1996    Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone.

2001    Dolphinarium massacre: an Hamas suicide bomber kills 21 at a disco in Tel Aviv.

2002    Israel kills Salah Shahade, the Commander-in-Chief of Hamas's military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

2003    In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed by a Hamas suicide bomb in the Haifa bus 37 massacre.

2004    Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache fired Hellfire missiles.