H i s t o r y
o f P a l e s t i n e - 19961996
- National elections January 1996
1st -
PLO Chairman, Yasser Arafat, urges Palestinians to vote for the
best candidate in the coming election even if it means not
voting for him.
3rd - Elections in Jerusalem are viewed by worldwide critics as
being fraudulent and rigged by Yasser Arafat after a further
three contenders withdraw their candidacy.
7th - More than 100,000 people attend the funeral in Jerusalem
of one of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas , Yehiya Ayyash
, who was recently assassinated.
10th - Israel starts to release Palestinian prisoners in
accordance with a deal negotiated with the PLO.21st -
Palestinians in East Jerusalem are deterred from voting at the
first ever Palestinian elections, where Yasser Arafat claims
victory. February
19968th -
The Prime Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, announces a general
election for May.
25th - Hamas, the Islamic group , detonate two bombs , one in
Jerusalem and the other in Ashkelon, killing 25 people.
26th - The Israeli Government urges Yasser Arafat to help put a
stop to the bombings by Muslim militants. - March
1996
1st - The militant Islamic Hamas group announces they will cease
attacks if Israel releases Palestinian prisoners.
3rd - Another bomb explodes on a bus in Jerusalem, killing 19
people; the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, claims
responsibility.
5th - A bomb explodes in Tel Aviv , Israel , the fourth bomb in
nine days by the Hamas movement; 14 people are killed.
6th - Israel storms Palestinian villages and arrests suspected
bombers.
11th - The Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, announces he
has arrested three key figures of the Hamas movement.
12th - Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank warn they will
shoot if Israel enters their towns.
21st - Israeli soldiers blow up three houses belonging to the
families of Palestinian martyr bombers.
27th - Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s murderer
is sentenced to life imprisonment.
29th - The military in Israel arrest hundreds of Palestinians in
order to find Hamas movement members. - April
1996 1st -
Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, announces he may hold a
referendum before signing peace agreements with the Palestinians.
9th - The Islamic Hezbollah movement fires rockets into a Jewish
village bordering Lebanon.
11th - Israeli ships and helicopters fire at southern Lebanon.
14th - Dozens of villages in Lebanon are evacuated due to heavy
fighting by the Israelis and Hezbollah guerrillas.
16th - The US Government intervenes in the Israel/Lebanon crisis,
asking leaders to cease all rocket attacks.
25th - The PLO announces it will excise calls for Israel’s
destruction from its founding charter.
27th - The US Secretary of State helps Israeli Prime Minister,
Shimon Peres, and Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafic Hariri, agree
to a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. - May
1996 2nd -
Yasser Arafat and Bill Clinton meet for Middle East talks at the
White House.
2nd - The Israeli Government announces it will go ahead and pull
troops out of the West Bank city of Hebron.
3rd - Yasser Arafat wants the United Nations to take on a more
effective role in the Middle East peace talks.
5th - The Israeli Government and the PLO begin peace talks.
19th - The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, threatens to take
revenge on Israel for arresting a top Hamas member.
28th - National elections are held in Israel.
Bild: Benjamin Netanyah |
30th -
Right-wing Likud Party leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, is set to
become the new Prime Minister of Israel.
31st - Former Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, announces he
will not serve in a government with newly-elected Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.
|
- June
1996 1st - In
a very close result, Benjamin Netanyahu is named Israel's newest
prime minister. Meanwhile Yasser Arafat fears the
newly-appointed leader may endanger the Israel/PLO peace process.
5th - Following a summit in Jordan, Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat, King Hussein of Jordan, and Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak, step up efforts to continue peace negotiations in the
Middle East.
6th - Israeli Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu confirms
he will not consider dividing Jerusalem for the Palestinians.
20th - The Islamic Hamas resistance movement offers Israel's
Government a cease-fire if they promise to stop attacks, release
Hamas prisoners and open up the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
22nd - Cairo, Egypt, holds a two-day summit for 13 Arab leaders
and eight other countries to discuss the new Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's peace plans.
23rd - Arab leaders attending a summit in Cairo say that Israel
should declare a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as the
capital.
24th - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces he
will not give up land for a Palestinian State. - July
1996 10th -
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits with US
President Bill Clinton primarily to talk about continuing the
peace process in the Middle East.
24th - Talks between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and
Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy on continuing the Middle
East peace process prove positive.
26th - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat holds hopeful peace
talks with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. - August
1996 3rd -
Palestinians condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s decision to lift bans on Jewish settlements in
occupied lands.
16th - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat asks US President
Bill Clinton for assistance to stop Israel from expanding Jewish
settlements in the West Bank.
