TIMELINE-60 turbulent years of Israel

(Reuters) - Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary on Thursday, according to the Jewish calendar.

Following is a chronology of its turbulent history:

May 14, 1948 - David Ben-Gurion proclaims the State of Israel hours before the British Mandate is due to end. On May 15, forces from five Arab countries attack Israel.

1949 - Armistices with Arab states but no formal peace.

October 29, 1956 - Israel invades Gaza Strip and Sinai in conjunction with Suez Canal campaign launched by Britain and France against Egypt. Israeli forces withdraw in March 1957.

June 1, 1962 - Adolf Eichmann, an architect of Nazi Holocaust kidnapped by Israeli agents in Argentina, hanged in Israel after being convicted of crimes against humanity.

June 5, 1967 - Israel launches pre-emptive strikes against Egypt and Syria. Six Day War leaves it occupying the West Bank, including Arab East Jerusalem, Gaza, Sinai and Golan Heights.

September 5, 1972 - Palestinians kill 11 Israeli athletes at Munich Olympics. Israel later kills guerrilla leaders it blames.

October 6, 1973 - Egypt and Syria attack along Suez Canal and Golan Heights. After initial reverses in Yom Kippur War, Israel pushes both armies back within three weeks.

February 1974 - Gush Emunim, religious Zionist group backing Jewish settlement expansion in occupied territories, founded.

July 4, 1976 - Israeli commandos rescue 98 Israeli and Jewish hostages in Entebbe, Uganda, after Palestinian guerrillas had hijacked an Air France airliner.

May 17, 1977 - Menachem Begin's right-wing Likud party wins national elections, ending 29 years of Labour party dominance.

November 19, 1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat makes landmark visit to Israel, ending 30 years of hostility.

September 17, 1978 - Begin and Sadat sign Camp David accords brokered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

March 26, 1979 - Begin and Sadat sign peace treaty at the White House, the first between Israel and an Arab country.

June 7, 1981 - Israeli air force destroys Iraq's nuclear reactor site, thwarting Saddam Hussein's hopes of an atom bomb.

April 25, 1982 - Israel hands back Sinai to Egypt.

June 6, 1982 - Israel invades Lebanon. PLO withdraws its forces from Lebanon in August. Three years later, Israel pulls its troops back to a "security zone" in south Lebanon.

September 16-18, 1982 - Hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed in a massacre at Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Lebanese Christian militiamen who were allowed in by Israeli troops.

December 1987 - Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, breaks out in West Bank and Gaza. About 1,500 Palestinians and 400 Israelis killed in conflict over following six years.

January 1991 - Iraq fires 39 Scud missiles at Israel after U.S.-led forces launch Gulf War to oust Iraq from Kuwait.

1991 - Massive immigration begins of Jews from the Soviet Union. Some 700,000 arrive in Israel as Communism collapse.

October 30, 1991 - Under U.S. and Soviet auspices, Middle East peace conference convenes in Madrid.

September 13, 1993 - At the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat shake hands on limited Palestinian self-rule under Oslo Accords.

October 26, 1994 - Israel signs peace treaty with Jordan.

September 28, 1995 - In Washington, Rabin and Arafat sign Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement.

November 4, 1995 - Rabin shot dead by Jewish ultranationalist Yigal Amir. Labour ally Shimon Peres becomes prime minister.

May 29, 1996 - Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu elected premier after wave of Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel.

January 10, 2000 - Talks on returning Golan Heights to Syria collapse over narrow strip of land by the Sea of Galilee.

May. 24, 2000 - Israeli troops leave south Lebanon.

July 25, 2000 - Breakdown of Camp David summit for Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

September 28, 2000 - Palestinian uprising begins after Likud leader Ariel Sharon visits Muslim holy site in Jerusalem.

February 6, 2001 - Sharon beats Labour's Barak in election.

March 27, 2002 - Suicide bomber kills 30 people at Passover meal in Netanya. Israeli forces enter West Bank cities March 29.

April 30, 2003 - Peace "road map" drafted by Quartet -- United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.

November 11, 2004 - Arafat dies. Mahmoud Abbas leads PLO.

February 8, 2005 - Sharon and Abbas declare ceasefire.

August 22, 2005 - Israel completes pullout of troops and settlers from Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation.

January 4, 2006 - Sharon suffers major stroke and Ehud Olmert succeeds the comatose leader, later winning elections.

January 25, 2006 - Hamas wins Palestinian parliamentary election and rejects Abbas's peace accords with Israel.

July-Aug 2006 - At least 1,100 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis die in 34 days of fighting that erupts after Hezbollah captures two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.

June 14, 2007 - Hamas routs Abbas's forces in Gaza. Abbas, in the West Bank, dismisses Hamas-led unity government. West, Israel ease sanctions on West Bank, tighten them on Gaza.

November 27, 2007 - Conference at Annapolis, Maryland relaunches talks that aim to reach deal on Palestinian state by end-2008.

March 1, 2008 - On bloodiest day for decades, Israeli troops kill 61 Palestinians in Gaza. Israel says responding to rocket fire. Over 120 Palestinians and 3 Israelis killed in six days.

May 14, 2008 - U.S. President George W. Bush to visit Israel to mark 60th anniversary of Ben-Gurion's declaration of state.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit;)

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