By: Zawya

09.05.2010

JERUSALEM, May 09, 2010 (AFP) - Israel and the Palestinians on Sunday kicked off US-mediated indirect talks, in what both sides are hoping will lead to a renewal of the peace process which was suspended 17 months ago.

Here is a chronology of peace moves to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the 1993 Oslo autonomy accords launched the peace process:

1993:

Sept 13: Israel and the PLO sign a Declaration of Principles after months of secret negotiations in Oslo, launching the peace process.

1994:

May 4: Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat sign an autonomy accord in Cairo.

1995:

Sept 28: The parties sign Oslo II, extending Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.

1998:

Oct 23: The Wye interim agreement outlines steps for an Israeli withdrawal from 13 percent of the West Bank.

2000:

July 11-25: US president Bill Clinton hosts talks with Arafat and Israeli premier Ehud Barak at Camp David that end in failure over the issue of Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees.

2001:

Jan 21: Palestinian and Israeli negotiators begin marathon talks in the Egyptian border town of Taba aimed at reviving the peace process, but the negotiations end without agreement.

2003:

April 30: Publication of a peace 'roadmap' by the Middle East Quartet of diplomats that calls for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

June 4: Roadmap officially launched by Bush, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and newly-elected Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas at a summit in Aqaba, Jordan.

Dec 1: The Geneva Initiative, an unofficial peace accord drawn up by left-wing Israelis and a group of Palestinians, is unveiled in Switzerland.

2004:

Nov 11: Arafat dies in Paris.

2005:

Feb 2: Sharon and Abbas, now elected as Palestinian leader, meet in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where they declare an end to hostilities.

Sept 12: Israel completes the withdrawal of all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, ending 38 years of occupation.

2006:

June: The Islamist Hamas movement, which opposes any peace agreement with Israel, seizes control of the Gaza Strip after ousting forces loyal to Abbas.

2007:

Nov 27: Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert formally restart negotiations after a seven-year freeze at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland.

2008:

Dec 27: Israel begins a devastating 22-day military operation in Gaza in a bid to halt militant rocket attacks, prompting the Palestinians to suspend all contacts.

2009:

June 14: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts for the first time the idea of a Palestinian state, but demilitarised and with limited sovereignty.

2010:

March 11: Planned indirect talks between the two sides collapse over a bitter row about Jewish settlements in annexed east Jerusalem.

May 8: The PLO backs a new round of so-called 'proximity talks' with the aim of relaunching the peace process.