: Tif'eret Tretner, 24, an Israeli woman, is killed and another is wounded, on Friday morning when four
mortar shells were fired at Neveh Dekalim, part of the
Gush Katif bloc in the
Gaza Strip.
[43][44]
September 27: Two militants detected while placing a bomb near the Erez Crossing were shot and wounded by Israeli troops.
[45]
September 29: Three
Qassam rockets hit
Sderot, killing two-year-old Dorit Aniso and four-year-old Yuval Abebeh, and injuring 10ā20 people. Militant group
Hamas claimed responsibility.[9] Israel launches
Operation Days of Patience in response.
September 30: Gilad Fischer, 22, from Hoshaiya, an Israeli soldier, was killed near Beit Hanoun.
[48]
September 30: At least 24 Palestinians killed and dozens injured in wave of fighting. Seven of the dead were hit by Israeli tank fire in a crowded marketplace
[49]
September 30: Shulamit Batito, 36, from Nisanit, an Israeli woman, was shot dead while jogging between Nisanit and Alei Sinai.
[50]
September 30: Victor Ariel, 20, from Moshav Kadima, a medic, was killed while treating Shulamit Batito.
[51]
According to
Haaretz, 97
Palestinians were killed during September 2004, 83 of whom were armed terrorists.
October IDT: 102(68/34), PDT: 165 (50/115)
October 1, 2004: A Palestinian is killed and six are arrested, by
IDF forces, in a Palestinian police office near the
Erez crossing. An
explosive belt and several rifles were captured in the same office. The seven planned to commit a combined
suicide attack on the Erez crossing.
[52]
October 2, 2004: Ten Palestinians are killed by IDF forces in another day of fighting in the
Gaza Strip. Four
terrorists were killed, during an infiltration attempt, 200 meters outside Kibbutz Nahal Oz in the
Negev, while six others,
Hamas members, were killed by the
Israeli Air Force's targeted strikes.
October 4: Ronen Ben-Meiri, 31, from Haifa, an Israeli undercover policeman was killed in a gunfight with
Palestinian Authority Force 17 members in Ramallah. During the gunfight the three targeted Arabs were killed and two other wounded. Among the dead Arabs was Nadiv Sawahteh, wanted for his role in numerous
terrorist shooting attacks.
[54][permanent dead link][55]
October 5: An Israeli Arab motorist is shot and wounded by occupants of a passing car while he was changing the tire of his vehicle on Route 60 near
Gush Etzion.
[56]
October 5: Bashir Dabash, a senior member
Islamic Jihad in the
Gaza Strip was killed by Israeli helicopter air-to-surface missiles fired at his vehicle. A second member of
Islamic Jihad riding in the vehicle was killed as well.
[57] Also, on this day,
Iman Darweesh Al Hams, a 13-year-old girl, was shot and killed in
Rafah,
Gaza Strip, by the IDF.
October 6: Pratheep Nanongkham, 24, a greenhouse worker from Maha Sarakham province in Thailand, was killed when armed terrorists infiltrated the hothouse area of Kfar Darom in the central Gaza Strip.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
[58]
October 7: Three
car bombs are detonated in
Egyptian towns in the
Sinai Peninsula frequented by
Israelitourists. The largest explosion, which killed at least 35 and wounding 114, was at a
Hilton Taba in
Taba, near the border with Israel. The other two explosions occurred at the towns of
Ras al-Sultan and
Nuweiba, killing two Israelis and four Egyptians. A group calling itself Jamayia al-Islamia al-Alamiya ("World Islamist Group") later claims responsibility and threatens further attacks. 13 of the victims were Israelis, 6 where Egyptians, 2 were Italians and 14 were from Russia and Eastern Europe.
[59][60][61]
October 8: A Palestinian worker died from his wounds Friday morning following a Palestinian sniper attack on hothouse workers on the
Rafah Yam settlement in the southern Gaza Strip.
[62]
October 16:
Operation Days of Penitence is officially ended, with an estimated 130 Palestinian killed, of which 87 were armed combatants.
