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On October 6th, President Mohammed Anwar el Sadat of Egypt was murdered by Islamic fundamentalist gunmen in Cairo. The shooting happened at 1 p.m. during the annual military parade to commemorate the beginning of the Egyptian attacked in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war . A lorry in the procession stopped in front of the rostrum where the President and other luminaries were watching a fly-past of Egyptian Air Force jets. Armed men climbed out and ran toward Sadat, hurling grenades and opening fire with automatic weapons. The President and seven others fell, mortally wounded. Sadat was flown to the Maadi military hospital where he died an hour and 40 minutes later. Sadat's funeral on October 10th was attended by only one Arab head of state. He had isolated himself in the Arab world by the rapprochement with Israel which had won him and Menachem Begin the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 and led to a peace treaty between the two countries in 1979. Iraq, Libya, Syria and the Palestinian Liberation Organization openly applauded his assassination.
In 1982 Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon aimed at wiping out the PLO presence there. By mid-August, after intensive fighting in and around Bayrut, the PLO agreed to withdraw its guerrillas from the city. Israeli troops remained in southern Lebanon, however, and the cost of the war and subsequent occupation drained the already troubled Israeli economy.
Some of the 1,500 Palestinian fighters forced to leave the war-torn city of Beirut give victory signs to supporters gathered to greet them at the harbour gate in Larnaca , Cyprus. In further attempts to destroy guerrillas bases, Israeli jets had bombed Moslem West Beirut, despite appeals for restraint from the US government. The guerrillas were allowed to go with one gun each, leaving behind grenade-launchers and other sophisticated weaponry .
Ethiopia in 1985 forced the Israeli government to stop its covert airlift of Falasha - Ethiopian Jews - to Israel. Since beginning the airlift in 1974 (when persecution of the Falasha increased after the fall of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie), Israel had airlifted some 12,000 members of the ancient Jewish sect, which had existed in isolation from the rest of the Jewish world since about the second century BC. Israel resumed the airlift in 1989, and within a few years most of the approximately 14,000 remaining Falasha had emigrated.
Relations between Israel and the Palestinians entered a new phase in the late 1980s with the intifada, a series of uprisings in the occupied territories that included demonstrations, strikes, and rock throwing attacks on Israeli soldiers. The harsh response by the Israeli government drew criticism from both the United States and the UN.
1988, Nov. 15 : Jordan gave up the West Bank, in favour of the Palestinian people. The West Bank had still a strong majority of Palestinians. The West Bank was also under boundless Israeli control, which it had been since the occupation of 1967.
On 14-04-1988 , Abu Jihad, Palestinian leader, was gunned down in his
home in Tunis by the Israeli Mossad.
On 15-11-1988 , The PNC meeting in Algiers declared the State of Palestine
as outlined in the UN Partition Plan 181 , and a flag for the new state
is presented. The new state is recognized only by states that have not
recognized Israel.
On 09-12-1988 , British Junior Foreign Minister William Waldegrave met
with Bassam Abu Sharif President Arafat's adviser, thus upgrading Britain's
relations with the PLO.
Following the US government refusing President Arafat a visa to enter
the US, the UN General Assembly held a special session on the question
of Palestine in Geneva.
On June 28, 1989 , EEC Madrid Conference issued a new declaration calling
for the PLO to be involved in any peace negotiations.
On August 3, 1989 , Fateh, the mainstream PLO organization, at their 5th
Conference endorsed the PLO strategy adopted at the PNC in Algiers in
November 1988.
On 20-05-1990 , Seven Palestinian workers from Gaza were massacred by
an Israeli gunman near Tel Aviv.
Yasser Arafat addressed the UN Security Council In Geneva after the massacre
in which he called for the deployment of a UN emergency force to provide
international protection for the Palestinian people to safeguard their
lives, properties and holy places.
The US vetoed a motion which called for the Security Council to send a
fact finding mission to the area. At the end of their hunger strike, Palestinian
leaders in the Occupied Territories decided to boycott the US.
The Arab Summit in Baghdad pledged support fort he Palestinian Intifada
and strongly denounced the settlement of Soviet Jews with in the Occupied
Territories.
On 20-06-1990 , The US suspended its dialogue with the PLO after the PLO
refused to denounce a military operation in the sea by the PLF.
On 26-06-1990 , The EEC in Dublin issued a new declaration on the Middle
East which condemned Israeli human rights violations and the settlement
of Soviet Jews in the Occupied Territories. It also doubled its economic
aid programme to the Occupied Territories.
On August-1990 , The Gulf Crisis erupted.
On 20-12-1990 , UN Security Council adopted Resolution 681.
