This timeline was last updated on Dec. 20, 2023.
The Israel-Hamas war has brought renewed attention to the enduring Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This timeline chronicles some of the major events that shaped Israeli-Palestinian relations within the past three decades — from the 1993 Oslo peace agreement to the Hamas terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s war in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians. Many of these moments are featured in FRONTLINE’s 2002 documentary Shattered Dreams of Peace, recently re-broadcast on PBS, as well as Netanyahu, America & the Road to War in Gaza, which premiered on PBS on Dec. 19.
SEPT. 13, 1993 The historic Oslo Accord is signed at the White House. Palestinians and Israelis agree to recognize the other’s right to exist: “It is time to put an end to decades of confrontation and conflict” and “strive to live in peaceful coexistence and mutual dignity and security and achieve a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace.” Soon Israel begins its promised withdrawal from lands occupied since the 1967 war; Jericho and Gaza are transferred to the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat — Israel’s implacable enemy for 30 years — returns from exile to establish the Palestinian Authority. The parties agree that the most sensitive “final status” issues — permanent borders, Jewish settlements, Palestinian refugees, and Jerusalem — will be addressed later.
OCT. 14, 1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Yasser Arafat are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their roles in the Oslo Accord.
SEPT. 28, 1995 In Washington, D.C., Rabin and Arafat sign the Oslo II agreement, which provides for Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and also sets the framework for Palestinian elections. Under Oslo II, the West Bank is divided into three areas: Area A, which is under exclusive Palestinian control; Area B, where Palestinians have civilian control and Israelis control security; and Area C, which is controlled exclusively by Israel. The following week, the agreement is ratified by a slim margin in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, where Rabin faces harsh criticism from those in the conservative Likud Party.
NOV. 4, 1995 Following a peace rally in Tel Aviv, Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by a Jewish extremist. He is succeeded by Peres.
DEC. 8, 1995 Arafat and Peres meet to reaffirm their commitment to the Oslo Accords. Israel would release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. By the end of the month, Israel has also withdrawn its troops from an additional five major Palestinian cities.
Within the Israeli opposition, these concessions are seen as a dangerous strategic mistake. And while many Palestinians rejoice, some — including those in the militant Islamist group Hamas, which gained power among Palestinians by controlling mosques and providing food and education to the poor, and had carried out suicide bombings inside Israel — oppose any compromise.
JAN. 20, 1996 Palestinian elections are held as required by the Oslo Accord. Hamas, protesting peace negotiations with Israel, calls for an election boycott . But Palestinians endorse the peace process by giving Arafat an overwhelming victory.
FEB. 25 – MARCH 4, 1996 Several weeks after Israel assassinates Hamas’ chief bomb-maker, Hamas retaliates. Three suicide attacks in eight days leave 46 dead and hundreds wounded. Then, on March 4, 1996, a fourth suicide bomber explodes himself, this time in a Tel Aviv mall. Thirteen people are killed and 157 more wounded; the dead are all under 17 years old. Arafat orders his security forces to move against the Islamist militants and hundreds are arrested. The peace process — and its principal advocate, Shimon Peres — comes under increasing attack.
MARCH 13, 1996 Israeli opposition to the peace process coalesces around Benjamin Netanyahu, the new leader of the Likud Party who is poised to challenge Peres and his Labor Party in the upcoming election. Fearing Peres’ defeat and the demise of the peace process, Egypt and the United States convene world leaders in the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheik. They call it the Summit of Peacemakers and hope to influence the Israeli electorate to support Peres.
APRIL 11-18, 1996 Violence erupts along Israel’s northern border. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese militant group that shares Hamas’ opposition to the peace process, fires missiles into Israeli villages and towns, prompting Israel to launch a massive bombardment of Hezbollah bases in southern Lebanon. A week later, in a case of mistaken targeting, Israeli artillery hit a United Nations compound near the village of Kana, where civilians have sought shelter from the attacks. More than 100 are killed.
Israeli Arabs, fervent supporters of Peres and his Labor Party, are now outraged and turn against him, calling for a boycott of the upcoming election.
MAY 29, 1996 Since Israeli Arabs constitute 20% of Israel’s population, their boycott of the election helps elect Netanyahu: He defeats Peres by a mere 1%. At 47, Netanyahu becomes Israel’s youngest prime minister.
