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Period: to
The Israeli Palestinian Conflict
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Origins of conflict
The conflict begins in 1947, when Great Britain decides to abandon Palestina, where there were already conflicts between local residents and those Jews who had been settling there in the hope of creating a "national home".
Britain leaves the problem in the hands of the ONU, who aproved a plan where the territory would be divided in two zones: one Israeli and one Palestinian. -
Beggining of war
The Arab countries of the area were opposed to the birth of the new state and sent their troops sparking the first Arab-isrelí war, which lasted for over a year, causing a massive exodus of Palestinians. -
The tension is compounded
Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, causing that Israel, France and Great Britain invade Sinai. -
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
The pressures of the ONU and the U.S. forced them to retreat. Finally, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
was born in Jerusalem, dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. -
The 6-day war
Israel attacks Egypt, Syria and Jordan in what it calls a pre-emptive strike. In the Six Day War , Israel captures the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. -
Peace
Egyptians and Israelis met at Camp David, in the U.S., to negotiate peace in the region. The Egyptians were guaranteed return of all their land. The Israelis won assurance that, for three years after treaty ratification, 40 percent of the Sinai would remain in their hands -
The invasion
June: Israel invades Lebanon to drive out the PLO, which had its headquarters there
September: Lebanese Christian militias and troops of General Ariel Sharon burst into the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, which killed more than 2,000 Palestinians -
The Intifada
The Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza started a mass uprising against the Israeli occupation. This uprising, or intifada, was not started or orchestrated by the PLO leadership in Tunis. Rather, it was a popular mobilization that drew on the organizations and institutions that had developed under occupation. The intifada involved hundreds of thousands of people, many with no previous resistance experience, including children, teenagers and women. -
The Palestinian National Estate
The Palestinian National Estate is borned, headed by Yasir Arafat, formed by the regions of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. -
Peace Conference
October: Madrid hosts a peace conference involving Israel, Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. -
The Oslo Accords
The PLO and the Israeli government, sign the Oslo Accords at the White House, where Israel recognizes the PLO, and gives the Palestinians some autonomy in exchange to renounce its territorial claims. -
Implement of the Oslo Accords
Israel and the PLO agreed in the Cairo summit, implement the first phase of the Oslo Accords, which include the 60% military withdrawal from Gaza and Jericó.
July: Arafat returns to Gaza and take over as president of Palestina. -
Taba agreement
Arafat and Shimon Peres, the Israeli foreign minister, sign the Taba agreement which sets up the mechanism for a transitional period towards Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. -
Second Intifada
Ariel Sharon, the leader of Israel's Likud party, visits al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which is Islam's third holiest site. Arafat describes the visit as a dangerous affront to Islam's holy places. The second Intifada begins. -
Sharon
January: Palestinians and Israelis meet in the Egyptian resort of Taba to negotiate an agreement on the U.S. peace proposal.
February: Sharon is elected prime minister and bury the negotiations by announcing that he will not respect the agreements of Taba. -
Operation Defensive Shield
The Israeli army launches Operation Defensive Shield, the country's biggest military operation in the West Bank since the Six Day war. The siege of Yasser Arafat begins. Israel besieges Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, demolishing most of his office complex and confining him there, while simultaneously embarking on a policy of extra-judicial assassinations and imprisonment of Palestinian leaders -
Arafat dies
Arafat dies in France. Israel denies his wishes to be buried in Jerusalem. Instead he is buried at his headquarters in Ramallah with soil brought from Jerusalem placed in his grave. -
New President
Hamas wins the Palestinian legislative elections. The US, Israel and several European countries cut off aid to the Palestinians as the Islamist movement rejects Israel's right to exist. -
A National Unity Government
Egypt fosters talks among Palestinian factions aims at ending the rift between PLO and Hamas and forming a national unity government.
