MIDDLE EAST HOURGLASS:

• November 15, 1996: PLO police reportedly fire at IDF soldiers in Hebron.
• 16/11: Would-be Arab bomber killed while preparing a device near PLO-controlled Jenin.
• 16/11: Report: Yasser Arafat has asked US to exclude diplomat Dennis Ross from Hebron talks, saying the PLO has lost confidence in him.
• 17/11: An additional 15 000 Arab workers are allowed into 'Israel proper'.
• 17/11: Hebron Jews say they have reliable information the government plans to evict seven familes from the town's Tel Rumeida area.
• 17/11: Israeli Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai warns of a ''devastating Israeli attack which could destroy [Assad's] regime' if Syria attacks.
• 17/11: London's Independent on Sunday reports that German negotiator Bernd Schmidbauer is in the midst of intense negotiations to obtain the release of captured IAF navigator Ron Arad.
• 18/11: Defence Minister Mordechai approves the building of 1 200 houses in Samaria settlement.
• 18/11: Israeli officials report Hebron talks have regressed due to PLO increasing its demands.
• 18/11: Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak says Egypt won't stay out of an Israel-Syria war.
• 18/11: Mordechai repeates invitation to Syria's President Hafez Assad to return to negotiations.
• 19/11: Official Syrian newspaper says PM Binyamin Netanyahu is likely to bring region into conflict through 'idiotic and dangerous policies'.
• 19/11: Two-day conference of donor countries to the Palestinian Authority opens in Paris.
• 19/11: Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger calls on PLO to change its covenant.
• 20/11: Hebron talks at standstill, but press reports US 'maintaining a studied optimism'.
• 20/11: Knesset committee hears that PLO has slowed down attempts to combat terror groups.
• 20/11: Arafat tells French radio station he will declare a Palestinian state in two years' time; Netanyahu slams statement as 'a grave error'.
• 21/11: PLO representative Yasser Abed-Rabbo says PLO wil increase struggle against settlement policy.
• 21/11: Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon says Israeli security cabinet is being kept in the dark about Hebron redeployment plans.
• 21/11: After visiting Damascus, US Senator Arlen Specter says Assad is likely to accept American invitation to a Syria-Israel summit.
• 22/11: Jordanian weekly Shihan quotes Western diplomatic sources as saying Israel is planning for an all-out war with Syria.
• 22/11: Washington Times tells of CIA report that China has sold 400 tons of ingredients necessary for Iran to manufacture nerve gas.
• 22/11: IDF predicts an increase in Hizb'Allah activities in southern Lebanon.
• 24/11: Yediot Ahronot quotes senior IDF source as saying Syria is preparing military offensive option.
• 24/11: Palestinians in Gaza Strip blockade the road leading to the Netzarim Jewish settlement, keeping the community isolated for hours.
• 25/11: Netanyahu calls on PLO to return to serious talks so that an accord can be reached on Hebron.
• 25/11: Israeli government reports that Assad has rejected the idea of a Syria-Israel summit.
• 26/11: IDF tanks and troops deploy in Gaza in anticipation of violence over Hebron impasse.
• 27/11: Rivalry between Labour Party leader Shimon Peres and would-be successor Ehud Barak subsides after agreement whereby Peres will remain leader until December 1997.
• 27/11: Oslo Accords architect and Norwegian minister Terje Roed Larsen resigns from his cabinet post following allegations that he mismanaged tens of thousands of dollars in government funding.
• 27/11: Ha'aretz reports IDF field commanders are reporting growing tension with PLO security forces; while Palestinian media call for clashes with Israel due to 'violations of Oslo Accords'.
• 28/11: Israel and Niger renew diplomatic ties.
• 28/11: Report: PA and EU to sign trade agreement.
• 29/11: Mubarak blames Israel for Hebron deadlock.
• 30/11: IDF disperses Arabs rioting in Bethlehem to demand release of imprisoned Arab terrorists.
• 30/11: Arabs attack, assault Jewish girls in Hebron.
• December 1: Ariel Sharon reportedly meets Shimon Peres to discuss possible formation of a national unity government.
• 1/12: In response to increasing verbal attacks by Arab states, Netanyahu says: 'Instead of cursing and threatening, our neighbors would do well to cooperate toward the advancement of peace.'
• 2/12: 42% of Jews surveyed believe the conflict between Orthodox and secular Jews will lead to civil war in Israel.
• 2/12: Mordechai calls on Egypt's leadership to cease attacks against Netanyahu government.
• 2/12: Talks on forming a national unity government forge ahead.
• 2/12: In Lisbon for OSCE summit, Netanyahu tells reporters the possibility for renewing talks with the Syrians is being explored.
• 2/12: French President Jacques Chirac tells Netanyahu in Lisbon Israel must make 'significant gesture' to Arabs to save peace process.
• 3/12: PLO policeman kills Arab in Jericho jail.
• 3/12: Parcel bomb mailed to Jewish newspaper in Paris is discovered and disarmed before it explodes.
• 4/12: Amman freezes diplomatic ties with Israel.
• 4/12: UN votes massively against Israelin annual 'Question of Palestine' debate.
• 5/12: Madeleine Albright is named to succeed Warren Christopher as US Secretary of State.
• 7/12: Hizb'Allah kills Israeli soldier in Lebanon.
• 9/12: Israel cabinet okays cuts to bring planned cut to 1997 budget to NIS5.7 billion.
• 9/12: Egypt's Mubarak calls Netanyahu, Israeli PM asks Egyptian to help end Hebron impasse.
• 10/12: IDF Deputy COS: Israel is ready for war.
• 11/12: Arabs shoot at Israeli settler family, killing mother and 12-year-old son, wounding father and four children. Killers flee to PA-controlled Ram'Allah.
• 13/12: In response to the murder, Israeli government offers incentives to Jews to settle in "territories".
• 14/12: Arafat calls government move a declaration of war on the Palestinian Arabs.

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