Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Encyclopedia
This is an incomplete timeline of notable events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
.
and among the Arabs
, both geared towards attaining sovereignty for their people in the Middle East. The collision between those two forces in The Land of Israel
a.k.a. Palestine
is the essence of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is a part of the larger Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East
.
, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel
, Switzerland
, the World Zionist Organization
was founded. Theodor Herzl
, author of Der Judenstaat
and initiator of the congress, was elected as its first president. From 1897 to 1946, a Zionist Congress was held every two years in various European cities, save for interruptions during the two World Wars. Their goal was to build an infrastructure to further the cause of Jewish sovereignty in The Land of Israel or Palestine.
("the Young Arab Society"), a small Arab nationalist club, in Paris
. Its stated aim was "raising the level of the Arab nation to the level of modern nations." In the first few years of its existence, al-Fatat called for greater autonomy within a unified Ottoman state rather than Arab independence from the empire. They also requested that Arab conscripts to the Ottoman army not be required to serve in non-Arab regions except in time of war. However, as the Ottoman authorities cracked down on the organization's activities and members, al-Fatat went underground and demanded the complete independence and unity of the Arab provinces.
promises an Arab state in the Middle East in return for revolt against the Turks. The region of Palestine was not explicitly mentioned. Disputes between Arabs and the British over whether Palestine was meant to be included in these documents would fuel the conflict over nationalism.
was signed between Britain, France and Russia, in which it was agreed the lands of Palestine, Jordan and Iraq would become mandates for Britain, whilst France would be able to control Lebanon and Syria.
, President of the Zionist Federation, declaring his government would "view with favour the establishment of a national home for the Jewish in Palestine"
founded the Jerusalem branch of the Syrian-based 'Arab Club' (El-Nadi al-arabi), which then vied with the Nashashibi-sponsored 'Literary Club' (Al-Muntada al-Adabi) for influence over public opinion, and he soon became its President.
January 18: Faisal-Weizmann Agreement
between Emir Faisal
(son of the King of Hejaz
, Sharif of Mecca Sayyid Hussein bin Ali), and Chaim Weizmann
(later President of the World Zionist Organization
).
January 30: The Supreme Council of the Peace Conference
decided that the Ottoman Empire's Arab provinces would not be returned to Turkey.
February 3: The Zionist Organisation submits its plan for implementation of the Balfour Declaration and urges the selection of Great Britain as Mandatory for Palestine.
February 27: The leaders of the Zionist Organisation appear before the Supreme Council to explain their plan for implementation of the Balfour Declaration.
March 28: American Zionist Felix Frankfurter
submits a more detailed implementation plan on behalf of the Zionist Organisation.
, which comes mostly from Eastern Europe.
March 1: Jewish settlements in the Upper Galilee were attacked by Arab forces. Joseph Trumpeldor
was among 8 who died defending Tel Hai
.
March 7: Faisal
proclaimed king of Greater Syria.
March 8: A second large Arab nationalist demonstration takes place in Jerusalem.
April 4–7: The 1920 Palestine riots
- violent 4-day riot against the Jews in Jerusalem's Old City. Muhammad Amin Al-Husayni was charged with inciting the Arab crowds with an inflammatory speech and sentenced by military court held in camera
(private) to ten years imprisonment in absentia
, since he had already violated his bail by fleeing to Transjordan
to avoid arrest.
June 12: The April riots prompt the establishment of Haganah
- a Jewish defense force.
resulted in the deaths of 47 Jews and 48 Arabs, with 146 Jews and 73 Arabs being wounded. Most Arab casualties resulted from clashes with British forces attempting to restore order. Thousands of Jewish residents of Jaffa fled for Tel Aviv and were temporarily housed in tent camps on the beach.
pardons Jews and Arabs involved in the 1920 disturbances, including Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
.
becomes the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Until late 1921, al-Husayni focused his efforts on Pan-Arabism
and the ideology of the Greater Syria
in particular, with Palestine
understood as a southern province of an Arab state whose capital was to be established in Damascus. The struggle for Greater Syria collapsed after Britain ceded control over present day Syria and Lebanon to France
in July 1920. Al-Husayni then turned from Damascus-oriented Pan-Arabism to a specifically Palestinian ideology centered on Jerusalem, which sought to block Jewish immigration to Palestine. The frustration of pan-Arab aspirations lent an Islamic colour to the struggle for independence, and increasing resort to the idea of restoring the land to Dar al-Islam
.
that they cannot accept the Mandate or the Balfour Declaration and demand their national independence.
clarifies the British position regarding Palestine.
approves the draft British Mandate for Palestine. British express interest in Zionism
, and describe their main intent of developing a Jewish National Home.
defining the limits of Trans-Jordan and excluding that territory from the provisions in the Mandate concerning the Jewish national home.
erupt due to a dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall
. 133 Jews killed and 339 wounded (mostly by Arabs); 116 Arabs killed and 232 wounded (mostly by British-commanded police and soldiers).
67 Jews are killed, all but 8 of them foreign students from the local yeshiva. The local residents are saved by Muslim families and neighbours. Nonetheless, the British order the Jewish communities to evacuate in Hebron and Gaza "to prevent another massacre", ending the ancient Jewish presence in the cities. Both communities would resume after the 1967 War.
begins a violent campaign against Jewish civilians and the British in Palestine.
October 20: In reaction to the disturbances of 1929, the Passfield White Paper
and the Hope Simpson Royal Commission
recommend limiting Jewish immigration.
is killed by the British.
which rapidly deteriorates into a violent rebellion, known as the Arab Revolt, that would last for three years. Roughly 5000 Arabs and 400 Jews are killed within the scope of the conflict.
, maintains a policy of restraint, but the smaller Irgun
(also called Etzel) group splits up and adopts a policy of retaliation and revenge.
July: The Peel Commission
proposes a partition plan (map), rejected by the Arab leadership as it included a Jewish state. The Jewish opinion was divided as Jewish immigration was limited to only 12,000, and the Twentieth Zionist Congress ultimately rejected the proposal as well.
reverses the Peel Commission
's findings, considers two alternative partition plans, known as Plan B (map) and Plan C (map), and reports in November that partition was impracticable.
ends without making any progress as the Arab delegation refuses to recognize or meet with its Jewish counterpart.
calls for the creation of a unified Palestinian state. Even though the White Paper states its commitment to the Balfour Declaration, it imposed very substantial limits to both Jewish immigration (restricting it to only 75,000 over the next 5 years), and Jewish ability to purchase land.
, others like Iraqi Rashid Ali and the Palestinian Amin al-Husayni assist the Axis
. Many of the Middle Eastern Jewish communities are hit by pro-Axis Arab regimes, and the early stage of Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim lands begins. Most Jewish and Arab Palestinian militant groups attain the policy of cease fire with each other and the British.
(also known as the Stern Gang) - the most radical jewish organization splits from Irgun
.
arrives to Rome with an attempt to form close ties with the Axis powers
. Al-Husayni meets Benito Mussolini
, and arrives to Germany for a meeting with Adolf Hitler
on November 27. Al-Husayni would remain in Berlin until the end of the war, playing a major role in formation of Muslim Waffen SS units and active work preventing thousands of jewish refugees
to escape the Nazis and reach Palestine.
.
launches a bomb attack on British immigration offices in Palestine, no casualties reported. Soon after Lehi
also renews its anti-British attacks.
Summer: From Berlin, Palestinian Arab leader Amin al-Husayni plans a chemical attack upon the Jews in Palestine
. A joint German-Arab commando unit was dispatched into Palestine with chemical weapons to kill 250,000 Jews in what is known as operation "Atlas". The parachutists' team members with the poison were caught near Jericho
by Jordanian and British Police forces.
proposes admission of 100,000 Jewish refugees into the Mandate.
July 22: King David Hotel Bombing
. Irgun
members detonate bombs in the basement of the King David Hotel
in Jerusalem, where the British had brought a large amount of documents confiscated from the Jewish Agency. The attack kills 91 people and injures 45 more, mostly civilians. The hotel was a center of British administration at the time, although Arabs and Jews were also victims. The Jewish National Council condemns the attack.
dividing the British Mandate of Palestine into two states. The Jewish leadership accepts the plan, but the Arab leadership rejects it.
, Palestinian Arabs react violently and fighting broke, known as the "Civil war".
. The Arab Higher Committee
declared a strike and public protest of the vote. Arabs marching to Zion Square
on December 2 were stopped by the British, and the Arabs instead turned towards the commercial center of the City, burning many buildings and shops. Violence continued for two more days, with Arab mobs attacking a number of Jewish neighborhoods. 70 Jews and 50 Arabs are killed.
. Irgun militants hurl two bombs into a crowd of Arab workers from a passing vehicle, killing 6 workers and wounding 42, damaging the relative peace between the two groups in Haifa. Later that day the Arab crowd broke into the refinery compound, killing 39 Jews and wounding 49. Skirmishes continued in Haifa and around the region.
sponsored Arab Liberation Army
, composed of Palestinian Arabs and Arabs from other Middle Eastern countries, attacked Jewish communities
in Palestine, and Jewish traffic on major roads. The Arab forces mainly concentrated on major roadways in an attempt to cut off Jewish communities from each other. Arab forces at that time had engaged in sporadic and unorganized ambushes since the riots of December 1947, and began to make organized attempts to cut off the highway linking Tel Aviv
with Jerusalem, the city's only supply route.
The Arab Army controlled several strategic vantage points overlooking the sole highway
linking Tel Aviv
to Jerusalem, enabling them to fire at convoy
s going to the city
, and cutting off supply lines between the two cities. By late March 1948, the vital road that connected Tel Aviv
to western Jerusalem, where about 16% of all Jews in the Palestinian region lived, was cut off and under siege
.
s killing 52 Jews, injuring 123, all civilians.
. The Haganah
decided to launch a major military
counteroffensive to break the siege of Jerusalem. On April 6 the Haganah
and its strike force, the Palmach
, in an offensive to secure strategic points
, took al-Qastal
, an important roadside town 2 kilometers west of Deir Yassin
. But intense fighting lasted for days more as control of that key village remained contested.
. IZL-Lehi
forces attack Deir Yassin
, as part of Operation Nachshon
to relieve Arab siege of Jews in Jerusalem. In the aftermath between 100 and 254 Palestinians were killed, including women and children, and also 4 among the IZL-Lehi
forces.
. Claimed as retribution for the Deir Yassin massacre, Arab mobs attack a large convoy, mostly of unarmed Jewish doctors set off carrying patients, equipment, and supplies, travel from Jerusalem to the besieged hospital which treated the majority of Jewish residents in Jerusalem. 77 Jews are killed. Road attacks continue and convoys were unable to reach the hospital for a week.
was an act committed by Arab forces, after the surrender of the Jewish village to Arab Legion
. Out of 133 Jewish villagers and defenders, 129 were murdered in the massacre, 4 survived. Bodies were left unburied until November 1949.
from British rule, before the expiration of the British Mandate of Palestine at midnight.
, Syria
, Iraq
, Egypt
, Transjordan
, Holy War Army, Arab Liberation Army
, and local Arabs attack the new Jewish state with the intent of destroying it. The resulting 1948 Arab-Israeli War
lasts for 13 months.
(IDF) under the command of David Ben-Gurion
, and the paramilitary Jewish group Irgun
known as The Altalena Affair
results in the dismantlement of the Irgun, Lehi, and all Israeli paramilitary organizations operating outside the IDF.
from Egypt across Israeli border resulting in many minor skirmishes, raids and counter-raids, resulting in hundreds of casualties on both sides, including many civilians.
) and Egypt
. During and after the war about 700,000 Palestinian Arabs become refugees. A very comparable number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands
flee and become refugees during and after the war.
Qibya massacre
. Ariel Sharon
in command of Unit 101
carries out a raid in the village of Qibya. Over 60 Arabs are killed, two thirds of which were women and children.
's Sinai Peninsula
with covert assent from France and Britain. The European nations had economic and trading interests in the Suez Canal, while Israel wanted to reopen the canal for Israeli shipping and end Egyptian-supported fedayeen
incursions and attacks.
Kafr Qasim massacre
. 48-49 Arab civilians are killed by Israel Border Police
as they return to their village from work.
Egypt expels its Jewish population
and confiscates their property.
, ending the Suez Crisis
.
is founded in Cairo
by the Arab League
with Ahmad Shuqeiri as its leader. Even though Ahmad Shuqeiri is the official leader, the organization is more or less controlled by the Egypt
ian government. The PLO states their goal as the destruction of the State of Israel through armed struggle, and replacing it with an "independent Palestinian state" between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea
.
. Israel launches an attack on Egyptian Air Force
(June 5), following Egypt
ian naval blockade of the Straits of Tiran
(May 22) and Egyptian military buildup in the Sinai Peninsula
(May 16), interpreted as acts of war. attack quickly turns into a regional war, in which Israel defeats the combined forces of Egypt
, Syria
, Jordan
, Iraq
and their supporters. It captures Sinai Peninsula
and Gaza Strip
from Egypt, East Jerusalem
and the West Bank
from Jordan
, and the Golan Heights from Syria
. The number of war casualties is estimated between 15,000 to 25,000.
issued at the Arab Summit with eight Arab countries adopts the "three nos": 1. No peace with Israel, 2. No recognition of Israel, 3. No negotiations with Israel.
, head of the Fatah
party, is appointed chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization
, replacing Ahmad Shukeiri, after Fatah becomes the dominant force in the PLO.
. Palestinian militants originating in Lebanon, attack a school bus, killing 12 (mostly children) and wounding another 19.
, the PLO was driven out to Lebanon
.
airplane hijacked and liberated in Lod Airport
4 commercial jets were taken to Jordan
and blown up.
. On behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
, Japanese Red Army
members enter the waiting area of Lod Airport in Tel Aviv
and fire indiscriminately at airport staff and visitors. 24 people killed, and 78 injured.
of Israeli Olympic team by Palestinian militant group, Black September
. This leads Israel to launch reprisal assassinations known as Operation Wrath of God
.
, the Lebanon
(Operation Spring of Youth
).
. Syria
and Egypt
surprise-attack Israeli forces in the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula
on the holiest day
of the Hebrew calendar
. Jordan
, Iraq
, and other Arab nations join in and/or support the Arab war effort.
, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- General Command cross the border into Israel from Lebanon. They enter an apartment building and kill all eighteen residents, half of which are children.
. Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
attack a van killing two Israeli Arab women, enter an apartment and kill a family, take over a local school and hold at least 90 students and teachers hostage. 26 Israelis killed, 60 wounded.
