The year 2004.


• 1/1/2004 Israel plans to grow Golan settlements by Ravi Nessman, AP.
      Jerusalem - Israeli Cabinet ministers approved a plan to expand settlements on the occupied Golan Heights, a move that angered Syria and could jeopardize efforts to resume peace talks.    The U.S. reacted that Israel should halt settlement activity, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says this is not a retaliation against the Syrian president, who demands the return of the Golan Heights.
• 1/3/2004 Egypt to renew Mideast peace effort by Mohammed Daraghmeh, AP.
      Ramallah, West Bank - Egypt will send its intelligence chief Gen. Omar Suleiman to Palestinian areas in a renewed effort to press militant groups to halt attacks on Israel, Palestinian officials said.    Israel is planning to impose its own borders on the West Bank if peace efforts break down.    Missile strikes in the Gaza Strip continue between Israel and the Hamas militant group and Palestinian suicide bombers continue their acts.    A truce may pave the way for the U.S.-backed "road map" - a peace plan that envisions an independent Palestinian state by 2005.
• 1/10/2004 Israel dismisses Qureia's threat of call for an Arab-Jewish state by Peter Enav, AP.
      Jerusalem - Israeli officials dismissed statements by the Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qureia that the Palestinians could seek a single Arab-Jewish state rather than the two-state solution that has been the goal of the peace process.   
• 1/10/2004 Israel backs off vow to take in thousands in Ethiopian group by Gavin Rabinowitz, AP.
      Mevaseret Zion, Israel - Ethiopians who claim to be descendants of Jews who converted to Chritianity, are trying to return to Judaism, and return to Israel to claim their birthright, even though they are not recognized as Jewish.    The tens of thousands of Ethiopians arriving has unnerved Israel, backing away from a promise to take them in, because it would cost too much on Israel's weakened economy, battered by years of fighting with the Palestinians.    Many of Israel's Ethiopian Jews were brought to Israel in massive airlifts during the crisis in Ethiopia in 1984 and 1991 and became citizens.
• 1/11/2004 Palestinians reiterate right to declare a state by Ramit Plushnick, AP.
      Jerusalem - Palestinian leaders issued a statement for the right to unilaterally declare an independent state in the absence of a peace deal with Israel.    After three years of fighting and stalled peace talks they are showing their frustrations.    There are no shortcuts to peace, except a dismantlement of terrorism and an unconditional cease-fire.    It has been predicted that the Palestinians will outnumber Jews in the coming decades, and the push may be for a single bi-national state of Arabs and Jews.
• 1/12/2004 Israeli premier's softening stance prompts debate by Ravi Nessman, AP.
      Jerusalem - Ariel Sharon and the Likud Party have had a turnabout and are willing to give up some settlements in order to help restart the peace plan and satisfy some of the Israeli public's demands for progress.    More than 100,000 Jewish settlers demonstarted against his removing some settlements and imposing a boundary on the Palestinians if no peace deal is reached.
• 1/13/2004 Sharon says he'll seek Israeli parliament's approval on withdrawal by Steve Weizman, AP.
      Jerusalem - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will seek approval from parliament and consult with the U.S. before imposing a temporary boundary on the Palestinians.
• 1/18/2004 Jerusalem's Old City at risk in quake: study by AP.
      Jerusalem - The Bible tells of earthquakes splitting open the hills of this holy city with apocalyptic fury, adding the mayhem of battles and punctuating Jesus' crucifixion.    A geological survey has found that Jerusalem's walled Old City would be among the worst hit parts of the city in the event of another earthquake because it rests on layers of shifting debris or rubble left behind by ransacking armies.    This area is at the heart of the conflict between Israeli and Palestinians, an 11-acre elevated plaza housing two major mosques, including the gold-capped Dome of the Rock, known to Muslims as the Al Aqsa Mosque and to the Jews the Temple Mount.    Many are assuming that some event will happen in the future to this place, which will allow Israel to rebuild their Temple.
• 1/19/2004 Israel may alter barrier's couse by Mark Lavie, AP.
      Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister said that the route of its planned barrier in the West Bank will change because of hardships it could cause Palestinians.
• 1/26/2004 Saudi Arabia and the Arab League renews call for Mideast peace by Josef Federman, AP.
      Jerusalem - Saudi Arabia has called for a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Arab world.    Of course they are proposing Israel withdraw from the lands captured in 1967 and agree to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital in return for peace with the Arab world.
• 1/30/2004 Palestinian bomber kills himself, 10 others, 50 injured on Jerusalem bus outside the home of Israeli premier by AP.
  