October 18: six Palestinian militants are killed in failed attacks IDF forces. Two crossed the
Israeli Gaza Strip barrier and killed by IDF patrol, two were killed in Kissufim junction and two were killed in
Rafah, after trying to plant a bomb.
[63]
October 28: IDF Sergeant Michael Chizik was killed by
mortars fired at an army post near the Gaza settlement of Morag. Six other soldiers were injured in the attack, of them three suffered serious wounds.[12]
According to
Haaretz 165 Palestinians were killed by IDF forces during October 2004, of whom only 50 were noncombatants (30.3%).[13]
November 5: Two
Palestinian children, Ahmad al-Sameiri (8) and his cousin Muhammad al-Sameiri (7), are killed by an explosion in the
refugee camp of
Khan Yonis in the
Gaza Strip. Hospital officials say it was from a tank shell that hit a house.
Israeli spokesmen said there had been no army fire in the area. They believe it was either caused when a Palestinian
mortar misfired or by the detonation of a roadside bomb.
[69]Archived 2004-11-17 at the
Wayback Machine,
[70],
[71]
November 6: Two militants were killed en route to attacking the Israeli community of Gadid. One Israeli soldier was wounded.
Islamic Jihad confirms that the dead were theirs.
[72][73][dead link]
November 7: Cpl. Tom Dekel (20), is killed during a military operation near
Tulkarm, apparently by friendly fire.
[76]
November 7: Four militants were killed after they opened fire upon IDF soldiers in
Jenin. The four, Amin Abu-Qamil, Fadi Ajabriya, Muhmad Mashraqa and Muhmad Simi-Salah, include two from
Fatah and two from
Islamic Jihad.
[77]
November 10: One militant was killed en route to the Israeli community of Dugit and an Israeli naval patrol.
[78]
November 10: An Israeli child was wounded when the Israeli community of N'vei Dekalim was attacked with
mortars. Five mortar bombs hit the community in two separate attacks.
[79]
November 11: A
Thai worker was wounded in a
mortar attack on the Israeli community of Netzer-Hazani.
[80]
November 13: A 26-year-old woman was injured by
shrapnel from a bomb attack in eastern
Gush Etzion.
Fatah claims responsibility.
[82][83]
November 25: Three
Hamas operatives were killed and one was seriously injured during fights with IDF forces. In
Hebron, Two Hamas seniors were killed and one was seriously wounded after the IDF demolished the house they were hiding in. In
Rafah, one Hamas member was killed from a tank shell as the IDF uncovered a
smuggling tunnel in a residential building.
[84]
December (IDT: 114(74/40), PDT: )
December 7: Nadav Kudinski, an Israeli soldier from the
K9 unit, and his
dog were killed from a
bomb hidden in a chicken coop covering a tunnel. In the ensuing battle two
Hamas militants were killed. Later, two
Islamic Jihad were killed.[14]
December 9: five weapon smugglers were killed and two were arrested in the border between
Rafah and
Egypt.[citation needed] Later that day, Jamal Abu Samhadana and two of his bodyguards were injured by a missile strike. Samhadana is believed to be responsible for the
blast against an American diplomatic convoy in
Gaza that killed three Americans.
December 10: Following
Hamas firing mortar rounds into the Neveh Dekalim settlement in the
Gaza Strip and wounding four Israelis (including an 8-year-old boy), Israeli soldiers fired at the Khan Younis refugee camp (the origin of the mortars) killing a 7-year-old girl.[citation needed] An
IDF source confirmed troops opened fire at Khan Younis, but said they aimed at Hamas mortar crews. The IDF insisted that it does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties.
December 15: Five Israelis are injured, one critically, as
Palestinian militants shoot on two cars near the Kissufim crossing in the
Gaza Strip. IDF forces managed to kill one of the shooters.
Islamic Jihad and
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed joint responsibility.
