JANUARY

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Jan. 10: Israeli army attacks and destroys the Palestinian airport in Gaza and demolishes 73 homes in residential areas, leaving 120 families and over 500 people homeless. In addition, water, telephone, and electricity networks are destroyed and the main road between Rafah and Khan Younis is cut into two.

Jan. 12: Israeli battleships raid Rafah port and confiscate Palestinian boats; fishing and maintenance equipment are destroyed. In Rafah RC, 40 homes are destroyed and many others damaged.

Jan. 14: Israeli forces assassinate Fateh leader Ra’ed Al-Karmi, 27, in a car explosion in Tulkarem.

Jan. 15: The Likud bureau, chaired by Uzi Landau, decides unanimously to reject PM Sharon's statements supporting the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.

Jan. 19: Israeli forces destroy the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) building in Um Ash-Sharayet, Ramallah.

Jan. 25: In a newspapers ad, 52 Israeli reserve soldiers announce they would no longer serve in the WBGS, saying “We will not continue to fight on the other side of the Green Line with an intent to control, expel, starve and degrade an entire people.” They also condemn the closure of Palestinian cities and towns.

Jan. 28: Pres. Arafat dismisses Brig.-Gen. Fuad Shubaki and issues arrest warrants for two other Palestinian officials suspected to be involved in the Karine-A arms ship.

Jan. 31: Sharon tells Ma’ariv he regrets not having "eliminated" Arafat in Beirut during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

- FM Peres and PLC Speaker Abu Ala meet in New York to continue discussions on their plan to end the Intifada and move to political negotiations.

- During a meeting between representatives of the UN, the EU and US Middle East envoy William Burns, in Washington, the French govt. presents its new Mideast peace plan, which involves two “inseparable issues:” the recognition of an independent Palestinian state and new elections in Palestine that focus on the issue of peace.

 

February

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Feb. 4: Israeli forces fire a missile at a vehicle near Rafah, assassinating four Palestinian activists - Fateh member Mohammed Abu Sneima, PPP member Ayman Al-Bahdari and DFLP members Ibrahim Jarbu'a and Majid Abu Moamar - while a fifth - Fateh member Nasir Abu Athra - is pronounced clinically dead.

Feb. 6: Ha’aretz reports that according to the Interior Min.’s head of the Population Registry, Herzl Gedz, some 140,000 Palestinians have moved to Israel under the family reunification clause, since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Eli Yishai (Shas) calls the data “worrisome”, stating “This figure shows that through Israel's back door, the Palestinians are realizing their right of return" which will "threatens the Jewish character of the state."

- Israeli DM Ben-Eliezer, in Washington, says that PA Chairman Arafat is not a partner for negotiations and that the US should start talks with more "realistic" Palestinian leaders.

Feb. 12: Israeli DM Ben-Eliezer calls for the creation of a buffer zone inside PA-controlled territory.

Feb. 17: Thomas Friedman writes in a New York Times article that asked why Arab states would not offer Israel normalization with security guarantees in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the OPT, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah revealed that he has prepared a speech for the Arab summit in which he was going to call for "Full withdrawal, in accord with UN Resolution 242, for full peace between Israel and the entire Arab world."

Feb. 19: Six soldiers are killed and one wounded in an attack by Palestinian gunmen at a roadblock and army outpost in Ein Arik, near Ramallah. The gunmen manage to escape. Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claim responsibility.

Feb. 20: In an overnight reprisal raid, Israel launches massive attacks throughout the WBGS, killing at least 14 Palestinians, incl. four guards at the PA's presidential compound in Gaza and seven security forces manning a roadblock near Nablus. In Gaza, Pres. Arafat's headquarters are targeted for the first time.

Feb. 21: During night raids, IDF troops kill six Palestinians and wound over 30 others in Gaza.

- The PA arrest the three main suspects - Ahed Abu Gholmi, Basel Asmar, and Hamdi Koran - in the killing of Israeli Min. Ze’evi at their hiding place near Nablus.

- In an address to the nation, PM Sharon announces a cabinet decision to set up "buffer zones" that would lead to a "security separation" between Israel and the Palestinians.

Feb. 24: Despite the arrest of three suspects in the murder of Min. Ze'evi by the PA, the Israeli security cabinet decides not to allow PA Chairman Arafat to leave Ramallah, but to change his house arrest to town arrest and pull back troops from his compound.

Feb. 25: PA Chairman Arafat endorses the Saudi peace plan, which is also welcomed by several Arab states, US Sec. of State Powell, the EU’s Solana and Israeli FM Peres.

Feb. 26: A Palestinian delegation, headed by Mohammed Dahlan and Jibril Rajoub, and an Israeli delegation led by Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter, resume security talks at the residence of the US Amb. in Herzliya Pituah.

 

March

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March 2: After 24 hours of Israeli military assaults on Palestinian RCs, in which 24 Palestinians are killed, Palestinians suspend security and political talks with the Israeli leadership.

March 3: Seven soldiers and three settlers are killed by a lone Palestinian sniper shooting at an Israeli roadblock near Ofra settlement before escaping unharmed. Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim responsibility.

- The Israeli security cabinet approves an IDF-recommended operation to put constant military pressure on the PA and Palestinian ‘terrorist’ groups. DM Ben-Eliezer praises the actions in Balata and Jenin RCs, saying "Psychologically, we broke the taboo of the refugee camps and the feeling the terrorists had that they have immunity there."

March 4: In Ramallah near Al-‘Amari RC, an Israeli tank shell hits the car of Hamas member Hussein Abu Kweik, driven at the time by his wife Bushra, killing her and their three children, 17, 14 and 8 years old. In the car behind them, two other children, Arafat and Haima Al-Masri, 16 and 4, are also killed.

