The Palestine Chronology

Military Action:

Heavy fighting continues in Chouf; residents of Burj al-Shamali refugee camp near Tyre resist IDF patrol trying to enter orphans' training center.

Casualties:

Lebanese student killed, 7 injured wnen IDF fires at demonstration in Burj al-Shamali.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Cabinet agrees in principle to draft withdrawal agreement, Sharon and Ne'eman oppose; Foreign Minister Shamir says Israel still seeks substantive changes in role of Haddad, designated in agreement as deputy commander in South Lebanon; public opinion poll shows that Labor Alignment would defeat Likud bloc 41.4% to 37.1% in election held now; West Bank land seizures reported during last week include 11,000 dunums from 4 villages in Nablus area, 1300 dunums from Kufur Sur, several dozen dunums from Rafat in Ramallah area, 1000 dunums from Beitunia, near Ramallah.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Lebanese officials say Syria opposes virtually every major clause of withdrawal agreement; Haddad says he will not be an obstacle to any agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

US and Other Countries: Secretary Shultz meets King Hussein in Amman, says Hussein gives his full backing to withdrawal agreement; Shultz indicates Reagan will lift the embargo on the sale of F-16s to Israel; US reportedly has provided secret letter of assurance to Israel as part of withdrawal agreement; 133 Jewish law students at Harvard, Yale and NYU send letter to Begin protesting invasion of Lebanon and treatment of Palestinians in occupied territories, urge halt to settlements; 8 US and Canadian mayors begin 4 day visit to West Bank, Gaza and Galilee under sponsorship of Association of Arab-American University Graduates.

Casualties:

IDF reports one man killed when bomb he was trying to plant near IDF position in Sidon explodes.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Arens tells Likud Knesset faction that Israel and Lebanon will soon reach agreement, characterizes war as first one Israel fought which has been followed immediately by negotiations; Treasury increases export subsidy by $150m, adds 1% levy on foreign currency purchases; mother of IDF reservist (sentenced to third prison term for refusing to serve in occupied territories) begins protest at Defense Ministry; on orders from Defense Minister Arens, occupation authorities arrest more than 50 Palestinians, including 38 students from Ramallah, on suspicion of inciting an epidemic of psychosomatic illness; US medical team visits Hebron, WHO team visits Jenin; police arrest 10 suspects after 2 Israeli bus passengers injured by stones in Jerusalem; Qalqilya and Assoun under curfew after stone-throwing at settlers and vehicles; curfew on Tulkarm refugee camp continues; West Bank and Gaza settlers warn Defense Minister Arens they cannot prevent vigilante action if army does not stop stone-throwing; military court in Nablus sentences 3 Palestinians to 20-25 years for infiltrating from Jordan, attacking IDF patrol in January 1982.

Arab Governments: Moroccan envoys arrive in Tunisia, Sudan, Kuwait to explore prospect of Arab summit.

US and Other Countries: ICRC says purpose of its investigation into West Bank illnesses was to insure that hospitalized victims were receiving adequate medical treatment, not to conduct inquiry into causes; National Association of Arab Americans sues Justice Dept. for release of documents it says support allegation that Pentagon official passed secrets to Israel in 1978.

Military Action:

Rival militias battle in Tripoli; Druze militia surrounds Lebanese Army barracks in Hammana, warns army and police to keep off roads in Chouf mountains; in response to attacks by Lebanese National Resistance, IDF steps up security in and around Sidon; Syrian small-arms fire directed at IDF fortification on eastern front.

