Chronological Review of Events/October 1995 – DPR review

CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW OF EVENTS

RELATING TO THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

October 1995

Monitored from the media by the

Division for Palestinian Rights

1 October Hundreds of Israeli settlers blocked  a main road leading to the Allenby Bridge crossing to Jordan to protest the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.   Elsewhere, several hundred others demonstrated in Hebron,  threw stones and eggs, attacked two American women who were filming them, and smashed the windows of 13 Palestinian cars and 5 houses.  (The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor)

2 October Representatives of about 200 Palestinians expelled from Libya and stranded on the border with Egypt handed a written appeal to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak  to help them return to the Gaza Strip.  (Reuter)

3 October Three masked gunmen killed a bodyguard in a gunfight outside the house of Mahmoud Abu-Marzuk, a Palestinian  Brigadier-General and the head of Civil Defence in Rafah.  The motive for the killing was unknown.  (Reuter)

4 October Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi visited 900 expelled Palestinians at Saloum on the border with Egypt.  In his speech, Qadhafi insisted that all Palestinians have decided to leave Libya on their own free will.  He urged the Egyptian authorities to open Egypt's border and allow Palestinians to return to their homeland. (AFP)  

  

6 October The Israeli Parliament ratified the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, signed in Washington on 28 September, by a vote of 61 in favor and 59 against.  During the vote, thousands of right-wing Israelis demonstrated outside the Parliament building protesting the agreement.  (Reuter)

A ministerial committee on prisoners headed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin decided to free more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners, including 23 women, but refused to release four remaining women inmates on the grounds that they were convicted of murder.   PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat protested the Israeli decision not to free the four and described it as a violation of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement.  (Reuter)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa met with Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi and discussed with him the fate of hundreds of Palestinians expelled by Libya and stranded on the border between the two countries.  Following the meeting, Mr. Moussa said that he expected positive developments.  (AFP)

7 October Twenty-three Palestinian women prisoners refused to be released from an Israeli jail unless Israel release four other remaining inmates.    Meanwhile, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat met with the Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres at Erez crossing point and demanded the release of the four Palestinian women prisoners.  (Reuter)

10 October The Israeli Government redeployed its forces and handed to the Palestinian Authority control over the West Bank village of Salfit near Nablus, the first one after the signing of the Interim Agreement on 28 September.  The handover took place in a ceremony before a celebrating crowd.  (AFP)

The Israeli authorities freed 882 Palestinian prisoners.  Two-thirds of them were jailed for security reasons, while the rest were non-political prisoners.  All prisoners agreed to sign pledges not to carry out anti-Israeli attacks.  Another 1,000 Palestinian prisoners would be released before the elections of the Palestinian Council scheduled for next year.  (AFP)

11 October The Israeli authorities transferred to the Palestinian Authority control over three villages, including Kharbata near Ramallah, Yatta near Hebron, and Qabatiya near the northern town of Jenin.  It was reported that eleven administration offices would be evacuated in the coming weeks as Israeli troops withdraw from Palestinian towns in the West Bank.  (AFP)

13 October Following a meeting between Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, Libya agreed to suspend the expulsion of Palestinians from Libya.  While the agreement only applied to Palestinians who were still living in Libya, the League of Arab States continued to use its good offices to settle the problem of expelled Palestinians stranded on the border with Egypt. (AFP)

The Israeli army closed three offices of the Palestinian Authority in Hebron including the offices of information, municipality and national solidarity, which are located next to Jewish settlers homes in the town.   A PLO spokesman issued a statement protesting the measure and stated that the closure was a violation of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement.  (AFP).

A survey, carried out by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center (JMCC), showed that 72.7 per cent of 1,273 Palestinians interviewed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, supported the peace process while 17.8 per cent opposed it. (Reuter)

It was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had asked a parliamentary committee to approve a project that would annex a large Jewish settlement to the city of Jerusalem.  Rabin and the Housing Ministry's spokespersons refused to comment on the report.  (Reuter)

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat held a meeting with 12 leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, from the West Bank and discussed efforts for reaching reconciliation.  Both sides agreed to continue their negotiations soon. (AFP)

14 October Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in support of prisoners whose release had been blocked by the Israel Government.  Thousands of Palestinians observed a general strike throughout most of the towns in the West Bank.  In Jericho, 2,000 school children marched in response to a call from the prisoners committee.  (AFP)

15 October PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met in the Israeli military base at Erez crossing point, and agreed that Israeli withdrawal from Jenin would start on 25 October and would be completed by 17 November. (AFP)

 

Samco, a Palestinian computer company based in the West Bank, and TMA, a U.S. company for technological administration, signed an agreement in Gaza to manufacture and export electronic instruments.   This was the first agreement following an investment mission to Gaza by the Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC), which aims to coordinate investments by the U.S. private sector in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  (Reuter)

17 October Israel lifted a three-week closure imposed on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. However, new restrictions were imposed on Palestinians allowed to return to their work in Israel.  Only married men, aged 30 and over, from the West Bank were allowed to cross into Israel while the age limit was set at 35 and over for those coming from the Gaza Strip. (Reuter)

