<P> In January 1996, Israel assassinated the chief bombmaker of Hamas, Yahya Ayyash . In reaction to this, Hamas carried out a wave of suicide attacks in Israel . Following these attacks, the Palestinian Authority began to act against the Hamas and oppress their activity . </P> <P> In January 1997, Netanyahu signed the Hebron Protocol with the Palestinian Authority, resulting in the redeployment of Israeli forces in Hebron and the turnover of civilian authority in much of the area to the Palestinian Authority . </P> <P> In 1997, after two deadly suicide attacks in Jerusalem by Hamas, Israeli secret agents were sent to Jordan to eliminate the political head of the Department of Hamas, Khaled Mashal, using a special poison . The operation failed and the secret agents were captured . In return for their release Israel sent over the medicine which saved his life and freed a dozen of Palestinian prisoners including Sheikh Ahmad Yassin . This release and the increase of the security forces of the Palestinian Authority led to a cease - fire in the suicide attacks until the outbreak of the Second Intifada . </P> <P> Eventually, the lack of progress of the peace process led to new negotiations, which produced the Wye River Memorandum, which detailed the steps to be taken by the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority to implement the earlier Interim Agreement of 1995 . It was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, and on November 17, 1998, Israel's 120 member parliament, the Knesset, approved the Wye River Memorandum by a vote of 75--19 . </P>

When did the war between israel and palestine begin