• 2/3/2004 Sharon airs plan to remove settlers by Steve Weizman, AP.
      Jerusalem - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he wants to remove nearly all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip without waiting for a peace deal to remove a security burden and continous friction.
• 2/7/2004 Israel may move Jewish settlers from Gaza Strip to West Bank by Jason Keyser, AP.
      Jerusalem - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is considering relocating Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip to areas of the West Bank to annex a final peace deal, which the Palestinians claim as a land grab and violation of international law.    Israel claims this does not apply to territory it seized in the 1967 Middle East war, which the Palestinians claim is their homeland.
• 2/12/2004 Israeli incursions in West Bank, Gaza, leave 15 Palestinians dead by Ibrahim Barzak, AP.
      Gaza City, Gaza Strip - Israel sent troops into a refugee camp to search for Palestinian militants who fired rockets at Jewish settlements, resulting in 15 dead and more than 50 wounded.
• 2/13/2004 Israel to skip world court session on West Bank wall by AP.
      Jerusalem - Israel won't attend International Court of Justice hearings on the West Bank separation barriers, saying the judges don't have the authority to rule on this case.    Palestinians claim Israel's no show is an admission that the barrier is illegal and indefensible, which Israel claims ii needs to keep out Palestinian attackers.
• 2/15/2004 U.S. support of plan worries Palestinians by Jason Keyser, AP.
      Jerusalem - Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia is concerned that the U.S. is moving away from its "road map" and is accepting Sharon's plan of unilateral withdrawal of troops from some Palestinian areas.    This would mean that the Palestinians would have to respond by cracking down on militants.
• 2/16/2004 Parts of Mideast covered in snow by AP.
      Amman, Jordan - A rare storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow on parts of the Middle East, breaking power lines in Lebanon, collapsing a wall at a holy site in Israel and delaying talks between Israelis and Palestinians.    Is God sending a message?
• 2/20/2004 Israel pledges to coordinate with U.S. by AP.
      Jerusalem - Israel will coordinate its unilateral steps with the U.S. on their disengagement plan.    The peace plan has now been put in the Palestinians ball court, since they have as of yet done nothing to further the peace plan.
• 2/21/2004 Israel to remove section of West Bank barrier by Ramit Plushnick-Masti, AP.
      Jerusalem - Israel will take down a 6 mile section of the West Bank separation barrier that had isolated a Palestinian town, Baka al-Sharkia.    Palestinians staged protests as they prepared to remove the barrier.
• 2/23/2004 Palestinian bomber kills 9, injures 59 on Jerusalem bus, proving the need for the West Bank fence by AP.
  
• 2/24/2004 Palestinians argue against barrier before world court by Arthur Max, AP.
      The Hague, Netherlands - The Palestinians presented a case to the world court against Israeli barrier in the West Bank.    The U.S., Europe and Israel stayed away from the hearings because the argument is political and should be left for negotiations.    On the 26^th the world court wrapped up the hearing to begin deliberations, which may take months.
• 2/26/2004 Israeli troops raid Palestinian baNks, seize alleged terror funds by Ravi Nessman, AP.
      Ramallah, West Bank - Israeli forces burst into Palestinian banks and seized at least $6.7 million, which they claim that Iran, Syria and Lebanese guerrillas sent the funds to Palestinian militants.    Israel claims this money was used for global terror.
• 2/29/2004 Israeli missiles kill 3 Palestinian militants from a helicopter by Los Angeles Times.
  
