A Chronology of Palestine

638 Umar ibn Khattab captures Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire, names it Jund Filastin.
688-715Abd al-Malik builds the Dome of the Rock shrine and then al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
1099-1187Crusaders control Palestine and Syria.
1187 Salah al-Din re-conquers Palestine.
1260 Mamluks halt Mongol invasion at Battle of Ayn Jalut.
1516 Ottoman rule begins in Palestine.
1746-75Rule of local leader Zahir al-Umar in Northern Palestine.
1799Feb-MayFrench army under Napoleon Bonaparte invades Palestine.
1831-40Egyptian army under Ibrahim Pasha rules Palestine.
1876 First Ottoman parliament includes Palestinian deputies.
1878 Petah Tikva, the first Zionist settlement, is established.
1882 First Aliyah from Russia to Jaffa; Ottomans later restrict Jewish immigration to Palestine.
1882 Britain occupies Egypt; Ottoman sultan briefly bans Russian Jewish immigration to Palestine.
1886 Palestinian villagers attack Petah Tikva colony.
1891 Palestinian notables protest against Jewish immigration.
1892 Ottoman government bans the sale of certain categories of land to non-Ottoman Jews; villagers attack Rehoboth.
1893 French construct Jaffa-Jerusalem railway.
1894 Trial of Alfred Dreyfus begins in France.
1896 Theodor Herzl proposes statehood as the solution to anti-Semitism in Der Judenstaat.
1897 World Zionist Organization (WZO) is formed at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland.
1899 Yusuf Diya’ al-Din Pasha al-Khalidi, former mayor of Jerusalem, warns Theodore Herzl of Arab opposition to Zionism.
1900JuneOttoman commission studies the effects of Zionist immigration and land purchases.
1901 WZO establishes Jewish National Fund; Herzl proposes to help liquidate Ottoman debt in return for land in Palestine.
1902 Herzl proposes that British allow Jewish settlement in al-Arish or Cyprus.
1903 British offer Jewish settlement in East Africa; Kishinev pogrom.
1904 Herzl dies; conflicts between Zionist settlers and Palestinian residents in Tiberias area.
1905 World Zionist Congress directs all settlement efforts toward Palestine.
1908 Young Turk revolution; Palestinian delegates elected to the second Ottoman parliament; al-Karmil newspaper opens in Haifa; Jewish-Palestinian violence in Jaffa and rural areas.
1909 WZO establishes Tel Aviv.
1910 Lebanese Sursuq family sells a large tract in Palestine to the Jewish National Fund.
1911JanuaryPalestinian newspaper Filastin is established; Najib al-Nassar publishes the first book on Zionism in Arabic.
1912 Elections to the Ottoman parliament.
1913 First Arab congress in Paris calls for decentralization of the Ottoman Empire.
1914 Elections to the Ottoman parliament; Ottoman Empire enters World War I on the side of Germany.
1915-1916Hussein-McMahon correspondence; Britain promises independence to the Arabs in certain areas.
1916May 16Sykes-Picot agreement between Britain and France carves up the Ottoman Empire.
1916June 10Arab revolt begins.
1917November 2Balfour Declaration offers Jews a national home in Palestine.
1917December 9Britain occupies Jerusalem.
1918OctoberBritish and Arab troops capture Damascus; first Muslim-Christian Association established in Jaffa; armistice ends Ottoman-Allied fighting (Oct 30).
1919JanuaryPeace conference opens in Paris; First Palestinian National Congress meets in Jerusalem (Jan 27-Feb 10).
 FebruaryU.S. King-Crane Commission of Inquiry initiated.
1920MarchArab congress in Damascus proclaims Faysal king of Syria.
 April 25San Remo conference assigns mandates to Britain and France; Arabs protest in Jerusalem.
 JulyFrench army expels Faysal from Syria; British establish civil government in Palestine.
 December 13Third Arab National Congress (Haifa) elects Arab Executive Committee.
 DecemberWZO founds Haganah and Histadrut.
1921MarchBritain appoints Faysal king of Iraq and Abdullah ruler of Transjordan.
 May 1May Day clashes among Jews in Tel Aviv lead to Arab clashes with Jews in Jaffa and nearby villages.
 May 8Britain appoints Hajj Amin al-Husayni mufti of Jerusalem.
1922January 9Britain establishes Supreme Muslim Council.
 February 28Britain declares Egypt independent but retains military bases and economic privileges.
 May-JuneFourth Arab National Congress (Jerusalem) sends Palestinian delegation to London in response to Balfour Declaration.
 June 3Churchill White Paper links Jewish immigration to Palestine’s “economic absorptive capacity.”
 June 24League of Nations ratifies draft Palestine Mandate, including the Balfour Declaration.
1923May 15Britain declares Transjordan a self-governing state; Palestinian Arabs reject legislative council.
 July 24In Lausanne Treaty, Turkey renounces claims to former Arab provinces.
 September 29League of Nations finalizes approval of the British Mandate over Palestine.
 OctoberPalestinian Arabs reject proposed Arab Agency.
1925April 25Vladimir Jabotinsky founds the Revisionist party.
1928June 20-22Seventh Arab National Congress (Jerusalem) reunites Palestinian factions.
1929August 23-29Riots at Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem lead to death of 133 Jews and more than 116 Palestinians mainly in Jerusalem, Safed, and Hebron.
1930March 30Palestinian delegation goes to London after Britain issues the Shaw Commission of Inquiry Report.
 October 20Hope-Simpson report on Jewish immigration and land shortages is issued, followed by the Passfield White Paper.
1931February 14MacDonald Letter (the “Black Letter”) retracts the Passfield White Paper.
 December 16Pan-Islamic Congress in Jerusalem.
1932August 2Istiqlal Party formed in Palestine.
 OctoberIraq becomes independent (Oct 13), joins League of Nations; Britain keeps military bases and oil interests.
1933JanuaryAdolf Hitler assumes power in Germany.
 OctoberPalestinian demonstrations and strikes in Palestine protest Jewish immigration and Zionist political aims.
1935 Palestinians form several political parties: Arab, Reform, and National Bloc; Nuremberg Laws against Jews are passed in Germany (Sept 15).
 October 3Italy invades Ethiopia.
 NovemberShaykh Izz al-Din al-Qassam is killed by British forces.
1936April 21Arab general strike in Palestine.
1937July 7Peel Commission report recommends partition of Palestine.
 September 8Arab conference in Bludan, Syria rejects Peel report; Irgun is formed.
 OctoberPalestinian Arab revolt resumes.
1938November 9Woodhead Commission finds partition unworkable.
1939Feb 7-Mar 27St. James Conference on Palestine held in London.
 May 17British White Paper restricts Jewish land purchases and immigration, rescinds recommendation to partition Palestine.
 September 1World War II begins after Germany invades Poland.
1940September 13Italian forces invade Egypt from Libya.
1941JuneBritain reoccupies Iraq and seizes Syria and Lebanon from (Vichy) France.
