January
04.01.2001 - Armed with qualified acceptance by Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat, President Clinton worked to reconcile differences on his outline for
a negotiated settlement between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Barak. The new momentum stemmed from two White House meetings Tuesday in
which Arafat "accepted with his interpretations and principles" the
president's framework for an accord, said Hassan Abdel Rahman. "What we have
to do now is work with both sides to see if we can reconcile those
reservations," White House spokesman Jake Siewert said after Clinton talked
by telephone to Barak and Arafat. The call to Barak evidently was not
conclusive. An Israeli diplomat said the prime minister intended to consult
with senior members of his Cabinet and then speak again to Clinton. The
diplomat said it was essential for Israel that Arafat implement his
commitment to the president to curb violence in the region.
12.01.2001 - After a round of high-level peace talks, Israeli and
Palestinian negotiators lowered expectations Friday, saying gaps remain so
wide that it will take a miracle to strike a deal before President Clinton
leaves office. However, both sides said they are willing to keep trying, and
agreed to meet again Saturday evening, possibly with Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres leading the
teams.
29.01.2001 - Prime Minister Ehud Barak ruled out any contacts with Yasser
Arafat before Israel's Feb. 6 election and accused the Palestinian leader of
an unleashing an "attack of lies" against Israel. In the Gaza Strip, Israel
soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man who was working on his home. The
Israel attacks follows the round of peace talks in Taba, Egypt, which ended
Saturday without any agreement. A total of 330 Palestinian have been killed
since September 2000.
February
07.02.2001 - Ariel Sharon will have precious little time to savor his
lopsided election victory as prime minister. He must quickly forge a
government from the unruly factions in parliament, and he faces hostile
Palestinians deeply suspicious of his intentions. Sharon routed incumbent
Ehud Barak in one of the most one-sided elections in Israel's history,
winning 62.5% to 37.4%. The day after the balloting, attention was already
focused on whether Sharon would be able to stitch together a stable
coalition government.
13.02.2001 - Israeli helicopter gunships unleashed a fatal pinpoint strike
on a car carrying a Palestinian security agent as the man drove on the
outskirts of a refugee camp. The slain Palestinian officer was identified as
Massoud Ayyad, 54, a major in Force 17, an elite Palestinian security
service. The missile attack on the outskirts of the Jebaliya refugee camp
killed Ayyad instantly and turned his car into a smoldering, twisted pile of
metal. Four bystanders were lightly injured.
21.02.2001 - Israel's targeted killings of Palestinians suspected of attacks
on Israelis are part of a "policy of state assassinations," the human rights
groups Amnesty International said in a report released Wednesday. The group
demanded that Israel stop the practice and asked the United States to review
its weapons sales to Israel as a result of it. The report said Amnesty field
workers investigated several cases in which Israeli forces targeted and
killed Palestinian leaders, and concluded that the killings were illegal and
unnecessary. The report called the killings a "policy of state
assassination." Amnesty International, the London-based group that won the
1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its human rights advocacy, called on the United
States to examine "all arms transfers to Israel" and provide guarantees that
the weapons "are not used to violate human rights."
March
16.03.2001 - For the second time in three months, Palestinians are pressing
the U.N. Security Council to send a security force into Palestinian occupied
territories, despite staunch objection from Israel and the United States. A
similar proposal was voted down in December, but Palestinian U.N. envoy
Nasser Al-Kidwa insisted that things are different now because the situation
in the territories has deteriorated, the U.S. and Israeli governments have
changed and the Security Council has five new members. He wants a new vote
next week. The December resolution was defeated after intensive lobbying by
the United States, Israel's strongest ally. The Palestinians and their
supporters couldn't muster the necessary nine votes in the 15-member
council. Al-Kidwa predicted success in a new vote, but any move toward
creating such a force still could face possible defeat because the United
States - which has veto power - remains opposed to any proposal Israel
objects to.
23.03.2001 - A 21-year-old Palestinian security officer was killed when
Israeli forces fired tank shells at a position of Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat's presidential guard unit. Four others were injured. Since the unrest
began six months ago, 355 Palestinians have been killed.
28.03.2001 - Israeli helicopters rocketed Palestinian police buildings in
Gaza and the West Bank town of Ramallah on Wednesday. Flares lit up the
night sky over Ramallah during the assault. Helicopter gunships hit the
Ramallah headquarters of Force 17, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's elite
guard. Five gunships fired on Force 17 headquarters in Deir al-Balah in the
southern Gaza Strip. Israeli ships off the coast of Gaza City opened fire on
the area of Arafat's office. The buildings under attack - all in areas
governed by Arafat's Palestinian Authority - had been evacuated after the
Israeli military warned the Palestinians to leave.
