Chronology of Events in Israel and Palestine
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Chronologies Appendices Chronology of Events in Israel and Palestine Chronology of Events 2017 begins with the announcement scenario, the luke-warm attempt by the that makes it compulsory for them to do in January by the recently elected US US Administration to try to resume the military service – from which, until re- President Donald Trump to move the peace process between Israel and Pal- cently, they were exempt – and the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to estine offers no significant progress. court investigations linking the Prime Jerusalem. An announcement that, 11 The rise in regional and international Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife months later, in December, is made tensions caused by the new US admin- Sara and other Likud members to cas- final together with Washington’s rec- istration’s impulsive politics also con- es of corruption or the government ognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, tributes to endangering the reconcilia- crisis caused by the replacement of the despite warnings from practically the tion process between Fatah and Hamas Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) entire international community. In the that had been making promising pro- with the Israel Broadcasting Corpora- diplomatic sphere, the decision leads gress throughout the year in the context tion (IBC), among other developments. the Organization of Islamic Coopera- of the electricity supply crisis and un- tion to recognize Jerusalem as the paid civil servant salaries in the Gaza capital of a Palestinian state and caus- Strip. This process is sparked by the January 2017 es friction in the United Nations with new political road map adopted by Ha- the US veto of Egypt’s draft resolution mas in May, in a swerve towards more Israel 398 submitted to the Security Council to moderate and realistic stances, thereby withdraw the recognition, followed by breaking with the trajectory marked by • On 6 January Israel announces cuts the United Nations General Assembly’s the founding charter of the Shiite move- of six million dollars in funds earmarked vote in favour of the resolution pushed ment in 1988, despite February’s elec- for the United Nations, in protest against forward by Turkey and Yemen to reaf- tion of Yahya Sinwar as the new leader the Security Council’s approval, on 23 firm that Jerusalem’s future must be of the Islamic Resistance Movement. December 2016, thanks to the US ab- resolved through negotiations between The reconciliation process between stention, of a resolution condemning the the parties. On the street, Donald Palestinian factions continues to be Israeli settlements in Palestinian terri- Trump’s decision triggers protests and considered as a critical threat to Israel’s tory. This is one of the last measures new episodes of violence in Gaza and existence by the Israeli government, taken by the Barack Obama presidency, the West Bank at the end of the year, who, meanwhile, approves the new despite pressure from his successor, which come after the surge in violence Amichai/Emek Shilo settlement in the the Republican Donald Trump and Is- mid-year following Israel’s decision to middle of the West Bank – to provide rael. install security checks and limit access homes for the evacuees from Amona • On 22 January Israel approves the to the Noble Sanctuary / Temple Mount. – and new extensions to existing set- construction of 560 new homes in East The drastic and accelerated change in tlements in East Jerusalem, Ariel, Givat Jerusalem. direction of US policy with respect to Zeev and Beit El. With regard to West • On 24 January the Defence Minister the Israeli-Palestinian conflict affects Bank settlements, there is also a major Avigdor Lieberman reports the approv- 2018 the region’s fragile stability – also development with February’s approval al of 2,500 more homes in the West marked by a rise in tensions between by the Knesset (Parliament) of the Bank settlements of Ariel (900 units) Syria and Israel in the context of the Regularization Bill, which will allow the and Givat Zeev (652 units), erected Syrian conflict – and begins to affect retrospective legalisation of some right on the Green Line, and in Beit El the system of the United Nations itself, 4,000 homes in the C Area of the Oslo (100 units), a settlement to which the with announcements from the US and Accord, but which in August is provi- US President Donald Trump, his new Israel, during the crisis over Jerusa- sionally suspended by Israel’s Su- ambassador to Israel David Friedman, lem’s status, of their readiness to leave preme Court. As regards Israel’s home and his son-in-law and advisor Jared Mediterranean Yearbook UNESCO, due to its “anti-Israel bias” policy, 2017 is also marked by the op- Kushner, give significant sums of money and for having approved Palestine’s position of the ultra-orthodox Jews, on a yearly