1942May 11Biltmore Declaration calls for Jewish state in all of Palestine.
 November 4Allied victory at al-Alamein (Egypt).
1943November 26Lebanon declares independence.
1945February 14President Franklin D. Roosevelt promises to consult the Arabs on Palestine in a meeting with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia.
 March 22League of Arab States is founded in Cairo.
 May 7Germany surrenders.
1946March 22Transjordan gains independence.
 MayAnglo-American Committee of Inquiry recommends admitting 100,000 Jews to Palestine.
 JulyMorrison-Grady plan is issued; Irgun bombs the British headquarters in King David Hotel, Jerusalem, killing 91 British, Jewish, and Arab employees (July 22).
1947February 18After convening the London Conference, Britain turns the Palestine issue over to the United Nations.
 May 15UN General Assembly establishes Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP).
 November 17King Abdullah meets Jewish Agency official Golda Meir in Naharayim.
 November 29UN General Assembly Resolution 181 supports the partition of Palestine.
1948April 4Haganah initiates Plan Dalet.
 April 5Palestinian commander Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni is killed at Qastil.
 April 9Irgun attacks Palestinian village Dayr Yasin, killing more than 100 villagers.
 April 13Arabs retaliate with attack on Jewish bus convoy to Mt. Scopus.
 April 19Palestinians flee Tiberias.
 April 22Haganah captures Haifa (Plan D); most Palestinians flee from Haifa to Lebanon.
 May 10King Abdullah meets Meir in Amman.
 May 13Palestinians in Jaffa surrender to Haganah; UN appoints Count Folke Bernadotte as mediator.
1948May 14Israel becomes an independent state.
 May 15Arab armies attack Israel.
 June 11-July 6First truce.
 July 12-13Israeli army expels Palestinians from Lydda and Ramla.
 July 16Israeli army seizes Nazareth.
 July 19Second truce.
 September 17A Jewish militant from LEHI assassinates UN mediator Bernadotte.
 OctoberIsraeli troops seize the Negev.
 NovemberJericho conference calls for Jordanian annexation of West Bank.
 December 11UN Resolution 194 creates Conciliation Commission for Palestine, accords refugees right to return and compensation.
1949January 25Israeli elections; Ben-Gurion becomes prime minister.
 February 24Israel and Egypt sign armistice agreement at Rhodes.
 March 11Israel and Transjordan sign armistice agreement.
 April 26Lausanne peace talks begin.
 July 20Syria and Israel sign armistice.
 December 8UN creates United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
1950January 1Israel annexes West Jerusalem.
 April 24Jordanian parliament confirms annexation of East Jerusalem and West Bank, renamed the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
 May 25United States, Britain, and France issue the Tripartite Declaration to limit arms sales to the Middle East.
1951July 20King Abdullah is assassinated in East Jerusalem.
1952July 23Free Officers’ coup d’état in Egypt.
 August 11Hussein becomes king of Jordan.
1953October 14Israel’s Unit 101 attacks Qibya village (West Bank).
1954JulyIsraeli sabotage mission in Egypt; exposed later by the Lavon affair.
 July 27Anglo-Egyptian accord to complete the withdrawal of British forces from Egypt (ratified in October).
1955February 28Israel attacks Egyptian military outposts in Gaza.
 September 27Gamal Abdul Nasser announces Egyptian purchase of Soviet-bloc arms.
 November 22Baghdad Pact is formed: Britain, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan.
1956July 19Secretary of State John Foster Dulles withdraws U.S. financing for High Dam at Aswan.
 July 26Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal Company.
 October 29Israel invades Sinai.
 October 31Britain and France bomb Egyptian airfields on the Canal, then land troops.
 Nov 6-7Britain, France, and Israel agree to ceasefire under U.S. and UN pressure.
 December 23Britain and France complete withdrawal from Suez Canal.
1957January 5United States announces Eisenhower Doctrine to counter communism in the Middle East.
 March 1Israel withdraws from Gaza Strip; UN Emergency Force (UNEF) patrols Gaza Strip-Israeli border and at Sharm al-Shaykh.
1958July 14Monarchy is overthrown in Iraq.
 July 15U.S. sends Marines to Lebanon, invoking the Eisenhower Doctrine.
1959JanuaryYasir Arafat and colleagues in Kuwait form Fatah.
 March 24Iraq leaves Baghdad Pact, renamed Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).
1961June 19Kuwait becomes independent.
 September 29Syria withdraws from United Arab Republic.
1962SeptemberCivil war begins in Yemen; first U.S. arms sales to Israel.
1964Jan 13-17Arab League establishes Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), plans to divert headwaters of the Jordan River.
 May 28-Jun 2Founding conference of the PLO’s Palestine National Council (PNC) opens in East Jerusalem.
1965January 1Fatah’s first raid targets Israeli National Water Carrier.
1966November 4Egypt and Syria sign mutual defense pact.
 November 13Israeli army raids al-Samu village (West Bank).
1967Jan-AprArmed clashes between Israel and Syria.
 May 16Nasser demands withdrawal of UNEF, then closes Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping.
 May 30Egypt and Jordan sign mutual defense pact.
 June 5Israel attacks Egypt, then Syria and Jordan.
 June 7Israel captures East Jerusalem.
 June 8Israeli planes attack USS Liberty.
 June 10Israel captures Golan Heights from Syria; ceasefire leaves Israel in control of East Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza Strip, Sinai, and Golan Heights.
 June 28Israel extends jurisdiction of West Jerusalem municipality over an enlarged East Jerusalem.
 Aug 29-Sept 1Arab summit conference at Khartoum.
 September 24Israel approves first Jewish settlement on the West Bank, at Gush Etzion.
 November 22UN Security Council unanimously passes Resolution 242, which proposes a “land-for-peace” formula.
 DecemberPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is formed under George Habash.
1968March 21Israel attacks PLO at Karameh, east of Jordan River.
 July 10-17PNC revises PLO covenant.
 July 23PFLP hijacks Israeli airliner to Algiers.
1969-70 War of Attrition along the Suez Canal.
1969FebruaryNayif Hawatmeh forms Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDFLP), breaking with PFLP; fifth PNC elects Arafat chairman of PLO.
 November 2Cairo agreement permits PLO operations in parts of Lebanon.
 DecemberU.S. announces Rogers Plan.
1970August 7U.S. negotiates ceasefire along Suez Canal.
 September 6PFLP hijacks civilian airplanes to Jordan.
 September 16King Hussein declares martial law; Jordan army attacks PLO bases and refugee camps.
 September 27Nasser mediates PLO-Jordan ceasefire.
 September 28Nasser dies of heart attack; Anwar Sadat becomes president of Egypt.
 November 13Syrian Defense Minister Hafiz al-Asad seizes power.
1971Jan.-JulyIsraeli army crushes Palestinian guerrilla uprising in the Gaza Strip.