April
02.04.2001 - In the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Palestinian gunmen and
Israeli soldiers exchanged heavy fire, and there were unconfirmed reports of
casualties. The loud booms could be heard in downtown Jerusalem, a few miles
away. In Rafah, the Israeli rocket attack killed 29-year-old Mohammed
Abdallah, a member of Jihad group, and turned his truck into a smoldering
pile of metal. In a quick burial, more than 2,000 mourners shouted "revenge,
revenge," as they marched behind the body, draped in a red blanket.
10.04.2001 - Israel rocketed Palestinian security targets in the Gaza Strip
on Tuesday, killing a Palestinian police doctor and injuring 20 people. It
was the first daytime attack by Israel in months. Israel's air strikes
usually come at night, when Palestinian buildings being targeted are empty.
Palestinian Brig. Gen. Abdel Razek Majaida said the Israeli rocketing was a
"declaration of war." Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was
implementing a detailed plan aimed at restoring a sense of security to the
Israeli people.
19.04.2001 - Israeli tanks and bulldozers re-entered the Gaza strip and
leveled a Palestinian police station , a day after the United States rebuked
the Israelis for seizing another area of the Gaza strip. Israel withdrew
from the other Palestinian-controlled area on Tuesday, after a stinging
criticism by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Palestinian security
officials said Israeli tanks and army bulldozers on Wednesday entered an
area of the Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border, stayed for about 45 minutes
and destroyed a police station. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Since the violence erupted on Sept. 28, 392 Palestinian have been killed.
May
07.05.2001 - Israeli troops shelled a Palestinian refugee camp Monday,
killing a 4-month-old baby girl and wounding 24 people. Palestinian doctors
said 10 children were among the injured. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
said he was sorry, and that Israeli troops did not intend to harm children.
In the West Bank, Israeli troops briefly entered two Palestinian towns -
part of a new policy that gives field commanders the authority to decide on
such forays on the spot, without waiting for government approval. Israeli
shelling during one of the raids killed a Palestinian teacher. The United
States has sharply criticized such incursions.
14.05.2001 - Five Palestinian policemen manning a roadside checkpoint in the
West Bank were killed by Israeli fire, and Israeli helicopters rocketed
Palestinian security targets in Gaza, destroying 10 armored vehicles. In
Gaza, two Palestinians were killed in a clash with Israeli forces. Thousands
of Palestinians chanting "revenge" gathered outside a West Bank hospital for
a memorial procession for the slain policemen. The officers were killed at a
small Palestinian police outpost near the West Bank town of Beituniya,
Palestinian officials said. Several bullets tore through the barrack walls.
Also, the Israeli army demolished a Palestinian police station and several
other buildings in the West Bank village of Shuwakeh in an area under
Israeli security control. More than seven months of violence has killed 447
Palestinian.
31.05.2001 - Faisal Husseini, a top PLO official who had a leading role in
the launching of the peace process with Israel and was a longtime campaigner
for Palestinian claims in Jerusalem, died of a heart attack. He was 60.
Husseini, the main PLO official in Jerusalem, died in his hotel room before
dawn, said an organizer of a conference where Husseini was scheduled to
speak later. "He has been my colleague since we were very young. He's also
my relative. It is really a great loss," Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
said in Brussels, Belgium, where he decided to cut short a visit to fly back
to the region to attend to Husseini's body.
June
13.06.2001 - CIA chief George Tenet brought together senior Israeli and
Palestinian security officials to begin implementing a U.S.-brokered truce
the two sides have accepted. Israel said it considered the truce to have
taken effect with the end of the three-way meeting, at 3 p.m., and Israeli
media said the two sides would begin carrying out some of the cease-fire
provisions in the next 48 hours. However, Palestinian officials described
the meeting as a failure, saying the Israelis did not commit to specific
steps, such as easing a security closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
22.06.2001 - Two Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion in the Gaza
Strip on Friday, lured toward a booby-trapped jeep by Palestinians calling
for help, the army said. Elsewhere in Gaza, two Palestinian teen-agers were
critically wounded by Israeli fire. The attacks came as a senior U.S. envoy,
William Burns, met with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to try to
cement a fragile cease-fire.
