Chronological Review of Events/April 1996 – DPR review

CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW OF EVENTS

RELATING TO THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

April 1996

Monitored from the media by the

Division for Palestinian Rights

1 April More than 200 Palestinian children,  protested against Israel's closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The demonstration took place near Erez, the main crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip.  (Reuter)

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres announced that he would hold a referendum before signing a final peace accord with the Palestinian Authority.  In response to Mr. Peres announcement, Mr. Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority,  accused Israel of violating the PLO-Israeli agreements.  (AFP)

2 April The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories BTselem reported that Israel's closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip had caused the death of at least eight Palestinians by denying Palestinians access to medical treatment.  It was also  reported that Israeli security forces have sealed and demolished nine homes, and another home was accidentally blown up during a demolition operation.  (Reuter)

On his first visit to the Gulf Arab States, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres visited Oman and Qatar and met with Sultan Qaboos and with Sheikh Hamad ibn khalifa al-Thani, respectively.  Mr. Peres, signed agreements with both leaders for bilateral cooperation and the opening of trade representation offices in their respective countries.  Sultan Qaboos voiced concerns about the situation of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip following Israel's closure of the areas and stressed the need for urgent regional and international economic aid to the Palestinian Authority. (AFP)

Mr. Yasser Arafat sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali demanding that Israel lift the closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip imposed since 25 February.  In his letter,  Mr. Arafat asked the Secretary-General to bring the issue to the urgent and immediate attention of the Security Council and the General Assembly.  Mr. Arafat's letter was sent a day after the Secretary-General had sent a letter to Mr. Peres on the subject.  (Reuter)

More than 700 Palestinian marched through the city of Hebron protesting the Israeli closure of the Palestinian areas.  The demonstrators also demanded the redeployment of the Israeli army in the city which was scheduled to take place on 28 March.  Around 100 Palestinian teachers and pupils also protested at the Al-Ram checkpoint between the West Bank and the  Jerusalem area. (AFP)

3 April Israeli security forces sealed the family home of  Mohammed Abu Wardeh  at al-Fawwar refugee camp in the West Bank.  Mr. Abu Wardeh was suspected of being involved in suicide attacks against Israel.  (Reuter)   

The Palestinian Council met in Ramallah for the first time after its inauguration and discussed the recent Israeli security measures imposed in the self-rule areas and questions of human rights under the Palestinian Authority.  (The Washington Post)

5 April The French Government appealed to Israel to allow Christian Palestinians to enter East Jerusalem to participate in the ceremony of the Easter holiday.   In a joint statement by the 11 major Christian denominations in Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, demanded that Israel lift the closure of the territories and  allow Palestinian Christians to enter the City.  The Israeli authorities responded to these demands by allowing entry into the city only to those above 35 years old, a restriction which was rejected by the Christian leaders.  (AFP)

6 April Hundreds of Palestinians, joined by more than 100 Israeli peace activists and Easter pilgrims from Europe, protested in Bethlehem against Israeli confiscation of Palestinian land in the West Bank to build a road for Israeli settlements. (Reuter)

7 April Mr. Yasser Arafat arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks on the future of East Jerusalem and on the Israeli closure of the Palestinian self-rule areas.  He met in Riyadh with Crown Prince Abdullah  who expressed his concern over Israel's closure of the Palestinian territories and pledged to help alleviate the economic crisis in the areas. (AFP)

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Mr. Yasser Arafat held informal talks with Jewish settlers to prevent the threat of clashes between the two sides.  Settler leaders refused to confirm or deny that such talks took place but a Palestinian participant, Hassan Asfur, confirmed the report, describing them as informal and as seminars and working groups.  (The  New York Times, AFP)

Israeli police arrested a Palestinian youth from Jebaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, who was believed to have been recruited by the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, in Turkey and trained in Iran to carry out anti-Israeli attacks.  (AFP)  

Two petrol bombs were thrown at an Israeli bus about 100 meters south of the entrance of Beit Omar near Hebron, injuring five Israelis. (Reuter)

8 April The Israeli army arrested two Palestinians from the villages of Yabrud and Qibiya near Hebron, for suspected involvement in the petrol bomb attack at an Israeli bus on 7 April. (AFP)

9 April The Israeli authorities announced some minor measures to ease the closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including permission for eight ambulances to enter Israel during life-threatening situations.  Some 50 Palestinians employed by embassies and consulates in Israel would also be allowed to return to their jobs.  (Reuter)

10 April Addressing the Gulf Economic Forum in Bahrain, the head of the Palestinian Planning Department, Nabil Shaath, called for Arab and international investment in Palestinian self-rule areas, which he described as an emerging market under Israeli siege.  The forum was attended by Arab, Western and Asian businessmen and bankers.  (Reuter)

