Timeline in 2004

Because the background of events leading to the Zionist settlement in Palestine is so wide, the geographical scope of this timeline includes events outside the immediate theatre of Palestine.


  2005
       2005: Last Libyan Jew leaves

   Jan 2005: Alleged Mossad attempt to assassinate Jihad Ja'ara in Dublin


  2004
23 Dec 2004: Municipal polls in West Bank
12 Dec 2004: Start of closure of Rafah crossing
   Dec 2004: Hundreds of demolition orders and evacuation orders: 50 in Al-Sdir, 70 in Wadi-Na'am, 140 in Um al-Hiran and dozens more in Tel-Arad

24 Nov 2004: Syrian Bashar al-Assad offers unconditional prace talks to Israel
18 Nov 2004: Israeli troops kills 3 Egyptian policemen
15 Nov 2004: Colin Powell announces resignation as US Secretary of State
14 Nov 2004: Attack in Arafat's official mourning tent in Gaza
12 Nov 2004: Bush and Blair issue statement on Israel/Palestine
12 Nov 2004: Funeral and Burial of Yasser Arafat
11 Nov 2004: Death of Yasser Arafat
11 Nov 2004: Israeli police arrest Mordechai Vanunu
09 Nov 2004: Israeli troops force Palestinian to play violin at checkpoint
01 Nov 2004: A Palestinian youth from the Askar refugee camp blows himself up in Tel Aviv killing three

29 Oct 2004: Arafat leaves Ramallah for Paris
26 Oct 2004: Knesset passes Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" plan by 67 votes to 45
17 Oct 2004: end of 4th National Conference of the US Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM)   >>start date
15 Oct 2004: start of 4th National Conference of the US Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM)   >>end date
15 Oct 2004: end of "Operation Days of Penitence" -- Israeli raid into northern Gaza Strip   >>start date
10 Oct 2004: Right-wing Israeli Jew attacks Armenian religious procession in Jerusalem
09 Oct 2004: Settlers attack CPT members and Amnesty International researchers
07 Oct 2004: Bombing of Hilton Hotel in Taba and other resorts in Sinai
06 Oct 2004: Dov Weisglass explains the real meaning of the "disengagement plan"
05 Oct 2004: Israeli army officer at the Girit outpost shoots and "confirms the killing" of 13 year-old Iman al-Hams on her way to school in Rafah
01 Oct 2004: Israel attempts to discredit UNRWA by claiming misuse of UN ambulance
01 Oct 2004: Large numbers of Israeli tanks join invasion of northern Gaza Strip

30 Sep 2004: Israelis kills 23 Palestinians in Jabaliya refugee camp, Gaza
30 Sep 2004: Bnei Sakhnin host Newcastle United at Ramat Gan stadium
29 Sep 2004: Hamas rocket kills two children in Israeli town of Sderot
29 Sep 2004: Settlers attack CPT volunteers near Hebron
28 Sep 2004: start of "Operation Days of Penitence" -- Israeli raid into northern Gaza Strip   >>end date
28 Sep 2004: end of Kidnapping of Israeli Druze journalist, Riad Ali, in Gaza   >>start date
27 Sep 2004: Yehoshua Elitzur kills Sael Jabara and is released from police custody
27 Sep 2004: start of Kidnapping of Israeli Druze journalist, Riad Ali, in Gaza   >>end date
26 Sep 2004: Israel assassinates Hamas leader, Iz a-Din al Sheikh Khalil, with a cab bomb in Damascus
23 Sep 2004: Jerusalem mayor seeks to rezone Arab Wad al-Joz as a Jews-only area
22 Sep 2004: Anglican group announces it will call for divestment
16 Sep 2004: Bnei Sakhnin play Newcastle United in the UEFA cup
15 Sep 2004: UN Secretary-General says that UK-uk invasion of Iraq was illegal
13 Sep 2004: Israeli interference in the electoral process in Jerusalem
13 Sep 2004: Israeli helicopter kills three members of the Palestinian resistance in Jenin
11 Sep 2004: New party, seeking to expel all non-Jews from Israel/Palestine, launched in Jerusalem
10 Sep 2004: Right-wing Israeli manifesto calls for resistance to Sharon "withdrawal" plan
07 Sep 2004: Settler rabbis urge Israeli government not to avoid harming Palestinians
06 Sep 2004: Israeli Air Force targets group of Hamas men at a sports ground in Gaza killing at least 14
05 Sep 2004: First Jewish woman placed in administrative detention in Israel
05 Sep 2004: Israel begins building the Southern section of the wall
02 Sep 2004: end of Mass hunger strike by Palestinian political prisoners   >>start date

31 Aug 2004: Beersheba bombs claimed by Hamas as revenge for assassinations of Yassin and Rantisi
27 Aug 2004: Media learn of FBI investigation into leak of Pentagon documents, through AIPAC, to Israel
25 Aug 2004: A large force of Israeli gov't forces destroy a commercial building in the village of Abu-Tlul and three houses in the village of Um-Mitnan
15 Aug 2004: Marwan Barghouti starts open-ended hunger strike
15 Aug 2004: start of Mass hunger strike by Palestinian political prisoners   >>end date
05 Aug 2004: end of Israeli border closure which traps thousands in Egypt   >>start date
   Aug 2004: Bashar al-Assad threatens Rafiq al-Hariri

