1.4.02 Anthony Zinni, the US envoy to the Middle East, meets Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the first time since the Israeli invasion of Ramallah. According to Ha'aretz, Zinni delivered a letter from US President George W Bush, saying Israel has the right to defend itself against Palestinian attacks.
2.4.02 Thirty-five priests and 240 Palestinians hole up in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The civilians sought refuge there after the Israeli army invasion.
2.4.02 The Palestinian preventive security compound in Betunia is attacked and 200 Palestinians inside the compound surrender. Israeli troops then open fire injuring 30. Jibril Rajoub head of preventive security refutes Israeli claims that some 50 senior militants wanted for planning suicide bombings and other attacks were sheltering inside the compound.
2.4.02 A Palestinian is killed and another wounded when a Jewish settler opens fire on their car near Ramallah.
3.4.02 Israeli troops invade Jenin, Salfit and Nablus during the night and conduct house-to-house searches, arresting Palestinians. 30 Israeli tanks head for the center of Jenin. An Israeli soldier is killed and three others wounded during heavy gunfire.
3.4.02 A spokesperson for the US State Department says a 21-year-old US citizen, of Palestinian origin, has been killed by Israeli gunfire in the reoccupied city of Ramallah.
3.4.02 Israel takes control of Jenin refugee camp after 300 Palestinians, including fighters, surrender to Israeli troops. Israeli bulldozers then demolish dozens of houses. The majority of the residents were still inside the camp when the strike began. Israeli helicopter gunships were also reported to have fired at least 20 missiles into the camp. Casualty numbers were difficult to verify as ambulances and journalists were prevented from entering the camp.
4.4.02 A European delegation, including EU Representative Javier Solana and Spanish Foreign Minister Josef Pique, leaves Israel in protest at the Israeli decision to prevent them meeting Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. The delegation cancelled a scheduled meeting with Israeli PM Ariel Sharon in retaliation.
4.4.02 A joint statement issued by UN Special Envoy Terje Larsen and World Bank director in the West Bank and Gaza, Nigel Roberts, calls on Israel to, "ensure that full respect is given to humanitarian principles and that relief workers are given unimpeded freedom of mobility." The parties expressed their grave concern for the conditions under which the Palestinian civilian population is living.
5.4.02 The UN Security Council adopts a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian towns and cities. The vote is passed 14-0 with the support of the US - the second time in a month that Washington had backed a UN resolution on the Middle East after years of abstaining.
6.4.02 A statement issued by those under siege in the Church of the Nativity says Israeli troops have cut off electricity and water supplies. They appeal to international and humanitarian parties to intervene.
7.4.02 Catholic priest Father David Beigar accuses Israeli officials of pressuring the Franciscan priests inside the Church of the Nativity to leave. He says the priests are not hostages and will remain inside the church.
7.4.02 Israeli soldiers raid the house of Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser and force his family to leave, confiscating documents found in his office.
9.4.02 Three trucks carrying food, donated by Palestinians living within the Green Line, are prevented from reaching Palestinians in the besieged West Bank. Also, Israeli troops prevent UNRWA and Red Cross employees from entering Jenin refugee camp stating only that there is "a situation" inside as reports emerged of bitter fighting. They had brought medical aid, blood supplies, food and blankets for the inhabitants who had been living under curfew without water, electricity or phone links for days.
9.4.02 EU Representative Javier Solana urges European countries to stop arms sales to Israel.
9.4.02 14 international organizations and eight local groups travel in convoy to deliver food and essential medicines to Nablus residents, who have been without electricity since the start of the Israeli invasion there, a week earlier.
10.4.02 A Palestinian suicide bomber from Hamas blows himself up on a bus in Haifa killing 10 Israelis and wounding 22.
10.4.02 A Hamas activist blows himself up on a bus in Jerusalem, killing eight and injuring 14.
10.4.02 Hizbullah offers to release a detained Israeli colonel in exchange for an immediate halt of the Israeli assault on Jenin refugee camp.
10.4.02 Over 60 activists from Greece, Cyprus, France and Italy are deported after being briefly detained by Israeli authorities at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport.
10.4.02 Israel rejects a plan put forward by representatives of Christian churches in Jerusalem to release the Palestinians under seige in the Church of the Nativity. The plan had been to organize an international convoy to evacuate the approximately 200 Palestinians, including several policemen and fighters, who had taken refuge in the church.
