Middle East Timeline
JEWISH history begins about 4,000 years ago with the Biblical patriarch Abraham
moving to Canaan (present-day Israel), from Ur (present-day Iraq). Due to famine, the
Bible records, his descendants moved south, settling in Egypt, east of the Nile delta.
The Israelites were pressed into slavery but, according to the Bible, were led to
freedom by Moses and resettled in modern-day Israel.
1500 BC:
Arab civilisations begin.
Israeli monarchy forms and then divides into two kingdoms - Israel and Judah. About
700 years before Christ, Israel is conquered by the Assyrians and Judah by the
Babylonians. The Jews are exiled to Babylon, returning in 538 BC.
332BC:
Region conquered by Alexander the Great.
63BC:
Jerusalem captured by Roman general Pompey and begins the era of Roman rule. In
this era the Christian religion begins.
AD 70:
Jewish state of Judea conquered by Roman Emperor Titus and the Jewish temple in
Jerusalem is destroyed.
135:
Jews expelled from Palestine.
313-636:
Byzantine rule. The region is predominantly Christian.
570:
Mohammed born.
636-1099:
Islamic domination of the Holy Land. Many Jews leave the region.
656:
Islam splits into two factions - Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.
1099-1291:
The Crusades. Conflict between Christians and Arabs. Muslim Mamluks eventually put
an end to Christian domination and rule the area until 1517.
1517-1917:
Ottoman Turks rule Palestine from modern-day Istanbul.
1800s:
Zionists begin emigrating to Palestine. Jewish population rises from 25,000 to about
90,000 in 1914. At the outbreak of the First World War there are an estimated 450,000
Arabs in Palestine.
1891:
Arabs in Jerusalem appeal to the Turkish rulers to restrict Jewish immigration.
1896:
Zionist Theodor Herzl writes about the revival of a Jewish state in Palestine in his
pamphlet Der Judenstaat.
1914:
First World War starts. Britain seeks support of Arabs against Turkey which joined the
conflict on the side of the Germans. Britain also proclaims its protectorate over Egypt.
1915:
Britain undertakes to support the creation of an Arab state in return for military
assistance in the First World War in the Hussein-McMahon correspondence. Sir Henry
McMahon was the British high commissioner in Egypt; Hussein ibn Ali was the emir
of Mecca.
1916:
Britain and France divide part of the Arab world between them under the Sykes-Picot
Agreement. Lebanon and Syria come under French influence while Transjordan and
Mesopotamia (Iraq) are administered by Britain. Britain is also to receive the
Mediterranean ports of Haifa and Acre. Palestine, because of the Holy Places, is to be
internationalised.
December 1917:
British forces enter Jerusalem. Under the Balfour Declaration, Britain endeavours to
help set up a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine while protecting the
rights of the area's non-Jewish inhabitants.
1919:
Palestinians oppose Balfour Declaration.
1920:
At the Conference of San Remo, Britain and France set up mandates over former
Ottoman empire states. Syria and Lebanon were mandated to France; Palestine to Great
Britain. Arabs attack Jewish settlements in Palestine, leading to the formation of the
Haganah - a Jewish defence force and precursor of the Israeli army.
February 1922:
Egypt declares independence but leaves matters of defence and protection of foreign
interests in British hands. The sultan becomes King Fuad I of Egypt.
June/July 1922:
The British Government issues a White Paper saying that Palestine as a whole should
not be turned into a Jewish national home, but that such a home should be established
in Palestine. The White Paper is opposed by Arabs who feel betrayed and riots ensue.
The League of Nations approves the British mandate for Palestine. The area of
Transjordan, the lands east of the Jordan River, although part of the original mandatory
area of Palestine, is excluded from the clauses covering the establishment of a Jewish
national home.
May 1923:
Transjordan is established as an autonomous state under Emir Abdullah, but agrees to
co-ordinate foreign policy with Britain and to British troops being stationed in the
country. The nation was granted full independence in 1946 and changed its name in
1949 to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
1933:
Arabs adopt a policy of non-co-operation with the British in protest at continued
Jewish immigration, particularly since the Nazi rise to power, and sale of Arab lands.
