The Palestine Chronology

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Economy Min. Gad Ya'aqobi announces that intifadah cost Israeli economy NIS 1.2 billion in 1988 [FBIS 3/14].

Other Countries: Bush administration calls on PLO, Israel to ease tension in O.T. Plan includes: release of some Palestinian prisoners; end of administrative detention; reopening of schools; halt to violent demonstrations; end of anti-Israeli activity in S. Lebanon; end of distribution of inflammatory leaflets [NYT 3/12].

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Clashes in Gaza leave 5 Palestinians shot, wounded. In Hebron troops shoot, wound 4Palestinians [FBIS 3/13, FJ 3/20]. Others are injured during clashes in Nablus, Tulkarm, Ramallah [FJ 3/20].

Arab World: In S. Lebanon Israeli army kills 2 PFLP-GC guerrillas attempting to cross Israel's northem border [FBIS 3/13]

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Curfew confining 1,000,000 Palestinians to their homes enters 6th straight day [CSM 11/17].

Other Countries: State Dept. and Bush transition team announce that political statement from 19th PNC, which implicitly recognizes Israel, does not meet U.S. requirements for PLO-U.S. talks [NYT 11/ 17]. British P.M. Margaret Thatcher urges Pres. Reagan and Pres. -elect Bush to take a constructive approach to new PLO positions [WP 11/17].

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: 25-year-old Palestinian from Rafah dies from wounds received during earlier demonstrations. Soldiers wound 2 Gazans with live ammunition. In Ramallah troops arrest 2 Palestinians during demonstrations. In 'Azzun soldiers arrest 15 Palestinians, demolish 3 houses [FJ 11/21].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Reports indicate that F. M. Peres and Defense Minister Rabin met secretly with Jordan's King Hussein and reached agreement on framework for Middle East peace conference [PI, BS 4/29]. Two Israeli police officers are charged with falsifying evidence and extracting false confessions under torture in case of 4 Palestinians convicted of May 1983 murder of policeman [FJ 5/3].

Other Countries: Before National Jewish Coalition meeting in U.S., potential Republican presidential candidates Dole, Kemp, Haig, Bush, and Robertson emphasize ties with Israel, support even closer relations despite Pollard spy affair [NYT 4/30].

Social/Economic/Political

Arab World: U.S. V.P. Bush arrives in Egypt to meet President Husni Mubarak [WP 8/3].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Leaflet signed "Preparatory Committee of a JordanianPalestinian Gathering" is distributed in Jerusalem and Gaza calling on "silent majority" to block the "opportunists" and support King Hussein's policies [FJ 8/1]. Israeli High Court rules the govt. may expel 45 American-born "Black Hebrews"; Interior Ministry spokesman says they will be deported within a few days [NYT 7/30].

Arab World: U.S. V.P. Bush arrives in Amman to meet King Hussein [NYT 7/31].

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Shamir says Beirut bombings were perpetrated by Syria and by terrorist elements acting under its aegis.

US and Other Countries: US Vice President Bush flies to Beirut to inspect destruction of Marine base, says US will not let a bunch of insidious terrorist cowards shape its foreign policy; House Speaker O'Neill (D-MA) tells party caucus it should put patriotism above partisanship and support Reagan in Lebanon; senior officers of MNF units say safety of their forces is impossible to guarantee; France criticizes US policy in both Lebanon and Grenada.

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:

Druze-Phalange militia gunbattles in Maarufiye-Bsada region, near Baabda; Lebanese internal security forces deployed in areas of Tripoli to monitor cease-fire.

Casualties:

Government offices, banks, shops and many schools reopen in Tripoli.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Israeli officials say Government is prepared to allow UNIFIL a 2 month extension, to operate around Palestinian refugee camps above 25 mile security zone, do not want UNIFIL within security zone; MK Yitzhak Rabin says war in Lebanon was illegal use of IDF for far-reaching political goals; Defense Ministry informs Umm al-Fahm residents that 15,000 dunums of their land is declared a military zone and cultivation must cease; troops raid Najah University, remove Palestinian posters and flags; military authorities close Kadri Tukan high school after border police injured by stones following celebration of 18th anniversary of Fateh in Nablus; all Nablus and neighboring Balata camp under undeclared curfew; Israeli traffic stoned in Ramallah and Bethlehem, with total of 5 settlers injured during week; Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs spokesman Avraham Hoffmann says $150,000 promotion campaign will encourage Israelis to settle in West Bank, and provide clearing house for information on available housing, World Zionist Organization goal is 100,000 settlers by 1985, current number is 25,000.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Arafat meets with Jordanian Prime Minister Mudar Badran, holds press conference in Amman in which he praises the Reagan plan for calling for a settlement freeze, and criticizes plan for denying Palestinian right to independent state; Abu lyad says meeting of Fateh Central Committee in Kuwait on 6 January rejected the Reagan plan; Lebanese-Israeli-US talks held in Khalde deadlocked over agenda as US compromise proposals are unacceptable, but new proposals submitted.

