Constitution of Palestine
An 88-member legislative body, the Palestinian Legislative Council, is elected
Permanent historical records · Updated 2026-11-03
1996 in Palestine
Explore 20 historical events and records for Palestine in 1996.
Historical records for Palestine in 1996
Sorted by month and day. Records with no month are shown last. Showing 20 of 20 unique records.
20Unique records
1 of 1Page
15Named events on this page
4Named people on this page
9Places on this page
January
Election
Wins the first Palestinian presidential election.
Election
Elected President of the Palestine Authority
Palestinian Authority
Wins the first Palestinian Authority presidential election as voters also choose the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Palestinian Election
Palestinian elections are held under Oslo arrangements and Abbas remains a senior PLO figure
Palestinian Election
Palestinians vote for the Palestinian Authority presidency and council under Oslo arrangements
Palestinian Election
Arafat is elected President of the Palestinian Authority in elections provided for by the Oslo framework
February
Election
Appointed President of the Palestine Authority
March
Peace Negotiations
Works on negotiations under the new Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian Authority
Becomes the first speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, helping institutionalize Palestinian Authority governance.
Sharm el-Sheikh Peacemakers Summit
Arafat attends the international peacemakers summit convened after a wave of attacks threatens to derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
April
Palestinian Charter Amendment Vote
Arafat oversees a Palestine National Council vote cancelling charter provisions incompatible with the PLO's mutual-recognition commitments to Israel.
May
First Official US Visit as Elected President
Arafat meets President Bill Clinton at the White House during his first official United States visit after winning the Palestinian presidential election.
June
Exile of Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat returns to Gaza after 27 years
September
First Meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu
Arafat meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time and discusses implementation of existing interim agreements.
Oslo Crisis
Palestinian protests and clashes create one of the first major security crises after Oslo Two
October
Washington Emergency Peace Summit
Arafat joins Clinton, Netanyahu and King Hussein in Washington after deadly clashes threaten the peace process following the Western Wall tunnel crisis.
Other events (month unknown)
Bombing of Israel
Bombing of Israeli buses
PLO
Abbas becomes Secretary General of the PLO Executive Committee
Rule of Gaza
Israel and the PLO sign a second peace agreement, establishinng an elected 88-member Palestinian National Council, which holds its inaugural session in Gaza in March 1996
How these records were prepared
Generated from the World History Database historical_events table. Identical display records are collapsed; descriptions otherwise retain the stored text. Coverage and source quality vary. Check primary and specialist sources before citing individual historical claims.