- Israeli planes bomb Al-Muqata’a compound, totally destroying the headquarters of Palestinian General Intelligence chief Tawfik Tirawi.

March 5: Israeli F16 jets destroy the PA intelligence headquarters in Bethlehem.

- In Ramallah three senior Tanzim and Force 17 members - Muhannad Abu Halaweh, Omar Qa’dan, and Fawzi Murrar - are killed in a helicopter attack in Beitunia.

March 6: In an overnight incursion into Gaza seven Palestinians are killed, several others injured and arrested. Two Israeli soldiers are also killed. Near Khan Younis four Palestinian homes are demolished and in Gaza City the home of Yasser Arafat as well as a UN school for the blind.

- Israeli right-wing Min. of Infrastructure, Avigdor Lieberman, urges PM Sharon to order the army to begin a systematic bombing of Palestinian population centers saying, as quoted in Yediot Ahranot, "At 8 o'clock, we bomb all commercial centers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At 12 o'clock, we bomb all fuel stations. And at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we bomb all the banks".

March 7: IDF begins wide-ranging operation overnight in Tulkarem and its RCs, killing at least 15 Palestinians, among them two PRCS ambulance medics, and leaving behind much destruction.

March 8: In two Israeli attacks overnight on Khuza'a village next to Khan Younis and Beit Hanoun and Jabalia RC, 27 Palestinians are killed, incl. Maj.-Gen. Ahmed Mufrej (Abu Hmeid), a high-ranking Palestinian officer.

- Israeli forces kill 11 Palestinians in assaults in the northern West Bank, mainly in Tulkarem, where also over 100 Palestinians are arrested. At the end of the day, the death toll has reached at least 44.

March 10: Israel helicopters fire at least 35 missiles at PA Chairman Arafat's seaside office building in Gaza City, destroying it and wounding over 20 people.

March 11: The Knesset approves a new legislation in its first reading with 23 to 12 to outlaw Israeli citizens and residents from joining the PA security apparatus or militant organizations operating in the PA.

March 11-12: Israeli military forces enter Jabalia RC and impose a military closure on areas in northern Gaza. At least 18 Palestinians are killed, many more wounded and several buildings destroyed.

March 12: Israeli forces invade Ramallah and Al-Bireh, imposing curfews on many areas, occupying several building, and kill at least five Palestinians. In Al-Amari RC, troops demolish three homes, incl. that of suicide bomber Wafa Idris.

- UN Sec.-Gen. Annan condemns Israel’s use of heavy weaponry against Palestinians and demands that Israel "stop the bombing of civilian areas, the assassinations, the unnecessary use of lethal force, the demolitions, and the daily humiliation of ordinary Palestinians" as well as "end the illegal occupation."

- The UNSC passes a US-drafted resolution referring for the first time to a Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel by 14-0, with Syria abstaining.

March 14: US Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni arrives in Israel; meets Sharon and urges him to leave the PA areas.

March 15: DM Ben-Eliezer orders the gradual pullback from Ramallah, which is left in severe damage.

March 16: EU leaders call on Israel and Palestinians to rein in violence, saying there "is no military solution to this conflict." They urge Israel to withdraw its forces from PA areas, lift restrictions on Arafat's movements, freeze settlement building, relieve the closures, and allow international observers to monitor a cease-fire. They condemn Israel’s "use of excessive force" against Palestinians as unjustifiable, especially "actions against medical and humanitarian institutions and personnel," and its "executions without trial" of Palestinians. They call on the PA to fight terrorism.

March 19: An aerial survey conducted by Peace Now has revealed that since the election of Sharon in Feb. 2001 34 new settlement sites have been established in the West Bank.

March 22: The US announces that it is adding the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades to the State Dept.'s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Israel applauds the decision.

March 25: A delegation of renowned intellectuals from the International Parliament of Writers (IPW) meets with Arafat in Ramallah. Among them Portuguese Nobel Prize laureate Jose Saramago (Literature, 1998) compares Israeli policy in the territories to "Nazi" tactics and equates the Palestinians to concentration camp victims, saying the situation in the Ramallah resembled "the spirit of Auschwitz" and "What must be done is to ring all bells of the world, to say that what's happening in Palestine is a crime that we can stop." Juan Goytisolo of Spain says that Israel is employing state terrorism and that the group had come to show solidarity with the Palestinians living in ghettoes, and Breyten Breytenbach, who spent eight years in jail for opposing apartheid in South Africa, asked if he did not fear he would be termed anti-Semitic, says "We have to reject this kind of cultural terrorism that sees every criticism of Israeli crimes against the Palestinians as an expression of anti-Semitism.”

March 26: After meeting with Palestinian officials, who presented their response to his compromise proposals, asking for further clarifications as the text departed too far from the original Tenet text, US envoy Zinni says that the gaps between the two sides are too wide. The next meeting of the joint security committee is postponed indefinitely.

March 27: 29 people are killed and over 100 wounded, when a Palestinian suicide bomber - Abdel-Basset Odeh from Tulkarem - blows himself up in the Park Hotel in Netanya. Hamas claims responsibility. Pres. Arafat gives a speech from his office in Ramallah, saying he was ready to immediately implement an unconditional cease-fire.

March 27-28: The Arab summit in Beirut opens without King Abdullah and Pres. Mubarak, who do not attend because of security reasons. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah reiterates his proposal of “normal relations” with Israel for recognition of a Palestinian state and the refugees’ right to return. The Palestinian delegation walks out after a speech by Chairman Arafat is not aired. On the second day, Arab states approve final draft of Saudi peace initiative.

