resolutions amending the PLO Charter. 24 September – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorize the opening of an exit in the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem for the Western Wall Tunnel, which prior Prime Minister Shimon Peres had instructed to be put on hold for the sake of peace. This sparked violent riots throughout the West Bank and northern Gaza Strip. Over the subsequent three days, 16 Israeli soldiers and about 60 Palestinians were killed in the riots. Notable Palestinian militant operations against Israeli targets The most prominent Palestinian militant acts and operations committed against Israeli targets during 1996 include: 19 January – Three Hamas members are killed in an attack on an Israeli army roadblock. One Israeli soldier is injured. 25 February – Ashkelon bus station bombing. Killing two Israelis. Hamas claims responsibility for the bombing. 25 February – First Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombing: A Hamas suicide bomber blows himself up in a commuter bus in Jerusalem, killing 26 and injuring 80 others. 3 March – Second Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombing: A Hamas suicide bomber detonates a bomb on a bus in Jerusalem, killing 19 and injuring six others. 4 March – Dizengoff Center suicide bombing: A Hamas suicide bomber detonates a bomb outside the Dizengoff Center, Tel Aviv's largest shopping mall, killing 20 and wounding 75 others, including children celebrating the Jewish Purim holiday. 11 December – PFLP gunmen attack a car carrying Israeli settlers near the settlement of Bet El, killing a woman and her 12-year-old son. 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 1996 include: 5 January – The Mossad assassinates Yahya Ayyash, the chief bombmaker of Hamas and the leader of the West Bank battalion of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, via a bomb-laden mobile phone. Unknown dates The founding of the community settlement Bat Hefer. The founding of the West Bank settlement of Modi'in Illit. The founding of the community settlement Tzukim. Notable births 11 May – Valeria Patiuk, Ukraine-born tennis player 2 September – Kobi Ifrach, Israeli bodybuilder Notable deaths 22 January – Israel Eldad (b. 1910), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Israeli independence fighter and Revisionist Zionist philosopher. 2 May – Emil Habibi (b. 1922), Israeli Arab author, Knesset member and public activist. 26 May – Haika Grossman (b. 1919), Polish-born Israeli politician and member of