Full text: Hamas vows revenge
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3557445.stm
The military wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, has issued a statement promising to avenge the death of its founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. It says Israel would not have carried out the killing without US approval and threatens retaliation. Here is a translation of the statement:

O Murderous Zionists, you have bestowed martyrdom upon our Sheikh, and we will bestow violent death upon you on every city and every street.

O masses of our Mujaheed and Islamic people, the sons of our Palestinian people:

The terrorist Zionist Nazis have targeted our founding leader His Eminence the Mujahid Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, after performing morning prayers at the Islamic Complex [Al-Mujamma al-Islami] Mosque.

What the Zionists have committed today illustrates the pinnacle of breakdown and failure.

By directing their rancorous rockets at the chair of the disabled Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, they thought they had killed him.

The Zionists did not know that millions of Muslims will go out to "visit with destruction all that fell into their power" [part of Koranic verse].

Today, Ahmed Yassin will come out from every city, street, and alley to grant them violent death, after they have granted him martyrdom, which total paralysis did not prevent him from seeking.

Today, the criminal [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon has issued a death sentence for hundreds of Israelis on every street and every inch of land occupied by the Zionists.

We vow Sheikh Abu Muhammad [Ahmed Yassin] to continue our march, and pursue Zionists everywhere they hide.

Abu Muhammad, your martyrdom-seeking sons will inform you of their retaliation soon.

So rest in peace our leader, teacher, sheikh, instructor, icon, our joy, and our dearest.

O Sheikh, Palestine and the Islamic nation will not miss you because you have planted strong righteous men in every house and every street. They have carried your thought and marched on your path.

While announcing to the entire world the death of the founder of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and the guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Group in Palestine, His Eminence Leader Sheikh Ahmed Isma'il Yassin, also known as Abu-Muhammad, and his companions, Ezzedin al-Qassam Martyrs, stresses the following:

1. He who made the decision to assassinate Sheikh Ahmed Yassin has made a decision to kill hundreds of Zionists.

2. The Zionists did not take such a step without the approval of the terrorist US administration. Therefore, it should bear responsibility for this crime.

3. The Zionists will soon see, not hear, our response, God willing.

4. The response to the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin will not be made on the level of all the Palestinian people's mujahideen factions only, but all Muslims in the entire Muslim world will have the honor to respond to this crime.

They ask you when will that be, say: Maybe it will be quite soon [Koranic verse].

Ahmed Yassin, religious leader: born Majdal, Palestine 1 January 1929; married (11 children); died Gaza City 22 March 2004.

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was the spiritual leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, of which he had been a founder a decade earlier. He owed much of his fame and popularity among Islamists in Palestine and elsewhere more to luck and the unintended consequences of violent Israeli policies than to his own political cunning. Yesterday morning, as he was returning from a mosque in Gaza City, he was targeted and killed in a missile attack by the Israeli army.

In 1997 he was largely forgotten outside his circle of hardline Islamic supporters, tucked away in an Israeli jail, following an Israeli trial in 1989. The Palestinian Authority (PA) led by Yasser Arafat was content with the status quo, having locked up many supporters of Hamas opposed to a peace deal signed with the Israelis in 1993. Arafat was engaged in tense - often acrimonious - negotiations with the Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was accused by PA, Europeans, and even Americans, of trying to get out of implementing the 1993 Oslo Agreement signed by his predecessor Yitzhak Rabin, himself assassinated by a Jewish terrorist opposed to peace.

The Oslo agreement ended the 1987 Palestinian intifada (uprising) in which Yassin had played a leading role, and enabled Arafat and the largely secular Palestinian leadership to return from exile after secret negotiations with Rabin's Labour government, who realised the demographic threat to the Jewish identity of Israel if it continued its occupation of densely populated Palestinian land. The two sides recognised each other's right to exist, but this was rejected by Hamas, whose declared aim is the total elimination of the state of Israel.

Netanyahu ordered the assassination of Khalid Mishaal, the Hamas spokesman in Jordan, where Israel had full diplomatic relations. Two Mossad agents were caught red-handed spraying poison at Mishaal. Infuriated by the move, King Hussein of Jordan threatened to try the agents publicly if Israel did not provide an antidote for the nerve agent used against Mishaal. Israel was forced to release dozens of Palestinian prisoners, including Yassin.