U.S. Trade representative Mickey Kantor said that the United States had finalized an exchange of letters that would grant free trade status to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  According to the letters, Israel, the United States, and the Palestinian Authority would not charge customs duties on Palestinian exports from the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.  Palestinians, on the other hand agreed to exert efforts to lift the League of Arab States boycott of Israeli goods.  (Reuter)

The Libyan authorities started to allow expelled Palestinians to return to Libya.  About 13 students from a group of 1,000 stranded Palestinians were authorized to return to Libyan universities.  One hundred others would be allowed to travel to the Gaza Strip under an agreement reached between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and the Israeli authorities. (AFP)

18 October A ship carrying 660 Palestinians expelled from Libya, among them 332 children, was stranded off Cyprus after being turned away from Syria.   PLO officials made contacts with the authorities of Cyprus, Syria,  and Tunisia seeking  a solution to the problem.  Following intensive negotiations, Syria agreed to permit all those who carried Syrian travel documents to enter Syria.  (AFP)

 

Fifteen armored vehicles, the first batch out of 45 vehicles donated by Russia, arrived in the Gaza Strip, through the Rafah crossing point from Egypt.  The vehicles are to be used by Palestinian police in the West Bank after the redeployment of the Israeli army.   (Reuter)

The Israeli authorities decided to extradite to Brazil a Palestinian woman with Brazilian citizenship imprisoned for kidnapping and murdering an Israeli soldier.  Lamia Maaruf was one of four women detainees whom Israel refused to release with the rest of the women detainees. (AFP)

19 October Major donor countries, including those of the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, met in Paris under the auspices of the World Bank and discussed financial aid to the Palestinian Authority.  The donor countries pledged $300 million, indicated a willingness to increase funding, and backed a list of projects designed to provide the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with the basic industrial, transport, and social infrastructures needed during the interim period of self-rule.  They also agreed to hold a ministerial meeting in Paris on 10 December to discuss specific aid pledges.  (AFP)

20 October The Libyan authorities forced 40 Palestinians to leave the country, despite the agreement between Libya and Egypt on 13 October to end the expulsion of Palestinians.  Egyptian border police confirmed that the expulsions were continuing, and more than 200 Palestinians had arrived at the deportees camp since the agreement.  (AFP)

22 October Addressing the UN 50th anniversary meeting, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat underlined the world body's political, legal, and moral responsibility for the question of Palestine.  He said that the United Nations should continue to sponsor the Palestinian cause, alongside the Israeli-Palestinian agreements until achievement of the Palestinian peoples inalienable rights, including the  right  of return,  to self-determination and to national independence.  (UN Press Release)

25 October About 30 Jewish settlers occupied  Givat Hadagan, a hill located one mile from Efrat settlement near Bethlehem, to protest the beginning of the Israeli army's redeployment from Palestinian towns in the West Bank.  (AFP)

The U.S. Congress overwhelmingly adopted a bill calling for transferring the U.S. embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem no later than 31 May 1999.  The legislation would permit the President to suspend the deadline for up to six months in the interest of national security.  The suspension could be renewed indefinitely.  President Clinton said that he would not let this happen and would use the legislations waiver authority to avoid damage to the peace process.  The PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat called for Security Council intervention and for an Arab summit to protest the Congress decision.  Arab States warned that the U.S. Congress decision was a violation of U.N. resolutions and threatened to destroy the Middle East peace process. (The New York Times, AFP)

    

27 October Two surveys, carried out in Jordan and in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, indicate that most Jordanians and Palestinians support some form of union between the two.  The surveys, the first of this kind, were carried out by the University of Jordan's Center for Strategic Studies (JCSS) in Amman, and by the Center for Palestine Research and Studies in Nablus.  (Reuter)

During their five-day visit to the Middle East, a ministerial delegation from the European Troika–Spain, Italy, and France–arrived in the Gaza Strip and met with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.  The delegation signed an agreement with Mr. Arafat in which the European Investment Bank (EIB) would grant a low-interest loan of $300 million for funding infrastructure work.  The EIB loan forms part of the $600 million of European aid pledged in 1994. (AFP)

28 October A leader of the Islamic Jihad Movement based in Damascus, Fathi Shakaki,  was assassinated in Malta.  It was reported that the Israeli secret service Mossad was behind the killing.  Israel welcomed the news but did not claim responsibility for the assassination.  (The Washington Post, Reuter)

29 October More than 2,000 delegates from 63 countries participated in a three-day Middle East and North Africa Economic Summit in Amman, Jordan, aimed at boosting development in the region.  The participants agreed, among other things, on the formation of a Development Bank, Regional Tourism Board, Regional Business Council, Economic Summit Secretariat, and Monitoring Committee.  (The New York Times, Financial Times)

During the summit, Qatar set up a $250 million private holding company to finance development and industrial projects in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the Emir of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zaid bin-Sultan al-Nahayan, pledged to finance several new housing projects, renovate old buildings, and meet educational, social, and medical needs in East Jerusalem. The announcement came during a three-day Middle East and North African Economic Summit in Amman. (Reuter)

30 October About 750 Palestinians who were expelled from Libya returned to the country after Muammar Qadhafi suspended their expulsions and gave six months to allow all Palestinians to return to their homeland.  It was reported that some Palestinians refused to return to Libya because they no longer had houses or jobs there and requested to go to the Gaza Strip or Egypt.  (The New York Times)

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