25th - Israeli President Ezer Weizman offers to hold peace talks
with PLO President Yasser Arafat, after Arafat told him he was
upset over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the
Middle East peace process.
29th - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat claims that Israel is
doing nothing to restore peace by announcing plans for Jewish
settlements on the West Bank. - September
1996 5th -
Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Netanyahu, meets with the Palestinian
leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, to discuss the peace process. As a
consequence of the meeting, there are threats of revolt within
Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party.
9th - US President, Bill Clinton, arranges to meet Israeli Prime
Minister, Mr Netanyahu, as America is keen for Israel to take
more positive measures to improve Israeli-Palestinian relations.
11th - In Israel three Jewish extremists are found guilty of
assassinating former Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin.
13th - The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Netanyahu, wants to alter
an agreement to hand over parts of the town of Hebron in the
West Bank to the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
20th - Israel announces that it intends to build 2,000 new homes
in the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
27th - Israel announces a state of emergency in the Palestinian
territories, as Jerusalem’s police force is doubled.
28th - Fighting between Israeli and Palestinian forces continues,
as the Israeli Government stands firm and offers no hope of an
end to the crisis.
29th - Israel warns that it will re-occupy self-governing Arab
cities and disarm Palestinian police if the fighting between
Palestinians and Israelis continues.
30th - Palestine and Egypt rebel against the United States’
plans for a Middle East peace summit, as Yasser Arafat requests
a postponement of talks with Israeli Prime Minister Mr Netanyahu
until the weekend. - October
1996 1st -
The Palestinian and Israeli leaders, Mr Yasser Arafat and Mr
Benjamin Netanyahu, depart for a peace summit in the US, but
prospects for a successful outcome look grim, as both sides are
unwilling to compromise their positions.
2nd - Israel’s Prime Minister, Mr Netanyahu, Palestine’s
leader, Mr Arafat, King Hussein of Jordan and American President
Bill Clinton hold a cordial meeting at the White House to
discuss the Middle East peace.
3rd - As Palestinian officials return home, they claim that the
peace summit held in Washington, US between Israel and Palestine
was a failure, after the Israeli Prime Minister refused to
compromise and fears of violence escalated.
8th - The Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, arrives in
Israel for talks with Israeli President Mr Ezer Weizman.
12th - It is announced that Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin
Netanyahu, wishes to withdraw nearly all Israeli forces from the
West Bank town of Hebron.
17th - Jewish people in the West Bank town of Hebron caution
that they will use private troops to protect them from
Palestinian attacks if Israeli forces are withdrawn.
20th - Talks are delayed again between Israel and Palestine on
the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank town of Hebron. - November
1996 11th -
The Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, calls on a European
Union delegation to convince Israel to implement its plan to
remove troops from the West Bank town of Hebron.
14th - Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister,
postpones a trip to the US so he can take control of discussions
on the withdrawal of troops from the town of Hebron on the West
Bank.
15th - In Israel, the High Court allows the secret police the
power to torture an Islamic groups members to glean information
about attacks against Israel.
Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron celebrate the
forthcoming withdrawal of Israeli troops.
22nd - Palestinian authorities claim that they are prepared to
fight against the Israeli expansion of Jewish settlements in the
West Bank.
25th - Egypt, Syria and Jordan announce their disapproval of
Israeli plans to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied Golan
Heights.
27th - The American Administration claims that the Israeli Prime
Minister Mr Netanyahu is endangering the Middle East peace talks
by proposing to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
28th - Nearly 126 UN member countries demand an end to the
Israeli expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. - December
1996 2nd -
Despite widespread denouncement of Israeli expansions of Jewish
settlements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives the
go-ahead for houses to be built in the Jordan Valley.
5th - Israeli and Palestinian authorities agree to meet to
discuss the stalemate over Hebron in the West Bank.
11th - Israeli authorities release plans to expand the Jewish
settlements in Arab east Jerusalem, which causes outrage among
Palestinians.
19th - Two Palestinian men are jailed for life and a third is
given a 15-year jail sentence for murdering a Jewish settler and
her son.
25th - Israeli-Palestinian talks over Israel's withdrawal from
the West Bank town of Hebron anger Jewish settlers, who occupy
two buildings in Hebron's Arab casbah area.
27th - Members of Israeli Prime Minister Mr Netanyahu's cabinet
threaten to withdraw their support in protest against the plan
to remove Israeli troops from the West Bank town of Hebron.
29th - Israel and Palestine seem likely to sign an agreement on
the West Bank town of Hebron, as Israel reopens the Hebron
University after its closure ten months ago.
30th - Israel and Palestine prepare to sign an historic
agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Hebron in the
West Bank.
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