 JulyJordan expels the remaining Palestinian fighters from northern Jordan.
 November 28“Black September” group kills Jordanian prime minister in Cairo.
1972March 15King Hussein declares Federal Plan to form a Jordanian/Palestinian United Arab Kingdom.
 March-AprilMunicipal council elections in the West Bank.
 July 18Sadat expels Russian military advisors.
 Sept. 5-6Eleven Israeli athletes taken hostage at Munich Olympics are killed either by Black September or during attempted German rescue.
1973April 10Israeli hit squad kills three senior PLO officials in Beirut.
 AugustPalestine National Front is formed in the Occupied Territories.
 October 6October War begins with Egyptian and Syrian attacks against Israeli forces in Sinai and the Golan Heights.
 October 15United States begins arms airlift to Israel.
 October 17Arab members of OPEC impose oil embargo on the U.S. in response to airlift.
 October 22UN Security Council Resolution 338 calls for direct negotiations based on Resolution 242.
 October 23Israeli troops cross Suez Canal and cut off Egyptian army in Sinai.
 October 27Egypt and Israel, then Syria, agree to ceasefire.
 December 21Peace conference opens in Geneva.
1974January 18Israel and Egypt sign first disengagement accord.
 May 13PDFLP attacks a school in Ma’alot (Israel).
 May 31Israel and Syria sign disengagement agreement.
 June 1-9Twelfth PNC calls for “national authority” on liberated land.
 June 16U.S. and Syria resume diplomatic relations.
 OctoberPFLP forms Rejection Front.
 October 28Arab League summit at Rabat recognizes the PLO as “the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”
 November 13Arafat addresses UN General Assembly.
 November 22PLO gains observer status at the United Nations.
1975AprilCivil war begins in Lebanon.
 June 5Suez Canal reopens.
 September 4Israel and Egypt sign second disengagement accord.
 October 20Shimon Peres proposes “civil administration” in the Occupied Territories.
 November 10UN General Assembly adopts a resolution defining Zionism as “a form of racism.”
1975-76Nov.-Mar.Massive civil disobedience campaign is sustained in the West Bank.
1976March 27Israel deports two Palestinian mayoral candidates.
 March 30Palestinian citizens of Israel hold “Land Day” to protest land expropriations in Galilee.
 April 12Palestinian nationalists win municipal council elections in the West Bank.
 July 4Israeli commandos raid airport at Entebbe (Uganda) freeing passengers on an airliner hijacked by PFLP on June 27.
 August 13Phalange fighters kill Palestinians in Tall al-Za’tar refugee camp (Lebanon) following 53-day siege.
1977March 16President Jimmy Carter endorses a Palestinian “homeland.”
 March 12-20Thirteenth PNC calls for an “independent national state,” instead of “total liberation.”
 May 17Likud wins plurality in Knesset elections; Menachem Begin becomes prime minister.
 October 1United States and Soviet Union propose reconvening the Geneva conference.
 November 20Sadat speaks to the Israeli Knesset, marking the first public visit to Israel by an Arab leader.
 December 25Begin and Sadat meet in Isma‘iliyya, Egypt.
1978March 11Fatah squad hijacks bus near Tel Aviv.
 March 14Israel invades Lebanon in “Operation Litani” in retaliation for Fatah bus hijacking.
 June 13Israel withdraws from Lebanon, except for six-mile “security zone.”
 September 17Begin, Sadat, and Carter sign Camp David peace accords.
 NovemberPalestinians form National Guidance Committee in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
1979February 1Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran following the Shah’s departure.
 March 26Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty signed in Washington, D.C.
 March 31Arab League expels Egypt and moves its headquarters from Cairo to Tunis; PLO breaks diplomatic relations with Egypt.
 July 16Saddam Hussein becomes president of Iraq.
 September 19Arafat and King Hussein discuss idea of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation.
1980June 13European Community adopts the Venice Declaration, recognizing the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
 July 30Knesset declares all of Jerusalem Israel’s “eternal capital.”
 September 22Iraqi army attacks Iran.
1981June 7Israel bombs Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak.
 July 17300 civilians die in Israeli bombing of Beirut.
 July 24U.S. mediates Israel-PLO ceasefire in Lebanon.
 October 6Sadat is assassinated; Hosni Mubarak becomes president of Egypt.
 NovemberIsrael establishes “civil administration” in the Occupied Territories.
 November 30U.S. and Israel sign strategic cooperation memorandum.
 December 14Israeli Knesset votes to annex the Golan Heights.
1982March 11Israel bans the National Guidance Committee and fires most elected West Bank mayors.
 April 25Israel returns the rest of Sinai (except Taba) to Egypt.
 June 3Israeli ambassador in London is wounded by a Palestinian.
 June 6Israel invades Lebanon.
 August 13Beshir Gemayel is elected president of Lebanon.
 August 21-31PLO withdraws from Beirut; establishes new headquarters in Tunis.
 September 1Reagan Initiative announced.
 September 9Arab League announces the Fez Plan.
 September 14Gemayel is assassinated, and Israeli troops seize West Beirut.
 September 16-18Sabra and Shatila massacres by Lebanese Phalangist forces under Israeli observation kill at least 800 Palestinian refugees and Lebanese.
 September 20Amin Gemayel becomes president of Lebanon.
1983April 18Bomb partly destroys U.S. embassy in Beirut.
 August 29Begin resigns and is replaced by Yitzhak Shamir.
 MayFatah dissidents in Lebanon rebel against Arafat with Syrian backing.
 October 23Truck bomb kills 241 U.S. Marines in Beirut.
 December 20Arafat is forced to leave Tripoli (Lebanon) by Fatah dissidents.
 December 22Arafat meets Mubarak in Egypt.
1984February 21U.S. peacekeeping forces depart Lebanon.
 July 23Israeli elections; on September 13 national unity government formed with Shimon Peres as Prime Minister in first “rotation.”
 November 28Seventeenth PNC (Amman) calls for an independent Palestinian state in confederation with Jordan.
1985January 20Israel begins initial withdrawal from Lebanon.
 February 13King Hussein and Arafat announce the Amman Agreement.
 MarchPalestinian National Salvation Front is established.
 June 10Israel withdraws from most of Lebanon.
 June 14TWA airliner hijacked by a Lebanese group (released June 30).
 September 15PLO’s Force 17 kills three Israelis in Cyprus.
 October 1Israel bombs PLO headquarters in Tunis.
 October 7Cruise ship Achille Lauro is hijacked by Abu Abbas’s group in the Mediterranean.
 November 7Arafat issues the Cairo declaration, renouncing terrorism.
1986February 19King Hussein abrogates the Amman agreement.
 October 20Yitzhak Shamir (Likud) becomes Israeli prime minister under rotation arrangement with Labor.
1987March 16Major Palestinian groups sign the Tunis Document as the basis for restoring cooperation.
 April 25Eighteenth PNC restores unity among the political factions.
 December 9Palestinian Intifada begins in the Occupied Territories.
