Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Chronology
The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Chronology outlines the complex history of negotiations aimed at achieving a lasting peace between Israeli and Palestinian authorities since 1993. Following decades of conflict, the 1993 Oslo Accords marked a significant milestone, establishing the Palestinian Authority and setting the framework for future negotiations towards Palestinian statehood. However, progress has been inconsistent, largely hindered by fundamental disagreements over key issues, such as territory, settlements, the status of Jerusalem, and the plight of Palestinian refugees.
The process has also been complicated by internal Palestinian divisions, particularly the differing stances of Fatah and Hamas regarding Israel's right to exist. Major events throughout the years include various agreements, ceasefires, and international interventions, with notable attempts at peace led by figures such as President George W. Bush and the Quartet (the US, UN, EU, and Russia). Despite these efforts, tensions have repeatedly escalated, culminating in violence, as seen in the recent developments of 2023.
Overall, the chronology not only reflects the turbulent backdrop of Israeli-Palestinian relations but also highlights the ongoing challenges in reconciling divergent aspirations and narratives within this deeply contested region.
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Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Chronology
Summary: Since 1993, Palestinian Arabs and Israel have periodically engaged in negotiations aimed at a peace agreement following decades of warfare. The first secret negotiations resulted in the 1993 Oslo Accords, establishing the Palestinian Authority as the interim governing body over the West Bank and Gaza. The Oslo Accords also envisioned further negotiations leading to full-fledged Palestinian statehood. Over the next eighteen years, on-again, off-again talks failed to achieve that goal. That was partly due to some Palestinian groups, such as Hamas, that refused to recognize Israel's right to exist. The peace process also failed because the parties disagreed on crucial issues—borders, Jewish settlements in occupied territory, Palestinian refugees' status, and Jerusalem's status. Tensions increased in the late 2010s and early 2020s, erupting in October 2023.
Key Events:
1988: The Palestine National Council accepts the original UN partition plan (General Assembly Resolution 181) and recognizes Israel's right to exist (Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338). It also renounces terrorism, opening the way for peace talks.
1993: Secret talks in Norway result in the Oslo Accords, in which Israel and the PLO agree to mutual recognition in advance of further talks to reach a final peace agreement. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is established.
1995: The Oslo II Accords expand the PA's authority over security, elections, civil affairs, legal matters, economic relations, and the release of prisoners.
1998: In October, Israel and the PLO sign the Wye River Memorandum agreeing on steps to implement earlier agreements. In December, the Palestinian parliament revokes articles of the Palestinian Charter that called for the destruction of Israel.
2001: The Palestinian Authority calls for an immediate ceasefire, renunciation of terrorism, resumption of peace talks, and freeze of new Jewish settlements in West Bank and Gaza. Israel and the PA agree to a ceasefire (September).
2002: Responding to suicide bombings by Palestinian terrorists, Israel reoccupies areas it had previously evacuated. A new security fence on the West Bank effectively confiscates additional land.
Security Council Resolution 1397 supports a "two state" solution, endorsed two weeks later by the Arab League, that recognizes Israel's right to exist alongside a Palestinian state.
In June, President George W. Bush sets out a "road map" for peace (June 24), a sequence of steps for both sides, aimed at a final peace agreement by 2005.
2003: The United States, United Nations, European Union, and Russia ("the Quartet") unveil a new "road map" to a final peace agreement. The Red Sea Summit is held in Jordan, June 3-4.
2005: PA President and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Jordanian King Abdullah meet and agreed to a cease fire.
2006: Hamas wins the majority in Palestinian Parliament.
2007: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair becomes the first special representative of the Quartet (US, UN, EU, Russia), assigned to revive peace talks. In November, President George W. Bush sponsors a Israeli–Palestinian peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, at which Israel and Palestinians vow to attempt a peace settlement by end of 2008.
2008: PA suspends talks in March. Palestinians remain divided between Fatah (West Bank, advocate of talks) and Hamas (Gaza Strip, opposed to recognizing Israel).
2009: Israeli troops occupy Gaza for eighteen days in January to halt rocket attacks blamed on Hamas. The next month, former Prime Minister Netanyahu is restored to office, thanks partly to support from Israel Beytenu, a right-wing nationalist party representing Jewish settlers on the West Bank. President Obama appoints George Mitchell as special envoy for Middle East peace.
2010: Netanyahu and Abbas meet in Washington in September for the first talks since Israel's 2008 attacks on Gaza. A temporary Israeli moratorium on building new houses in Jewish settlements expires the same month. In December, Israel rejects a US plan to extend the moratorium for ninety days. Abbas of the PA suspends peace talks.
2011: In July, Abbas confirms a previously announced decision to ask the UN to recognize an independent state of Palestine without a final agreement with Israel in September. The United States says in advance it will exercise its veto in the Security Council to such a request.
2012: Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari is killed by Israeli airstrikes along with more than 150 Palestinians.
2014: Three Israeli teens are kidnapped by Hamas militants and later found dead, which triggers nearly two months of conflict. More than 2,000 Palestinians and seventy Israelis are killed.
2017: The United States announces plan to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. During the 2018 move, intense protests ensue in Gaza.
2022: Israel experiences an increased frequency of terrorist attacks and launches a preemptive counterattack in the West Bank, and 146 Palestinians are killed. In December, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is elected to his sixth term, cementing the pro-settler government in Israel.
2023: In January, an attack in Jenin kills nine Palestinians, who retaliate by attacking a synagogue in Jerusalem, killing seven Israelis.
October 2023: Hamas militants attack Israel by land, sea, and air in the deadliest Israel-Pakistan exchange in decades.
Recurring Issues. Throughout nearly two decades of peace negotiations, several stumbling blocks have repeatedly kept the two sides from agreement.
- Cessation of violence. Israel has demanded that the Palestinian Authority stop attacks on Israel as a precondition to a final agreement. The PA has failed to do so, partly because of the rise of groups like Hamas that have never accepted the principle of Israel's existence.
- Settlements. Since 1967, Jewish settlements have been established in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel evicted Jewish settlers from Gaza in 2005, but not from the West Bank. The PA demanded that its borders conform to the borders of Jordan and Egypt before the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel has declared these borders indefensible.
- Jerusalem. The PA has claimed East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel has insisted that an undivided Jerusalem should be the Israeli capital. There has been no compromising.
- Refugees. The Palestinian Authority has insisted that Arabs who fled their homes in 1948 have the right to return. Israel has entertained compensation for emigres but has refused the acceptance of former refugees, which could result in a majority population of Arabs.
Bibliography
Scott-Baumann, Michael. Palestinians and Israelis: A Short History of Conflict. History Press, 2021.
Westfall, Sammy, et al. "The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Chronology." Washington Post, 10 Oct. 2023, www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/israel-palestine-conflict-timeline-history-explained. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.
"The Question of Palestine - Timeline of Events." United Nations, 2023, www.un.org/unispal/timeline. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.