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Sharon defends killing of militants
29 December

Ariel Sharon

Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the killing of selected Palestinian militants remains necessary. His comment followed reported criticism by the Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein who said the policy of "targeted killings", had to be carried out with the "utmost caution".

 The BBC's James Reynolds reports

British aid worker killed
22 November

Emergency crews at the scene

Israeli gunfire kills a British aid worker at a Jenin refugee camp. Iain Cook was shot by accident as he left his caravan. Meanehile, the US calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Bethlehem after troops and armoured vehicles re-entered the town.

 The BBC's Jeremy Cooke reports

Jerusalem bus blast kills 11
21 November

A body is taken from the bus

A suicide bomber kills at least 11 people and injures more than 40 in an attack on an Israeli bus in west Jerusalem. The bus was full when the explosion occurred. A spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says Israel will "respond rapidly to stem a wave of terrorist attacks".

 The BBC's Michael Voss reports from Jerusalem

Stretcher bearer

Palestinian militants armed with guns and grenades attack a group of Jewish settlers in the West Bank town of Hebron, killing 12 Israelis and wounding 30 others. The militant Islamic Jihad group say they carried out the shooting in the southern outskirts of the town.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports from Jerusalem

Ariel Sharon

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calls early elections after failing to rebuild his crippled coalition government. He describes the move as the "least bad option," but says he has been forced to act because he can't agree to numerous conditions set by potential political allies.

 The BBC's Lisa Hampele reports

The move spells the end of the 18-month coalition

Israel's fragile coalition government collapses as Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres resign after a dispute over the state budget. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon may have no choice but to call an election within 90 days.

 The BBC's Jeremy Cooke reports

The bus was left a charred skeleton

An explosion rips through a bus in northern Israel, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 30 others. The Israeli Government blames the Palestinian Authority, but Yasser Arafat condemns the bombing. The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

 The BBC's Jeremy Cooke reports

A victim of the violence is wrapped in a shroud

Palestinian hospital officials say 14 people have been killed, most of them civilians, during an Israeli incursion in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army says the operation was launched to destroy "terrorist infrastructure" in the area. The army says they discovered explosives and bomb-making equipment.

 The BBC's Jeremy Cooke reports

Palestinians wandering amongst rubble of Jenin

A United Nations investigation rejects claims that hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed in Israel's attack on the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin. The report also criticises both Palestinians and Israelis for putting civilians in harm's way.

 The BBC's Jeremy Cooke reports

The aftermath of the Israeli missile attack

An Israeli missile attack on a residential area in Gaza city claims the life of Hamas leader Sheikh Salah Shahada, but leaves nine children dead. Officials in Jerusalem "regret" the deaths but insist that the operation was legitimate.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports from Gaza

The Jenin tape being viewed by Orla Guerin and the boys' father

The BBC has obtained video footage which appears to show an incident in Jenin in which two Palestinian children were killed by Israeli troops. Israel has apologised for the killings a fortnight ago. The army says its troops fired two tanks shells to deter Palestinians who were breaking the curfew and approaching them.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports from Jenin

President Bush

President Bush calls for Palestinians to choose new leaders in a long-awaited policy statement on how to end the Middle East conflict. He said peace required a "new and different Palestinian leadership" which could help the Palestinians to get their own state.

 The BBC's Stephen Sackur reports

Israeli soldiers stand guard outside Yasser Arafat's compound

An Israeli helicopter strike kills six Palestinians in Gaza as tanks surround Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank. The Israeli army says a leading member of the Islamic militant group Hamas, identified as Yasser Rizek, was among the dead.

 The BBC's Samantha Simmonds reports

The bomber targeted a busy bus stop

A suicide bomber kills seven people in Jerusalem, the second such attack in two days. The explosion occurred at a commuter bus stop on a busy road in the French Hill neighbourhood. US President George Bush put his new peace plan on hold as a result of the attack.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports

The bombing took place during morning rush hour

Many commuters and school children died in a suicide bomb attack on a bus during morning rush hour in Jerusalem. The bomber was among the dead. The incident comes as US President George W Bush prepares to announce a strategy to relaunch the Middle East peace process.