The first comprehensive peace talks between Israel and delegations representing the Palestinians and neighboring Arab states began in October 1991. After Likud lost the parliamentary election of June 1992, Labor party leader Yitzhak Rabin formed a new government .
In Jan'93 , Israel deported 415 Palestinian men to a buffer zone in southern Lebanon on Dec. 17, 1992. This occurred during Israel's peace talks with Arab states and led to a temporary breakdown in the negotiations. Southern Lebanon had frequently been a staging area for attacks on Israel's northern settlements. The deported Palestinians were said by Israeli authorities to be active members of the militant Islamic resistance movement known as Hamas. Late in January, Israel's High Court ruled that the deportation was legal. The government of Israel nevertheless announced that all the deportees would be allowed to return home within a year.
Events in the Middle East took a surprising turn in 1993. After secret
negotiations, Prime Minister Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat flew
to Washington, D.C., and agreed to the signing of an historic peace agreement.
Israel agreed to allow for Palestinian self-rule, first in the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank town of Jericho, and later in other areas of the West
Bank that are not settled by Jews.
In Sept,93 , At a ceremony in Washington, D.C., representatives of Israel
and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed an agreement designed
to end 45 years of confrontation between the Israelis and Palestinians.
The actual signing was done by Israel's foreign minister, Shimon Peres,
and PLO foreign policy spokesman, Mahmoud Abbas. Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin of Israel and PLO leader Yasser Arafat met and shook hands on the
White House lawn, as President Bill Clinton of the United States and 3,000
guests looked on. The agreement was limited in scope; it provided for
transfer of the Gaza Strip and Jericho to Palestinian rule within a few
months. But the accord was regarded as a first step in resolving years
of violent conflict between Jews and Palestinians. The agreement had been
worked out secretly in Oslo, Norway, with the mediation of Norway's foreign
minister, Johan Jorgen Holst. Following the signing, a long process of
negotiation began on the means of transferring power in the occupied lands.
In Feb.1994 , An American-born Jewish settler in Hebron, Baruch Goldstein, opened fire in al-Haran al-ebrahime crowded mosque, killing 29 Muslims and wounding 150 more. Additional Muslims were crushed to death in the panic to flee the mosque and in rioting that followed. The attacker used an assault rifle to shoot at more than 400 Muslims, who were in the mosque for early morning prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. The mosque itself was part of a complex of buildings sacred to both Jews and Muslims, because it was believed to contain the 4,000-year-old burial tomb of Abraham and his wife Sarah. As such, the place had long been a site for religious confrontations. News of the massacre immediately led to riots in Hebron and the rest of the occupied territories. The crime called into question the possibility of continuing the peace talks between Israel, the Palestinians, Jordan, and Syria. In late 1993 Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization had signed an agreement designed to bring peace between the two group.
In May'94 , At a ceremony in Cairo, Egypt, attended by 2,500 guests, Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel, signed the final version of the Declaration of Principles that had been signed in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13, 1993. The accord was regarded as a start toward bringing peace between Israelis and Palestinians after 45 years of conflict. Within 24 hours of the signing, Israeli military forces were scheduled to leave the Gaza Strip and Jericho, ending 27 years of occupation of those territories. A Palestinian police force was ready to move into the areas to keep order. Among the foreign visitors at the ceremony were Secretary of State Warren Christopher of the United States, Foreign Minister Andrei V. Kozyrev of Russia, and Foreign Minister Koji Kazikawa of Japan. In spite of the accord, Jewish and Palestinian extremists in Israel vowed to prevent its full implementation.
In July 1994 Prime Minister Mr. Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan signed a peace agreement ending 46 years of war and strained relations. The agreement, which was signed at the White House in the presence of U.S. President Bill Clinton, laid the groundwork for a full peace treaty.
In July 1, Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), returned to Palestine for the first time in 33 years. Israel's control of Palestine had prevented his visiting the region because he was a sworn enemy of Israel and, in turn, was regarded by Israelis as a terrorist. The agreement between Israel and the PLO, signed in September 1993, had made possible Arafat's return. He went first to Gaza City in the Gaza Strip, where he was welcomed by a crowd estimated at 200,000. Three days later he flew by helicopter to the city of Jericho. Both areas had been granted Palestinian rule by the treaty.
In Oct.14 , The Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway, announced that the peace prize was being awarded to Israel's Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and to Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The award came one year after a peace agreement was signed between Israel and the PLO following decades of mutual hostility and violence. There was some controversy among members of the committee making the award: committee member Kare Kristiansen resigned, saying Arafat's violent past should have disqualified him from receiving the award.
