7.10.96 Muhammad Hamda, a Bir Zeit University student, is arrested. He is subjected to violent shaking, sleep deprivation and position abuse in the Russian Compound. In November, the Israeli High Court grants the General Security Service permission to use "moderate torture" on him.
9.10.96 Israeli Border Police fire live bullets against unarmed people praying at AI-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
12.10.96 The Palestinian Authority (PA) arrests a number of Islamic Jihad activists in Bethlehem.
16.10.96 Palestinian and Israeli negotiators resume talks in Taba on redeployment in Hebron amidst conflicting reports about progress toward an agreement.
17.10.96 Eighty Israeli academics visit Orient House in Jerusalem and meet with PLO Executive Committee member Faisal Husseini, who is also in charge of the Jerusalem file in the peace negotia lions.
20.10.96 Fifty-thousand persons form a human chain in Jerusalem under the auspices of Peace Now to mark the one-year anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. The marchers carry torches and meet in a giant demonstration in front of the Prime Minister's Office with the call:
"In Rabin's steps on the road of peace."
21.10.96 The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) intend to apply for an emergency increase in their budget in view of the possibility of an outbreak of war.
21.10.96 The Waqf (Islamic Trust) in Jerusalem declines to respond to a letter from an Israeli asking permission for the excavation of Bab Al-Rahma Islamic Cemetery in order to look for 22 Jews buried there since the 1948 war. Waqf Director Adnan Husseini clarifies that, according to Muslim law, it is forbidden to excavate a cemetery where two million Muslims are buried.
22.10.96 During his visit to Israel, French President Jacques Chirac expresses his support for the establishment of a Palestinian state which is "the only state that is able to present and respect the needed commitments for the security of Israel." He asks Israel to accept the Palestinian state, to return the Golan Heights to Syria and to withdraw from South Lebanon.
23.10.96 Israeli authorities impose a total closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, claiming that their security services have information about possible military operations against Israel to be carried out by supporters of the Islamic Jihad.
23.10.96 Deputy Housing Minister Rabbi Me'ir Porush promises that he will work to ensure that the map of Israel 2000 should include all Jewish settlements.
29.10.96 Eleven-year-old Hilmi Tha'er Shawasha from Husan village near Bethlehem is beaten to death by a Jewish settler in charge of security at the settlement of Betar. Hilmi was scheduled to donate bone marrow to his two-year-old sister, dying of leukemia.
31.10.96 Amnesty International confirms that torture is being practiced on Palestinian detainees held in Israeli detention facilities. Prisoners are exposed to violent shaking, sleep deprivation and position abuse. The medical reports deny the existence of any signs of torture.
6.11.96 Sixteen members of the Israeli Knesset visit the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in Ramallah as part of an ongoing interparliamentary friendship effort conceived by the Israeli left-wing Meretz party. The Israeli delegation includes MKs from the Likud party.
7.11.96 The Haifa Appeals Court sentences a group of Palestinians to four months' imprisonment for entering Israel without a permit. Israeli police sources say that 1,200 Palestinians were arrested for entering Israel without permits. Twelve Israeli employers were fined for employing Palestinians illegally.
7.11.96 Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) submit a no-confidence motion against the PA. The motion is presented to the PLC to be included in the agenda of an upcoming meeting because the PLC members feel that their decisions are not implemented by the PA.
8.11.96 Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declares that a Palestinian entity will be established as a result of the final peace agreement with the PLO but adds, "I'm against complete Palestinian sovereignty and the unrestricted right to self- determination."
9.11.96 Professor Finklestein, head of the Archeology Department at Tel Aviv University, states that Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, Joseph's Tomb in Nablus and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron are not holy sites for Jews.
10.11.96 Representatives of descendants of the old Jewish community in Hebron meet with the Palestinian mayor of Hebron. They declare their support for the Hebron agreement and state that "the Hebron Jewish settlers have no right to speak in our name or use our property."
10.11.96 Israeli soldiers shoot and kill 36-year-old Atallah Hassan Eid Amireh from Naalin village near Ramallah and injure 12 other Palestinians during a protest against land confiscation by Israel.
13.11.96 Bir Zeit University students suspend classes for an hour and hold a march on campus, calling for the release of the university students detained by Palestinian Authority police in Ramallah central prison on suspicion of Hamas or Islamic Jihad affiliations.
