12.4.97 A new bypass road is started around Shu'fat to link the Jewish settlements of Reches Shu'fat and Pisgat Zeev; the construction will swallow up 300 dunums from Shu'fat village.
13.4.97 Sonia Mahmoud Al-Ra'i, 28, from Qalqilya, opens fire at Israeli security men at Allenby Bridge, wounding two Israeli men and a Palestinian from Ramallah. The act was in revenge for her brother who was killed during the Intifada.
15.4.97 The Israeli army imposes a total closure on the West Bank. All West Bank Palestinians are prohibited from entering Israel or Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
16.4.97 Palestinian Authority (PA) President Arafat meets in Gaza with U.S. Special Middle East Coordinator Dennis Ross. Earlier, Arafat had met in Malta with Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy, who claimed Arafat had promised him the resumption of security cooperation between the PA and Israel.
16.4.97 The Israeli peace index poll shows that the Middle East peace process has retreated 16 points (from 55.7 in January 1997 to 39.5 in April 1997), with zero points as total war and 100 as total peace.
21.4.97 The Israeli judiciary closes the Bar-On file "for lack of evidence." Israeli opposition party leader Shimon Peres asks Netanyahu to resign.
24.4.97 After more than a month suspension, joint Palestinian-Israeli patrols resume in Bethlehem upon Israel's request.
24.4.97 In a meeting with right-wing youth group Betar, Israeli PM Netanyahu reiterates his slogans: "We will protect our settlements in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza; we will resume building settlements in Judea and Samaria and Gaza; we will also build in Jerusalem."
27.4.97 President Arafat meets in Jericho with Yossi Beilin, candidate to the Israeli Labor party leadership. Arafat says that Netanyahu is working to sabotage the peace process.
27.4.97 One Palestinian is shot dead and three others injured by Israeli army live bullets during clashes in Kharas, near Hebron.
29.4.97 The Israeli authorities issue an order for the confiscation of around 4,000 dunums belonging to Urtas and al-Khader villages in the Bethlehem district. The Palestinian lands will be used for the expansion of the Jewish settlements of Efrat, Giv'at Hazayit and Tamar.
29.4.97 The Israeli authorities decide to ease the closure clamped on the West Bank and Gaza, allowing 5,000 additional Palestinian workers into Israel, and 650 Palestinian Authority employees to move freely between Gaza and the West Bank.
4.5.97 The director general of the Israeli Defense Ministry says that the U.S.A. has decided to increase by $48 million its share in the annual budget to the Hetz missile project during the next four years.
4.5.97 The Israeli Ministry of the Interior admits to the confiscation since the beginning of 1997 of 150 IDs belonging to Jerusalem Palestinians.
5.5.97 Without prior notice, Israeli bulldozers demolish five homes in the Hebron area that were allegedly built without permits. All the homes are located near new bypass roads, intended to serve local Jewish settlements. During this period, similar instances of demolition by the Israeli authorities take place in Jerusalem, Nablus, Bethlehem and other areas in the occupied territories.
6.5.97 Israeli Arab local councils observe a warning strike in protest against the Israeli government's failure to solve the financial crisis facing the Arab councils in Israel.
6.5.97 Israeli Arab Azzaro Azzam, who is being tried in Cairo on suspicion of transferring inform~tion from the Israeli Mossad to an Egyptian citizen, faces new spying charges and possibly the death penalty.
6.5.97 PA President Yasser Arafat meets with Israeli President Ezer Weizman at Erez checkpoint. Weizman says the meeting was a good chance to break the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian relations.
7.5.97 Jordan confirms reports about a crisis in Jordanian-Israeli relations over water issues.
8.5.97 The Israeli government denies any involvement in the case of a U.S. official suspected of leaking information to Israel about former Secretary of State Warren Christopher's letter of assurances to Arafat prior to the signing of the Hebron Protocol.
14.5.97 Dozens of Jewish settlers take over a villa with a 5-dunum piece of land on the Mount of Olives. The settlers claim the property was bought from the owner, Armenian Bishop Shahe Ajamian, who left to the U.S.A. after being expelled from the Armenian Patriarchate.
14.5.97 A joint Palestinian-Israeli-American meeting is held at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Herzliya in the presence of U.S. Special Middle East Coordinator Dennis Ross in an effort to resume stalled peace talks.
14.5.97 In a speech, King Hussein of Jordan says that Jordan will never be the substitute homeland of Palestinians or any other people, stressing the need for maintaining national unity.
20.5.97 Israeli PM Netanyahu reiterates his total rejection of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
21.5.97 Arieh Der'i, head of the Israeli Shas party, reveals that he had met secretly with Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) in an effort to break the deadlocked Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
21.5.97 Khaled Abu-Dayyeh, 37, from Beit Safafa, dies in Israel's Russian Compound prison in Jerusalem. It is suspected he was tortured during interrogation.
26.5.97 The Israeli Government Press Office issues a report about the arrest by the Israeli authorities of 76 Palestinian policemen during the last 15 months for alleged'illegal activities inside Jerusalem.