10.4.02 The European parliament debates imposing trade sanctions on Israel. Almost 270 parliament members vote for the non-binding resolution, while 208 vote against. Israel sends 37 percent of its exports to EU countries and has a preferential trade agreement.
11.4.02 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon announces that the Israeli army will stay in Palestinian cities until fighters there surrender. He adds that the cities will remain under siege until the end of an unspecified "period of calm".
11.4.02 US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, arrives in Jerusalem, after winning strong international backing for his drive to secure a cease-fire following 18 months of violence.
12.4.02 Andaleeb Taqatqeh, 20, from Beit Fajjar near Bethlehem, blows herself up near the Mahaneh Yehuda market in West Jerusalem, killing six Israelis and wounding 60. In a pre-taped video, the young woman said she took orders from the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Arafat's Fateh party.
13.4.02 Christian patriarchs and bishops in Jerusalem meet with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and ask him to exert more pressure on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories and end the standoff at the Church of the Nativity.
14.4.02 Colin Powell meets Yasser Arafat in his battered Ramallah compound. The US envoy gives no guarantee that the Israelis will withdraw immediately.
15.4.02 The sraeli army arrests West Bank Fateh General Secretary and Palestinian Legislative Council member Marwan Barghouti and his personal bodyguard Ahmad Barghouti in Ramallah. Ariel Sharon describes Barghouti's arrest as one of the most successful results of the military operation, even though he would have preferred to see him dead.
15.4.02 Israeli authorities ban UNRWA trucks from carrying food, medicine and water to the residents of Jenin refugee camp. UNRWA Commissioner Peter Hansen accuses Israel of violating the Geneva Convention and says Israeli troops deliberately destroyed medical supplies belonging to the agency.
21.4.02 According to Ha'aretz, an Israeli cabinet meeting considers declaring the UN's Special Envoy Terje Larsen "persona non grata" for statements he made on April 18. Larsen had called Israel "morally repugnant" for not providing humanitarian aid in Jenin.
21.4.02 Israeli tanks withdraw to the outskirts of Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin, although Arafat's Ramallah compound remains encircled.
21.4.02 US Secretary of State Colin Powell says Israel should ease the siege on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to give him a chance to exercise his authority and take steps to end Palestinian attacks on Israel.
22.4.02 Under the protection of Israeli soldiers and police, a group of settlers move into the house of the Jerusalemite al-Hijazi family after an Israeli court rules they were living there illegally, despite the family providing documents from the 1880s, proving their ownership of the house.
22.4.02 Israeli helicopter missile strikes in Hebron kill Marwan Zaloum, 42, and Samir al-Tamimi, 45. Zaloum was the head of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Hebron, while al-Tamimi was an officer with Force 17, part of the PNA's security apparatus.
22.4.02 UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says a fact-finding mission will investigate the IDF attack on the Jenin refugee camp.
23.4.02 Francis Wartz, spokesman for the 19 European parliament members visiting the West Bank says in a press conference that his group believes Israel committed war crimes in Jenin refugee camp.
23.4.02 Israel announces that it will not cooperate with the UN fact-finding mission to Jenin and asks Kofi Annan to delay its visit to Israel.
25.4.02 Donor countries pledge $1.2 billion in assistance to the PA at a meeting in Norway. The funding includes $300 million in urgent funds to confront emergency humanitarian needs in the West Bank and $900 million for reconstruction of facilities destroyed by Israeli troops.
25.4.02 A military tribunal convened inside Arafat's Ramallah headquarters sentences four Palestinian activists, charged with taking part in the killing of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi last October, to between one and 18 years in jail, with hard labor. All four belong to the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
25.4.02 Israeli tanks enter the Palestinian-ruled part of Hebron, killing one member of the Palestinian security forces and wounding four others.
25.4.02 Terje Larsen, UN Special Envoy visits Jenin refugee camp and calls conditions there "shocking and horrifying beyond belief, the air filled with the smell of decaying bodies." He estimates about 2000 people had been left homeless.
28.4.02 Hizbullah offers the release of four Israeli soldiers being held hostage in exchange for the release of Palestinians under siege in the Church of the Nativity and the four men in the presidential headquarters in Ramallah wanted by Israel.
29.4.02 Two Hamas gunmen disguised as Israeli soldiers kill four Israelis on a settlement near Hebron. Israeli forces in Hebron then kill eight Palestinians and round up 200 others for interrogation.
29.4.02 An Israeli sniper kills Nidal Ubbayat, 29, a prominent Aqsa Martyrs Brigade member near the Church of the Nativity.