• 3/1/2004 Israel's high court halts work on barrier by AP.
  
• 3/8/2004 Israel leads bloody raid on Gaza camps to put militants on the defensive by Los Angeles Times.
  
• 3/11/2004 Israeli, Palestinian premiers may hold summit next week by Ravi Nessman, AP.
      Jerusalem - The Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers agreed on a summit next week, a sign of diplomatic progress, even as violence persisted.    The meeting is to focus on security in Gaza if Israel pulls out.
• 3/14/2004 Israel to move ahead if peace summit fails by AP.
  
• 3/15/2004 Suicide bombers kill 11 injure 18 at Israeli port; Sharon cancels meeting with counterpart by AP.
  
• 3/23/2004 Israeli satisfaction over slaying of Hamas leader may be brief; Palestinians vow revenge for the slaying by AP.
  
• 3/24/2004 Israel threatens all leaders of Hamas, may target Arafat by AP.
  
• 3/26/2004 U.N. condemnation of Israel vetoed by U.S. by AP.
      United Nations - The U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel's assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin.    The vote, which followed days of debate, was 11 countries in favor, three countries abstaining, and only the U.S. against.
• 3/28/2004 Arab leaders try to revive peace initiative with Israel by AP.
      Tunis, Tunisia - Arab foreign ministers tried to revive their peace initiative with Israel and respond to U.S. pressures for political and social reform, but said those efforts were complcated by public anger over the assassination of a militant Palestinian leader.    The ministers hoped to use next week's Arab League summit to give a new push to a 2002 Arab peace initiative, in which the Arabs for the first time offered Israel a comprehensive peace in return for Israel withdrawal from all territory seized in the 1967 war.
• 3/30/2004 Israel's Sharon plans to seek vote on withdrawal from Gaza Strip by AP.
  
• 3/31/2004 Islamic militants seeking teen martyrs by AP.
      Nablus, West Bank - Using clothes, a cell phone and promises of paradise, Islamic militants are trying to recruit teenagers as a sucide bomber.    A 16 year old was caught at an Israeli checkpoint with 18 pounds of explosives strapped to his body.
• 4/6/2004 Sharon retreats from vow to spare Arafat by The New York Times.
      Jerusalem - Sharon stated that he no longer feels bound by a three-year-old commitment to President Bush not to harm Yasser Arafat.
• 4/6/2004 Confrontational settlers pose danger for Israel by AP.
      Jerusalem - Jewish extremist are becoming more militant encouraging settlers to resist evacuation.    Many settlers are religious Jews who believe the West Bank is theirs by divine promise.
• 4/13/2004 Sharon says he wants to keep 5 West Bank blocs by AP.
      Maaleh Adumin, West Bank - Ariel Sharon listed five large West Bank settlement blocs he wants to keep as part of his final peace plan.    Sharon appeared to confirm Palestinian fears that Israel plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four smaller West Bank settlements in order to strengthen its hold over other parts of the West Bank.
• 4/15/2004 Bush's comments on Mideast raise concerns by Mohammed Daraghmen, AP.
      Ramallah, West Bank - President Bush upset Palestinians and Israeli hard-liners by suggesting that Israel would not have to give up some key West Bank settlements and ruling out the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel.    He was the first U.S. presidnet to legitimize the Israel settlements.
• 4/18/2004 Palestinians vowing revenge for Israel's killing of another Hamas leader by AP.
  
• 4/22/2004 Bush is asked to rethink support of West Bank plan by Ahmed Qureia by AP.
  
• 4/23/2004 20 militants expelled from Arafat's compound in fear of becoming a target himself by AP.
  
• 5/9/2004 Palestinian leaders reject Bush remark on peace plan, believe goal for statehood in 2005 still realistic by AP.
  
• 5/13/2004 Violence escalates as 33 killed in two days in the Gaza Strip by AP.
  
