Editing Second Intifada (section)

===2001===
The [[Taba Summit]] between Israel and the [[Palestinian Authority]] was held from 21 to 27 January 2001, at [[Taba (Egypt)|Taba]] in the [[Sinai peninsula]]. Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]] and Palestinian President [[Yasser Arafat]] came closer to reaching a final settlement than any previous or subsequent peace talks yet ultimately failed to achieve their goals.

On 17 January 2001, Israeli teenager [[Ofir Rahum]] was murdered after being lured into [[Ramallah]] by a 24-year-old Palestinian, Mona Jaud Awana, a member of Fatah's [[Tanzim]]. She had contacted Ofir on the internet and engaged in an online romance with him for several months. She eventually convinced him to drive to Ramallah to meet her, where he was instead ambushed by three Palestinian gunmen and shot over fifteen times.<ref name="Wired">{{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2001/01/41300 |title=Israel's 'First Internet Murder' |work=[[Wired (website)|Wired]] |date=19 January 2001 |last=Hershman |first=Tania |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071019223411/http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2001/01/41300 |archive-date=19 October 2007 }}</ref> Awana was later arrested in a massive military and police operation, and imprisoned for life. Five other Israelis were killed in January, along with eighteen Palestinians.

[[Ariel Sharon]], at the time from the [[Likud]] party, ran against [[Ehud Barak]] from the [[Labor (Israel)|Labor party]]. Sharon was elected Israeli Prime Minister 6 February 2001 in the [[2001 Israeli prime ministerial election|2001 special election to the Prime Ministership]]. Sharon refused to meet in person with Yasser Arafat.

Violence in March resulted in the deaths of 8 Israelis, mostly civilians, and 26 Palestinians. In [[Hebron]], a Palestinian sniper killed ten-month-old Israeli baby [[Shalhevet Pass]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9FTxoncXDwwC&q=Shalhevet+Pass&pg=PA443 |title=Protection of children during armed political conflict: a multidisciplinary perspective |editor=Charles W. Greenbaum |editor2=Philip E. Veerman |editor3=Naomi Bacon-Shnoor |publisher=Intersentia |year=2006 |isbn=978-90-5095-341-2 |access-date=8 November 2020 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417205259/https://books.google.com/books?id=9FTxoncXDwwC&q=Shalhevet+Pass&pg=PA443 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Gordis |first=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7glZcS7mMgC&q=Shalhevet+Pass&pg=PA190 |title=Home to Stay: One American Family's Chronicle of Miracles and Struggles in Contemporary Israel |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-307-53090-5 |author-link=Daniel Gordis |access-date=21 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417205301/https://books.google.com/books?id=y7glZcS7mMgC&q=Shalhevet%2BPass&pg=PA190 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The murder shocked the Israeli public. According to the Israel police investigation the sniper aimed deliberately at the baby.<ref name=education>{{cite web|url=http://www.education.gov.il/children/page_23.htm |title=Target: Israeli Children |publisher=[[Education Minister of Israel|Israel Ministry of Education]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023202452/http://www.education.gov.il/children/page_23.htm |archive-date=23 October 2013}}</ref>

On 30 April 2001, seven Palestinian militants were killed in an explosion, one of them a participant in Ofir Rahum's murder. The IDF refused to confirm or deny Palestinian accusations that it was responsible.

On 7 May 2001, IDF [[Shayetet 13|naval commandos]] captured the vessel ''[[Santorini affair|Santorini]]'', which was sailing in international waters towards Palestinian Authority-controlled Gaza. The ship was laden with weaponry. The Israeli investigation that followed said that the shipment had been purchased by [[Ahmed Jibril]]'s [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command]] (PFLP-GC). The ship's value and that of its cargo was estimated at $10&nbsp;million. The crew was reportedly planning to unload the cargo of weapons-filled barrels—carefully sealed and waterproofed along with their contents—at a prearranged location off the Gaza coast, where the Palestinian Authority would recover it.

