January 29 – 400 Palestinian Arab prisoners, 30 Lebanese and other Arab prisoners, and the remains of 59 Lebanese militants and civilians are transferred to Hezbollah, together with maps showing Israeli mines in South Lebanon, in exchange for the bodies of the three dead IDF soldiers, Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Suaad, as well as the abducted Israeli citizen Elchanan Tenenbaum, who had been captured by Hezbollah after being lured to Dubai for a drug deal.
May 24 – Madonna cancels three concerts in Israel after receiving letters in which her two young children's lives are threatened.[2]
July 15 – New Zealand imposes diplomatic sanctions on Israel after an incident involving two alleged Mossad agents committing passport fraud.[3][4][5][6]
July 19 – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calls on French Jews to move to Israel immediately in light of the dramatic rise in French antisemitism (510 antisemitic acts or threats in the first six months of 2004, compared to 593 for all of 2003). The French government describes his comments as unacceptable. An Israeli spokesperson later claims that Sharon had been misunderstood.[7][8]
October 7 – Three car bombs are detonated in Egyptian towns in the Sinai Peninsula frequented by Israeli tourists. The largest explosion, which killed at least 34 and wounding 105, was at the 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.[11][12][13][14]
November 18 – Three Egyptian paramilitary security officers stationed at the Sinai–Gaza border are killed by Israeli tank fire, after IDF troops allegedly mistook them for Palestinian Arab terrorists or militants. The Egyptian government accepts an apology from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and demands an investigation on the incident.[16][17][18]
December 1 – Israel and Egypt hold talks in Jerusalem to discuss the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.[22]
December 5 – In a prisoner exchange between Israel and Egypt, Egypt releases Azzam Azzam, an Israeli Druze businessman sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by Egypt in 1997 after being accused of espionage for Israel, while Israel releases six Egyptian students who had crossed the border illegally with the aim of carrying out attacks in Israel.[23][24][25]
December 29 – The Knesset passes a law against terrorism and against support of terrorism. The law prohibits funding terrorists. It also prohibits aiding the families of perceived terrorists and institutes inciting for terrorism. The law will give Israel the right to confiscate property and funds of any perceived terrorist organization, even if they do not target Israel or Israelis. The law is part of the state's legal war against terrorism and was approved 62–6.[30]
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 2004 include:
January 26 – Top Hamas official Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi offers a ten-year truce if Israel would withdraw from territory occupied since 1967 and acknowledge the creation of an Arab state. Israel dismisses the truce offer as "ridiculous".[32]
January 30 – Sheik Ahmed Yassin, leader of Hamas, announces that his group is making an all-out effort to kidnap Israeli soldiers to use as bargaining chips for Palestinian Arabs in Israeli prisons, following the recent prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in which the remains of three Israeli soldiers and a businessman were exchanged for over 400 prisoners on January 29, 2004.[33]
May 2 – Members of Israel's Likud Party vote on whether or not to approve Ariel Sharon's proposal to pull out of the Gaza Strip unilaterally. Rejection of the proposal is seen as a major blow to the Sharon government. Sharon subsequently says that he will not resign and may modify the plan.[34]
June 30 – The Israeli Supreme Court issues a landmark ruling that a 30-kilometer planned stretch of the separation barrier in eastern Jerusalem violates the legal rights of the local Palestinian Arab population to an extent not justified by security concerns, and therefore must be changed.[35]
September 12 – 40,000 demonstrators protest in Jerusalem against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plans to force all Israeli Jews to leave the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.[37]
October 5 – Second Intifada: The United States vetoes a United Nations resolution urging Israel to halt its current offensive in the Gaza Strip. Over 70 Palestinian Arabs, including civilians, have died in the offensive.[38][39]
October 6 – Second Intifada: Three Palestinian militants and three Palestinian Arab civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, are killed after Israel shells the town of Beit Lahiya.[40]
October 14 – About 100,000 Israelis in 100 cities march in a series of demonstrations across Israel opposing their government's proposal to withdraw Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
January 14 – Erez Crossing bombing: A female Palestinian Arab suicide bomber, kills two Israeli soldiers, a border policeman, and a security guard for a private manpower company and wounds twelve others at the Erez Crossing. Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades jointly claim responsibility. Hamas states it used a woman suicide bomber for the first time in order to counter Israeli precautions.[43]
January 29 – Gaza Street bus bombing: A Palestinian Arab suicide bomber blows up a bus in Jerusalem, killing ten bystanders and wounding at least fifty others. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claims responsibility for the attack. Hamas also claims responsibility for the bombing and denounces Al-Aqsa.
March 14 – 2004 Ashdod Port bombings: Two Palestinian Arab suicide bombers kill ten Israeli civilians when they blow themselves up at the southern port of Ashdod. Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim joint responsibility for the blasts.