[86],
[87]
December 15: In the
West Bank, gunmen of the
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades shot dead 20-year-old Ibrahim Zeita, who they said had acted as an informant for Israel. His body was then dumped in a
Ramallah square.
[88]
December 16 and December 17: Israel launched Operation Orange Iron in
Khan Yunis, in which IDF
tanks and
armored bulldozers entered the west part of the town to prevent
mortar shellings. During the operation 11 Palestinians were killed, of who 8 armed militants and 3 civilian, and between 24ā50 were injured. IDF said that two soldiers were lightly injured from an
anti-tank missile.
[89]
December 21: Ariela Fahima, 39, mother to four and resident of Moshav Nechusa, was found dead near her home. The
Israeli Police said that this was an act of terror, committed by Palestinians from the nearby
West Bank.
[90]
December 22: Israeli civil security guard who guarded bulldozers used for building the
Israeli West Bank barrier was killed in a shooting attack by two Palestinian militants.
[91]
December 30: Ten
Palestinians, of who 9 were armed, are killed in an
Israeli army incursion into the
Khan Younis refugee camp in the
Gaza Strip. During the raid the local
Hamas commander is killed and two Israeli soldiers are slightly wounded. The raid, codenamed "Purple Iron" was the third operation in Khan Yunis in response to constant
mortars shelling on
Israeli settlements.
(BBC),
(Haaretz),
[92]
This page is a partial listing of incidents of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2004.
IDT = Israeli (civilians/soldiers) killed by Palestinians; cumulative
PDT = Palestinians (civilians/militants) killed by Israelis; cumulative.
Note: This compilation does not include all the casualties of the violence. Many of the Attacks which resulted in Death are not included also many of the attacks that did cause injury are not included.
January (IDT: 16(12/4), PDT: 15(6/9) )
January 3: Israeli soldiers kill three Palestinians: one with a pistol, one lighting a Molotov cocktail, and one throwing rocks in
Nablus in the
West Bank. The stone thrower was a 15-year-old boy. Later, during the funeral service for the three dead, another Palestinian was shot dead after drawing his pistol. Three others were wounded.[1][3]
January 13: A father of five was shot dead and three Israelis were injured in a roadside ambush by the
Fatah's
Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.[2]
January 29:
Jerusalem bus 19 massacre ā Eleven Israelis killed and 50 wounded in a suicide bombing of a city bus in Jerusalem. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility. Hamas also claimed responsibility the next day. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a
video documenting the sights that police forensic expert encountered at the scene. (contains graphic content).[2]
January 30: Three armed Palestinians were killed in gun fights with IDF forces. Two were killed while carrying explosives near Dugit. The third died in a gunfight at
Bethlehem.
[5]
February (IDT: 28(23/5), PDT: 32(13/19) )
February 2: Yasser Abu al-Aesh, an alleged local leader of Islamic Jihad, was among four militants killed during an Israeli raid in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The house where the men had been staying was later destroyed.[3]
On 2 February 2004, Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon announced his plan to transfer all the
Jewish settlers from the
Gaza Strip. The Israeli opposition dismissed his announcement as "media spin" but the
Israeli Labour Party said it would support such a move. Sharon's right-wing coalition partners
National Religious Party and
National Union rejected the plan and vowed to quit the government if it were implemented.
February 11: Twelve Palestinian militants and civilians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in
al-Shojaeya neighbourhood in
Gaza city. In
Rafah refugee camp one Palestinian civilian was killed by Israeli sniper fire. During the day more than 50 Palestinians were wounded, 23 of them children.
February 26: Sgt.-Maj.(res.) Amir Zimmerman, 25, of Kfar Monash was killed and two other soldiers wounded when two Palestinian
guerrillas opened fire near the
Erez Crossing between the
Gaza Strip and Israel. The guerrillas were killed by IDF forces. The
FatahAl-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.[2]
February 27: An Israeli couple (parents of a 2-year-old girl) were shot dead in their car on their way home, in the northern
Negev. After firing at the car from a distance, causing the driver to lose control, the
terrorists approached the car and shot the couple at
point-blank range. Altogether, over 40 bullets were used.