1988FebruaryFirst Hamas communiqué is issued.
 April 16Israel assassinates PLO military leader Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad) in Tunis.
 July 31King Hussein renounces Jordanian claims to West Bank.
 November 15-19Nineteenth PNC proclaims Palestinian state and accepts UN Security Council Resolution 242.
 December 13Arafat addresses UN General Assembly, convened in Geneva when the U.S. bans him from traveling to New York.
 December 14After Arafat’s press conference, U.S. opens dialogue with PLO in Tunis.
1989May 22Egypt is readmitted to the Arab League.
 October 24Lebanese parliament endorses Ta’if peace plan.
1990May 30Israel captures Palestinian commando boats near Tel Aviv; calls for U.S. to suspend dialogue with PLO.
 June 8New Israeli government, Likud-led coalition of right-wing parties with Yitzhak Shamir as prime minister.
 June 20U.S. suspends dialogue with PLO.
 August 2Iraq invades Kuwait.
 October 8Israeli forces kill 18 Palestinians at al-Haram al-Sharif (Jerusalem).
 November 29UN authorizes use of “all necessary means” to expel Iraq from Kuwait and sets January 15, 1991 deadline.
1991January 14Fatah’s Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad) is assassinated in Tunis.
 January 16U.S.-led coalition begins air attack on Iraq.
 February 27Allies liberate Kuwait.
 October 30Arab-Israeli peace conference opens in Madrid.
 December 3Last U.S. hostage in Lebanon is freed.
 December 16UN General Assembly repeals Zionism-is-racism resolution.
1992June 23Israeli elections: Yitzhak Rabin (Labor) becomes prime minister; Peres becomes foreign minister.
 December 17Israel deports 415 Hamas members to south Lebanon.
1993January 16Knesset repeals a law banning contact with the PLO.
 MarchIsrael begins permanent closure of Jerusalem from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
 March 25Benjamin Netanyahu replaces Shamir as head of Likud.
 July 25Israel attacks Lebanon for a week, retaliating for Hizballah rockets; 500,000 civilians displaced.
 August 1U.S. mediates a ceasefire in Lebanon.
 August 20Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles (DOP) is finalized in Oslo.
 September 10U.S. resumes dialogue with PLO.
 September 13Israel and PLO sign DOP on Palestinian Interim Self-Government in Washington, D.C.
 September 14Jordan and Israel agree on an agenda for peace negotiations.
 December 13Target date passes to begin Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1994February 24Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein kills 29 Palestinian worshipers in Hebron.
 April 6Hamas bombs bus in Afula (Israel).
 May 4Arafat and Rabin sign Gaza-Jericho Accord in Cairo.
 July 1Arafat arrives in Gaza, assumes presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
 July 25King Hussein and Rabin end state of war between Jordan and Israel.
 September 26Israel approves more housing construction in settlements on the West Bank, despite DOP.
 October 11Hamas kidnaps Israeli soldier (killed on October 14 during Israeli rescue attempt).
 October 19Hamas blows up Israeli bus in Tel Aviv, killing 22 Israelis.
 October 26Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty signed near Aqaba; U.S. President Clinton meets Asad in Damascus.
 October 30Casablanca economic summit opens.
 November 18Clashes between Palestinian police and Islamic militants in Gaza.
 November 21Arafat and Hamas announce temporary truce.
 December 10Arafat, Rabin, and Peres are awarded the Nobel Peace Price in Oslo.
1995January 19Rabin and Arafat meet; Rabin agrees to halt new settlements and confiscate land only for roads.
 January 22Car bombs at Bet Lid (Israel); Israel suspends negotiations with PLO.
 January 25Israel approves building an additional 2,200 housing units on the West Bank.
 February 2Arafat, Rabin, Hussein, Mubarak summit in Cairo.
 July-AugustIsraeli settlers try to seize land on West Bank to preempt negotiations.
 July 24Hamas bombs bus in Ramat Gan (Israel).
 August 31Hamas bombs bus in Jerusalem.
 September 28Israel-PLO accord (Oslo II) is signed in Washington, D.C.
 October 26Israel’s Mossad assassinates Fathi Shiqaqi, leader of Islamic Jihad, in Malta.
 October 29-30Second economic summit is held in Amman.
 November 4Yigal Amir assassinates Rabin in Tel Aviv; Peres becomes acting prime minister.
 DecemberPA assumes control over key towns in West Bank (zone A) and issues passports.
1996January 5Israel kills Hamas’s Yahya Ayyash (“The Engineer”) with booby-trapped cellular phone in Gaza.
 January 20Palestinian legislative and presidential elections are held in West Bank and Gaza Strip.
 March 13Sharm al-Shaykh conference on terror: Arafat, King Hussein, Peres, Clinton, Mubarak are in attendance.
 March 27First meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
 April 22-24Twenty-first PNC meets in Gaza and revokes clauses of PLO Charter that call for Israel’s destruction.
 May 15Knesset elections; Netanyahu becomes prime minister.
 June 16Netanyahu states Israel will retain sovereignty over the Golan and Jerusalem and expand settlements.
 September 4Netanyahu and Arafat meet for the first time.
 September 24Israel opens tunnel in Jerusalem; clashes spread through West Bank and Gaza; 86 Palestinians and 15 Israeli soldiers die.
 November 18Israeli military court sentences four Israeli soldiers for killing a Palestinian youth in the West Bank on November 13, 1993.
 November 22Israeli Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon draws up plans to construct 900 housing units in the Golan Heights.
 December 2Israeli government approves construction of new housing units in settlements in the West Bank.
 December 8Israel boycotts meeting of quadripartite refugee committee (Egypt, Jordan, PA, and Israel) in Bethlehem.
 December 15Palestinian military court sentences two Hamas members to death for killing two Palestinian policemen a year ago.
 December 18Palestinian State Security Court in Ramallah convicts three PFLP members for killing two settlers on December 11.
 December 24Netanyahu and Arafat meet at Erez junction (Gaza-Israel border).
1997January 12King Hussein flies to Gaza and Israel to break diplomatic impasse.
 January 14Israeli army begins forced removal of 400 Jahalin bedouin from lands near Ma’ale Adumim settlement.
 January 15Hebron protocol ratified by PA Executive Authority, PLO Executive Committee, PLC, Israeli cabinet, and Knesset.
 February 9Netanyahu and Arafat meet at Erez and agree to start talks on implementing the Oslo II accords.
 February 10Israeli armed forces present “final status” map to the cabinet: 51.8% of the West Bank would remain under Israel.
 February 11Israel releases 31 female Palestinian prisoners; 4,000 men remain in jail.
 March 7Israeli cabinet approves troop redeployment from some West Bank areas, according the PA 2% more land.
 March 18Bulldozers break ground at Har Homa, a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem bordering Bethlehem; PA halts negotiations.
 March 22Closure of Israel to West Bank/Gaza residents leads to clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.