March 29: After Sharon declares Arafat “an enemy” and the Israeli cabinet decides to isolate him, IDF troops launch  "Operation Defensive Wall", invade Ramallah and surround Arafat's headquarters. Israeli troops seize most of the buildings, confining Arafat to a few rooms. Five Palestinians are killed and 50 wounded; one Israeli soldier is also killed. Israeli troops prevent ambulances and paramedics from evacuating the wounded and destroy electricity networks and other infrastructure. Various buildings are turned into military outposts.

March 30: In the night, Israeli tanks enter and re-occupy Bethlehem and Beit Jala.

- UN Gen.-Sec. Annan calls upon Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territory and not to harm Arafat.

- The UNSC holds a meeting over Mideast situation behind closed doors and passes Res. 1402 calling for Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities with 14:0, with Syria boycotting the vote because of the text’s soft tone.

March 31: The Israeli army declares Ramallah a closed military area, banning journalists from the city; soldiers also seize local TV channels and replace normal programming with pornographic films.

- A suicide bomber - Shadi Tobassi, 18, from Jenin - blows himself up near the Matza restaurant in the Grand Canyon Mall in Haifa's Romema district, killing 14, and wounding dozens others. Hamas and Islamic Jihad take responsibility.

- PM Sharon addresses the nation, saying "We are at war, and it is a war for our home" … "This terror is being directed, put into practice and initiated by a single individual - Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. He is the enemy of Israel and the entire free world, an obstacle to peace in the Middle East and a threat to the stability of the entire region."

 

April

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April 1: Overnight, Israeli troops move into Bethlehem, Qalqilya and Tulkarem.

April 2: Israeli forces attack the Preventive Security headquarters in Beitunia, calling on the 400 Palestinians inside to surrender. Later the day, some 250 activists, among them women and children and six Hamas prisoners, surrender, for which Jibril Rajoub is attacked by PA officials, and Hamas, saying Rajoub had sacrified their men.

- While the curfew in Ramallah is lifted for a few hours, Palestinian doctors dig a mass grave in the parking lot of the hospital to bury 25 of the dead bodies that have been retrieved over the past 4 days.

April 3: Beit Sahour is fully occupied by Israeli troops who also take over the Bethlehem municipality and continue their siege on the Nativity Church where some 150 people took refuge. Jenin and Salfit are also invaded.

April 4: Israeli forces rumble Nablus and encircle three adjacent RCs overnight, making it the seventh West Bank city seized since "Operation Defensive Wall" began six days ago.

- Pres. Bush says he intends to send Sec. of State Powell to the region and reiterates that the root cause of the conflict is Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. He calls on Israel to stop all settlement activity in line with the Mitchell recommendations and international law, to halt incursions into Palestinian areas and to implement UNSC Res. 1402. The move comes after intense pressure on the US to intervene by Arab states.

- A UNSC meeting votes unanimously to adopt Res. 1403, endorsing the Mideast mission of Sec. of State Powell and demanding the implementation of Res. 1402 and an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities "without delay."

April 6: In the last 24 hours over 35 Palestinians were killed, 15 in Nablus, at least 10 in Jenin, where troops invade the RC in an operation overseen personally by chief of staff Mofaz and tear down dozens of homes. The death toll since 28/29 March is estimated to have reached at least 124.

April 7: Palestinians resisting the Israeli invasion in the casbah of Nablus refuse to give themselves up to IDF troops and vow to fight "until the end." Some 30 Palestinians were killed in the last 48 hours.

April 9: Israeli troops pull out from Tulkarem and Qalqilya, but redeploy around the cities. Fighting continues in Jenin and Nablus, Israeli forces move into Dura, near Hebron, and into villages in the northern West Bank; Ramallah and Bethlehem remain under curfew and military closed areas. To date, some 2,000 Palestinians have been detained.

April 10: An Egged bus on the Haifa-Jerusalem route is blown up in a suicide bombing near Kibbutz Yagur, close to Haifa. At least eight are killed and over 10 wounded. Hamas claims responsibility.

- Press reports indicate that Germany is drafting a blueprint for peace and coexistence not only of Israel and the Pales­tinians, but in the region. It foresees a cease-fire, Israeli troop withdrawal, followed by a declaration of a Palestinian state, an end to Jewish settlements in the WBGS, and phased talks on issues such as borders and the status of Jerusa­lem, and provides for international peacekeepers patrolling a buffer zone between Israel and the Palestinian areas.

 April 11: The last Palestinian gunmen surrender to the IDF in Jenin RC, mediated by B'Tselem. UNWRA states that at least 3,000 Palestinian women and children are homeless in Jenin area. Troops remain in Ramallah, Nablus, Dura, Jenin and Bethlehem.

April 14: US Sec. of State Powell meets Arafat in Ramallah for over three hours, calls the encounter “useful and constructive” and offers a package containing security, political negotiations, and economic aid. He conveys Sharon's request that Fuad Shubaki, suspect in the Karine A affair, and the Ze'evi killers be handed over. Arafat rejects the request, demands an Israeli withdrawal from PA areas before he declares a cease-fire and commits himself to curb violence.

April 15: In Bethlehem the standoff between IDF troops and some 200 Palestinians in the Church of the Nativity reaches its 14^th day. In Jenin, the IDF and the ICRC enter the devastated Jenin RC to search for dead bodies.

- West Bank Fateh leader Marwan Barghouti is arrested in At-Tireh, Ramallah, by an elite IDF unit.

April 18: After touring Jenin RC, UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen calls the scene "horrifying beyond belief," saying it is a "blot that will forever live on the history of the state of Israel" and demands “immediate access” by international hu­manitarian agencies. The Israeli govt.'s decides to consider Larsen a persona non grata due to his report of events in Jenin. 

- In Nablus, the bodies of over 70 Palestinians, incl. children and women, killed during the Israeli incursion, are buried in a mass grave during a lift of the curfew.