Yasser Arafat's
Fatah's
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
[6],[2]
February 28: Mahmud Jhouda, head of Islamic Jihad's "military wing" in Gaza was killed together with another Islamic Jihad member and a relative of his, when the car in which the three were driving was targeted by an Israeli helicopter.
[7]
March (IDT: 29(24/5), PDT: 44(18/26) )
March 3: Three
Hamas militants were killed in the Gaza Strip when their car was targeted by an Israeli helicopter. Hamas said the three were on "a jihad mission".
[8]Archived 2005-05-07 at the
Wayback Machine
March 13: Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers near the
Karni border crossing in
Gaza.
[9]
March 18: Four Palestinians, two militants and two children, die in two Israeli air strikes on
Rafah refugee camp in
Gaza. Several more are wounded.
[10]
March 19: An Israeli man, George Elias Khouri, is shot dead from a passing vehicle while jogging in the French Hill neighborhood of
Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim the attack, and later apologize when it becomes known that the victim was
George Khouri, a
ChristianArab.[2]
March 22:
Ahmed Yassin, wheelchair bound leader of
Hamas, and six Palestinian bystanders killed by an Israeli missile from a helicopter gunship.[4][5]
April (IDT: 32(25/7), PDT: 44(18/26) )
April 3: Yaakov Zagha, a 40-year father of six, is shot dead outside his house after his daughter Chana, 14, was wounded by a Palestinian from nearby
Tul Karem. The shooter was later killed by
IDF forces.
Hamas claimed responsibility.[2]
April 7: A demonstration of Palestinians and international activists against the
West Bank wall was fired upon by Israeli soldiers. Twenty people were injured, none seriously.
[11]
April 17:
Israeli border policeman Kfir Ohaiyon, 20, of
Eilat was killed and three other Israelis injured in a
suicide bombing at the
Erez Crossing in northern
Gaza. Hamas and
Fatah claimed joint responsibility for the attack.[2]
April 25: Border Policeman Cpl. Yaniv Mashiah, 20, of Jaffa, was killed and three others lightly wounded just an hour after the beginning of Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers, when shots were fired at their vehicle near
Hebron. The
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.[2]
May 11: Six IDF soldiers were killed during an IDF operation to target
Qassam rocket workshops in Gaza City, when an
armored personnel carrier was struck by an explosive device planted by Palestinian militants.
Hamas and the
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The soldiers killed: Sgt. Adaron Amar, 20, of Eilat; Sgt. Aviad Deri, 21, of Ma'aleh Adumim; Staff-Sgt. Ofer Jerbi, 21, of Moshav Ben-Zakai; Staff-Sgt. Ya'akov (Zelco) Marviza, 25, of Kibbutz
HaMa'apil; Sgt. Kobi Mizrahi, 20, of Moshav Mata; and Staff-Sgt. Eitan Newman, 21, of Jerusalem.[7]
May 12: An IDF officer and four soldiers were killed, and three IDF soldiers were lightly injured, while preparing to detonate a weapon-
smuggling tunnel on the
Philadelphi Route near the Israeli-Egyptian border near Rafah. Their armored personnel carrier exploded, apparently after being hit by an
RPGanti-tank rocket. The
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack. The soldiers killed: Cpl. Elad Cohen, 20, of Jerusalem; Sgt.-Maj. Aiman Ghadir, 24, of Bir Makhsur; Capt. Aviv Hakani, 23, of Ashdod; Sgt. Za'ur (Zohar) Smelev, 19, of Ofakim; and Sgt. Lior Vishinski, 20, of Ramat Gan.[7]
May 14: Staff-Sergeant Rotem Adam, 21, Rishon LeZion and Sergeant Alexei Hayat, 21, of Beer Sheva were killed and two soldiers moderately wounded by Palestinian sniper fire in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.[7]
May 18: In response to previous attack on Israeli troops at the Gaza Strip, the IDF launches
Operation Rainbow (2004) with a stated aim of striking the terror infrastructure of Rafah, destroying
smuggling tunnels, and stopping a shipment of
SA-7 missiles and improved
anti-tank weapons. The operation ended after the IDF killed 40 Palestinian militants and 12 civilians and demolished about 45ā56 structures. The great destruction and killing of 10 protesters led to a worldwide outcry against the operation.
