2001 in the Palestinian territories - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Events in the year 2001 in the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...

.

Incumbents

Palestinian National Authority

The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

(non-state administrative authority)

President
President of the Palestinian National Authority
The President of the Palestinian National Authority is the highest-ranking political position in the Palestinian National Authority ....

- Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...

(Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...

)

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 2001 include:

January 21–27 – Taba Summit
Taba Summit
The Taba summit were talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, held from January 21 to January 27, 2001 at Taba in the Sinai peninsula...

: Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority aimed at reaching the "final status" of negotiations. Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....

temporarily withdraws from negotiations during the Israeli elections, subsequently Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....

refuses to continue negotiating in the face of the newly erupted violence.

Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets

The most prominent Palestinian militant acts and operations

Palestinian political violence

Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence undertaken to further the Palestinian cause. These political objectives include self-determination in and sovereignty over Palestine, the liberation of Palestine and establishment of a Palestinian state, either in place of both Israel and...

committed against Israeli targets during 2001 include:

January 1 – Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

center bombing: 54 people are injured when a car, containing 44 pounds of explosives, explodes near a bus stop in Netanya's shopping district. Hamas claimed responsibility.
March 1 – Mei Ami
Mei Ami
Mei Ami is a moshav in northern Israel. Located near Wadi Ara around two kilometres south of Umm al-Fahm with an area of 3,500 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Menashe Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 270....

junction bombing: An Israeli is killed and nine other people are injured when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonates a bomb in a service taxi. Hamas claimed responsibility.
March 4 – Netanya bombing: 3 elderly Israelis are killed in a suicide bombing in downtown of the coastal city of Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

. Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

claims responsibility.
March 27 – Talpiot
Talpiot
Talpiot , is a neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem, Israel, established in 1922 by Zionist pioneers.-Etymology:The name Talpiot derives from a verse in Song of Songs 4:4 – "Thy neck is like the tower of David, built with turrets." According to rabbinic sources, Talpiot refers to the Temple...

industrial zone bombing: 7 people are injured when a car explodes during the morning rush hour in the Talpiot neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
March 27 – Egged bus No. 6 French Hill
French Hill
French Hill , also Giv'at Shapira is a neighborhood in northeastern Jerusalem. It is located on territory occupied during the Six-Day War in 1967, later annexed to Israel under the Jerusalem Law in 1980...

junction bombing: 28 people were injured, two seriously, in a suicide bombing on a northbound No. 6 bus at the French Hill Junction. Hamas claimed responsibility.
March 28 – Mifgash Shalom attack: 3 Israelis are killed in a suicide bombing. Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

claims responsibility.
April 16 - Five mortar shells land, for the first time in the history of Israel, in the Israeli city Ashdod.
April 22 – Kfar Saba bombing: A Palestinian Arab suicide bomber kills a Israeli doctor of American origin in Kfar Saba
Kfar Saba
Kfar Saba , officially Kfar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2009, Kfar Saba had a total population of 83,600.-History:...

and injures 60 others. Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

claims responsibility.
April 23 – Or Yehuda
Or Yehuda
Or Yehuda is a city in the Tel Aviv District in Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , the city had a population of 32,200 at the end of 2007.-History:Or Yehuda is located where the biblical city of Kefar Ono used to stand....

bombing: 8 people are lightly injured when a car explodes in the town of Or Yehuda
Or Yehuda
Or Yehuda is a city in the Tel Aviv District in Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , the city had a population of 32,200 at the end of 2007.-History:Or Yehuda is located where the biblical city of Kefar Ono used to stand....

. Hamas claimed responsibility. Hamas claimed responsibility.
May 18 – Kenyon HaSharon bombing: 5 Israelis are killed in a suicide bombing in a shopping mall in Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

and over 100 are wounded. Hamas claims responsibility.
May 25 – Hadera bus station suicide bombing: at least 12 people are injured when a car explodes near the bus station in the city Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...

. Hamas claimed responsibility.
May 27 – Jerusalem bombings: two car bombs explode in the center of Jerusalem. The explosions caused no serious injuries. PFLP claimed responsibility.
May 30 – Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

school bombing: a car bomb explodes outside a school in the coastal city of Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

. The explosion caused no serious injuries. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
June 1 – Dolphinarium discothèque suicide bombing
Dolphinarium massacre
The Dolphinarium discotheque suicide bombing was a terrorist attack by on June 1, 2001 in which a suicide bomber Saeed Hotari, a millitant linked to the Palestinian group Hamas, blew himself up outside a discotheque on a beachfront in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 21 Israeli teenagers and injuring 132...

