January 16, 2005 -April 15, 2005

ABBREVIATIONS

AFP, Agence France Presse

Al-Jazeera, Aljazeera.net

AME Info

AN, ArabicNews.com

AP, Associated Press

BBC, www.bbc.co.uk

CNN

The Daily Star

DAWN

The Guardian

Gulf Daily News

GN, Gulf News

Haaretz

INT, International Herald Tribune

MEO, Middle East Online

NYT, New York Times

RFE, Radio Free Europe

Reuters

TT, Tehran Times

VOA, Voice of America

Wichita Business Journal

Jan. 28: Israel announced an end to offensive operations in the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian Authority deployed 2,000 police officers in the southern territory. [NYT, 1/28]

Jan. 31: Tens of thousands of Israelis opposed to a plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank and Gaza staged their biggest rally in months. The demonstrators, in Jerusalem, called for a national referendum on the plan. [Al-Jazeera, 1/31]

Feb. 1: Israel's Attorney General ordered the government to rescind a decision to enforce the 1950 Absentee Property Law, a decadesold law, under which Palestinian land in Arab East Jerusalem could be confiscated. [Al-Jazeera, 2/1]

Feb. 8: Palestinian President Mahmud 'Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed to a ceasefire. The meeting, held at the Egyptian resort of Sharm alSheik, was the highest-level discussion between the two sides in more than four years. [BBC, 2/8]

Feb. 15: A plan to transfer the West Bank town of Jericho from Israeli to Palestinian control was delayed due to Israeli security concerns. [BBC, 2/15]

Feb. 18: Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz declared that the IDF would stop its punitive policy of demolishing Palestinian homes after a recommendation by a military panel. [Al-Jazeera, 2/18]

Feb. 21: Israel freed 500 Palestinian prisoners in a goodwill gesture intended to strengthen the February 8 truce. Palestinians welcomed the move, but also called for the release of more of the over 7,000 Palestinians who remained imprisoned by Israel. [NYT, 2/22]

Feb. 25: A suicide bomber killed five people and injured several more outside a nightclub near Tel Aviv's beachfront promenade. The bombing was the first since the February 8 ceasefire. [The Guardian, 2/25]

Feb. 28: Prime Minister Sharon blamed Syria for the suicide bombing on February 25 and threatened retaliatory air strikes. Islamic Jihad, which has an office in Damascus, claimed responsibility for the attack. [The Guardian, 2/28]

Mar. 1: UK Prime Minister Tony Blair hosted a one-day, 23-nation conference, aimed at promoting a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and showing international support for reforming the Palestinian Authority. [BBC, 3/1]

Mar. 2: Israeli forces arrested 14 Palestinians in the village of Attil north of Tulkarm as part of a series of arrests of Islamic Jihad members after the bombing in Tel Aviv on February 25. [Al-Jazeera, 3/2]

Mar. 7: Two Israeli soldiers were injured when Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli security post near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, a shrine holy to both Muslims and Jews. [BBC, 3/7]

Mar. 16: Israel formally handed over responsibility for internally policing the West Bank town of Jericho to the Palestinian Authority. Jericho was the first of five towns to be turned over to Palestinian control under the agreement reached in Sharm al-Sheik on February 8. …