January 14: Iraq
Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qadir arrives in the United States to discuss the long-term military relationship between both countries, including U.S. assistance in building Iraqi armed forces. During his interview, Minister Qadir says that Iraq will not be able to provide for its internal security until 2012, or to defend Iraq’s external borders until 2018-2020.
January 15: United Arab Emirates
In an effort to increase France’s prestige abroad, French President Nicolas Sarkozy signs a deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to establish a permanent French naval base in Abu Dhabi, France’s first base in the Persian Gulf. France also agrees to help the UAE build two nuclear energy reactors.
January 23: Palestinian Territories
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip blow several openings in the border fence that divides the territory from neighboring Egypt. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans flow into Egypt to purchase essential goods. The action is in defiance of Israel’s decision on January 17 to close all border crossings into Gaza. Israel’s move was in response to rockets fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip. The blockade created severe fuel and food shortages in the Gaza Strip.
February 12: Syria/Lebanon
Imad Mughniyeh, senior commander of the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, is killed by a car bomb in Syria’s capital, Damascus. Hezbollah and Iran blame Israel for his death, but Israel denies involvement. Mughniyeh is believed to have been responsible for countless bombings, kidnappings, and hijackings, including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut and the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner.
February 22: Turkey/Iraq
Thousands of Turkish troops make an incursion into northern Iraq, targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels. Turkey accuses Iraq of failing to stop the rebels from using the mountainous area to launch attacks on Turkey. Turkey, the United States, and the European Union consider the PKK, comprised of Turkish Kurds, a terrorist organization.
March 2: Iran/Iraq
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pays an official visit to Iraq, where he meets with the country’s president, Jalal Talabani. This is the first-ever visit to Iraq by an Iranian president. The visit reflects the stabilization of relations between the two countries after the long Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Both sides promise to strengthen political, economic, and cultural cooperation.
March 3: Israel/Palestinian Territories
Israel withdraws most of its troops from the Gaza Strip after five days of ground and air attacks on Palestinian fighters. More than 100 Palestinians, including civilians, and three Israelis were killed during the incursion. The operation was launched in response to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. In the meantime, human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, Save the Children, CARE, and others, report that the Gaza Strip faces the worst humanitarian crisis in 40 years as a result of Israel’s blockade of the territory.
March 29: Arab League/Syria
An Arab League annual summit hosted by Syria is boycotted by 10 of the 22 Arab League members, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon. By boycotting the summit, the countries protest Syria’s involvement in Lebanon’s ongoing presidential crisis. Differences on other issues, such as Palestinian factional divide and relations with Iran, have also contributed to the weakening of relations between Syria and other Middle Eastern countries.
March 30: Iraq
Iraq’s radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr orders his followers to cease fire after a fierce, week-long battle with the Iraqi army in Basra, Baghdad, and other Shiite regions that leaves hundreds dead. The unsuccessful army crackdown on militias in Basra was directed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
May 21: Lebanon
An agreement between the government of Lebanon and the Hezbollah-led opposition ends a crippling 18-month political stalemate, including the six-month wrangling that followed the departure of President Emile Lahoud in November 2007. The crisis turned violent two weeks ago after Hezbollah’s brief takeover of West Beirut and subsequent deadly sectarian street battles, the worst since the country’s 1975-1990 civil war. The complex peace agreement, which meets Hezbollah’s key demands, includes the formation of a unity government with the opposition gaining a veto power; election of a neutral candidate, General Michel Suleiman, as President of Lebanon; electoral reform; and banning the use of weapons in any intra-Lebanese disputes.
June 2: Iraq
Australia’s new government under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announces the end of Australia’s combat operations in Iraq and begins pulling out its troops. Australia has more than 500 soldiers in Iraq, who have trained 33,000 Iraqi soldiers over a five-year period. After winning the November 2007 elections, Prime Minister Rudd promised to overturn some of the previous administration’s policies, including Australia’s military deployment to Iraq.
June 23: Iran
The European Union approves new financial sanctions against Iran over the country’s refusal to curb its uranium enrichment program. The sanctions include freezing the assets of its largest bank, Bank Melli, which is suspected of providing services to Iran’s missile programs.