May 29: Major Shachar Ben-Yishai, 25, of Menahemia was killed by Palestinian gunfire following a search in the Balata camp near Nablus. The
Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.[7]
June (IDT: 56(34/22), PDT: 44(18/26) )
June 21: Weerachai Wongput, 37, from the Nong Han District of the northeastern province of Udon Thani in
Thailand, died after being hit by shrapnel from a
mortar fired into greenhouses in Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip. The mortar was fired by Palestinians trying to divert attention from an attempt to infiltrate the settlement.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.[2]
June 27: Staff-Sergeant Ro'i Nissim, 20, from Rishon LeTzion, was killed and five others were injured when a tunnel laden with more than 1000
kg of
explosives detonated under
IDF outpost of the "Urhan" junction near
Gush Katif in the
Gaza Strip.
Hamas and
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.[2]
June 28: Four-year-old Afik Zahavi, and Mordehai Yosefof, 49, were killed in
Sderot by a Palestinian
Qassam rocket that hit a
kindergarten, the first fatal Qassam attack. The boy's mother, Ruthie Zahavi, 28, was critically wounded.
Hamas claimed responsibility.[7]
June 29: Moshe Yohai, 63, from Ashdod, an Israeli truck driver, was shot dead near
Ramallah. The
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.[2]
July (IDT: 59(36/23), PDT: 44(18/26) )
July 4: Victor Kreiderman, 49, was killed and his wife, Emma, wounded, in a shooting attack between Mevo Dotan and Shaked. The
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility. The
militant fled to the nearby Arab village of Yabed.[7]
July 6: Captain Moran Vardi, 25, of
Shayetet-13 was killed during a battle with two militants barricaded in a house in
Nablus. In that battle four Palestinians were killed, two of them were
PFLP militants.[7]
July 11: A remote-control bomb killed Sgt. Ma'ayan Naim, 19 and wounded 34 others, in a bus station in Har-Zion Boulevard in
Tel Aviv.
Yasser Arafat's
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim responsibility. Israeli prime-minister
Ariel Sharon said that: "Today's fatality [in the Tel Aviv bombing] was the first act of murder perpetrated under the protective wing of the Hague ruling".
[12],[7]
August 11: Two people were killed and 16 wounded when an explosive device was detonated by Palestinian militants inside an Arab taxi as it attempted to cross the Qalandia checkpoint just north of Jerusalem. Two Palestinians were killed, and about 20 people, the majority of them Arabs, were wounded. The
al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades faction of
Fatah claimed responsibility and expresses regret that Arabs were among the dead and wounded.[8][14]
August 13: Shlomo Miller, 50, father of seven children, was shot dead and another person wounded in an ambush near Itamar. The gunman was killed by Israeli security forces and was identified as an officer in
Yasser Arafat's Preventative Security Force.
Fatah claimed responsibility.
[15]
August 15: A
MAGAV policeman was slashed with a knife across the neck by an
Arab from Shuafat, in the Old City of
Jerusalem. The officer managed to kill the attacker, but was seriously wounded and underwent emergency surgery.
[16]
August 20: Nail Khalil Abu Ghulah, reported to suffer a psychological disorder, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers east of Wadi Gaza village while climbing the fence of an Israeli community.
[17]
August 30: An Israeli civilian was wounded by gunfire directed towards an IDF position near
Khan Yunis. He was evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in
Ashkelon.
[19]
August 31: Two
Palestiniansuicide bombers kill 16 Israelis and wound more than 94 others aboard two city buses in
Beer Sheva. Among the dead is four-year-old Avial Atash.
