Chronological Review of Events/December 1993 – DPR review

CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW OF EVENTS

RELATING TO THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

December 1993

Monitored from the press by the

Division for Palestinian Rights

1 December Palestinian gunmen shot dead two Jewish settlers and wounded two others in an attack on the outskirts of El Bireh, north of Jerusalem. (The New York Times)

The Islamic World Association concluded its meeting in Amman with an appeal to the world community to reject the Israeli Court decision subjecting the Islamic Waqf and holy sites to Israeli laws.  (The Jerusalem Press)

United States Vice-President Al Gore unveiled the establishment of a new task force of government and private business officials dubbed "Builders for Peace" that would seek to funnel private investment funds into the West Bank and Gaza.  (The Washington Post)

2 December Jewish settlers closed down the main roads to Ramallah and El Bireh and continued their assaults on Palestinian residents following the killing of two Israelis the day before.  (The Jerusalem Press)

The Ahari (follow me) movement, which was established by reserve army officers opposed to the Israeli-PLO accords, issued a document aimed at doubling the number of Jewish settlements in  the  occupied  territories.  (Ha'aretz)

3 December Four young Palestinians, including two boys under 14, were shot and injured by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and Hebron.  A young Palestinian was shot and injured by Jewish settlers in Hebron.  (The Jerusalem Press)

Eight leaders of the Fatah movements in the Gaza Strip met with the Israeli army commander of the region to discuss the security situation in the Strip. (The Jerusalem Press)

4 December United States Secretary of State Warren Christopher arrived in the Middle East in a trip that will take him to Israel, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.  (The New York Times)

5 December A group of Jewish settlers from Qiryat Arba ambushed and killed a Palestinian resident from Hebron.  The killing triggered demonstrations and protests all over the West Bank.  (The New York Times)

A Palestinian gunmen opened fire as he boarded a public bus in Holon and killed a reserve soldier before he was gunned down by other soldiers.  (The Washington Post)

6 December A molotov bomb was thrown at an Israeli military post in Jabalia refugee camp.  Armed youth opened fire at Israeli military patrol in  Rafah camp.  (The Jerusalem Press)

The Israeli Prime Minister welcomed Syria's offer to help search for missing Israeli servicemen in Lebanon.  (The New York Times)

Secretary of State Warren Christopher met in Amman with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and "gently rejected" his plea for the United States to press Israel on peace issues with the PLO.  (The Washington Post)

Palestinian gunmen killed a Jewish settler and his son and wounded three other sons near the West Bank town of Hebron.  (The New York Times)

Two "suspected collaborators" were killed and two others were injured by masked youths in the Gaza Strip.  (The Jerusalem Press)

7 December Israel Minister of Housing Ben Aliezer revealed that his ministry has built 4,629 residential units in Jewish settlements throughout the occupied territories during the past budget year.  (Al-Hamishmar)

A new Israeli movement to unite rightist camps held its first organizational meeting in Tel Aviv.  The meeting of the group called Hatikva (hope) was attended by representatives of 40 parties and groups of Israeli rightist camps.  (Davar)

8 December Secretary of State Warren Christopher said in Cairo that the United States would accept a delay in implementing the peace agreement between Israel and the PLO if both sides agreed.  Israel and the PLO exchanged draft protocols in Cairo but have yet to agree on significant issues of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho.  (The Financial Times)

The Israeli army deployed dozens of military units in the occupied territories, particularly in the Hebron area, in an attempt to prevent clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians.  (The New York Times)

9 December Jewish settlers from Shilo settlement near Ramallah shot and killed a Palestinian man. Two young Palestinians from Gaza were shot and injured by Israeli troops.  A "suspected collaborator" was shot dead by masked people in Gaza city.  (Jerusalem Press)

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat met in Spain with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.  (The New York Times)

Secretary of State Warren Christopher announced that President Clinton will meet Syrian President Hafez Assad in Europe in mid-January. (The Washington Post)

10 December Secretary of State Warren Christopher met with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in Tunis. He was the first top level United States official to call on the Chairman at his headquarters in Tunis.  (The Washington Post)

Three Palestinians, two brothers and a cousin, were assassinated by Jewish settlers while sitting in a parked car near Hebron.  (The New York Times)

The General Assembly adopted 7 resolutions (48/40 A-J) pertaining to the question of Palestinian refugees.  Four other resolutions (48/41 A-D) relating to the "Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and other Arabs of the Occupied Territories" were also adopted by the Assembly.