SEPT. 4, 1996 Arafat and Netanyahu meet at the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel. The meeting between the two men is fraught with tension, but their handshake, though largely ceremonial, is still a symbol of hope.
SEPT. 24, 1996 In an area extremely sensitive to both Muslims and Jews — where the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount sits above the Western Wall — Netanyahu changes the status quo and opens an ancient tunnel that runs along the wall. Netanyahu’s security advisers had warned him against opening the tunnel, fearing that the move was too provocative.
Palestinian radicals are quick to exploit the situation and organize demonstrations. The Israeli army fires upon the demonstrators and for the first time since the Oslo Accord was signed, the Palestinian police use their guns against the Israeli army. Netanyahu gives the order to move Israel’s tank forces into striking positions. The violence leaves 59 Palestinians and 16 Israelis dead. Hundreds more are wounded on both sides before Palestinian and Israeli security forces cooperate to bring an end to the fighting.
OCT. 1 – 2, 1996 In an attempt to prevent further violence and restart negotiations, Arafat and Netanyahu are summoned to Washington by U.S. President Bill Clinton. Clinton also asks King Hussein of Jordan to join the talks. By the end of the summit, Netanyahu and Arafat agree to resume talks on further implementation of the Oslo Accords.
JAN. 15, 1997 After four months of difficult negotiations, Israel agrees to withdraw from Hebron, leaving behind only a small enclave of Jewish settlers. Now Arafat’s Palestinian Authority controls all of the major cities in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians cheer the withdrawal, but Jewish settlers feel betrayed by Netanyahu.
MARCH 18, 1997 Three weeks after Netanyahu gives the green light, construction begins on a settlement on a contested hill near Jerusalem. Although Jewish settlements were not mentioned specifically in the Oslo Accords, Rabin had promised that no additional ones would be built. Tensions are high.
MARCH 21, 1997 In Tel Aviv, a suicide bomber explodes himself in a packed café. Hamas claims responsibility.
JULY 30, 1997 Two suicide attacks rip through Jerusalem’s main market within 10 minutes of each other. Sixteen are killed and hundreds are wounded. In response, Israel limits access in and out of Palestinian territories and enforces a strict curfew.
SEPT. 4, 1997 Three more suicide bombers strike at the heart of Jerusalem. Five Israelis are killed and more than 200 wounded. Netanyahu declares that no more land will be handed over to the Palestinians as long as terror continues.
SEPT. 14, 1997 Netanyahu allows Jewish settlers to occupy houses within Arab sections of Jerusalem, once again changing the status quo. Palestinians demonstrating against Jewish settlers are joined by groups of Israelis who oppose Netanyahu’s policies.
OCT. 15 – 23, 1998 The U.S. calls a meeting in another attempt to revive the peace process. At first, the two sides are mired in disagreements. But after Clinton pushes a marathon 21-hour session, both Palestinians and Israelis agree to what becomes known as the Wye River Memorandum.
The agreement allows for the construction of an international airport for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Israel agrees to pull back its forces from an additional 13% of the West Bank and to release 750 Palestinian prisoners. (Ultimately, only half of the pull-back is finished and only 250 prisoners are released.) The Palestinian Authority agrees to combat terrorist organizations, to arrest those involved in terrorist activities, and to collect all illegal weapons and explosives. (Little or none of this is ever done.)
DEC. 12 – 14, 1998 Clinton comes to Gaza to lend his prestige to the implementation of portions of the Wye agreements. In Clinton’s presence, the Palestinian National Council takes a historic step: Its members vote to rescind the clause in the PLO Charter that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. The extremists Arafat is supposed to control stage violent protests against the recognition of Israel.
JAN. 4, 1999 In Israel, the people who had brought Netanyahu into power see the handover of more territory — as called for by Wye — as an act of betrayal. The Knesset convenes in an extraordinary session. Over two-thirds of its members — from all across the political spectrum — rebuke Netanyahu and call for new elections. Opposing Netanyahu is Labor Party head Ehud Barak, a former chief of staff, Israel’s most decorated military hero, and a disciple of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He runs on a platform of peace and reconciliation with the Palestinians.
