Chronological Review of Events/February 1995 – DPR review

CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW OF EVENTS

RELATING TO THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

February 1995

Monitored from the media by the

Division for Palestinian Rights

1 February Israeli municipal officials in Jerusalem approved the building of a new Jewish neighbourhood in East Jerusalem.  A city spokesman said the construction would begin within two months. Responding to a question regarding the negative impact of this decision on the peace process, Deputy Mayor Shmuel Meir said "he devoutly hoped the decision would indeed wreck the peace process". (Reuter)

In its annual report, the State Department of United States issued a separate assessment of the human rights situation in Gaza Strip and Jericho. The report cited clear progress in the human rights situation in the Gaza Strip and Jericho after the withdrawal of Israeli forces.  But the report indicated that during 1994 Israel mistreated, and in some cases, tortured, Palestinians during arrest and interrogation. (AFP)

2 February US senators, Alfons D'Amato and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, from New York, circulated a letter in the Senate asking the United States to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital no later than 1999.  The two senators were seeking the support from their colleagues for the letter to be sent to Secretary of State, Warren Christopher.  Mr. Martin Indyk, to become the next ambassador to Israel, told a Senate Foreign Relations sub-committee that he thought the United States should not recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli Capital at this time because it might hamper the peace process. (Reuter)

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,  President Hussni Mubarak, King Hussein, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat held a summit, in Cairo, to discuss the Middle East peace process.  Israel and the PLO agreed to press on with their self-rule agreement and PLO leader Yasser Arafat, reportedly, promised Israel to take a strong line against violent opponents of peace. The four leaders issued a final statement in which they "condemned all the outbreaks of bloodshed, terror and violence in the region" and said would work to end it.  The summit, however, has not reached an agreement on a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank, lifting the closure of the territories and putting an end to settlement work.(Reuter)

3 February The UN Human Rights Commission's special rapporteur on the occupied territories, Rene Felber, announced his resignation, three days after publishing a scathing report on continued abuses by Israeli soldiers.  In the report, Mr. Felber concluded that neither the UN General Assembly nor the Commission had met with notable success in improving human rights in the occupied territories. (AFP)

Two hundred Palestinians from Turmus Aya village in the West Bank protested against Israeli plans to build a road across their farmland for Shillo settlement.  The Shillo settlement was set up in 1978 on several hundred hectares of land seized around the village.  It was also reported that dozens of Palestinian Bedouin from Jahalin tribe took part in prayer service and protested over seizure of their lands which are to be used to expand the Maale Adumim settlement near Jerusalem. (AFP)

Addressing the first meeting of 1995 of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the UN Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali said Middle East peace accords had not yet produced tangible benefits in the lives of Palestinians and called on donor countries to provide aid they had pledged but not yet delivered. (AFP)

4 February Foreign Ministers of Jordan and Egypt and PLO representative called for action to help Palestinians displaced by the 1967 Arab-Israeli war to return to their homes, as a next step forward in the peace process. A joint statement was issued by Jordan and Egypt promised to provide the Palestinians with whatever data they might have on the subject, and urged other countries hosting displaced persons as well as international organizations to do likewise.  (AFP)

5 February Israel decided to extend the closure of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for two more weeks.  Palestinian and Israeli officials appealed to ease restrictions which prevent tens of thousands Palestinians travelling to their jobs in Israel which harm the Palestinian economy and morale.(Financial Times)

A delegation of 29 Israeli Knesset Member arrived at the Jordanian Royal Palace in Amman upon an invitation from King Hussein.  In his speech to the Israeli delegation, Prince Hassan called for Israel and Jordan to move from peace-making to peace-building through dialogue between their two peoples. (AFP)

6 February  U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Ron  Brown, met with Palestinian business leaders and officials of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to discuss trade issues. (Ha'aretz)

Israel and Jordan initiated an agreement on military cooperation and liaison arrangements between them.  The agreement was signed at a meeting in Jordan of the bilateral committee overseeing implementation of the two countries' peace treaty. (Ha'aretz)  

Palestinian gunmen shot dead an Israeli guard and wounded another in the Gaza Strip.  PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat condemned the attack and described the attacker as enemies of peace. (AFP)

 

The European Commission approved an educational grand of 25 million ecus ($31 million) to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.  The Commission spokesman said that 10 million ecus , would be released immediately to cover primary and secondary school payments for the months of February and March.  The rest will be embarked for expenses this year of eight universities and seven higher education schools.  The grand is in addition to 15 million ecus granted by the European Union for the Palestinian Police Force. (AFP)

7 February Police Minister Moshe Shahal opened the first border police station in a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip to improve security. The Neve Dekalim station, manned by 78 officers, will serve the block of colonies in the south of the Gaza Strip where most of the 5,000 Gaza settlers lives. (AFP)

8 February Palestinian Police Force detained about 100 people associated with a radical faction, which believed to be behind the murder of an Israeli guard in the self-rule area, and 40 more members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). (AFP)