 The BBC's Kim Barnes reports

An Israeli soldier looks at the remains of the bus

The bomber pulled up alongside the bus at Megiddo junction, near the West Bank, during the rush hour, before detonating the explosives in his car. The bus was reduced to a scorched metal skeleton and 16 Israelis, mainly soldiers, were killed along with the bomber.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports

Tenet tried to broker a ceasefire last year

The head of the CIA urges the Palestinian leader to reform his security services as part of a drive to end Middle East violence. They discussed reforming the Palestinian security forces, which have been criticised for failing to prevent suicide attacks on Israeli civilians. George Tenet is on a mission that President Bush says is aimed at building a united Palestinian force "that will fight terror".

 The BBC's James Reynolds reports

Ariel Sharon with some of his ministers in the Knesset

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government of national unity has run into a serious crisis after he sacked four ministers from a key coalition party, the ultra-Orthodox party Shas.

 The BBC's Claire Marshall reports

Scene at the market after the bomb blast

A suicide bomber strikes in the Israeli coastal resort of Netanya on Sunday afternoon, killing four people, including himself. The Palestinian Authority has moved quickly to condemn the attack.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports

Yasser Arafat

For the first time in several months Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat addresses the assembly, accepting the blame for policy errors, committing his administration to reform and calling for free elections.

 The BBC's David Chazan reports

 Click here to watch Yasser Arafat's speech in full

Benjamin Netanyahu led the vote against a Palestinian state

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat condemns a decision by Israel's ruling Likud party never to accept a Palestinian state as he visits three of the West Bank towns worst hit by the Israeli military offensive. The vote by Likud causes embarrassment to Israeli Prime Minister and party leader Ariel Sharon.

 The BBC's Paul Wood reports

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irineos I bows his head during mass

Israel shelves plans for a big army operation in the Gaza Strip as Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity holds its first mass since the end of the five-week siege. Residents in Gaza had been bracing for an Israeli incursion since the suicide bombing in a suburban Tel Aviv pool hall killed 15 Israelis.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports

A Palestinian is taken out of the Church of the Nativity by Israeli soldiers

The five week standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity ends as 13 Palestinian militants are sent into exile. A large group of Palestinians had taken refuge in the church when Israeli troops moved into the town. Israeli military officials said troops would pull out of Bethlehem as soon as possible.

 The BBC's Claire Marshall reports

Suicide bomb disrupts Sharon visit
07 May 2002

Rescue workers search the rubble for survivors

At least 16 people are killed in a suicide bomb attack on a crowded social club on the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv. The blast went off as Ariel Sharon was beginning a meeting in Washington with President Bush. The Israeli Prime Minister returned early to Israel.

 The BBC's Paul Wood reports

Arafat expressed outrage in his first public remarks

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat left his Ramallah compound after the Israeli army withdrew from the town overnight in a deal which saw six Palestinians wanted by Israel handed over to US and British custody.

 The BBC's Barbara Plett and Stephen Gibbs report

Security officers acted as judges and lawyers at the trial

Israel dismisses the conviction of the Palestinian killers of an Israeli minister, repeating a demand that the men be extradited to Israel to face trial. The Palestinian Authority says the men were sentenced to between one year and 18 years for murdering Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi last October.

 The BBC's Jennifer Glasse reports

UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen surveys the remains of the refugee camp

A United Nations envoy who visited the Palestinian refugee camp at Jenin said that the devastation left by Israeli forces is "horrific beyond belief". Terje Roed-Larsen said it was "morally repugnant" that Israel had not allowed emergency workers in for 11 days.

 The BBC's Jeremy Cooke reports

Disappointment for Us Secretary of State Colin Powell

US Secretary of State Colin Powell ends a 10-day Middle East peace mission without clinching a ceasefire or securing a full Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas. Israel says it will stop its offensive in most areas of the West Bank within the next week, but it gave no commitment to withdraw from Ramallah or Bethlehem.

 The BBC's John Simpson reports

The suicide bomber who blew herself up on Friday

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat made a statement condemning "all terrorist acts which target civilians", on both Palestinians and Israelis. The statement opened the way for a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

 The BBC's Jeremy Cooke reports

An elderly Palestinian woman in a wheelchair abandoned on a street in Jenin

Two weeks into the Israeli operations on the West Bank, the town of Jenin has borne the brunt of the attacks. At least a dozen Israeli soldiers have been killed and it is feared that several hundred Palestinians may have been killed. With military operations continuing, a BBC News crew managed to enter the town.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports

An Israeli investigator sifts through the wreckage of the bombed bus

Ten people are killed and more than a dozen injured in a suicide attack on a bus near the Israeli city of Haifa. Israel calls off any further military withdrawals from West Bank towns saying the anti-terror operations it is conducting there are not yet complete.

