This day in history

The first riots of the Palestinian intifada begin in the Gaza Strip, occupied by Israel since the Six Day War of 1967.

The uprising soon spread to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian demonstrators marched, while youths threw stones at Israeli police, troops and citizens. Palestinian leaders called for the creation of an independent Palestine, and terrorist attacks against Israel increased. Israel used force to combat the intifada and arrested and deported thousands. Israel suppressed many expressions of the intifada, but violence persisted.

In 1993, the Palestinian mainstream, led by Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat, drastically changed course and acknowledged the right of Israel to co-exist with Palestine. Later that year, Arafat signed a peace accord with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and a major peace agreement in 1994. In 2000, the peace process stalled and Palestinian-Israeli violence resumed.

British Prime Minister John Major announces the formal separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife, Princess Diana.

In France, a law is passed which legally separates the church from the state.