1936-1939:
Jews pour into Palestine as Nazi persecution escalates in Germany. Palestinians launch
uprising against Britain.
July 1937:
The British suggest a partition plan and the creation of two states in Palestine to
separate Arabs and Jews following a study by the Peel Commission. The Jewish
leadership accepts the plan but the Arabs reject it.
1939:
British Government publishes a White Paper proposing a that a single, binational
Jewish and Arab Palestinian state should be set up within 10 years. Arabs and Jews
both reject the proposal. The paper also restricts Jewish immigration into Palestine,
thus cutting off a potential lifeline to the Jews of Europe.
1939-45:
Second World War. Nazi Germany attempts genocide of European Jewry. Six million
Jews die in the Holocaust.
April 1946
British and French forces complete their withdrawal from Syria, which they had
captured from the Vichy government in 1941. By 1946 Syria had already become a
founder member of the United Nations and of the Arab League.
1944-1947:
Britain faces attack from Jewish groups in Palestine. One faction, called Irgun, is led
by Menachem Begin, another called Lehi is led by Yitzhak Shamir. Both men
eventually become Israeli prime ministers. The Irgun blows up part of the King David
Hotel in Jerusalem in July 1946, at the cost of 91 lives, both soldiers and civilians.
1947:
Britain, looking to decrease its costly presence in Palestine, defers the issue of
Palestine to the United Nations. The UN Special Committee on Palestine formulates a
plan to resolve Jewish-Arab conflict by creating two nation states west of the Jordan
river. The UN General Assembly adopts this on November 29. The plan is rejected by
the Arabs and the conflict intensifies.
May 14 1948:
British mandate over Palestine expires and the Jewish National Council declares the
establishment of Israel. The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq
immediately invade the new country.
1949:
After more than a year of fighting there is an armistice. Israel controls the Negev and
coastal plain while Jordan rules the West Bank and Egypt controls the Gaza Strip.
Jerusalem is divided between Israel and Jordan. Following elections David Ben-Gurion
becomes Israel's first prime minister. Large numbers of displaced Arabs settle in
refugee camps in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
1950:
King Hussein incorporates the West Bank and East Jerusalem into Jordan. The
annexation is only recognized by Britain and Pakistan.
July 1952:
Egyptian military leaders launch a coup and overthrow King Farouk. Colonel Gamal
Abdel Nasser becomes President of Egypt.
July 1956:
Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal zone in order to finance the Asdwan dam.
October/November 1956:
Israel, in collusion with England and France, invades Egypt taking the Gaza Strip and
the Sinai peninsula. Anglo-French forces bomb Egypt and the Anglo-French alliance
seizes the Suez Canal zone. The canal reopens. The UN establishes a security force in
Gaza and Sinai as Israel withdraws. The canal returns to Egyptian control.
February 1958:
Egypt and Syria combine to form the United Arab Republic. This dissolves in
bitterness in September 1961.
March 1963:
Military coup in Syria.
June 1964:
Palestinian National Council established. Palestine Liberation Organisation also
founded to liberate Palestine from Israeli control.
1965:
Yasser Arafat and Abu Jihad lead the Fatah guerilla group.
November 1966:
Egypt and Syria sign a defence treaty.
May 1967:
Jordan and Egypt agree a mutual defence plan.
16 May 1967:
President Nasser of Egypt moves his troops into eastern Sinai, increasing tension in the
region.
22 May 1967:
Nasser blockades the the Gulf of Aqaba cutting off the Israeli port of Eilat.
5 June 1967:
Following the events of the previous few months and believing it is about to be
attacked, Israel launches hostilities against Egypt, Syria and Jordan. In what becomes
known as the Six Day War, the Sinai peninsula is taken from Egypt, the Golan Heights
come under Israeli control and the West Bank is occupied, bringing East Jerusalem
under Israeli authority.