 The BBC's Jeremy Cooke reports

Mark Robinson cries during the funeral ceremony for his son Matnya, killed in Jenin

Thirteen reservists are killed in two separate ambushes at a refugee camp in the West Bank town of Jenin, as the Israeli army suffers its worst loss of life since the intifada began in September 2000. In a nationally televised address after the attacks, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vows to continue Israel's offensive against the Palestinians.

 The BBC's John Simpson reports

Smoke clouds the air as part of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity burns

Israeli troops tighten their grip on the West Bank town of Bethlehem, besieging some 200 Palestinian gunmen, civilians, priests and nuns sheltering inside the Church of the Nativity. The operation sparks criticism from the Vatican, as Israelis and Palestinians blame each other for damaging the church.

 The BBC's John Simpson reports

Colin Powell and President Bush

US President George W Bush has issued a powerful statement calling for action from both Israel and the Palestinians to halt the current conflict. He accused the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of "betraying the hopes" of his own people by failing to stop suicide attacks by militants.

 The BBC's Stephen Sackur reports

More than 100 tanks rolled into Ramallah

Israel launches its biggest military offensive for 20 years, sending 20,000 troops and more than 150 tanks into the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At least 30 Palestinians are reported to have been killed. Elsewhere six Israelis died in an ambush as the cycle of violence reaches a new, and bloody, peak.

 The BBC's Ben Brown reports

Chaos in the cafe

Israel helicopters and gunboats have totally destroyed the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza. The operation came early on Sunday morning, hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 11 and injured more than 50 at a busy cafe in West Jerusalem.

 The BBC's Caroline Thomsett reports

The attack happened just as Jews were leaving their synagogues

At least nine people are killed - including several children - in a suicide bomb attack in Jerusalem. Dozens of others were injured in the blast which happened on the edge of Me'a She'arim, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish district which borders on Arab East Jerusalem.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports

Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank

The Israeli army launched a massive operation against suspected Palestinian militants inside the Jenin and Balata refugee camps in the West Bank, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 people.

 The BBC's Barbara Plett reports

Crown Prince Abdullah

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah gained praise and considerable support for his plan to restart the peace process, based on Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories in return for the recognition of Israel's right to exist.

 The BBC's Frank Gardner reports

Split widens over Israeli reservists
1 February

Unidentified women grieve for Palestinian Ibrahim Jarboo who was killed in the attack

A decision by more than 100 Israeli reserve officers to refuse to serve in the Palestinian territories sparks a furious row inside the military, and a widening public debate. In the biggest challenge to the army's authority since the Palestinian uprising began 16 months ago, the reservists say they are not willing to fight for the purpose of "dominating, expelling, starving and humiliating an entire people".

 The BBC's Caroline Hawley reports

Grief at the scene in west Jerusalem

Police are working on the basis that the bomber was a Palestinian woman. If so, this would be the first time a woman has carried out such an attack. The bomb went off in one of Jerusalem's busiest shopping streets.

 The BBC's Orla Guerin reports

Party attack kills seven
17 January

The hall was full of guests at a Bat Mitzvah

Israeli police say seven Israelis have been killed and at least twenty wounded in a Palestinian suicide attack in northern Israel. Eyewitnesses say the man entered a crowded wedding hall in the town of Hadera and tried to detonate explosives strapped to his body.

 The BBC's James Reynolds reports

Leading Palestinian killed in blast
14 January

Leading Palestinian militant Raed Karmi

A Palestinian militant group has called off its ceasefire with Israel after its leader was killed in an explosion in the West Bank. Palestinian security blames Israel for the death of Raed Karmi, head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

 The BBC's Jeremy Cooke reports

Bush warns Iran on terror
10 January

President Bush is concerned about Iran's loyalty

US President George W Bush has warned Iran not to destabilise Afghanistan. He also said Washington expected Tehran to hand over any members of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network who might have fled across the border from Afghanistan.

 The BBC's Jim Muir reports