Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war against non-combatants. There are various different definitions of terrorism, with no universal agreement about it. Different definitions of terrorism emphasize its randomness, its aim to instill fear, and its broader impact beyond its immediate victims.
Counterterrorism, also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism and violent extremism.
The Passover massacre was a suicide bombing carried out by Hamas at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel on 27 March 2002, during a Passover seder. 30 civilians were killed in the attack and 140 were injured. It was the deadliest attack against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada, and one of the most severe suicide attacks Israel has ever experienced.
Hanadi Tayseer Abdul Malek Jaradat was a Palestinian terrorist from Jenin, who blew herself up on Saturday, 4 October 2003 in a suicide attack on Maxim restaurant, a Haifa restaurant co-owned by the same Jewish and Arab families for more than 40 years. She killed 21 Jewish and Arab Israelis, and injured 51 other people. Among the dead were four Israeli children, including a two-month old infant, and five Arabs. She had been recruited by Islamic Jihad.
A Palestinian suicide bombing of a crowded public bus in the Shmuel HaNavi quarter in Jerusalem took place on August 19, 2003. Twenty-four people were killed and over 130 wounded. Many of the victims were children, some of them infants. The Islamist militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
As part of the Arab–Israeli conflict, especially during the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005, Palestinian militant groups allegedly used children for suicide bombings. Minors were sometimes used as messengers and couriers, and according to Israeli sources as fighters. However, no evidence was found of systematic recruitment of children by Palestinian armed groups. The involvement of children in armed conflict was condemned by international human rights organizations.
Islamic terrorism refers to terrorist acts carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists.
Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence or terrorism committed by Palestinians with the intent to accomplish political goals, and often carried out in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Common objectives of political violence by Palestinian groups include self-determination in and sovereignty over all of Palestine, or the recognition of a Palestinian state inside the 1967 borders. This includes the objective of ending the Israeli occupation. More limited goals include the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and recognition of the Palestinian right of return.
Jewish extremist terrorism is terrorism, including religious terrorism, committed by extremists within Judaism.
Sociology of terrorism is a field of sociology that seeks to understand terrorism as a social phenomenon. The field defines terrorism, studies why it occurs and evaluates its impacts on society. The sociology of terrorism draws from the fields of political science, history, economics and psychology. The sociology of terrorism differs from critical terrorism studies, emphasizing the social conditions that enable terrorism. It also studies how individuals as well as states respond to such events.
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, commonly known simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist paramilitary organization formed in 1981.
A Hamas suicide attack was carried out on a city bus in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood of Jerusalem on August 21, 1995.
Istishhad is the Arabic word for "martyrdom", "death of a martyr", or "heroic death". Martyrs are given the honorific shaheed. The word derives from the root shahida, meaning "to witness". Traditionally martyrdom has an exalted place in Islam. It is widely believed among Muslims that the sins of believers who "die in the way of God" will be forgiven by Allah. Shia views on martyrdom have been profoundly influenced by internal Muslim conflicts, notably Husayn ibn Ali's martyrdom at Karbala in 680, shaping it as a central belief and practice.
A suicide attack is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are often associated with terrorism or military conflicts and are considered a form of murder–suicide. Suicide attacks involving explosives are commonly referred to as suicide bombings. In the context of terrorism, they are also commonly referred to as suicide terrorism. While generally not inherently regulated under international law, suicide attacks in their execution often violate international laws of war, such as prohibitions against perfidy and targeting civilians.
The economics of terrorism is a branch of economics dedicated to the study of terrorism. It involves using the tools of economic analysis to analyse issues related to terrorism, such as the link between education, poverty and terrorism, the effect of macroeconomic conditions on the frequency and quality of terrorism, the economic costs of terrorism, and the economics of counter-terrorism. The field also extends to the political economy of terrorism, which seeks to answer questions on the effect of terrorism on voter preferences and party politics.
White jihad is a political neologism for white supremacists' adoption of jihadist methods, narratives and aesthetic.
Palestinian suicide attacks, also known as Palestinian suicide bombings, involve the use of suicide bombings by Palestinian groups in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, predominantly targeting Israeli civilians. This tactic is also referred to as Palestinian suicide terrorism. It emerged in the 1990s and reached its peak during the Second Intifada (2000–2005). Attacks occurred at various locations, including shopping centers, public buses, transit stations, cafes, nightclubs, and restaurants, According to a 2006 study from the University of Haifa, only a few of the bombings targeted military objectives. Between 1994 and 2005, suicide bombings killed 735 Israelis and wounded 4,554.
The Lehi Street bombing was a failed suicide bombing in Lehi Street in Tel Aviv, Israel, on August 18, 2024. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, stating it was executed in collaboration with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The premature detonation resulted in the death of the attacker and injuries to a 33-year-old bystander.