MAY 17, 1999 Barak wins a landslide victory, becoming Israel’s 14th prime minister. While his mandate is strong, Barak wants to push quickly for a permanent agreement, skipping the interim Israeli redeployments called for in the Wye accords. He envisions a two-state solution that will finally put an end to the conflict.
JULY 11, 1999 Barak flies to the Erez crossing on the Israel-Gaza border for his first official meeting with the Palestinian leadership. The Palestinians expect to obtain a commitment from Barak to immediately implement the long-delayed Israeli redeployment. Barak dismisses the idea and the talks disintegrate.
SEPT. 3 – 5, 1999 After five weeks of talks between the two principal negotiators — Saeb Erekat for the Palestinians; Gilead Sher for Israel — the two sides agree on a bold framework and timetable for the final peace agreement. It is signed by Arafat and Barak. The Palestinian and Israeli delegations assemble in Egypt at Sharm el-Sheik to celebrate the fruits of the negotiators’ efforts. As a confidence-building measure, Israel agrees to release 350 prisoners in two phases. The Palestinians agree to enforce the existing security understandings.
NOVEMBER 1999 Land and the settlements — still expanding under Barak — become the main issues when negotiations resume. Questions remain over the 180,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza and how much land Israel will cede to the Palestinians. The Palestinians are outraged by the Israeli proposal, saying that it would cut the West Bank in three parts and allow Israel to continue the settlements.
Not long after, secret negotiations in Stockholm deal with another contentious issue — the Palestinian refugees. Three million displaced people demand the right to return, a number roughly equal to half of the population of Israel. Their return would alter the nature of the Jewish state.
MAY 24, 2000 Barak fulfills a campaign promise and ends Israel’s 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah, which had been fighting the Israeli army in Lebanon for years, sees Israel’s flight as a massive victory. Many Palestinians now believe they, too, can achieve their aims by fighting rather than negotiating.
In Israel, Barak is under fire for his withdrawal from Lebanon and for being ineffectual with the Palestinians. He urges Clinton to hold a summit to resolve everything once and for all.
JULY 11 – 25, 2000 The leaders head off to a hastily prepared summit at Camp David. Issues never before discussed at senior levels between Israelis and Palestinians — Jerusalem, statehood, boundaries, refugees — are put on the table.
To break the impasse over the West Bank, Clinton proposes a compromise: Israel would return almost all of the West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinians; the two sides would swap small parcels of land important to each other; and they would agree to share control of Jerusalem. Barak uses Clinton’s proposal as a starting point and suggests several changes. Arafat never replies and Barak then refuses to negotiate with Arafat directly.
When Clinton returns to Camp David, Jerusalem is again put on the table. Arafat argues that the Jews have no claim at all to the area of the Temple Mount. On the last night of the talks, Clinton offers a new bridging proposal that covers all the issues, including the main stumbling block of east Jerusalem. But Arafat refuses any compromise over the Temple Mount and is concerned with limits on the sovereignty for the new Palestinian entity (the Clinton/Barak plan would have left the new Palestinian state with significant loss of water and good land, almost split by Israeli annexation running east from Jerusalem, and with Israel getting roughly 9% of the West Bank). Arafat rejects the proposal.
Arafat returns home to a hero’s welcome. Calls for an uprising — a new intifada — are heavy in the air. Despite the official demise of the talks, Arafat and Barak approve a new series of secret meetings between the negotiators.
SEPT. 25, 2000 Arafat visits Barak at his private residence. According to many of those present, the meeting goes well. At the end of the evening, Arafat makes a request of Barak: that Ariel Sharon, the head of Israel’s right-wing Likud Party, be denied permission to visit the Temple Mount. Barak, however, cannot prevent Sharon’s visit. Instead, he coordinates with the Palestinian Authority, which agrees to try to keep peace in the area.
SEPT. 28, 2000 The Al-Aqsa intifada, or uprising, is born after Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount. By day’s end, seven protestors are dead and 160 injured. The riots spread quickly throughout the West Bank and Gaza and engulf the Israeli Arab community as well. After a week of fighting, 50 Palestinians and five Israelis are dead.