12 April The Israeli army arrested four Palestinians from Jenin, Tulkarem and Ramallah in the West Bank.  The four were suspected to be involved in anti-Israeli attacks. (AFP)

A bomb explosion ripped through a room at the Lawrence Hotel on Salah Eddine Street in East Jerusalem, seriously wounding a guest who the police believed had been handling a bomb when it exploded prematurely.  The man's identity was not revealed.  (The New York Times)

13 April Addressing a meeting of the Liaison Committee on Economic Aid to the Palestinians, Uri Savir, General-Director in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, urged the international community to boost its economic aid for the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  Mr. Savir pledged that Israel would facilitate the transit of goods into the areas.  At the same meeting, the European Union (EU) spokesman said that $20 million would be released by mid-May to help the Palestinian Authority reduce its budget deficit. (AFP)

15 April The UN Security Council held a meeting on the situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and discussed Israel's closure of the areas imposed since 25 February.  The meeting was requested by the Arab Group at the United Nations. The debate ended without a resolution or a formal statement.  (Reuter)   

Israel established formal diplomatic relations with Tunisia and opened an office in its capital, Tunis, making Tunisia the fourth Arab country after Egypt, Morocco and Jordan, to have  diplomatic relations with Israel.  A Tunisian official announced that a liaison bureau in Tel-Aviv would be opened soon.  (Reuter)

The Israeli army launched air attacks and pounded targets in Lebanon for a fifth day in a campaign against Hizbollah groups, while the latter continued to fire Katyusha rockets into northern Israel.  At a meeting of the UN Security Council, Lebanon  demanded swift action by the Council to halt and condemn the Israeli aggression against Lebanon.  At the end of the Council meeting, a statement was issued calling for a halt to the fighting in Lebanon.  (Reuter)

16 April The US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that would allow President  Clinton to eliminate tariffs on goods produced in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  The legislation, which would be brought to the Senate for approval, gives the Palestinian self-rule areas the same tariff treatment provided to Israel under the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement.  (AFP)

18 April The Israeli Government announced that it had granted authorization for all members of  the Palestine National Council (PNC) to enter the Palestinian self-rule areas to attend its twenty-first special meeting to amend clauses in the PLO Charter calling for the destruction of Israel.  The meeting is scheduled for 22 April and will be held for the first time in Gaza City.   (AFP)

Messrs. Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat met at the Erez crossing point for the first time since a wave of suicide attacks took place in late February against Israel.  The two leaders discussed the closure of the Palestinian self-rule areas and agreed to revive the peace negotiations which had since been suspended.  They also agreed that Israeli-Palestinian committees would resume meetings on a range of issues, including the Israeli withdrawal from Hebron, economic concerns, and travel by Palestinians  between  the West Bank and the Gaza Strip through Israel.  (The New York Times, AFP)

19 April The Israeli Army fired an artillery barrage into a United Nations peace-keeping camp in Qana in southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 Lebanese civilians and injuring more than a hundred. The Israeli Government said the attack came in response to Katyusha rocket and mortar fire by Hezbollah groups in northern Israel. (The New York Times)    

22 April    The Israel army imposed a three-day full closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  The decision came on the eve of Israel's Independence Day.  The closure would be gradually lifted on 25 April.  (Reuter)    

25 April The PNC ended its twenty-first session held in Gaza City for the first time since 1964.  The four-day meeting was attended by 572 out of the 669 PNC members.  During the first session, Mr. Yasser Arafat was reelected as the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee.  The Council also cancelled by majority vote articles in the PLO Charter That are contrary to the letters exchanged between the PLO and the Government of Israel 9-10 September 1993.  It was also decided that the Charter would be redrafted within six months.  (Reuter)

The Labor Party Council  approved a platform for the Israeli  general  election which would take place on 29 May, which does not oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state at the end of the peace negotiations.   Mr. Yasser Arafat welcomed the Labor Party decision which he considered as a positive response to the changes in the PLO charter. (The New York Times)

30 April Israel and the Palestinian Authority announced that negotiations on the final status of the Palestinian territory, including the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, Palestinian refugees, and the final borders would start on 5 May, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba.  The peace talks delegation would be headed by the Israeli coordinator for the peace process, Uri Savir, and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas.  (The Washington Post, AFP)

Israel charged 11 Palestinian policemen in Jerusalem District Court with kidnapping a Palestinian from the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem.  The men were detained when they attempted to abduct another Shuafat resident.  (Reuter)

Messrs. Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat met in Washington and discussed the forthcoming peace talks on 5 May.  Later on in the day Mr. Arafat addressed a gathering of businessmen and diplomats at the Center For Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, a private group that promotes economic development.  Mr. Arafat appealed for help to improve economic conditions in the Palestinian self-rule areas.  (Reuter)

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