Hamas claims responsibility. The victims, all residents of Beersheba: Shoshana Amos, 64; Aviel Atash, 3; Vitaly Brodsky, 52; Tamara Dibrashvilli, 70; Raisa Forer, 55; Larisa Gomanenko, 48; Denise Hadad, 50; Tatiana Kortchenko, 49; Rosita Lehman, 45; Karine Malka, 23; Nargiz Ostrovsky, 54; Maria Sokolov, 57; Roman Sokolovsky, 53; Tekele Tiroyaient, 33; Eliyahu Uzan, 58; Emmanuel Yosef (Yosefov), 28.
[20][dead link],
[21][22]
September (IDT: 84(54/30), PDT: 97 (14/83) )
September 3: Two Arabs transporting a
bomb are hit by Israeli gunfire causing the bomb to explode. Both Arabs die.
[23][permanent dead link]
September 8: An Arab
fugitive was killed and two others wounded in
Jericho during a shootout with Israeli soldiers trying to arrest them.
[28][dead link]
September 10: Abdel Aziz Ashkar, 34, a
Hamas leader was killed by Israeli forces.
[29]
September 15: Nine Palestinian militants and a child were killed in two IDF operations in
Nablus and
Jenin. In Nablus,
Shayetet-13 killed four
Fatah militants, and one from
Islamic Jihad. A child was killed in the crossfire. In Jenin, four wanted
Fatah militants were killed by undercover
Border Police troops. Two
female suicide bombers turned themselves in to IDF forces following the death of their handler Hanni Aqad.
[32],
[33]
September 20: Senior
Hamas commander in
Gaza Khaled Abu Shamiyah was killed by Israeli forces.
[34],
[35]
September 20: Two
Hamas members, Rabah Zakut and Nabil al-Saidi, while on their way to launch
Qassam rockets into Israel, were killed by Israeli forces in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza.
[36][37]
September 22: A
female suicide bomber killed herself, wounding some 15 people and killing Momoya Tahio, 20, from
Rehovot, and Menashe Komemi, 19, from Moshav Aminadav. Both were
MAGAV officers who stopped her from approaching the nearby bus stop in the French Hill neighborhood of
Jerusalem. The
Fatahal-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility.
[38]
September 23: A
Qassam rocket attack on
Sderot resulted in eight Israelis being treated at Barzalai Hospital in
Ashkelon.
[39]
September 23: Three militants were killed during an attack on the Israeli community of Morag.
[40][41]
September 23: Three Israeli
soldiers were killed defending the community of Morag, Captain Tal Bardugo, 22, from Jerusalem; St.-Sergeant Nir Sami, 21, from Jerusalem; St.-Sgt. Yisrael Lutati, 20, from N'vei Dekalim.
[42]
September 24: Tif'eret Tretner, 24, an Israeli woman, is killed and another is wounded, on Friday morning when four
mortar shells were fired at Neveh Dekalim, part of the
Gush Katif bloc in the
Gaza Strip.
[43][44]
September 27: Two militants detected while placing a bomb near the Erez Crossing were shot and wounded by Israeli troops.
[45]
September 29: Three
Qassam rockets hit
Sderot, killing two-year-old Dorit Aniso and four-year-old Yuval Abebeh, and injuring 10ā20 people. Militant group
Hamas claimed responsibility.[9] Israel launches
Operation Days of Patience in response.
September 30: Gilad Fischer, 22, from Hoshaiya, an Israeli soldier, was killed near Beit Hanoun.
[48]
September 30: At least 24 Palestinians killed and dozens injured in wave of fighting. Seven of the dead were hit by Israeli tank fire in a crowded marketplace
[49]
September 30: Shulamit Batito, 36, from Nisanit, an Israeli woman, was shot dead while jogging between Nisanit and Alei Sinai.
[50]
September 30: Victor Ariel, 20, from Moshav Kadima, a medic, was killed while treating Shulamit Batito.
[51]
According to
Haaretz, 97
Palestinians were killed during September 2004, 83 of whom were armed terrorists.
