4.1.99 A Palestinian shoots several bullets into a settler's car, critically wounding one of the three passengers. During the clashes that erupt following the incident, four Palestinians are injured, and, as a result, a total curfew is clamped on Hebron.
5.1.99 The Israeli tax authority confiscates four cars belonging to employees of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, on grounds that they had not paid their income imposed applied by Israel on the residents of East Jerusalem. The employees claim that they are not required to pay taxes to Israel since the status of Jerusalem has not been determined yet. Paying taxes to Israel by a diplomatic mission implies a de facto recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, as taxes are seen as a political tool used to achieve a political goal.
6.1.99 Badr Qawasmeh, 26, from Hebron, is shot dead by an Israeli soldier after he pointed what turned out to be a plastic gun at the soldier.
6.1.99 The Israeli army reopens the coastal road in Gaza, running along the Israeli settlement of Gush Katif, to Palestinian traffic. The Israeli authorities had closed the road to the Palestinians for years after repeated attacks in the area.
8.1.99 According to Israeli police sources, eight members of an American Christian sect called "Concerned Christians" are detained after police revealed the group's suicidal intentions at the beginning of the year 2000. The millennium is expected to attract to Jerusalem members of fundamentalist sects with fana tic religious convictions.
10.1.99 The Peres Center for Peace announces the launching of a series of $60¬million cooperation projects between Palestinians and Israelis.
11.1.99 The board of trustees of the Peres Center for Peace attends a session of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) meeting in Ramallah. Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres expressed his support for the establishment of a Palestinian state, which should be agreed upon through negotiations.
11.1.99 Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu threatens to annex the West Bank if statehood is declared, arguing that the creation of a Palestinian state is a threat to Israel and a violation of the peace accords.
12.1.99 Fayez Zeitawi, 57, from the Old City of Jerusalem, is stabbed to death on his way to work in West Jerusalem. Zeitawi is the ninth Arab victim of what Israeli police believe is a Jewish serial stabber.
13.1.99 According to the Israeli State Attorney's office, based on the ruling of a High Court hearing on the use of physical pressure against Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli intelligence service, the Shin Bet, will soon change some of its interrogation methods.
15.1.99 A U.5. $12 million pledge is signed between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Japan to upgrade services of local councils in the West Bank, including 64 trucks to 148 villages and cities to remove solid waste.
16.1.99 Israeli prime minister Netanyahu uses a TV appearance to fire Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai. He names Moshe Arens as new defense minister.
19.1.99 Israel releases 10 Palestinian political prisoners who had served 13.5 months of their 14-month prison terms. According to the Wye agreement, Israel should release 750 political prisoners in three stages, linked to Israeli army redeployment in the West Bank. Only 100 political prisoners have been freed thus far.
23.1.99 Israeli soldiers beat and arrest Bassem Waleed, director-general of the Energy and Environment Research Center in the PNA and member of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) at an Israeli checkpoint north of Tulkarem.
27.1.99 Zaki Ubeid, 23, from the East Jerusalem village of Essawiyeh, is pronounced clinically dead at Hadassah Hospital. Ubeid was shot in the head with three rubber-coated bullets by Israeli soldiers while protesting the demolition of an Arab house in the Essawiyeh neighborhood.
31.1.99 Representative of the European Union in Jerusalem, Thierry Bechet, issues a press release denying reports that the EU is planning to freeze financial assistance to the PNA. "We do not hide our concerns regarding transparency or the alleged corruption or favoritism within the PNA; this position is not restricted to the PNA alone, but exists all over the world wherever we have similar programs."
31.1.99 According to Brigadier Tareq Zeid, chief of Palestinian police in Hebron, the Palestinians handed over 108 stolen cars to the Israelis through the Palestinian-Israeli Liaison Committee.
1.2.99 Palestinian Preventive Security Captain Rifat Mohammad Joudeh, 33, is shot and killed in an exchange of fire with three wanted Hamas members in Gaza. Eight-year-old Du'a Nasr also dies after being run over by the fleeing fugitives. The three are arrested several hours later.
3.2.99 Israel takes a decision to reduce the sentences of a number of Israelis incarcerated for killing Palestinians. Israeli President Ezer Weizman signs a decree reducing the prison terms of five Israeli civilians jailed for murdering 10 Palestinians in separate incidents between 1990 and 1993.
4.2.99 The Israeli human-rights organization B'Tselem states in its annual report that 29 Palestinians were killed by Israelis throughout 1998. Twenty¬one were killed by Israeli soldiers, six were killed by Israeli civilians and two babies who were prevented from crossing checkpoints for medical treatment also died.