 June 16Israeli army shoots and wounds eight Palestinian demonstrators during clashes in Hebron.
 July 30Suicide bombing in Jerusalem; Israel closes West Bank/Gaza, suspends transfers to PA, arrests 200 Palestinians.
 September 4Three suicide bombers kill four Israelis in West Jerusalem, prompting extension of Israeli military activity into Area A.
 September 9Under U.S. and Israeli pressure, PA detains 200 alleged Hamas members for questioning.
 September 25PA closes 16 Hamas charities in Gaza; Mossad attempts to kill Khalid Meshal, a Hamas leader in Amman.
 October 1Israel releases Hamas spiritual leader Shaykh Ahmad Yassin to mollify King Hussein over attempted assassination of Meshal (Sept 25).
 November 13UN condemns Israel for building Jewish housing in East Jerusalem; Arafat says he will declare state on May 4, 1999.
1998January 7Israeli government approves construction of 574 more housing units in Efrat, near Bethlehem.
 January 20Clinton presents withdrawal plan; Netanyahu wants only one withdrawal from 9% of West Bank before final settlement.
 January 22Clinton meets with Arafat, who rejects Israeli plan.
 February 19PA shuts down nine radio and TV stations in West Bank that aired pro-Iraqi programs.
 March 23Netanyahu rejects U.S.-proposed 13.1% withdrawal from West Bank.
 June 8Elad settlers seize houses in Silwan, East Jerusalem.
 June 12Arafat meets Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.
 June 21Israeli cabinet approves plan to expand Jerusalem to the west.
 July 7UN General Assembly accords Palestinian delegation “super-observer” status.
 July 14UN Security Council criticizes Israeli plan to expand Jerusalem.
 August 5Arafat reshuffles cabinet in response to corruption charges; two ministers resign in protest at lack of substantive change.
 October 15-23Wye negotiations; Netanyahu and Arafat sign interim agreement for 13% withdrawal in three stages over 12 weeks.
 October 30PA ratifies Wye Accord; Hizballah denounces the accord; PA arrests more than 100 Hamas members.
 November 11Israeli cabinet ratifies Wye Accord; Netanyahu threatens annexation of part of West Bank if Arafat declares a Palestinian state in May 1999.
 November 20Israeli army withdraws from area around Jenin and releases 250 Palestinian prisoners (including 150 common criminals).
 December 14Clinton addresses PNC meeting in Gaza that nullifies articles in PLO charter calling for the destruction of Israel.
 December 23Arafat frees Shaykh Yassin from house arrest (since October 29).
1999January 11Peres addresses Palestinian Legislative Council in Ramallah.
 February 7King Hussein dies; eldest son is crowned King Abdullah II.
 February 12Palestinians storm Jericho prison to protest detention of Islamic activists.
 March 29Netanyahu closes three Palestinian offices in East Jerusalem on the grounds that they are associated with the PA.
 April 29PLO Central Council delays declaration of statehood from May 4 until June.
 May 17Ehud Barak defeats Netanyahu to become prime minister.
 June 8Palestinian groups call on Arafat to hold municipal council elections.
 June 23-24Israeli air raids on Lebanon.
 July 27Barak meets Arafat at Erez; no agreement on second stage withdrawal that is due by mid-November.
 August 16-17Israel kills Hizballah commander; clashes result.
 August 30Jordan closes Hamas offices in Amman.
 September 9-10Israel begins to release Palestinian prisoners and transfers 7% percent of West Bank from Area C to B.
 October 4Israel agrees on “safe passage” between Gaza and West Bank.
 October 25“Safe passage” opens; protests in Bethlehem near Rachel’s Tomb.
 November 27Twenty Palestinian academics and politicians criticize Arafat’s administration; PA security forces detain 7 of the 20 (November 28).
 December 6Palestinian negotiators suspend talks until Israel addresses the issue of expanding Jewish settlements.
 December 8U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright meets Barak and Arafat separately.
 December 22Barak and Arafat meet to resolve delay in second withdrawal from 5% of West Bank.
2000January 3-10Syrian-Israeli talks held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
 January 5Israel transfers another 5% of West Bank to PA control.
 February 2Israeli cabinet approves transfer of 6.1% of West Bank to PA (after Barak delayed the transfer on January 16).
 February 7PA freezes interim negotiations.
 March 21Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington, D.C.; the 6.1% is transferred.
 April 29George Habash retires as head of PFLP.
 May 7Arafat and Barak meet, agree on September 13 deadline for final status talks.
 May 15Israeli cabinet approves transfer of three villages near Jerusalem to PA control.
 June 10Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad dies.
 July 17Bashar al-Asad is invested as president by Syrian people’s assembly.
 September 10PLO Central Council postpones declaration of Palestinian state.
 September 28Likud Party leader Sharon visits al-Haram al-Sharif with large police escort, igniting protests.
 September 29Israeli police kill four Palestinians and wound 220 after Friday prayers at al-Haram al-Sharif; Al-Aqsa Intifada begins.
 September 30Israeli soldiers kill Muhammad al-Durrah (age 12) and ambulance driver at Netzarim junction in Gaza.
 October 12Israel bombs police station, radio tower and Arafat’s compound after Palestinians kill two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah; USS Cole is attacked in Aden port.
 October 17Clinton and Mubarak convene Sharm al-Shaykh summit.
 October 21Barak commissions inquiry into the deaths of Palestinian citizens at the hands of Israeli police.
 November 16IDF targets Fatah offices in West Bank; Barak warns Israelis to prepare for protracted conflict.
 December 9Israeli Prime Minister Barak announces his resignation.
 December 18Resolution to establish international protection force fails to gain a majority of votes in the UN Security Council.
 December 19Palestinian-Israeli talks open in Washington, D.C.
 December 23Clinton presents his proposal for agreement on final status issues.
 December 27Barak accepts Clinton’s parameters but with reservations.
2001January 3Arafat meets with Clinton and accepts his proposal with reservations.
 January 18Barak proposes establishing a Palestinian state on 40-42% of the West Bank already under PA control.
 February 6Ariel Sharon is elected prime minister of Israel.
 February 8U.S. President George W. Bush declares Clinton’s proposals off the table.
 May 20Mitchell Report issued; U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell urges Israel and PA to implement its recommendations.
 June 1Hamas suicide bombing of Tel Aviv nightclub kills 16 Israelis and injures more than 80.
 September 11Al-Qaeda attacks the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
 September 14Sharon rejects U.S. appeals to hold peace talks with PA, hindering U.S. efforts to form a coalition to strike at Bin Laden.
 October 2Bush for the first time publicly endorses the creation of a Palestinian state.
 October 18Israel cuts off all contact with PA, gives green light for security services to step up targeted killings.
 November 19Powell announces plans to help broker ceasefire based on the Tenet plan and Mitchell Commission recommendations.
 December 3Israeli cabinet declares PA an “entity that supports terrorism.” IDF launches air raids on PA sites; besieges Arafat in Ramallah.