OCT. 12, 2000 Two Israeli reservists accidentally stray into Palestinian territory and are lynched by a Palestinian mob. Israel blames the Palestinian Authority for the murders and within hours attack-helicopters destroy the police station, the site of the lynching. Israel also launches massive attacks on other targets in Gaza and the West Bank.
In Israel, Barak’s policies are blamed for the rapidly deteriorating situation. Even among his staunchest supporters, many now distrust the Palestinians’ intentions.
DEC. 9, 2000 By resigning Barak obtains a window of 60 days to regain support before standing for reelection. But the violence has made his pro-negotiation stance difficult to defend.
Likud leader Sharon — the hard-line former general whose visit to the Temple Mount sparked the intifada — runs on a platform of security and is far ahead in the polls. Barak’s only hope is to conclude a deal with the Palestinians quickly.
JAN. 21 – 27, 2001 In a desperate attempt to reach an agreement before the election, negotiators meet in the resort town of Taba, Egypt, focusing on a new framework for an agreement that had been developed by Clinton the previous month. The new terms go further than what Israel and the U.S. had offered at Camp David. The negotiators move rapidly toward reconciling the differences in this new framework, but they run out of political time. They are unable to conclude an agreement with Clinton now out of office and Barak standing for reelection in two weeks.
FEB. 6, 2001 Sharon is elected prime minister of Israel, defeating Barak in a landslide. Soon, the political process stops and the cycle of violence and counterviolence continues. Palestinian suicide bombings become an almost daily event. Israeli retaliation leaves hundreds of Palestinians dead.
MARCH 29, 2002 Two days after a suicide bomber explodes himself in a Netanya hotel on Passover and kills 30 people, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield. With overwhelming force, Israeli troops reenter Palestinian cities and refugee camps, hunting down terrorists and often leaving massive destruction in their wake. In Ramallah, Israeli forces enter Arafat’s compound and he is confined.
JUNE 18 – 19, 2002 Two bombings kill more than two dozen Israelis in Jerusalem. Arafat denounces the attacks, saying they “have nothing to do with our national rights in legitimate resistance to Israeli occupation.” Sharon announces Israel will immediately begin a policy of retaking land in the West Bank, and holding it, until the terror attacks stop. Sharon also authorizes the construction of a 217-mile fence along the West Bank which the Israeli government says will shield the country from terror attacks. Arafat calls it a “fascist, apartheid measure.”
APRIL 30, 2003 The Quartet of the Middle East — made up of the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the U.N. — proposes a Roadmap for Peace to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two-state solution. Despite multiple attempts, they are never able to implement it.
MARCH 22, 2004 An Israeli missile in Gaza kills Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, whom Sharon called the “mastermind of Palestinian terror.” More than 200,000 Palestinians attend Yassin’s funeral procession; Palestinian militants threaten revenge.
NOV. 2004 – JAN 2005 After spending almost three years confined to his compound, Arafat dies on Nov. 11, 2004. Mahmoud Abbas is elected to succeed Arafat in a Jan. 9, 2005, election, becoming the new president of the Palestinian Authority. No presidential elections have been held since.
FEB. 8, 2005 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announce a ceasefire, effectively ending the second intifada.
AUG. 15, 2005 Israel begins withdrawal of military forces and settlers from Gaza. It evacuates approximately 9,000 Israeli settlers from 25 settlements including four settlements in the West Bank. After withdrawal, the Israeli military remains in charge of Gaza’s airspace, coastline and borders — except for the Gaza-Egypt border, which Egypt is in charge of.
JAN. 4, 2006 Sharon suffers a stroke and falls into a coma. Ehud Olmert takes over as Israel’s prime minister.
JAN. 25, 2006 Hamas defeats the long-dominant Fatah party in parliamentary elections. Despite losing its majority, Fatah still controls the presidency. No parliamentary elections have been held since. A power struggle erupts between Hamas and Fatah.
APRIL 7, 2006 The U.S. and the EU suspend aid to the Hamas-run Palestinian government citing Hamas’ refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States since 1997.
JUNE 25, 2006 Palestinian militants, including those from Hamas, kill two Israeli soldiers and kidnap another. Three days later, Israel launches a military operation in Gaza that will last five months.
