07.02.2001 - Ariel Sharon will have precious little time to savor his lopsided election victory as prime minister. He must quickly forge a government from the unruly factions in parliament, and he faces hostile Palestinians deeply suspicious of his intentions. Sharon routed incumbent Ehud Barak in one of the most one-sided elections in Israel's history, winning 62.5% to 37.4%. The day after the balloting, attention was already focused on whether Sharon would be able to stitch together a stable coalition government.

13.02.2001 - Israeli helicopter gunships unleashed a fatal pinpoint strike on a car carrying a Palestinian security agent as the man drove on the outskirts of a refugee camp. The slain Palestinian officer was identified as Massoud Ayyad, 54, a major in Force 17, an elite Palestinian security service. The missile attack on the outskirts of the Jebaliya refugee camp killed Ayyad instantly and turned his car into a smoldering, twisted pile of metal. Four bystanders were lightly injured.

21.02.2001 - Israel's targeted killings of Palestinians suspected of attacks on Israelis are part of a "policy of state assassinations," the human rights groups Amnesty International said in a report released Wednesday. The group demanded that Israel stop the practice and asked the United States to review its weapons sales to Israel as a result of it. The report said Amnesty field workers investigated several cases in which Israeli forces targeted and killed Palestinian leaders, and concluded that the killings were illegal and unnecessary. The report called the killings a "policy of state assassination." Amnesty International, the London-based group that won the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its human rights advocacy, called on the United States to examine "all arms transfers to Israel" and provide guarantees that the weapons "are not used to violate human rights."