 December 16Arafat again urges Palestinians to halt attacks on Israeli targets, especially suicide bombings.
 December 23Peres and PA negotiator Ahmad Qurai‘ draft a “letter of understanding” recognizing Palestinian state after full implementation of Mitchell plan.
2002January 3Israel captures the Karin A loaded with 50 tons of weapons en route from Iran to the PA; PA and Iran deny involvement.
 January 17Arafat placed under de facto house arrest in Ramallah by IDF.
 February 9EU endorses a draft peace plan; Israel rejects the idea, PA accepts.
 March 12UN Security Council passes Resolution 1897, for the first time explicitly endorsing the creation of “two states, Israel and Palestine.”
 March 28Arab summit adopts Saudi peace initiative, offering Israel full Arab normalization for its withdrawal to 1967 borders.
 March 29IDF launches Operation Defensive Shield, reoccupying major West Bank cities, and besieging Arafat’s Ramallah compound.
 March 30UN Security Council approves Resolution 1402, demanding that Israel withdraw from Ramallah.
 April 4Bush publicly demands that Israel halt incursions, withdraw from reoccupied areas (March 29), and stop settlement activity.
 April 9Battle in Jenin refugee camp leaves at least 53 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers dead.
 April 21IDF completes withdrawal to the outskirts of Nablus; pulls out of Ramallah, maintains forces around Arafat’s compound.
 May 1Israel lifts its 34-day siege of the Ramallah compound, grants Arafat freedom of movement.
 May 6Under U.S. pressure, Arafat authorizes agreement ending the siege of the Church of the Nativity.
 JuneConstruction of Israel’s separation wall begins.
 June 5Suicide bomb in Meggido kills 14 IDF soldiers and three Israeli civilians; IDF reoccupies West Bank.
 June 9Surrounded once again, Arafat appoints a new “transitional” PA.
 June 24Bush gives a major speech saying that Palestinians must remove Arafat and create a Western-style democracy.
 September 17The Quartet presents draft “Roadmap” for creation of a Palestinian state by June 2005.
 September 29Israel ends the siege, allowing Arafat and all those inside with him to leave; troops remain in Ramallah.
2003January 26Powell warns Israel to ease the humanitarian situation and says that the Palestinians must be offered a “real state.”
 February 5In secret talks, Sharon presents Qurai’ with plan for gradual ceasefire and resumed security coordination.
 March 19Mahmud Abbas accepts Arafat’s nomination as prime minister, and is given three weeks to form a government.
 April 29Abbas forms new government, his outlined vision of future state deemed “problematic” by Israel.
 April 30U.S. formally presents Israel and the PA with the “Roadmap.”
 May 17Abbas and Sharon meet in Jerusalem, marking the first senior-level talks since September 26, 2000.
 May 25Sharon’s cabinet narrowly approves the principles of the Roadmap, but attaches 14 reservations.
 June 27In Cairo, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah finalize a unilateral ceasefire agreement.
 June 29Hamas and Islamic Jihad announce a ceasefire for a minimum of three months, with the support of the DFLP and PFLP.
 August 19Hamas takes responsibility for a Jerusalem bombing that killed 20 and wounded over 100 but says still committed to ceasefire; Israel suspends talks with PA.
 September 6Abbas resigns as prime minister.
 September 7Arafat names Ahmad Qurai’ to replace Abbas.
 October 13Prominent Palestinians and Israelis announce Geneva Accord as an alternative to the Roadmap.
 December 1Geneva Accord signed.
2004January 25Hamas’s Abd al-Aziz Rantisi proposes a 10-year truce in exchange for Israel’s withdrawal to 1967 borders.
 March 24Israeli officials present U.S. with Sharon’s “preferred plan” for unilateral disengagement from Gaza and six settlements in the West Bank.
 May 24Egyptian intelligence chief meets with Sharon and Arafat to discuss the training of Palestinian security forces by Egypt.
 June 6Sharon’s cabinet endorses plan to withdraw from all Gaza settlements and four in the West Bank.
 July 9The International Court of Justice (ICJ) finds Israel’s separation barrier to be contrary to international law.
 October 27Arafat collapses in his Ramallah headquarters.
 October 29Arafat checks into Paris hospital leaving Abbas in charge.
 November 6Qurai‘ privately meets with Hamas leaders in Gaza, who pledge to exercise restraint but do not guarantee a ceasefire.
 November 10At 09:30 EST, Yasir Arafat dies in a Paris hospital.
 November 11The State Department says Israel must carry on with Gaza disengagement.
 November 29Hamas’s Shaykh Hassan Yusuf says Hamas would consider ceasefire agreement conditional on Israeli reciprocation.
2005January 9Mahmud Abbas elected president of the PA.
 January 15Abbas is sworn in as PA president, reappoints Qurai’ as prime minister and calls for immediate talks with Israel.
 January 24Palestinian militant groups agree to an informal one-month truce.
 February 8In Sharm al-Shaykh, Abbas calls for end of Palestinian violence toward Israelis, Sharon calls for end of military activity against Palestinians.
 March 17Palestinian factions meet in Cairo and pledge to extend the unofficial truce until the end of 2005.
 August 17IDF begins forcible evacuation of remaining Jewish settlers and disengagement protestors in Gaza.
 August 22IDF completes evacuation of settlers from Gaza.
 September 12IDF pulls out last troops and declares the end of military rule in Gaza.
 September 24Islamic Jihad and Hamas fire over 30 rockets from Gaza at Sederot and the Negev; Israel declares Operation First Rain.
 October 26Islamic Jihad bombing in Hadera kills five Israelis and wounds 20. Israel approves Operation Starting All Over Again.
 November 20Israel and PA revive working group on security with U.S. participation.
 November 23Israel and the EU formally declare the EU Border Assistance Mission to monitor Gaza-Egypt border.
2006January 4Sharon suffers a massive stroke. Political powers are transferred to Vice PM Ehud Olmert, Sharon’s close ally.
 January 21U.S. acknowledges rumors that it funneled $2 million through USAID to build electoral support for Fatah at the expense of Hamas.
 January 25Hamas’s Change and Reform Party wins a surprise majority in PA legislative elections, taking 74 seats. Fatah wins 45 seats.
 January 27Israel announces suspension of VAT tax transfers to PA, amounting to some $50 million in lost PA revenue per month.
 January 30Quartet says aid to new Hamas-led government should be contingent upon recognition of Israel, economic embargo begins; Russia breaks rank.
 February 4Talks on the formation of a unity government open between Abbas and Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh.
 February 9Putin invites Hamas delegation to Moscow.
 February 18Abbas invites Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform party to form a cabinet.
 February 19Israeli cabinet endorses immediate halt to transfers of VAT taxes owed to the PA.
 March 25Abbas approves Prime Minister Haniyeh’s cabinet slate despite the failure of the platform to endorse previous peace agreements.
