Creation of state of Israel

1897 - After centuries of European anti-Semitism, World Zionist Organisation established to try and create a Jewish state in Palestine

1918-1947 - Britain occupies Palestine and commits to help establish a national Jewish home in Palestine. Large number of Jews migrate to Palestine, creating tensions between the Arabs and Jews there. British recommendation of partition into Jewish and Arab states rejected by Palestinians who demand an end to Jewish migration. But many more Jews flee to Palestine because of Nazi Holocaust in Europe

1947 - U.N. General Assembly recommends partitioning Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem "internationalised"

May 1948 - Jewish settlers declare formation of state of Israel

Wars and Israeli expansion

1948 - Before May, Jewish forces fight Arab armies and occupy 77 percent of Palestine, according to U.N. figures. Immediately after the May declaration, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq invade but swiftly defeated. Egypt gains control of Gaza Strip

750,000 Palestinians flee fighting or expelled by Jewish troops, according to U.N.. Most move to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and Gaza Strip

Thousands of Jews flee Arab countries to Israel and refused right to return

1950 - Jordan annexes West Bank

1964 - Arab League of Arab States founds Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO)

1967 - Six Day War after Israel launches what it calls pre-emptive strike on Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian forces. After brief fighting, Israel occupies West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, Syrian Golan Heights and Egyptian Sinai Peninsula

500,000 Palestinians flee to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, according to U.N.. Israel starts building Jewish settlements in occupied territories

1973 - Egypt and Syria launch attacks to regain land lost in the 1967 war, but fail

1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat initiates peace process which results in 1982 withdrawal of Israeli troops from occupied Sinai

1982 - Israel invades Lebanon, partly to expel PLO and establish a pro-Israeli government. PLO disperses to other Arab countries. Israeli troops end their conflict with Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in 2000.

First Palestinian intifada

1987 - The first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, begins against growing number of Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip

Peace talks

1991 - U.S. holds international summit with Israel, Syria and joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. Washington organises bilateral talks after the summit, with little progress

1993 - Secret Norwegian-brokered negotiations begin, culminating in Israel's military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip - except areas surrounding Jewish settlements - and from Jericho in the West Bank

1994 - Exiled PLO leader Yasser Arafat returns to Gaza for first time and heads the Palestinian National Authority set up to run newly autonomous areas

1995 - Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by an Israeli extremist. Benjamin Netanyahu takes office in 1996 and Oslo peace talks begin to unravel

2000 - Peace talks end with failed Camp David summit

Second Palestinian intifada

2000 - Palestinian militants begin series of suicide attacks. Israel responds with increased number of air strikes, incursions into Palestinian areas and killing militant leaders. Many Palestinian cities isolated and kept under curfew for lengthy periods

2002 - Israel re-occupies West Bank cities and begins building 600 km-long (370 miles) barrier separating West Bank from rest of Israel

2003 - Attempts to revive peace process fail. The roadmap, a peace plan drawn up by the Quartet - European Union, Russian Federation, U.N. and U.S., signed by Palestinians and Israel, but quickly derails

Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories

Israel announces policy of "unilateral disengagement" from Gaza Strip

2004 - Arafat dies, replaced by former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas

2005

Feb - Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declare informal ceasefire. Palestinian militant groups say not bound by pledges, but agree to observe de facto truce

Aug-Sep - Israeli soldiers remove 9,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza Strip and West Bank and formally withdraw military bases in September, ending 38 years of occupation

2006

Jan - Sharon suffers massive stroke. Ehud Olmert becomes interim prime minister, saying will talk to Palestinians, but only if they disarm

Hamas wins Palestinian parliamentary elections, defeating Fatah. U.S. and EU brand Hamas a terrorist group

Mar - Major international donors, including U.S. and EU, suspend direct aid to Hamas-led government

Olmert elected prime minister and rejects negotiations with Palestinians. Promises Israelis "permanent" eastern borders - including within the West Bank- by 2010

May - Mounting violence in Gaza fuelled by power struggle between Fatah and Hamas loyalists

Jun - Palestinian militants capture Israeli soldier, triggering major Israeli incursion into Gaza. Israel arrests most Hamas cabinet members