US and Other Countries: US State Department confirms several encounters between IDF and Marines in Beirut; Special Envoy Habib confers with Reagan, Shultz and Bush before leaving for Middle East, amid growing Administration frustration that delay in Israeli and Syrian troop withdrawals impede Jordan's involvement in peace negotiations as proposed in Reagan Plan; B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League releases report that anti-Semitic violence in US decreased by 15% in 1982, to 829 incidents, mostly in New York, California, New Jersey and Massachusetts; New York City Mayor Koch presents key to city to President Navon, pledges support of Israel, Navon tells Yeshiva University students to settle in Israel; Italian Defense Minister Lelio Lagorio, in Beirut, announces Italy considering sending another battalion to Lebanon, bringing total troops to 4,000.

UN: Senegal, Fiji, Norway, Ireland, Holland, Ghana, Finland, France, Sweden and Italy will keep troops in UNIFIL; Nigeria will remove troops from UNIFIL.

Military Action:

Israel fortifies position around Beirut, capturing Lebanese University science campus; uncovers arms caches in Tyre and elsewhere; IDF fails to capture USSR-supplied T-72 tanks but claims huge numbers of fighters taken; IDF claims Phalangist forces took university (denied by Gemayel); Phalangist artillery used to pound Burj al-Barajneh Pales-tinian camp. Port access to Beirut cut for 8 days, roads for 5, air access cut. Arafat tours PLO military positions in Beirut; PLO opens 12 new medical facilities in last 10 days, with 2,000 beds, to deal with casualties.

Casualties:

80 bodies uncovered under Sidon building hit by Israeli shelling; 400 Sidon residents reported killed; Lebanese sources estimate over 25,000 casualties and 250,000 displaced persons (1 of 16 living in Lebanon); Israeli government claims only 70,000 home-less in Lebanon as result of fighting; IDF administrator in Sidon says IDF plans to bury bodies in pits where they lay; ICRC negotiates with IDF to fly 2 planes from Cyprus to Beirut; most Beirut businesses closed. 30-vehicle relief convoy leaves Israel for southern Lebanon for 2-week stay; Israeli banks set up mobile units inside Lebanon for Israeli soldiers (will also service local Lebanese); Israeli Trade Minister Patt says Lebanese merchants wishing to buy Israeli goods may place orders through military commanders (to be filled in 24 hours); Israel claims 6,000 guerrillas captured, 60 Syrians.

Political Responses:

Israel/Occupied Territories: Begin, in New York, tells Israeli Cabinet to disregard US pressures in setting war policy; Shimon Peres claims military actions lacked necessary Cabinet approval, calls for meeting of foreign affairs committee; Israeli Cabinet reportedly orders Sharon not to enter Beirut; Israeli government claims possession of documents showing PLO hosting of groups "such as" the Japanese Red Army, Italian Red Brigade, and German Baader-Meinhoff Gang; public criticism surfaces on conduct of war and casualty levels.

Palestinians/Lebanese: PLO's Hani Hassan urges direct US-PLO talks; former Lebanese Premier Salam meets Habib to convey PLO views on fighting; Phalangists deny cooperating with Israelis during fighting; some Lebanese Christians reported cooling toward Israeli presence.

Arab Governments: Saudis urge US pressure to force Israelis to withdraw, suggest arms embargo to Vice-President Bush, Senator Percy, Defense Secretary Weinberger (in Saudi Arabia for funeral of late Saudi King).

US and Other Countries: Reagan delays sending Congress formal notice of long-planned sale of 75 F-16s to Israel; Israeli reassurance that IDF would not enter Beirut reportedly ensures Begin meeting with Reagan; US rejects PLO request for direct talks; UK Prime Minister Thatcher says PLO office can stay in UK; USSR reportedly replenishing Syrian supplies.