 March 27Haniyeh offers to hold talks with the Quartet and to allow any country to send monitors.
 March 28Kadima party led by Prime Minister Olmert won most seats in parliamentary elections. The PC approves Hamas-led cabinet.
 April 5PA Foreign Minister sends a letter to Kofi Annan indicating new government’s acceptance of a two-state solution.
 May 9Quartet conference on aid options; Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) proposed to provide direct aid to Palestinians while bypassing Hamas.
 May 12Haniyeh signals to EU potential for “the recognition of a Palestinian state next to Israel” based on 1967 borders.
 May 17Executive Support Forces deployed for first time; Abbas orders thousands of PA police into the streets, Fatah-Hamas violence escalates.
 May 23Haniyeh signals readiness to cooperate with Israel and reiterates opposition to amending the Hamas Charter.
 June 20Israeli Defense Ministry officials acknowledge that Hamas has been observing the ceasefire announced on June 15.
 June 25Palestinian gunmen attack an IDF border post outside of Gaza and capture Captain Gilad Shalit.
 June 28IDF launches Operation Summer Rains, sending ground troops into south Gaza; retakes the Dahaniyya airport area as a base.
 June 29IDF arrest 64 senior Hamas political officials, including eight PA cabinet members and 26 PC members.
 July 12Hizballah launches a cross border attack on Israel, capturing two soldiers, killing three and wounding two.
 July 13Israeli air strikes on Lebanon and Hizballah Katyusha attacks on Israel. IDF operations in Gaza continue.
 September 1EU says that it would be willing work with a Palestinian unity government even if it included members of Hamas.
 September 11Abbas and Haniyeh announce framework for the formation of a national unity government, but agreement soon falls apart.
 Late SeptemberU.S. security envoy Keith Dayton launches efforts to open low-level Israeli-Palestinian security talks.
 October 4U.S. plans to double the size of Abbas’s elite presidential guard to 6,000.
 November 1IDF night raid into Gaza; Haniyeh advisor Ahmad Yousef calls on Israel to join a ten-year truce and open final status talks.
 November 12Arab League votes to end financial blockade of Palestinians, calls for international conference with Israel.
 November 13Tony Blair calls on Bush to support Palestinian-Israeli peace to help stabilize Iraq.
2007January 19Israel transfers $100 million of $660 million withheld tax revenues to Abbas according to December 2006 agreement.
 January 27Renewed fighting between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza Strip leads to suspension of attempts to form unity government.
 January 28Fatah and Hamas agree on ceasefire during talks convened by Saudi King Abdullah in Mecca.
 February 8President Abbas, Khalid Meshal, and King Abdullah agree to parameters for national unity government.
 March 21Israel Knesset extends citizenship law that prevents unification of Israeli-Palestinian families.
 April 10U.S. Congress approves $60 million aid package to support Abbas’s National Security Forces.
 April 24Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, fires nearly 100 rockets and mortars into Israel.
 April 25Israel air attack hits Gaza home of Khalid al-Haya, leader of Hamas parliamentary bloc.
 June 12Abbas suspends Fatah activities in unity government after Hamas attacks on Fatah posts in Gaza.
 June 17Abbas appoints Salam Fayyad prime minister of emergency cabinet to reach national unity government under Prime Minister Haniyeh.
 July 1Israel transfers to PA $117 million in tax revenue withheld during 17-month boycott.
 July 20Israel releases 255 Palestinian (mostly Fatah) prisoners; approximately 10,000 Palestinians remain in Israeli prisons.
 August 11Hamas military wing in Gaza announces creation of coast guard.
 November 27Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sponsor conference in Annapolis, Maryland to initiate new negotiations for peace agreement.
 November 28Rice signs agreement to provide $80 million to enhance Abbas’s security forces.
 November 29Palestinian and Israel academics and activists present “One State Declaration.”
2008January 10Bush announces his most comprehensive peace plan, including refugee compensation and accommodation of settlements.
 January 18IDF bans all imports into Gaza.
 January 20-21Gaza’s main power plant closes, aid programs suspend food distribution, 40-50% of Gazans lack safe drinking water.
 January 225,000 Palestinian women protest at Rafah, demanding that Egypt open the border.
 January 23Hamas forces open Rafah border, tens of thousands of Palestinians flow through seeking supplies and medical care.
 January 28Under U.S. and Israeli pressure Egypt begins to reseal border, completes closing on February 3.
 January 30Israeli High Court endorses “economic warfare” on Gaza in response to rocket attacks; fuel and electricity supplies decreased.
 February 25Tens of thousands Palestinians march across Gaza to Israeli border protesting the continued siege.
 February 28IDF launches Operation Hot Winter, killing 20 Palestinians.
 March 1First IDF ground incursion into Gaza since 2005 disengagement; 62 Palestinians killed and 175 wounded.
 March 2Abbas suspends peace talks with Israel.
 March 6Palestinian gunman opens fire on Zionist yeshiva, killing eight Israelis and wounding nine others.
 March 12Haniyeh offers Israel comprehensive ceasefire in exchange for a cessation of Israeli “assassinations, raids and killings.”
 April 7Abbas meets with Olmert for the first time since talks were suspended and pledges to continue negotiations.
 May 760th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel; Palestinians mark 60 years since the Nakba.
 June 18To bolster new Fatah-led emergency government, U.S. ends aid embargo began January 2006.
 June 19Israel and Hamas agree to truce in Gaza.
 August 25Israel releases 198 Palestinian prisoners to bolster Abbas’s Fatah party, bringing total released to 1,000.
 September 17Tzipi Livni elected leader of Israel’s Kadima party.
 September 21Olmert formally resigns under corruption allegations.
 October 8Tension over Yom Kippur closures leads to riots between Israeli Palestinians and Jews in Acre; violence continues until October 13.
 October 28The Israeli Supreme Court approves plans for building the Museum of Tolerance by the Simon Wiesenthal Center on the grounds of Mamilla (Ma’man Allah) Cemetery, containing hundreds of tombs of Muslim shaykhs, imams, military leaders and scholars since the period of Salah al-Din (Saladin).
 November 13UNRWA forced to suspend food distribution in Gaza for the first time in 60 years due to lack of supplies; aid agencies warn of impending humanitarian crisis.
 November 30Israeli government approves the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners, and releases 224 on December 15.
 December 19Six-month cease-fire between Israel and Hamas expires and a spate of attacks from both Israel and Hamas result.
 December 27IDF launches a major offensive on Gaza, Operation Cast Lead.
2009January 6An IDF ground attack hits UNRWA building functioning as a shelter, killing 42 Palestinians and wounding 55.
 January 17Olmert announces a unilateral cease-fire to come into effect the following day. Amnesty International later reports that some 1400 Palestinians were killed during the 22-day operation, including around 300 children and 115 women.
 January 20Obama is inaugurated as the 44th U.S. president.
