1987 in the Palestinian territories

Events in the year 1987 in the Palestinian territories.

Incumbents

Events

• December 8 – Israeli truck driver collides with two taxis carrying workers returning from work in Israel. Four Palestinian from the refugee camp Jabalia in the Gaza Strip are killed in the incident. A rumor which spread among Palestinians that the crash was deliberate and made in retaliation for the murder of an Israeli businessman in Gaza City two days earlier, sparks the First Intifada the next day.^[1]
• December 9 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: First Intifada begins. Violence, riots, general strikes, and civil disobedience campaigns by Palestinian Arabs spread across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces respond with tear gas, plastic bullets, and live ammunition.^[2]
• December 15 - In a controversial move and amid Arab protests, Israeli Trade and Industry Minister Ariel Sharon entertained many prominent Israeli figures in a housewarming party in an apartment he rented in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The apartment was used by Sharon during his visits in the city while his permanent home was and remained in a ranch in southern Israel.^[3]

Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets

The most prominent Palestinian Arab terror attacks committed against Israeli targets during 1987 include:

• November 25 – Night of the Gliders: Two Palestinian Arab militant guerillas infiltrate into Israel from South Lebanon using hang gliders to launch a surprise attack against IDF soldiers. One of the gliders lands in the security zone, and the guerilla is later tracked down and killed by Israeli troops. The second manages to land in a field east of Kiryat Shmona, near the "Gibor" helipad, and succeeds in killing six soldiers and wounding eight before he was shot and killed by an Israeli officer who had been wounded.
• December 6 – The Israeli businessman Shlomo Takal is stabbed to death at the main shopping square in Gaza City.^[4][5]

Notable Israeli military operations against Palestinian militancy targets
The most prominent Israeli military counter-terrorism operations (military campaigns and military operations) carried out against Palestinian militants during 1987 include:

• September 5 - Four Israeli warplanes bomb three PLO guerrilla bases on the outskirts of the Palestinian refugee camp Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon. Up to 41 people are reported killed in the incident. An IDF spokesman stated that the targets bombed were being used by terrorist cells that were planning raids against Israeli targets.^[6][7]
• October 8 - During a shootout that took place between Israeli security forces and four armed Islamic Jihad guerrillas in the Gaza Strip, all four guerrillas are killed, as well as one Shin Bet officer.^[8]

Notable deaths

• August 29 - Naji al-Ali, a Palestinian cartoonist, noted for the political criticism of Israel in his works. (b. 1938)

References

See also

• 1987 in Israel