• 5/17/2004 Powell accuses Arafat of hindering progress by Barry Schweid, AP.
      Southern Shuneh, Jordan - Secretary of State Colin Powell blamed Yasser Arafat for blocking U.S. efforts to make Palestinian security forces strong enough to end terror attacks on Israel.    Jordan's king Abdullah II says Palestinian conflict top issue to Arabs.    Israel fires 5 missiles at office of Fatah group in Gaza City.
• 5/19/2004 Bush says Israel has right to defend itself against terror by AP.
  
• 5/20/2004 Israeli tank shell kills 10 Palestinians, 50 other hurt during protest of military action by AP.
  
• 6/7/2004 Israeli Cabinet OKs Gaza withdrawal, tenative agreement leaves future of 21 settlements unclear by AP.
  
• 6/15/2004 Israel seizes more land for controversial barrier by AP.
      Jerusalem - Israel has expropriated thousands of acres of Palestinian farmland deep in the West Bank near Ariel for the most controversial segment of its separation barrier, Palestinian officials said.    The U.S. is opposed to adding Ariel to Israel.
• 6/19/2004 Palestinians trying to work out Gaza power-sharing agreement by AP.
      Jerusalem - The Palestinian Authority and Islamic militant groups such as Hamas have begun putting together an agreement to share power in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli withdrawal.
• 6/29/2004 Israel strikes media center, sends tanks into Gaza after rocket attack - Sharon maintains withdrawal plans despite violence by AP.
      The tiny size of Gaza and dense polulation makes it difficult for the Israeli army to enter the area without risking heavy losses.    Sharon's disengagement plan calls for the evacuation of all Gaza Strip settlements - where some 7,500 Israelis live among 1.3 million Palestinians - and four West Bank enclaves by September 2005.
• 7/8/2004 Israel refuses to meet with mediation team by Joseph Federman, AP.
      Jerusalem - Israel snubbed a delegation of Mideast mediators (U.S., EU, U.N. and Russia) that came to discuss its planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, undermining a peace plan for the region.    Israel is not hip on talking with Europe and prefers to deal with the U.S. first.
• 7/8/2004 Israel remains quiet on nuclear capability - U.N. agency chief gets a glimpse of suspect reactor by AP.
      Tel Aviv, Israel - The U.N. atomic watchdog agency got a look at the reactor linked to Israel's reputed weapons program, but made no progress in getting the Jewish state to talk about its nuclear capabilities.
• 7/10/2004 U.N. court says Israeli barrier must be torn down by 14 of the 15 international Judges except for the American judge and also call for establishment of Palestinian state by AP.
  
• 7/11/2004 Israelis, Palestinians prepare for barrier battle amid violence by AP.
      Jerusalem - Now that the Palestinians have U.N. support for removing the barrier and Israel denying The Hague has no right to make such a decision and will continue to build the barrier.    The same day a bombing near a bus stop in Tel Aviv killed a female Israeli soldier and injured 30 people, the reason Israel is building the barrier.
• 7/18/2004 Palestinian offical tells Arafat he's quitting post by AP.
      Ramallah, West Bank - Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia submitted his resignation amid heightened tension in the Mideast.
• 7/19/2004 Unrest follows Arafat naming cousin to post by AP.
      Ramallah, West Bank - Militants sacked and burned Palestinian government offices after Yasser Arafat named a relative as his new security chief, to avoid yielding power.    The power struggles in the Palestinian Authority will determine who will dominate the Gaza Strip once Israel withdraws.    Arafat changed his mind and put Abdel Razak Majaide as security chief.
• 7/25/2004 Militants raid Palestinian sites in Gaza - Israel warns Jewish radicals may strike by AP.
      Ramallah, West Bank - Yasser Arafat was unable to defuse discontent with his leadership.    Israel's public security minister warned that Jewish extremists could attack a site holy to Muslims the Al-Aqsa compound and Jews Temple Mount, hoping to wreck plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.    Some Jews believe that destroying the mosques and rebuilding the ruined Temple will bring about the coming of the Messiah.
• 8/1/2004 Arafat's power diminishing by AP.
  
