Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache
The wheelchair-bound cleric left dawn prayers at a mosque when three Hellfire missiles struck his entourage. Ahmed Yassin, Hamas's spiritual founder, was 67 and nearly blind — Israel's Shin Bet had tracked him for years but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon finally ordered the strike on March 22, 2004. The attack killed two bodyguards and nine bystanders in Gaza City. Sharon calculated it would weaken Hamas. Instead, membership applications surged 300% within weeks, and Yassin's successor, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, was killed just 25 days later in an identical strike. The man Israel eliminated to reduce violence became the martyr who multiplied his movement's reach.
March 22, 2004
22 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Hamas
Wikipedia
Gaza Strip
Wikipedia
Sunni
Wikipedia
Ahmed Yassin
Wikipedia
Palestinian people
Wikipedia
Israeli Air Force
Wikipedia
AH-64 Apache
Wikipedia
AGM-114 Hellfire
Wikipedia
Ahmed Yassin
Wikipedia
Palestinians
Wikipedia
Sunni Islam
Wikipedia
Hamas
Wikipedia
Gaza Strip
Wikipedia
Israeli Air Force
Wikipedia
AGM-114 Hellfire
Wikipedia
Jeque
Wikipedia
January 1
Wikipedia
1937
Wikipedia
Israel
Wikipedia
Gaza City
Wikipedia
Palestine
Wikipedia
Helicopter
Wikipedia
Boeing AH-64 Apache
Wikipedia
Hélio Oiticica
Wikipedia
Israel Defense Forces
Wikipedia
Assassination
Wikipedia
صلاة الفجر
Wikipedia
Mosque
Wikipedia
Muslim Brotherhood
Wikipedia
أحمد الخازندار
Wikipedia
حمدان عاشور
Wikipedia
Egypt
Wikipedia
حسن بن رضوان الخالدي
Wikipedia
What Else Happened on March 22
A province needed a calendar, so they started counting from the day Rome annexed them. Arabia Petraea's Bostran era began in 106 CE when Trajan transformed the …
His own troops killed him because he paid them too much. Severus Alexander's mother Julia Mamaea convinced him to bribe Germanic tribes instead of fighting them…
Proclaimed emperors by rebelling landowners in North Africa, Gordian I and his son Gordian II challenged the brutal rule of Maximinus Thrax. Their short-lived u…
Æthelred of Wessex won at Marton, but he'd be dead within a month. The Danish army he defeated on this frozen field in Wiltshire wasn't destroyed—just pushed ba…
Minamoto no Yoshitsune routed the Taira clan at the Battle of Yashima by launching a surprise amphibious assault, forcing the Taira to abandon their coastal str…
Pope Clement V officially dissolved the Knights Templar with the bull Vox in excelso, bowing to intense pressure from King Philip IV of France. This decree stri…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.