June 24: Israel/Palestinian Territories
Israel re-imposes its blockade on the Gaza Strip, which it had consented to ease as part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal that came into effect on June 19. The move is prompted by Palestinian militants firing multiple rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.
July 9: Iran
Iran test-fires nine missiles, including a long-range missile, the Shahab-3, which is capable of reaching Israel. The tests contribute to escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. It is believed that the tests are in response to Israel’s jet exercise last month that appeared to rehearse the bombing of distant targets, and are intended to deter military action by the United States or Israel against Iran’s suspected nuclear installations. Iran refuses to comply with UN resolutions requiring it to halt its uranium enrichment program.
July 16: Israel/Lebanon
Israel releases five Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose capture in a cross-border raid in July 2006 triggered a devastating 34-day war with Lebanon. Israelis did not know the fate of the two soldiers until their bodies were returned. Hezbollah in Lebanon hails the prisoner swap as a victory, while in Israel the exchange of live prisoners for dead bodies causes controversy.
July 19: Iraq
Iraq’s main Sunni Muslim bloc, the Accordance Front, rejoins the Shia-led government almost a year after it pulled out due to power-sharing disagreements. The group’s return is seen as a big step toward political reform and a sign of change in Iraq.
July 28: Iraq
In Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, three female suicide bombers targeting Shia pilgrims kill dozens of people heading for one of the city’s shrines. Meanwhile, in Kirkuk, a city divided among Iraq’s three main ethnic groups, Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen, a suicide bomber targeting a group of Kurdish protesters kills at least 25 of them and injures 150. These attacks take place after an overall decline in violence in Iraq in recent months.
September 17: Yemen
Two car bombs hit the United States Embassy in Yemen, killing 16 people, including four civilians, six Yemeni soldiers, and six attackers. The Islamic Jihad of Yemen group takes responsibility for the attack. (Sept. 18): Yemeni authorities arrest 25 suspects. Yemen is a U.S. ally in its “war on terrorism.”
November 10: Palestinian Territories/Israel
Israel closes all crossings with the Gaza Strip, imposing a complete blockade on moving goods and people, including food and fuel. Israel says the blockade is in response to rocket firing toward Israeli towns by Palestinian militants. Palestinians, on the other hand, say that their shelling was provoked by Israeli troops entering Gaza despite the ceasefire agreement. (November 13): The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says that Gaza’s economic situation is disastrous due to the Israeli blockade. (November 19): In his conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expresses his concern about humanitarian situation in Gaza due to shortages of food and power cuts. (November 27): Israel allows limited supplies of humanitarian aid and fuel into the Gaza Strip.
November 12: Israel/Palestinian Territories
Israeli secular politician Nir Barkat defeats an ultra-orthodox rabbi and becomes the next mayor of Jerusalem. Most Palestinians and Israeli Arabs who live in the city did not vote in the election. The status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, with both sides seeing the city as their capital. Barkat opposes dividing Jerusalem as part of the peace agreement and advocates the expansion of Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
November 18: Saudi Arabia
Somali pirates seize a Saudi supertanker in the Indian Ocean, which was on its way to the United States via the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa. The size of a U.S. aircraft carrier, the tanker carried more than 2 million barrels of oil, more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s daily output. The capture of a supertanker shows the improved capabilities and tactics of the Somali pirates.
November 27: Iraq
After a year of negotiations with the United States, Iraqi parliament votes on the presence of the U.S. troops in the country. According to the plan, the U.S. will hand over the country to Iraqi control by mid-2008 and will leave Iraq entirely by the end of 2011. The plan will have to be approved in a referendum next year.
December 31: Israel/Palestinian Territories
Israel conducts air strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip for the fifth day as a response to Hamas rockets fire into the Israeli territory. As a result of the strikes, almost 400 Palestinians are killed and four Israelis. Israeli Prime Minsiter Ehud Olmert rejects calls for a temporary truce to allow humanitarian aid before he gets guarantees that Hamas attacks will stop.