. Eight Palestinian terrorists in two teams landed by boat in Tel Aviv. Shooting and throwing grenades, they capture the Savoy Hotel and take the guests as hostages. Five hostages were freed and eight were killed. Three Israeli soldiers were also killed.
in Jerusalem kills 15 Israelis and wounds 77.
. Air France Flight 139, originating in Tel Aviv
, Israel took off from Athens
, Greece, heading for Paris, France, is hijacked by four terrorists (two from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine \u2014 External Operations
and two from the radical German militant group Revolutionary Cells
). Israel performs a rescue mission to free the 248 passengers and 12 crew members held hostage at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda
. The rescue is only partially successful, with one Israeli fatality. Nevertheless, it is the first successful rescue mission over 2000 miles.
. Fatah
Palestinians kill an American photographer, hijack a loaded bus and kill 36 more Israelis and wound 76.
Operation Litani
. Israel, in alliance with the mostly Christian South Lebanon Army
, launches a limited-scope invasion of Lebanon and attempts to push Palestinian militant groups away from the Israel border. The 7-day offensive results in about 285,000 refugees created and between 300 and 1200 Lebanese and Palestinian militants and civilians killed.
and Egypt
ian President Anwar Sadat
sign the Camp David Accord, with Israel agreeing to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula
in exchange for peace and a framework for future negotiation over the West Bank
and Gaza Strip
.
. Egypt becomes the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel.
from the Palestine Liberation Front
kills 4 Israelis including a four year-old girl in the Israeli town of Nahariya
.
and caused more than 300 civilian deaths. This led the United States to broker a shaky cease-fire between Israel
and the PLO.
August 29: The 1981 Vienna synagogue attack
on the Stadttempel of Vienna, Austria carried out by Palestinian terrorists of the Abu Nidal organization.
October 20: 1981 Antwerp bombing
on October 20, 1981, when a truck bomb exploded outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium.
. Israel claims the invasion was in order to remove PLO forces after several violations of a cease-fire, most notably an assassination attempt against Israel's ambassador
to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov
, by the Abu Nidal Organization. Israel is allied with the Lebanese Christian army against the PLO, Syria
, and Muslim Lebanese. As a result of the war, the PLO leadership is driven from Lebanon and relocates to Tunis
.
. Lebanese Phalangists massacre between 700-3500 Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, almost all civilians. While no Israeli soldiers were present in the fighting, Israeli Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon
, was found to be indirectly responsible by negligence for the massacre by the Kahan Commission
, and was asked to resign his position. The commission's conclusions are controversial and remain a subject of debate.
, maintaining a self-proclaimed "Security Zone" in the south.
detonates herself in an explosive-laden vehicle in Lebanon, killing two Israeli soldiers and injuring two more, becoming the first reported female suicide bomber
.
PLO, the Israeli Air Force
carries out Operation Wooden Leg
and strikes the PLO base in Tunis, killing 60 PLO members.
hijacks the Achille Lauro
, redirecting the cruise ship to Syria and holding its passengers and crew hostage, demanding the release of 50 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. One man was murdered; Leon Klinghoffer
, a Jewish American, was celebrating his 36th wedding anniversary with his wife upon the Achille Lauro. At the age of 69 he was shot in the forehead and chest while sitting in his wheelchair.
jets and blow them up over Tel Aviv
, Fatah - Revolutionary Council gunmen open fire with rifles and grenades at the international airports in Rome and Vienna
, killing 18 civilians and wounding 138. 6 of the 7 terrorists were either killed or captured.
begins. Violence, riots, general strikes, and civil disobedience campaigns by Palestinians spread across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces respond with tear gas, plastic bullets, and live ammunition.
After the outbreak of the First Intifada
, Shaikh Ahmed Yassin
creates Hamas
from the Gaza wing of the Egypt
ian Muslim Brotherhood
. Until this point the Muslim Brotherhood
in Gaza had enjoyed the support of the Israeli authorities and had refrained from violent attacks, however, Hamas
quickly began attacks on Israeli military targets, and subsequently, Israeli civilians.
was proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council
meeting in Algiers
, by a vote of 253 to 46.
inside Israel's borders: Tel Aviv Jerusalem bus 405 massacre
.
of the Labour Party elected Prime Minister.
, the first suicide attack by Hamas. One Palestinian bystander was killed by the blast, and eight Israeli soldiers were slightly injured.
and Yitzhak Rabin
sign the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government in Oslo
. This event is also seen by many people as the definitive end to the First Intifada
(although some argue it had effectively ended by 1991-1992). By 1993, the violence of the Intifada had claimed the lives of 1162 Palestinians and 160 Israelis. The IDF criticized these numbers from not distinguishing combatants and non-combatants.
opens fire on a group of Palestinian Muslims worshipping at a Mosque, killing 29 and injuring 125. He is subsequently overpowered and beaten to death by survivors.
, Israel, killing 8 people.
and Gaza City
in compliance with the Oslo accords
.
, Shimon Peres
and Yasser Arafat
are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
.
, also known as Oslo II
, signed in Washington, DC.
is assassinated in Tel Aviv
by Jewish extremist Yigal Amir
. Shimon Peres
assumes the position of acting Prime Minister.
s in Jerusalem (Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombings
and in the French Hill
), Tel Aviv and Ashkelon
leave more than 60 Israeli dead. These events are said to have had a major impact on the Israeli elections in May.
of Likud
is elected Prime Minister
.
was signed. The agreement called for an IDF
withdrawal from 80% of Hebron, and initiation of withdrawal from rural areas in the West Bank, as well as remaining parts of the West Bank apart from settlements and military locations. Israel and the PA agreed to begin negotiations on the permanent status agreement to be completed by 4 May 1999.
.
and Yasser Arafat
sign the Wye River Memorandum
at a summit in Maryland
hosted by Bill Clinton
. The sides agreed on steps to facilitate implementation of the Interim Agreement
on the West Bank and Gaza Strip of September 28, 1995 and other related agreements including the Hebron Protocol of January 17, 1997 so that the Israeli and Palestinian sides could more effectively carry out their reciprocal responsibilities, including those relating to further redeployments and security.
of the Labour Party is elected Prime Minister
under the One Israel
banner.
, in compliance with U.N. Resolution 425. Syria and Lebanon insist that the withdrawal is incomplete, claiming the Shebaa Farms
as Lebanese and still under occupation. The UN certifies full Israeli withdrawal.
between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat
aimed at reaching a "final status" agreement collapses after Yasser Arafat
would not accept a proposal drafted by American and Israeli negotiators.
visits the Temple Mount
which is administered by a Waqf
(Under Israeli law, each religious group is granted administration of their holy sites). The day after the visit, violent confrontations erupt between Muslims and Israeli Police. Arafat names the second intifada the Al-Aqsa Intifada
after Sharon's visit, for the Al-Aqsa Mosque
contained within the Temple Mount compound (holy also to Jews and Christians). This event is considered by some to be one of the possible catalysts of the second intifada, however, it is commonly accepted in most circles that there had been numerous underlying causes.
October 1–9: October 2000 events
in Israel. Solidarity demonstrations held by Palestinian citizens of Israel escalate into clashes with Israeli police and Israeli Jewish citizens. 13 Arab civilians (12 with Israeli citizenship) are shot and killed by Israeli police and one Jewish civilian is killed by an Arab citizen. In Hezbollah cross-border raid
3 Israeli soldiers are killed and their bodies kidnapped and Northern Israel is shelled in an attempt to ignite the Israeli-Lebanese border too, but Israelis decide on limited response.
October 12: The lynching in Ramallah
. Two Israeli reservists accidentally enter Ramallah, to be arrested by Palestinian Security Forces
, later to be publicly lynched and videotaped inside the Police station.
November 22: Two Israeli women killed and 60 civilians were wounded in a car bomb attack in Hadera
.
December 10: Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak
, resigns.
. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority aimed to reach the "final status" of negotiations. Ehud Barak
temporarily withdraws from negotiations during the Israeli elections, subsequently Ariel Sharon
refused to continue negotiating in the face of the newly erupted violence.
February 6: Ariel Sharon
of Likud
is elected Prime Minister and refuses to continue negotiations with Yasser Arafat
at the Taba Summit
.
June 1: Dolphinarium massacre
. A Hamas suicide bomber exploded himself at the entrance of a club. 21 Israelis killed, over 100 injured, all youth. Five months prior to the bombing, there was a failed terrorist attempt at the same spot.
August 9: Sbarro restaurant massacre
. A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt weighing 5 to 10 kilograms, containing explosives, nails, nuts and bolts, detonated his bomb. In the blast 15 people (including 7 children) were killed, and 130 wounded. Both Hamas
and the Islamic Jihad
initially claimed responsibility.
August 27: Abu Ali Mustafa
, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
, is assassinated by an Israeli missile shot by an Apache helicopter through his office window in Ramallah.
October 17: Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi
is assassinated in Jerusalem by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
.
March 13: The U.S. pushes through the passage of Resolution 1397
by the Security Council, demanding an "immediate cessation of all acts of violence" and "affirming a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders".
March 14: Israeli forces continue the raid on Ramallah
and other West Bank
towns. A helicopter attack near Tulkarm
kills Mutasen Hammad and two bystanders. A bomb in Gaza City
destroys an Israeli tank which was escorting settlers, killing 3 soldiers and wounding 2. A taxi in Tulkarm
explodes, killing 4 Palestinians. Palestinians execute two accused collaborators in Bethlehem
, planning to hang one of the corpses near the Church of the Nativity
until Palestinian police stop them.
March 27: Passover massacre
. The Park Hotel in Netanya held a big Passover
dinner for its 250 guests. A Palestinian suicide bomber enters the hotel's dining room and detonates an explosive device. Thirty people are killed and about 140 injured, all civilians. Hamas
claims responsibility.
March 28: The Beirut Summit approves the Saudi peace proposal.
March 29: Israeli forces begin Operation Defensive Shield
, Israel's largest military operation in the West Bank
since the 1967 Six-Day War
.
March 30: A suicide bomber explodes in a Tel Aviv
café at around 9:30 PM local time, wounding 32 people. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell (USA) call on Yasir Arafat
to condemn the wave of suicide bombings in Arabic, to his own people. Israeli spokespeople make similar demands. Arafat goes on television and swears in Arabic that he will "die a martyr, a martyr, a martyr". Members of Arafat's personal Al-Aqsa brigade state that they will refuse any form of cease-fire, and that they will continue suicide bombings of civilians in Israel.
March 31: Matza restaurant massacre
. A Palestinian Hamas bomber blows himself up in an Arab-owned restaurant in Haifa, killing 15 and injuring over 40 people.
April: Israeli troops exchange gunfire with guards of Yasir Arafat
in Ramallah
.
April 2: Israeli troops occupy Bethlehem
. Dozens of armed Palestinian gunmen, many of whom Israel has identified as terrorists, occupy the Church of the Nativity
and hold the church and its clergy.
April 12: The Battle of Jenin
, as part of Operation Defensive Shield
, Israeli forces enter a Palestinian refugee camp
in Jenin
, where about a quarter of suicide bombings since 2000 had been launched from. The battle costs the lives of 23 Israeli soldiers and 52 Palestinians, of which 30 were militants and 22 were civilians. This particular event sparked a great deal of controversy.
May 9: Muhammad al-Madani, governor of Bethlehem
, leaves the Church of the Nativity
.
May 18: Israeli Shin Bet officials announce they have arrested six Israelis for conspiring to bomb Palestinian schools in April, including Noam Federman
, a leader of the illegal Kach movement of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane
, and Menashe Levinger, son of Rabbi Moshe Levinger
.
June: Israel begins construction of the West Bank Fence
. Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis subsequently drop by 90%.
June 18: Patt junction massacre
. A Palestinian Islamic law student and member of Hamas explodes himself with a belt filled with metal balls for shrapnel on a bus in Jerusalem. 19 Israelis are killed, and over 74 wounded.
June 24: US President George W. Bush
calls for an independent Palestinian state living in peace with Israel. Bush states that Palestinian leaders must take steps to produce democratic reforms, and fiscal accountability, in order to improve the negotiations with Israel. He also states that as Palestinians show control over terrorism, Israel must end operations in the West Bank, and in areas which it entered under Operation Defensive Shield
.
July 23: An Israeli warplane fires a missile at an apartment in Gaza City, killing the top of their most wanted list, Salah Shehadeh, top commander of Hamas' military wing, the Izzadine el-Qassam. The apartment building is flattened and 14 civilians are killed (including nine children).http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-07-22-israel-strike2_x.htm
July 31: A Hamas member plants a bag containing a bomb in the cafeteria of Hebrew University of Jerusalem
, killing 9 Jewish students (four Israeli, five foreign), and injuring 85 others (different nationalities, including a number of Arabs). Palestinians rally in Gaza waving Hamas flags to celebrate the attack. On August 17, Israeli Security Forces expose a terrorist cell of Hamas operatives in East Jerusalem that had been responsible for the attack. The members had been planning another attack until arrested by Israel.http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Terrorist%20bombing%20at%20Hebrew%20University%20cafeteria%20- http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2002/Security%20forces%20capture%20terrorist%20cell%20involved%20in http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,59185,00.html
August 14: Marwan Barghouti
, captured April 15, was indicted by a civilian Israeli court for murdering civilians and membership in a terrorist organisation.
November 21: Jerusalem bus 20 massacre
. Hamas Palestinian suicide bomber explodes himself on a crowded bus in Jerusalem, killing 11 people, and wounding over 50.
, an American member of the International Solidarity Movement
is crushed by an IDF bulldozer
, becoming the first ISM member to die in the conflict. Members of the group who witnessed her death allege murder, while Israel calls it a "regrettable accident".
March 19: Mahmoud Abbas
appointed Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority.
March 24: Hilltop 26
, an illegal Israeli settlement near the city of Hebron
, is peacefully dismantled by the IDF.
April 30:
The Quartet on the Middle East
announces the Road map for peace
.
May 27: Ariel Sharon
states that the "occupation" of Palestinian territories "can't continue endlessly."
June 2: A two-day summit is held in Egypt. Arab leaders announce their support for the road map and promised to work on cutting off funding to terrorist groups.
June 29: Hamas
, Islamic Jihad and Fatah
agree to a three-month cease-fire.
August 19: Jerusalem bus 2 massacre
. A Hamas Palestinian disguised as a Haredi Jew detonates himself with a bomb spiked with ball-bearings on a bus crowded with children. 23 Israelis are killed and over 130 wounded, all civilians.