12 December In their summit meeting in Cairo, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, conceded that the Monday (13 December) deadline to begin self-rule in Jericho and the Gaza Strip would have to be delayed at least 10 days.  The two leaders failed to remove the last obstacles to start the self-rule.  (The New York Times)

King Hassan of Morocco announced the decision to broaden his country's economic cooperation with Israel in a major step toward the eventual normalization of relations.  (The New York Times)

A young Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops in Shujaiyeh-Gaza City. (The Jerusalem Press)

13 December Two young Palestinians were shot dead by undercover military units in Rafah.  A young Palestinian stole an ambulance and drove it into an army jeep  killing himself and injuring an Israeli soldiers.  (The New York Times)

14 December The General Assembly adopted three resolutions (48/58, 48/59 A-B) related to the "situation in the Middle East", including a resolution on Jerusalem.

Yasser Arafat, the PLO Chairman, arrived in London on a two-day official visit.  (The Financial Times)

15 December The last 197 of the 415 Palestinian deportees were repatriated from Marj Zohor in Lebanon to Israel, where they were held in Israeli detention camps until further decision.  (The Washington Post)

A young Palestinian was shot dead when he attempted to stab  an  Israeli  soldier  in the Jabalia refugee camp.  (Jerusalem Press)

16 December In a ten-page booklet, the Israeli army ordered its soldiers to take "strong action" against law-breaking settlers in the occupied territories, including possible arrests and curfews. The new instructions were denounced by settler leaders as an attempt to "delegitimize" the settlers.  (The New York Times)

17 December Donor governments pledged $570 million in a one-year aid to the Palestinians during a first meeting in Paris of the World Bank's consultative group for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  (The Financial Times)

Two young Palestinians were shot and injured during clashes with Israeli troops in Jabalia camp.  Hand grenades were thrown at military posts in four places in the Gaza Strip.  (Jerusalem Press)

19 December 128 of the 197 Palestinians who were repatriated 4 days earlier were released from Israeli detention.  The remaining 69 were placed under administrative detention.  (Jerusalem Press)

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators concluded two days of negotiations in Oslo without reaching a final agreement on implementing the self-rule accord.  (The New York Times)

20 December Israeli and Palestinian negotiators arrived in Paris for negotiations in an attempt to break the deadlock over implementing the Israeli-PLO  accord.   (The Financial Times)

The General Assembly adopted four resolutions (48/158 A-D) on the "Question of Palestine".

21 December Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, the spokeswoman of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace talks, resigned from her post to head a Palestinian Commission of Human Right to be established under the future Palestinian National Authority.  (The Christian Science Monitor)

The General Assembly adopted two resolutions (48/212, 48/213) on the living conditions and on assistance to the Palestinian people.

22 December Two Israelis were shot dead by masked gunmen from the Hamas movements near Ramallah.  (Al-Ittihad)

23 December Four Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip. (Al-Ittihad)

25 December Three young Palestinians were shot and injured during a clash with Israeli troops in Rafah.  A hand grenade was thrown at an army post in Jabalia by a masked Palestinian.  (Jerusalem Press)

27 December Israeli and PLO negotiators began their third round of talks in Cairo in an effort to remove the remaining obstacles to Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Jericho.  (The New York Times)

28 December A young Palestinian from Dora was shot and injured after attacking an Israeli soldier with a knife.  He was then arrested.  (Al-Ittihad)

29 December After two days of talks between top Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Cairo, both sides failed to break the deadlock in the peace talks.  (The Washington Post)

30 December PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat rejected what he called an unacceptable Israeli plan to implement Palestinian self-rule in the occupied territories and offered a wide-ranging counterproposal to the negotiators.  (The Washington Post)

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