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Israeli-palestinian Conflict Timeline - The reader should keep in mind that the timeline below gives only a partial account of events.
This is a incomplete timeline of events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. See also Israeli-Palestinian conflict external references for news stories. British Era British foreign affairs minister Arthur James Balfour sends a letter to Lord Rothschild, President of the Zionist Federation, declaring his government's intent to establish "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine. British forces occupy Jerusalem. 1919 Arab-Jewish agreement at Paris Peace Conference, 1919. Jerusalem pogrom of April, 1920 prompts the establishment of Haganah. Jaffa riots The Churchill White Paper, 1922 clarifies the Britain's position regarding Palestine. The League of Nations grants Britain a mandate to administer Palestine. The activities of Black Hand (group), led by Shaykh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Hebron massacre of 1929 The Great Uprising: the Arab leadership, led by Haj Amin al-Husayni, declares a general strike which rapidly deteriorates into a violent rebellion that lasts for three years. The mainstream Jewish defense organization, the Haganah, maintains a policy of restraint, but the smaller Irgun (also called Etzel) group adopts a policy of retaliation and revenge. The Peel Commission proposes a partition plan (map), rejected by the Arab leadership, the Jewish opinion remains divided; limits Jewish immigration to Palestine to 12,000 per year. The Woodhead Commission 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. (http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_mandate_woodhead.php) St. James Conference ends without making any progress as the Arab delegation refuses to recognize or meet with its Jewish counterpart. The White Paper of 1939 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 and their ability to purchase land. Activities of Lehi (group) led by Avraham Stern, after 1942 - by a triumvirate, including Yitzhak Shamir UN Resolution The UN General Assembly passes a Partition Plan dividing the British Mandate of Palestine into two states. Creation of Israel Israel declares Independence from British rule. After Creation Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Transjordan and local Arabs attack the new Jewish state. The resulting 1948 Arab-Israeli War lasts for 13 months. June 1948 Violent confrontation between the Israeli Defense Forces and the paramilitary Jewish group Etzel known as The Altalena Affair results in dismantlement of all Jewish extremist groups. 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 fromTransjordan, and Egypt. Qibya massacre Israel invades Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in secret alliance with France and Britain. The Kafr Qasim massacre took place on the same day. Israel withdraws its forces from the Sinai Peninsula, ending the Suez Crisis. The Palestine Liberation Organization is founded in Cairo with Yasser Arafat as its leader. Even though Yasser Arafat is the official leader, the organization is more or less controled by the Egyptian government. Six-Day War The Six-Day War. Israel launches what it describes as a pre-emptive strike against the Egyptian Air Force on suspicion that Egypt and Syria are planning to invade. Israel defeats the combined forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan and captures the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. Post Six-Day War Egypt wages the War of Attrition against Israel. Avivim school bus massacre September, 1970 After Black September in Jordan, the PLO was driven out to Lebanon. Munich Massacre of Israeli Olympic team by Black September (group) Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War. Syria and Egypt attack Israeli forces in the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. Post Yom Kippur War Kiryat Shmona massacre Ma'alot massacre Menachem Begin of the Likud Party is elected Prime Minister, ending nearly 30 years of rule by the Labour Party. Israel launches a limited-scope invasion of Lebanon, called Operation Litani by the IDF. Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and sign the Camp David Accord, with Israel agreeing to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula and to a framework for future negotiation over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Lebanon Israel enters southern Lebanon. Israel claims the invasion was in order to remove PLO forces. See 1982 Invasion of Lebanon. The Israeli Army withdraws from most of Lebanon, maintaining a self-proclaimed "Security Zone" in the south. First Intifada The First Intifada begins. An independent State of Palestine was proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council meeting in Algiers, by a vote of 253 to 46. Gulf War Tel Aviv is hit by 40 Scud missiles lauched by Iraq during the Persian Gulf War. After Gulf War Yitzhak Rabin of the Labour Party elected Prime Minister. Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin sign the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government in Oslo. Terrorist attack by Baruch Goldstein in Hebron. Peace Process Israeli forces withdraw from Jericho and Gaza City in compliance with the Oslo accords. Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip signed in Washington, DC. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated in Tel Aviv by Jewish extremist Yigal Amir. Shimon Peres assumes the position of acting Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party is elected Prime Minister. Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat sign the Wye River Memorandum at a summit in Maryland hosted by Bill Clinton. Ehud Barak of the Labour Party is elected Prime Minister. The Israeli Army withdraws from southern Lebanon, 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. The Camp David Summit between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat demonstrates both parties' unwillingness to make further compromises. Second Intifada begins Right wing Israeli Opposition Leader Ariel Sharon visits the Temple Mount which is administered by a Muslim organization. The day after the visit violent confrontations erupt between Muslims and Israeli Police. The Sharon visit is the reason why the second intifada is also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, after the Al Aqsa Mosque contained within the Noble Sanctuary (Temple Mount). This event is not considered to be the only cause of the second intifada. Prime Minister Ehud Barak resigns. Ariel Sharon of the Likud Party is elected Prime Minister. Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi is assassinated in Jerusalem by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. A charity known as the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development is shut down. Its Richardson, Texas headquarters and its offices in San Diego, California, Bridgeview, Illinois, and Paterson, New Jersey are searched. The charity is accused of funding Hamas. The U.S. pushes through the passage of U.N. 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". 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 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. Israeli forces begin Operation Defensive Shield, an incursion into the West Bank. A suicide bomber explodes in My Coffee Shop, 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. Israeli troops exchange gunfire with guards of Yasir Arafat in Ramallah. In the past 18 months, according to the Associated Press, 1262 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and on 401 on the Israeli side; in March, 259 Palestinians and 130 Israelis were killed. 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 hostage. Muhammad al-Madani, governor of Bethlehem, leaves the Church of the Nativity. Israel calls up additional reserve forces and moves tanks into position for an expected incursion into the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the most recent suicide bombing. Shin Bet officials announces they have arrested six Israelis for conspiring to bomb Palestinian schools in April, including Noam Federman, a leader of the Kach movement of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, and Menashe Levenger, son of Rabbi Moshe Levenger, a founder of the Hebron settlement. Recent Developments US President George W. Bush calls for an independent Palestinian state living in peace with Israel. IDF kills Salah Shehade, the leader of Hamas's "military wing", the Izz ad-Din el-Qasam Brigades Marwan Barghouti, captured April 15, was indicted by a civilian Israeli court for murdering civilians and membership in a terrorist organisation. Rachel Corrie, an American member of the International Solidarity Movement is crushed by an Israel Defence Forces bulldozer, becoming the first ISM member to die in the conflict. Eyewitnesses allege murder, while Israel calls it a "regrettable accident". Mahmoud Abbas appointed Prime Minister. Hilltop 26, an illegal Israeli settlement near the city of Hebron, is peacefully dismantled by the Israel Defence Force. The details of the Road map for peace are released. Ariel Sharon states that the "occupation" of Palestinian territories "can't continue endlessly." 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. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah agree to a three-month cease-fire. Islamic Jihad and Hamas claim joint responsibility for a suicide bombing that kills twenty Israelis. Mahmoud Abbas pledges a crackdown on militants, but he is prevented from doing so by Yasser Arafat. Mahmoud Abbas resigns from the post of Prime Minister. Israel officially ended a 17-day military operation, named Operation Days of Penitence, 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. Among the dead was 13 year old Iman al-Hams who was shot repeatedly by an IDF soldier. Yasser Arafat dies at the age of 75 in a hospital near Paris, after undergoing urgent medical treatment (since October 29, 2004). See also:
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