10 June 1967:
After six days of fighting, Syria and Israel agree to a ceasefire and President Nasser
resigns but following mass demonstrations of support, he rescinds his resignation.
September 1967:
At an Arab summit in Khartoum, eight Arab states refuse to recognise or negotiate with
Israel.
22 November 1967:
The United Nations Security Council adopts resolution 242, laying down the
provisions and principles for a solution to the conflict. This resolution became a
cornerstone of Middle East diplomacy in the following decades.
July 1968:
The Palestinian National Council approves the Palestinian National Charter.
February 1969:
Yasser Arafat becomes PLO leader.
September 1970:
King Hussein sees the PLO as a threat to his Hashemite rule and Jordan expels
Palestinian guerrillas, declaring martial law. When 250 Syrian tanks move into
northern Lebanon in support of the PLO, Israel comes to Jordan's aid and the Syrian
threat is averted. The PLO moves its headquarters to Lebanon.
November 1970:
Hafez al-Assad takes power in Syria.
September 1972:
Palestinian faction Black September kills 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.
Nine of the athletes die in a shoot-out at the airport, along with five of the eight
terrorists.
6 October 1973:
On Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) Egptian troops cross the Suez canal into the Sinai
and the Syrians occupy the Golan Heights. Israel pushes back both armies. A UN
ceasefire, Security Council Resolution 338, is later agreed by Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
October 1974:
At an Arab summit in Rabat, Morocco, King Hussein accepts a resolution than any
"liberated" Palestinian territory "should revert to its legitimate owners under the
leadership of the PLO."
April 1975:
The Lebanese civil war starts and Syrian peacekeeping forces move into Beirut in the
summer of 1976. PLO launch attacks across the border into Israel.
July 1976:
Israeli commandos rescue 103 hostages from a French airliner that had been hijacked
by Palestinians to Entebbe, Uganda.
November 1977:
Egypt's President Anwar Sadat addresses Israel's parliament, the Knesset, during his
groundbreaking visit to Israel.
March 1978:
A Palestinian terror raid into Israel leaves 37 civilians dead and 82 wounded. Israeli
troops enter southern Lebanon in the "Litani Operation". The UN Security Council
passes resolution 425, calling for an Israeli withdrawal. In June, Israel partially
withdraws, keeping control of an area of Lebanese territory bordering Israel.
September 1978:
Camp David talks between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin.
26 March 1979:
Formal Egypt/Israeli peace treaty signed and Israel begins withdrawal from the Sinai
peninsula. The PLO opposes the treaty because it does not provide for Palestinian
independence.
1980-1988:
The Iran-Iraq War.
June 1981:
Israeli jets destroy Iraq's nuclear plant at Osirak.
October 1981:
Egyptian President Mohamed Anwar Sadat is assassinated when reviewing a military
parade. He is succeeded by his vice president, Hosni Mubarak, who commanded the
Egyptian air force in the 1973 war.
February 1982:
A Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the Syrian city of Hamah is crushed by President
Assad's regime at the cost of some 20,000 lives.
June-August 1982:
Israel invades Lebanon in an attempt to destroy the PLO's infrastructure. Israel bombs
PLO positions in Beirut and then takes west Beirut. PLO leaves the city and sets up its
headquarters in Tunis.
September 1982:
Phalangist forces, in coordination with the Israeli army, enter the Palestinian refugee
camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut. The Phalangists massacre more than 2,000
Palestinians. An Israeli judicial commission finds that Israel has "indirect
responsibility" for the massacre and its defence minister, Ariel Sharon, the architect of
Israel's invasion of Lebanon, is forced to resign.
September 1983:
Israeli army pulls out of Beirut. A final withdrawal from Lebanon, except for a narrow
"security zone" on the Israeli-Lebanese border, is completed in June 1985.
1984:
US troops leave Lebanon after a suicide bomber kills 241 Marines.
