1937 In wake of tension and periodic conflicts,idea of partition of Palestine is floated,but is rejected by both Arabs and Jews

1939 Outbreak of World War II. British seek tolimit Jewish immigration and transfers ofland from Arabs to Jews

1946 Escalation of Jewish-Arab conflict.British refer issue to UN

1947 Partition of Palestine

January 1948 Outbreak of First Arab-IsraeliWar. Palestinians supported by troopsfrom Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordanand Egypt

May 15th 1948 David Ben-Gurion (d. 1973)proclaims establishment of Jewish state ofIsrael at Tel Aviv

1949 End of First Arab-Israeli War

1950 Israelis declare Jerusalem capital of Israel.France, UK and USA agree to protectfrontiers and armistice lines of region

1954 on sees Arab raids on Israeli territories,usually followed by Israeli reprisals

1956 Nasser (d. 1970) nationalisesSuez Canal and closes Straits of Tiran toIsraeli shipping, leading to…

…1956 Suez Crisis (Second Arab-Israeli War)

October 1956 Israelis, French and British attackEgypt in order to take control of SuezCanal, but USA and USSR intervene, andUN forces allies to halt attacks andwithdraw troops

1964 Arab states found Palestinian LiberationOrganisation (PLO)

PLO attacks, border incidents and Egyptianclosure of Straits of Tiran (in fear ofIsraeli attack) lead to Third Arab-IsraeliWar in 1967

5th June 1967 Israelis launch attack on Egypt

Israelis destroy Egyptian, Jordanian andSyrian air forces then occupy GazaStrip, Sinai, west bank of Jordan(incl. E. Jerusalem) and Golan Heights.UN imposes cease-fire

1968-70 PLO attacks on Israel, bringing reprisals onJordan and Lebanon

1969-70 Israelis and Egyptians fight war along SuezCanal

1970-71 “Black September.” King Husayn of Jordan(d. 1999) drives PLO from Jordan to Lebanon

1973 Fourth Arab-Israeli War. Syrians and Egyptiansattack Israel on Yom Kippur. Initial Arabsuccesses are reversed by Israeli counterattacks

1977 Anwar al-Sadat opens negotiations withIsraelis

1978 Camp David Accords. Peace betweenEgypt and Israel, but agreementsconcerning Palestinians not reallyhonoured by Begin

1975-81 Civil war in Lebanon, followed byinterventions in country by Syria and Israel

1982-83 Fifth Arab-Israeli war. Israelis invadeLebanon, drive Syrians and PLO out andinstall friendly government. Duringconflict, hundreds of Palestinian refugeesare killed by Israelis’ allies, blamed onAriel Sharon. In wake of conflict, Lebanonsinks into civil strife

1987-93 First Intifada (“shaking off”).Palestinian demonstrations and riotsmet with arrests and deportations.Many deaths on both sides

1993 Oslo Accords between Israelis and PLO.Palestinians promised self-rule in smallpart of West Bank in exchange for PLOrenouncing violence. Yasser Arafat(d. 2004) becomes head of PalestinianNational Authority. He, Yitzhak Rabin(d. 1995) and Shimon Perez win NobelPeace Prize

Oslo accords are opposed by Israeli religiousnationalists and settlers and PalestinianIslamic extremists including Hamas(Islamic Resistance Movement) andIslamic Jihad

1994 Peace between Jordan and Israel

July 2000 Arafat and Ehud Barak meet atCamp David, but to no avail

September 2000 Second Intifada breaks out inwake of visit to Temple Mount by ArielSharon

2002 “Roadmap” launched by USA, EuropeanUnion, Russia and UN

2003 Israelis start building West Bank Barrierin occupied territories

2005 Ariel Sharon withdraws settlers from GazaStrip

January 2006 Hamas defeats Fatah party inPalestinian elections. USA, EU and Israelsuspend aid to Palestinian NationalAuthority until Hamas recognises Israel

July-September 2006 Hizb Allah and Israelfight war in Lebanon

June 2007 Hamas seizes control of Gaza Strip

December 2008-January 2009 Israelis invadeGaza (Operation Cast Lead)

September 2011 Mahmoud Abbas requestsUN recognition for Palestinian state.USA is expected to veto

Obstacles to Peace:

Jerusalem

Borders

Settlements

Refugees

Security