: A Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

suicide bomber blows himself up at the entrance of a club on a beachfront in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

. 21 Israelis are killed and 132 were wounded, all youths.
June 22 – Dugit
Dugit
Dugit was an Israeli settlement located in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip closest to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in a mini-settlement bloc including Elei Sinai and Nisanit...

bombing: 2 Israeli soldiers are killed when a Booby trapped car explodes near the Jewish settlement of Dugit
Dugit
Dugit was an Israeli settlement located in the northern tip of the Gaza Strip closest to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in a mini-settlement bloc including Elei Sinai and Nisanit...

. Hamas claimed responsibility.
July 2 – Yehud
Yehud
Yehud is a city in the Center District in Israel that is part of the joint municipality of Yehud-Monosson. In 2007, Yehud's population was approximately 25,600 .- History :...

suburb bombing: 2 bombs which were planted in cars of 2 Yehud residents explode. The explosion caused no serious injuries. PFLP claimed responsibility.
July 9 – Kissufim
Kissufim
Kissufim is a kibbutz in the northwestern Negev desert in Israel. Located adjacent to the Gaza Strip, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. It sits at an altitude of 92 metres above sea level.- History :...

bombing: A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates his car near a in the Southern Gaza Strip crossing point of Kissufim. The explosion caused no serious injuries. Hamas claimed responsibility.
July 16 – Binyamina Railway Station
Binyamina Railway Station
Binyamina Railway Station is an Israel Railways passenger station located in the region of Binyamina-Giv'at Ada and serves these towns, as well as Zikhron Ya'akov, Or Akiva and other small communities in the area.- Location :...

bombing: 2 Israeli soldiers are killed and 8 civilians are injured when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonates himself near the entrance to the Binyamina railway station.
August 7 – Zohar Shurgi, 40, of moshav Yafit
Yafit
Yafit is a moshav shitufi and Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located in the Jordan Valley near Alexandrium, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council...

, was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting
Drive-by shooting
A drive-by shooting is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target...

on Trans-Samaria Highway.
August 9 – Sbarro restaurant massacre
Sbarro restaurant massacre
The Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing was a Palestinian terrorist attack on a pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem, Israel, on August 9, 2001, in which 15 civilians were killed and 130 wounded.-The attack:...

: A Palestinian suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt weighing five to ten kilograms, containing explosives, nails, nuts and bolts, detonates his bomb. In the blast 15 people (including seven children) are killed, and 130 wounded. Both Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

and the Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...

initially claim responsibility.
August 12 – Wall-Street cafe bombing: One Israeli is killed and 15 others are injured when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonates himself at the "Wall-Street" cafe in Kiryat Motzkin. The Islamic Jihad claim responsibility.
August 21 – Russian Compound bombing: Palestinian militants explode a bomb in the center of Jerusalem. The explosions caused no serious injuries.
September 4 – Jerusalem car bombings: Four bombs explode at the same time in Jerusalem. The explosions caused no serious injuries.
September 9 – Nahariya Railway Station
Nahariya Railway Station
Nahariya Railway Station is a train station serving the city of Nahariya and the surrounding towns and villages of the Western Galilee region.It is the northern-most passenger station in Israel and is currently the terminus of the North-South coastal line....

bombing: an Arab-Israeli
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....

who was sent by Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

detonates himself on the crowded platform of the Nahariya Railway Station, killing 3 Israelis and injuring 94. Hamas claim responsibility.
September 9 – Beit Lid Junction
HaSharon Junction
The HaSharon Junction , commonly known as Beit Lid Junction , is an important road junction in the Sharon region of Israel. It intersects Highway 4 and Highway 57...

bombing: 12 Israelis are injured when 2 car bombs explode near a bus at the Beit Lid junction near Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...

. The Islamic Jihad claim responsibility.
September 15 – Meir Weisshaus, 23, of Jerusalem, was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting
Drive-by shooting
A drive-by shooting is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target...

on the Ramot
Ramot
Ramot , also known as Ramot Alon , is a large housing development in northwestern Jerusalem. Because part of Ramot lies north of the Green Line in East Jerusalem, the international community considers Ramot an Israeli settlement that is illegal under international law. Israel disputes this and...

