A timeline of events in the Middle East

Oct. 4 -- Israeli and Palestinian leaders agree to a limited cease-fire during 10 hours of talks in Paris that bring together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Oct. 5 -- The cease-fire, like others reached before by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, holds for only a few hours before new violence erupts.

Oct. 7 -- Israel's army withdraws from Joseph's Tomb in Nablus after Palestinian security officials give assurances that they will protect the site. Within hours, a Palestinian mob destroys the Jewish holy site. Also, Hezbollah gunmen kidnap three Israeli soldiers, and the Israel Defense Force fails to stop the kidnappers from advancing north across the Israel-Lebanon border.

By a vote of 14-0, with the U.S. abstaining, the U.N. Security Council approves a resolution calling for an end to the past week's violence and obliquely blames Israel for using "excessive force'' against the Palestinians.

Oct. 10 -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan holds separate meetings with Arafat and Barak in an effort to find a way out of the cycle of violence.

Also, Barak extends a 48-hour deadline he gave the Palestinians to end the rioting, and says he is willing to attend a U.S.-sponsored peace summit.