September 6: Mahmoud Abbas resigns from the post of Prime Minister.
October 4: Maxim restaurant suicide bombing
. A 28-year-old Palestinian female suicide bomber
, Hanadi Jaradat, explodes herself inside the Maxim restaurant in Haifa
. 21 Israelis (Jewish and Arab) were killed, and 51 others were wounded. The restaurant is co-owned by Jewish and Christian Arab Israelis, and was a symbol of co-existence.
July 9: The International Court of Justice
rules in a non-binding advisory opinion that the Israeli West Bank barrier
is illegal under international law, the United Nations
has also condemned the construction of the wall as "an unlawful act of annexation". The United States and Australia defend the security fence saying the wall is a counter-terrorism protective measure and that the onus is on the Palestinian Authority to fight terrorism. The U.S., Canada, Israel and some 30 other democratic states objected to the ICJ consideration of the UN General Assembly request, finding the request loaded and prejudicial, and expressing concern of the ICJ's credibility.
, in the northern Gaza Strip
. The operation was launched in response to a Qassam rocket
that killed two children in Sderot
. About 108-133 Palestinians were killed during the operation, of whom one third were civilians.
November 11: Yasser Arafat
dies at the age of 75 in a hospital near Paris, after undergoing urgent medical treatment (since October 29, 2004).
claims responsibility.
group in Israel, Eden Natan-Zada
, opens fire on a crowded bus in the Arab town of Shfaram, killing 4 Palestinians and wounding twenty-two. When he runs out of bullets, the bus is stormed by Arab bystanders and Zaada is beaten to death. PM Ariel Sharon
and several Israeli leaders condemn the attack and offer condolences to the families.
August 17: A Asher Weissgan shoots and kills 4 Palestinians in the West Bank as a protest against the disengagement plan.
September 12: Completion of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
. Israel removes all Jewish settlements, many Bedouin
communities, and military equipment from the Gaza Strip. Although there is no permanent Israeli presence or jurisdiction in Gaza anymore, Israel retains control of certain elements (such as airspace, borders and ports), leading to an ongoing dispute as to whether or not Gaza is "occupied" or not. Since the disengagement, Palestinian militant groups have used the territory as a staging ground from which to launch rocket attacks and build underground tunnels into Israel.
October 14: Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora announces Lebanon will be the last Arab country to have any peace with Israel.
. Israel, the United States, European Union
, and several European and Western countries cut off their aid to the Palestinians; as they view the Islamist political party who rejects Israel's right to exist as a terrorist organization.
June 9: Following the Gaza beach blast
, in which seven members of one family and one other Palestinian were killed on a Gaza beach, the armed wing of Hamas calls off its 16-month-old truce. Israel claims it was shelling 250m away from the family's location; Palestinians claimed that the explosion was Israeli responsibility. Reports have concluded Israel had not been responsible for the blast. An Israeli internal investigation report claims the blast was most likely caused by an unexploded Israeli munition buried in the sand and not by shelling.
June 13: Israel kills 11 Palestinians in a missile strike on a van carrying Palestinian militants and rockets driving through a densely civilian populated area in Gaza. Nine among those killed are civilian bystanders.
June 25:
After crossing the border from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Palestinian militants attack an Israeli army post. The militants kidnapped Gilad Shalit
, killed two IDF soldiers and wounded four others. Israel launches Operation Summer Rains.
July 5: First Qassam rocket of increased range is fired into the school yard in the Southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon
. This has been the first instance of an increased distance Qassam rockets can reach and the first time a significantly large city has been attacked. No one was injured in this attack.
July 12: Hezbollah infiltrates Israel in a cross-border raid, kidnaps two soldiers and kills three others. Israel attempts to rescue the kidnapped, and five more soldiers are killed. Israel's military responds, and the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
begins.
July 26: Israel launches a counter-offensive to deprive cover to militants firing rockets into Israel from Gaza. 23 Palestinians killed, at least 16 are identified militants, 76 wounded.
August 14: 2006 Fox journalists kidnapping
. Palestinian militants kidnap Fox
journalists Olaf Wiig and Steve Centanni
, demanding the U.S. to release all Muslims in prison. The two are eventually released on August 27, after stating they have converted to Islam.
September: Violence and rivalry
erupts between Fatah
and Hamas
in the Gaza Strip. Mahmoud Abbas
tries to prevent civil war
. President Mahmoud Abbas
and his moderate party advocate a Palestinian state alongside Israel, while Prime Minister Ismail Haniya
and his Islamist party reject Israel's right to exist.
September 26: A UN study declares the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip
"intolerable", with 75% of the population dependent on food aid, and an estimated 80% of the population living below the poverty line. The Palestinian economy had largely relied on Western aid and revenues, which has been frozen since Hamas's victory. The situation can also be attributed to Israeli closures, for which Israel and the EU cite security concerns, specifically smuggling, possible weapons transfers and uninhibited return of exiled extremist leaders and terrorists; as well as an extremely high birth rate.
October 11–14:
In the midst of an increase of rocket attacks against Israel, the Israeli Air Force fires into the Gaza Strip over a three-day period. 21 Palestinians are killed (17 Hamas militants, 1 al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant, and 3 civilians). The two dozen wounded include gunmen and passersby. Israel says the offensive is designed to track down the kidnapped soldier and to stop militants firing rockets into Israel. Spokesman Abu Ubaida for Hamas's military wing issued a statement vowing "we will bombard and strike everywhere" in response to the attacks. Make-shift rockets are immediately shot into Israel.
October 20: Brokered by Egyptian mediators, Fatah reaches a deal to end fighting between the Hamas and Fatah factions, both groups agreeing to refrain from acts that raise tensions and committing themselves to dialogue to resolve differences. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas brushes off comments by President Mahmoud Abbas, head of Fatah, who indicated he could dismiss the Hamas-led cabinet. Abbas unsuccessfully urges Hamas to accept international calls to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.
Palestinian gunmen (presumably of the Fatah faction) open fire at the convoy of Prime Minister Haniyeh as it passed through a refugee camp in central Gaza.
November 8: Beit Hanoun November 2006 incident. Amidst ongoing rocket fire, Israel shells Beit Hanoun, killing 19 Palestinian civlians (seven children, four women) during the Gaza operations. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologises, saying the incident had been an accidental "technical failure" by the Israeli military.
February: Negotiations in Mecca
produced agreement on a Palestinian
national unity government signed by Abbas on behalf of Fatah and Khaled Mashal
on behalf of Hamas.
March: The Palestinian Legislative Council
established a national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by Abu Mazen, the chairman on the Palestinian Authority
, at a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah
.
May 4: The United States sets a timetable for easing Palestinian travel and bolstering Israeli security. Israel including steps like removing specific checkpoints in the West Bank and deploying better-trained Palestinian forces to try to halt the firing of rockets into Israel from Gaza and the smuggling of weapons, explosives and people into Gaza from Egypt. Israel is wary over certain proposals so long as Palestinian militants continue to fire rockets at Israel. The Hamas-led Palestinian government rejected the initiative.
June 7: Battle of Gaza begins, resulting in Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah.
November 27: Annapolis Conference
, a peace conference marked the first time a two-state solution
was articulated as the mutually agreed-upon outline for addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
. The conference ended with the issuing of a joint statement from all parties.
.
February 28: Operation Hot Winter
is launched in response to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The operation resulted in 112 Palestinians and three Israelis being killed.
May 14: Tony Blair announces new plan for peace and for Palestinian rights, based heavily on the ideas of the Peace Valley plan.
December: Israel launches Operation Cast Lead against the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip, a full scale invasion of the territory in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militant groups. Hamas and other Palestinian groups retaliate by firing mortars and rockets into civilian population centers and Army bases in Southern Israel.
are disputed, but may include as many as 1,417 Palestinians including as many as 926 civilians.
, killing 3 militants and wounding another 7. The militants were members of Hamas
and the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
.
September 2: 2010 direct talks
: U.S. launches direct negotiations between Israel and The Palestinian Authority in Washington D.C.
September 14: 2010 direct talks
: A second round of Middle East peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority concludes in Sharm el-Sheikh
, Egypt
.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
.
Palestinian Arab Nationalism and Zionism
The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century are marked by the birth of two major nationalist movements among the JewsZionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and among the Arabs
Palestinian nationalism
Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people. It has roots in Pan-Arabism and other movements rejecting colonialism and calling for national independence. More recently, Palestinian Nationalism is expressed through the Israeli–Palestinian conflict...
, both geared towards attaining sovereignty for their people in the Middle East. The collision between those two forces in The Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
a.k.a. Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
is the essence of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is a part of the larger Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
1897
At the First Zionist CongressFirst Zionist Congress
The First Zionist Congress was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization held in Basel , Switzerland, from August 29 to August 31, 1897. It was convened and chaired by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionism movement...
, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the World Zionist Organization
World Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland...
was founded. Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...
, author of Der Judenstaat
Der Judenstaat
Der Judenstaat is a book written by Theodor Herzl and published in 1896 in Leipzig and Vienna by M. Breitenstein's Verlags-Buchhandlung...
and initiator of the congress, was elected as its first president. From 1897 to 1946, a Zionist Congress was held every two years in various European cities, save for interruptions during the two World Wars. Their goal was to build an infrastructure to further the cause of Jewish sovereignty in The Land of Israel or Palestine.
1911
Muslim intellectuals and politicians from throughout the Levant formed al-FatatAl-fatat
Al-Fatat or the Young Arab Society was founded in 1911 by Arab nationalist, Izzat Darwaza .It was a secret Arab nationalist organization under the Ottoman Empire. Its aims were to gain independence and unity for various Arab nations then under the Ottoman rule. It found adherents in areas such as...
("the Young Arab Society"), a small Arab nationalist club, in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Its stated aim was "raising the level of the Arab nation to the level of modern nations." In the first few years of its existence, al-Fatat called for greater autonomy within a unified Ottoman state rather than Arab independence from the empire. They also requested that Arab conscripts to the Ottoman army not be required to serve in non-Arab regions except in time of war. However, as the Ottoman authorities cracked down on the organization's activities and members, al-Fatat went underground and demanded the complete independence and unity of the Arab provinces.
1915
Hussein-McMahon CorrespondenceHussein-McMahon Correspondence
The McMahon–Hussein Correspondence, or the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence, was a protracted exchange of letters during World War I, between the Sharif of Mecca, Husayn bin Ali, and Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt, concerning the future political status of the lands under the...
promises an Arab state in the Middle East in return for revolt against the Turks. The region of Palestine was not explicitly mentioned. Disputes between Arabs and the British over whether Palestine was meant to be included in these documents would fuel the conflict over nationalism.
1916
The secret Sykes-Picot AgreementSykes-Picot Agreement
The Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 was a secret agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and France, with the assent of Imperial Russia, defining their respective spheres of influence and control in Western Asia after the expected downfall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I...
was signed between Britain, France and Russia, in which it was agreed the lands of Palestine, Jordan and Iraq would become mandates for Britain, whilst France would be able to control Lebanon and Syria.
1917
November 2:Balfour Declaration 1917: British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour sends a letter to Lord RothschildWalter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild
Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild FRS , a scion of the Rothschild family, was a British banker, politician, and zoologist.-Biography:...
, President of the Zionist Federation, declaring his government would "view with favour the establishment of a national home for the Jewish in Palestine"
1919
Mohammad Amin al-HusayniMohammad Amin al-Husayni
Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Husseini was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. From as early as 1920, in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of a violent riot...
founded the Jerusalem branch of the Syrian-based 'Arab Club' (El-Nadi al-arabi), which then vied with the Nashashibi-sponsored 'Literary Club' (Al-Muntada al-Adabi) for influence over public opinion, and he soon became its President.
January 18: Faisal-Weizmann Agreement
Faisal-Weizmann Agreement
The Faisal–Weizmann Agreement was signed on January 3, 1919, by Emir Feisal , who was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq from August 1921 to 1933, and Chaim Weizmann as part of the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 settling...
between Emir Faisal
Faisal I of Iraq
Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933...
(son of the King of Hejaz
Hejaz
al-Hejaz, also Hijaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined primarily by its western border on the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
, Sharif of Mecca Sayyid Hussein bin Ali), and Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
(later President of the World Zionist Organization
World Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland...
).
January 30: The Supreme Council of the Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
decided that the Ottoman Empire's Arab provinces would not be returned to Turkey.
February 3: The Zionist Organisation submits its plan for implementation of the Balfour Declaration and urges the selection of Great Britain as Mandatory for Palestine.
February 27: The leaders of the Zionist Organisation appear before the Supreme Council to explain their plan for implementation of the Balfour Declaration.
March 28: American Zionist Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
submits a more detailed implementation plan on behalf of the Zionist Organisation.
1920
February 27: Over one thousand protesters take part in an Arab nationalist demonstration in Jerusalem carrying banners bearing the slogans "Stop Zionist Immigration" and "Our Country For Us". Arab nationalists sought to resist the Zionist immigration - AliyahAliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
, which comes mostly from Eastern Europe.
March 1: Jewish settlements in the Upper Galilee were attacked by Arab forces. Joseph Trumpeldor
Joseph Trumpeldor
Joseph Trumpeldor , was an early Zionist activist. He helped organize the Zion Mule Corps and bring Jewish immigrants to the Land of Israel. Trumpeldor died defending the settlement of Tel Hai in 1920 and subsequently became a Zionist national hero...
was among 8 who died defending Tel Hai
Tel Hai
Tel Hai is the modern name of a settlement in northern Israel, the site of an early battle in the Arab–Israeli conflict, and of a noted monument, tourist attraction, and a college...
.
March 7: Faisal
Faisal I of Iraq
Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933...
proclaimed king of Greater Syria.
March 8: A second large Arab nationalist demonstration takes place in Jerusalem.
April 4–7: The 1920 Palestine riots
1920 Palestine riots
The 1920 Palestine riots, or Nabi Musa riots, took place in British Mandate of Palestine April 4–7, 1920 in and around the Old City of Jerusalem....
- violent 4-day riot against the Jews in Jerusalem's Old City. Muhammad Amin Al-Husayni was charged with inciting the Arab crowds with an inflammatory speech and sentenced by military court held in camera
In camera
In camera is a legal term meaning "in private". It is also sometimes termed in chambers or in curia.In camera describes court cases that the public and press are not admitted to...
(private) to ten years imprisonment in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
, since he had already violated his bail by fleeing to Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
to avoid arrest.
June 12: The April riots prompt the establishment of Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
- a Jewish defense force.
