Editing Second Intifada (section)

===2004===
In response to repeated shelling of Israeli communities with [[Qassam rocket]]s and mortar shells from Gaza, the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] operated mainly in [[Rafah]] – to search and destroy [[Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels|smuggling tunnel]]s used by militants to obtain [[weapon]]s, [[ammunition]], fugitives, cigarettes, car parts, electrical goods, foreign currency, gold, [[recreational drug use|drugs]], and cloth from [[Egypt]]. Between September 2000 and May 2004, ninety tunnels connecting Egypt and the Gaza Strip were found and destroyed. Raids in Rafah left many families homeless. Israel's official stance is that their houses were captured by militants and were destroyed during battles with IDF forces. Many of these houses are abandoned due to Israeli incursions and later destroyed. According to Human Rights Watch, over 1,500 houses were destroyed to create a large buffer zone in the city, many "in the absence of military necessity", displacing around sixteen thousand people.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/campaigns/gaza/|access-date=29 March 2006|title=Razing Rafah: Mass Home Demolitions in the Gaza Strip |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324012233/http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/gaza/ |archive-date=24 March 2006}}</ref>

On 2 February 2004, Israeli Prime Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] announced his plan to transfer all the [[Israeli settlement|Jewish settlers]] from the [[Gaza Strip]]. The Israeli opposition dismissed his announcement as "media spin", but the [[Labor Party (Israel)|Israeli Labour Party]] said it would support such a move. Sharon's right-wing coalition partners [[National Religious Party]] and [[National Union (Israel)|National Union]] rejected the plan and vowed to quit the government if it were implemented. [[Yossi Beilin]], peace advocate and architect of the [[Oslo Accords]] and the [[Geneva Accord (2003)|Geneva Accord]], also rejected the proposed withdrawal plan. He claimed that withdrawing from the Gaza Strip without a peace agreement would reward [[terrorism|terror]].

Following the declaration of the [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan|disengagement plan]] by Ariel Sharon and as a response to suicide attacks on [[Israeli Gaza Strip barrier|Erez crossing]] and [[Ashdod]] seaport (10 people were killed), the IDF launched a series of armored raids on the Gaza Strip (mainly Rafah and refugee camps around Gaza), killing about 70 [[Hamas]] militants. On 22 March 2004, an Israeli helicopter gunship [[Israeli targeted killings|killed]] Hamas leader Sheikh [[Ahmed Yassin]], along with his two bodyguards and nine bystanders. On 17 April, after several failed attempts by Hamas to commit suicide bombings and a successful one that killed an Israeli policeman, Yassin's successor, [[Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi]], was killed in an almost identical way, along with a bodyguard and his son Mohammed.

The fighting in Gaza Strip escalated severely in May 2004 after several failed attempts to attack [[Israel Defense Forces checkpoint|Israeli checkpoints]] such as [[Israeli Gaza Strip barrier|Erez crossing]] and [[Karni crossing]]. On 2 May, Palestinian militants attacked and [[Murder of Tali Hatuel and her four daughters|shot dead a pregnant woman and her four young daughters]].<ref name=bbc>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3679395.stm|title=Gunmen kill Jewish settler family|work=BBC News|access-date=28 September 2012|date=3 May 2004|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402201703/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3679395.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=smh20040503>{{cite news |title=Pregnant mum and four children gunned down |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/03/1083436518982.html |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=3 May 2004 |access-date=2014-09-01 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012063112/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/03/1083436518982.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ii20040503>{{cite news |last=Silverin |first=Eric |title=Pregnant mum and her four children killed in terror attack |url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/pregnant-mum-and-her-four-children-killed-in-terror-attack-169946.html |newspaper=[[Irish Independent]] |date=3 May 2004 |access-date=2014-09-01 |archive-date=15 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315191304/https://www.independent.ie/world-news/pregnant-mum-and-her-four-children-killed-in-terror-attack-25912634.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Amnesty International]] classified it as a [[crime against humanity]] and said it "reiterates its call on all Palestinian armed groups to put an immediate end to the deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians, in Israel and in the Occupied Territories".<ref name=ai-p>{{cite web |title=Israel/Occupied Territories: AI condemns murder of woman and her four daughters by Palestinian gunmen |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/049/2004/en/ |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |date=4 May 2004 |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=22 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122054920/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/049/2004/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, on 11 and 12 May, Palestinian militants destroyed two IDF [[M113 Armored Personnel Carrier|M-113]] [[Armoured personnel carrier|APCs]], killing 13 soldiers and mutilating their bodies. The IDF launched two raids to recover the bodies, killing 20–40 Palestinians and greatly damaging structures in the Zaitoun neighbourhood in Gaza and in south-west Rafah.
[[File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - 40 Kilogram Explosive Found At Bottom of Tunnel.jpg|thumb|150px|Israeli forces uncover a smuggling tunnel in Gaza, May 2004]]
Subsequently, on 18 May the IDF launched [[Operation Rainbow]] with a stated aim of striking the militant infrastructure of Rafah, destroying smuggling tunnels, and stopping a shipment of [[Strela 2|SA-7]] missiles and improved [[anti-tank]] weapons. A total of 41 Palestinian militants and 12 civilians were killed in the operation, and about 45–56 Palestinian structures were demolished. Israeli tanks shelled hundreds of Palestinian protesters approaching their positions, killing 10. The protesters had disregarded Israeli warnings to turn back. This incident led to a worldwide outcry against the operation.