26.06.2001 - Inviting himself to the White House, Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon was hoping for talk of unity at the expense of Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat. Instead, Sharon wound up his Washington visit
Wednesday after a cold shower of public disagreement with President Bush.
Sharon and Bush clashed in public over how much reduction in Mideast
violence would be enough to trigger further political moves. And in a closed
meeting they disagreed over the explosive issue of freezing construction in
Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "There must be a total
cessation of violence" before any negotiations, Sharon said at every
opportunity, even correcting a reporter who asked about "cessation." Bush
made it clear from the outset that his administration does not share the
all-or-nothing Israeli view.
July
09.07.2001 - Bulldozers leveled 14 Palestinian homes under construction in
one of Israel's biggest demolition operations in years, provoking tears and
stone-throwing at a refugee camp on the northern edge of Jerusalem. The
Palestinians said the demolitions were part of an Israeli effort to restrict
their numbers in and around Jerusalem.
11.07.2001 - A Palestinian woman in labor was barred from passing an Israeli
military checkpoint for 2 1/2 hours, giving birth in her car to a baby boy
who died before reaching a medical clinic, her doctor said. In another
checkpoint confrontation, an Israeli soldier shot and killed a Palestinian
woman after her taxi evaded a roadblock trying to take workers to jobs
inside Israel.
17.07.2001 - Two Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a Palestinian farm ,
killing four people, including two senior Hamas activists. The helicopter
attack obliterated a farm building near the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
Palestinian security sources identified two of the dead as Omar Saadeh and
Taha Aruj, another of the dead was a cousin of Saadeh.
25.07.2001 - Israel's army fired missiles from a hillside position, killing
a activist from Hamas as he drove his car in a West Bank town. The activist,
Saleh Darwazeh, 38, was alone in his red Volkswagen when it was hit by five
rounds in Nablus. The car was destroyed in the attack, which sent black
plumes of smoke rising over the town. Palestinian ambulances rushed to the
scene and recovered the body, which was torn to pieces by the force of the
blast.
30.07.2001 - An explosion ripped through a car parts store in the West Bank,
killing six Palestinian activists in one of the deadliest single episodes in
10 months of Intifada. Hours later, Israeli helicopters rocketed the
Palestinian police headquarters in Gaza City, injuring two policemen. The
helicopter strike sent white smoke rising from the police compound as people
ran frantically from the buildings into the street. The first clashes in the
current Intifada broke out at the site Sept. 29 - the day after a
controversial visit by Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, who was
opposition leader at the time. Since then, 539 Palestinians have been killed
by the Israeli army.
August
15.08.2001 - About 70 tanks and hundreds of troops took over Palestinian
government buildings, including the governor's office and police buildings.
The tanks withdrew after three hours. There were at least three deaths and
several injuries. Eyewitnesses say Israeli bulldozers demolished several
police checkpoints and Israeli snipers are engaged in a firefight with
Palestinian police.
16.08.2001 - Israeli undercover troops killed a Palestinian leader in the
town of Hebron. Imad Abu Sneineh was shot in the head, chest, stomach and
legs by 10 bullets fired from a truck with Palestinian number plates outside
his home in the divided West Bank city of Hebron. Israeli security sources
said the killing was carried out by undercover soldiers.
23.08.2001 - Israeli soldiers shot dead four Palestinians in the West Bank,
hours after the two sides said they were ready to hold new talks on ending
nearly 11 months of bloodshed. Palestinian official said, three civilians
were shot dead as they came to the aid of a man who was wounded by the
soldiers and later died. The official described it as a "massacre."
28.08.2001 - Israel assassinated the leader of a Palestinian faction in a
missile strike on the group's offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abu
Ali Mustafa, the 64-year-old head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP), died when two missiles fired by helicopter gunships
slammed into the offices in an apartment block after he took a phone call.
Mustafa had the highest profile of anyone killed under Israel's policy of
tracking and killing militants since a Palestinian uprising erupted in
September. He became PFLP chief after longtime leader George Habash stepped
down in July 2000. The helicopter gunships had hovered overhead before
firing the missiles through the window. The Israeli army confirmed it had
launched an attack against Mustafa.
September
07.09.2001 - An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a Palestinian car
in Tulkarm, killing two Fatah activists and injuring two others. Three more
bystanders were slightly injured in the missile attack, in another targeted
killing by Israel of Palestinian activists.
13.09.2001 - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat donated blood for the
victims of the terror attacks in New York and Washington. "God bless them,"
Arafat said as medical staff prepared to draw his blood in Gaza Shifa
hospital. Palestinian officials said his donation would be the start of a
blood drive for the casualties of the 11'th of September attacks.