Trade Ministers from the United States, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and representative of the PLO declared the Middle East "open for business" and backed efforts to end the Arab boycott of Israel.  The Ministers, who agreed to meet again in a year, called for increased cooperation, emphasizing privet sector development, and promoting contacts and regional projects. (AFP)

9 February French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, European Commission Vice President Manuel Martin of Spain, German Foreign Affairs Secretary Hans Von Ploetz and Spain' Secretary of State for EU affairs Carlos Westendrop met with Palestinian officials at the Orient House, the de facto PLO headquarters in Jerusalem, under Israeli police protection. Some 30 settlers protested outside the building and try to block the talks. (AFP)

10 February PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat appealed, in a letter, to the United States, Norway, and Russia to help break the deadlock in negotiations with Israel. Arafat also telephoned Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa and sent a letter to the UN Secretary General, Boutros Boutros Ghali, complaining that Israel was not fulfilling the 1993 Declaration of Principles signed by both. (AFP)

12 February President Clinton convened a meeting, in Washington, with the Foreign Ministers of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and a senior Palestinian official. The participants reaffirmed their commitment to honouring those agreements already concluded, to accelerate negotiations, to combat all acts that aim to destroy the peace process, and to establish a series of free-trade and industrial zones in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. President Clinton pledged in his opening speech that the United States will redouble its efforts to get the peace process back in full gear. (AFP)

13 February The Palestinians have, for the first time, exported home-grown flowers to Europe under their own label.  A shipment of 10,000 flowers was flown to Netherlands from Tel-Aviv.  An official from the agriculture department said that 50 million flowers would be exported to Europe in the coming Spring. (Reuter)

Around 1,500  unemployed Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza City to protest Israel's decision to keep the Palestinian territories sealed off for a fourth week.  A total of 50,000 Palestinians employed in Israel were left without work because of the closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip after a suicide bombing that killed 21 Israelis on January 22. (AFP)

An Israeli driver was stabbed to death in his taxi in Jerusalem. Jerusalem Police Chief, Arye Amit told Army Radio, that "the main direction of the investigation at this stage is heading towards a nationalist motive". (Reuter)

14 February A 16 years old Palestinian from Hebron was shot dead by Israeli soldiers and six others were injured in the West Bank.  (AFP)

Israel has paid $1.6 million in compensation to the families of the 29 Palestinians killed and 66 wounded by a Jewish settler in Hebron mosque last year.  Twenty of the families have received $27,000 each for the loss of a bachelor and $53,000 for the loss of a father with children. (AFP)

15 February South Africa and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) announced, in Capetown, the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the two sides.  The announcement came during the visit of Mr. Farouk Kaddoumi, the head of the PLO Political Department, to South Africa at the invitation of the Foreign Minister, Alfred Nzo. (AFP)

Israeli settlers shot and injured two Palestinians in Al-Fawar refugee camp in the West Bank. (AFP)

16 February Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman, Yasser Arafat met in Erez crossing point into Gaza to discuss the implementation of their peace agreement.  The two leaders agreed to accelerate negotiations on expanding Palestinian self-rule throughout the West Bank and to start lifting the closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It was reported that the PLO rejected an Israeli proposal to transfer to the Palestinians Authority economic and municipal management of the West Bank town of Jenin under Israeli security control.(AFP)  

A Palestinian from Hebron was shot dead by Israeli soldiers and seven others were injured. (AFP)

About 400 Jewish settlers joined a memorial service for Baruch Goldestin, praising him as "holy", a year after he killed 29 Moslem prayers in Hebron Mosque.  They sang psalms and prayed together at a stone monument built over his grave in the settlement of Kiryat Arba. (AFP)

17 February The United Nations Human Rights Commission adopted four resolutions, in Geneva, which criticized Israel for its treatment of Palestinians and other Arabs. The resolutions, called on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian land, including Jerusalem and other occupied Arab territories, and also denounced what it called Israel's persistent murderous acts, detention without trial, continued development of settlements, and the confiscation of Palestinian property. (AFP)

Palestinian gunmen shot and seriously wounded Palestinian informers believed to work for Israel in the West Bank. (AFP)

18 February PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat arrived to France to participate in a two-day conference on the future of the Middle East.  Mr. Shimon Perez, Israel Foreign Minister, also attended the conference and represented his country. (AFP)

19 February A 17 years old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli soldiers, who, they believed, was trying to break out of the Gaza Strip and enter Israeli territory.  Palestinian sources said, Yusef Abu Amsha, was collecting garbage near a border fence in southern Gaza and was not trying to enter Israel. (UPI)

20 February Israeli security forces arrested 20 Palestinian protesters and two others were beaten in the West Bank town of Nablus.(Reuter)

21 February The PLO's Executive Committee convened in Cairo to discuss the peace talks with Israel. The Executive Committee re-emphasized the need to implement the Deceleration of Principles and to immediately begin the permanent status talks, which include issues such as settlements, boundaries and Jerusalem. (Davar)

Israeli border police have begun replacing army soldiers in the West Bank towns of Hebron, Jenin, and Nablus, and will take over in Bethlehem and Tulkarm soon.  Police Minister's spokesman, Yaron Knafo, said "this is a very positive development which goes together with the army's redeployment scheduled according to the Israel-PLO agreements". (AFP)

