Chronological Review of Events/March 1998 – DPR review

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Chronological Review of Events Relating to the

Question of Palestine

Monthly media monitoring review

March 1998

 2

The Israeli army detained dozens of Palestinians during a dawn sweep through the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Fawar, south of Hebron.  The camp was sealed off by the army for some five hours during the search.  The army did not immediately comment on the operation. (AFP)

 3

Israeli soldiers demolished the home of a 12-member Palestinian family, which had already lost one house to army bulldozers in 1988. (AFP)

Israeli Cabinet Secretary Danny Naveh and Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat met for the second time in Jerusalem to narrow the gaps between the two sides in the peace talks, but no progress was reportedly made.  During their meeting, they discussed the opening of a safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Israel Radio reported. (XINHUA)

 4

Speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Israel’s Minister of National Infrastructures Sharon said that Israel would have to resign itself to the idea of a Palestinian State but should do its best to make sure it did not pose a danger. (AP)

 5

Prime Minister Netanyahu said he had invited PA President Arafat to hold a summit, which would be the first meeting between the two leaders in five months.  “I recently sent an invitation to Mr. Arafat to meet him but I don't know what his response will be,” Mr. Netanyahu told Israeli television in Madrid. (AFP)

International observers in Hebron complained of harassment by Jewish settlers following an incident involving the children of the settlers. (AFP)

 7

Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala), the speaker of the Palestinian Council, was re-elected to a third one-year term. (AFP, AP, XINHUA)

 8

Israeli soldiers barred from entering a school yard hurled tear gas canisters and percussion grenades into it, wounding four Palestinian teenagers.  The soldiers said they had come to the Omar bin Abdel-Aziz school on the outskirts of Hebron looking for students who had thrown stones at them. (Reuters)

The spokesman for Israel’s Peace Now Mossi Raz condemned the expansion of the Jewish settlement of Eli, located midway between Ramallah and Nablus.  He said settlers had brought in "more mobile homes" to Eli even though Peace Now says 700 of the 1,000 houses in the settlement are empty. (AFP)

Some 1,500 retired Israeli army and police officers have petitioned Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop settlement activities for the sake of peace, Israel Radio reported.  The officers in the petition urged Mr. Netanyahu to "choose peace with Arabs over the settlements." (XINHUA)

 9

According to the Al-Ayyam daily, the so-called “four-point plan” drawn up by Prime Minister Netanyahu prior to his meeting on 8 March with British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been rejected by the PA as a “manoeuvre”. (DPA)

10

At least three Palestinians were shot and killed and nine wounded, some believed critically, when Israeli soldiers opened fire on a mini-van at a checkpoint manned by Israeli soldiers near Hebron.  The Israeli army closed the entire area and prevented Palestinian ambulances from Hebron area hospitals from reaching the area to evacuate the wounded.  The area where the shooting took place is considered Area C, which is under total Israeli control. (AFP, AP, DPA, Reuters)

11

Palestinians hurled stones and firebombs at Israeli soldiers in three separate clashes in the West Bank a day after the Israeli troops killed three Palestinian construction workers at a roadblock.  Israeli troops in riot gear fired rubber bullets and chased the protesters in and around Hebron and Ramallah and on the outskirts of Dura, the victims' home village.  Nearly 50 Palestinians were injured in the clashes, including two who were in serious condition.  One of the seriously wounded, a 16-year-old boy, was struck in the head by a rubber bullet.  One Palestinian was wounded by live rounds fired by an Israeli motorist. (AFP, AP, DPA, Reuters, XINHUA)

Israel’s Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai, telephoned PA President’s deputy chief Palestinian negotiator Mahmoud Abbas last night to express sorrow over the killing of three Palestinians by Israeli soldiers. (The Jerusalem Post)