Returning to a hero's welcome in Gaza, and later going on a tour of Arab and Muslim countries where he collected �35m in donations, Yassin became a thorn in Arafat's side. Unlike the Arafat administration, with its extravagant spending on its officials, Yassin was revered for never taking money for himself and his family - his wife Halima and their 11 children.

The donations enabled Yassin's organisation to start a massive welfare programme, competing with the PA and also recruiting thousands to the movement, while many released from Israeli jails started training to be suicide bombers. Arafat's PA had little choice but to take a tougher stance in negotiations with Israel in order to compete with Yassin, whose popularity soared in Palestinian areas and beyond.

He was born in either 1929 (according to PA official papers) or in 1936 (according to the Israeli army) or in 1938, according to Yassin himself, in the Palestinian fishing village of Majdal - renamed Ashkelon by the Israelis when they took it in the 1948 war, making Yassin and his family refugees.

A childhood sporting accident left Yassin almost completely paralysed and in recent years he was nearly blind, with poor hearing. But, for all his physical frailty, he had compelling charisma. He grew up in Palestinian refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. He became known locally as an Islamic religious teacher and spiritual leader. He would spend his days reclining on a mat in his three-room house in the modest Sabra quarter of Gaza City, reading the Koran and Islamic books, receiving disciples and settling disputes. But he had time for journalists and gave many television interviews. He did not so much speak as declaim, in language peppered with Koranic allusions.

The limited movements from his fingers became highly expressive gestures. He would underline fatwas, and declarations - setting up the Hamas political agenda - throwing back his head and rolling his dark eyes. He had many followers devoted to him, who would stand over his wheelchair, tenderly adjusting his white headscarf. They saw him as a victim with little physical strength, but with great willpower to resist the Israeli-imposed order; a symbol for Palestinian resistance, especially in times when aggressive Israeli actions - like the assassination of Palestinian leaders or the use of heavy armour in civilian areas - undermined the Palestinian Authority. Islamists, with Yassin's full approval, would repeatedly condemn Arafat and PA policy in dealing with Israel as ineffective.

In 1968 Yassin spent a year on a charitable scholarship studying in Ein Shams university in Cairo, and it is thought that it was there he was recruited by the Muslim brothers, believed to be at the origins of political Islam in the region. In 1970 Yassin organised the al-Mujama al-Islami ("The Islamic Compound"), which opened mosques, hospitals, libraries and did other philanthropic work, encouraged by Israel as a counterweight to Yasser Arafat's secular PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation).

After the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Yassin founded the Majd al- Mujahedin ("The Pride of the Faithful Warriors"), a more radical group, and in 1987 Hamas (an acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, meaning "zeal"), with the goal of replacing Israel with an Islamic state. Hamas gained a reputation for ruthlessness, especially against fellow Palestinian Muslims suspected of collaborating with Israel. A policy condoned by Yassin until his death saw many suspected collaborators dragged to death in the streets.

Regardless of its violence, Hamas was not formally outlawed by the Israeli military authorities until 1989, fuelling the still commonly held belief among secular Arab nationalists that Israel and US intelligence fostered the group as a useful counterweight to Arafat's PLO.

Yassin was arrested twice by the Israelis. On the first occasion, in 1984, arrested for organising violence, Yassin stated during interrogation that he had founded an organisation of religious activists, with the goal of fighting non- religious factions in the territories, and carrying out jihad operations against Israel. The organisation used funds from Islamic activists in Jordan to acquire large quantities of weapons. Yassin remained in jail until released in May 1985 within the framework of a prisoner-release agreement.

In 1989, Yassin ordered Hamas to kidnap Israeli soldiers inside Israel, to murder them and bury their bodies in a manner which would allow Hamas to negotiate the exchange of bodies for Hamas prisoners, who would be released from jails in Israel.

With the banning of Hamas in 1989, Yassin and nearly 200 other group members were jailed in a mass raid. Eventually brought to trial before an Israeli military court, he acknowledged founding Hamas - but admitted to none of the other 14 charges against him. Yassin was arrested after the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers. He was tried in Israel and received two life sentences for his involvement in these attacks.

Before he was killed yesterday, there had been previous attempts to assassinate Yassin. Last September a 500lb bomb was dropped on a house where he was lunching with friends - he escaped, but many were killed.

He saw the Allied strike on Iraq as "continuation of the Crusaders' aggression and war - therefore Muslims will have to threaten and strike Western interests, and hit them everywhere".