On 8 May 2001, two Israeli teenagers, Yaakov "Koby" Mandell (13) and Yosef Ishran (14), were kidnapped while hiking near their village. Their bodies were discovered the next morning in a cave near where they lived.<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news |title=Two Israeli boys found bludgeoned to death |date=9 May 2001 |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/09/israel1 |access-date=18 June 2012 |archive-date=25 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825024550/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/09/israel1 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''USA Today'' reported that, according to the police, both boys had "been bound, stabbed and beaten to death with rocks." The newspaper continued, "The walls of the cave in the Judean Desert were covered with the boys' blood, reportedly smeared there by the killers."<ref name=USA>{{cite news |title=Two Israeli teenagers stoned to death |date=20 June 2001 |work=[[USA Today]] |author=Matthew Kalman |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/mideast/2001-05-09-slainteens.htm |access-date=18 June 2012 |author-link=Matthew Kalman |archive-date=20 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420150223/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/mideast/2001-05-09-slainteens.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

After a [[suicide bombing]] [[2001 HaSharon Mall suicide bombing|struck Netanya]] on 18 May 2001, Israel for the first time since 1967 used warplanes to attack Palestinian Authority targets in the West Bank and Gaza, killing 12 Palestinians. In the past, airstrikes had been carried out with helicopter gunships.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 May 2001 |title=Arabs seek to isolate Israel |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1340003.stm |url-status=live |access-date=1 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012112751/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1340003.stm |archive-date=12 October 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Dolphinarium Massacre memorial in Tel Aviv.JPG|thumb|right|Dolphinarium Massacre memorial at the Tel Aviv Dolphinarium site with the names of the victims written in Russian]]
On 1 June 2001, an [[Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine|Islamic Jihad]] suicide bomber [[Dolphinarium massacre| detonated himself in the Tel Aviv coastline Dolphinarium]] dancing club. Twenty-one Israeli civilians, most of them high school students, were killed and 132 injured.<ref>{{cite web |author=Karmon |first=Ely |author-link=Ely Karmon |date=11 June 2001 |title=The Palestinian Authority-Hamas Collusion – From Operational Cooperation to Propaganda Hoax |url=http://www.ict.org.il/Article.aspx?ID=806 |website=[[International Institute for Counter-Terrorism]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904080030/http://www.ict.org.il/Article.aspx?ID=806 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |access-date=28 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-48416289.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023030542/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-48416289.html|archive-date=23 October 2012|title=No. 1 Hamas terrorist killed. Followers threaten revenge in Tel Aviv. |last=O'Sullivan|first=Arieh |author-link=Arieh O'Sullivan |date=25 November 2001 |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |access-date=30 January 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/international/middleeast/29israel.html |title=In Hamas's Overt Hatred, Many Israelis See Hope |last=Fisher |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Fisher (journalist) |date=29 January 2006 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=30 January 2009 |archive-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111022312/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/international/middleeast/29israel.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/home/0,7340,L-1258,00.html |work=[[Ynet]] |script-title=he:21 צעירות וצעירים נהרגו בפיגוע התופת בטיילת בתל אביב, לא הרחק מהדולפינריום. אלה תמונות ההרוגים בפיגוע הקשה ביותר בישראל מזה חמש שנים. ynet מביא את חלק מסיפוריהם. |language=he |trans-title=21 young people were killed in bomb attack in Tel Aviv promenade, near the Dolphinarium. These pictures of the dead worst attack in Israel for five years. Ynet brings some of their stories. |date=2 June 2001 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=24 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724182358/http://www.ynet.co.il/home/0,7340,L-1258,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The attack significantly hampered American attempts to negotiate a cease-fire.

