CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW OF EVENTS
RELATING TO THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE
July 1995
Monitored from the media by the
Division for Palestinian Rights
2 July A 17-year-old Palestinian man from Hebron was killed by an Israeli soldier. Curfews were imposed by the Israeli authorities on Jenin and Hebron. (AFP)
4 July Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli visited Israel and Gaza
5 July PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met again in Gaza City and announced that an agreement on Palestinian elections and Israeli troop redeployment from the West Bank would be signed on 25 July. PLO negotiator Ahmed Korei said the redeployment from the West Bank would be in two stages. The first stage would begin within four weeks after an agreement was signed and end 22-25 days before Palestinian elections. The second stage would last from the inauguration of the elected Palestinian Council until 1997. (Reuter)
6 July A spokesman for Israeli settlers said that groundwork began on the building of a new settlement with 600 housing units funded by private funds on land purchased, near Ramallah, some time ago from Palestinians. The settlement would be called Givat Oranim and was approved in 1991, under the Likud Government. (Reuter)
7 July Nine Arab members of the Israeli Likud Central Committee resigned in protest at the Likud leadership's refusal to deal with the PLO. (AFP)
8 July World Bank President James Wolfensohn visited Saudi Arabia and discussed the World Bank's role in the development of the Arab region. He also discussed Saudi Arabia's role as one of the Bank's financiers, including economic development of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, bilateral cooperation and funding of the International Development Association (IDA). (AFP)
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat held a two-day meeting in Athens, Greece, with a group of Palestinian businessmen, economists, and investors aimed at attracting Palestinian capital and skills to build the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The meeting was attended by Egyptian presidential advisor Osama el-Baz and Under Secretary for Palestinian Affairs of the League of Arab States Mr. Saeed Kamal. The participants promised Mr. Arafat that they would visit the self-rule areas and start feasibility studies for development projects as soon as the Israeli troops were redeployed from the West Bank. (Reuter)
9 July Palestinian prisoners ended a 19-day hunger strike following a meeting between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. The two leaders announced that an agreement on extending self-rule in the West Bank would include prisoners release. (Reuter)
World Bank President James Wolfensohn visited the Gaza Strip and met with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. Messrs. Arafat and Wolfensohn signed three agreements, including establishing a World Bank office in the Gaza Strip, a trust fund credit in the amount of $20 million for the rehabilitation of Palestinian education and health sectors, and a development plan for Gaza's sewage system. (Reuter)
10 July Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans met with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in the Gaza Strip and said that Australia would consider joining an international force to monitor the Palestinian elections. Mr. Evans also met with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres and called on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to help in maintaining regional and world security. (AFP)
11 July Sixty Palestinian policemen moved into Nablus City in the West Bank wearing official police uniforms, with an arm badge marked "Nablus Town Hall. In Jericho, hundreds of Palestinians began their 45-day training course as Palestinian security forces. Major Kamal al-Jirjawi, head of recruitment office in Jericho, said that 12,000 police officers would be recruited to take charge of security in the West Bank, in addition to 18,000 now serving in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. (AFP)
Israel and the PLO reached an agreement to transfer civil powers in eight spheres to Palestinians in the West Bank. They were: gas/petrol, industry/trade, postal services, agriculture, insurance, municipal affairs, and labor. It was reported that the agreement still had to be ratified by Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders. (AFP)
12 July Israeli police arrested 38 Israeli settlers who blocked the main road leading from Jerusalem to Hebron in the West Bank. The arrest followed overnight clashes between police and hundreds of settlers who demonstrated near the Efrat settlement against the expansion of Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. The spokesman of the Council of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, said this was the opening salve in a campaign of civil disobedience by the settlers to prevent the extension of Palestinian self-rule. (Reuter, Financial Times)
Several rabbis in Israel issued a religious decree prohibiting Israeli soldiers from obeying orders to evacuate army camps in the West Bank. According to the ruling there is no difference between the evacuation of a military base and the evacuation of a settlement. They also reaffirmed a previous ruling of 7 July, forbidding Jews from relinquishing any part of the biblical land of Israel. The rulings were denounced by the heads of the government as well as the leaders of the Likud opposition party. (Haaretz, Reuter)
13 July Israel and the PLO have requested Mr. Dennis Ross, Assistant Secretary of Middle Eastern Affairs at the U.S. State Department, to join the peace talks as they try to conclude their negotiations by 25 July. The Clinton Administration has asked the American Congress to continue providing economic and government aid for projects in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. (AFP)
15 July Austrian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner visited the Orient House, the PLO Headquarters in East Jerusalem, and met with PLO official Mr. Faisal Husseini. She said that "the Austrian position is part of the European position that East Jerusalem is part of the Palestinian occupied territories. (Reuter)
A 21-year-old Palestinian policeman, Akram Ahmed, was shot dead by three masked gunmen in Gaza City. It was reported that the motive behind the shooting was not yet known. (Reuter)
16 July A survey conducted by the Center for Palestine Research and Studies about the second phase of Palestinian self-rule, found 56 per cent supported the process, 29 per cent were against it, and the remainders were unsure. The survey was based on interviews of 1,109 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. (AFP)
17 July Cypriot Foreign Minister Alecos Michaelides met PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in Gaza City and launched an aid package of $2.3 million. The aid package aimed to help build two medical centers and provide technical training for 84 Palestinians in Cyprus. (AFP)