12

Israeli soldiers injured over 40 Palestinians on the third day of West Bank violence sparked by Israel's roadblock killings of three Palestinians two days before.  The most serious incidents took place in Hebron where dozens of Palestinians burnt tyres and attacked the troops guarding the Jewish enclave with stones and firebombs.  Israeli troops responded by firing rubber bullets and tear gas, according to reports from the town.  Palestinian police intervened to restore order, but could ensure only sporadic calm.  Palestinian sources said that a ten-year-old boy was seriously injured after being shot by a live bullet in the abdomen.  Clashes also took place in the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.  Violence was also reported in Dura, the home village of the roadblock victims who were killed on 10 March. (AFP, DPA)

Prime Minister Netanyahu called the killing of the three Palestinian labourers by the Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint a tragic mistake.  “To my regret, sometimes there are mistakes and tragic mistakes of the kind that happened,” he told Israel Television's Arabic news service. (Reuters)

A European Commission spokesman announced in Brussels that the EU was earmarking US$1.1 million for Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  The funds destined for the West Bank and Gaza Strip will be used in vaccination programmes for several hundred thousand people. (AFP)

13

At least seven Palestinians were wounded in clashes on Friday between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank town of Hebron. (Reuters, XINHUA)

UNCTAD released a study entitled "Palestinian merchandise trade in the 1990s:  Opportunities and Challenges."  The study will serve as the basis for a major technical assistance project, to be launched in May by UNCTAD and UNDP, to promote trade cooperation between the PA, Egypt and Jordan.  Among other things, the project will aim at improving trade efficiency. (XINHUA)

Dozens of Jewish settlers scuffled with Palestinians in Hebron.  Armed settlers threw stones at homes of Palestinians and beat them in a neighbourhood in the town.  At least two Palestinians were hurt in the scuffles. (Reuters)

14

Stone-throwing clashes erupted for a fifth straight day West Bank towns, injuring at least a dozen Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers.  In the village of Dura, about 200 Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli troops, who fired back tear gas and rubber bullets.  Twelve Palestinians were hurt, including a journalist, as were two Israeli soldiers. (AP)

15

“I am not exaggerating when I say that the peace process is almost dead because of the obstinate and irresponsible policies of the Israeli Government," PA President Arafat told a meeting of Islamic Foreign Ministers in Doha, Qatar.  “The situation in the occupied territories is very serious and threatens to explode … The Israeli Government must realise that there will be no peace, no stability and no security unless Jerusalem becomes the capital of a Palestinian State,” he added. (AFP)

16

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said that he was determined to visit the Jewish settlement of Har Homa at Jabal Abu Ghneim.  Israeli officials said his planned visit was provocative and would show support for Palestinian aspirations to establish a future capital in East Jerusalem. (AP)

“Europe and especially Britain can play an important role in advancing the peace process but not by meddling in the Jerusalem issue,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said on the eve of Mr. Cook's one-day visit. (AFP)

Uzi Arad, Prime Minister Netanyahu's diplomatic advisor, expressed Israel's strong opposition to any EU peace initiative during a meeting with French ambassador Jean Noel de Bouillane de Lacoste. (AFP)

17

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook surveyed the construction site of the Jewish settlement of Har Homa south of East Jerusalem from a nearby vantage point.  Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said he had cut short a meeting with Mr. Cook and cancelled a joint dinner after the British Foreign Secretary had surveyed the settlement site.  Israeli officials also said Mr. Cook had broken a promise to see the site on agreed terms by meeting the Salah al-Ta'mari, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. (Reuters)

Foreign Secretary Cook said that the EU would give the PA over US$8 million to improve their security forces in the fight against terrorism. (AFP)

18

Prime Minister Netanyahu stressed in an interview with the Austrian daily Kurier that the United States was the only mediator in the Middle East peace process and that Europe had to accept that. (AFP)

The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for donations to UNRWA, which has been facing financial difficulties for several years.  He visited Al-Hussein and Hittin refugee camps, 15 km north-east of Amman, accompanied by Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan and UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen. (AFP, DPA, Reuters)