The 12 June [[Murder of Georgios Tsibouktzakis]] by Palestinian snipers was later tied to [[Marwan Barghouti]].<ref name="EnevBarghouti">{{cite news|last1=Enev|first1=Peter Enev|title=Barghouti gets five life terms for attacks|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=7 June 2004|id={{ProQuest|438710369}}}}</ref>

A total of 469 Palestinians and 199 Israelis were killed in 2001. Amnesty International's report on the first year of the Intifada states:

<blockquote>The overwhelming majority of cases of unlawful killings and injuries in Israel and the Occupied Territories have been committed by the IDF using excessive force. In particular, the IDF have used US-supplied helicopters in punitive rocket attacks where there was no imminent danger to life. Israel has also used helicopter gunships to carry out extrajudicial executions and to fire at targets that resulted in the killing of civilians, including children. ... Hamas and Islamic Jihad have frequently placed bombs in public places, usually within Israel, in order to kill and maim large numbers of Israeli civilians in a random manner. Both organizations have fostered a cult of martyrdom and frequently use suicide bombers.<ref name="Amnesty International"/></blockquote>

Palestinian terrorists committed a number of suicide attacks later in 2001, among them the [[Sbarro restaurant massacre]], with 15 civilian casualties (including 7 children);<ref>{{cite news |author=Stanage |first=Niall |date=3 February 2002 |title=Death of innocents |newspaper=[[The Sunday Business Post]] |url=https://www.kerenmalki.org/Press/IrishSBP_Death_of_Innocents.htm |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006080000/http://www.kerenmalki.org/Press/IrishSBP_Death_of_Innocents.htm |archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ben-Zur |first=Raanan |date=27 March 2006 |title=Sbarro terrorist 'not sorry' |work=[[Ynetnews]] |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3232591,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006220711/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3232591,00.html |archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> the [[Nahariya train station suicide bombing]] and the [[Pardes Hanna bus bombing]], both with 3 civilian casualties;<ref>{{cite news |author=Dudkevitch |first1=Margot |last2=O'Sullivan |first2=Arieh |author2-link=Arieh O'Sullivan |date=10 September 2001 |title=Five killed as terror hits nationwide. First Israeli Arab suicide bomber strikes at Nahariya train station |url=http://info.jpost.com/C002/Supplements/CasualtiesOfWar/2001_09_09.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021220085140/http://info.jpost.com/C002/Supplements/CasualtiesOfWar/2001_09_09.html |archive-date=20 December 2002 |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]]}}</ref><ref name="Haaretz">{{cite news |author=Amos Harel |author2=Haim Shadmi |author3=David Ratner |author4=Yam Yehoshua |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/islamic-jihad-fatah-take-responsibility-for-bus-bombing-1.75877 |title=Islamic Jihad, Fatah take responsibility for bus bombing |work=[[Haaretz]] |date=28 November 2001 |access-date=18 June 2012 |archive-date=2 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102113653/http://www.haaretz.com/news/islamic-jihad-fatah-take-responsibility-for-bus-bombing-1.75877 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Blade">{{cite news |title=Suicide Bomber kills 3 Israelis ahead of Bush-Sharon meeting |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=75JKAAAAIBAJ&pg=6563,4859776 |location=Toledo |newspaper=[[The Blade (Toledo)|The Blade]] |agency=[[Knight Ridder]], [[Associated Press]] |date=30 November 2011 |page=A2 |access-date=18 June 2012 |archive-date=18 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118095434/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=75JKAAAAIBAJ&pg=6563,4859776 |url-status=live }}</ref> the Ben Yehuda Street bombing with 11 civilian deaths, many of them children;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/12/Suicide%20bombing%20at%20the%20Ben-Yehuda%20pedestrian%20mall |title=Suicide bombing at the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall in Jerusalem |date=1 December 2001 |publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040618133459/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2001/12/Suicide%20bombing%20at%20the%20Ben-Yehuda%20pedestrian%20mall |archive-date=18 June 2004}}</ref> and the [[Haifa bus 16 suicide bombing]], with 15 civilian casualties.<ref name="B'Tselem">[http://old.btselem.org/statistics/english/casualties.asp?sD=29&sM=09&sY=2000&eD=26&eM=12&eY=2008&filterby=event&oferet_stat=before Statistics | B'Tselem] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729121304/http://old.btselem.org/statistics/english/casualties.asp?sD=29&sM=09&sY=2000&eD=26&eM=12&eY=2008&filterby=event&oferet_stat=before |date=29 July 2012 }}</ref>