On the same day, they also protest in front of the PLC headquarters in Ramallah to demand the release of five of the university's students who were arrested after a series of bus bombings inside Israel.
15.11.96 Palestinian security personnel arrest a 16-year-old boy who joined the Islamic Jihad and was preparing to carry out a suicide operation in Israel.
15.11.96 More than 100 student representatives of Peace Now supporters in Israeli universities and student supporters of the Palestinian peace movement assemble in Ramallah and announce the establishment of the "Student Union for Peace."
16.11.96 All 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons hold a one-day hunger strike protesting their continued detention and the conditions in which they are held. According to the Oslo II agreement, Israel is to release the prisoners in stages.
16.11.96Muhammad Assaf Kameel, 34, from Qabatia (Area B) near Jenin, dies in a mysterious explosion near his house.
16.11.96 The Israeli army announces it will allow 15,000 Palestinian workers to enter Israel. By November 18, the PA complains that not a single new permit had been issued to workers.
20.11.96 Sixteen-year-old Ihab Jarir Abu Haddaf from Gaza dies of wounds sustained from Israeli gunfire during September's clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli army.
21.11.96 The Coordinator of Israeli Activities in the occupied territories, General Oren Shahor, accuses the PA of not being firm enough with the Palestinian opposition, especially the Islamic groups.
28.11.96 The Israeli authorities send warnings to four Palestinian families from Ras Al-Amud, Wadi Qaddum and Silwan in Jerusalem, saying their houses will be sealed within a week because their sons, who are detained by Israel, were involved in suicide operations.
28.11.96 Israeli Communications Minister Limor Livnat suggests that Israel annex the West Bank and Gaza in the event that Arafat declares an independent Palestinian state.
29.11.96 Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres calls upon Syrian President Assad to meet him to diffuse the tension between the two countries.
1.12.96 Israeli settlers move back to Joseph's Tomb in Nablus under a heavy Israeli military escort. The Tomb, the site of a bitter battle during the September clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli army houses a yeshiva (religious seminary).
12.96 Attorney Ibrahim Abu Duqqa, advisor to Arafat, expresses the Palestinian Authority's regret for the "tragic accident" that led to the death of Palestinian prisoner Rashid Fityani in Jericho. Rashid was shot by a Palestinian guard in the Jericho District prison. The guard is interrogated, tried before a military court and sentenced to life imprisonment.
3.12.96 The Israeli authorities attack and beat 50 Palestinian teachers from Bethlehem and Hebron, who were protesting at the Bethlehem checkpoint because they can't reach their jobs in Jerusalem.
3.12.96 Jordanian Transport Minister Nasser AI_Lozy announces that Jordan has reached an agreement with Israel to allow Jordanian trucks direct travel into Israel and direct export of cement and oil to the Palestinian territories.
4.12.96 Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu states that he believes that it is time to hold a meeting with Palestinian Authority head Arafat, adding that "the agreement on redeployment from Hebron has been practically achieved; leaders of the two sides have to meet to finalize it:'
5.12.96 The Israeli minister of education decides to consider Arabic as a compulsory language in Israeli schools.
10.12.96 Israel offers to exchange Israeli Druse Azzam Azzam for Egyptian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Azzam is accused of spying for Israel.
11.12.96 A Jewish woman and her son are killed by unidentified bullets fired at their car near Beit El settlement. Later, the Palestinian Authority arrests three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Two are sentenced to life terms and one is sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.
11.12.96 The Knesset Interior Committee holds a meeting at the Israeli Knesset to discuss the issue of residency rights for Jerusalem Palestinians. The meeting is attended by representatives of many human-rights and law organizations and by the Orient House representative, Azmi Abu Seoud, which causes tension in the meeting.
11.12.96 The Israeli minister of internal security recommends releasing Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin for health reasons. The recommendation was not implemented.
13.12.96 Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu states, "We will increase the support to develop settlements so as to deepen the roots of the Jewish people in its historical land:'
18.12.96Israeli Border Policemen arrest five Palestinians in Bethlehem. The five are members of Hamas and were intending to carry out an operation against Israelis.
In this period in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, six Palestinians, three children below the age of sixteen and two Palestinian policemen were killed by the Security Forces. Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians, two Israelis were killed by Palestinians. Within the Green Line, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians and one member of the Security Forces was killed by Palestinians.
Above figures from B'Tselem