April 19: The UNSC decides in Res. 1405 unanimously to send a delegation to Israel "to develop accurate informa­tion regarding recent events in the Jenin refugee camp through a fact-finding team" and demands that Israel allow free access for humanitarian and medical organizations. Res. 1405 also calls for the implementation of three previous resolutions, 1397, 1402 and 1403, calling for a cease-fire and Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.

- During a meeting with Sec. Powell, Pres. Bush says that PM Sharon was "a man of peace."

April 20: US Middle East envoy William Burns tours the ruins of Jenin RC, saying "I just think what we are seeing here is a terrible human tragedy.”

April 21: The IDF winds up Operation Defensive Shield withdrawing from Nablus and parts of Ramallah. The PRCS says at least 216 Palestinians have been killed and 416 wounded to date. The army remains in Bethlehem and in the area of the Muqata’a in Ramallah.

April 22: At a press briefing in New York, UN Sec.-Gen. Kofi Annan announces that the UN fact-finding mission into the events in Jenin RC will be headed by former Pres. of Finland Martti Ahtisaari and comprise of former UNHCR chief Sadako Ogata, former ICRC Pres. Cornelio Sommaruga, US Gen. Bill Nash as Military Advisor and Thomas Peter Fitzgerald of Ireland as Police Advisor. FM Peres asks for and receives from Annan assurances that the commission’s findings will not have any legal standing.

- Inside the Muqata’a compound the trial against the four suspects accused of killing Israeli Tourism Min. Ze'evi begins, presided over by three judges and with one lawyer representing the accused.

April 23: Israel decides to "postpone" its agreement to cooperate with the UN fact-finding mission because its “was done without our consultation or agreement.”

April 25: A PA military court hands down sentences to the four alleged Ze’evi killers - Hamdi Qar’an, Basel Al-Asmar, Majdi Rimawi, and Ahed Abu Ghalma - ranging from 1-18 years with hard labor. The PFLP calls the trial a “farce,’ and demands its cancellation.

- Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah begins his visit to the US, where he presents the eight-point Saudi peace plan – termed by the White House as "constructive". The main points of the plan are an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian areas, an end to the Israeli siege on Ramallah, deployment of an international peacekeeping force, reconstruction of damaged Palestinian areas, renunciation of violence, talks on a political settlement to Israeli-Palestinian issues, as opposed to near-term security issues, an end to Israeli settlement activity in Palestinian areas, a US leadership in implementing UN Res. 242, in exchange for recognition of Israel's borders.

April 26: Two US trucks delivering food, toys and tents to the Jenin RC are turned away by an angry crowd because of the US foreign policy concerning the Palestinian question and in protest at US military aid to Israel.

April 28: After accepting the terms of a US-brokered deal to end the siege of his Ramallah compound, Arafat is said to be free to leave Ramallah. Under the plan Israeli troops will leave the area in exchange for a US-British guarantee of continued imprisonment of the four Ze'evi killers, PFLP head Ahmed Sa'adat, and the Karine A paymaster Fuad Shubaki in a Palestinian jail - guarded by US and British jailers. Israel's cabinet votes with 17-9 in favor of the proposal.

April 29: In response to an attack on Adora on 27 April, Israeli forces enter and reoccupy Hebron overnight, forces shelling residential areas, the main electricity generators, occupying some 20 homes. Ten Palestinians are killed in the assault, over 20 injured and dozens more arrested.

 

May

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May 1: Pope John Paul dispatches Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, Pres. of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to Israel on peace-seeking mission to help resolve the Church of the Nativity standoff.

- At night, Israeli troops begin pulling back from Ramallah after the PA turns the six Palestinian prisoners to US and UK officials, who will supervise their detention in a Jericho jail.

May 6: UNDP estimates the damage caused by Israel’s recent operations at $300-400 million and that reconstruction will take at least 12-18 months. Hardest hit was Nablus with $110 million in damages.

May 7: An emergency UNGA session votes with 74:4 and 54 abstaining on a draft resolution to condemn Israel for its assault on Palestinian cities and for not cooperating with the UN fact-finding mission into the actions in the Jenin RC.

- A suicide attack kills at least 15 in a Rishon Lezion billiard hall. PM Sharon, holding Arafat responsible, says "all those who believe that they can make gains through the use of terror will cease to exist" and cuts short his visit to Washington.

May 10: A deal to end the 38-day standoff at the Nativity Church is reached; 13 Palestinians are flown with a British military plane to Cyprus, where they are put up in Flamingo Hotel pending decision on where to they will be deported to third countries in Europe and perhaps Canada. Another 26 Palestinians are transferred to Gaza, where they receive a huge welcome and 84 civilians are freed.

May 11: The Israeli govt. retroactively approves Interior Min. Eli Yishai's April 1 freeze on all family reunifications be­tween Israeli Arabs and WBGS Palestinians, to prevent the latter from gaining Israeli citizenship. Since 1993, 22,414 such applications were approved giving approx. 98,000 Palestinians Israeli citizenship (an average application involves four people).

May 12: PM Sharon suffers a political setback at the hands of his rival Netanyahu, when the Likud Central Committee adopts a resolution completely rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state.

May 13: With his travel ban lifted, Pres. Arafat tours West Bank towns aboard a Jordanian helicopter, stopping first in Bethlehem, examining the Nativity Church compound. Other stops are Jenin (with a visit of the RC being cancelled due to security risks from militants) and Nablus.

May 14: The World Bank presents interim findings of its review of damages to Palestinian infrastructure and institutions caused by Operation Defensive Shield, estimating the damage at over $360 million, the largest portion of which being in Nablus. Damage to civilian housing is listed at about $66 million.

