The Palestine Chronology

Israeli security forces guarding the U.S. emb. in Tel Aviv capture a Palestinian suicide bomber when he bolts fr. the entrance of a nearby cafe after his explosives belt set off a metal detector; no one is injured. 1 Palestinian dies of injuries received on 9/30. The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian in her home in Nablus, shells residential areas of Bayt Hanun. Israel bars access to al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers to Palestinians under age 40. Jewish settlers retake the only inhabited settler outpost removed by the IDF on 10/10; the IDF says it has shut 17 of 24 unauthorized outposts it aims to close. (HA, MM 10/11; NYT, WP 10/12; WT 10/13; MM 10/14; LAW, PCHR, PR 10/16)

Some 5,000 Christian evangelicals hold a rally in solidarity with Israel on the sidelines of a Christian Coalition conference in Washington. Addressing the rally, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson states that "Palestine has been occupied by Yasir Arafat and his thugs . . . [and] we cannot turn it over to them." House majority whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) declares that when he visited the Jewish state, "I didn't see any occupied territory--what I saw was Israel." (WJW 10/17; JPI 10/25; Guardian 10/28)

Senate passes (77-23) a concurrent res. approved by the House (296-133) on 10/10 giving Bush the authority to strike Iraq unilaterally, meaning he needs no further congressional approval to deploy troops, order air strikes, wage a ground war with Iraq. The Pentagon issues orders for the army's V Corps, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force to deploy headquarters staffs, which would coordinate an attack on Iraq, to Kuwait, marking the 1st official nonroutine dispatch of conventional ground forces to the Gulf. (NYT, WP, WT 10/11; NYT 10/12)

Bush admin. harshly criticizes King Hussein for Jordan's hosting conference of "anti- American radicals" in Amman; spokesperson hints meeting could damage U.S.-Jordanian relations [LAT 9/19]; Jordan appears to have stopped sending foodstuffs to Iraq [NYT 9/19].

Reversing longstanding opposition to Soviet presence in Middle East, Saudi Arabia would now welcome Soviet troops as part of multinational force, according to Saudi F.M. Saud al-Faisal [NYT, LAT, WT, WP 9/19].

At hearing of House Foreign Affairs sub-committee on Europe and Middle East, congressmen, including committee chrmn. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), accuse Bush admin. of sending mixed signals to Saddam. Hamilton cites ass't sec. of state John Kelly's 7/31 testimony that U.S. has no defense treaty with Kuwait [LAT, NYT, WP, WT 9/19; MEM 9/21].

Pentagon reports of defensive buildup of Iraqi troops in Kuwait [NYT, WP 9/19].

UN Disaster Relief Office says number of refugees in Jordanian transit camps after fleeing Iraq and Kuwait is 34,876; UNDRO adds gov'ts of Sweden, Denmark, and Italy have offered funds to aid refugees [AFP 9/18 in FBIS 9/18]; Crown Prince Hasan Ibn-Talal says Jordan has already spent $57 million to accommodate estimated 500,000 refugees who have passed through Jordan since 8/2 [AFP 9/18 in FBIS 9/20].

Chrmn. Arafat arrives in Amman for meetings on Gulf crisis [ADS 9/18 in FBIS 9/18; CSM 9/19].