The attack resulted in 16 deaths, and the Israeli government began a security crackdown of Gaza and the West Bank that caused Palestinian tempers to flare into near daily conflict with Israeli and PA authorities. On September 4, 1997, three suicide bombers simultaneously set off bombs on the Ben-Yehuda shopping promenade in Jerusalem, killing four pedes- trians and wounding 200. In response, Israel cordoned off the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and arrested Palestinians. In September, Israeli forces botched an assassination attempt on the Hamas official Khalid Mishal in Jordan. The agents, detained by Jordanian security forces, were returned to Israel upon the release of Hamas founder Shaikh Yassin and others from Israeli prisons. Israel celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 30, 1998, with aerial and naval military displays. The anniversary turned grim as Palestinians mourned the 50 years since what they call "al-Nakba," The Catastrophe. Violent rioting broke out in Hebron and East Jerusalem, and Israeli soldiers fired on crowds, leaving five Palestinians dead. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright managed to keep negotia- tions alive, though talks dragged on for months with little agreement. The US finally set a deadline in May 1998 for Netanyahu to agree to the US proposal that Israel withdraw from 13% of the West Bank, a figure that the PA accepted. Netan- yahu, concerned about the surrender of territory for an intangible peace, argued that 95% of the Palestinian population was already under its own administration. He did not meet the deadline and insisted that anything over 9% would pose an unacceptable risk. The summer of 2000 marked a tit-for-tat bombing struggle between the Israeli Army occupying southern Lebanon and Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas. Then, in September 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced plans for an historic Israeli pullout, scheduled for July. Barak hoped the pullout would indicate Israeli good will and encourage peace-talks with neighboring Syria. Through the winter, however, escalating skirmishes prompted Barak to advance the pullout to June 1, 2000. But when Hizbullah attacks intensified, Barak realized holding out an extra six days would only lead to increased conflict. On May 24th, when IsraeU forces executed a withdrawal from all of southern Lebanon, Israel's twenty-year occupa- tion of southern Lebanon came to a close. TODAY RECENT NEWS_ In July 2000, Arafat and Barak met for the Camp David II summit under the auspices of the US government. These talks marked the first time that Israel was willing to discuss the status of Jerusalem. Barak endorsed Palestinian control over certain regions of Jerusalem, Israeli withdrawal from 88% of the West Bank and all of Gaza, and the reunification of 100,000 refugee families. No progress was made, however-the two leaders still disagreed over territorial possession and the Pales- tinian refugee situation.