May 15: As Palestinians mark Naqba day, PA Chairman Arafat addresses the PLC in Ramallah, in an apparent re­sponse to mounting demands to reform the PA, share power, uproot corruption, strengthen the justice system, and remove certain loyalists from positions of authority. He calls for “reconstruction,” and the “speedy preparation” for Palestinian elections. Pres. Arafat signs the Law on the Independence of the Judiciary that was passed by the PLC over two years ago, pending Arafat’s signing it into legislation.

- At the Labor Party Central Committee meeting at Kibbutz Shfayim, DM Ben-Eliezer presents his two-state solution plan, which has three components: a war on terror, "security separation" and a final-status agreement with a Palestinian state in most of the WBGS, evacuation of settlements, a division of Jerusalem, with the Palestinians receiving East Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods and a special international regime, involving the UNSC and Islamic countries, supervising the holy sites of the Old City, over which neither Israel nor the Palestinians would have sovereignty. Haim Ramon also presents a proposal limited to unilateral separation from the Palestinians, asking whether it made sense to propose dividing Jerusalem while Israelis are being killed in terror attacks and there is no peace partner.

May 16: The PLC decides to hold presidential elections early in 2003, general and local elections within one year, to name a new cabinet within 45 days, and to limit the tenure of the heads of security apparatuses to four years.

May 20: Peace Now reports that Israeli govt. tenders have been issued for the construction of 957 housing units West Bank settlements.

- DM Ben Eliezer orders that a 364-km fence with cameras and electronic detection devices along the Green Line be completed within half a year.

May 21: The UN World Food Program estimates that about 50% of West Bank residents live below the poverty line.

- The annual US State Dept. "Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001" report states that IDF operations in the WBGS damaged Arafat's ability to reign in terror and contributed to an increase in terror attacks against Israel and that weakening the PA had assisted Hamas and other “terrorist organizations” in rebuilding “terrorist infrastructure.” The Aqsa Martyrs Brigades appear on a list of 33 foreign terrorist organizations for the first time.

- The EU approves a deal regarding the 13 Palestinians exiled to Cyprus, under which Spain and Italy will take three each, Greece and Ireland two, and Portugal and Belgium one. A statement says all would stay in their host nations "on a temporary basis and exclusively on humanitarian grounds," for a period of up to 12 months during which they will be able to work or study.

May 22: Twelve of the 13 exiled Palestinians leave Cyprus aboard planes - a Spanish military aircraft and an Italian executive jet - to six EU nations that have agreed to offer them temporary asylum. The 13^th man will stay in Cyprus until a EU member accepts him.

- At a Gaza conference, Hamas call on the PA to begin internal reforms as soon as possible, hinting they would be willing to participate in municipal elections.

May 26: Israeli forces reoccupy Tulkarem, impose a curfew and conduct house-to-house searches.

May 27: Israeli troops re-enter Bethlehem and Dheisheh RC, impose curfews on the whole Bethlehem area, arrest several Fateh activists.

May 28: Under pressure from inside and outside forces, Arafat signs the Basic Law, passed already in 1997 by the PLC to serve as basis for a Palestinian constitution.

May 29: The Israeli army invades Qalqilya and continues to occupy Bethlehem and surrounding villages for the third day running.

- The Fateh Revolutionary Council calls for an end to suicide attacks inside Israel as they harmed the Palestinian struggle for a state.

 

June

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June 2: After discussing security issues with Egyptian Pres. Hosni Mubarak, CIA Director George Tenet arrives on a mission to promote the reform of the PA security apparatus.

- Hamas turns down the PA’s offer to join a new, smaller cabinet being planned by Chairman Arafat.

June 3: During a cabinet meeting, Arafat announces former PLA commander Gen. Abdel Razeq Yahya as overall head of the security forces.

- PM Sharon has approved a 110-km fence that will mainly follow the Green Line and stretch from Kufr Salem near Megiddo to Kufr Qassem as proposed by DM Ben-Eliezer.

June 4: Chairman Arafat meets with CIA chief Tenet and presents a plan for reforming the security services, incl. halving their number and tightening supervision. Arafat asks Tenet to push Israel to abide by UN resolutions and end the daily incursions into Palestinian cities. During the meeting, Palestinians protest in front of the compound.

- Mohammed Dahlan steps down as the head of the Preventive Security Service in Gaza, taking a one-month leave to consider an offer by Chairman Arafat to serve as a special adviser. He is replaced by his dep. Rashid Abu Shabak.

June 5: A suicide bomber - Hamze Samudi, 18, from Jenin - blows up his car packed with explosives next to a bus at Megiddo junction near Afula, killing 17 people, incl. 13 soldiers, and wounding 40 others. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

June 6: Overnight, the Israeli army invades Ramallah in retaliation for yesterday's suicide bombing, surrounds and attacks Arafat’s headquarters, blowing up several buildings in the compound. Two Palestinians are killed.

June 9: At a press conference in Ramallah, Information Min. Abed Rabbo announces the reduced 21-member PA interim cabinet (from 31), which has five new members (marked with a star*) and will also prepare for municipal and presidential elections, as follows: Yasser Abed Rabbo (Min. of Culture & Information), Nabil Sha’ath (MOPIC), Salam Fayyad* (Finance), Maher Al-Masri (Economy, Industry & Trade), Abdel Razeq Yahya” (Interior), Na’im Abu Al-Hum­mus (Education & Higher Education), Riad Az-Za’noun (Health), Saeb Erekat (Local Governance), Ibrahim Ad-Dugh­mah* (Justice), ‘Azzam Al-Ahmad (Public Works & Housing), Intissar Al-Wazir (Social Affairs), Rafiq An-Natsheh (Ag­riculture), Ghassan Al-Khatib* (Labor), Nabil Qassis (Tourism), Imad Al-Falouji (Telecommunication), Abdel Rahman Hamad (Natural Resources - Electricity & Gas), Mitri Abu ‘Ittah* (Transport), Jamil At-Tarifi (Civil Affairs), Abdel Aziz Shahin (Supplies), and Ali Al-Qawasmeh (Youth & Sport), while the Min. of Waqf and Religious Affairs is still to be assigned and Sari Nusseibeh is appointed Sec. of the Jerusalem Committee, as part of the PLO Exec. Committee.

