June 18 :The UN Security Council endorses a report by the secretary-general veri-
fying Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. Hizballah and Syria insist that Israel con-
tinues an illegal occupation of the Shabaa Farms area.
July 25:A twelve-day summit at Camp David between the Israelis and Palestinians
ends in failure. President Clinton, who mediated, places most of the blame on PLO
chairman Yasir Arafat for refusing to accept an offer by Israeli prime minister Barak
for Israel to withdraw from most of the West Bank. Arafat’s aides play down the
significance of Barak’s offer.
September 28:Ariel Sharon, leader of Israel’s Likud Party, leads a large delegation of
lawmakers, and a huge security contingent, on a tour of the Haram al-Sharif in the
Old City of Jerusalem.
September 29:Palestinian protests against Sharon’s visit to the Haram al-Sharif flare
into violence in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The violence
grows in succeeding days, and many Palestinians proclaim a second intifada, or
uprising, against Israeli occupation.
October 12:A suicide attack on the USS Cole,docked in the port of Aden, Yemen, kills
seventeen U.S. sailors. The Clinton administration blames the attack on al-Qaida.
October 17:After a meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Arafat and Barak agree on a
cease-fire and limited steps to end ongoing Israeli-Palestinian violence. Neither side
follows through on its promises, however, and the violence continues. One outcome
of the meeting is an agreement by President Clinton to appoint an international
panel, headed by former U.S. senator George J. Mitchell, to examine the causes of
the violence.
December 10:Israeli prime minister Barak, politically weakened by the failure of the
Camp David talks and the second intifada, calls for early elections to be held in
February.
December 19:The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1333, imposing sanctions
against the Taliban government of Afghanistan because of its refusal to hand over
al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to the United States. The sanctions include a ban
on military aid.
December 23:In Washington, U.S. diplomats present proposals known as the Clinton
parameters to the Israelis and Palestinians in a last attempt at a peace agreement.
The Israeli cabinet will accept the proposals, but with “reservations,” on Decem-
ber 27. Palestinian leader Arafat will decline to accept the proposals after a personal
meeting with Clinton at the White House on January 2, 2001.
2001
January 7:President Bill Clinton publicly outlines his plan for a final peace settlement
between the Israelis and Palestinians. Clinton says the plan entails “real pain and
sacrifices” by both sides but is the best way to establish a Palestinian state that can
live in peace with Israel.
January 21:In a last-ditch effort to secure a peace agreement before scheduled Israeli
elections, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meet in Taba, Egypt. They make
progress based on Clinton’s proposals but fail to reach agreement before negotia-
tions are suspended on January 28 because of the elections.
January 31:A special Scottish court convicts Libyan agent Abd al-Baset Ali al-Megrahi
on charges related to the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 in December 1988. He
686 CHRONOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE EAST, 1914–2007