 March 2International donor conference takes place in Sharm al-Shaykh, resulting in 75 countries pledging a total of $4 billion, only a portion of which was ever received. Sec. of State Clinton arrives in Israel for three-day talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
 March 13In Ni’lin, IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at activists taking part in a non-violent protest. American activist, Tristan Anderson, is seriously wounded and dies in an Israeli hospital three days later.
 March 31Netanyahu’s coalition government is approved by the Knesset.
 April 21King Abdullah of Jordan meets President Obama and U.S. Envoy Mitchell at the White House; Obama announces his administration’s plans for reviving the peace process.
 May 7The Arab League rejects the Obama administration’s request to amend the 2002 Arab League initiative by dropping the Palestinian right of return as means of reviving the peace process.
 June 4Obama delivers his first major international address in Cairo, calling for “new beginnings” between the U.S. and the Muslim World, refers to the “unbreakable bond” between the U.S. and Israel, but describes the occupation as “intolerable” and calls for the creation of a Palestinian state.
 June 14Netanyahu delivers a major address on Israeli peace and security in response to Obama’s speech in Cairo. He calls for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and for the first time, agrees to back the creation of a Palestinian state, subject to conditions, however, he refuses to end settlement construction in the West Bank.
 June 22In response to Obama and Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Fayyad calls for the creation of a Palestinian state within two years.
 September 15Goldstone Report on Gaza finds evidence of Israel’s serious violations of international human rights; it concludes that Israel, Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups are responsible for committing war crimes.
 November 25Netanyahu declares a ten-month settlement freeze on new residential housing approvals in the West Bank; building in East Jerusalem continues.
 December 21Egypt confirms that it is building an underground steel barrier along the Rafah border.
2010January 6Violent clashes take place between hundreds of Palestinians and Egyptian border police over Egypt’s ban on aid through the Rafah crossing without Israel’s permission, and the plans to build the steel barrier.
 January 20Senior Hamas Commander, Mahmud al-Mabhuh, is found murdered in a Dubai hotel; local police implicate Israel in the assassination.
 March 3The Arab League gives its support to the idea of indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that have been suspended since Operation Cast Lead.
 March 9Israel announces the approval of 1,600 new settlement houses in East Jerusalem during Biden’s visit to Israel and the West Bank. An embarrassed Biden and Clinton both condemn the move, and the Arab League withdraws its support for talks; Abbas states that the PA will not resume talks until Israel cancels construction plans.
 March 19The EU and Quartet strongly condemn Israel’s construction plan, calling for its reversal and stressing that Israel was obligated to freeze all settlement activity, demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem.
 May 1Arab League officials meet in Cairo to re-endorse plans to begin proximity talks, but reiterate that direct talks should not commence until Israel stops settlement construction.
 May 8U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell, Israel and the PLO Executive Commission agree to launch four months of proximity talks; they begin talks a day later.
 May 30Turkish relief convoy carrying 600 international activists and 10,000 tons of aid sails towards Gaza, defying warnings from the Israeli navy.
 May 31Israeli forces board the Mavi Maramara and kill nine Turkish activists. One of them holds dual U.S. citizenship. Angered Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan cancels military exercises with Israel and calls for an emergency meeting with the UN Security Council; meanwhile, the EU demands an immediate inquiry and the international community condemns the killings.
 June 17Israel announces it will ease its land blockade on the Gaza strip.
 September 26Ten-month freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank expires.
 October 2Abbas stresses that direct talks will not resume until Israel halts settlement construction in the West Bank.
 December 6Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay recognize Palestinian state.
 December 15Iceland announces recognition of Palestinian statehood.
 December 17Bolivia joins other South American countries in recognizing Palestine as an official state.
 December 17Mohamed Boazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, sets himself aflame after his food stall is shut down by police, sparking a revolution and the overthrow of President Ben Ali. The Tunisian revolution was followed by mass demonstrations for change that erupted in Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria, and Bahrain. The region-wide uprising carried on throughout 2011 and into 2012.
 December 24Ecuador recognizes Palestinian statehood.
2011January 7Chile joins list of South American countries recognizing Palestinian statehood.
 January 23Al Jazeera publishes “The Palestine Papers,” more that 1,600 documents detailing behind the scenes negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The papers show that Palestinian negotiators were willing to make concessions on the controversial topics of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. Following the documents’ release, Saeb Erekat resigns as chief negotiator for the PLO.
 February 14Prime Minister Salam Fayyad dissolves cabinet and was immediately appointed by Abbas to form a new cabinet.
 February 18The U.S. vetoes a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council condemning Israeli settlement building.
 March 15Uruguay joins list of countries recognizing Palestinian statehood.
 March 26In Ramallah, Mahmoud Abbas meets with Hamas officials for the first time in a year in hopes of reconciling the two factions.
 April 3South African Judge Richard Goldstone retracts part of his report on Israel’s 2009 offensive in Gaza, claiming that he no longer believes that Israel deliberately targeted Gazan civilians as the report originally stated.
 April 4Israeli actor and pro-Palestinian peace activist Juliano Mer Khamis is murdered in Jenin.
 April 6International Monetary Fund states that Palestine is economically competent to run an independent state.
 April 15Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni is found dead in Gaza after being abducted by radical Salafist group.
 May 4In Cairo, Fatah and Hamas sign a reconciliation accord.
 May 15Israeli army kills several protesters during pro-Palestinian demonstrations commemorating the Nakba. Protests took place along Israel’s borders with Syria and Lebanon and at checkpoints in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
 May 28Egypt reopens Rafah Border crossing to Gaza.
 June 6At least 23 people killed in the Golan Heights after the Israeli army opens fire on pro-Palestinian demonstrators attempting to enter the Israeli-occupied territory of the Golan Heights to mark Naksa Day.
 July 2Greece blocks “Freedom Flotilla” from embarking for Gaza.
 August 18Eight Israelis killed and over 30 wounded in attack near Eilat, heightening tensions with Gaza and Egypt. Israel responds with airstrikes on Gaza.
 September 23Palestinian Authority submits application for statehood at the United Nations.
 October 18Israel and Hamas reach deal to swap over 500 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit abducted in Gaza in 2006.
 October 31The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) votes for Palestine to become a full member, followed by the US decision to cut funding to this UN program.
 December 19Israel releases 550 Palestinian prisoners in final stage of prisoner swap deal.
2012January 9Palestinians and Israelis meet in Jordan in an attempt to restart peace talks between the two parties.
 January 12Israeli Supreme Court upholds law that prevents Palestinians who are married to Israelis from living in Israel.
 January 21Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal announces he will not stand for leadership in the next round of party elections. Meshaal’s advocacy for popular non-violent resistance highlights the rift between Hamas leadership in Syria and Gaza.
 February 6Following negotiations in Qatar, Fatah and Hamas announce unity government headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stepping down from his position.
 February 21Palestinian prisoner and Islamic Jihad member Khader Adnan ends 66-day hunger strike protesting his administrative detention without charges.