4.2.99 During the US. House of Representatives national prayer breakfast, US. President Bill Clinton excludes Israeli prime minister Netanyahu from his prayer for the welfare of "the peacemakers," mentioning Arafat, King Hussein and Leah Rabin.
5.2.99 Donor countries agree in Frankfurt to finance the Palestinian development plan with $770m in 1999 in a first installment of around $3b total aid for the next five years pledged in Washington last November. According to World Bank officials, the financial support will come in the form of grants and concessionalloans toward development activities in the West Bank and Gaza.
7.2.99 The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) has named this day as the day of democracy to mark the 1996 election of the 88-member Council. On the same date every year, the PLC will launch a campaign to increase public awareness of the importance of parliamentary life in Palestine.
8.2.99 King Hussein of Jordan, 63, is pronounced dead after a long struggle with cancer. He was flown back from the United States on 5.2.99, and died in Amman.
8.2.99 During the funeral of King Hussein, secretary-general of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Nayef Hawatmeh, shakes hands with Israeli President Ezer Weizman. According to the director-general of Weizman's office, Hawatmeh called the Israeli president a "man of peace" as the two sat together waiting for the funeral to begin.
9.2.99 The United Nations General Assembly calls for an international conference on Jewish settlements which Israel has been illegally constructing and expanding in the Palestinian areas. The resolution is passed with a vote of 115-2 and five abstentions.
9.2.99 The Palestinian police arrest Hamas activist Jamil Khalifeh, who escaped from a PNA prison in Nablus on 22.12.1998. According to the chief of Palestinian police, Ghazi Jabali, Khalifeh is accused of killing two Israelis and is considered" dangerous."
11.2.99 Jameel Jadallah, 27, from Hebron is sentenced to life plus 13 years by a Palestinian state security court. The life sentence was handed out in punishment for the killing of two Israeli settlers.
12.2.99 The Palestinian police arrest Hamas leading figure, Dr. Mahmoud al¬Zahhar, on the grounds that he provided medical treatment to a Palestinian wanted by the police for involvement in the killing of Palestinian Captain Joudeh last month in a shoot out between the Palestinian police and members of Hamas.
15.2.99 In Haifa, areas under the PNA in the Jenin district sign a cooperation agreement with towns in northern Israel. In a separate signing, a cooperation agreement is signed in West Jerusalem between Israel, Belgium and the PNA in the field of scientific research.
15.2.99 The Israeli High Court takes a decision confirming the ownership by Munira Siam from Silwan of her house in Wadi Hilwa, thus revoking the appeal of the El Ad settlement group to take over the house.
18.2.99 The Lebanese village of Arnoun is annexed to the Israeli "security zone" in South Lebanon. Lebanon submits an official complaint against Israel to the V.N. Monitoring Committee over the invasion and occupation of the village.
18.2.99 The Israeli police arrest several employees at the National Insurance Institute and the Israeli Interior Ministry Office for allegedly taking bribes up to NIS 700,000 from Palestinians in return for Israeli identification cards and passports.
22.2.99 PLO delegate to the V.N. Security Council, Nasser al-Qidwa, is denied the right to participate in the Council's debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts in a state representative capacity. He is allowed to participate only as an observer.
24.2.99 The Israeli Minister of Trade and Industry announces that the ministry has recently allocated lands to build moderate- and small-scale factories in several Jewish settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza.
28.2.99 Hizbullah guerrillas kill three Israeli soldiers, including a top-ranking officer, in South Lebanon. Israeli prime minister Netanyahu vows to retaliate.
1.3.99 Israeli prime minister Netanyahu pays a visit to the newly crowned King Abdallah II of Jordan. Relations between the two countries remained cool but correct. Netanyahu's statement that should Israel and Iraq engage in a military confrontation, Jordan would be the first neigh boring country to side with Iraq, angered Jordanian officials.
1.3.99 Presidential advisor Nabil Abu Rdeineh states that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat would be willing to postpone the date for the declaration of statehood [May 4] if he manages to guarantee the assurances of the United States and the EU that they will recognize the Palestinian state when it is declared at a later date.
2.3.99 A spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of the Interior announces that in 1998 Israel revoked the IDs of 788 Palestinian Jerusalemites. The IDs were withdrawn on the grounds that the holders were living outside the Jerusalem city limits.
3.3.99 Two Israeli settlers attack and lightly injure a young Palestinian girl in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to Israel Radio, the settlers were masked and one was arrested by the Israeli police.
6.3.99 An Israeli security guard sustains serious injuries when he is shot by an unknown assailant near the settlement of Ariel near Nablus. In a separate incident, a 50-year-old ultra-Orthodox Israeli is stabbed in the neck near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem.