October 1985:
PLO terrorists hijack Italian cruiser, the Achille Lauro and kill a hostage.
1986:
A year after signing an accord with the PLO, King Hussein of Jordan abandons cooperation with the PLO. King Hussein is frustrated by Yasser Arafat's ambiguity
regarding PLO recognition of Israel and the renunciation of terrorism. The King
declares he will be responsible for the economic welfare of West Bank Palestinians.
December 1987:
Palestinians start the Intifada ("Uprising") - violence in Israeli-administered areas.
Israel responds with curfews and mass arrests. During the Intifada's first year, more
than 300 Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
April 1988:
PLO military leader Abu Jihad assassinated in Tunis.
July 1988:
King Hussein of Jordan declares that the West Bank is no longer considered part of the
Jordanian nation.
November/December 1988:
The Palestinian National Council, meeting in Tunis, issues a declaration of
independence for a state of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Yasser Arafat
announces that the PNC recognises Israel as a state in the region and accepts UN
resolutions 242 and 338 concerning an end to the Middle East conflict. The US says it
will open a dialogue with the PLO.
1989:
Jews migrate to Israel from Russia and the Asiatic republics as the Soviet Union
collapses. In just over a decade, a million people immigrate to Israel from the FSU.
January-February 1991:
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein orders Scud missile attacks on Israel in an effort to
draw the country into the Gulf war. Israel, at the urging of the United States fearful for
the future of the international coalition against Iraq, does not retaliate.
October 1991:
Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians begin peace talks in Madrid. Israel
and a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation begin to formulate arrangements for Arab selfgovernment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
November 1992:
Alliance between Muslim fundamentalist group Hamas and Iran.
July 1993:
After seven Israeli soldiers are killed in south Lebanon, Israel launches "Operation
Accountability" against the Hizbollah militia in southern Lebanon. 300,000 Lebanese
civilians flee north during the week-long assualt.
September 1993:
PLO and Israel sign historic agreement.The Declaration of Principles, signed at the
White House, includes the terms for mutual Israeli-Palestinian recognition, and sets in
motion the process for the handover of Israeli-controlled territories to the Palestinians.
February 1994:
Jewish settler kills 29 Palestinians in a mosque in Hebron in the West Bank. Riots
follow throughout Israel.
May 1994:
Jericho reverts to Palestinian control under agreement to end Israeli occupation of the
Gaza Strip and West Bank.
July 1994:
Jordan's King Hussein signs official end to 46-year war footing with Israel, followed
by a full peace treaty in October.
November 1994:
PLO police fire at Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, killing 12, the first major
example of the Palestinian Authority confronting Palestinian hardliners opposed to the
peace process.
10 December 1994:
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO leader
Yasser Arafat share the Nobel Peace Prize.
1995:
Over the year, Hamas and Islamic Jihad carry out a terror campaign inside Israel,
killing over 30 civilians in three separate suicide bombings.
28 September 1995:
Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is signed in
Washington. This agreement, known as Oslo II, aims to broaden Palestinian selfgovernment and provide for a final-status solution by May 1999.
4 November 1995:
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by a right-wing, religious Jew, Yigal
Amir, at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
November 1995 to March 1996:
Israeli and Syrian delegations hold direct talks at the Wye Plantation in Maryland to
discuss a possible framework for peace between the two countries. The talks fail to
reach a successful conclusion.
8 January 1996:
Using a booby-trapped cellular phone, Israel assassinates Yihye Ayyash, the Hamas
mastermind behind the previous year's suicide bombings.
January 1996:
Yasser Arafat wins an overwhelming victory in Palestinian elections.
February-March 1996:
Hamas carries out four suicide bombings in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ashkelon; 63
people die.
13 March 1996:
An emergency "Summit of the Peacemakers" meets at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Led by
US President Clinton and including other western and Arab leaders, the gathering
announces its solidarity with Israel and determination to fight terrorism.