30.4.02 Three Palestinians, including a baby girl, are killed when Israeli troops open fire in a residential area in Rafah, Gaza.
30.4.02 European Commission President, Romano Prodi, says it is "unacceptable" that Israel refuses to cooperate with the UN fact-finding mission to Jenin.
1.5.02 According to the Hebrew daily Yedioth Aharonot, work began last week on a major construction project connecting the two West Bank settlements of Elkana and Share Tikva south of Tulkarem. The project includes the construction of 350 apartments.
1.5.02 The Israeli army pulls out of Ramallah, following the transfer of six Palestinians into international custody. Under the terms of a plan submitted by US President George W Bush, US and British monitors will take responsibility for guarding the six Palestinians Israel wants arrested for killing Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi.
1.5.02 Heavy exchanges of gunfire take place at the Church of the Nativity. Israeli flares start a fire in the church complex. In a bid to calm the situation, the Vatican sends an envoy to Jerusalem.
1.5.02 Israel reoccupies the West Bank city of Tulkarem and declares a curfew on the city. This is the third time Israel has reoccupied the city since the Israeli army officially withdrew early last month.
3.5.02 Yasser Arafat is released from his Ramallah compound.
4.5.02 Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher says Egypt would set two conditions for holding an international peace conference in the Middle East. The first would be Israel's withdrawal to its positions prior to September 28, 2000 and the second would be basing the conference on the formula of land for peace.
5.5.02 Thirty-year-old Fatmeh Turkman and her two children are killed when an Israeli tank opens fire on them near Zababdeh village in the Jenin area.
5.5.02 Ten Israeli bulldozers, accompanied by Israeli troops and tanks, level vast tracts of land between Khan Younis and Rafah in the Gaza Strip to build a bridge to connect the Gush Katif settlement with the Kisifim road. This project, which will serve only Israeli settlements, will annex more than 200 hectares of Palestinian land.
5.5.02 Palestinian officials criticize comments made by US National Security Advisor Condaleeza Rice on Fox News that the current Palestinian leadership is not efficient enough to establish a Palestinian state. She added that the US administration would carefully examine a 100-page report to be presented to Israeli PM Ariel Sharon during his visit to Washington that claims President Arafat is linked to the funding and planning of terrorist attacks on Israelis.
7.5.02 A bomb at a club in Rishon Letzion kills 15 Jewish and Arab Israelis and injures 57. Hamas claims responsibility.
7.5.02 Israeli troops invade Tulkarem again, arresting tens of Palestinians and destroying property.
8.5.02 A Palestinian man tries to blow himself up at a bus stop at Megiddo junction, 20 kilometers south-east of Haifa. The bomb fails to detonate fully, but seriously injures the bomber.
11.5.02 Sharm al-Sheikh hosts a summit between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal tells reporters that his country is exerting pressure on President Arafat to halt the activities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
11.5.02 The 36-day curfew on Bethlehem and Beit Jala is lifted, and 80 Palestinian civilians leave the Church of the Nativity. Thirteen Palestinian men wanted by Israel are shipped to Cyprus to await an EU decision on which country will take them in. Another 29 Palestinian men are internally exiled to the Gaza Strip.
12.5.02 The Israeli magistrate court in Jerusalem rules to evacuate a settler family from an Arab home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem after proof is presented that the house is owned by two Arab families.
13.5.02 The Likud party votes to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state. PM Ariel Sharon had asked to delay the vote - to give him more leeway in maintaining good relations with the US and the Labor party.
14.5.02 Two Palestinian intelligence officers, Khaled Al-Jawabreh and Ahmed al-Zama'reh, are killed when Israeli soldiers surround their house in the Hebron town of Halhoul. Fadi Shehadeh, 17, from Dheisheh refugee camp, is killed at the Gilo military checkpoint.
15.5.02 According to Ha'aretz, a report published by Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, claims that settlements control 41.9 percent of the West Bank, even though only 1.7 percent of territory in the West Bank is "built-up" settlement area. According to the report, 6.8 percent of the West Bank is within the boundaries of the national outline plan for Jewish settlements while another 35.1 percent is land that falls under the jurisdiction of local and regional Jewish councils, beyond the borders of the plan.
22.5.02 Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader, Mahmoud al-Titi, is assassinated by an Israeli tank shell near Mount Jerzim in Nablus. A passer by was also killed in the attack.