FEB. 8 – MARCH 17, 2007 After months of infighting and violence between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza, the two sign an agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 8 to end their confrontations and form a government of national unity — with Hamas no closer to recognizing Israel. The Palestinian unity government takes office on March 17.
JUNE 2007 Hamas seizes control of Gaza on June 15 after a five-day long bloody battle with Fatah — whom Hamas claims was trying to launch a coup. The violence leaves more than 100 Palestinians dead. Fatah keeps control of the West Bank.
Following Hamas’ takeover, Israel imposes a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza — home to over two million people — restricting the people and goods allowed through its crossings, while Egypt also curtails its border crossing with the enclave, trapping the population.
NOV. 27, 2007 U.S. President George W. Bush hosts talks between Abbas and Olmert at Annapolis, Maryland, to attempt to revive peace negotiations.
FEB. 29 – MARCH 3, 2008 Israel launches a military operation in Gaza in response to Hamas firing rockets on Israeli civilians. At least 112 Palestinians are killed, along with three Israelis.
DEC. 27, 2008 – JAN. 18, 2009 After a temporary ceasefire, Palestinian militants fire rockets at a southern Israeli town. Israel responds with a 22-day military offensive in Gaza. Thirteen Israelis and 1,387 Palestinians are killed during the operation, according to Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, before another ceasefire agreement is reached on Jan. 18, 2009.
FEB. 20, 2009 Benjamin Netanyahu is chosen to form Israel’s next government, and begins his second term as Israel’s prime minister soon after.
MAY 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama invites Netanyahu to the White House. Obama presses Netanyahu on a key issue — stopping the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank on land captured in the ‘67 war and claimed by the Palestinians.
MARCH 27, 2011 Israel deploys the Iron Dome — an anti-rocket missile defense system that can intercept and destroy short-range rockets — amid a surge in rocket attacks from Gaza.
MARCH 9 – 13, 2012 Violence erupts in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants after Israel launches airstrikes and kills a militant leader. Egypt brokers a ceasefire following four days of what is described as the worst outbreak of violence in the region in three years.
NOV. 14 – 22, 2012 Israel kills Hamas’ top military commander, Ahmed Jabari, in a pinpoint airstrike. This sets off over a week of Palestinian militant rockets and Israeli airstrikes, which kill six Israelis and 167 Palestinians.
JULY 28, 2013 Israeli and Palestinian negotiators begin preliminary peace talks in an initiative led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. As part of confidence-building measures, Israel agrees to release 104 Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinians agree to hold off on efforts to join or seek recognition from international organizations. Negotiations collapse by April 2014.
JULY 8 – AUG. 26, 2014 On June 12, three Israeli teenagers are abducted from the West Bank and murdered by Hamas; the group only admits responsibility in late August. On July 8, Israeli authorities launch airstrikes, ground operations and naval blockades in Gaza. The operation lasts 50 days before a ceasefire, by which time 2,251 Palestinians — over half of them civilians — are killed, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Six civilians and 67 soldiers die on the Israeli side.
DEC. 6, 2017 President Donald Trump’s administration formally recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, changing longtime U.S. policy, and announces plans to relocate the U.S. embassy there. The leaders of many countries, including Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, as well as UN Secretary-General António Guterres, criticize the shift in policy. The news sparks protests and violence throughout the region. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says the U.S. has abdicated its role as a peace mediator.
MARCH 30, 2018 – DEC. 27, 2019 Palestinians in Gaza begin a protest movement along the fence with Israel, calling for Israel to end its blockade and in support of their claims to return to ancestral homes in Israel. Some of the demonstrations, which are held each Friday until Dec. 27, 2019, become violent, with attempts to rush the fence, sparking clashes with Israeli forces. Israel says Hamas is exploiting the rallies for its own aims. Over 200 Palestinians are killed by Israeli forces during these demonstrations.
JAN. 28, 2020 With Netanyahu visiting the U.S., President Trump unveils a peace plan that proposes a potential demilitarized Palestinian state with limited sovereignty in exchange for the annexation of West Bank settlements, and promises to keep Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas immediately dismisses the plan as a “conspiracy,” while Netanyahu calls it a “historic breakthrough.”
