September 1993 — Negotiations in Norway culminate in the signing of the Declaration of Principles between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The Palestinians consent to recognizing Israel. In return, Israel would gradually dismantle its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and transfer authority to an interim Palestinian Authority (PA), initiated by a 1994 agreement.
May 1994 — A Palestinian police force is established to provide security, intelligence and law enforcement for Palestinians and other non-Israelis in PA-controlled areas.
July 1994 — Yasser Arafat returns to Gaza and becomes leader of the PA.
February 1995 — Military courts are established and given jurisdiction over police and security forces in addition to cases involving crimes by civilians against security forces.
July 1995 — A new Palestinian press law goes into effect. Although the law does not explicitly authorize official censorship, its prohibition of news items that may cause harm to national unity creates an atmosphere of intimidation and leads to self-censorship.
September 1995 — Israel and the PA sign the "Oslo II" agreement, dividing the West Bank into three zones over which the PA has varying degrees of authority.
January 1996 — In the country's first national elections, Palestinians elect Yasser Arafat as the PA's chairman as well as members of the PA legislative body, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
January 1997 — Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cedes over 80 percent of Hebron to the PA.
May 1997 — A government audit reveals that US$326 million of the PA's budget—nearly 40 percent—has been wasted or misappropriated. In July, a legislative investigation finds widespread corruption in almost every ministry, causing President Arafat's cabinet to resign.
October 1998 — Under the Wye River Memorandum, Israel agrees to further withdrawals from the West Bank.
December 1998 — The PLC passes the Law of Charitable Associations and Community Organization to govern civil society organizations and other NGOs.
November 1999 — Political scientist Abdel Sattar Qassem, a persistently vocal critic of the PA, publishes an anti-corruption manifesto that implicates President Arafat, who has 11 of the 20 signatories jailed or placed under house arrest. Qassem is jailed and released in July 2000.
September 2000 — Likud party leader Ariel Sharon's tour of the al-Aqsa/Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem leads to a massive uprising, or second intifada.
October 2000 — The Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF) is established to impose greater transparency in the management of PA commercial assets and portfolio investments. Four months earlier, the PA published details of its investments and payrolls for the first time.
January 2001 — Palestinian state television chief Hisham Mekki is assassinated in a Gaza restaurant. A Palestinian group claims responsibility, saying Mekki was punished for corruption.
September 2001 — The PA introduces restrictive new regulations on Palestinian broadcasters, such as approval of certain news items by police or national security service agents.
April 2002 — Israeli forces besiege Yasser Arafat's Ramallah compound and reoccupy almost all of the West Bank.
May 2002 — Arafat signs the Palestinian Authority Basic Law, which provides the legal foundation for the PA.
June 2002 — A ministerial reform committee established after the creation of the new government drafts a "100-day plan" designed to reform economic policymaking, civil service, private sector development and local governance.
March 2003 — The Basic Law is amended to create the post of prime minister, give the president and prime minister authority to initiate ministry-level criminal investigations and allow the legislative council to withdraw confidence from the government or a minister after an investigation. The amendments also prohibit conflicts of interest and require all ministers, including the prime minister, to submit personal financial disclosure statements for themselves, their spouses and dependant minors.
September 2003 — Mahmoud Abbas, appointed prime minister in March, resigns.
September 2003 — Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei forms a civil society reform coordinating committee composed of representatives of civil society bodies such as Transparency International Palestine and the General Union of Palestinian Women.
April 2004 — The ministry of finance guarantees salary payments to security and police services through the banking system, a significant step toward cracking down on misappropriation of public funds.
September 2004 — The cabinet adopts a one-year reform action plan to adjust the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches and improve government accountability and transparency.
November 2004 — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat dies. Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas succeeds Arafat as Palestine Liberation Organization chairman.
December 2004 — The PA holds municipal elections in 26 West Bank localities for the first time in almost three decades.
January 2005 — Mahmoud Abbas is elected president of the PA.
August 2005 — Israel evacuates its settlers and withdraws troops from Gaza, ending almost 40 years of military occupation.
January 2006 — The militant Islamic movement Hamas wins a majority of seats in parliamentary elections. Ismail Haniya, a senior figure in Hamas, is sworn in as prime minister.
February 2006 — The official broadcasting outlets Voice of Palestine radio and Palestine TV are brought under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian president, one of several last-minute moves by President Abbas and the Fatah party to deter and isolate the incoming Hamas government.
August 2006 — Palestinian Minister of Culture Atallah Abu-al-Sabh accuses President Mahmoud Abbas of seizing $32m of the government funds in order to pay PLO Executive Committee members as well as Palestinian television, which is under the president's authority.
February 2007 — Hamas and Fatah agree to form a government of national unity.
June 2007 — Hamas takes control of the Gaza strip, which undermines the coalition established between Hamas and Fatah. Towards the end of the month Israel agrees to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars of Palestinian tax revenues to President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to support his emergency government.
August 2007 — Members of Hamas's Executive Force detain Palestinian Authority Attorney-General Ahmed al-Mughni for allegedly conspiring to smuggle files of Palestinians involved in financial corruption and murder. Mughni was appointed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and detained hours after Hamas Minister of Justice Yusef al-Mansi fired him from his job.
September 2007 — Yahya Rabah, well-known columnist at the Al-Hayat Al-Jadida daily, senior Fatah member, and former Palestinian representative in Yemen, is arrested for corruption. Rabah is one of many members of the secular Fatah party arrested since Hamas gained control of the government in mid-June.
November 2007 — The Islamic Hamas movement renews its rejection of United Nations Resolution No. 181 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its adoption. According to a leaflet sent to the press on the occasion, "Palestine is one unified geographical unit, and can never be partitioned or sliced by resolutions or agreements." The resolution was first issued in 1947, a year before the birth of Israel, and called for the establishment of two states, one Jewish and one Arab.
December 2007 — During the annual conference of the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity, AMAN, Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad announces that the government is ready to support AMAN in launching the national plan for combating corruption. In the same speech, Fayyad states that the world should pressure Israel to stop its settlement activities in East Jerusalem and in all other Palestinian territories.
April 2008 — The United Nations International Conference on Palestine Refugees is convened at UNESCO Headquarters by the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. It assesses the issue of Palestine refugees and examines the role of the United Nations in alleviating their predicament.
June 2008 — The BBC reports, "Israel has approved a ceasefire to end months of bitter clashes with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed. Under the terms of the truce, which is set to begin on Thursday, Israel will ease its blockade on the Gaza Strip. At the same time, talks to release an Israeli soldier held by Hamas would intensify, an Israeli official said."
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