October IDT: 102(68/34), PDT: 165 (50/115)
October 1, 2004: A Palestinian is killed and six are arrested, by
IDF forces, in a Palestinian police office near the
Erez crossing. An
explosive belt and several rifles were captured in the same office. The seven planned to commit a combined
suicide attack on the Erez crossing.
[52]
October 2, 2004: Ten Palestinians are killed by IDF forces in another day of fighting in the
Gaza Strip. Four
terrorists were killed, during an infiltration attempt, 200 meters outside Kibbutz Nahal Oz in the
Negev, while six others,
Hamas members, were killed by the
Israeli Air Force's targeted strikes.
October 4: Ronen Ben-Meiri, 31, from Haifa, an Israeli undercover policeman was killed in a gunfight with
Palestinian Authority Force 17 members in Ramallah. During the gunfight the three targeted Arabs were killed and two other wounded. Among the dead Arabs was Nadiv Sawahteh, wanted for his role in numerous
terrorist shooting attacks.
[54][permanent dead link][55]
October 5: An Israeli Arab motorist is shot and wounded by occupants of a passing car while he was changing the tire of his vehicle on Route 60 near
Gush Etzion.
[56]
October 5: Bashir Dabash, a senior member
Islamic Jihad in the
Gaza Strip was killed by Israeli helicopter air-to-surface missiles fired at his vehicle. A second member of
Islamic Jihad riding in the vehicle was killed as well.
[57] Also, on this day,
Iman Darweesh Al Hams, a 13-year-old girl, was shot and killed in
Rafah,
Gaza Strip, by the IDF.
October 6: Pratheep Nanongkham, 24, a greenhouse worker from Maha Sarakham province in Thailand, was killed when armed terrorists infiltrated the hothouse area of Kfar Darom in the central Gaza Strip.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
[58]
October 7: Three
car bombs are detonated in
Egyptian towns in the
Sinai Peninsula frequented by
Israelitourists. The largest explosion, which killed at least 35 and wounding 114, was at a
Hilton Taba in
Taba, near the border with Israel. The other two explosions occurred at the towns of
Ras al-Sultan and
Nuweiba, killing two Israelis and four Egyptians. A group calling itself Jamayia al-Islamia al-Alamiya ("World Islamist Group") later claims responsibility and threatens further attacks. 13 of the victims were Israelis, 6 where Egyptians, 2 were Italians and 14 were from Russia and Eastern Europe.
[59][60][61]
October 8: A Palestinian worker died from his wounds Friday morning following a Palestinian sniper attack on hothouse workers on the
Rafah Yam settlement in the southern Gaza Strip.
[62]
October 16:
Operation Days of Penitence is officially ended, with an estimated 130 Palestinian killed, of which 87 were armed combatants.
October 18: six Palestinian militants are killed in failed attacks IDF forces. Two crossed the
Israeli Gaza Strip barrier and killed by IDF patrol, two were killed in Kissufim junction and two were killed in
Rafah, after trying to plant a bomb.
[63]
October 28: IDF Sergeant Michael Chizik was killed by
mortars fired at an army post near the Gaza settlement of Morag. Six other soldiers were injured in the attack, of them three suffered serious wounds.[12]
According to
Haaretz 165 Palestinians were killed by IDF forces during October 2004, of whom only 50 were noncombatants (30.3%).[13]
November 5: Two
Palestinian children, Ahmad al-Sameiri (8) and his cousin Muhammad al-Sameiri (7), are killed by an explosion in the
refugee camp of
Khan Yonis in the
Gaza Strip. Hospital officials say it was from a tank shell that hit a house.
Israeli spokesmen said there had been no army fire in the area. They believe it was either caused when a Palestinian
mortar misfired or by the detonation of a roadside bomb.
[69]Archived 2004-11-17 at the
Wayback Machine,
[70],
[71]
November 6: Two militants were killed en route to attacking the Israeli community of Gadid. One Israeli soldier was wounded.
Islamic Jihad confirms that the dead were theirs.