May 1–7, 1921
Jaffa riotsJaffa riots
The Jaffa riots were a series of violent riots in Palestine on May 1–7, 1921, which began as a fight between two Jewish groups but developed into an attack by Arabs on Jews during which many were killed...
resulted in the deaths of 47 Jews and 48 Arabs, with 146 Jews and 73 Arabs being wounded. Most Arab casualties resulted from clashes with British forces attempting to restore order. Thousands of Jewish residents of Jaffa fled for Tel Aviv and were temporarily housed in tent camps on the beach.
May 8, 1921
British High Commissioner Herbert SamuelHerbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel
Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel GCB OM GBE PC was a British politician and diplomat.-Early years:...
pardons Jews and Arabs involved in the 1920 disturbances, including Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Husseini was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. From as early as 1920, in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of a violent riot...
.
Late 1921
Mohammad Amin al-HusayniMohammad Amin al-Husayni
Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Husseini was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. From as early as 1920, in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of a violent riot...
becomes the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Until late 1921, al-Husayni focused his efforts on Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
and the ideology of the Greater Syria
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
in particular, with Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
understood as a southern province of an Arab state whose capital was to be established in Damascus. The struggle for Greater Syria collapsed after Britain ceded control over present day Syria and Lebanon to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in July 1920. Al-Husayni then turned from Damascus-oriented Pan-Arabism to a specifically Palestinian ideology centered on Jerusalem, which sought to block Jewish immigration to Palestine. The frustration of pan-Arab aspirations lent an Islamic colour to the struggle for independence, and increasing resort to the idea of restoring the land to Dar al-Islam
Dar al-Islam
The idea of geographical divisions along religious lines i.e. the dur is neither mentioned in the Qur'an nor in the sayings of the Prophet , which are considered the primary sources in Islamic jurisprudence...
.
February 1922
A delegation of Arab leaders informs the Colonial OfficeColonial Office
Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department* Office of Insular Affairs - the American government agency* Reichskolonialamt - the German Colonial Office...
that they cannot accept the Mandate or the Balfour Declaration and demand their national independence.
June 3, 1922
The Churchill White Paper, 1922Churchill White Paper, 1922
The Churchill White Paper of 3 June 1922 clarified how Britain viewed the Balfour Declaration, 1917...
clarifies the British position regarding Palestine.
June 30, 1922
The United States Senate and House of Representatives adopt a joint resolution favouring "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."July 24, 1922
The League of NationsLeague of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
approves the draft British Mandate for Palestine. British express interest in Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
, and describe their main intent of developing a Jewish National Home.
September 16, 1922
The Council of the League of Nations accepts the British Transjordan memorandumTransjordan memorandum
The Transjordan memorandum was a British memorandum passed by the Council of the League of Nations on September 16, 1922. The memorandum described how the British government planned to implement the article of the Mandate for Palestine which allowed exclusion of Transjordan from the provisions...
defining the limits of Trans-Jordan and excluding that territory from the provisions in the Mandate concerning the Jewish national home.
September 29, 1923
British Mandate for Palestine and French Mandate for Syria come into operation.Summer 1929
The 1929 Palestine riots1929 Palestine riots
The 1929 Palestine riots, also known as the Western Wall Uprising, the 1929 Massacres, , or the Buraq Uprising , refers to a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 when a long-running dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall in Jerusalem escalated into violence...
erupt due to a dispute between Muslims and Jews over access to the Western Wall
Western Wall
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...
. 133 Jews killed and 339 wounded (mostly by Arabs); 116 Arabs killed and 232 wounded (mostly by British-commanded police and soldiers).
August 23, 1929
In the 1929 Hebron massacre1929 Hebron massacre
The Hebron massacre refers to the killing of sixty-seven Jews on 23 and 24 August 1929 in Hebron, then part of the British Mandate of Palestine, by Arabs incited to violence by rumors that Jews were massacring Arabs in Jerusalem and seizing control of Muslim holy places...
67 Jews are killed, all but 8 of them foreign students from the local yeshiva. The local residents are saved by Muslim families and neighbours. Nonetheless, the British order the Jewish communities to evacuate in Hebron and Gaza "to prevent another massacre", ending the ancient Jewish presence in the cities. Both communities would resume after the 1967 War.
1930
The Black Hand Islamist group led by Shaykh Izz ad-Din al-QassamIzz ad-Din al-Qassam
Sheikh Muhammad Izz ad-Din al-Qassam was a Tijani Sufi who led militant activities against British, French, and Zionist organizations in the Levant in the 1920's and 1930's.-Early life:...
begins a violent campaign against Jewish civilians and the British in Palestine.
October 20: In reaction to the disturbances of 1929, the Passfield White Paper
Passfield white paper
The Passfield White Paper, issued October 20, 1930, by colonial secretary Lord Passfield, was a formal statement of British policy in Palestine, which previously had been set by the Churchill White Paper of 1922...
and the Hope Simpson Royal Commission
Hope Simpson Royal Commission
The Report on Immigration, Land Settlement and Development or Hope Simpson Report of October 1930 was an investigation into governance of the British Mandate of Palestine, which had been recommended by the Shaw Report, following the widespread 1929 Palestine riots.Headed by Sir John Hope Simpson,...
recommend limiting Jewish immigration.
1935
The leader of the Black Hand, Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-QassamIzz ad-Din al-Qassam
Sheikh Muhammad Izz ad-Din al-Qassam was a Tijani Sufi who led militant activities against British, French, and Zionist organizations in the Levant in the 1920's and 1930's.-Early life:...
is killed by the British.
1936
May 7: The Arab leadership, led by Amin al-Husayni, declares a general strikeGeneral strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
which rapidly deteriorates into a violent rebellion, known as the Arab Revolt, that would last for three years. Roughly 5000 Arabs and 400 Jews are killed within the scope of the conflict.
1937
The mainstream Jewish defense organization, the HaganahHaganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
, maintains a policy of restraint, but the smaller Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
(also called Etzel) group splits up and adopts a policy of retaliation and revenge.
July: The Peel Commission
Peel Commission
The Peel Commission of 1936-1937, formally known as the Palestine Royal Commission, was a British Royal Commission of Inquiry set out to propose changes to the British Mandate of Palestine following the outbreak of the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine...
proposes a partition plan (map), rejected by the Arab leadership as it included a Jewish state. The Jewish opinion was divided as Jewish immigration was limited to only 12,000, and the Twentieth Zionist Congress ultimately rejected the proposal as well.
1938
April — August: The Woodhead CommissionWoodhead Commission
The Woodhead Commission, properly known as the Palestine Partition Commission, was established in 1938 in the British Mandate of Palestine to investigate the implementation of the Peel Commission's plan for a partition of Palestine....
reverses the Peel Commission
Peel Commission
The Peel Commission of 1936-1937, formally known as the Palestine Royal Commission, was a British Royal Commission of Inquiry set out to propose changes to the British Mandate of Palestine following the outbreak of the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine...
's findings, considers two alternative partition plans, known as Plan B (map) and Plan C (map), and reports in November that partition was impracticable.
February — March 17, 1939
The St. James ConferenceSt. James Conference
The St. James Conference was held from February 7 to March 17 in 1939 in the St James's Palace in London.It was held by Malcolm MacDonald, the British colonial secretary, to discuss with Arabs and Jews to determine the future of the region. The meeting ended without result on 17 March 1939...
ends without making any progress as the Arab delegation refuses to recognize or meet with its Jewish counterpart.
May 17, 1939
The White Paper of 1939White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the Mandate for Palestine, as recommended in...
calls for the creation of a unified Palestinian state. Even though the White Paper states its commitment to the Balfour Declaration, it imposed very substantial limits to both Jewish immigration (restricting it to only 75,000 over the next 5 years), and Jewish ability to purchase land.
September 1, 1939
The Second World War erupts. The Haganah begins the smuggling of Jews from Europe to Palestine to provide refuge from the Holocaust. Arab leaders are split: while some assist the AlliesAllies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
, others like Iraqi Rashid Ali and the Palestinian Amin al-Husayni assist the Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
. Many of the Middle Eastern Jewish communities are hit by pro-Axis Arab regimes, and the early stage of Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim lands begins. Most Jewish and Arab Palestinian militant groups attain the policy of cease fire with each other and the British.
1940
LehiLehi (group)
Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...
(also known as the Stern Gang) - the most radical jewish organization splits from Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
.
June 1940
On 19 June twenty Arabs were killed by explosives mounted on a donkey at a marketplace in Haifa. June 29, 13 Arabs were killed in multiple shootings during a one-hour period.October 11, 1941
The Arab Palestinian leader Mohammad Amin al-HusayniMohammad Amin al-Husayni
Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Husseini was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. From as early as 1920, in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of a violent riot...
arrives to Rome with an attempt to form close ties with the Axis powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
. Al-Husayni meets Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, and arrives to Germany for a meeting with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
on November 27. Al-Husayni would remain in Berlin until the end of the war, playing a major role in formation of Muslim Waffen SS units and active work preventing thousands of jewish refugees
Jewish refugees
In the course of history, Jewish populations have been expelled or ostracised by various local authorities and have sought asylum from antisemitism numerous times...
to escape the Nazis and reach Palestine.
August 2nd, 1942
British form the Palestine Regiment, consisted of 3 Jewish and 1 Arab battalions, which assist the British forces in North Africa against the Axis. Another larger unit would be formed in 1944 enlisting Jews alone - the Jewish BrigadeJewish Brigade
The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group was a military formation of the British Army that served in Europe during the Second World War. The brigade was formed in late 1944, and its personnel fought the Germans in Italy...
.
1944
February 12: After a period of reconciliation with the British, the IrgunIrgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
launches a bomb attack on British immigration offices in Palestine, no casualties reported. Soon after Lehi
Lehi (group)
Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...
also renews its anti-British attacks.
Summer: From Berlin, Palestinian Arab leader Amin al-Husayni plans a chemical attack upon the Jews in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. A joint German-Arab commando unit was dispatched into Palestine with chemical weapons to kill 250,000 Jews in what is known as operation "Atlas". The parachutists' team members with the poison were caught near Jericho
Jericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
by Jordanian and British Police forces.
1946
May 1: The Anglo-American Committee of InquiryAnglo-American Committee of Inquiry
The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry was a joint British and American attempt in 1946 to agree upon a policy as regards the admission of Jews to Palestine. The Committee was tasked to consult representative Arabs and Jews on the problems of Palestine, and to make other recommendations 'as may be...
proposes admission of 100,000 Jewish refugees into the Mandate.
July 22: King David Hotel Bombing
King David Hotel bombing
The King David Hotel bombing was an attack carried out by themilitant right-wing Zionist underground organization Irgun on the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on 22 July 1946...
. Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
members detonate bombs in the basement of the King David Hotel
King David Hotel
The King David Hotel is a 5-star hotel in Jerusalem, Israel. Opened in 1931, the hotel was built with locally quarried pink limestone and was founded by Ezra Mosseri, a wealthy Egyptian Jewish Banker. To this day the hotel remains one of the most prominent and prestigious hotels in Israel, and...
in Jerusalem, where the British had brought a large amount of documents confiscated from the Jewish Agency. The attack kills 91 people and injures 45 more, mostly civilians. The hotel was a center of British administration at the time, although Arabs and Jews were also victims. The Jewish National Council condemns the attack.
November 29, 1947
With a two-thirds majority international vote, the UN General Assembly passes a Partition Plan1947 UN Partition Plan
The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was created by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947 to replace the British Mandate for Palestine with "Independent Arab and Jewish States" and a "Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem" administered by the United...
dividing the British Mandate of Palestine into two states. The Jewish leadership accepts the plan, but the Arab leadership rejects it.
November 30, 1947
Following the announcement of the Partition Plan1947 UN Partition Plan
The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was created by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947 to replace the British Mandate for Palestine with "Independent Arab and Jewish States" and a "Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem" administered by the United...
, Palestinian Arabs react violently and fighting broke, known as the "Civil war".
December 2–5, 1947
1947 Jerusalem riots1947 Jerusalem riots
The 1947 Jerusalem Riots occurred following the vote in the UN General Assembly in favour of the 1947 UN Partition Plan on 29 November 1947.The Arab Higher Committee declared a three-day strike and public protest to begin on 2 December 1947, in protest at the vote...
. The Arab Higher Committee
Arab Higher Committee
The Arab Higher Committee was the central political organ of the Arab community of Mandate Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and comprised the leaders of Palestinian Arab clans under the mufti's...
declared a strike and public protest of the vote. Arabs marching to Zion Square
Zion Square
Zion Square is a public square at the east end of the Ben Yehuda Street Pedestrian Mall in downtown Jerusalem. It abuts Jaffa Road, Herbert Samuel Street and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street as well....
on December 2 were stopped by the British, and the Arabs instead turned towards the commercial center of the City, burning many buildings and shops. Violence continued for two more days, with Arab mobs attacking a number of Jewish neighborhoods. 70 Jews and 50 Arabs are killed.
December 30, 1947
Haifa Oil Refinery massacreHaifa Oil Refinery massacre
The Haifa Oil Refinery massacre took place on 30 December 1947. After operatives of the Zionist paramilitary organisation, the Irgun, threw a number of grenades at a crowd of 100 Arab day-labourers who had gathered outside the main gate of the then British-owned Haifa Oil Refinery looking for work,...
. Irgun militants hurl two bombs into a crowd of Arab workers from a passing vehicle, killing 6 workers and wounding 42, damaging the relative peace between the two groups in Haifa. Later that day the Arab crowd broke into the refinery compound, killing 39 Jews and wounding 49. Skirmishes continued in Haifa and around the region.
Winter and Spring, 1948
"Battle of the Roads". The Arab LeagueArab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
sponsored Arab Liberation Army
Arab Liberation Army
The Arab Liberation Army , also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji...
, composed of Palestinian Arabs and Arabs from other Middle Eastern countries, attacked Jewish communities
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
in Palestine, and Jewish traffic on major roads. The Arab forces mainly concentrated on major roadways in an attempt to cut off Jewish communities from each other. Arab forces at that time had engaged in sporadic and unorganized ambushes since the riots of December 1947, and began to make organized attempts to cut off the highway linking Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
with Jerusalem, the city's only supply route.
The Arab Army controlled several strategic vantage points overlooking the sole highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
linking Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
to Jerusalem, enabling them to fire at convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
s going to the city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
, and cutting off supply lines between the two cities. By late March 1948, the vital road that connected Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
to western Jerusalem, where about 16% of all Jews in the Palestinian region lived, was cut off and under siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
.
