2008 in Israel

The most prominent events related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which occurred during 2008 include:

• August 25 – Israel releases 199 Palestinian Arab prisoners as a goodwill gesture to the Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, as the United States Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, visits the area.[12]

Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets

the loader used in the Jerusalem bulldozer attack on July 2, 2008 and a car which was destroyed during the attack

The most prominent Palestinian militant acts and operations committed against Israeli targets during 2008 include:

• January 24 – Two Palestinian Arabs infiltrate a religious seminary and stab three students in the West Bank settlement of Kfar Etzion before being shot dead.[13]
• January 24 – Palestinian Arab gunmen open fire on Israelis outside the Shuafat refugee camp on the outskirts of Jerusalem, killing a border police officer and seriously wounding a female officer.[14]
• February 4 – 2008 Dimona suicide bombing: A suicide attack carried out by Hamas at a shopping centre in Dimona, Israel. One Israeli elderly woman is killed in the attack while nine other people are wounded (one of them critically). Hamas claims responsibility for the attack.[15]
• February 27 – Over 46 Qassam rockets are fired by Palestinian Arab militants into the Western Negev and Israel's Southern Mediterranean coast, many of them hit the city of Ashkelon and the town of Sderot, among other Israeli towns and villages in the area. One of the rockets that lands in a parking lot at the Sapir Academic College killing 47-year-old Israeli student, Ronni Yechia.[16]
• March 6 – Mercaz HaRav massacre: Eight Israeli civilians are killed and 9 wounded when a Palestinian Arab attacker opens fire at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem.[17]
• April 19 – Kerem Shalom suicide bombing: Three Palestinian Arab suicide bombers break through the border fence to attack the Kerem Shalom IDF post, blowing themselves up and wounding several Israeli soldiers. Hamas claims responsibility.[18]
• May 14 – A Katyusha rocket is fired at the Israeli city of Ashqelon striking a clinic on the third floor of the Huzot shopping mall, serious wounding three people, moderately wounding two and with eleven other people suffering minor wounds. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claims responsibility.[19]
• June 6 – An Israeli man is killed and four other people are wounded when Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fire a mortar shell at kibbutz Nirim in the western Negev desert.[20]
• July 2 – Jerusalem bulldozer attack: A Palestinian Arab resident of east Jerusalem attacks several cars on the Jaffa Road in Jerusalem using a front-end loader (erroneously referred to as a bulldozer in the media), killing three people and wounding at least 30 other pedestrians, before being shot to death.[21]
• September 22 – Jerusalem BMW attack: At least 19 people are wounded when a Palestinian Arab drives his car into a crowd of IDF soldiers at a busy intersection in Jerusalem.[22] The driver is shot and killed at the scene by an Israeli soldier.[23]

Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets

Israeli F-16i of the 107th Squadron preparing for take-off during Operation Cast Lead, December 2008

The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (military campaigns and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 2008 include:

• February 5 – Israel launches an attack on Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip, killing eight Hamas members, after Hamas claimed responsibility for the Dimona attack.[24]
• February 28 – March 3 – Operation Hot Winter: Israel Defense Forces military campaign in the Gaza Strip is launched in response to the constant firing of Qassam rockets from the Strip by Hamas militants. 110 Palestinians killed, among them 54 children.[25]
• March 12 – Israeli commandos kill four Palestinian militants in the West Bank including three members of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine.[26]
• December 27, 2008 – January 18, 2009 – Operation Cast Lead: A large-scale three-week IDF military campaign in the Gaza Strip seriously damages the paramilitary infrastructure of Hamas. Israel claims that the strikes are a response to frequent Qassam rocket and mortar fire from the Strip on Israel's southern civilian communities. The conflict resulted in between 1,166 and 1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths (4 from friendly fire).Gaza war 2008