Adel Darwish

Frail foe of Israel
http://english.aljazeera.net/english/DialogBox/BreakingNews.aspx
Shaikh Ahmad Yasin, who was assassinated today in Gaza, was the enigmatic founder and spiritual leader of Palestine's Hamas movement.

Confined to a wheelchair since his teens when he lost the use of his legs in an accident while playing football in Gaza's Shati refugee camp, Yasin's emblematic image is ubiquitous throughout the Gaza Strip, and adorns the prison cells of many resistance fighters held by Israel.

He had frequently said Hamas would only stop its bombing campaign if the Israeli army stopped "killing Palestinian women, children and innocent civilians".

Expelled from home

The diminutive and bearded Yasin, who was always seen wearing the traditional white skullcap, founded the movement at the start of the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising (1987-1993) when he was a Gaza-based leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious and political organisation founded in Egypt in the 1920s, with wide support across the Arab world.

"The Jewish people have drunk from the glass of suffering and lived dispersed around the world. Today this people wants to force the Palestinian people to drink from the same glass"

Owner of a distinctive high-pitched voice, Yasin needed help in all daily activities and suffered from muscular deterioration, chronic breathing problems and hearing loss.

Father to 11 children, the elderly shaikh belongs to one of many Palestinian families expelled from their homes in what is today Israel during the first Israeli-Arab war in 1948.

Shaikh Yasin was born in 1936 in Majdal near the coastal town of Askalan, but fled to Gaza with his family after the village was destroyed in 1948.

Despite his paralysis, after completing secondary school Yasin left for Cairo, where he spent a year studying at Ain Shams University.

A lack of money forced him to cut short his studies and return home, but his year in Cairo was to prove decisive since it was there that he became involved with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Encouraged by Israel

Back in Gaza, Yasin founded his own movement, al-Mujama al-Islami, in the 1970s and began recruiting young activists.

At the time, Israel tacitly encouraged the growth of Islamist opposition groups in Gaza as a counterweight to the secular militancy of Yasir Arafat's revolutionary Fatah movement.

Hamas was allowed to open mosques, hospitals, and libraries among other philanthropic work. The movement was used by the Israelis to discredit Arafat�s leadership which was in exile in Tunisia at the time.

Caught up in the fervour of the 1979 Iranian revolution, Yasin set up a more radical movement - Majd al-Mujahidin.

He was arrested a first time in 1984 for illegal possession of weapons and explosives, but released a year later after which he set to work creating Hamas, an acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement.

Since its inception in December 1987, Hamas has carried out the majority of attacks against Israeli targets, and become the Zionist state's most formidable enemy.

Hamas does not regard its struggle as �one of borders� because according to the group, �the Jews have no place in Palestine�.

It does not recognise Israel�s right to exist and its long-term aim is to establish an Islamic state on pre-1948 borders.

But it has set its goal, at least for now, on a complete Israeli pullout from territories occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War � the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

Recently it had expressed a willingness to suspend resistance if Israel pulled out of the West Bank and Gaza and allowed the Palestinians their own state in the illegally occupied territories.

The glass of suffering

Hamas has been a staunch opponent of the 1993 Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians -- an agreement which recognised Israel's existence and paved the way for Arafat's return from exile to oversee Palestinian self-rule in areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Arrested again in 1989, Yasin listened impassively as an Israeli court sentenced him to life in prison.

"The Jewish people have drunk from the glass of suffering and lived dispersed around the world. Today this people wants to force the Palestinian people to drink from the same glass," Yasin said in response.

"History will not pardon you and God will judge us all," he said.

He was released and deported to Jordan in 1997 in a deal brokered by the late Jordanian monarch, King Husayn, following a botched assassination attempt by the Israeli secret service Mossad against Khalid Mishal, a Hamas leader in Amman.

Shortly afterwards, Israel allowed the ailing cleric to return to Gaza.

Since then, Shaikh Yasin had an up-and-down relationship with Arafat's Palestinian Authority which has placed him under house arrest several times.
Aljazeera + Agencies

Films of Ahmed Yassin's Statements to the Media & archives of related articles

IDF Spokesperson March 22, 2004

Terrorist Leader Ahmed Yassin Directly Responsible for Dozens of Attacks

Ahmed Yassin, head of Hamas terrorist organization, was killed this morning (Monday) in IAF attack in the northern Gaza Strip, during security forces activity. Yassin was directly responsible for dozens of attacks that claimed the lives of Israeli civilians, foreign citizens, and security personnel.

