H i s t o r y
o f P a l e
s t i n e - 2001
2001
- First year of Intifada
January
2001
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
2001
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
2001
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
2001
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
2001
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
2001
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
2001
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
2001
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
2001
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
2001
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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