February 2, 1948
1948 Ben Yehuda Street Bombing. Arabs arrange three car bombCar bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
s killing 52 Jews, injuring 123, all civilians.
April 6–12, 1948
Operation NachshonOperation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon was an Jewish military operation during the 1948 war. Lasting from 5–20 April 1948, its objective was to break the Siege of Jerusalem by opening the Tel-Aviv - Jerusalem road blockaded by Palestinian Arabs and to supply food and weapons to the isolated Jewish community of...
. The Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
decided to launch a major military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
counteroffensive to break the siege of Jerusalem. On April 6 the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
and its strike force, the Palmach
Palmach
The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
, in an offensive to secure strategic points
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
, took al-Qastal
Al-Qastal
Al-Qastal was a Palestinian village that was depopulated in the lead up the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.- History :Under the name of Belveer or Beauverium, Qastal belonged to the Hospitalers by c. 1168 and was listed amongst the castles supposedly destroyed by al-Adil in 1191–2...
, an important roadside town 2 kilometers west of Deir Yassin
Deir Yassin
Deir Yassin was a Palestinian Arab village of around 600 people near Jerusalem. It had declared its neutrality during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine between Arabs and Jews...
. But intense fighting lasted for days more as control of that key village remained contested.
April 9, 1948
Deir Yassin massacreDeir Yassin massacre
The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when around 120 fighters from the Irgun Zevai Leumi and Lohamei Herut Israel Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, a Palestinian-Arab village of roughly 600 people...
. IZL-Lehi
Lehi (group)
Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...
forces attack Deir Yassin
Deir Yassin massacre
The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when around 120 fighters from the Irgun Zevai Leumi and Lohamei Herut Israel Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, a Palestinian-Arab village of roughly 600 people...
, as part of Operation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon
Operation Nachshon was an Jewish military operation during the 1948 war. Lasting from 5–20 April 1948, its objective was to break the Siege of Jerusalem by opening the Tel-Aviv - Jerusalem road blockaded by Palestinian Arabs and to supply food and weapons to the isolated Jewish community of...
to relieve Arab siege of Jews in Jerusalem. In the aftermath between 100 and 254 Palestinians were killed, including women and children, and also 4 among the IZL-Lehi
Lehi
Lehi refers to:In Mormonism:* Lehi , a prophet in the Book of Mormon of the 7th-6th centuries BC* Lehi, son of Helaman, another prophet in the Book of Mormon of the late 1st century BC...
forces.
April 13, 1948
Hadassah medical convoy massacreHadassah medical convoy massacre
The Hadassah medical convoy massacre took place on April 13, 1948, when a convoy, escorted by Haganah militia, bringing medical and fortification supplies and personnel to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus was ambushed by Arab forces....
. Claimed as retribution for the Deir Yassin massacre, Arab mobs attack a large convoy, mostly of unarmed Jewish doctors set off carrying patients, equipment, and supplies, travel from Jerusalem to the besieged hospital which treated the majority of Jewish residents in Jerusalem. 77 Jews are killed. Road attacks continue and convoys were unable to reach the hospital for a week.
May 13, 1948
Kfar Etzion massacreKfar Etzion massacre
The Kfar Etzion massacre was an act committed by Arab armed forces on May 13, 1948, the day before the Declaration of Independence of the state of Israel.-Background:...
was an act committed by Arab forces, after the surrender of the Jewish village to Arab Legion
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
. Out of 133 Jewish villagers and defenders, 129 were murdered in the massacre, 4 survived. Bodies were left unburied until November 1949.
May 14, 1948
Israel declares IndependenceDeclaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
The Israeli Declaration of Independence , made on 14 May 1948 , the day before the British Mandate was due to expire, was the announcement by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, that the new Jewish state named the...
from British rule, before the expiration of the British Mandate of Palestine at midnight.
May 15, 1948
LebanonLebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
, Holy War Army, Arab Liberation Army
Arab Liberation Army
The Arab Liberation Army , also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji...
, and local Arabs attack the new Jewish state with the intent of destroying it. The resulting 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
lasts for 13 months.
June 1948
Violent confrontation between the Israel Defense ForcesIsrael Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) under the command of David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
, and the paramilitary Jewish group Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
known as The Altalena Affair
Altalena Affair
The Altalena Affair was a violent confrontation that took place in June 1948 between the newly formed Israel Defense Forces and the Irgun, a right-wing Jewish paramilitary group...
results in the dismantlement of the Irgun, Lehi, and all Israeli paramilitary organizations operating outside the IDF.
1948-1956
Infiltration by fedayeenFedayeen
Fedayeen is a term used to describe several distinct militant groups and individuals in West Asia at different times in history. It is sometimes used colloquially to refer to suicide squads, especially those who are not bombers.-Overview:...
from Egypt across Israeli border resulting in many minor skirmishes, raids and counter-raids, resulting in hundreds of casualties on both sides, including many civilians.
February–July 1949
Israel concludes Armistice Agreements with neighbouring countries. The territory of the British Mandate of Palestine is divided between the State of Israel, the Kingdom of the Jordan (changed from TransjordanTransjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
) and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. During and after the war about 700,000 Palestinian Arabs become refugees. A very comparable number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands
Jewish exodus from Arab lands
The Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries was a mass departure, flight and expulsion of Jews, primarily of Sephardi and Mizrahi background, from Arab and Muslim countries, from 1948 until the early 1970s...
flee and become refugees during and after the war.
1951
The State of Israel is confronted by a wave of Palestinian infiltrations. In 1951, 137 Israelis, mostly civilians, are killed by such infiltrators.1953
160 Israelis, mostly civilians, are killed by Palestinian infiltrators.Qibya massacre
Qibya massacre
The Qibya massacre, also known as the Qibya incident, occurred in October 1953 when Israeli troops under Ariel Sharon attacked the village of Qibya in the West Bank. Sixty-nine Palestinian Arabs, two thirds of them women and children were killed. Forty-five houses, a school, and a mosque were...
. Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
in command of Unit 101
Unit 101
Unit 101 was a special forces unit of the Israeli Defense Forces , founded and commanded by Ariel Sharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in August 1953...
carries out a raid in the village of Qibya. Over 60 Arabs are killed, two thirds of which were women and children.
October 29, 1956
Israel invades EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
's Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
with covert assent from France and Britain. The European nations had economic and trading interests in the Suez Canal, while Israel wanted to reopen the canal for Israeli shipping and end Egyptian-supported fedayeen
Fedayeen
Fedayeen is a term used to describe several distinct militant groups and individuals in West Asia at different times in history. It is sometimes used colloquially to refer to suicide squads, especially those who are not bombers.-Overview:...
incursions and attacks.
Kafr Qasim massacre
Kafr Qasim massacre
The Kafr Qasim massacre took place in the Israeli Arab village of Kafr Qasim situated on the Green Line, at that time, the de facto border between Israel and the West Bank on October 29, 1956. It was carried out by the Israel Border Police and resulted in 48 Arab civilians dead, including 6 women...
. 48-49 Arab civilians are killed by Israel Border Police
Israel Border Police
The Israel Border Police is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav , meaning border guard, whilst its members are colloquially known as Magavnikim . Border Guard is often used as the official name of the...
as they return to their village from work.
Egypt expels its Jewish population
History of the Jews in Egypt
Egyptian Jews constitute both one of the oldest and youngest Jewish communities in the world. While no exact census exists, the Jewish population of Egypt was estimated at fewer than a hundred in 2004, down from between 75,000 and 80,000 in 1922. The historic core of the indigenous community...
and confiscates their property.
March 1957
Israel withdraws its forces from the Sinai PeninsulaSinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
, ending the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
.
February 3, 1964
The Palestine Liberation OrganizationPalestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
is founded in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
by the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
with Ahmad Shuqeiri as its leader. Even though Ahmad Shuqeiri is the official leader, the organization is more or less controlled by the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian government. The PLO states their goal as the destruction of the State of Israel through armed struggle, and replacing it with an "independent Palestinian state" between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
.
June 1967
The Six-Day WarSix-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
. Israel launches an attack on Egyptian Air Force
Egyptian Air Force
The Egyptian Air Force, or EAF , is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. The EAF is headed by an Air Marshal . Currently, the commander of the Egyptian Air Force is Air Marshal Reda Mahmoud Hafez Mohamed...
(June 5), following Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian naval blockade of the Straits of Tiran
Straits of Tiran
The Straits of Tiran , are the narrow sea passages, about wide, between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas which separate the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea...
(May 22) and Egyptian military buildup in the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
(May 16), interpreted as acts of war. attack quickly turns into a regional war, in which Israel defeats the combined forces of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and their supporters. It captures Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
and Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
from Egypt, East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
and the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
from Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, and the Golan Heights from Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. The number of war casualties is estimated between 15,000 to 25,000.
September 1, 1967
The Khartoum ResolutionKhartoum Resolution
The Khartoum Resolution of September 1, 1967 was issued at the conclusion of an Arab League summit in the wake of the Six-Day War. The resolution, which formed a basis of the policies of these governments toward Israel until the 1973 Yom Kippur War, called for: a continued state of belligerency...
issued at the Arab Summit with eight Arab countries adopts the "three nos": 1. No peace with Israel, 2. No recognition of Israel, 3. No negotiations with Israel.
February 2, 1969
Yasser ArafatYasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
, head of the Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
party, is appointed chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
, replacing Ahmad Shukeiri, after Fatah becomes the dominant force in the PLO.
May 8, 1970
Avivim school bus massacreAvivim school bus massacre
The Avivim school bus massacre was a terrorist attack on an Israeli school bus on May 8, 1970 in which 12 Israeli civilians were killed, nine of them children, and 25 were wounded. The attack took place on the road to Moshav Avivim, near Israel's border with Lebanon. Two bazooka shells were fired...
. Palestinian militants originating in Lebanon, attack a school bus, killing 12 (mostly children) and wounding another 19.
September, 1970
After Black September in JordanBlack September in Jordan
September 1970 is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events." It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the militancy of Palestinian organizations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country. The...
, the PLO was driven out to Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
May 8, 1972
SabenaSabena
SABENA was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its bankruptcy in 2001, the newly formed SN Brussels Airlines took over part of SABENA's assets in February 2002, which then became Brussels Airlines...
airplane hijacked and liberated in Lod Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
4 commercial jets were taken to Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and blown up.
May 30, 1972
Lod Airport MassacreLod Airport massacre
The Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist attack that occurred on May 30, 1972, in which three members of the Japanese Red Army, on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , killed 26 people and injured 80 others at Tel Aviv's Lod airport...
. On behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
, Japanese Red Army
Japanese Red Army
The was a Communist terrorist group founded by Fusako Shigenobu early in 1971 in Lebanon. It sometimes called itself Arab-JRA after the Lod airport massacre...
members enter the waiting area of Lod Airport in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
and fire indiscriminately at airport staff and visitors. 24 people killed, and 78 injured.
September 5, 1972
Munich MassacreMunich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
of Israeli Olympic team by Palestinian militant group, Black September
Black September (group)
The Black September Organization was a Palestinian paramilitary group, founded in 1970. It was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of eleven Israeli athletes and officials, and fatal shooting of a West German policeman, during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, their most publicized event...
. This leads Israel to launch reprisal assassinations known as Operation Wrath of God
Operation Wrath of God
Operation Wrath of God ,This title was an invention of later writers, and was most likely not used by the Mossad itself. also called Operation Bayonet, was a covert operation directed by Israel and the Mossad to assassinate individuals alleged to have been directly or indirectly involved in the...
.
April 9, 1973
Israeli commando raid against PLO targets in BeirutBeirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, the Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
(Operation Spring of Youth
Operation Spring of Youth
The 1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon took place on the night of April 9 and early morning of April 10, 1973 when Israel Defense Forces special forces units attacked several Palestine Liberation Organization targets in Beirut and Sidon, Lebanon...
).
October 1973
The Yom Kippur WarYom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
. Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
surprise-attack Israeli forces in the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
on the holiest day
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
of the Hebrew calendar
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
. Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and other Arab nations join in and/or support the Arab war effort.
April 11, 1974
Kiryat Shmona massacreKiryat Shmona massacre
The Kiryat Shmona massacre was an attack by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command on civilians in the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on 11 April 1974 which resulted in 18 deaths.-The attack:...
, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
- General Command cross the border into Israel from Lebanon. They enter an apartment building and kill all eighteen residents, half of which are children.
May 15, 1974
Ma'alot massacreMa'alot massacre
The Ma'alot massacre was a terrorist attack which included a two-day hostage-taking of 115 people which ended in the deaths of over 25 hostages. It began when three armed Palestinian terrorists of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine entered Israel from Lebanon...
. Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist, secular political and military organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiyah...
attack a van killing two Israeli Arab women, enter an apartment and kill a family, take over a local school and hold at least 90 students and teachers hostage. 26 Israelis killed, 60 wounded.
October 26–29, 1974
The Arab League recognizes the PLO as sole representative of the Palestinians. On November 13, Yassir Arafat addresses the UN General Assembly.March 4, 1975
Savoy OperationSavoy Operation
The Savoy Hotel Attack was a terrorist attack by members of the Palestine Liberation Organization against the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 4–5, 1975.- The attack :...
. Eight Palestinian terrorists in two teams landed by boat in Tel Aviv. Shooting and throwing grenades, they capture the Savoy Hotel and take the guests as hostages. Five hostages were freed and eight were killed. Three Israeli soldiers were also killed.
July 4, 1975
A "refrigerator bomb"Ben Yehuda Street Bombing
The Ben Yehuda Street bombings refer to a series of attacks by Palestinians and suicide bombers on civilians in downtown Jerusalem, Israel in 1948...
in Jerusalem kills 15 Israelis and wounds 77.
July 4, 1976
Operation EntebbeOperation Entebbe
Operation Entebbe was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Special Forces of the Israel Defense Forces at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976. A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists and...
. Air France Flight 139, originating in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Israel took off from Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece, heading for Paris, France, is hijacked by four terrorists (two from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine \u2014 External Operations
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
and two from the radical German militant group Revolutionary Cells
Revolutionary Cells
The Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade , known simply as Animal Liberation Brigade, is a name used by animal liberationists who advocate the use of freedom and a diversity of tactics within the animal liberation movement, whether non-violent or not...
). Israel performs a rescue mission to free the 248 passengers and 12 crew members held hostage at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. The rescue is only partially successful, with one Israeli fatality. Nevertheless, it is the first successful rescue mission over 2000 miles.
March, 1978
Coastal Road MassacreCoastal Road massacre
The Coastal Road massacre of 1978 was an attack involving the hijacking of a bus on Israel's Coastal Highway in which 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, were killed, and 71 were wounded. The attack was planned by Abu Jihad and carried out by the PLO faction Fatah...
. Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
Palestinians kill an American photographer, hijack a loaded bus and kill 36 more Israelis and wound 76.
Operation Litani
Operation Litani
The 1978 South Lebanon conflict was an invasion in Lebanon up to the Litani River carried out by the Israel Defense Forces in 1978. It was a military success for the Israeli Defense Forces, as PLO forces were pushed north of the river...
. Israel, in alliance with the mostly Christian South Lebanon Army
South Lebanon Army
The South Lebanon Army , also "South Lebanese Army," was a Lebanese militia during the Lebanese Civil War. After 1979, the militia operated in southern Lebanon under the authority of Saad Haddad's Government of Free Lebanon...
, launches a limited-scope invasion of Lebanon and attempts to push Palestinian militant groups away from the Israel border. The 7-day offensive results in about 285,000 refugees created and between 300 and 1200 Lebanese and Palestinian militants and civilians killed.
September 17, 1978
Menachem BeginMenachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian President Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981...
sign the Camp David Accord, with Israel agreeing to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
in exchange for peace and a framework for future negotiation over the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
.
March 26, 1979
Israel-Egypt Peace TreatyIsrael-Egypt Peace Treaty
The 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. on the 26th of March 1979, following the 1978 Camp David Accords, which were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter.The peace...
. Egypt becomes the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel.
April 22, 1979
Samir KuntarSamir Kuntar
Samir Kuntar is a Lebanese Druze convicted murderer and former member of the Palestine Liberation Front...
from the Palestine Liberation Front
Palestine Liberation Front
The Palestine Liberation Front is a Palestinian militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union and the USA. It is presently led by Dr. Wasel Abu Yousef.-Origins:...
kills 4 Israelis including a four year-old girl in the Israeli town of Nahariya
Nahariya
Nahariya is the northernmost coastal city in Israel, with an estimated population of 51,200.-History:Nahariya was founded by German Jewish immigrants from the Fifth Aliyah in the 1930s...
.
1981
July 17: Israel bombs PLO headquarters, which had been located in a civilian area of BeirutBeirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
and caused more than 300 civilian deaths. This led the United States to broker a shaky cease-fire between Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the PLO.
August 29: The 1981 Vienna synagogue attack
1981 Vienna synagogue attack
The 1981 Vienna synagogue attack was a terror attack on the Stadttempel of Vienna, Austria carried out by Palestinian terrorists of the Abu Nidal organization. -Attack:...
on the Stadttempel of Vienna, Austria carried out by Palestinian terrorists of the Abu Nidal organization.
October 20: 1981 Antwerp bombing
1981 Antwerp bombing
On October 20, 1981, a truck bomb exploded outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium. Three people were killed and 106 wounded....
on October 20, 1981, when a truck bomb exploded outside a Portuguese Jewish synagogue in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium.
June 6, 1982
Israel launches Operation Peace for Galilee into southern LebanonLebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Israel claims the invasion was in order to remove PLO forces after several violations of a cease-fire, most notably an assassination attempt against Israel's ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov
Shlomo Argov
Shlomo Argov was a prominent Israeli diplomat. He was the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom whose attempted assassination led to the 1982 Lebanon War.-Attempted assassination:...
, by the Abu Nidal Organization. Israel is allied with the Lebanese Christian army against the PLO, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and Muslim Lebanese. As a result of the war, the PLO leadership is driven from Lebanon and relocates to Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
.
September 1982
Sabra and Shatila massacreSabra and Shatila massacre
The Sabra and Shatila massacre took place in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon between September 16 and September 18, 1982, during the Lebanese civil war. Palestinian and Lebanese civilians were massacred in the camps by Christian Lebanese Phalangists while the camp...
. Lebanese Phalangists massacre between 700-3500 Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, almost all civilians. While no Israeli soldiers were present in the fighting, Israeli Defense Minister, Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
, was found to be indirectly responsible by negligence for the massacre by the Kahan Commission
Kahan Commission
The Kahan Commission , formally known as the Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut, was established by the Israeli government on 28 September 1982, to investigate the Sabra and Shatila Massacre . The Kahan Commission was chaired by the President of the Supreme Court,...
, and was asked to resign his position. The commission's conclusions are controversial and remain a subject of debate.
August 1983
The Israeli Army withdraws from most of LebanonLebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, maintaining a self-proclaimed "Security Zone" in the south.
April 9, 1985
Sana'a Mouhadlyof the Syrian Social Nationalist PartySyrian Social Nationalist Party
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party , is a secular nationalist political party in Lebanon and Syria. It advocates the establishment of a Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present day Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Israel, Cyprus, Kuwait,...
detonates herself in an explosive-laden vehicle in Lebanon, killing two Israeli soldiers and injuring two more, becoming the first reported female suicide bomber
Female suicide bomber
Though the majority of suicide bombers have been male, female suicide bombers have carried out a number of attacks.-History:Female suicide bombers have been employed in several conflicts, by a variety of organizations, against both military and civilian targets.*In Lebanon on April 9, 1985, Sana'a...
.
October 1, 1985
After three Israeli civilians were killed on their yacht off the coast of Cyprus by Force 17Force 17
Force 17 was a commando and special operations terror unit of the Palestinian Fatah movement and later of the Office of the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority. It was formed in the early 1970s by Ali Hassan Salameh ....
PLO, the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
carries out Operation Wooden Leg
Operation Wooden Leg
Operation Wooden Leg was an attack by Israel on the Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters in Hammam al-Shatt, Tunisia, 12 miles from the capital of Tunis. It took place on October 1, 1985. Taking place 1,280 miles away, this was the furthest operation from Israel undertaken by the...
and strikes the PLO base in Tunis, killing 60 PLO members.
October 7, 1985
The Palestine Liberation FrontPalestine Liberation Front
The Palestine Liberation Front is a Palestinian militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Canada, the European Union and the USA. It is presently led by Dr. Wasel Abu Yousef.-Origins:...
hijacks the Achille Lauro
MS Achille Lauro
MS Achille Lauro was a cruise ship based in Naples, Italy. Built between 1939 and 1947 as MS Willem Ruys, a passenger liner for the Rotterdamsche Lloyd. It is most remembered for its 1985 hijacking...
, redirecting the cruise ship to Syria and holding its passengers and crew hostage, demanding the release of 50 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. One man was murdered; Leon Klinghoffer
Leon Klinghoffer
Leon Klinghoffer was a disabled American appliance manufacturer who was murdered and thrown overboard by Palestinian terrorists in the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985.-Hijacking and murder:...
, a Jewish American, was celebrating his 36th wedding anniversary with his wife upon the Achille Lauro. At the age of 69 he was shot in the forehead and chest while sitting in his wheelchair.
December 27, 1985
Intending to hijack El AlEl Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd , trading as El Al , is the flag carrier of Israel. It operates scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights to Europe, North America, Africa and the Far East from its main base in Ben Gurion International Airport...
jets and blow them up over Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Fatah - Revolutionary Council gunmen open fire with rifles and grenades at the international airports in Rome and Vienna
Rome and Vienna airport attacks
The Rome and Vienna airport attacks were two major terrorist strikes carried out on December 27, 1985.- The attacks :At 08:15 GMT, four gunmen walked to the shared ticket counter for Israel's El Al Airlines and Trans World Airlines at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport outside Rome, Italy, fired...
, killing 18 civilians and wounding 138. 6 of the 7 terrorists were either killed or captured.
December 8, 1987
First IntifadaFirst Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
begins. Violence, riots, general strikes, and civil disobedience campaigns by Palestinians spread across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli forces respond with tear gas, plastic bullets, and live ammunition.
After the outbreak of the First Intifada
First Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
, Shaikh Ahmed Yassin
Ahmed Yassin
Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin was a founder of Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian paramilitary organization and political party. Yassin also served as the spiritual leader of the organization...
creates Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
from the Gaza wing of the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
. Until this point the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
in Gaza had enjoyed the support of the Israeli authorities and had refrained from violent attacks, however, Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
quickly began attacks on Israeli military targets, and subsequently, Israeli civilians.
November 15, 1988
An independent State of PalestineState of Palestine
Palestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...
was proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council
Palestinian National Council
The Palestinian National Council is the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization and elects its Executive Committee, which assumes leadership of the organization between its sessions. The Council normally meets every two years. Resolutions are passed by a simple majority with a...
meeting in Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, by a vote of 253 to 46.
July 16, 1989
First Palestinian suicide attackSuicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
inside Israel's borders: Tel Aviv Jerusalem bus 405 massacre
Tel Aviv Jerusalem bus 405 massacre
The Tel Aviv-Jerusalem bus 405 attack was suicide attack which was carried out on July 6, 1989 by a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member on a crowded Egged commuter bus line No. 405 en route from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem whom seized the steering wheel of the bus from the driver and pulled the bus over a...
.
June 1992
Yitzhak RabinYitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
of the Labour Party elected Prime Minister.
April 1993
Mehola Junction bombingMehola Junction bombing
The Mehola Junction bombing was the first suicide car bomb attack carried out by Palestinian militants and took place on April 16, 1993....
, the first suicide attack by Hamas. One Palestinian bystander was killed by the blast, and eight Israeli soldiers were slightly injured.
August 20, 1993
Yasser ArafatYasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
and Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
sign the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. This event is also seen by many people as the definitive end to the First Intifada
First Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
(although some argue it had effectively ended by 1991-1992). By 1993, the violence of the Intifada had claimed the lives of 1162 Palestinians and 160 Israelis. The IDF criticized these numbers from not distinguishing combatants and non-combatants.
February 25, 1994
Cave of the Patriarchs attack, Baruch GoldsteinBaruch Goldstein
Baruch Kopel Goldstein was an American-born Jewish Israeli physician and mass murderer who perpetrated the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in the city of Hebron, killing 29 Palestinian Muslim worshipers and wounding another 125....
opens fire on a group of Palestinian Muslims worshipping at a Mosque, killing 29 and injuring 125. He is subsequently overpowered and beaten to death by survivors.
April 6, 1994
Hamas carries out their second suicide bombing, in AfulaAfula
Afula is a city in the North District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley", referring to the Jezreel Valley. The city had a population of 40,500 at the end of 2009.-History:...
, Israel, killing 8 people.
May 18, 1994
Israeli forces withdraw from JerichoJericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
and Gaza City
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
in compliance with the Oslo accords
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
.
October 19, 1994
22 Israelis are killed by a Hamas suicide attack on a bus in Tel Aviv. This was the first major suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.October 26, 1994
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty is signed by Yizhak Rabin and King Hussein with the mediation of the US government.December 10, 1994
Yitzhak RabinYitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
, Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
and Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
.
January 22, 1995
A double suicide bombing by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaves 21 killed in one of the biggest attacks which further divides the Israeli public over the peace process.September 28, 1995
Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza StripInterim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
The Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, also known as the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, the Interim Agreement, Oslo 2, Oslo II, and Taba, was a key and complex agreement governing several aspects of the Palestinian territories of Gaza Strip and the West Bank.-History:It...
, also known as Oslo II
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
, signed in Washington, DC.
November 4, 1995
Prime Minister Yitzhak RabinYitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
is assassinated in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
by Jewish extremist Yigal Amir
Yigal Amir
Yigal Amir is the Israeli assassin of Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin. The assassination took place on November 4, 1995 at the conclusion of a rally in Tel Aviv. Amir is currently serving a life sentence for murder plus six years for injuring Rabin's bodyguard, Yoram Rubin, under...
. Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
assumes the position of acting Prime Minister.
February 25 - March 4, 1996
A series of suicide attackSuicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
s in Jerusalem (Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombings
Jerusalem bus 18 suicide bombings
The Jaffa Road bus bombings were attacks on two No. 18 buses in Jerusalem, Israel in 1996. Hamas suicide bombers killed 45 people in the attacks,which were masterminded by Mohammed Deif, using explosives prepared by Adnan Awul.-First bombing:...
and in the French Hill
French Hill attacks
French Hill attacks refer to numerous attacks by Palestinians near the Jerusalem neighborhood of the French Hill, a Jewish neighborhood in north-central Jerusalem. It is located in territory captured by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967...
), Tel Aviv and Ashkelon
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
leave more than 60 Israeli dead. These events are said to have had a major impact on the Israeli elections in May.
May 1996
Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
of Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
is elected Prime Minister
Israeli prime ministerial election, 1996
The first ever election for Prime Minister was held in Israel on 29 May 1996 alongside simultaneous Knesset elections. There were only two candidates: Shimon Peres of the Labour Party and Binyamin Netanyahu of Likud. The result was a surprise win for Netanyahu by a margin of 29,457 votes, less than...
.
January 15–17, 1997
Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in HebronProtocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron
Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron, also known as The Hebron Protocol or Hebron Agreement, began January 7 and was concluded from January 15 to January 17, 1997 between Israel, represented by Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestine Liberation Organization ,...
was signed. The agreement called for an IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
withdrawal from 80% of Hebron, and initiation of withdrawal from rural areas in the West Bank, as well as remaining parts of the West Bank apart from settlements and military locations. Israel and the PA agreed to begin negotiations on the permanent status agreement to be completed by 4 May 1999.
July 30, 1997
16 Israelis are killed in a double suicide attack in the major market of Jerusalem. This was the worst killing during Netanyahu's time which is regarded as a relatively quiet period, attributed by Netanyahu to his tit-for-tat policy and his objection to the Palestinian revolving door policy. A nearby attack on September 4, 1997 killed four Israelis and led to Chicago's Persian heritage crisisChicago's Persian heritage crisis
Chicago's Persian heritage crisis refers to a threat to seize invaluable Persian antiquities kept at the University of Chicago by the United States federal courts and also a threat to numerous other Persian antiquities kept in the Field Museum in Chicago...
.
October 23, 1998
Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
and Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
sign the Wye River Memorandum
Wye River Memorandum
The Wye River Memorandum was an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestine Authority to implement the earlier Interim Agreement of 28 September, 1995...
at a summit in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
hosted by Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. The sides agreed on steps to facilitate implementation of the Interim Agreement
Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
The Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, also known as the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, the Interim Agreement, Oslo 2, Oslo II, and Taba, was a key and complex agreement governing several aspects of the Palestinian territories of Gaza Strip and the West Bank.-History:It...
on the West Bank and Gaza Strip of September 28, 1995 and other related agreements including the Hebron Protocol of January 17, 1997 so that the Israeli and Palestinian sides could more effectively carry out their reciprocal responsibilities, including those relating to further redeployments and security.
