Chronological Review of Events/October 1996 – DPR review

CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW OF EVENTS

RELATING TO THE QUESTION OF PALESTINE

October 1996

Monitored from the media by the

Division for Palestinian Rights

2  October President Bill Clinton met at the White House, first separately and then jointly, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat.  Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Arafat held a two-day summit meeting in Washington to resolve differences between them. The meeting ended without an agreement, but the two leaders agreed to resume negotiations, at the Erez crossing, on 6 November, on the redeployment of Israeli troops from most of Hebron City.   (The New York Times)

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the European Union (EU)  criticized Israel's use of tanks and helicopter gunships to repel violent protests in the West Bank last week.  They also called on Israel and the Palestinian Authority to exercise the utmost restraint and to resume the peace talks. They also approved an extra Ecu20 million ($25.4 million) in aid to the Palestinian Authority to meet a shortfall in revenue and authorized the Commission to negotiate a new trade accord with the Palestinians by the end of the year.  (Financial Times)

4 October Israel and the Palestinian Authority reached an agreement on the reopening of a truck route to transport food to the Gaza Strip.  A Palestinian official said that the agreement included "no changes in the procedure" at the Karni terminal.  (AFP)

5 October Representatives of the EU agreed to send a joint letter to Mr. Arafat, Mr. Netanyahu, and US President Bill Clinton as a response to Mr. Arafat's plea for EU involvement in the peace negotiations. It was reported that although they were divided on whether to seek representation at the peace talks scheduled to start on 6 October, they would send Irish Minister Dick Spring and a fact-finding mission to the region by the "troika" of the EU ministers.  (AFP, Reuter)  

6  October A new round of talks  between  the  Israeli  and  the Palestinian negotiators began at the Erez crossing.  The two parties reiterated their commitment to the Oslo agreement and its implementation and agreed that the Hebron committee would hold its first meeting on 7 October at Erez. It was also decided that other committees on civilian, economic and security matters would also be activated.  (Reuter, The Washington Post)

  Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring arrived in Israel on behalf of the EU to promote the peace process.  Mr. Spring met with Mr. Netanyahu and Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy.  Later he arrived in the Gaza Strip and met with Mr. Arafat.  (AFP)

7 October A Palestinian policeman, wounded in the September's clashes with the Israeli army, died of his injuries.  This brought the number of people killed to 84, including 68 Palestinians, 15 Israeli soldiers and one Egyptian. (AFP)

8 October Mr. Arafat made his first public visit to Israel and met with President Ezer Weizman in Caesarea, northern Israel.  Mr. Arafat announced that he had given "permanent orders" to his police force not to open fire at Israeli soldiers.  Both leaders said that their meeting had strengthened peace efforts shaken by three days of gun battles between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian policemen in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in September. (The New York Times)

9 October A young Palestinian died of wounds after being shot in the head by Israeli soldiers on 26 September during violence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll among Palestinians to 69. (Reuter)

11 October Israeli Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai confirmed that Israel wanted to bring changes to the accord on Hebron which was signed by the previous Israeli Government. The PLO rejected Israel's demand and insisted that the signed agreement must be honored. (Reuter)

14 October The World Bank has approved a bank credit for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip worth $12.5 million.  The credit will be allocated to a project aimed at improving access to capital for Palestinian businesses employing 10 workers and under.  (AFP)

15 October King Hussein of Jordan made his first visit, since 1967,  to the West Bank town of Jericho accompanied by Mr. Yasser Arafat. The visit was hailed by Palestinians as evidence of growing solidarity between Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.  During the visit, King Hussein pledged his full support to the peace talks and to Arafat's efforts to establish an independent State.  (Financial Times, The New York Times)

16 October The international  medical  charity,  Médecins  Sans Frontiéres (MSF), reported that 271 Palestinians stranded at the Egyptian-Libyan border were living in inhuman conditions and could not stand another winter.  The MSF also reported that 74 children were not in school for the second year and six pregnant women needed medical attention.  MSF said it would coordinate with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees visits to the camp once every two weeks as well as the purchase of new tents. (Reuter)

17 October About 30 Israeli settlers, mostly teenage students, began fencing off a Palestinian-owned hilltop in the Hebron area, near the Kiryat Arba settlement. (Reuter)

23 October French President Jacques Chirac, who was on the second day of a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian self-rule areas, said that only a Palestinian State would bring security to Israel.   During his visit to Ramallah and addressing the Palestinian Council, President Chirac urged the Palestinian people to shun violence as they seek a State of their own.   Mr. Chirac also criticized the Israeli policies that included expansion of Jewish settlement in the West Bank and its refusal to relinquish its hold over East Jerusalem.  (Financial Times, AFP)

24 October Israeli police shot and injured a Palestinian man who was reportedly fleeing a security checkpoint at the Morasha junction near Tel-Aviv after refusing to stop when ordered by the police. (Reuter)  

 

Mr. Arafat condemned a decision by the Israeli parliament to allocate funds to finance the construction of 2,400 Jewish settler homes in the West Bank saying it contradicted the agreements signed by Israel and the PLO. (AFP)

26 October More than a thousand Palestinians gathered in Gaza City to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shaqaqi in Malta, believed to have been assassinated by Israeli secret agents. (AFP)

27 October The Palestinian Authority barred Israeli fruits and vegetables from entering Gaza in retaliation for an Israeli closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that prevented Palestinian products from leaving the area. (Reuter)

It was reported that Mr. Netanyahu has given a green light for Jews to buy 3,000 new homes in settlements in the West Bank.  The houses remained empty until recently due to a decision by the previous Israeli Government to freeze settlement expansion in the territories. (AFP)

A Palestinian aviation company was set up with a capitalization of $50 million.  The new company would be based in Gaza City. (AFP)

  

  

28 October A 10-year-old Palestinian boy from Hussan Village near Bethlehem died of  injuries he sustained a day earlier after a Jewish settler beat him unconscious while the boy was returning home from school.   (The Washington Post, Reuter)

29 October The Israeli army arrested a Palestinian man from the Gaza Strip suspected of trying to enter Israel through the Erez crossing.  According to the Israeli police report, the man was carrying an explosive-package mobile telephone similar to that reportedly used by Israeli agents to assassinate Yehiya Ayash in January. (AFP)

It was reported that the Israeli Government has approved the construction of 8,200 homes for Jewish settlers around existing settlements in the West Bank.  According to an Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, about 4,000 units would be built in the settlement of  Kyriat Sefer, 3,500 units in the settlement of Matatyahu and 700 others in the settlement of Or Samea. (AFP)

Clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youths continued in the West Bank after thousands of Palestinian mourners  marched in the funeral of a Palestinian boy who was beaten to death by  Jewish settlers.  In Hebron, settlers surrounded Palestinian officials touring the city, shoved them, spat at them and shouted Dogs… Hebron is ours. (Los Angeles Times)

30 October Mr. Yasser Arafat arrived in Spain to mark the anniversary of the 1991 peace conference in Madrid which began the current Middle East peace process.  Mr. Arafat met with King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. (Reuter)

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia ordered his Government to send two plane-loads of food and medicine to ease the plight of Palestinians suffering because of the Israeli closure of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  The aid would be flown to the Egyptian airport at Al-Areesh in Sinai  and would be delivered by land to the Palestinian Authority. (Reuter)

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