On 29 September, after a [[Qassam rocket]] hit the Israeli town of [[Sderot]] and killed two Israeli children, the IDF launched [[Operation Days of Penitence]] in the north of the Gaza Strip. The operation's stated aim was to remove the threat of Qassam rockets from Sderot and kill the Hamas militants launching them. The operation ended on 16 October, after having caused widespread destruction and the deaths of over 100 Palestinians, at least 20 of whom were under the age of sixteen.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/israel/Story/0,2763,1328916,00.html |title=Army pulls back from Gaza leaving 100 Palestinians dead |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=16 October 2004 |first=Chris |last=McGreal |author-link=Chris McGreal |access-date=23 May 2010 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326135412/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/16/israel1 |url-status=live }}</ref> The IDF killed thirteen-year-old [[Iman Darweesh Al Hams]] as she strayed into a closed military area; the commander was accused of allegedly firing his automatic weapon at her dead body deliberately to verify the death. The act was investigated by the IDF, but the commander was cleared of all wrongdoing,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=10201|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041204171132/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=10201|archive-date=4 December 2004|date=3 December 2004 |newspaper=[[The Jewish Week]] |title=Moral Quagmire}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ben Lynfield |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1126/p07s01-wome.html |date=26 November 2004 |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |title=Israeli army under fire after killing girl |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=13 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513000508/http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1126/p07s01-wome.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and more recently, was fully vindicated when a Jerusalem district court found the claim to be libellous, ruled that NIS 300,000 be paid by the journalist and TV company responsible for the report, an additional NIS 80,000 to be paid in legal fees and required the journalist and television company to air a correction.<ref>{{cite news |author=Hila Raz |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/does-it-pay-to-sue-for-libel-in-israel-1.261754 |date=20 January 2010 |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |title=Does it pay to sue for libel in Israel? |access-date=28 September 2014 |archive-date=9 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309072837/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/does-it-pay-to-sue-for-libel-in-israel-1.261754 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Palestinian medics, Israeli forces killed at least 62 militants and 42 other Palestinians believed to be civilians.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6520016 |work=Reuters |title=Palestinians sift rubble after Israel's Gaza assault |date=16 October 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050628015144/http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews |archive-date=28 June 2005 }}</ref> According to a count performed by ''[[Haaretz]]'', 87 militants and 42 civilians were killed. Palestinian refugee camps were heavily damaged by the Israeli assault. The IDF announced that at least 12 Qassam launchings had been thwarted and many militants hit during the operation.

On 21 October, the [[Israeli Air Force]] killed [[Adnan al-Ghoul]], a senior Hamas bomb maker and the inventor of the [[Qassam rocket]].

On 11 November, Yasser Arafat died in Paris.

Escalation in Gaza began amid the visit of [[Mahmoud Abbas]] to [[Syria]] in order to achieve a [[Hudna]] between Palestinian factions and convince Hamas leadership to halt attacks against Israelis. Hamas vowed to continue the armed struggle, sending numerous [[Qassam rocket]]s into open fields near [[Nahal Oz]], and hitting a [[kindergarten]] in [[Gush Katif|Kfar Darom]] with an anti-tank missile.

On 9 December five Palestinians weapon smugglers were killed and two were arrested in the border between Rafah and [[Egypt]]. Later that day, [[Jamal Abu Samhadana]] and two of his bodyguards were injured by a missile strike. In the first Israeli airstrike against militants in weeks, an unmanned Israeli drone plane launched one missile at Abu Samahdna's car as it travelled between Rafah and Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. It was the fourth attempt on Samhadana's life by Israel. Samhadana is one of two leaders of the [[Popular Resistance Committees]] and one of the main forces behind the smuggling tunnels. Samhadana is believed to be responsible for the [[Improvised explosive device|blast]] against an American diplomatic convoy in Gaza that killed three Americans.

On 10 December, in response to Hamas firing mortar rounds into the Neveh Dekalim settlement in the Gaza Strip and wounding four Israelis (including an 8-year-old boy), Israeli soldiers fired at the Khan Younis refugee camp (the origin of the mortars) killing a seven-year-old girl. An IDF source confirmed troops opened fire at Khan Younis, but said they aimed at Hamas mortar crews.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

The largest attack since the death of Yasser Arafat claimed the lives of five Israeli soldiers on 12 December, wounding ten others. Approximately 1.5 tons of explosives were detonated in a tunnel under an Israeli military-controlled border crossing on the Egyptian border with Gaza near Rafah, collapsing several structures and damaging others. The explosion destroyed part of the outpost and killed three soldiers. Two Palestinian militants then penetrated the outpost and killed two other Israeli soldiers with gunfire. It is believed that Hamas and a new Fatah faction, the "Fatah Hawks", conducted the highly organised and coordinated attack. A spokesman, "Abu Majad", claimed responsibility for the attack in the name of the [[Fatah Hawks]] claiming it was in retaliation for "the assassination" of Yasser Arafat, charging he was poisoned by Israel.