May 17, 1999
Ehud BarakEhud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
of the Labour Party is elected Prime Minister
Israeli prime ministerial election, 1999
The second Prime Ministerial election in Israel was held on 17 May 1999 alongside elections for the 15th Knesset. Voter turnout was 69.0%.-Context:...
under the One Israel
One Israel
One Israel was an alliance of the Labor Party, Meimad and Gesher created to run for the 1999 Knesset elections.-Background:One Israel was formed by Labor leader Ehud Barak in the run-up to the 1999 elections with the aim of making Labor appear more centrist and to reduce its secularist and elitist...
banner.
May 24, 2000
The Israeli Army withdraws from southern LebanonLebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, in compliance with U.N. Resolution 425. Syria and Lebanon insist that the withdrawal is incomplete, claiming the Shebaa Farms
Shebaa farms
The Shebaa Farms are a small uninhabited territory claimed by Lebanon, but occupied by Israel which claims they are in Syria's Golan Heights. Syrian policy is to vaguely accept the Lebanese claim, while refusing any binding demarcation until Israeli forces withdraw from the area.The United Nations...
as Lebanese and still under occupation. The UN certifies full Israeli withdrawal.
July 2000
The Camp David SummitCamp David 2000 Summit
The Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David of July 2000 took place between United States President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat...
between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
aimed at reaching a "final status" agreement collapses after Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
would not accept a proposal drafted by American and Israeli negotiators.
2000
September 28-29: Right wing Israeli Opposition Leader Ariel SharonAriel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
visits the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
which is administered by a Waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
(Under Israeli law, each religious group is granted administration of their holy sites). The day after the visit, violent confrontations erupt between Muslims and Israeli Police. Arafat names the second intifada the Al-Aqsa Intifada
Al-Aqsa Intifada
The Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the Oslo War, was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000...
after Sharon's visit, for the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque also known as al-Aqsa, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem...
contained within the Temple Mount compound (holy also to Jews and Christians). This event is considered by some to be one of the possible catalysts of the second intifada, however, it is commonly accepted in most circles that there had been numerous underlying causes.
October 1–9: October 2000 events
October 2000 events
The October 2000 events were a series of protests in Arab villages in northern Israel in October 2000 that turned violent, escalating into clashes between Israeli Arabs and the Israel Police and ending in the deaths of demonstrators.The Or Commission was established to investigate the police...
in Israel. Solidarity demonstrations held by Palestinian citizens of Israel escalate into clashes with Israeli police and Israeli Jewish citizens. 13 Arab civilians (12 with Israeli citizenship) are shot and killed by Israeli police and one Jewish civilian is killed by an Arab citizen. In Hezbollah cross-border raid
2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid
In the 2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid Hezbollah militants captured three IDF soldiers; Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Sawaid, while they were patrolling the security fence along the border with Lebanon, and took them across the border. It is not clear when or under which circumstances the...
3 Israeli soldiers are killed and their bodies kidnapped and Northern Israel is shelled in an attempt to ignite the Israeli-Lebanese border too, but Israelis decide on limited response.
October 12: The lynching in Ramallah
The lynching in Ramallah
The 2000 Ramallah lynching was a violent incident in October 2000 at the beginning of the Second Intifada in which a Palestinian mob lynched two Israel Defense Forces reservists, Vadim Nurzhitz and Yossi Avrahami , who had accidentally entered the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Ramallah...
. Two Israeli reservists accidentally enter Ramallah, to be arrested by Palestinian Security Forces
Palestinian Security Forces
The Palestinian National Security Forces, also referred to as the presidential guard are the paramilitary forces of the Palestinian National Authority...
, later to be publicly lynched and videotaped inside the Police station.
November 22: Two Israeli women killed and 60 civilians were wounded in a car bomb attack in Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...
.
December 10: Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
, resigns.
2001
January 21–27: Taba SummitTaba Summit
The Taba summit were talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, held from January 21 to January 27, 2001 at Taba in the Sinai peninsula...
. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority aimed to reach the "final status" of negotiations. Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
temporarily withdraws from negotiations during the Israeli elections, subsequently Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
refused to continue negotiating in the face of the newly erupted violence.
February 6: Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
of Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
is elected Prime Minister and refuses to continue negotiations with Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
at the Taba Summit
Taba Summit
The Taba summit were talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, held from January 21 to January 27, 2001 at Taba in the Sinai peninsula...
.
June 1: Dolphinarium massacre
Dolphinarium massacre
The Dolphinarium discotheque suicide bombing was a terrorist attack by on June 1, 2001 in which a suicide bomber Saeed Hotari, a millitant linked to the Palestinian group Hamas, blew himself up outside a discotheque on a beachfront in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 21 Israeli teenagers and injuring 132...
. A Hamas suicide bomber exploded himself at the entrance of a club. 21 Israelis killed, over 100 injured, all youth. Five months prior to the bombing, there was a failed terrorist attempt at the same spot.
August 9: Sbarro restaurant massacre
Sbarro restaurant massacre
The Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing was a Palestinian terrorist attack on a pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem, Israel, on August 9, 2001, in which 15 civilians were killed and 130 wounded.-The attack:...
. A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt weighing 5 to 10 kilograms, containing explosives, nails, nuts and bolts, detonated his bomb. In the blast 15 people (including 7 children) were killed, and 130 wounded. Both Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and the Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...
initially claimed responsibility.
August 27: Abu Ali Mustafa
Abu Ali Mustafa
Abu Ali Mustafa , , the kunya of Mustafa Alhaj a.k.a. Mustafa Ali Zibri, was the Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine from July 2000 until he was killed by Israel forces.-Biography:...
, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
, is assassinated by an Israeli missile shot by an Apache helicopter through his office window in Ramallah.
October 17: Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi
Rehavam Zeevi
' 20 June 1926 - 17 October 2001) was an Israeli general, politician, and historian who founded the right-wing nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating population transfer....
is assassinated in Jerusalem by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
.
2002
March: 259 Palestinians and 130 Israelis were killed within the scope of the Second Intifada.March 13: The U.S. pushes through the passage of Resolution 1397
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1397
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1397, adopted on March 12, 2002, after recalling resolutions 242 and 338 , the Council demanded an end to violence during the Second Intifada between the Israeli and Palestinian sides...
by the Security Council, demanding an "immediate cessation of all acts of violence" and "affirming a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders".
March 14: Israeli forces continue the raid on Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
and other West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
towns. A helicopter attack near Tulkarm
Tulkarm
Tulkarem or Tulkarm is a Palestinian city in the northern Samarian mountain range in the Tulkarm Governorate in the extreme northwestern West Bank adjacent to the Netanya and Haifa districts to the west, the Nablus and Jenin Districts to the east...
kills Mutasen Hammad and two bystanders. A bomb in Gaza City
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
destroys an Israeli tank which was escorting settlers, killing 3 soldiers and wounding 2. A taxi in Tulkarm
Tulkarm
Tulkarem or Tulkarm is a Palestinian city in the northern Samarian mountain range in the Tulkarm Governorate in the extreme northwestern West Bank adjacent to the Netanya and Haifa districts to the west, the Nablus and Jenin Districts to the east...
explodes, killing 4 Palestinians. Palestinians execute two accused collaborators in Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
, planning to hang one of the corpses near the Church of the Nativity
Church of the Nativity
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world. The structure is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, and thus it is considered sacred by Christians...
until Palestinian police stop them.
March 27: Passover massacre
Passover massacre
The Passover massacre was a suicide bombing carried out by Hamas at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel on March 27, 2002, during a Passover seder. Thirty civilians were killed in the attack and 140 were injured...
. The Park Hotel in Netanya held a big Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
dinner for its 250 guests. A Palestinian suicide bomber enters the hotel's dining room and detonates an explosive device. Thirty people are killed and about 140 injured, all civilians. Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
claims responsibility.
March 28: The Beirut Summit approves the Saudi peace proposal.
March 29: Israeli forces begin Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002, during the course of the Second Intifada. It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. The operation was an attempt by the Israeli army to stop the...
, Israel's largest military operation in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
since the 1967 Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
.
March 30: A suicide bomber explodes in a Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
café at around 9:30 PM local time, wounding 32 people. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell (USA) call on Yasir Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
to condemn the wave of suicide bombings in Arabic, to his own people. Israeli spokespeople make similar demands. Arafat goes on television and swears in Arabic that he will "die a martyr, a martyr, a martyr". Members of Arafat's personal Al-Aqsa brigade state that they will refuse any form of cease-fire, and that they will continue suicide bombings of civilians in Israel.
March 31: Matza restaurant massacre
Matza restaurant massacre
The Matza restaurant suicide bombing occurred on March 31, 2002, when a Palestinian Hamas suicide bomber detonated his bomb inside the Matza restaurant in Haifa, Israel, near the Grand Canyon shopping mall, killing 16 Israeli civilians and injuring over 40 people.-The attack:The attack occurred at...
. A Palestinian Hamas bomber blows himself up in an Arab-owned restaurant in Haifa, killing 15 and injuring over 40 people.
April: Israeli troops exchange gunfire with guards of Yasir Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
in Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
.
April 2: Israeli troops occupy Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
. Dozens of armed Palestinian gunmen, many of whom Israel has identified as terrorists, occupy the Church of the Nativity
Church of the Nativity
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world. The structure is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, and thus it is considered sacred by Christians...
and hold the church and its clergy.
April 12: The Battle of Jenin
Battle of Jenin
The Battle of Jenin took place in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. Israel Defense Forces entered the camp, and other areas under the administration of the Palestinian Authority, during the Second Intifada, as part of Operation Defensive Shield...
, as part of Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002, during the course of the Second Intifada. It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. The operation was an attempt by the Israeli army to stop the...
, Israeli forces enter a Palestinian refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
in Jenin
Jenin
Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...
, where about a quarter of suicide bombings since 2000 had been launched from. The battle costs the lives of 23 Israeli soldiers and 52 Palestinians, of which 30 were militants and 22 were civilians. This particular event sparked a great deal of controversy.
May 9: Muhammad al-Madani, governor of Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
, leaves the Church of the Nativity
Church of the Nativity
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is one of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world. The structure is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth, and thus it is considered sacred by Christians...
.
May 18: Israeli Shin Bet officials announce they have arrested six Israelis for conspiring to bomb Palestinian schools in April, including Noam Federman
Noam Federman
Noam Federman is a religious right-wing Israeli Jew in Hebron and a former leader of the Kach Party which he has been involved with since he was 14. He has been held in administrative detention several times. Federman hosts a weekly Internet program called "Federman Without Censor"...
, a leader of the illegal Kach movement of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane
Meir Kahane
Martin David Kahane , also known as Meir Kahane , was an American-Israeli rabbi and ultra-nationalist writer and political figure. He was an ordained Orthodox rabbi and later served as a member of the Israeli Knesset...
, and Menashe Levinger, son of Rabbi Moshe Levinger
Moshe Levinger
Rabbi Moshe Levinger is an Israeli Religious Zionist who since 1967 has been a leading figure in the movement to settle Jews in the territories occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War...
.
June: Israel begins construction of the West Bank Fence
Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...
. Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis subsequently drop by 90%.
June 18: Patt junction massacre
Patt junction massacre
The Patt junction bus bombing was a suicide bombing on an Egged bus carried out by Hamas in Jerusalem on June 18, 2002, killing 19 people and wounding over 74. Seventeen of the dead were residents of Gilo...
. A Palestinian Islamic law student and member of Hamas explodes himself with a belt filled with metal balls for shrapnel on a bus in Jerusalem. 19 Israelis are killed, and over 74 wounded.
June 24: US President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
calls for an independent Palestinian state living in peace with Israel. Bush states that Palestinian leaders must take steps to produce democratic reforms, and fiscal accountability, in order to improve the negotiations with Israel. He also states that as Palestinians show control over terrorism, Israel must end operations in the West Bank, and in areas which it entered under Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002, during the course of the Second Intifada. It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. The operation was an attempt by the Israeli army to stop the...
.
July 23: An Israeli warplane fires a missile at an apartment in Gaza City, killing the top of their most wanted list, Salah Shehadeh, top commander of Hamas' military wing, the Izzadine el-Qassam. The apartment building is flattened and 14 civilians are killed (including nine children).http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002-07-22-israel-strike2_x.htm
July 31: A Hamas member plants a bag containing a bomb in the cafeteria of Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
, killing 9 Jewish students (four Israeli, five foreign), and injuring 85 others (different nationalities, including a number of Arabs). Palestinians rally in Gaza waving Hamas flags to celebrate the attack. On August 17, Israeli Security Forces expose a terrorist cell of Hamas operatives in East Jerusalem that had been responsible for the attack. The members had been planning another attack until arrested by Israel.http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2002/7/Terrorist%20bombing%20at%20Hebrew%20University%20cafeteria%20- http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2002/Security%20forces%20capture%20terrorist%20cell%20involved%20in http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,59185,00.html
August 14: Marwan Barghouti
Marwan Barghouti
Marwan Hasib Ibrahim Barghouti is a Palestinian political figure. He is regarded as a leader of the First and Second Intifadas. Barghouti at one time supported the peace process, but later became disillusioned, and after 2000 went on to become the main figure behind the Al-Aqsa Intifada in the...
, captured April 15, was indicted by a civilian Israeli court for murdering civilians and membership in a terrorist organisation.
November 21: Jerusalem bus 20 massacre
Jerusalem bus 20 massacre
The Kiryat Menachem bus bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on November 21, 2002 in a public bus in the neighborhood of Kiryat Menachem in Jerusalem, Israel...
. Hamas Palestinian suicide bomber explodes himself on a crowded bus in Jerusalem, killing 11 people, and wounding over 50.
2003
March 16: Rachel CorrieRachel Corrie
Rachel Aliene Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement . She was killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces bulldozer when she was standing or kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent the IDF from...
, an American member of the International Solidarity Movement
International Solidarity Movement
The International Solidarity Movement is an organization focused on assisting the Palestinian cause in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using nonviolent protests. It was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist; Neta Golan, an Israeli activist; Huwaida Arraf, a...
is crushed by an IDF bulldozer
Bulldozer
A bulldozer is a crawler equipped with a substantial metal plate used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction work and typically equipped at the rear with a claw-like device to loosen densely-compacted materials.Bulldozers can be found on a wide range of sites,...
, becoming the first ISM member to die in the conflict. Members of the group who witnessed her death allege murder, while Israel calls it a "regrettable accident".
March 19: Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
appointed Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority.