• 8/14/2004 Army commander says Israel can safely pull out of Golan Heights by The New York Times.
      Jerusalem - Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, the army chief of staff states that Israel can safely defend Israel's borders along the northern towns which have been vulnerable to Syrian attacks.
• 9/5/2004 Palestinians begin registering for elections - Arafat promises voting will be soon by AP.
  
• 9/16/2004 Withdrawal plan to go, but Sharon says road map to peace is out by AP.
      Jerusalem - Israel will not follow the U.S.-backed road map to peace, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, but he is pushing ahead with his plan of "unilateral disengagement."
• 9/23/2004 Young Palestinian bomber kills herself, two policeman at Jerusalem bus stop by AP.
      The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group with ties to Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
• 10/1/2004 Israel kills 23 in Gaza Strip raid, and readies assault on Gaza terrorists by AP.
  
• 10/4/2004 Israel won't back down in Gaza - 61 have been killed in latest incursion by AP.
  
• 10/14/2004 Limitations on crowds at holy site irk Muslims by AP.
      Jerusalem - Israel plans to limit access of Muslim worshippers to Jerusalem's holiest site during the holy month of Ramadan, claiming it could collapse.
      Angry Muslim clerics dismissed Israel's claims, saying Arab engineers assured them the Al Aqsa Mosque compound was stable.    They accused Israel of exaggerating the danger in hopes of increasing its control over the site.
      Israel police and archaeologists warned that because of a recent earthquake, part of the compound, Islam's third largest schrine, might collapse under large crowds of believers during Ramadan, which begins this weekend.
• 10/17/2004 Israel claims Gaza incursion was a suceess - 110 Palestinians killed over 17 days by AP.
  
• 10/1//2004 Rights group says Israel broke law by razing homes by AP.
      Israel has violated international law by systematically destroying Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah in a bid to create a buffer zone along the border with Egypt to prevent weapons-smuggling in tunnels, according to a human rights report by The Human Rights Watch.
• 11/12/2004 Arafat dies - Palestinians grieve for man they saw as father of nation - by AP.
      Ramallah, West Bank - The death of Yasser Arafat, and a quick appointment of successors did little to dispel questions hanging over the Middle East peace efforts.    World leaders are talking about the possiblity of a new era, but fears are a chaotic transition and a strengthening of Islamic militants.    Israel and the U.S. both dismissed Arafat as an unacceptable negotiating partner compromised by terror, but his passing could be a historic turning point for the Middle East.    Who will be the new role to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
• 11/13/2004 Bush sees Palestinian state in four years by AP.
  
• 11/29/2004 Israel ready to work with Palestinians - Gaza pullout may be coordinated by AP.
  
• 12/8/2004 Egypt says deal reached to end Arab-Israeli conflict by AP.
      Cairo, Egypt - Egypt has reached an understanding with Israel, the Palestinians, the U.S. and Europe on a general framework for a comprehensive settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including a truce between the two sides.    MENA said the understanding could stand as a "principle agreement" that includes a general framework of steps toward a settlement.
• 12/15/2004 Militants must stop attacking Israelis, Palestinain leader says by AP.
      Jerusalem - Mohmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader campaigning to succeed Yasser Arafat in elections next month, said the 4-year-old armed uprising against Israel was a mistake and must end.    This will cost him support from the militants, but wants to resume peace efforts through non-violent means.    Are the Palestinians tired of conflict, that has crushed their economy and left more than 3,000 of theri people dead?
• 12/16/2004 Israeli official backs 'road map' peace plan by AP.
      Jerusalem - Israel's foreign minister embraced the U.S.-backed "road map" leading to a Palestinian state and conditionally warmed up to Syrian peace overtures -- more signs of movement on Mideast peace in the post-Yasser Arafat era.
• 12/28/2004 Sharon to push forward with Gaza withdrawal by July by AP.
  
  

Last updated January 24, 2004, and April 15, 2006.