-French Hill road.
October 1 – Talpiot
Talpiot
Talpiot , is a neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem, Israel, established in 1922 by Zionist pioneers.-Etymology:The name Talpiot derives from a verse in Song of Songs 4:4 – "Thy neck is like the tower of David, built with turrets." According to rabbinic sources, Talpiot refers to the Temple...

neighborhood bombing
October 7 – Erez Crossing
Erez Crossing
The Erez Crossing is a pedestrian/cargo terminal on the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the northern end of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Israel.It is part of a complex formerly including the Erez Industrial Park....

bombing
October 7 – Kibbutz Shluhot
Shluhot
Shluhot is an Orthodox kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Located about three kilometres south of the city of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council.- History :...

bombing
October 17 – Tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi
Rehavam Zeevi
' 20 June 1926 - 17 October 2001) was an Israeli general, politician, and historian who founded the right-wing nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating population transfer....

is assassinated in Jerusalem Hyatt hotel by four Palestinian Arab gunmen, members of the PFLP terrorist organization
November 4 – Shoshana Ben Ishai, 16, of Betar Illit
Betar Illit
Beitar Illit is an Israeli settlement and city west of Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, in the Judean Mountains of the West Bank. At the end of 2007, it had a total population of 38,800 consisting of over 6000 families. By 2020, the population is expected to reach 100,000...

, and Menashe (Meni) Regev, 14, of Jerusalem were killed when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire with a sub-machine gun shortly before 16:00 at a No. 25 Egged bus at the French Hill junction in northern Jerusalem. 45 people were injured in the attack.
November 26 – Erez Crossing
Erez Crossing
The Erez Crossing is a pedestrian/cargo terminal on the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier. It is located in the northern end of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Israel.It is part of a complex formerly including the Erez Industrial Park....

bombing
November 29 – Wadi Ara
Wadi Ara
Wadi Ara or Nahal Iron , refers to an area within Israel that is mostly populated by Arabs. It is located northwest of the Green Line and is mostly within Israel's Haifa District. Today, Highway 65 runs through the wadi.-Geography:...

bombing: Three people are killed and nine wounded in a suicide bombing of a bus near Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...

. Both Islamic Jihad and Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...

claime responsibility.
December 1 – Ben Yehuda Street Bombing
December 2 – Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

bus No. 16 attack
December 5 – Hilton Mamilla
Mamilla
Mamilla was an early neighbourhood constructed outside Jerusalem's Old City west from the Jaffa Gate, and now refers to the $400 million commercial and housing district developed in selected parts of the area....

bombing
December 9 – Check Post Junction bombing
December 12 – Neve Dekalim
Neve Dekalim
Neve Dekalim was an Israeli settlement and a community in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip. It was founded in 1983 after the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula, on sand dunes that were previously uninhabited. The village served as a regional center for the Gush Katif...

bombing

Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets

The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...

operations (military campaign

Military campaign

In the military sciences, the term military campaign applies to large scale, long duration, significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of inter-related military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war...

s and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 2001 include:

May 7 – Israel seizes the Palestinian freighter
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...

"Santorini
Santorini (ship)
The Santorini was a fishing boat used for weapons-smuggling, which was captured in May 2001 by the Israeli Shayetet 13 Naval Commando Unit. This was the first ship caught in an attempt to smuggle weapons to Palestinian-controlled territories...

" near the shores of Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

which was on her way from Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

to the shores of the Gaza Strip and was found to be carrying a massive amount of weaponry.
August 27 – Abu Ali Mustafa
Abu Ali Mustafa
Abu Ali Mustafa , , the kunya of Mustafa Alhaj a.k.a. Mustafa Ali Zibri, was the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine from July 2000 until he was killed by Israel forces.-Biography:...

, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...

, is assassinated by an Israeli missile shot by an Apache helicopter through his office window in Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...

.

Notable deaths

May 31 - Faisal Husseini
Faisal Husseini
Faisal Abdel Qader Al-Husseini was a Palestinian politician who was considered a possible future leader of the Palestinian people....

, 60, Iraqi-born Palestinian politician and senior member of PLO.
August 27 - Abu Ali Mustafa
Abu Ali Mustafa
Abu Ali Mustafa , , the kunya of Mustafa Alhaj a.k.a. Mustafa Ali Zibri, was the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine from July 2000 until he was killed by Israel forces.-Biography:...

, 63 Palestinian politician, member of the PLO executive.

Incumbents

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Notable deaths

See also