Yassin, founder of the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization, was imprisoned in Israel twice: in 1984 and 1989. In 1989, Yassin was sentenced for life, on account of involvement in the murder of IDF soldiers, Avi Sasport and Ilan Sadon, and possession of weapons.

Once released prison in 1997, as part of an agreement signed with Jordan (after the targeting attempt on Haled Mashal), Yassin became involved in Hamas terrorist activities. His involvement included direction of terrorist operations and tunneling of funds to terrorist activity. In 1998, Yassin campaigned throughout Arab countries to raise millions of dollars worth financial aid to help Hamas carry out terrorist operations.

Terrorist Leader Ahmed Yassin Directly Authorized Suicide and Bombing Attacks

Yassin was also a central Hamas authority for terrorist decision and policy making. Yassin personally authorized suicide attacks, bombing attacks and Qassam missile attacks against the State of Israel.

During his public appearances, Yassin repeatedly called to continue the "armed struggle" and to carry out terrorist attacks. Yassin used to emphasize the importance of kidnapping Israelis for purpose of negotiation and release of Palestinian terrorists.

The targeting of Yassin, one of the major pillars in Hamas, is a significant blow to the terrorist organization.

(Archives: Related Articles) www.idf.il/newsite/english/032204-6.stm

Films: Ahmed Yassin's Statements to the Media

25.02.01 - Yassin attacks the USA, saying resistance will endure www.idf.il/newsite/movies/yassin2.wmv The USA only wants to stand by the enemy, the murderous criminal. This is why we respond to the USA and its allies with rejection. Resistance, we declare, will continue in all possible ways, until the last drop of Palestinian blood. The Palestinian people will surrender with a white flag.

30.04.01 - Terror attacks are religiously legitimate, says Yassin www.idf.il/newsite/movies/yassin9.wmv "Those who fight for Allah kill and get killed", says the holy Koran, without specifying the method. What heroism is superior to that of an individual who sacrifices himself for his country, in attempt to spread fear, defeatism, separation and destruction among enemy lines? Our Muslim clerics should be knowledgeable on this subject.

07.08.02 - Yassin refuses to surrender his weapon before the end of occupation www.idf.il/newsite/movies/yassin7.wmv We surrendered in the past for "Gaza and Jericho first". Will we fall twice into the same trap? Why are they giving us Gaza and Jericho today - what is the cost? Is it even perceivable that I give up my weapon in exchange to termination of the occupation? Why shouldn't the occupation end first?

11.08.02 - Resistance is not terror, says Yassin www.idf.il/newsite/movies/yassin4.wmv Every meeting or conversation we hold with anyone worldwide has two objectives: the first - to maintain the unity of the Palestinian people against the Israeli enemy, using the resistance alternative; the second - to continue protecting ourselves, without our self defense being called 'terrorism'.

17.08.02 - We will not give up the occupied territories of '48, says Yassin www.idf.il/newsite/movies/yassin5.wmv I am the defender the Palestinian people more than anyone else. However, if national consensus requires me to recognize Israel and wave my right for the (territories of) '48, and end the resistance to the burden of occupation - then this must not be national consensus.

04.08.02 - Hamas may return to military activity at any time, says Yassin www.idf.il/newsite/movies/yassin1.wmv We may return to military activity at any time, since the enemy has not been adhering to the conditions.

07.09.02 - Hamas may attack everywhere in Israeli territory, says Yassin www.idf.il/newsite/movies/yassin6.wmv We haven't limited the military command, battalions or factions. Response may come anywhere in Israel, exactly as it (Israel) acts against the entire Palestinian territory.

24.09.03 - Rejects cease-fire with the Zionist enemy www.idf.il/newsite/movies/yassin8.wmv There is no dialogue. Moreover, the cease-fire was not initiated by the defeated, beaten, chased-after nation, but by the powerful nation that has everything. The Zionist enemy was granted a previous cease-fire and continued with its acts of aggression, massacre, destruction and killing. It didn't stop for even one moment. Therefore, discussing cease-fire today, while the enemy's hostility continues, is not an option.

24.09.03 - Kidnapping soldiers is the only way to release prisoners, says Yassin www.idf.il/newsite/movies/yassin3.wmv I stress now, as I used to before my release from prison in 1997, that there is no solution to the prisoner problem, except for taking captive and exchanging enemy soldiers, because they know nothing but brutality, and will not give us our freedom as a present. He who has our blood on his hands, cannot award us our own freedom. He must pay for his aggression - for arresting our sons - and then give us our freedom.