18 July The Palestinian Authority issued the first legislation regarding the press and publications. According to Mr. Yasser Abed-Rabbo, in charge of the information and culture department, the new legislation would replace the old one including Israeli military laws which imposed censorship on Palestinian newspapers. The new legislation would ban censorship and provide for freedom of the press, but would prohibit publication of information deemed to "endanger national unity or incite crime or hatred, division or religious strife." (AFP)
Two Israelis were found shot and stabbed to death in the West Bank. According to Israeli security sources the two men were on a holiday hike in the Wadi Kelt nature reserve. A caller from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the attack. (Reuter)
19 July President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak met separately with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Alexandria to help the Israelis and the Palestinians reach an agreement on the next stage of Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. Later in the day, the three leaders held a joint meeting. No agreement was reached. (Reuter)
20 July Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres announced that Israel and the Palestinian Authority reached agreement on several issues, including army redeployment, security arrangement, water sharing, and issues regarding Hebron and Bethlehem. Palestinian officials were more cautious and warned that differences remained before a full agreement could be signed. (AFP)
21 July Hundreds of Israeli settlers burned tires and stoned Palestinian vehicles as they blocked main roads in the West Bank protesting Israeli peace policies. The protesters broke windows of Palestinian houses near Ramallah and cut irrigation pipes in fields cultivated by Palestinians. (AFP)
A bill placing conditions on U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority was introduced in the Senate by a group of senators led by Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms and Mr. Bob Dole. The bill would cut off aid after six months unless action was taken to annul articles of the Palestinian National Covenant calling for the destruction of Israel. (Reuter)
22 July The Palestinian Authority decided to withhold one per cent of Palestinian employees' July salaries as part of a humanitarian aid campaign for war-stricken Bosnia. The Palestinian Authority spokesman said that additional donations would be solicited in churches and mosques in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. (Reuter)
23 July A Palestinian policeman, Amer Salah from Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, was shot dead by two masked gunmen. This was the second policeman shot dead in the Gaza Strip in eight days. Palestinian police were investigating the killing. (Reuter)
Israeli Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ora Namir met with her Palestinian counterpart Intissar Al-Wazir in Erez, on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. They discussed social issues, unemployment and Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli Minister promised to increase the number of Palestinians allowed to work in Israel, if PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat "continues to exercise his authority over those opposing peace. (AFP)
24 July A Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a bus in the Tel-Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan killing himself and six Israelis and wounding 30 others. PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat strongly condemned the attack and described it as a terrorist act. Following the incident, the Israeli army sealed off the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel, also, suspended talks with the PLO until after the victims were buried. Mr. Rabin, however, stated that the attack will not prevent Israel from continuing on the road to solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for now and forever. We are determined to walk down this road. (AFP, New York Times)
25 July Israeli and the Palestinian negotiators failed to meet their target date of 25 July for signing an agreement on expanding the Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. An attack on an Israeli bus a day earlier was said to be the immediate reason, but both parties had warned earlier that they would not meet the target date. ( New York Times, Reuter, AFP)
The European Union foreign ministers nominated Mr. Carl Lidbom, former Justice Minister of Sweden, to head a team of international observers for the Palestinian elections. The Union would provide 350 observers, who would begin their work 100 days before the elections, helping draw up candidate lists, establish an election commission, monitor polling and produce a report on the election process. (AFP)
26 July More than a dozen executives from US companies met with Palestinian businessmen in the Gaza Strip and announced plans to invest $50 million in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The meeting was arranged by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to encourage private investment abroad. (AFP)
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat arrived in France for a one-day visit. He met with French President Jacques Chirac and urged him to help push forward the Israeli-Palestinian talks on expanding Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. President Chirac briefed Mr. Arafat on the Euro-Mediterranean conference in Barcelona, scheduled for November, and invited active participation from the Palestinians. (AFP)
27 July Japan decided to provide 800 million yen ($9.19 million) in food aid to Palestine refugees in response to a request from UNRWA. (Reuter)
The U.S. Government gave the Palestinian Authority $40 million to help in building the sewage system in the Gaza Strip. U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Martin Indyk, said the donation would partially fund the project drawn up by UNRWA. (AFP)
The United States immigration authorities detained Mr. Mussa Abu-Marzuk, believed to be a key leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, after he was stopped from entering the country at Kennedy Airport in New York. Israel has requested extradition of Mr.Marzuk for trial in Israel. (Reuter)
29 July The Government of Qatar decided to open a representative office in the Palestinian self-rule areas, becoming the first Gulf Arab State to do so. (AFP)
The Israeli authorities lifted a five-day closure imposed on the West Bank and Gaza Strip in response to the suicide bombing of a bus near Tel-Aviv on 24 July. (Reuter)
31 July The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, warned the U.S. Government that it would carry out military operations against American targets if Mr. Mussa Abu-Marzuk was extradited to Israel. (AFP)
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed their talks at the Red Sea resort of Eilat on expanding Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. They were divided into four committees covering the four main topics of the second phase of autonomy namely, Israeli army redeployment, security, transfer of civilian powers, and elections. (AFP)
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Document Type: Chronology, Report
Document Sources: Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR)
Subject: Palestine question
Publication Date: 31/07/1995