27.5.97 A Meretz report on settlements reveals that, since the beginning of the year [1997], 30,000 dunums of Palestinian land in Jerusalem, Hebron and the Jordan Valley have been confiscated by the Israeli authorities for settlement purposes.
3.6.97 Former Israeli army chief of staff Ehud Barak wins the elections for Labor party leader.
7.6.97 In a press conference at Orient House, Palestinian school principals and Teachers' Union members in Jerusalem reject any Israeli attempt at interference in the Palestinian educational system in East Jerusalem.
9.6.97 Israeli Labor party leader Ehud Barak visits Jordan and holds talks with King Hussein of Jordan.
12.6.97 Palestinian and Israeli parliamentarians meet in Ramallah to discuss the peace process and issues of mutual interest.
13.6.97 A U.N. General Assembly vote obligates Israel to pay $1.7 million to cover the costs of its April 18, 1996, attack on Qana, Lebanon. Israel rejects the decision, which represents the first time a country is held accountable for peacekeeping costs.
17.6.97 In order to "restore order," Israeli soldiers and special units break 188 into prison cells and fire tear-gas bombs in Megiddo Prison where 980 Palestinians are held. The prisoners were protesting the prison conditions and administrative detention.
18.6.97 At a police officers graduation ceremony, Israeli PM Netanyahu says:
"Reinforcing the Israeli police with 400 additional men in Jerusalem is one of our most important decisions to maintain the unified status of Jerusalem."
19.6.97 The Israeli-Egyptian peace talks in Cairo, between Adviser to the Egyptian President Usama al-Baz and the Israeli Government Secretary Danny Naveh fail to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process.
20.6.97 The Israeli military court at Erez issues two life sentences and a further IS-year sentence to Hassan Salameh, accused of killing Palestinian collaborators and participating in operations against Israeli targets. He may also face charges for his possible role in the suicide operations of February and March 1996 in Israel.
22.6.97 An Israeli woman is injured when her car is stoned near the village of Surif in Hebron.
24.6.97 Palestinian prisoners in all Israeli prisons and detention centers start a hunger strike to protest the harsh conditions.
24.6.97 Most Jordanian newspapers boycott covering the press conference held by the new Israeli Ambassador to Jordan, Oded Eiran.
24.6.97 Nasser Abed Radwan, 28, arrested on 23.6.97 by two members of the Presidential Security Service, dies from an internal hemorrhage in the head. Autopsy reports reveal that Radwan was tortured to death.
On 1.7.97, the Palestinian military court rules against 8 members of the Presidential Security Service accused of torturing Radwan to death. The sentences range from the death penalty to 6 months' imprisonment.
25.6.97 A no-confidence motion by the Israeli opposition is defeated by 55 votes against 50, with the Gesher party absent from the Knesset vote.
28.6.97 Jordan freezes an agreement with Israel, allowing international flights destined to Eilat, to land at Aqaba Airport in Jordan.
28.6.97 An Israeli woman is arrested in Hebron after putting up posters depicting the Muslim Prophet Mohammad as a pig. The act triggers Palestinian protests and clashes with the Israeli army. The woman is subsequently tried by an Israeli court and receives a long prison sentence.
30.6.97 The Israeli District Court releases on bail Nahum Korman, a settler from Betar settlement, accused of beating to death ll-year-old Hilmi Shawasha from Hussan village near Bethlehem on 29.10.96.
30.6.97 Israeli MK Naomi Chazan (Meretz) accuses Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai of trying to break a record in the number of Palestinian houses he intends to demolish.
2.7.97 Maher Abdul Min'em al-Assar, 17, dies of a bullet wound in the heart when Israeli soldiers open fire at Palestinian protesters in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. Ten other Palestinians are injured.
3.7.97 Tawfiq Abu Rteimeh dies in Shifa Hospital in Gaza of injuries sustained during clashes in Rafah between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians protesting land confiscations.
8.7.97 Netanyahu appoints Ya'acov Ne'eman as Israel's new finance minister and David Levy as chief of the Israeli negotiating team with the PA.
9.7.97 A bomb explodes near an Israeli vehicle passing through the Joseph Tomb site east of Nablus; two Israeli Border Policemen are injured in the explosion.
10.7.97 U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, makes her first trip to the region and meets with PA President Arafat and PM Netanyahu.
13.7.97 The Foreign Press Association charges the Israeli army with deliberately targeting journalists during demonstrations in Hebron. Five journalists are among the 15 Palestinians wounded by rubber bullets.
13.7.97 Head of the PA Civil Aviation Authority, Brig. Fayez Zidan, and Israel's Head of the Military Planning Committee, Shaul Mofaz, discuss the issue of continuing work in the Gaza Airport.
17.7.97 The Israeli authorities partially lift the closure it clamped on Hebron city in the wake of violent clashes between settlers and Palestinians.
24.7.97 PA President Yasser Arafat meets at Beit Hanun in Gaza with Ehud Barak, the new leader of the Israeli Labor party.
28.7.97 PA Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nabil Sha'ath and Israel's Foreign Minister David Levy hold what is described as a fruitful meeting.