basis, according to the Med. Med. IE membership in 2011. In view of this known as haredim, to the legal reform Haaretz newspaper. Palestine February 2017 tions, Hamas appoints Yahya Sinwar as leader of the movement to replace Ismail • On 8 January protests intensify in the Israel Haniyeh. Sinwar founded the Majd sec- Gaza Strip against the Hamas govern- tion, the intelligence unit of Ezzedeen ment over the frequent cuts in the pow- • On 1 February Israeli forces begin the al-Qassam, Hamas’ armed militia, spent Appendices er supply which in recent months have eviction of the Amona settlement. Ten 22 years in prison in Israel after being gone on throughout most of the day. The Israeli police officers are injured in clash- sentenced to life imprisonment for his deficient electricity supply is a constant es with settlers attempting to prevent the involvement in various attacks and the issue, especially since the only power evacuation ordered by the Israeli Su- murder of Palestinians accused of col- plant in the strip was forced to shut preme Court, which has ruled that the laborating with Israel. down in July 2015 for failing to pay homes were illegally constructed in Pal- • On 26 February, after two days of taxes to the Palestinian National Author- estine territory. meetings in Istanbul, the Palestinians ity (PNA). • On 3 February the new Trump admin- Abroad Conference establishes a new • On 17 January the Fatah-led PNA istration in the US issues a statement political entity to represent the Palestin- in Israel and Palestine agrees on the formation of a national regarding Israel’s decision in January to ian diaspora and defend their rights. unity government with Hamas, following build new settlements and expand exist- three days of Russian-brokered nego- ing ones. The statement asserts that Conflicts between the Parties tiations in Moscow. Both organizations while the existence of settlements need are thereby to form a new National not be an impediment to peace, the new • On 21 February, in a unprecedented Council that will include Palestinians in constructions or the expansion of already veredict, a military court in Tel Aviv sen- exile and will organize new elections, the existing ones beyond their current tences sergeant Elor Azaria to 18 months first in which Fatah and Hamas would boundaries could be. in prison. for shooting a Palestinian as- participate since 2006. It is worth noting • On 6 February the Knesset (Parlia- sailant in the head and killing him, while that the agreement also includes Is- ment) approves the controversial Regu- he was lying injured on the floor, on 24 lamic Jihad. larization Bill with 60 votes in favour and March 2016 in Hebron. 52 against, in connection with the set- Peace Negotiations tlements in occupied Palestinian terri- tory in the West Bank. The text, drafted March 2017 • On 15 January Paris hosts an inter- with the support of the ultra-Orthodox national conference under the auspices party and member of the government, Israel 399 of the French government to try to re- HaBayit HaYehudi (The Jewish Home) of launch the Arab-Israeli peace process, Naftali Bennett, will enable the retroac- • On 17 March the Syrian Armed Forc- with a view to reaching a definitive solu- tive legalisation of some 4,000 homes in es confirm they have shot down an Is- tion based on the coexistence of both settlements in Area C of the Oslo Ac- raeli military jet, coinciding with an attack states. With 70 countries in attendance cord, which is entirely under Israeli con- launched by the Israeli Air Force against – although without the participation of trol. Under the new bill the properties can targets in Syrian territory, in what would either Israel or the PNA –, the meeting then be declared as state-owned in ex- be the most serious incident between urges the US’s impending Trump ad- change for economic compensation for both countries since the beginning of the ministration not to abandon the broad the Palestinian owners. war in Syria. The same day, the Russian consensus from the international com- • On 9 February several rockets Foreign Minister summons the Israeli munity concerning the conflict and launched from the Egyptian Sinai Penin- ambassador in Moscow Gary Koren over criticizes the intentions of the President- sula towards the city of Eilat are inter- the attacks launched by the Israeli Air elect Donald Trump to move the US cepted by the Iron Dome defence sys- Force against Syrian army targets close embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jeru- tem. This attack coincides with another to the town of Palmyra. salem. similar attack carried out from Syria • On 19 March the Prime Minister Ben- against the Golan Heights, occupied by jamin Netanyahu threatens to call early Conflicts between the Parties Israel since 1967, in response to an at- legislative elections if the Israel Broad- tack launched against a position close to casting Corporation (IBC), the new pub- 2018 • On 18 January a Palestinian is shot the Syrian army.