6.3.99 The Palestinian agricultural ministry takes a decision to halt the import of all frozen poultry from Israel until further notice. Recent lab tests in Israel showed that 56 percent of all poultry is unfit for human consumption. The tests also showed that 34 percent of these products constitute a threat to public health and only 10 percent of poultry produce in Israel is fit for eating.
7.3.99 In a letter to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, the Israeli human¬rights organization B'Tselem requests him to prevent the execution of a Palestinian police officer charged with murdering a youth last October. The police officer is currently standing trial and no verdict has been issued yet.
7.3.99 In a special session, the Palestinian Legislative Council reelects the current speaker, Ahmad Qrei (Abu 'Ala), for a third consecutive term since the Council's formation three years ago.
10.3.99 The State Security Court in Gaza issues a death sentence against Palestinian Subhi Ahmad AI-' Attar, 25, accused of shooting Captain Rifat Joudeh from Rafah on 1.2.99. 'Attar is to be executed by a firing squad for the violation of Article 378 of the 1979 Palestinian Revolutionary Code. President Arafat refused to ratify the court's ruling and asked for a retrial.
10.3.99 Ala ai-Hams and Khamis Mahmoud Salameh, both 17, are shot dead and three others severely injured during a demonstration in Rafah that came under fire from the Palestinian National Security Service. The demonstration was in protest against the death sentence issued by the State Security Court against Subhi 'Attar.
13.3.99 As part of a joint Palestinian-Israeli campaign, nearly 500 Israeli peace activists help Palestinians rebuild three houses in the Nablus, Jenin and Hebron areas.
15.3.99 Around 500 Bedouins from al-Azazmeh tribe cross the Israeli border into the Negev after fleeing a rival tribe in Egypt. The tribe's leader claimed they had also been under pressure from the Egyptian authorities for alleged cooperation with Israel. On 23.3.99, the Bedouins are deported back to Egypt.
16.3.99 During a visit to the Jordan Valley, Israeli prime minister Netanyahu announces his support for the conversion into a city of the settlement of Ma'ale Efraim, which overlooks the Jordan Valley.
20.3.99 Three Palestinian children from the village of Rantis near the Green Line are badly injured by explosives left behind in an Israeli military training area. The boys are taken for treatment in a Tel Aviv hospital. According to the Voice of Palestine and Physicians for Human Rights, no warning signs were posted in the area.
20.3.99 The Israeli cabinet revokes the VIP cards of Palestinian leaders Faisal Husseini, Hanan Ashrawi and Ziad Abu-Zayyad in a reprisal for the.r receiving foreign diplomats at Orient House in Jerusalem. Minister Abl'¬Zayyad is barred from entering Jerusalem, although he was elected by the city's Palestinian residents to represent them in the PLC. This act was seen as a desperate ploy in Netanyahu's election campaign by emphasizing the Jewishness of Jerusalem.
21.3.99 Broadcasting from a settler radio station, Israeli MK and member of the right-wing Moledet party, Beni Alon, encourages Israelis to "resort to all means to annex the West Bank after May 4," saying that settlement in the West Bank is the only way to save Israel from a Palestinian state.
22.3.99 The Palestinian human-rights organization LAW condemn~ the use of firearms in settling disputes between Palestinian security apparatuses. According to the organization, three Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in March due to the abuse of firearms by members of the Palestinian security forces and armed civilians.
22.3.99 Palestinian minister of labor, Rafeeq Natsheh, and his Israeli counterpart, Eli Yishai, agree to increase the flumber of work permits issued to Palestinians working inside Israel. The Israeli authorities will also allow 270 Gaza university students to reach their universities in the West Bank.
25.3.99 In a ground-breaking statement, the European Union "reaffirms the continuing and unqualified Palestinian right to self-determination including the option of a state." It calls for accelerated final-status negotiations, to be concluded within a target period of one year.
26.3.99 The first Palestinian-Israeli textile factory starts operation in the Gaza Industrial Estate. The new factory is jointly owned by the Palestinian al¬Huda, the biggest garment company in Gaza, and the Israeli Unidress garment companies. With an initial capital of $300,000, it is expected to employ 80 people in its first stage and another 40 within six months of operation.
29.3.99 Eight Palestinians are arrested at the end of a long police chase after having allegedly taken films in the power plant area near Hadera. The police are investigating the motives behind the act.
29.3.99 The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Jerusalem Affairs decides to close three Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem, claiming they operate illegally in the city. The decision is made by Israeli prime minister Netanyahu on the advice of a government committee comprised of ministers Ariel Sharon and Avigdor Kahalani, as well as Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein and representatives of the police and the security services.
In this period, in the occupied territories 2 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli security forces and 2 Israeli security forces personnel were killed by Palestinians. There were no fatalities within the Green Line.
Above figures from B'Tselem