30.7.97 Fifteen Israelis are killed and over 170 wounded, 11 critically, in 2 explosions at Mahaneh Yehuda market in West Jerusalem. Hamas military wing claims responsibility. Arafat gives orders for the arrest of activists in extremist groups.
30.7.97 The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are completely sealed off, and an internal closure is imposed, including in areas under the PA, in the aftermath of two suicide bombings in western Jerusalem.
11.8.97 Zahya Harb, a 19-year-old Bedouin woman, is forced to give birth in a car at a checkpoint in Betunya. She was made to wait two hours for an Israeli soldier to decide whether she should be allowed entry into Ramallah to reach a hospital just 1.5 kilometers from the checkpoint.
12.8.97 A military court convicts three members of Yasser Arafat's elite bodyguard unit of treason and sentences the ringleader to death. They are found guilty of working for a foreign country and of spying for the Israeli intelligence service.
14.8.97 U.S. Middle East Coordinator Dennis Ross visits the region in an attempt to revive peace efforts.
19.8.97 Seventy-five Jerusalem families, whose homes have been demolished, or identity cards withdrawn by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, take shelter in tents in the al-Sawaneh area on the Mount of Olives. The camp has no electricity, water or sewerage.
21.8.97 "Arafat is two-faced," says Danny Naveh, the Israeli Government secretary: "On the one hand, he says he is against terrorism, and afterwards he runs to hug the killers of women and children." A leader of the Hamas fundamentalist movement, Abdul Aziz aI-Rantisi, embraced Arafat on 20.8.97 during a national unity meeting of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
28.8.97 Nadia Fuda, 45, from Acre in northern Israel, is arrested on charges of spying for Iraq.
4.9.97 Three suicide bombings take place in West Jerusalem's Ben-Yehuda Street, killing 7 persons, including the suicide bombers, and injuring 192.
4.9.97 In the wake of the attack, President Bill Clinton calls on the Palestinian Authority to work on its own and with the Israelis to create a secure environment in the region: "It is clear that the perpetrators of this attack intended to kill both innocent people and the peace process itself."
5.9.97 In a television opinion poll, more than 50 percent of Israelis call for an Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon, in the wake of a bungled raid in South Lebanon where 12 soldiers are killed.
8.9.97 Daoud Ya'coub, 65, from Ein Kinya, near Ramallah, dies of a heart attack at a checkpoint near Ramallah after being held there for hours by Israeli soldiers who prevented him from reaching Ramallah Hospital.
8.9.97 Paying condolence visits to families of naval commandos killed in Lebanon on
5.9.97 President Ezer Weizman says: "No withdrawal can take place from Lebanon without first reaching an agreement with Syria ... Lebanon was a 'province of Syria' and a deal must be made with Assad prior to any Israeli withdrawal."
14.9.97 Under heavy police protection, Jewish settlers from the Ateret Cohanim group enter a Palestinian home allegedly bought from Fouad Hadieh in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras aI-Amud, with an Arab population of 11,000. Large-scale protest demonstrations by members of the Israeli peace camp and by Palestinians follow.
15.9.97 Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemns the takeover by Jewish settlers of two homes in Arab East Jerusalem. A compromise solution is reached regarding the status of the property.
22.9.97 A gunman, firing from a car, shoots and slightly wounds two Israeli security guards in Amman. The Jordanian Islamic Resistance, a previously unknown group, claims responsibility. Jordan condemns the attack as an act of terrorism.
22.9.97 Israel formally requests the extradition of Co!. Ghazi Jabali, commander of the Palestinian police, and 4 other Palestinians, members of Hamas. Palestinian Attorney General Fayez Abu Rahmeh says his government wouIrt ignore the request. Co!. Jabali is suspected by Israel of "organizing terrorist cells within the Palestinian police."
24.9.97 Palestinian police in Nablus arrest around 20 Palestinians linked with Hamas, a day after Israel identified 4 bombers involved in recent suicide attacks.
26.9.97 Israeli Mossad agents botch an attempt to kill a Hamas political leader, Khaled Meshal, in Amman, Jordan. Two Mossad agents, holding Canadian passports, attacked Meshal with poisonous chemicals. They were caught by Meshal's guard. As a result of pressure by King Hussein, Israel gave an antidote to the poison. Later, Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin is freed from an Israeli prison in exchange for the two agents.
26.9.97 Bowing to U.S. and Israeli pressure to crack down on Hamas activists, Palestinian police close and seal 16 Islamic welfare institutions in Gaza.
28.9.97 The Israeli peace movement, Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc), calls for a boycott of all goods produced in Jewish settlements in territories occupied by Israel in 1967. "We call upon the whole world to support peace by not buying products made in settlements," says a leader of the group.
28.9.97 Israel agrees to resume negotiations with the Palestinians on the implementation of the interim self-rule accords and releases $17 million in frozen funds to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority. This came one day ahead of a crucial meeting in New York between Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Arafat's deputy, Mahmoud Abbas.
During this period in the occupied territories, 12 Palestinians, as well as 4 Palestinian children under the age of 16, were killed by the Israeli Security Forces. Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians and 3 Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians. Within the Green Line, 1 Palestinian was killed by Israeli civilians and 20 Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians.
Above figures from B'Tselem.