20 Jul 2004: UN General Assembly demands that Israel comply with a world court ruling to dismantle the Wall
17 Jul 2004: start of Israeli border closure which traps thousands in Egypt   >>end date
09 Jul 2004: International Court of Justice ruling on the Wall
08 Jul 2004: Israeli government decides to use Absentee Property Law to confiscate East Jerusalem Property
02 Jul 2004: Presbyterian Church of the USA decides to divest from Israel

30 Jun 2004: Israeli Supreme Court orders change to West Bank Wall
22 Jun 2004: Natan Sharansky and Zevulun Orlev decide to apply Absentees' Property Law to East Jerusalem
17 Jun 2004: Mofaz announces plans to build an immense ditch along the border with Egypt
15 Jun 2004: Construction of the wall surrounding the settlement of Ariel starts
08 Jun 2004: Right-wing members of the Israeli government exit due to their protest over the "disengagement" plan
07 Jun 2004: Israeli war planes bomb Palestinian group based in Lebanon -- 12 miles from Beirut
06 Jun 2004: Israeli cabinet approves the "disengagement plan"
01 Jun 2004: State issues 50 demolition orders affecting 150 in the village of Al-Sdir

24 May 2004: end of Israeli invasion of southern Gaza Strip ("Operation Rainbow")   >>start date
19 May 2004: Ten Palestinian civilians killed as Israeli tanks fire on peaceful protest in Rafah
18 May 2004: Shooting of Asma Mughayar_( Moghayyer)
18 May 2004: Bnei Sakhnin, a Palestinian Israeli team, win State Cup, the national soccer championship
17 May 2004: Israel invades Rafah refugee camp
13 May 2004: start of Israeli invasion of southern Gaza Strip ("Operation Rainbow")   >>end date
12 May 2004: Palestinians kill 5 more Israeli soldiers in 2nd attack on APC
11 May 2004: US imposes sanctions on Syria
11 May 2004: Hamas destroys Israeli APC in Zeitoun area of Gaza City
10 May 2004: Ten buildings were demolished near the town of Rahat and outside Hura
07 May 2004: Artillery exchange between Hezbollah and Israeli military near the Sheeba Farms
02 May 2004: Likud referendum rejects Sharon

   Apr 2004: end of UEFA ban on international football matches in Israel   >>start date
27 Apr 2004: Fifty two former British diplomats sign letter highly critical of British policy
21 Apr 2004: Mordechai Vanunu is released after almost 18 years in prison
21 Apr 2004: end of Imprisonment of Mordechai Vanunu   >>start date
17 Apr 2004: Israel assassinates Abd al-Aziz al-Rantisi, successor to the previously-assassinated Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
16 Apr 2004: Two Israeli agents, charged in New Zealand with trying to obtain a fake passport, again appear in court
14 Apr 2004: US backs Israels unilateral annexation of land and backs exclusion of the refugee issue
01 Apr 2004: UNRWA forced to stop delivery of emergency food supplies to Gaza

late Mar 2004: Two Israeli agents, charged with trying to obtain a fake passport, make secret court appearance in New Zealand
25 Mar 2004: US vetoes UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli assassination of Sheikh Yassin
23 Mar 2004: New Zealand authorities mount surveillance operation on Israeli agents
22 Mar 2004: Israel assassinates Shaikh Ahmad Yasin (spiritual leader of Hamas)
12 Mar 2004: Israeli protester shot in eye with rubber bullet by Israeli army
10 Mar 2004: Undercover israeli soldiers shoot dead five armed Palestinian resistance fighters near Jenin
09 Mar 2004: Buildings were demolished in three villages: Wadi Gwein, Al-Araqib and Wadi Na'am
08 Mar 2004: Israeli troops murder Khalid Sulaiman Mahdi "for fun"
07 Mar 2004: Israeli troops, tanks and gunships attack several refugee camps in Gaza
06 Mar 2004: Palestinian resistance fighters attack the Erez Crossing

26 Feb 2004: Israeli forces shoot and kill demonstrators against the wall in Biddu
25 Feb 2004: end of International Court of Justice Hearing on the Israeli Apartheid/Landgrab Wall   >>start date
25 Feb 2004: US releases delayed human rights report just after end of ICJ hearing on Israeli wall
23 Feb 2004: start of International Court of Justice Hearing on the Israeli Apartheid/Landgrab Wall   >>end date
18 Feb 2004: Yusuf Bashir shot by Israeli army while waving goodbye to UN visitors to his home
10 Feb 2004: The government sprayed poison on crops in two villages in the Negev, in Araqib and Hura
02 Feb 2004: Sharon announces Gaza "disengagement" plan
   Feb 2004: McDonald's Israel fires employee for speaking Arabic to to fellow Arabic-speaking employee

29 Jan 2004: Israel and Hizbollah swop prisoners
20 Jan 2004: Three houses were destroyed in the unrecognized villages of Um Batin and Hura
15 Jan 2004: Airplanes spray herbicides over the crops of three Bedouin villages and destroy some houses
14 Jan 2004: The government destroyed five houses outside the unrecognized village of Hura, and attempted to destroy others in Yatir
13 Jan 2004: Death of Tom Hurndall
   Jan 2004: Israel asks US to delay report human rights report until after ICJ hearing on apartheid wall


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A disclaimer applies to this page. This page is not part of the official UCC website. This page is part of a research database of opinions on Palestine and related topics which is maintained by members of the UCC Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which comprises a group of students and staff in the university. The emphasis in this research project is on provenance -- we aim to provide as much information as possible on the background of the people whose opinions are in the database, so that readers can make up their own minds on the credibility that they wish to attach to these opinions.