22.5.02 A suicide bomber from the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades kills two Israelis in Rishon Litzion. President Arafat and the PA condemn the bombing.
23.5.02 Amnesty International calls on Israel to open an investigation into the treatment of thousands of Palestinian detainees held without charge since the end of February. The human rights organization said more than 8,500 Palestinians were arrested between February 27 and May 20, held arbitrarily and subjected to harsh, inhumane and humiliating treatment.
26.5.02 Israeli Defense Minister Benyamin Ben Eliezer says that military operations inside Palestinian areas will continue because, "there are serious attempts to rebuild the infrastructure of Palestinian armed forces in Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin."
27.5.02 Jihad Titi from the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades blows himself up in Petah Tikva east of Tel Aviv, killing two Israelis and injuring 50 others. He is the cousin of Mohammad Titi, assassinated by Israeli forces a week ago.
28.5.02 Three Yeshiva students in the West Bank settlement of Itamar, south of Nablus, are shot and killed by a lone gunman who is later killed by a security guard. Another Jewish settler near the Beit El settlement is killed in a drive-by shooting.
28.5.02 Members of the Fateh Revolutionary Council in the Gaza Strip call for an end to Palestinian military operations inside Israel, saying that such operations damage the Palestinian national struggle. The council calls for resistance to remain inside the Green Line.
28.5.02 Israeli security sources say they have begun rescinding security coordination with the Palestinians, although no final decision has been taken to terminate the arrangements made during the Oslo years.
28.5.02 After several amendments by the PLC and a five-year wait, President Arafat has ratified the Basic Law, considered a temporary constitution for the future Palestinian state. It will define the features of the political system and the rule of law.
29.5.02 Jerusalem Chief of Police, Mikki Levi, says he is seeking to open the Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount to any Jew who wants to visit. He adds that the Israeli police have established a detailed plan to tighten security in Jerusalem, especially along the line between Israeli municipal control and the West Bank. The plan will include monitoring points and a 20-kilometer-long security fence.
30.5.02 CIA director George Tenet arrives in the region, with plans to streamline the Palestinian security services.
1.6.02 Israeli troops enter the city of Nablus and Balata refugee camp, putting the town under curfew, arresting hundreds of men and boys from the camp.
1.6.02 Palestinian officials say the Israeli army has dynamited a Greek Orthodox church in Aboud, north west of Ramallah. An Israeli army spokesperson later said that the army thought it was a cave, not a church.
2.6.02 The Israeli government begins erecting a fence around 115 dunums of Palestinian land in the northern hills of Jabal al-Mukkaber in East Jerusalem. The land is to be used for a new settlement housing project and a six-floor hotel overlooking Jerusalem.
3.6.02 Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Liberation Front announce that they have refused President Arafat's invitations to take part in the new Palestinian government.
4.6.02 Residents of East Jerusalem's Issawiyeh neighborhood are handed orders from the Israeli authorities informing them that a piece of land belonging to the Dari and Dirbass families is to be taken and used temporarily for "military purposes." Thirty of the families 170 dunums are confiscated.
4.6.02 Israeli state comptroller Eliezer Goldberg says that he is considering probing the actions of the Israeli army during Operation Defensive Shield over the denial of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, particularly in the Jenin refugee camp. Goldberg said, however, that he would only commence his investigation after the army concludes its own internal investigation.
5.6.02 Seventeen people die when a Palestinian bomber drives a car loaded with explosives into a bus. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility but refuses to release the bomber's name.
6.6.02 Palestinian delegate to the Arab League Council, Mohammad Sbeih tells AFP that President Arafat has said he will retire as soon as the Palestinian state is declared, to make room for a new generation.
6.6.02 Israeli tanks and helicopters shell President Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, causing extensive damage to a number of buildings, including the prison.
8.6.02 President Arafat issues a decree extending the term of the PLC for another three months until September 5, 2002. The council is to remain in open session during this period, until conditions permit the opening session of the council's seventh term to be convened.
8.6.02 Two Palestinian gunmen infiltrate the Jewish settlement of Karmeh Tzur, in the Hebron area, killing three Israelis and wounding three others. One gunman escapes while the other is killed by Israeli soldiers. Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claim responsibility for the attack.
8.6.02 An armed Palestinian raids the settlement of Yitzhar near Nablus, shooting and wounding four Israeli soldiers before being shot dead.