---

Background Information [From the IDF Spokesperson] 22 March 2004 Attributed to "security sources"

Since the beginning of the current conflict, the Hamas terrorist organization is responsible for carrying out 425 various terrorist attacks which resulted in the killing of 377 and wounding of 2,076 Israeli citizens and soldiers.

The Hamas organization has carried out 52 suicide attacks, killing 288 Israelis and injuring 1,646.

A Chronology of Terrorist Attacks Carried out by the Hamas Since September 2000:

March 14, 2004 - Two suicide bombers detonated an explosive belt and an explosive bag at the Ashdod port. Ten Israelis were killed and 12 injured.

March 6, 2004 - Suicide bombers traveling in three vehicles drove into the Erez crossing, and detonated two car bombs at Palestinian checkpoints, while firing at the Israeli checkpoint. Two Palestinian policemen were killed.

Jan. 29, 2004 - A suicide bomber detonated a bag laden with explosives on a No. 19 bus line on Aza Street in Jerusalem. Ten Israelis and one foreigner were killed and 44 were injured.

Jan. 14, 2004 - A female suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated herself at the workers terminal in the Erez crossing, resulting in the death of four Israelis and the injury of five.

Sept. 9, 2003 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the "Hillel Cafe" in Jerusalem. Seven Israelis were killed and 70 injured.

Sept. 9 , 2003 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at a bus stop near the IDF "Tzrifin" Base. Nine IDF soldiers were killed and 10 were injured.

Aug. 19, 2003 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up on a No. 2 bus line in Jerusalem, resulting in the death of 23 Israelis and the injury of 115.

Aug. 12, 2003 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up near a bus stop at the entrance to Ariel. Two Israelis were killed and two others injured.

June 11, 2003 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up on the No. 14 bus line in Jerusalem. Seventeen Israelis were killed and 104 were injured.

May 19, 2003 - A Hamas terrorist on a bicycle blew himself up next to a military jeep in Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip. Three IDF soldiers were wounded.

May 18, 2003 - A suicide bomber, with a bag filled with explosives blew himself up near the A-Ram Junction in Jerusalem.

May 18, 2003 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt, detonated himself on a bus at the French Hill Junction in Jerusalem. Seven Israelis were killed and 20 were wounded. May 17, 2003 - A suicide bomber dressed as a religious Jew, and wearing an explosive belt, blew himself up in Hebron's Gross Square, killing two Israeli civilians.

April 30, 2003 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt at the entrance to the "Mike's Place" pub on the Tel Aviv boardwalk. An additional suicide bomber hurled an explosive device nearby. Three Israeli civilians were killed and 62 were wounded.

April 15, 2003 - Two Israeli civilians were killed and three were injured when a terrorist armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifles, grenades and an explosive belt penetrated the Karni crossing in the Gaza Strip fired and hurled grenades. The terrorist was shot and killed.

March 5, 2003 - A suicide bomber blew himself up on the No. 37 bus line in Haifa. Seventeen Israeli civilians were killed, and 42 were wounded.

Jan. 17, 2003 - A raft laden with explosives and guided by a suicide bomber, exploded after Israeli Navy ships fired at the craft, four kilometers from Dugit, in the northern Gaza Strip.

Nov. 21, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt on the No. 20 bus line in Jerusalem. Eleven Israelis were killed, and 50 were wounded.

Oct. 27, 2002 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself, despite being shot, at the gas station near the entrance to the city of Ariel. Three Israeli civilians were killed, and 17 were wounded.

Oct. 11, 2002 - A suicide bomber is arrested at the entrance to a caf� before he could detonate his explosive belt.

Oct. 10, 2002 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself near a bus stop at the Bar Ilan Bridge in Ramat Gan. An Israeli civilian was killed, and 20 were wounded.

Sept. 19, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated a bag laden with explosives on the No. 4 bus line on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv, in which six Israelis were killed and 66 were injured.

Aug. 4, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to his body on a bus traveling near Mt. Meron in northern Israel. Nine Israeli civilians were killed, and 48 wounded.

June 18, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden bag on a bus traveling along Dov-Yosef Street in Jerusalem. Nineteen civilians were killed, and 50 wounded.

May 7, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt and an additional explosive device in a bag, at a club in Rishon Letzion. Sixteen Israeli civilians were killed, and 51 were wounded.