APRIL 2021 Anger builds among Palestinians ahead of an Israeli court ruling which could evict Palestinian families from their homes in the majority-Arab east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in favor of Jewish settlers, fueling Palestinian protests and confrontations with Israeli police.
MAY 10 – 21, 2021 After weeks of mounting tension, Israeli police raid the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem and clash with stone throwing protesters, injuring hundreds. Amid the escalating violence, Hamas fires rockets into Israel from Gaza, drawing Israeli airstrikes against Gaza. After 256 Palestinians and 13 Israelis are killed over 11 days, violence ends in an Egyptian-brokered truce.
MARCH 22 – APRIL 8, 2022 A string of terrorist attacks by Palestinians in Israeli cities kills 14 people. Israel clamps down on activists and militants in the West Bank and launches the “Break the Wave” military operation, resulting in a particularly deadly year for West Bank Palestinians.
AUG. 5, 2022 Israel unleashes a wave of airstrikes in Gaza, which it says target Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant group in the strip after Hamas. Islamic Jihad retaliates with rocket fire, and at least 44 Palestinians, including two militant leaders, are killed in the three days of conflict that follow.
DEC. 29, 2022 Benjamin Netanyahu, who was ousted from power in June 2021, is sworn in for his sixth term as Israel’s prime minister after an electoral victory. The coalition he forms is described as the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.
JAN. 26 – 27, 2023 Nine Palestinians are killed during what Israel calls a counterterrorism raid in the West Bank city of Jenin. Palestinian militants fire two rockets from Gaza, which are intercepted by missile defenses. Israel then launches airstrikes on Gaza on January 27. The same day, a Palestinian gunman kills seven people in an east Jerusalem synagogue.
MAY – JULY 2023 Israel launches surprise strikes on Islamic Jihad commanders in Gaza on May 9, igniting five days of violence between Islamic Jihad and Israel that kills 33 Palestinians and two people in Israel.
On June 19, Israeli troops kill five Palestinians during a helicopter-accompanied raid in Jenin. The next day, Hamas militants kill four Israelis in the West Bank.
Israeli operations in the densely populated Jenin refugee camp — known to house militants — escalate on July 3, as some 1,000 soldiers backed by drone strikes enter the city. The operation results in the death of twelve Palestinians.
OCT. 7 – NOV. 15, 2023 Hamas launches a terror attack on Israeli civilians, killing around 1,200 people and taking over 240 hostages — among them the elderly, children and citizens from at least 30 countries, including Americans. Netanyahu declares war on Hamas and Israel orders a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip. The Biden administration expresses unwavering support for Israel and sends warships and aircraft to the region. Israel’s retaliatory campaign to eradicate Hamas causes Palestinians to flee their homes and kills thousands in Gaza, sparking protests in countries around the world. The Biden administration calls on Israel to do everything it can to protect Palestinian civilians and expresses concern that the fighting could escalate into a wider regional conflict.
Israel launches a ground invasion into northern Gaza on Oct. 27. The Israeli army storms Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, which it says Hamas uses as a military command center — an allegation that Hamas denies. Israeli authorities say they are investigating allegations of widespread sexual violence committed by Hamas on Oct. 7.
NOV. 24 – DEC. 19, 2023 Israel and Hamas implement a temporary ceasefire starting on Nov. 24 that allows for the release of 102 hostages held by Hamas and over 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The truce collapses on Dec. 1, with both sides blaming each other for its failure. The Israeli military extends its ground offensive to southern Gaza on Dec. 4. On Dec. 9, the U.S. vetoes a UN resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.
Israel’s war on Gaza has displaced over 1.8 million, according to UN estimates and killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Biden tells Israel’s government that the “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza could risk leaving the country with less international support. The Israeli military says its troops mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during operations in Gaza on Dec. 15 although the men carried a white flag and acknowledges that the men’s killings violate its rules of engagement.
Tensions also rise in the West Bank amid escalating Israeli settler violence and army raids. The U.S. tells Israeli officials that “extremist violence” must stop and announces it will impose visa bans on Israeli settlers engaged in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
This is an updated version of a timeline that was published on the FRONTLINE website on June 27, 2002, to accompany the 2002 documentary Shattered Dreams of Peace: The Road From Oslo.