In Jan.23 , Nineteen Israelis died and more than 60 others were wounded when two martyr bombs exploded at a crowded bus stop near Netanya, north of Tel Aviv. Most of the dead and wounded were soldiers. The militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, the sixth such incident since April 1994. During that time, Islamic guerrillas killed 54 people and wounded nearly 200 in their efforts to derail the fragile peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Israeli President Ezer Weizman denounced the bombings and called for a halt in talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization, though Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his cabinet decided to continue negotiations for a peace settlement.
In Feb.2 , In an effort to make progress in the stalled Middle East peace talks, Egypt invited representatives from Israel, Jordan, and the Palestine Liberation Organization to a summit meeting in Cairo. The meeting was the first regional summit in which an Israeli official participated. After nearly six hours of talks, the leaders issued a joint statement in which they agreed to forge ahead with efforts for peace, condemned political violence, and called for more international assistance for the Palestinian Authority, the governing body in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The peace talks, which began in 1992, had been threatened by increasing Islamic militant attacked against Israelis.
In April 9, Two militant Muslim groups launched a pair of martyr car bombings against Israelis in the Gaza Strip, killing eight people and wounding more than 45. In the first attack, which took place near Kfar Darom, an Israeli settlement about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southwest of Gaza City, a van loaded with explosives was detonated next to a passenger bus, killing seven soldiers and one American tourist, and wounding more than 40 others. Two hours later, several people were injured when a martyr bomber drove a car-bomb into an Israeli convoy on the road to the settlement of Netzarium, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) away from the site of the first attack. The Islamic militant groups Hamas and Jihad (Holy War) claimed responsibility for the bombings. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin denounced the attacks and warned that unless the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) worked to crush the militant groups operating in its territory, Israel would oppose expanding Palestinian self-rule.
In July 24 , A Palestinian martyr bomber set off a crude pipe bomb aboard a bus making its way through morning rush hour in a suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel, killing himself and six others. More than 32 passengers were wounded in the attack. The bombing was the first major instance of attacks against Israel in more than three months, and it came one day before negotiators from Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization were to have reached an agreement on extending Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin vowed that the attacks would not stop the talks from moving forward, and he credited Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority for taking positive actions to prevent such attacks from taking place.
In Aug. 21 , In the second such attack in a month, a Palestinian martyr bomber attacked a crowded bus in West Jerusalem, killing five Israelis and himself. More than 107 others were injured in the blast. The attack was denounced by the Israeli government and Palestinian leaders, and both sides vowed to keep fragile peace negotiations on track. Hamas, the Islamic group opposed to the peace process, claimed responsibility for the attack. Israeli authorities arrested more than 60 Hamas members between August 23 and August 27, charging them with planning the July 24 and August 21 bombings.
In Sept. 24 , Israeli and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officials
meeting in Taba, Egypt, finalized agreement on the second stage of eventual
Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian lands. Under the pact, which was officially
signed on September 28 in Washington, D.C., Israeli forces were scheduled
to be removed from six Arab cities and 400 villages in the West Bank by
early 1996, after which elections would be held for a 82-member Palestinian
council, which would possess legislative and executive power in the West
Bank and Gaza.
Special arrangements were agreed upon for the West Bank city of Hebron,
where Israeli soldiers will remain to protect the 450 Jewish settlers
living there. Disagreement over the status of Hebron almost scuttled the
agreement, and it took almost a week of non-stop negotiations between
PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to
resolve the issue.
The pact was the second stage in a three-step process agreed upon in the
Declaration of Principles, a framework for eventual Palestinian autonomy
signed by the PLO and Israel in September 1993. The first phase in the
process was finalized in May 1994, when an accord was signed in Cairo,
Egypt, for the pullout of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and the West
Bank town of Jericho and the handing over of administrative duties to
the Palestinian National Authority, led by Arafat. The third stage will
tackle such contentious issues as the status of Jerusalem, the fate of
Israeli settlers, and the final borders between Israel and the Palestinian
state that many analysts believe is close to becoming a reality. Negotiations
concerning the last phase of the peace process were scheduled to begin
in May 1996, with any agreement to be implemented before the end of the
century.
In Nov.4 , Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated in Tel Aviv by a right-wing extremist who considered Rabin's crusade for peace a betrayal of the Jewish state. The prime minister was shot three times as he was getting into his car to leave a peace rally at 9:30 PM local time. He was rushed to nearby Ichilov Hospital but had no heartbeat or blood pressure when admitted to the emergency room. Doctors tried without success to revive Rabin, but he was pronounced dead at 11:10 PM. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres took over leadership of the Labor government upon Rabin's death.