March 31, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated himself at the "Matzah" restaurant in Haifa. Fifteen Israeli civilians were killed and 31 were wounded.

March 27, 2002 - A suicide bomber blew himself up with an explosive belt in the Park Hotel in Netanya. Thirty Israeli civilians were killed and 144 were wounded.

March 9, 2002 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to his body at the entrance of the "Moment Cafe" in Jerusalem. Eleven Israeli civilians were killed and 58 were wounded.

March 7, 2002 - A suicide bomber attempted to detonate an explosive device strapped to his back in the "Kafit Cafe" in Jerusalem. Nobody was injured.

Feb. 6, 2002 - A suicide bomber boarded a bus traveling between the city of Maale Adumim and Jerusalem, and attempted to detonate an explosive belt.

Dec. 12, 2001 - Two suicide bombers detonate explosive devices next to Israeli vehicles in the area of Ganei Tal in the Gaza Strip, while an additional explosive device is detonated near another Israeli vehicle. Three Israeli civilians were injured.

Dec. 2, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device concealed under a coat on a bus near Yad L'banim in Haifa. Fifteen civilians were killed and 35 wounded.

Dec. 1, 2001 - Two suicide bombers detonated explosive devices concealed in bags on Ben Yehudah Street in Jerusalem. Immediately following, a car bomb exploded nearby. Eleven civilians were killed and 170 wounded.

Nov. 26, 2001 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself at the Erez checkpoint in the Gaza Strip. Two policemen were wounded.

Nov. 8, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated himself in the area of Bakah Al Sharkiah, during an attempt to arrest him while on his way to enter Israel. Two IDF soldiers were wounded.

Sept. 9, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to his body at the Nahariya train station. An Israeli civilian and two soldiers were killed and 46 were wounded.

Sept. 4, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to his body on Nevi'im Street in Jerusalem. Thirteen Israeli civilians were wounded.

Aug. 9, 2001 - A suicide bomber blew himself up at the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem. Fifteen Israelis were killed and 110 wounded.

Aug. 8, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb next to the Bekaot checkpoint in the West Bank. An IDF soldier was injured.

July 9, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near an IDF vehicle in the area of Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the injury of an IDF soldier.

June 22, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near IDF forces in Alei Sinai in the Gaza Strip. Two IDF soldiers were killed, and another soldier was wounded.

June 1, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated himself at the entrance to the "Dolphinarium" club in Tel Aviv. Twenty-two Israeli civilians were killed, and 83 were wounded.

May 29, 2001 - Two terrorists approached an IDF position at the "Tofah" Junction in the Gaza Strip. One terrorist detonated an explosive device strapped to his body, and the other hurled grenades and opened fire. Two IDF soldiers were wounded.

May 25, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a container filled with 48 kg. of explosives and three gas balloons at the Netzarim Junction in the Gaza Strip.

May 18, 2003 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to his body at the entrance to a mall in Netanya. Five Israeli civilians were killed, and 86 were wounded.

April 29, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a bus carrying children at the Dir Sharif Junction.

April 22, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated himself near a bus stop in the city of Kfar Saba. An Israeli was killed and 45 were wounded.

March 28, 2001 - A suicide bomber blew himself up near a gas station at the Neveh Yamin/Kfar Saba Junction. Two Israeli civilians were killed, and four were wounded.

March 27, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive strapped to his body, near an Israeli bus at the French Hill Junction in Jerusalem. Twenty-one Israeli civilians were wounded.

March 4, 2001 - A suicide bomber detonated a case laden with explosives on the main street of Netanya. Three Israelis were killed and 53 injured.

March 1, 2001 - A suicide bomber blew himself up while in a taxi, near the Me Ami Junction. An Israeli civilian was killed, and 10 were wounded.

Jan. 1, 2003 - A car bomb exploded in Netanya. Thirty-five Israeli civilians were wounded.

Dec. 22, 2000 - A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself at the entrance to a restaurant in the Jordan Valley, resulting in the injury of three IDF soldiers.

Dec. 15, 2000 - A suicide bomber attempted to detonate an explosive belt near Israeli security forces close to the Erez crossing. The suicide bomber also attempted to stab Israeli security personnel.

Nov. 6, 2000 - A booby-trapped raft exploded close to an Israeli Navy "Dabur," near the Israel-Egypt border in Rafah. Hamas publicly claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.

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