June 10: Overnight, Israeli forces invade and occupy Ramallah and Al-Bireh, raid the PA headquarters, arrest at dozens of people, shell Um Ash-Sharayet and Al-'Amari RC, occupy several buildings and declare the city a closed military zone. One Palestinian is killed and several others wounded in the raid. The residential Abu Al-Qassem building near Al-Moqata’a is shelled and almost completely destroyed.

June 13: The Israeli army withdraws from Ramallah overnight. The reshuffled PA cabinet holds its first meeting in Ramallah. The five new ministers are sworn in.

June 17: At a press conference in Ramallah, a group of prominent Palestinian figures – incl. Haidar Abdul Shafi, Mustafa Barghouthi and Ibrahim Dakkak - announces the launching of the ‘Palestinian National Initiative,” which aims at the realization of Palestinian national rights and peace through the establishment of a national emergency leadership, the immediate implementation of democratic elections, and reform of institutional structures.

- The EU FMs decide to place PFLP, PLF, the Abu Nidal Organization, Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and the US-based Hamas-affiliated Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development on its "terror" blacklist, adopted in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the US. Kahane Chai is also added to the list.

June 19: Israeli troops invade Nablus, Beitunia, Bethlehem and Qalqilya. Tulkarem is surrounded by tanks.

June 21: Israeli forces kill four Palestinian civilians, incl. three children, aged 6, 7 and 12, in Jenin and wound over 20 others, when they fire tank shells into a street during an army-announced lifting of the curfew. The army later apologizes for the “mistake.”

June 23: Israeli forces reoccupy Qalqilya, impose a curfew, shell and raid dozens of homes.

- The Israeli cabinet approves by a vote of 25-1 (FM Peres against) a "security concept," incl. a security fence east of the Green Line and around Jerusalem, a 20-km buffer zone west of the Jordan River, and the continued presence of IDF forces in the West Bank.

June 24: Overnight, Israeli troops invade Ramallah and Al-Bireh and surround Arafat's headquarters for the third time this month. A curfew is imposed. Numerous people are arrested throughout the OPT.

- In Gaza, Israeli forces kill six Palestinians, assassinating Hamas military leader Yasser Sa'id Mahmoud Rizeq, two of his brothers, a deputy and two others by firing missiles at two vehicles in Rafah’s Abu Sneineh neighborhood. Ten people are wounded in the attack, incl. several children. Hamas vows to step up its suicide attacks on Israelis in response.

- US Pres. Bush delivers his long awaited speech on the Middle East, withholding endorsement for a Palestinian state until terror stops and a new leadership is elected, saying "Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership so that a Palestinian state can be born. I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror," and "The Palestinian state will never be created by terror. It will be built through reform and reform must be more than cosmetic change or a veiled attempt to preserve the status quo."

June 25: Israeli forces invade Hebron and take over the PA headquarters. Four Palestinian policemen are killed in the raid and some 150 Palestinians are arrested. Now all West Bank cities, except Jericho, are under 24-hour curfew.

- UN Sec.-Gen. Kofi Annan rejects Pres. Bush's call to oust Arafat, saying the Palestinians must elect their own leaders, and that the timing for new elections is "not optimal."

June 26: The PA publishes a 100-day plan for reforms, incl. elections, placing security and police forces under the Interior Minister, economic reforms with a single transparent treasury account, separation of powers, implementing the Basic Law, and establishing law and order.

June 27: DM Ben-Eliezer publishes his diplomatic plan on the front page of Al-Quds, calling for a peace agreement based on UN Res. 338, 242, and 1397, evacuating all settlements in Gaza and isolated ones in the West Bank, and settling Palestinian refugees in a Palestinian state which would include East Jerusalem.

- The G8 leaders from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US issue a statement outlining a “vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side within secure and recognized borders," but also agreeing “on the urgency of reform of Palestinian institutions and its economy, and of free and fair elections."

June 29: The IDF blows up the municipal and security headquarters in Hebron, ending a four-day siege and leaving behind enormous damage. Paramedics and rescue workers are banned from entering the compound.

 

July

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July 2: In London, Asst. US Sec. of State for the Near East William Burns begins consultations with officials from the “quartet" - Russia, the EU and the UN - about US Middle East policy after Pres. Bush's speech and about mechanisms to provide aid to the Palestinians and help them implement reforms. Burns states that the US’s decision to cut off all contact with PA Chairman Yasser Arafat is final.

- Chairman Arafat fires West Bank Preventive Security head Jibril Rajoub replacing him with former Jenin governor Zuheir Manasra, head of the PA Police Maj.-Gen. Ghazi Jabali, replacing him with his dep. Brig.-Gen. Salim Barduni, and head of the PA Civil Defense Mahmoud Abu Marzouk, replacing him with security liaison officer Brig.-Gen. Omar Ashor.

July 4: Chairman Arafat signs orders ousting three commanders of his security forces, incl. Jibril Rajoub, Ghazi Jabali and Mahmoud Abu Marzouk. Press reports say that Rajoub and Jenin governor Zuheir Manasra are to switch posts, an option rejected by Rajoub.

July 7: Newly appointed PA Justice Min. Ibrahim Ad-Dughmah announces that the Basic Law, endorsed by Pres. Arafat in May, comes into force today.

July 10: PA Chairman Arafat appoints Mohammed Dahlan his national security adviser.