16.09.2001 - Israeli tanks rumbled into Palestinian towns in the West Bank
for the second straight day. The Israeli incursion into Jericho and Jenin
ignited gun battles that left three Palestinian militants dead and 21
wounded. A fourth Palestinian militant died from injuries sustained in a
raid overnight Wednesday in Jenin and two nearby villages. Palestinian
leaders accused Israel of stepping up incursions into their territory as the
world turned its eyes toward the horrendous aftermath of the U.S. terror
attacks.
27.09.2001 - Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat agreed on Wednesday to make a new bid to forge a lasting truce
that could boost U.S. efforts to create a global anti-terror coalition.
Meeting under U.S. pressure, the leaders reiterated their commitment to a
truce-to-talks plan that allows for measures including the lifting of
blockades imposed on Palestinian areas. Peres and Arafat also agreed at the
talks at Gaza airport to hold a second meeting "within a week or so" to turn
a shaky truce into a lasting cease-fire. Even as they met, Israeli soldiers
shot dead a Palestinian teen-ager in the Gaza Strip.
October
08.10.2001 - Israeli tanks and troops drove into a Palestinian area of the
West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, seizing strategic positions and killing
five Palestinians in a gun battle. Sharon said U.S. efforts to win Arab
support for a war on terrorism after the suicide attacks on New York and
Washington would not stop Israel defending itself and he warned the United
States not to "appease" the Arabs at the Jewish state's expense.
17.10.2001 - Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavim Ze'evi died after being
gunned down at close range outside his Jerusalem hotel room, apparently by
Palestinians seeking revenge for Israel's assassination of a Palestinian
leader. Ariel Sharon promptly ordered a freeze on all diplomatic contacts
with the Palestinians, and placed full responsibility for the murder on
Palestinian President Yassir Arafat. The Israeli security cabinet also
decided to step up its military operations against the Palestinian Authority
and to cancel moves taken earlier this week to ease Israeli sanctions
against the Palestinians in the West bank and Gaza Strip.
24.10.2001 - Israeli soldiers killed at least fifteen Palestinians in
overnight and early morning fighting, in the bloodiest day since the
Palestinian uprising erupted thirteen months ago. The Israeli actions come
despite reports that Israeli troops will soon end their crippling siege of
six Palestinian cities in the West Bank, following massive international
pressure. Responding to U.S. demands for an immediate withdrawal, Ariel
Sharon told the Israeli Knesset the army would stay until it achieved its
mission, which he defined as "avoiding terrorism and arresting terrorists."
25.10.2001 - Israeli troops withdrew from the West Bank village of Beit
Reema after a deadly raid which was a large scale massacre killing at least
13 Palestinian and injuring more then 20 others. Israeli forces pulled out
of Beit Reema before sunrise after a massive air, armor and infantry
operation.
November 2001
01.11.2001, Israeli missiles Blew up a Jamil Jadallah, top Hamas commander, and troops killed
five other Palestinian militants. The Israeli military, tracked Jadallah
down to a hiding place in Hebron and killed him with two missiles fired
from a helicopter gunship.
05.11.2001, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,postponed indefinitely his
planned visit to Washington this week. The Israeli leader had been scheduled
to meet with President Bush next
Sunday and to see British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a stopover while
flying to the United States. The trip had been postponed
because of "the security situation in the country" and a new date would be
set.
06.11.2001, Three Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed in
gunfight near Nablus. Two Palestinians were also injured near the village of Tel
Bourin in the northern West Bank.
08.11.2001, Israeli undercover troops disguised as Arabs killed a Hamas member
on the West Bank. Issa Dababsa, 50,
was surprised in
his home in the village of Yatta, he was fatally wounded before he got off
a shot. Two of Dababsa's relatives were wounded.
13.11.2001, Dozens of Israeli troops rolled into a Palestinian-ruled town in the West
Bank early today and killed a Hamas member. "We heard an explosion
followed by extensive shooting by the army," said Adnan al-Seifi, the
village council head in Tell, near Nablus. The militant was identified as Mohammed Hassan
Reihan.
18.11.2001, The Israeli army's killing of two Palestinians and the shelling of an
American school in the Gaza Strip triggered a new round of recriminations,
just before a long-awaited U.S. policy statement on the Middle East.