March 24: Hilltop 26
Hilltop 26
Hilltop, outpost or lot 26 was an Israeli outpost founded by Netanel Ozeri. It was founded near the city of Hebron in the Judean Hills of the West Bank. It lay approximately 100 metres from the Kiryat Arba settlement. At the time of its destruction, it had a population of around ten.The settlement...
, an illegal Israeli settlement near the city of Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
, is peacefully dismantled by the IDF.
April 30:
The Quartet on the Middle East
Quartet on the Middle East
The Quartet on the Middle East, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Quartet are the United Nations, the...
announces the Road map for peace
Road map for peace
The roadmap for peace or "road map" for peace is a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proposed by a "quartet" of international entities: the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations. The principles of the plan, originally drafted by U.S. Foreign Service...
.
May 27: Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
states that the "occupation" of Palestinian territories "can't continue endlessly."
June 2: A two-day summit is held in Egypt. Arab leaders announce their support for the road map and promised to work on cutting off funding to terrorist groups.
June 29: Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, Islamic Jihad and Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
agree to a three-month cease-fire.
August 19: Jerusalem bus 2 massacre
Jerusalem bus 2 massacre
The Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing was the suicide bombing of a crowded public bus in the Shmuel HaNavi quarter in Jerusalem, Israel, on August 19, 2003. Twenty-three people were killed and over 130 wounded. Many of the victims were children...
. A Hamas Palestinian disguised as a Haredi Jew detonates himself with a bomb spiked with ball-bearings on a bus crowded with children. 23 Israelis are killed and over 130 wounded, all civilians.
September 6: Mahmoud Abbas resigns from the post of Prime Minister.
October 4: Maxim restaurant suicide bombing
Maxim restaurant suicide bombing
The Maxim restaurant suicide bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on October 4, 2003 in the beachfront "Maxim" restaurant in Haifa, Israel. 21 people were killed in the attack and 51 were injured...
. A 28-year-old Palestinian female suicide bomber
Female suicide bomber
Though the majority of suicide bombers have been male, female suicide bombers have carried out a number of attacks.-History:Female suicide bombers have been employed in several conflicts, by a variety of organizations, against both military and civilian targets.*In Lebanon on April 9, 1985, Sana'a...
, Hanadi Jaradat, explodes herself inside the Maxim restaurant in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
. 21 Israelis (Jewish and Arab) were killed, and 51 others were wounded. The restaurant is co-owned by Jewish and Christian Arab Israelis, and was a symbol of co-existence.
July 9: The International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
rules in a non-binding advisory opinion that the Israeli West Bank barrier
Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...
is illegal under international law, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
has also condemned the construction of the wall as "an unlawful act of annexation". The United States and Australia defend the security fence saying the wall is a counter-terrorism protective measure and that the onus is on the Palestinian Authority to fight terrorism. The U.S., Canada, Israel and some 30 other democratic states objected to the ICJ consideration of the UN General Assembly request, finding the request loaded and prejudicial, and expressing concern of the ICJ's credibility.
2004
October 16: Israel officially ended a 17-day military operation, named Operation Days of PenitenceOperation Days of Penitence
Operation Days of Penitence was the name used by Israel to describe an Israel Defense Forces operation in the northern Gaza Strip, conducted between September 30, 2004 and October 16, 2004...
, in the northern Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. The operation was launched in response to a Qassam rocket
Qassam rocket
The Qassam rocket is a simple steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. Three models have been produced and used between 2001 and 2011....
that killed two children in Sderot
Sderot
Sderot is a western Negev city in the Southern District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 20,700. The city has been an ongoing target of Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip...
. About 108-133 Palestinians were killed during the operation, of whom one third were civilians.
November 11: Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
dies at the age of 75 in a hospital near Paris, after undergoing urgent medical treatment (since October 29, 2004).
2005
February 25: Young Israelis arrive for a surprise birthday party at the Stage Club in Tel Aviv. A Palestinian teenage suicide bomber detonates himself at the entrance to the club. 5 Israelis killed, and about 50 wounded. Islamic JihadIslamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...
claims responsibility.
2005
August 7: An individual IDF deserter and member of the banned KachKach
Kach is town and union council of the Ziarat District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is located at 30°26'2N 67°19'27E and has an altitude of 2020m ....
group in Israel, Eden Natan-Zada
Eden Natan-Zada
Eden Natan-Zada was an Israeli terrorist who was born to a Jewish family that immigrated to Israel from Iran. He was an AWOL Israeli soldier who opened fire in a bus in Shefa-Amr in northern Israel on 4 August 2005, killing four Arab citizens of Israel and wounding twelve others. He was restrained,...
, opens fire on a crowded bus in the Arab town of Shfaram, killing 4 Palestinians and wounding twenty-two. When he runs out of bullets, the bus is stormed by Arab bystanders and Zaada is beaten to death. PM Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
and several Israeli leaders condemn the attack and offer condolences to the families.
August 17: A Asher Weissgan shoots and kills 4 Palestinians in the West Bank as a protest against the disengagement plan.
September 12: Completion of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
. Israel removes all Jewish settlements, many Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
communities, and military equipment from the Gaza Strip. Although there is no permanent Israeli presence or jurisdiction in Gaza anymore, Israel retains control of certain elements (such as airspace, borders and ports), leading to an ongoing dispute as to whether or not Gaza is "occupied" or not. Since the disengagement, Palestinian militant groups have used the territory as a staging ground from which to launch rocket attacks and build underground tunnels into Israel.
October 14: Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora announces Lebanon will be the last Arab country to have any peace with Israel.
2006
January 25: Hamas wins by landslide the majority of seats after the Palestinian legislative election, 2006Palestinian legislative election, 2006
On January 25, 2006, elections were held for the Palestinian Legislative Council , the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority . Notwithstanding the 2005 municipal elections and the January 9, 2005 presidential election, this was the first election to the PLC since 1996; subsequent...
. Israel, the United States, European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, and several European and Western countries cut off their aid to the Palestinians; as they view the Islamist political party who rejects Israel's right to exist as a terrorist organization.
June 9: Following the Gaza beach blast
Gaza beach blast
The Gaza beach blast was an incident on June 9, 2006 in which eight Palestinians were killed and at least thirty others injured in an explosion on a beach near the municipality of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip...
, in which seven members of one family and one other Palestinian were killed on a Gaza beach, the armed wing of Hamas calls off its 16-month-old truce. Israel claims it was shelling 250m away from the family's location; Palestinians claimed that the explosion was Israeli responsibility. Reports have concluded Israel had not been responsible for the blast. An Israeli internal investigation report claims the blast was most likely caused by an unexploded Israeli munition buried in the sand and not by shelling.
June 13: Israel kills 11 Palestinians in a missile strike on a van carrying Palestinian militants and rockets driving through a densely civilian populated area in Gaza. Nine among those killed are civilian bystanders.
June 25:
After crossing the border from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Palestinian militants attack an Israeli army post. The militants kidnapped Gilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit
Gilad Shalit is an Israeli – French citizen and Israel Defense Forces soldier. On 25 June 2006, he was captured inside Israel by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the border with Gaza. The Hamas militants held him for over five years, until he was released on...
, killed two IDF soldiers and wounded four others. Israel launches Operation Summer Rains.
July 5: First Qassam rocket of increased range is fired into the school yard in the Southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
. This has been the first instance of an increased distance Qassam rockets can reach and the first time a significantly large city has been attacked. No one was injured in this attack.
July 12: Hezbollah infiltrates Israel in a cross-border raid, kidnaps two soldiers and kills three others. Israel attempts to rescue the kidnapped, and five more soldiers are killed. Israel's military responds, and the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
begins.
July 26: Israel launches a counter-offensive to deprive cover to militants firing rockets into Israel from Gaza. 23 Palestinians killed, at least 16 are identified militants, 76 wounded.
August 14: 2006 Fox journalists kidnapping
2006 Fox journalists kidnapping
Fox News Channel journalists Olaf Wiig , a New Zealand photojournalist, and Steve Centanni, an American reporter, were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip by the Holy Jihad Brigades, a previously unknown group of Palestinian militants, from their TV van near the Palestinian security services' headquarters...
. Palestinian militants kidnap Fox
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
journalists Olaf Wiig and Steve Centanni
Steve Centanni
Steven James Centanni is an American news reporter for Fox News Channel.-Journalism career:Centanni joined FNC in 1996. He is currently based in Washington D.C. as a national correspondent....
, demanding the U.S. to release all Muslims in prison. The two are eventually released on August 27, after stating they have converted to Islam.
September: Violence and rivalry
Fatah–Hamas conflict
The Fatah–Hamas conflict , also referred to as the Palestinian Civil War , and the Conflict of Brothers , i.e...
erupts between Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
and Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
in the Gaza Strip. Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
tries to prevent civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
. President Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
and his moderate party advocate a Palestinian state alongside Israel, while Prime Minister Ismail Haniya
Ismail Haniya
Ismail Haniyeh ; is a senior political leader of Hamas and one of two disputed Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority, the matter being under political and legal dispute. He became Prime Minister after the legislative elections of 2006 which Hamas won...
and his Islamist party reject Israel's right to exist.
September 26: A UN study declares the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
"intolerable", with 75% of the population dependent on food aid, and an estimated 80% of the population living below the poverty line. The Palestinian economy had largely relied on Western aid and revenues, which has been frozen since Hamas's victory. The situation can also be attributed to Israeli closures, for which Israel and the EU cite security concerns, specifically smuggling, possible weapons transfers and uninhibited return of exiled extremist leaders and terrorists; as well as an extremely high birth rate.
October 11–14:
In the midst of an increase of rocket attacks against Israel, the Israeli Air Force fires into the Gaza Strip over a three-day period. 21 Palestinians are killed (17 Hamas militants, 1 al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant, and 3 civilians). The two dozen wounded include gunmen and passersby. Israel says the offensive is designed to track down the kidnapped soldier and to stop militants firing rockets into Israel. Spokesman Abu Ubaida for Hamas's military wing issued a statement vowing "we will bombard and strike everywhere" in response to the attacks. Make-shift rockets are immediately shot into Israel.
October 20: Brokered by Egyptian mediators, Fatah reaches a deal to end fighting between the Hamas and Fatah factions, both groups agreeing to refrain from acts that raise tensions and committing themselves to dialogue to resolve differences. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas brushes off comments by President Mahmoud Abbas, head of Fatah, who indicated he could dismiss the Hamas-led cabinet. Abbas unsuccessfully urges Hamas to accept international calls to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.
Palestinian gunmen (presumably of the Fatah faction) open fire at the convoy of Prime Minister Haniyeh as it passed through a refugee camp in central Gaza.
November 8: Beit Hanoun November 2006 incident. Amidst ongoing rocket fire, Israel shells Beit Hanoun, killing 19 Palestinian civlians (seven children, four women) during the Gaza operations. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologises, saying the incident had been an accidental "technical failure" by the Israeli military.
2007
January 19: Israel transfers $100 million in tax revenues to cover humanitarian needs to the office of the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, as part of a plan to bolster him and keep money out of the hands of the Hamas government.February: Negotiations in Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
produced agreement on a Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
national unity government signed by Abbas on behalf of Fatah and Khaled Mashal
Khaled Mashal
Khaled Mashal, also known as Khaled Mashaal, Khaled Meshaal, and Khalid Mish'al, has been the main leader of Hamas since the assassination of Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004. In addition, Mashal heads the Syrian branch of the political bureau of Hamas.Mashal was born in Silwad, a village north of...
on behalf of Hamas.
March: The Palestinian Legislative Council
Palestinian Legislative Council
The Palestinian Legislative Council, the legislature of the Palestinian Authority, is a unicameral body with 132 members, elected from 16 electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza...
established a national unity government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. Government ministers were sworn in by Abu Mazen, the chairman on the Palestinian Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
, at a ceremony held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
.
May 4: The United States sets a timetable for easing Palestinian travel and bolstering Israeli security. Israel including steps like removing specific checkpoints in the West Bank and deploying better-trained Palestinian forces to try to halt the firing of rockets into Israel from Gaza and the smuggling of weapons, explosives and people into Gaza from Egypt. Israel is wary over certain proposals so long as Palestinian militants continue to fire rockets at Israel. The Hamas-led Palestinian government rejected the initiative.
June 7: Battle of Gaza begins, resulting in Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah.
November 27: Annapolis Conference
Annapolis Conference
-Attendees:U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice organized and hosted the conference. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and U.S. President George W. Bush attended the meeting...
, a peace conference marked the first time a two-state solution
Two-state solution
The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict, most recently at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007...
was articulated as the mutually agreed-upon outline for addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
. The conference ended with the issuing of a joint statement from all parties.
2008
February 27: Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired a rocket barrage at the Israeli city of AshkelonAshkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
.
February 28: Operation Hot Winter
Operation Hot Winter
Operation Hot Winter, also called Operation Warm Winter was an Israel Defense Forces military campaign in the Gaza Strip, launched on February 29, 2008 in response to Qassam rockets fired from the Strip by Hamas...
is launched in response to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The operation resulted in 112 Palestinians and three Israelis being killed.
May 14: Tony Blair announces new plan for peace and for Palestinian rights, based heavily on the ideas of the Peace Valley plan.
December: Israel launches Operation Cast Lead against the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip, a full scale invasion of the territory in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militant groups. Hamas and other Palestinian groups retaliate by firing mortars and rockets into civilian population centers and Army bases in Southern Israel.
2009
Operation Cast Lead launced near the end of the previous year by Isreal continued until 18th of January. After 22 days of fighting, Israel and Hamas each declared separate unilateral ceasefires. Casualties of the Gaza WarCasualties of the Gaza War
Gaza War Dead estimates made by Human Rights NGOs and by the involved combatants:* B'Tselem was unable to classify 36 deaths, including six children, as combatant or non-combatant; With the release of the updated figures in December 2009, it is unclear whether the number of combatants remain 330 or...
are disputed, but may include as many as 1,417 Palestinians including as many as 926 civilians.
2010
January: Two airstrikes against weapons tunnels used to smuggle rockets and militants attempting to fire mortars into Israeli are carried out by the Israeli Air ForceIsraeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
, killing 3 militants and wounding another 7. The militants were members of Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...
.
September 2: 2010 direct talks
Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in 2010
Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority have been taking place since September 2010, between United States President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and ended when Netanyahu refused to extend...
: U.S. launches direct negotiations between Israel and The Palestinian Authority in Washington D.C.
September 14: 2010 direct talks
Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in 2010
Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority have been taking place since September 2010, between United States President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and ended when Netanyahu refused to extend...
: A second round of Middle East peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority concludes in Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 35,000...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.