April 17 – Second Erez Crossing attack: An Israeli border policeman is killed and three other Israelis are wounded in a suicide bombing at the Erez Crossing into the northern Gaza Strip.[46]
April 30 – After failing to bomb his original target, a bus full of Jewish settlers, a Palestinian Arab suicide bomber detonates an explosive device next to an Israeli army patrol, injuring all four soldiers. Hamas claims responsibility.
May 2 – Murder of Tali Hatuel and her four daughters: Palestinian Arab gunmen kill a pregnant Israeli mother, Tali Hatuel, and all four of her young daughters near the Kissufim Crossing into the Gaza Strip. The killers are shot dead by security forces. The incident is believed to have influenced voting intentions in the vote, held the same day, by Likud Party members on whether or not to approve a unilaterally pull out from the Gaza Strip.[47][48]
July 11 – Tel Aviv bus stop bombing: An explosive device, packed with ball bearings and bolts, detonates in the bushes behind a bus stop in Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring thirty-two others.
August 11 – Kalandia checkpoint attack: Two people are killed and 16 are wounded when an explosive device is detonated by Palestinian militants inside an Arab taxi as it attempts to cross the Kalandia military check point just north of Jerusalem. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades faction of Fatah claims responsibility and expresses regret that Arabs are among the dead and wounded.[49]
August 31 – Beersheba bus bombings: Two buses near the Beersheba municipality building are blown up by a Palestinian Arab suicide bomber. The suicide bomber takes advantage of the fact that the two buses were standing together. He detonates a bomb on one bus and then explodes a second bomb on the second bus. At least fifteen Israelis are killed and around eighty-five injured. The military wing of Hamas claims responsibility for the attack.
September 1 – Two Palestinian Arab suicide bombers blow themselves up almost simultaneously on two buses in central Beersheba, killing 16 Israelis and wounding dozens.
September 22 – French Hill Junction bombing: A Palestinian Arab female suicide bomber detonates her bomb at the French Hill intersection in Jerusalem. Two people are killed and fifteen injured in the attack. The blast is targeted at the large number of civilians at the station at the time of attack. The military wing of al-Fatah claims responsibility for the attack.[51]
October 6 – Three Hamas militants are killed after infiltrating the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom. One of the militants blows up when hit by Israeli gunfire, killing a Thai worker in addition to himself. The other two militants are killed by IDF forces.[52]
October 7 – Sinai bombings: Three bomb attacks are carried out by Palestinian Arab terrorists at holiday resorts in the Sinai Peninsula frequented by Israeli tourists. The attacks kills 34 people and injures 171. Among the dead were twelve Israelis.
November 11 – Three Palestinian Arab militants, members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, are killed by the IDF after infiltrating the Israeli settlement of Netzarim.[55]
November 21 – Two Palestinian Arab militants are killed by the IDF while attempting to carry out an attack on Kissufim road to Gush Katif[56]
February 25 – The Israel army imposes a curfew on Rammallah during which members of Shin Bet raided four banks and seized between $6.7m.-$9m. from accounts "linked to terrorist activities".[60]
February 28 – Jabaliya refugee camp: The Israeli army assassinates Islamic Jihad military commander Muhammad Judah by firing missiles at his car. Two passengers are also killed and eleven bystanders wounded.[61]
September 7 – Second Intifada: An Israeli attack on a Hamas training camp kills 14 members of the military wing of Hamas.[62]
September 30 – October 16 – Second Intifada: Operation Days of Penitence – Israel carries out a 17-day military operation in the northern Gaza Strip. The operation, focused on the town of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia and Jabalia refugee camp, which were used as launching sites of Qassam rockets on the Israeli town of Sderot and Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, and in particular in response to the death of two children in Sderot. The operation results in the deaths of between 104 and 133 Palestinian Arabs (42 civilians), and five people on the Israeli side (two soldiers and three civilians).
Israeli songwriter Naomi Shemer's grave on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The stones were left by visitors, in keeping with an ancient Jewish custom
March 12 – Natan Yonatan (born 1923), Soviet (Ukraine)-born Israeli poet.
March 15 – Alfred Mansfeld (born 1912), Russian-born Israeli architect.
^Journal of Palestine Studies, Summer 2004, Volume XXX111, no 4 (132). Page 189, Chronology compiles by Michele K. Esposito. Cites Associated Press, Ha'Aretz and IDF press release. Also page 141.
^Journal of Palestine Studies, Summer 2004, Volume XXX111, no 4 (132). Page 189, Chronology compiles by Michele K. Esposito. citing Agence France-Presse, New York Times, Washington Post and Washington Times.
