Israel’s Struggle Against Terror: a Chronology of Deadly Attacks

The following is a timeline of the most significant terrorist attacks since the Palestinian intifada began in September 2000:

Feb. 14, 2001 — In the deadliest attack until that point of the intifada, a Palestinian bus driver mows down a group of Israelis at a bus stop near Tel Aviv, killing eight.

June 1, 2001 — A suicide bomber kills 21 Israelis and wounds more than 100, mostly teenaged immigrants from the former Soviet Union, at a Tel Aviv beachside disco. The bombing comes days after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced a unilateral Israeli cease-fire.

Aug. 9, 2001 — A lunchtime attack at the Sbarro pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem kills 15 and wounds 130. Several children are killed in the suicide blast, along with nearly an entire family.

Oct. 17, 2001 — Palestinian gunmen assassinate Israel’s tourism minister, Rehavam Ze’evi, in a Jerusalem hotel.

Dec. 2, 2001 — Three attacks within 24 hours kill 25 people and injure more than 200. The bombs go off at a pedestrian mall in downtown Jerusalem, in a car nearby and on a Haifa bus.

March 3, 2002 — A series of weekend attacks, including a bombing in Jerusalem and an ambush in the West Bank, kill 21 Israelis. The bombing comes amid talk of a new Saudi Arabian peace initiative.

March 9, 2002 — Terrorists bomb Jerusalem’s popular Caf Moment, around the corner from the prime minister’s residence, killing 11.

March 27, 2002 — In an attack that serves as the impetus for Operation Defensive Shield, a suicide bomber strikes a Netanya hotel during a Passover seder, killing 29 mostly elderly Israelis. The attack is the deadliest of the intifada.

March 31, 2002 — Fifteen die when a suicide bomber strikes a restaurant in Haifa frequented by both Arabs and Jews. The bombing follows suicide attacks on each of the previous two days, one at a Jerusalem supermarket and one at a caf in Tel Aviv.

May 8, 2002 — A bomber sets his sights on Israel’s young, blasting a pool hall in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon le- Zion, killing 15.

June 18, 2002 — A suicide bombing on a rush-hour bus kills 19 in Jerusalem. The next day, another suicide bomber strikes in Israel’s capital, killing seven at a hitchhiking post in the French Hill neighborhood.

July 31, 2002 — Nine people are killed — including five Americans — and more than 80 wounded in a bombing at a Hebrew University cafeteria.

Oct. 22, 2002 — A car pulls alongside a bus in northern Israel and detonates, killing 14.

Nov. 21, 2002 — 11 people are killed in a suicide bombing aboard a crowded Jerusalem bus. Many of the passengers are schoolchildren.

Jan. 5, 2003 — A pair of suicide bombings in Tel Aviv kill 22 people, many of them foreign workers. The bombing is the deadliest since the March 2002 Passover massacre in Netanya.

March 5, 2003 — A bus is blown up in Haifa, killing 15, most of them teenagers.

June 11, 2003 — A Palestinian bomber dressed as a fervently Orthodox Jew blows himself up on a bus, killing 17. The attack comes a week after the “road map” peace process is launched at a summit in Aqaba, Jordan, with the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the United States.

Aug. 19, 2003 — A bombing on a Jerusalem bus kills at least 20, including several children on their way home from a Bar Mitzvah celebration. More than 100 are wounded. The bombing takes place on the eve of a planned transfer of several West Bank cities to Palestinian Authority control, and in the midst of a “cease-fire” declared by Palestinian terror groups.