19

Switzerland has invited Israeli and Palestinian experts to attend four-party talks together with Swiss and ICRC experts on improving respect for humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territories, Livio Zanolari, spokesman of the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in Berne. (Reuters)

20

Some 65 Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Dura.  The Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets to disperse the youths, most of them Dura residents, who said they were protesting against the March 10 shooting deaths of three Palestinian workers from Dura at an army roadblock.  One Palestinian demonstrator was lightly injured. (AFP, AP, Reuters)

21

Hebron mayor Mustafa Natshe announced that Hebron had been awarded a "Cities for Peace" prize by UNESCO.  He said he had been informed of the prize in a message from UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor. (AFP)

22

The Israeli Cabinet rejected a new US initiative calling for a 13.1 per cent Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, Cabinet Secretary Danny Naveh said. (AP)

23

The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan met in Gaza City with the PA President Yasser Arafat. (AFP, DPA, Reuters)

24

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan toured Jabalaya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.  Jabalya, with 85,188 residents, is the largest of the Gaza Strip's eight refugee camps.  It houses 22 schools administered by UNRWA, a health centre, a food distribution centre, a youth activities centre, a women's programme and a sanitation office. (Reuters)

25

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan held talks with Palestinian officials at UNDP office in East Jerusalem.  The Palestinian side called for the United Nations to play a greater role in the Middle East peace process. (AFP)

27

According to Haaretz, The Israeli Defence Ministry is moving to turn informal camps set up by Jewish settlers in the West Bank into new, permanent settlements.  The Ministry has reportedly provided three informal settlements, called Rehalim, Gidonim and Har Hemed, with electricity and sewage systems and linked them to settler roads in the occupied territory. (AFP)

The United States Middle East peace envoy Dennis Ross and Prime Minister Netanyahu, joined by US ambassador to Israel Edward Walker, met in Jerusalem to discuss proposals for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of the West Bank. (AFP, AP, Reuters)

29

The former mayor of Bethlehem and former PA Minister of Tourism, Elias Freij, 80, died in Amman. (AFP, AP, Reuters)

30

Thousands of Palestinians joined marches in various West Bank towns to mark "Land Day," an occasion of protests by Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel against the confiscation of land by Israel.  Some 300 people participated in a demonstration near Jabal Abu Ghneim.  Nine Palestinians were wounded in the West Bank as Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian youths. (AFP, DPA)

According to Israel Television, US peace envoy Dennis Ross’ fourth and final meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu ended with no decisions. (AP)

At their monthly meeting in Brussels, EU Foreign Ministers issued a statement endorsing the approach taken by the British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook on his 17 March visit to the construction of the Jewish settlement of Har Homa at Jabal Abu Ghneim, south of East Jerusalem. (AFP)

31

The Israeli Peace Now group, which advocates the establishment of a Palestinian State alongside Israel, said that starting next week, it would rent a two-seater plane for monthly over-flights to monitor settlement construction. (AP)

The PA Minister of Finance Muhammad Nashashibi presented the Palestinian Council with an estimated US$1.81 billion budget for 1998, three months into the fiscal year.  With revenues from taxes, customs, VAT, and donor aid estimated at US$1.77 billion, the budget envisions a deficit of US$37 million, 26 per cent less than the previous year's deficit.  Donor aid is expected to cover an estimated US$900 million of the 1998 budget, which will go for development projects, while the rest of the money will come from taxes, customs and VAT revenues, most of which Israel collects on behalf of the PA at the borders on goods imported into or exported from the Palestinian territories, and from Palestinian workers in Israel. (DPA)

Touring the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, Prime Minister Netanyahu commented on the outcome of US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross’ latest mission.  “We didn't send him empty-handed and he didn't leave empty-handed,” Netanyahu said when asked by reporters why he had sent Ross home with nothing to show from his five-day trip.  “We gave each other some good ideas, what I would call bridging proposals. … If we meet again, we'll be able to see if we indeed have a bridge,” he said. (AFP, AP, Reuters)

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