Jul - Israel begins air and land offensive against Lebanon after fighters from Lebanese militant group Hezbollah seize two Israeli soldiers and kill eight in cross-border raid

Aug - Ceasefire declared and Israeli forces begin withdrawing from Lebanon. At least 1,200 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis killed during fighting. U.N. peacekeeping force deploys along southern border

Oct - Negotiations on Palestinian unity government collapse. Relations between Fatah and Hamas continue to deteriorate. Israeli incursions into Gaza intensify

Nov - Fragile Gaza ceasefire takes hold

Dec - Abbas tries to break deadlock over unity government by calling for early elections. Hamas declares any new election would be a "coup" attempt and unconstitutional

Israel announces plans for first new West Bank settlement since 1992, and agrees to release $100m of Palestinian tax revenues

2007

Jan - Assassinations and clashes between Hamas and Fatah reach unprecedented levels. Both sides agree to another ceasefire

Feb - Hamas-Fatah fighting intensifies in Gaza, with Hamas overrunning compounds used by Abbas' security forces and Fatah setting Islamic University ablaze

Mar - New Palestinian unity government sworn in, cabinet comprising Fatah, Hamas, independent and left-wing MPs

May - Fatah and Hamas battle for control of Gaza

Jun - Hamas defeats Fatah militarily in Gaza. Abbas disbands unity government and declares state of emergency

Nov - Israeli and Palestinian leaders agree at conference hosted by U.S. President George Bush in Annapolis to begin talks to reach full agreement on a future Palestinian state by the end of 2008

Dec - $7.4 billion in aid pledged at donor conference in Paris

2008

Jan - Negotiators start first formal peace talks in seven years

Gunmen in Gaza destroy large sections of Gaza-Egypt border wall. Hundreds of thousands cross to buy food, supplies

Mar - At least 110 people killed in Israeli aerial and ground assault in Hamas-ruled Gaza, described by U.N. as "disproportionate use of force" and by Israel as an operation to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into southern Israel

Major aid agencies say humanitarian situation is worst since 1967

Apr - Quartet envoy Tony Blair gives Israel a list of West Bank roadblocks he would like removed

Reuters cameraman killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza

A growing fuel crisis in Gaza leads UNRWA to suspend food distribution for several days

Palestinian factions agree to an Egyptian proposal for a truce with Israel

May - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says he has secured $1.4bn of new investments in business projects in West Bank and Gaza

Jun - Hamas and Israel agree a ceasefire to stop rockets being fired into Israel and halt Israeli incursions into Gaza

Sep - The Palestinian government receives new aid pledges of $300 million

Archbishop Desmond Tutu tells U.N. Human Rights Council that Israeli shelling in 2006 of northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, an area used by militants as a staging point for rocket attacks on Israel, may constitute a war crime

Oct - EU envoy Tony Blair says Gaza banks near collapse. Heavy flooding in Gaza damages homes and sewage systems. After weeks of talks, Egypt releases draft proposal to end Hamas-Fatah rift

Nov - New round of Gaza violence threatens June ceasefire. U.N. officials warn of a humanitarian crisis as essential supplies run low

Dec - Hamas calls off truce. Israel pounds Gaza with bombs and missiles in biggest offensive in four decades, with the declared aim of stopping Hamas firing rockets into Israel

2009

Jan - Israel sends in tanks and troops. Palestinians say more than 1000 killed and thousands injured

Feb - Hamas and Fatah leaders hold first in a series of reconciliation talks in Cairo

Mar - Netanyahu sworn in as prime minister, head of new coalition government. Pledges to negotiate with Palestinians

May - U.S. President Barack Obama meets Netanyahu and calls for Palestinian statehood and a curb on West Bank settlements

Jun - Netanyahu accepts prospect of Palestinian state for first time, but insists on growth of West Bank settlements and other conditions rejected by Palestinian Authority officials

ICRC says Israeli blockade is preventing reconstruction of Gaza. Israeli officials say easing of blockade depends on progress towards release of Israeli soldier held by militants in the Gaza Strip since 2006

Jul - U.N. says will take a year to clear half a million tonnes of rubble left over from Dec/Jan Israeli offensive in Gaza