Following is a timeline of major attacks that Palestinian terrorists carried out after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a unilateral cease-fire on May 21. It does not include numerous attacks of lesser scope during the same period. Sharon rescinded the ceasefire declaration on Saturday, a day after a deadly suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv disco, but has yet to order any military retaliation.
May 23 — An Israeli motorist is killed and another wounded by Palestinian gunfire near the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
May 25 — A car bomb explodes near the Hadera bus station. At least 39 people are injured in that blast, and the two suicide bombers are killed. Another suicide bombing takes place outside an Israeli army post in the Gaza Strip, killing only the perpetrator.
May 27 — Two car bombings take place in the heart of western Jerusalem. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claims responsibility for the first blast, which explodes shortly after midnight, causing no injuries. The second car bombing, coming hours before the start of the Shavuot holiday, is packed with mortar shells. The Islamic Jihad terror group claims responsibility for the blast, which injures some 30 people.
May 29 — Three Israelis are killed in separate shooting attacks in the West Bank. Gilead Zar, a security guard for a West Bank settlement, is killed in a roadside ambush near Nablus, three months after he was seriously wounded in another shooting incident. Later that day, on the way to Zar’s funeral, a resident of the settlement of Efrat — Sarah Blaustein, 53, an immigrant from the United States — is killed when shots are fired at her car. Her husband, Norman, is slightly wounded, and a son, Sammy, is seriously wounded with three bullets in his back. Another person in the car, Esther Alva, 20, dies several hours after the attack. Terrorists also open fire on the Zar funeral procession.
May 30 — A car bomb explodes outside a high school in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, injuring six people. Classes are not in session at the time of the explosion.
May 31 — An Israeli settler is killed by Palestinian gunmen while driving near the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Zvi Shelef, 63, dies of massive head wounds. The attack takes place hours after Israeli and Palestinian security officials meet for a second time in two days but fail to find a way to end the violence.
June 1 — A suicide bomber kills 19 Israelis and wounds more than 90 at a Tel Aviv beachside disco.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