April 1996:
Israel launches "Operation Grapes of Wrath" in south Lebanon, in retaliation for
Hizbollah rocket attacks. Israeli shelling kills 94 refugees at a UN shelter at Cana. The
US arranges an Israeli-Hizbollah ceasefire, known as the Grapes of Wrath
Understanding.
29 May 1996:
Benjamin Netanyahu narrowly beats Shimon Peres in the general election to form a
right-wing coalition government.
24 September 1996:
Israel opens a tunnel by Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Violence erupts as Arabs believe
the tunnel threatens the status of the al-Aksa Mosque; 61 Arabs and 15 Israeli soldiers
die in the clashes, the first time official PA forces fire on Israelis.
17 January 1997:
The Hebron Agreement is signed, under which Israel agrees to withdraw from around
80 per cent of Hebron, leaving an enclave of Jewish settlers near the Cave of the
Patriarchs. A Note for the Record concerning the general obligation of the two sides is
also drawn up.
March 1997:
Israel begins construction work at the disputed site of Har Homa (Jabal Abu Ghneim)
on the outskirts of Jerusalem. A bomb in a Tel Aviv cafe kills three Israelis.
4 September 1997:
Five Israelis die in Jerusalem suicide bomb attack.
25 September 1997:
The Mossad bungles an attempted assassination of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on
the streets of Amman. This causes a crisis in Israel-Jordan relations and King Hussein
forces Benjamin Netanyahu to release jailed Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed
Yassin to his custody.
23 October 1998:
Wye River Memorandum is signed, consisting of steps to implement the 1995 Interim
Agreement. In December, the Palestinian National Council meets in Gaza in the
presence of President Clinton and cancels those clauses of its charter that call for
Israel's destruction.
7 February 1999:
King Hussein dies. He is succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah, who becomes King
Abdullah II.
17 May 1999:
Ehud Barak beats Benjamin Netanyahu in the general election, called after Netanyahu's
coalition collapsed over internal opposition to the implentation of the Wye accord.
4 September 1999:
The Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum restores the commitment of both Israel and the
Palestinian Authority to full implentation of all agreements reached since September
1993.
15 December 1999:
Prime Minister Ehud Barak meets Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk a-Sharra in the
United States. The two men begin discussions for a peace deal between Israel and
Syria, which would involve the return of the Golan Heights to Syria. The talks break
down as the two sides fail to agree where the border should run.
March 2000:
Pope John Paul II makes historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land, visiting both Israel and
the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas. In a visit to the Western Wall, Judaism's
holiest site, the Pope places a note in the Wall, asking for God's forgiveness for past
persecution of the Jewish People.
May 2000:
Gun battles break out between Palestinian police and Israeli soldiers in the worst
scenes of rioting since the 1996 Temple Mount tunnel riots. Palestinians say the
slowdown in the peace talks was the cause of the violence.
24 May 2000:
Israel, in a hasty retreat following the collapse of its ally, the South Lebanese Army,
ends its 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon, and withdraws from its self-declared
security zone to the international border. The Hizbollah movement calls the withdrawal
the Arabs' first military victory over Israel in 50 years.
10 June 2000:
Syria's President Hafez al-Assad dies after 30 years in power. The Syrian constitution
is changed to lower the minumum age for the presidency from 40 to 34, the age of
President Assad's son and chosen successor, Bashar, a London-trained eye doctor.
25 July 2000:
The Camp David summit, called by President Bill Clinton in a final attempt to seek
lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, fails amid much recrimination. The
breaking point in negotiations comes when Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader,
refuses to accept an offer of partial control of the Old City in Jerusalem from the Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
10 September 2000:
The Palestinian Central Council postpones its deadline for the declaration of a national
state. No other date is set.
28 September 2000:
Violence flairs in the Old City of Jerusalem after a visit of the Israeli opposition leader
of Likud, Ariel Shamon. The following six days see running battles between Israeli
police and Palestinian youths, as well as gun battles between Palestinan police and
Israeli armed forces. Sixty-one people are killed, all but three Palestinians or Israeli
Arabs.