- German FM Joschka Fischer unveils a three-stage plan for jump-starting the peace process.

July 16: Nine people are killed and at least 20 injured when an explosive device is detonated and shots are fired near a bus close to Emmanuel settlement, near Nablus.

- The Quartet meets in New York to discuss a plan of action to end Israel's occupation and achieve the vision of two states within three years, but fail to agree on the future of Chairman Arafat with the UN, EU and Russia insisting that he legitimately heads his people's statehood movement. A joint statement emphasizes the need to reform the PA.

July 17: A gunbattle near Emmanuel settlement, leaves an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian gunmen killed as well as three soldiers injured.

- Two Palestinians blow themselves up between a cafe and a cinema near the former central bus station in Tel Aviv, killing three people - an Israeli and two Romanian workers - and wounding over 30 (a Chinese worker and an Israeli die a week later). Islamic Jihad claims responsibility, although later a new group calling itself An-Nathir, affiliated with Fateh, claims responsibility, identifying the bombers as Mohammed Attala and Ibrahim Naji.

July 21: Palestinian-Israeli talks resume in Jerusalem as a Palestinian delegation headed by Saeb Erekat and incl. Abdel Razeq Yahya, Maher Al-Masri, Jamil Tarifi and Salam Fayyad meets with an Israeli team, headed by FM Peres and incl. Min. Danny Naveh, Finance Min. Dir.-Gen. Ohad Marni, and Coord. of Activities in the territories Gen. Amos Gilad. The Palestinians call for an end to the occupation and siege, saying PA forces can gradually take over IDF positions.

CIA Dir. George Tenet’s PA security reform plan calls for the consolidation of security forces into two or three organizations, to operate under one command structure and clear civilian control. They are to be deployed gradually, and take responsibility for areas from which Israeli soldiers withdraw. New security officials will be trained by US and Egyptian experts and a US-led team will control funds.

July 23: Israeli F-16 fighter jets attack and destroy a four-story building in the Al-Yarmouk neighborhood of Gaza City, killing Hamas activist and commander of the Izz Eddin Al-Qassem wing Sheikh Salah Shehadeh, 49, his wife and one of his children and at least 14 other civilians, incl. 10 children aged two months to 11 years. Over 150 are injured, many of them women and children. Nearby buildings also suffer damage.

July 25: The UNSC holds an emergency meeting to discuss the Israeli air strike on Gaza that killed 17 Palestinians and the international outcry at the targeting of a civilian neighborhood.

- The World Bank says that 70% of Palestinians live on less than $2 a day and that 21% of children under five years suffer malnutrition and and 45% from anemia.

July 27: After a meeting with PA Finance Min. Salam Fayyad, Dir.-Gen. of the Israeli Finance Min., Ohad Marani, announces that NIS 70 million of frozen Palestinian tax money will be transferred to a PA bank account under the exclusive control of Fayyad to ensure the money will be used to improve the situation of Palestinians in the OPT.

July 29: In Nablus, thousands of Palestinians fill the streets, and shops, banks and offices open for the second day of the largest demonstration yet against the Israeli curfew confining residents to their homes. Nablus governor Mohammed Aloul calls on residents of other towns to ignore the now 40-day curfew and restore normal life.

July 31: PM Sharon's security cabinet decides to order a relative of the Emmanuel settlement attacker to Gaza, marking the first such expulsion since the outbreak of Intifada.

- The EU grants 9.5 million Euros in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, citing malnutrition and unemployment. This raises overall EU humanitarian aid to the Palestinians this year to 18 million Euros.

August

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Aug. 1: The UN report into the events of the Jenin RC in April during ‘Operation Defensive Shield’ is published, rejecting Palestinian claims that Israeli forces carried out a massacre, and criticizing both sides for putting civilian lives at risk. According to the report 52 Palestinians and 23 IDF soldiers were killed during the invasion.

Aug. 4: As part of a new round of collective punishment, Israeli forces overnight demolish nine homes of family members of suspects who carried out or were involved suicide attacks.

- Nine people, mostly soldiers, are killed and over 40 wounded in a bomb attack on a bus near the Meron junction south of Safed. Hamas claims responsibility.

Aug. 13: Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna announces his candidacy for the Labor Party leadership.

- Senior official Hussein Ash-Sheikh announces a Fateh decision to halt all attacks inside Israel, saying "It is not part of Fateh's strategy to harm innocent people and to carry out attacks inside Israel ... Our strategy is to set up a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip ... on conquered lands."

Aug. 14: The Israeli State Atty.'s Office submits an indictment against Marwan Barghouti, charging him with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and participation and membership in terrorist organization. Barghouthi shouts “the uprising will be victorious” and tells those present "I am a peaceful man. I was trying to do everything for peace between the two peoples. I believe the best solution is two states for two peoples ... The policy of occupation will not lead to security. Security will only be achieved in one way, by peace, and peace will only be achieved by the end of the occupation."

Aug. 18: At a Tel Aviv hotel, Israel, led by DM Ben-Eliezer, and the PA, led by Interior Min. Abdel Razeq Al-Yahya and Mohammed Dahlan reach a deal on “Gaza-Bethlehem first”, under which Israeli forces are to begin withdrawing from Bethlehem and parts of the Gaza Strip as the PA undertakes to prevent attacks on Israelis.

Aug. 20: Palestinian police are back on the streets of Bethlehem after Israeli forces withdrew as part of a trial that could lead to further Israeli withdrawals in the West Bank.

Aug. 22: New PCBS data shows that some 366,000 Palestinians (44.7% of the work force) were unemployed in the second quarter of 2002. Of those with work, 59.2% earned a salary that put them below the poverty line (=NIS 1,642 per month for a family of six.