The local American School was punctured by tank shells in what witnesses
said was damage caused during the raid in the town of Beit Lahyia in the
northern Gaza Strip. The latest violence flared just hours before Secretary of
State Colin Powell
was due to make a speech setting out for the first time the Bush
administration's vision for ending nearly 14 months of Israeli-Palestinian
violence .
19.11.2001, Israel demolished Palestinian houses in Gaza and said it would build
new homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron, a day after
the United States announced a new Middle East peace drive. Three
Palestinians were wounded in Gaza. Israel also said it would
replace mobile homes in the Jewish settlement in divided Hebron with
concrete houses, despite Secretary of State Colin Powell's call to halt
settlement construction.
25.11.2001, Israel's chief of staff, General Shaul Mofaz, escaped unharmed when
two bombs exploded near the convoy in which he was travelling in the West
Bank, television reports said. Israeli television news said the bombs were detonated
when the first jeep in the convoy passed a curve in the road near the settlement
of Beth-Hagai in the Hebron mountains.
December 2001
01.12.2001, A Palestinian bomber detonated explosives on an Israeli bus,
killing himself and three Israelis and injuring nine.
Sharon boarded a plane for the United States, where he is expected to press
President Bush to support his demand for seven days of calm in the region
before Israel returns to the negotiating table.
03.12.2001, Palestinians charged that Israel's missile attack was a
declaration of war -and called for an Arab summit to deal with the crisis.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "has tonight declared war," said Saeb
Erekat, a Palestinian Cabinet minister and senior aide to Yasser Arafat.
Erekat said the Palestinian Authority had jailed more than 200 militants,
including leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in response to the weekend
attacks that killed 25 Israelis.
08.12.2001, Israeli warplanes fired missiles at the Palestinian Authority's main police
headquarters in the Gaza Strip, injuring at least 15 people. The
airstrikes renewed Israel's military retaliation for a series of
attacks that killed 25 people last weekend. The building struck by the
missiles is the headquarters of Palestinian police for both the Gaza Strip
and West Bank.
10.12.2001, An Israeli helicopter strike killed two young Palestinians, including a
toddler, in the West Bank.
Israeli security sources said the target of the attack on a car in the
divided city of Hebron was a leader of the Islamic Jihad group.
There were conflicting reports whether Mohammed Sidr, had
survived the attack in which a helicopter firing three missiles reduced one
car to mass of charred metal and damaged two others.
Jihad Badr, chief of Hebron's Al Ahli hospital, said three-year-old Burhan
al-Himuni and Shadi Arafi, 13, were killed.
The toddler's twisted, burned body was laid out on a hospital floor before
being covered with an orange blanket. The child's father, who had been
walking in the street with the baby, was among 12 people wounded. He was in
critical condition.
11.12.2001, Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Palestinians near the
West Bank city of Tulkarem, Radio Israel reported.
Palestinian eyewitnesses said the vehicle had been slowly approaching
the roadblock when the soldiers began firing without any apparent reason.
Overnight, Israelie apache helicopters had attacked several Palestinian
Authority installations in the northern Gaza Strip.
13.12.2001, Israel unleashed thunderous reprisals against Palestinian targets
after twin attacks on Jewish settlers left 10 Israelis dead and
injured 34 more. Israeli warplanes bombed a Palestinian buildings in the West Bank
city of Nablus, a security compound in Gaza City, naval
police headquarters in the northern Gaza Strip and a radar unit at Gaza
Airport, where Israeli bulldozers had already destroyed the runway, an
Israeli army official said. One Palestinian woman died and 10 were reported
injured in the air assault.
14.12.2001, Israeli bulldozers, tanks, helicopters and F-16s continued to destroy
Palestinian government buildings for a second day, pushing the
conflict into new territory. Radio commentators and politicians on both
sides wondered if the next step was a full-scale war.
18.12.2001, Israel briefly detained a senior Palestinian official Sari Nusseibeh
and killed a Hamas
member Yakoub Idkadak. Israel also shot dead a Palestinian naval policeman in the West Bank city of
Nablus.
29.12.2001, Yasser Arafat may try again to challenge Israel's travel ban, by attempting
to attend two other Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem.
Arafat, barred by Israel from leaving his Ramallah headquarters on Christmas
Eve, is eager to visit the site of Jesus' birth for Greek Orthodox Christmas
on Jan. 6 or an Armenian observance 10 days later. Israeli officials
reiterated the policy set down last week - that Arafat cannot travel freely
until he arrests the two assassins of Jerusalem's tourism minister who are
believed to be hiding near him in Ramallah.
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