[72][73][dead link]
November 7: Cpl. Tom Dekel (20), is killed during a military operation near
Tulkarm, apparently by friendly fire.
[76]
November 7: Four militants were killed after they opened fire upon IDF soldiers in
Jenin. The four, Amin Abu-Qamil, Fadi Ajabriya, Muhmad Mashraqa and Muhmad Simi-Salah, include two from
Fatah and two from
Islamic Jihad.
[77]
November 10: One militant was killed en route to the Israeli community of Dugit and an Israeli naval patrol.
[78]
November 10: An Israeli child was wounded when the Israeli community of N'vei Dekalim was attacked with
mortars. Five mortar bombs hit the community in two separate attacks.
[79]
November 11: A
Thai worker was wounded in a
mortar attack on the Israeli community of Netzer-Hazani.
[80]
November 13: A 26-year-old woman was injured by
shrapnel from a bomb attack in eastern
Gush Etzion.
Fatah claims responsibility.
[82][83]
November 25: Three
Hamas operatives were killed and one was seriously injured during fights with IDF forces. In
Hebron, Two Hamas seniors were killed and one was seriously wounded after the IDF demolished the house they were hiding in. In
Rafah, one Hamas member was killed from a tank shell as the IDF uncovered a
smuggling tunnel in a residential building.
[84]
December (IDT: 114(74/40), PDT: )
December 7: Nadav Kudinski, an Israeli soldier from the
K9 unit, and his
dog were killed from a
bomb hidden in a chicken coop covering a tunnel. In the ensuing battle two
Hamas militants were killed. Later, two
Islamic Jihad were killed.[14]
December 9: five weapon smugglers were killed and two were arrested in the border between
Rafah and
Egypt.[citation needed] Later that day, Jamal Abu Samhadana and two of his bodyguards were injured by a missile strike. Samhadana is believed to be responsible for the
blast against an American diplomatic convoy in
Gaza that killed three Americans.
December 10: Following
Hamas firing mortar rounds into the Neveh Dekalim settlement in the
Gaza Strip and wounding four Israelis (including an 8-year-old boy), Israeli soldiers fired at the Khan Younis refugee camp (the origin of the mortars) killing a 7-year-old girl.[citation needed] An
IDF source confirmed troops opened fire at Khan Younis, but said they aimed at Hamas mortar crews. The IDF insisted that it does its utmost to avoid civilian casualties.
December 15: Five Israelis are injured, one critically, as
Palestinian militants shoot on two cars near the Kissufim crossing in the
Gaza Strip. IDF forces managed to kill one of the shooters.
Islamic Jihad and
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed joint responsibility.
[86],
[87]
December 15: In the
West Bank, gunmen of the
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades shot dead 20-year-old Ibrahim Zeita, who they said had acted as an informant for Israel. His body was then dumped in a
Ramallah square.
[88]
December 16 and December 17: Israel launched Operation Orange Iron in
Khan Yunis, in which IDF
tanks and
armored bulldozers entered the west part of the town to prevent
mortar shellings. During the operation 11 Palestinians were killed, of who 8 armed militants and 3 civilian, and between 24ā50 were injured. IDF said that two soldiers were lightly injured from an
anti-tank missile.
[89]
December 21: Ariela Fahima, 39, mother to four and resident of Moshav Nechusa, was found dead near her home. The
Israeli Police said that this was an act of terror, committed by Palestinians from the nearby
West Bank.
[90]
December 22: Israeli civil security guard who guarded bulldozers used for building the
Israeli West Bank barrier was killed in a shooting attack by two Palestinian militants.
[91]
December 30: Ten
Palestinians, of who 9 were armed, are killed in an
Israeli army incursion into the
Khan Younis refugee camp in the
Gaza Strip. During the raid the local
Hamas commander is killed and two Israeli soldiers are slightly wounded. The raid, codenamed "Purple Iron" was the third operation in Khan Yunis in response to constant
mortars shelling on
Israeli settlements.
(BBC),
(Haaretz),
[92]