Palestine - Timeline 1980 - 1995


Line
The Timeline 1980 - 1995
| 1900 - 1979 |
| 1981 | 1982 | 1985 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |

Line

Arrow Palestinian - Timeline 1980 - 1995+
Arrow 1900 - 1979
Arrow 1981 - President Sadat assassinated
Arrow 1982 - Lebanon invasion
Arrow 1982 - PLO leave Beirut
Arrow 1985 - Falasha airlift stopped
Arrow 1987 - 1991 - The Intifada
Arrow 1988 - Jordan gave up the West bank
Arrow 1988 - PNC declared the State of Palestine
Arrow 1989 - Madrid Conference
Arrow 1990 - Arafat addressed UN In Geneva
Arrow 1991 - 1992 - Peace Talks
Arrow 1993 - Deported Palestinians
Arrow 1993 - Washington peace agreement
Arrow 1994 - Hebron mosque massacre
Arrow 1994 - Israel withdrew from Jericho and Gaza Strip
Arrow 1994 - Jordan signed a peace agreement with Israel
Arrow 1994 - Arafat returns to Palestine
Arrow 1994 - Nobel peace prize awarded
Arrow 1995 - Martyr bombs kill 19 in Israel
Arrow 1995 - Summit in the Middle East
Arrow 1995 - Six killed in Gaza martyr bombing
Arrow 1995 - Martyr bomb rips through bus near Tel Aviv
Arrow 1995 - Martyr bomber kills five in Jerusalem
Arrow 1995 - Oslo II Agreement signed in Washington
Arrow 1995 - Israeli Prime Minister Rabin assassinated
Arrow 1996
Arrow 1997
Arrow 1998
Arrow 1999
Arrow 2000
Arrow 2001
Arrow 2002
Arrow 2003
Arrow Palestine Home page


Line

1981 - President Sadat assassinated

1981 - President Sadat assassinated

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.


Index


Line

1982 - Lebanon invasion

1982 - Lebanon invasion

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.


Index


Line

1982 - PLO leave Beirut

1982 - PLO leave Beirut

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 .


Index


Line

1985 - Falasha airlift stopped

1985 - Falasha AIRLIFT STOPPED

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.


Index


Line

1987-1991 - The Intifada

The Intifada

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.


Index


Line

1988 - Jordan gave up the West bank

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.



Line

1988 - PNC declared the State of Palestine

State of Palestine

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.


For the full text of State of Palestine Declaration of Independence , Click here
Index


Line

1989 - Madrid Conference

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.


For the full text of Madrid declaration , Click here
Index


Line

1990 - Arafat addressed UN In Geneva

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.


For the full text of UN Resolution 681 , Click here
Index


Line

1991-1992 - Peace Talks

Abdul Shafe, Hayder (Head of Palestinian negotiating team)
Abdul Shafe, Hayder (Head of Palestinian negotiating team)

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 .


Index


Line

1993 - Deported Palestinians

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.


Index


Line

1993 - Washington peace agreement

Washington peace agreement
Washington peace agreement

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.


For the full text of OSLO I agreement , Click here
Index


Line

1994 - Hebron mosque massacre

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.


Index


Line

1994 - Israel withdrew from Jericho and Gaza Strip

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.


For the full text of the Economic protocol , Click here
For the full text of Gaza Strip and Jericho Agreement , Click here
For the full text of Transfer of the power Agreement , Click here
Index


Line

1994 - Jordan signed a peace agreement with Israel

Jordan-Israel Peace
Jordan-Israel Peace

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.


Index


Line

1994 - Arafat returns to Palestine

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.


Index


Line

1994 - Nobel peace prize awarded

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.


Index


Line

1995 - Martyr bombs kill 19 in Israel

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.


Index


Line

1995 - Summit in the Middle East

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.


Index


Line

1995 - Six killed in Gaza martyr bombing

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.


Index


Line

1995 - Martyr bomb rips through bus near Tel Aviv

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.


Index


Line

1995 - Martyr bomber kills five in Jerusalem

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.


Index


Line

1995 - Oslo II Agreement signed in Washington

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.


Index


Line

1995 - Israeli Prime Minister Rabin assassinated

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.


Index


Line

1996 - National elections

Yasser Arafat president of Palestine State.

Details of the year 1996 events

For the details of 1996 events , Click here to visit the 1996 Calendar
Index


Line

1997 - No progress in the peace negotiations


Details of the year 1997 events

For the details of 1997 events , Click here to visit the 1997 Calendar
For the full text of Hebron agreement , Click here
Index


Line

1998 - Peace process up and down


Details of the year 1998 events

For the details of 1998 events , Click here to visit the 1998 Calendar
Index


Line

1999 - End of the century events


Details of the year 1999 events

For the details of 1999 events , Click here to visit the 1999 Calendar
Index


Line

2000 - Al-Aqsa Intifada fire


Details of the year 2000 events

For the details of 2000 events , Click here to visit the 2000 Calendar
Index


Line

2001 - Current year events


Details of the year 2001 events

For the details of 2001 events , Click here to visit the 2001 Calendar
Index


Line

2002 - The daily Intifada


Details of the year 2002 events

For the details of 2002 events , Click here to visit the 2002 Calendar
Index


Line

2003 - Current year events


Details of the year 2003 events

For the details of 2003 events , Click here to visit the 2003 Calendar
Index


Line

Timeline 1900-1979Timline 1980-1995Timeline 1996Timeline 1997Timeline 1998Timeline 1999Timeline 2000Timeline 2001Timeline 2002Timeline 2003

| 1900-1979 | 1980-1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |

Line
This site created by Esam Shashaa
Contact us..

Home Page Index