Aug. 25: Members of rival Palestinian political factions, incl. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, meet in Gaza City to forge a united front and get Islamic militant groups to stop bombing and shooting in Israel, and accept a common manifesto, which could form the basis of renewed peace negotiations with the Israelis.

Aug. 29: UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen says Israel’s military clampdown is causing an economic disaster in the WBGS, breeding chronic violence. Unemployment in Gaza stands at 50%, poverty has reached 70%.

Aug. 31: Israeli helicopters fire three missiles at a Palestinian car near Tubas, killing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades activist Rafat Daraghmeh, 29, and four others, incl. two teenagers Sari Sabiah, 17, and Yazid Abdel Razeq, 16, who were also in the car, and two children, Osama Daraghmeh and his cousin Bahira, 10 and 9, who were playing nearby.

 

September

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Sept. 1: IDF troops shoot dead four unarmed Palestinians - the brothers Hassan and Hisham Halika, 20 and 21, and the cousins Ala and Atiyeh Aliyah, 23 - in fields near Bani Na’im, Hebron, as they are were returning from work.

Sept. 2: In a landmark decision, Israel's Supreme Court rules that Israel can expel relatives of Palestinian terror suspects from the West Bank to Gaza, if it proves they pose a security threat. A special nine-judge panel makes the unanimous ruling - approving a two-year expulsion - in the case of Kifah and Intisar Ajouri, brother and sister of Ahmed Ali Ajouri, who sent a suicide bomber to attack Tel Aviv's old central bus station in July, but rejects the deportation of Abdel Nasser Asida. Two days later the two are relocated to Gaza drawing international criticism.

Sept. 5: The trial of Marwan Barghouthi begins at the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court; Barghouthi refuses to recognize the court’s authority to judge him, saying “This is a court of the occupation" and that it was a violation of international law for him as a parliamentarian to stand trial, adding "The one who should be sitting here is the government of Israel."

Sept. 11: During the PLC meeting in Al-Bireh, the PA cabinet resigns en masse when it becomes apparent that a majority of PLC members would vote no-confidence in the cabinet appointed by PA Chairman Arafat in June. Arafat accepts the resignations and also signs a decree determining that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on 20 Jan. 2003.

Sept. 19: A suicide bomber blows himself up on a bus on Tel Aviv’s Allenby St., killing six people and injuring over 60. Hamas’ military wing claims responsibility. In response, Israel re-imposes the blockade on Arafat’s Ramallah compound. IDF troops inside the compound shoot and kill a wanted Palestinian and injure two guards.

Sept. 20: Israeli forces sweep into the northern Gaza Strip to destroy an explosive lab, 34 metal workshops suspected of producing bombs, and seven buildings where allegedly weapons were made. Two Palestinians are shot dead during the operation.

Sept. 21: The IDF has demolished four of the five main buildings of the Muqata’a and 11 caravans. Pres. Arafat, a few aides and wanted 19 men are confined to the remaining building’s second floor. Europe condemns the siege of Arafat.

Sept. 22: As the siege on PA Chairman Arafat's Ramallah compound enters its third day and despite the curfew, thousands of Palestinians take to the streets in the WBGS overnight in protest, chanting "long live Arafat, long live Palestine". Four Palestinian protesters are shot dead, two in Ramallah, one each in Tulkarem and Balata RC.

Sept. 24: Nine Palestinians are killed – six of them civilians - and at least 24 injured in IDF actions overnight in Gaza.

- The UNSC votes with 14-0 (US abstaining) for a compromise resolution, demanding that Israel halts its actions at the Muqata’a and condemning all terrorist attacks against any civilians.

Sept. 26: Three Palestinians are killed by Israeli troops: in Jenin, Mahmoud Hasis, 52, while in his home, in Kufr Labed near Tulkarem Hamas activist Nash'at Abu Jbara after he killed an IDF officer, and a Hamas activist in a firefight with troops in Gaza while allegedly trying to infiltrate Elei Sinai settlement. The IDF later blows up the home of Abu Jbara.

- In Hebron’s market, 14-month-old baby girl Gharam Manaa dies after inhaling tear gas fired by IDF.

- Three Palestinians are killed and over 25 – many of them children - injured by an IAF missile strike on two cars in Gaza City, targeting top wanted Mohammed Deif, head of the Hamas military wing in Gaza, who escapes wounded.

Sept. 28: Thousands of Palestinians march in the WBGS to commemorate the Intifada’s 2^nd anniversary.

Sept. 29: Responding to US pressure, Israel withdraws its forces from the Muqata’a after 11 days. Pres. Arafat calls the withdrawal "cosmetic" and aimed at "deceiving the world."

Sept. 30: In a statement the EU FMs criticize Israel for wrecking Palestinian infrastructure, saying such destruction would not stop terror and calling on Israel to lift all its curfews and closures and to turn over to the PA withheld tax monies. Palestinians are urged to push ahead with reforms, including of their security services, with an aim to "putting an end to terrorism in all its forms" and the holding of free and fair elections early next year.

 

October

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Oct. 2: Fateh Central Committee grants PA Chairman Arafat three more weeks to swear in a new cabinet because consultations over its formation were delayed by the 10-day Israeli siege on his compound. It also supports Arafat’s decision not to post a PM prior to the establishment of a Palestinian state because it would play into Israeli attempts to isolate and weaken Arafat.

- UNICEF special representative in the region, Pierre Poupard, issues a statement saying that "A generation of Palestinian children is being denied their right to an education" as over 226,000 school children out of one million in the West Bank, and 9,300 teachers are denied access to their schools. In addition, at least 580 schools have been closed due to IDF policies, curfews and closures.

Oct. 7: Israeli troops raid Al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis, and surround the home of Hamas member Araf Salameh. The operation includes firing a missile that kills 14 Palestinians and wounds dozens more.