A 68 years old Palestinian from Chakaba village, near Ramallah, was shot dead by masked people reported to be Palestinians.  The victim, believed to be suspected as collaborator for the Israeli authorities. (AFP)

22 February The Arab Group at the United Nations requested an urgent Security Council meeting to discuss Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.  Israel opposed the idea, saying the issue should be handled by the parties involved. (AFP)

Yasser Arafat has ended talks in Cairo with the Egyptian President Hussni Mubarak and members of the PLO Executive Committee on the peace process. (AFP)

Three Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli soldiers in Beit Awwa near Hebron and a fourth was arrested. (AFP)

23 February Saudi Arabia has donated $7.5 million to help pay the salaries of Palestinian Police Force in the Gaza Strip and Jericho area. Saudi Arabia previously payed 20$ million to UNRWA's Peace Implementation Programme, the largest contribution by a single donor. (Reuter)

Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin offered to grant the Palestinian Authority municipal and economic power over the West Bank city of Jenin while Israel keeps control of its security.  A senior Palestinian official said, the Palestinians would accept the offer only as part of an agreed timetable for an Israeli army withdraw from the West Bank. (AFP)

It was reported that the Israeli Government decided to build a highway around East Jerusalem as part of plans to keep the city united under Israeli control.  The road will require expropriation of some land owned by Palestinians. (AFP)

  A bomb exploded lightly wounding two Israeli soldiers driving in a Jeep in the Gaza Strip.  It was the second bomb in Gaza in a week after suspected Palestinian extremists set off explosives attached to a sheep as a joint Israeli-Palestinian security patrol went by close to the settlement of Netzarim. (AFP)

 

24 February During a ceremonial meeting held at the Headquarters of the United Nations, New York, ambassadors of Israel and Tanzania announced the renewal of diplomatic relations between their countries.(Ha'aretz)

The 1994 revenue from farm products in the Gaza Strip increased to $166 million compared to $150 million in 1993.  The 10 percent increase came as Palestinians raised more head of livestock and grew more flowers, fruits and vegetables, partly through use of greenhouses. (AFP)

Israeli soldiers arrested 26 Palestinians and five Israeli peace activists, and two others were wounded during a demonstration in the occupied West Bank towns of Nablus and Hebron. (Reuter)

PLO Chairman, Yasser Arafat met with King Fahd in the City of Mecca, seeking Saudi's support for the PLO's campaign to break the deadlock in talks with Israel on the next stage of Palestinian self-rule. King Fahd of Saudi Arabia has promised to contact the U.S., Russia, and the European Union to help the Palestinians overcome their problems with Israel. (Reuter)

25 February Several hundred Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in the old city of Jerusalem to mark the first anniversary of the Hebron mosque massacre, when a Jewish settler killed 29 Palestinian prayers.  During the clash 16 people were beaten and five others were arrested. (AFP)

26 February Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Uri Savir, Palestinian Authority Member in charge of Economics, Abu Ala, and U.S Agency for International Development representative Christopher Crowley held, for the first time, a meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the establishment of seven to nine industrial parks in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It was further agreed that an Israeli-Palestinian joint plan would be presented to the American and to other sources of donor countries. (Davar)

Jordan opened two customs posts on the Allenby and Damieh Bridges, north of the Dead Sea and at crossing points with the West Bank, to promote trade with the Palestinians. (AFP)

27 February Japan gave the Palestinian Authority $5 million to create jobs for unemployed people in the Gaza Strip.  The Japanese ambassador to Israel, Haruhiko Shibuya, signed the agreement with Mr. Nabil al Sharif, the head of the Job-Creation Programme, and said the money was part of a $20 million aid package to the Palestinians.(Reuter)

Israel agreed to return to the Palestinian Authority more than $11 million levied as VAT on goods imported into the self-rule areas last year. (AFP)

Israel expelled a leading PLO security officer to Jordan for alleged involvement in attacks on Israelis before the 1993 Israel-PLO agreement.  Jordan denied that Mr. Mohammad Issawi had entered the kingdom. (Reuter)

Peace Now movement presented Mr. Rabin with plans to remove 26 of the 130 settlements from the West Bank, including the one in Hebron and two around Jenin, in order to unblock negotiations with the Palestinians.  Meretz party agreed to adopt the plan under which the Israeli army could continue to patrol main roads to remaining settlements. (AFP)

 

28 February Upon the Arab Group's request, the UN Security Council convened to discuss settlements activities in the occupied territories.  No resolutions were adopted on the subject.(AFP)

The World Health Organization appealed to the European Commission, World Bank, and 40 other countries for $13 million to finance its programmes in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and to improve access to primary health care for 2.2 million people. (Reuter)

The Palestinian Authority's new military court decided to try 17 Palestinian suspected collaborators with Israel who were involved in the killing of six members of Fatah faction and Islamic Jihad leader, Hani Abed in the Gaza Strip. (Reuter)

A two-year old Palestinian girl was seriously wounded by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank town of Hebron, and fourteen others were injured during clashes between troops and youngster. (AFP)