On Sunday, March 14, 2004, two Palestinian suicide bombers who wore explosive belts hidden underneath their clothes approached the Port of Ashdod.

The force of the blast killed ten civilians, most of them were port workers, and injured 16 others.

[1] The two assailants managed to infiltrate Israel from Gaza by hiding in a container that went through the Karni Crossing.

[2] A Hamas leader in Gaza stated that the original plan was that the suicide bombers would blow up fuel tanks at the port; Israel said the bombers intended to carry out a "mega attack" with hundreds of casualties, but instead blew themselves up hundreds of meters from the tanks.

[3] In response, Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin was killed along with his bodyguards and several bystanders (eleven people in total) by hellfire missiles fired at his wheelchair from Israeli helicopters in Gaza City.