5.10.95 The Israeli Knesset
(Parliament) ratifies by a 61-59 majority the interim agreement
with the Palestinians.
8.10.95 After 105 days in a
Palestinian prison, Hamas leader Dr. Mahmoud Az-Zahar is released.
On his release he expresses support for stabilizing the
situa¬tion and improving relations between the Palestinian
National Authority (PNA) and Hamas. The two parties are working on
a draft of an agreement between them, the main points of which are
Hamas participation in minor tasks in the PNA, stop¬ping Hamas
military activities in and from the territories under the rule of
the Authority, the question of Hamas participation in the elections
to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and the question of
Hamas recognition of the agreement with Israel. Ideological
differences of opinion on the future and the role of Hamas emerge
during the discussions between the movement's leadership in the
Diaspora and those in the territories. On 16.10.95 Sheikh Ahmad
Bahar is released from prison as is Salameh Safadi on 26.10.95 -
steps defined as "confidence¬building" between the
deliberating parties.
9.10.95 Haidar Abdel- Shafi, one of
the opposition leaders in the Gaza Strip and founder of the
National Democratic Coalition, announces his intention to
partici¬pate in the elections to the PLC and calls upon the
Hamas movement also to par¬ticipate "like all the political
organizations."
9.10.95 Israeli President, Ezer
Weizman, and head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Central
Command, Ilan Biran, refuse to release four Palestinian women
prisoners who had been convicted of murder. In protest, 22 other
women prisoners refuse to be released from Israeli prisons. As
determined in the interim agreement, Israel releases the first of
three waves of prisoners, 1,000 in number. Contrary to hopes in the
terri¬tories, only small numbers join protests on behalf of
the women prisoners.
11.10.95 The IDF vacates four
offices of the Civil Administration in the territories on the first
day of.the process of Israeli redeployment in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip.
13.10.95 The head of the People's
(former Communist) Party, Suleiman Najjab, announces that his party
will participate in the elections to the PLC.
16.10.95 The then-Foreign Minister,
Shimon Peres, and the Chairman of the PNA, Vasser Arafat, announce
the schedule for the redeployment of the IDF in the West Bank as
well as the date of the elections to the Palestinian Legislative
Council:
January 20,1996, before the Ramadan holiday.
17.10.95 In Jenin, a temporary
municipal council is agreed upon, with the parti¬cipation of
all the large Palestinian organizations, including the
opposition.
The U.s.A. announces its decision to permit the Palestinians to
export mer¬chandise to it without custom duties.
24.10.95 In America the two Houses
of Congress confirm the bill to transfer the U.s. Embassy in Israel
from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. President Bill Clinton decides not to
veto the law but announces that he will delay it "for security
reasons."
26.10.95 Fathi Shikaki, leader of
the Islamic Jihad, is murdered in Malta, on his way from Libya to
Syria. Israel does not announce officially that it is not
responsible for the attack. The Palestinian rejection front calls
for revenge. On 28.11.95, following the mourning period for
Shikaki, a Jewish businessman is murdered in Turkey. An unknown
person announces that this is an act of revenge for the
murder.
30.10.95 At the Amman Economic
Summit, the establishment is announced of the Regional Development
Bank in Cairo, with f capital of five billion dollars. It is also
announced that the committee for supervision and coordination of
regional economic activity will be located in Amman.
4.11.95 Israeli Prime Minister,
Yitzhak Rabin, is murdered by an Israeli rightist during a rally in
support of peace in Tel Aviv.
Tens of heads of states attend'the funeral in Jerusalem, including
Egyptian President, Husni Mubarak, King Hussein of Jordan and
representatives from Morocco, Oman and Qatar. After consulting with
Israel, Arafat decides not to go to the funeral due to the
controversy likely to ensue from his being in Jerusalem. On 9.11.95
he makes a condolence visit to Leah Rabin in her home in Tel
Aviv.
In the wake of the murder, Shimon Peres takes over the position of
prime minister.
13.11.95 The IDF completes its
redeployment from Jenin and its surroundings. The evacuation, the
transfer of rule to the Palestinian police and the start of joint
patrols, all of which are carried out in full and close cooperation
between the par¬ties, are described as "efficient and
business-like."
29.11.95 Two Israeli Border
Policemen are kidnapped in Jenin by men of the "Black Panther"
unit, while the IDF surrounds a cafe in Qabatia where a wanted
member of the unit garrisoned himself. Many hours later, the
kidnappers hand the Israelis over to the Palestinian police who
return them to Israeli officers. The kid¬nappers and the
wanted man surrender to the Palestinian security forces. Several
days later they are tried and receive prison sentences.
In the wake of this incident, more than 90 armed members of Fatah
units in the Jenin area accept the proposal of the Palestinian
security forces, relinquish their arms and join these forces.
Subsequently, Fatah activists in Nablus demonstrate their strength
toward the entry of the Palestinian police, and in the
disturbances, lDF soldiers open fire and wound more than 20 of the
demonstrators.
9.12.95 The PNA delays the opening
of registration of candidates for the elections to the PLC in the
hope that Hamas representatives will decide to join.
10.12.95 The IDF hands Tulkarem, and
its surroundings, and two days later Nablus, to the Palestinian
Authority. The evacuation of Nablus is accompanied by
demonstrations against the departing Israeli soldiers.
12.12.95 Arafat appoints a former
senior Hamas official as head of "the office for national
dialogue." Parallel to this, the official closes his paper, which
was seen as the Hamas organ.
On the following day a delegation of Hamas leaders sets out for
Cairo for talks with representatives of the PNA. The parties do not
succeed in reaching an agree¬ment, but the Hamas movement
announces that it will not instruct its followers to boycott the
elections or to sabotage them.
15.12.95 From the roof of the former
HQ of the Israeli military government in the town, Arafat addresses
a mass rally in Nablus and announces his candidacy in the elections
for president on January 20,1996.
16.12.95 The IDF evacuates Qalqilia.
Learning the lesson from the evacuation of Nablus, the Palestinian
police forbids the use of arms by citizens during the
evacuation.
The U.N. General Assembly votes by a large majority for the right
of self¬determination of the Palestinian people, stressing the
need for Israeli withdrawal from all territories conquered in
1967.
Arafat, in his capacity as head of Fatah, approves the list of
Fatah candidates that had been chosen in internal elections, for
the elections to the PLC, but makes some changes. As a result, many
of the former decide to run as independent can¬didates.
17.12.95 The leader of the "Fatah
Hawks" in Nablus, Ahmad Tabouq, hands him¬self over to the
Palestinian police following a long chase and siege. The
Palestinian Authority announces it will put him and his C'rmed men
on trial.
19.12.95 The Hamas movement
announces that it will not participate in the elec¬tions as a
party, but it is not out of the question for people identified with
it to run in the elections with the "Islamic Salvation Party" which
was established in Gaza.
21.12.95 The IDF hands over
Bethlehem to the PNA.
26.12.95 The Palestinian police
enters five villages in the vicinity of the town of Hebron. In one
of those villages, Palestinian youngsters give flowers to the
departing Israeli soldiers.
27.12.95 The IDF evacuates Ramallah,
thus completing the transfer of the six big towns in the West Bank
to the Palestinian Authority, as determined in the interim
agreement. Hebron, the seventh town, will be handed over to the
Palestinians in March 1996. This will complete the evacuation by
the IDF of the West Bank. The evacuation was generally implemented
in an orderly fashion, in full cooperation between the Palestinian
police and the IDF.
In this period, in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, four
Palestinians were killed by the Israeli security forces and one by
an Israeli civilian. (All figures from B'Tselem.)