Casualties:

3 killed, many wounded in Tripoli fighting, shops close as armed men roam streets; 3 wounded by Nabatiyeh car bomb.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: 12 Bedouin men begin hunger strike in Israel to protest harassment by Green Patrol, demand talks with Ministry of Agriculture; Central Bureau of Statistics figures show $557m. trade deficit for first 2 months of 1983, nearly 20% higher than 1982; trial begins of two Kiryat Arba officials charged with illegal possession of explosives and destroying evidence police believe may be connected with June 1980 bomb attacks on West Bank mayors; 2 IDF injured by stones during incidents in East Jerusalem and Ramallah; general strike in Ramallah; Nablus market under curfew; Birzeit University reopens; 3 Birzeit students beaten, 1 detained by settlers; IDF uses helicopters to patrol West Bank; 35 Gaza youths sentenced by military tribunal to fines and suspended prison sentences for disturbing the peace by throwing stones last week; 6 teenagers in Ramallah sentenced to 6 to 8 months imprisonment and fined $400 to $900 for participating in recent disturbances; 3 girls in Ramallah convicted of stone-throwing, fined up to $2800 and given suspended prison terms; youth arrested in Jerusalem for wearing shirt in colors of Palestinian flag; special prayers held at Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosques to protest plot by Jewish zealots, uncovered by police last week, to seize Temple Mount.

Arab Governments: Egyptian-Israeli talks on normalization of trade and commercial relations, suspended since June, resume in Cairo.

US and Other Countries: Foreign Minister Salem tells Shultz and other officials in Washington, that Lebanese Army is capable of controlling all Lebanon, Israeli military presence is unnecessary; Shultz and Shamir meet for 5 hours, focus on possible use of international troops and increased US presence to meet Israeli security concerns in South Lebanon; Shamir delegation meets with Reagan, Bush, Weinberger, Shultz, Habib and Draper, Reagan reportedly emphasizes urgency of Israeli agreement to withdrawal terms; 10 IDF touring US to offset impression that Lebanon campaign was overly aggressive; US Ambassador to UN Kirkpatrick, in Israel for conference on Soviet Jewry, meets Begin; former President Carter meets King Hussein in Amman, says Israeli settlements in West Bank are illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Military Action:

Syria reported to have East German and Cuban military advisers assisting with newly acquired Soviet equipment and upgrading military command and control structure; Haddad declares he has taken control of 25-mile zone of South Lebanon, establishes garrison post in Sidon, says purpose is to help legitimate authorities to restore sovereignty throughout the country; 150 French soldiers added to French MNF contingent, now numbers 2,200; Lebanese Cabinet decree places police at disposal of military commander, gives army right to arrest and try people threatening national security; IDF says it will increase patrols in Sidon in response to requests from Wazzan.

Casualties:

45 thefts of autos from Palestinians in South Lebanon reported by police.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Begin tells visiting members of European Parliament that their support for Reagan plan is destructive; Begin announces appointment of Moshe Arens to replace Sharon as Defense Minister; Parliament votes 61 to 56, with 1 abstention, to approve Sharon remaining in Cabinet without portfolio; Sharon receives ceremonial farewell with full military honors at Tel Aviv Defense Ministry; Israel reportedly plans to increase air force strength from 19 to 24 combat squadrons, deploying 600 high performance aircraft, by mid-1990s; Kalandia refugee camp and its UNRWA school, al-Amari camp, and the old Nablus market are placed under curfews; bus window smashed near Dheisheh camp, windows of Israeli cars broken in Ramallah; tires burned near Ramallah; one IDF soldier, one civil administrator injured by stones in Ramallah; Bethlehem Mayor Freij says Palestinians have only two months to prevent Israeli takeover of West Bank and Gaza from becoming an established fact.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: 16th session of Palestine National Council opens in Algiers, 360 members from 90 countries present, 180 from West Bank and Gaza absent; PLO Executive Committee reportedly will make following recommendations: Reagan plan is insufficient but not rejected, closer ties with progressive and democratic elements in Egypt, special link with King Hussein, confederation between independent Palestinian state and Jordan, PLO members to participate with Jordanians in any negotiations, endorsement of Arab League resolution at Fez, PNC to decide on question of contacts between PLO leaders and Israelis; Lebanese-Israeli-US negotiators at Khalde end 15th round of talks, announce they are putting into writing points of agreement reached so far.