8.6.02 Six Palestinians are killed in Rafah, Hebron and Qalqilia.
9.6.02 Palestinian security services arrest 14 members of Islamic Jihad, including leading figure, Mohammad Hindi, in connection with the bus bombing at Megiddo.
9.6.02 President Arafat cuts 10 ministers from his cabinet and creates a mini-cabinet of seven ministers dedicated to restructuring the ministries and Authority institutions and implementing administrative reform.
10.6.02 Israeli tanks, armored personnel carriers and army jeeps sweep through Ramallah, putting the city under curfew. President Arafat's headquarters are encircled by tanks again.
11.6.02 A 15-year-old Israeli girl is killed and 15 others wounded when a lone Palestinian detonates a pipe bomb in a small restaurant in the coastal city of Herzilyia.
12.6.02 Israeli police close the headquarters of the Chambers of Commerce in East Jerusalem, claiming that it carries out PA-linked activities. During the raid, police briefly arrest PLC member Ahmad Zghayyar, head of the union, and several employees.
12.6.02 Local press reports claim Israel used $1.2 million of EU grant money meant for the PA to provide personal security for senior Israeli officials. The Knesset finance committee used NIS6 million of donor money transferred through Israel for economic projects in the Palestinian territories to pay for personal guards and other security measures for Israeli officials.
12.6.02 European Commission sources in Israel have said that, despite the document presented by Israel's military intelligence unit, it was not convinced that Palestinians are using EU funds to finance terrorist activities.
13.6.02 Seven-year-old Faris Kan'aan dies at an Israeli checkpoint near Nablus after he and his family were denied entry to the city by Israeli soldiers. The boy had been bitten by a scorpion and required immediate medical attention.
15.6.02 Two Israeli soldiers are killed and four others wounded in a clash with Palestinian fighters near the Dugit settlement north of Gaza. One Palestinian also died.
15.6.02 A spokesperson for the European Commission says the European Parliament would freeze 18.7 million Euros in assistance to the PA pending information on how the money is used.
18.6.02 At a press conference in Gaza, Palestinian health minister Riad Za'anoun says that from the start of the Intifada on September 28, 2000 to June 18, 2002, there have been 2,282 Palestinian martyrs, 663 of whom are missing or remain under the rubble of destroyed homes in the Jenin and Nablus areas. He adds that 468 of the Palestinians killed by the Israeli army were children.
19.6.02 The budget committee in the European Parliament approves assistance to the PA after clarifications are given by European Commissioner on External Affairs, Chris Patten, in regards to Israeli allegations that EU funds were being misused for "terrorist" activities.
20.6.02 Over 50 Palestinian intellectuals, businessmen and professionals sign a petition calling on all Palestinian factions that "stand behind armed operations targeting Israeli civilians" to halt their activities.
22.6.02 According to Ha'aretz, Israeli MK Roni Milo proposes declaring a state of emergency in Israel and taking legal measures to deport the families of suicide bombers from the West Bank to Gaza and to demolish their homes.
22.6.02 Five Jewish settlers are killed when two armed Palestinians enter the settlement of Itamar, south of Nablus. Israeli security services later kill the two Palestinians. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claim responsibility.
23.6.02 PNA security branches arrest eight Palestinians affiliated with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Security forces also declared Sheikh Ahmad Yassin under house arrest. Two people were injured in clashes between his supporters and police.
23.6.02 A Palestinian eyewitness tells AFP that nearly 100 Palestinians have been waiting for over 16 hours on a bypass road near Ramallah for the army to return their identification cards and car keys.
24.6.02 "Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born," US President George W. Bush tells Palestinians as he lays out a vision of Middle East peace, riding entirely on new Palestinian leadership.
24.6.02 Palestinian Local Government Minister Saeb Erekat tells CNN that President Arafat signed a decree setting January 2003 as the date for Palestinian presidential elections. Municipal elections are to be held in March.
26.6.02 Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian leaders reject the idea of a temporary state, as proposed by US President Bush, reaffirming their call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Over this period, in the Palestinian territories, 379 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli security forces, 59 of whom were under the age of 18. Seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians. Thirty-seven Israeli citizens were killed and 39 Israeli security forces personnel were killed by Palestinians. Two Israeli security forces personnel were killed by Palestinian security forces. Twenty-nine Palestinian security forces personnel were killed by Israeli security forces. In Israel, four Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces. Sixty-six Israeli citizens were killed by Palestinians. Twenty Israeli security forces personnel were killed by Palestinians.
Above figures from B'Tselem