01.12.2001, A Palestinian bomber detonated explosives on an Israeli bus, killing himself and three Israelis and injuring nine. Sharon boarded a plane for the United States, where he is expected to press President Bush to support his demand for seven days of calm in the region before Israel returns to the negotiating table.

03.12.2001, Palestinians charged that Israel's missile attack was a declaration of war -and called for an Arab summit to deal with the crisis. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "has tonight declared war," said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian Cabinet minister and senior aide to Yasser Arafat. Erekat said the Palestinian Authority had jailed more than 200 militants, including leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in response to the weekend attacks that killed 25 Israelis.

08.12.2001, Israeli warplanes fired missiles at the Palestinian Authority's main police headquarters in the Gaza Strip, injuring at least 15 people. The airstrikes renewed Israel's military retaliation for a series of attacks that killed 25 people last weekend. The building struck by the missiles is the headquarters of Palestinian police for both the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

10.12.2001, An Israeli helicopter strike killed two young Palestinians, including a toddler, in the West Bank. Israeli security sources said the target of the attack on a car in the divided city of Hebron was a leader of the Islamic Jihad group. There were conflicting reports whether Mohammed Sidr, had survived the attack in which a helicopter firing three missiles reduced one car to mass of charred metal and damaged two others. Jihad Badr, chief of Hebron's Al Ahli hospital, said three-year-old Burhan al-Himuni and Shadi Arafi, 13, were killed. The toddler's twisted, burned body was laid out on a hospital floor before being covered with an orange blanket. The child's father, who had been walking in the street with the baby, was among 12 people wounded. He was in critical condition.

11.12.2001, Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Palestinians near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Radio Israel reported. Palestinian eyewitnesses said the vehicle had been slowly approaching the roadblock when the soldiers began firing without any apparent reason. Overnight, Israelie apache helicopters had attacked several Palestinian Authority installations in the northern Gaza Strip.

13.12.2001, Israel unleashed thunderous reprisals against Palestinian targets after twin attacks on Jewish settlers left 10 Israelis dead and injured 34 more. Israeli warplanes bombed a Palestinian buildings in the West Bank city of Nablus, a security compound in Gaza City, naval police headquarters in the northern Gaza Strip and a radar unit at Gaza Airport, where Israeli bulldozers had already destroyed the runway, an Israeli army official said. One Palestinian woman died and 10 were reported injured in the air assault.

14.12.2001, Israeli bulldozers, tanks, helicopters and F-16s continued to destroy Palestinian government buildings for a second day, pushing the conflict into new territory. Radio commentators and politicians on both sides wondered if the next step was a full-scale war.

18.12.2001, Israel briefly detained a senior Palestinian official Sari Nusseibeh and killed a Hamas member Yakoub Idkadak. Israel also shot dead a Palestinian naval policeman in the West Bank city of Nablus.

29.12.2001, Yasser Arafat may try again to challenge Israel's travel ban, by attempting to attend two other Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem. Arafat, barred by Israel from leaving his Ramallah headquarters on Christmas Eve, is eager to visit the site of Jesus' birth for Greek Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 6 or an Armenian observance 10 days later. Israeli officials reiterated the policy set down last week - that Arafat cannot travel freely until he arrests the two assassins of Jerusalem's tourism minister who are believed to be hiding near him in Ramallah.