US and Other Countries: Austrian Chancellor Kreisky says Reagan plan represents a change of attitude but as for solving the concrete questions, he is doubtful; US aerospace companies such as Northrop oppose use of Foreign Military Sales credits by Israel for development of the Lavie fighter, expected to compete in export market with such aircraft as General Dynamics F-16 and Northrop F-20; Defense Secretary Weinberger has talks with outgoing Israeli Ambassador Arens; Habib travels to Israel from Beirut; State Dept. expresses concern over murders of Palestinians in Sidon area.

Military Action:

Artillery duels between Druze and Phalange militia near Baabda.

Casualties:

5 killed, 9 wounded in Druze-Phalange fighting.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan says Israel may face 100 years of terrorism, that in practice the war in Lebanon has not ended, and one cannot solve all the problems of terrorism in one war, that if the IDF remains in Lebanon for long it may have to mount an intensive campaign to root out terrorist cells as was done in the Gaza Strip after the 1967 war; Defense Minister Sharon flatly rejects any PLO participation in future peace talks with Jordan, and dismisses Iraq's declaration of recognition of Israel's security needs as merely effort to get US arms for war against Iran; Israeli Foreign Minister legal adviser Elyakim Rubenstein says the recall of Egypt's Ambassador to Israel is a violation of the Camp David accords; Avid Kedar, head of Foreign Ministry's Egypt Department, says contacts between Israel and Egypt frozen since Peace for Galilee Campaign; Sgan Nitzav Albert Hayut, new director of Beersheba prison announces 500 security prisoners to be moved to new maximum security prison, equipped with latest electronic monitors, near Nablus; attorney Nissim Shakar of the Committee for Jaffa's Arabs says they will appeal proposed law that non-Jews must close shops on Yom Kippur as well as own religious holidays, and not transport goods on Saturday and Jewish holidays; Israeli officials announce requests by Palestinians to visit relatives in Lebanon decline due to security situation, 5 Israeli Palestinians disappeared recently in Lebanon; bomb near Zedekiah's Cave outside Jerusalem's Damascus Gate critically wounds a Palestinian worker; military authorities surround Najah University, effectively closing the campus, prevent Israeli Association for Civil Rights representative from entering, detain 9 student council members; in Nablus students stone troops who use tear gas and close off market area; rock throwing incidents in Ramallah, al-Bireh aid Dheisheh camp, now defined as District of Binyamin, also in jenin where placards and leaflets are found attributed to National Liberation Movement denouncing as treasonous Arafat's and Hussein's attempt to reach accommodation with Israel.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: PLO Chairman Arafat goes to Moscow; 5 Palestinian leaders and Lebanese Communist Party meet in Tripoli.

Arab Governments: King Hussein tells local leaders that he has a letter from Reagan commiting the US to pressure Israel to restore Arab rights in the occupied territories, and that time is running out for achieving a unified Arab approach by March; Moroccan Foreign Ministry announces agreement with Britain on Arab League delegation to include non-PLO Palestinian; Egyptian Socialist Labor Party poll of 1,486 persons shows 82% want Israeli ambassador expelled, 76To want to sever relations with Israel.

US and Other Countries: State Department says Israeli settlement promotion campaign is unfortunate and counterproductive; Administration officials say US is counting on King Hussein to declare his readiness to join talks on basis of Reagan plan if the PLO and Saudi Arabia support it, if progress is made on troop withdrawals from Lebanon, and if Israel temporarily halts settlement activity; Secretary of State Shultz meets for 2 hours with 14 members of Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and leading Jewish Republicans, tells them of growing fears that Israel and Syria have tacit agreement to keep status quo in Lebanon, they tell him they want US to support Israel's demand for normalization of relations with Lebanon; delegation of Conservative MPs from Britain meet with Begin, give him message of support from Prime Minister Thatcher; European Parliament calls for establishment of a Palestinian state as a factor in a Middle East settlement, direct PLO-Israel dialogue, immediate halt to settlements in the West Bank, Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory, recognition of PLO as representative of Palestinian people if it drops from its charter all paragraphs calling for Israel's destruction, and sovereignty of all states in the region; Habib arrives in Israel.