The Palestine Chronology

Days of Penitence continues in n. Gaza with the IDF killing 10 Palestinians (including 7 armed Palestinians, 2–6 of them Islamic Jihad mbrs.; 3 civilians, including 1 deaf mute, 1 child inside an UNRWA school); demolishing a kindergarten, 2 factories, at least 7 Palestinian homes in Jabaliya r.c.; firing toward reporters covering events in Jabaliya. Palestinians fire 4 Qassam rockets at Sederot, causing no damage or injuries. A 13-yr.-old Palestinian dies of injuries received in Jabaliya on 10/1. The IDF also assassinates senior Izzeddine al-Qassam Brigades mbrs. Mahdi Mushtaha (reportedly one of the developers of the Qassam missile), Khalid al-‘Amriti in a missile strike on their car as they drive in Gaza City, injuring 4 bystanders; attempts to assassinate 2 wanted Hamas mbrs. in an air strike on Gaza City, wounding them, 1 bystander; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, Rafah. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber bullets, tear gas at a group of Palestinians, Israelis, internationals protesting the separation wall nr. Bayt Awa nr. Hebron, wounding 1 Dane, at least 14 Palestinians; reimposes a ban on Palestinians entering the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron (see 9/26); conducts arrest raids in and around Hebron, and in Bayt Laqia, Dahaysha r.c., Tulkarm. A Jewish settler seriously injures a 42-yr.-old Palestinian woman in a hit-and-run nr. Hebron. A Palestinian wounded in Salfit 2 wks. ago dies of her injuries. (NYT, WP 10/3; JAZ, VOI, VOP 10/3 in WNC 10/5; NYT, WP 10/4; JP, VOI 10/4 in WNC 10/6; PR 10/6; PCHR 10/7)

The IDF fires on residential areas of Rafah, wounding a 9-mo.-old baby; razes a Palestinian home, 65 dunams of agricultural land in al-Qarara; bulldozes 1.5 dunams of citrus trees, a telephone network in Dayr al-Balah; fires tear gas, live ammunition at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists protesting against the separation wall nr. Qalqilya, injuring a Palestinian cameraman working for Agence France-Presse and a South African protester, arresting an American; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Askar r.c., Bethlehem, Husan, Jenin town and r.c., al-Mughraqa, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Yatta. The IDF also begins removing 40 earthen mounds, gates blocking Palestinian roads in the West Bank, easing Palestinian movement slightly; flying roadblocks, checkpoints at the entrances to towns and villages—the main barriers to Palestinians’ free movement—will remain. (XIN 6/13; PCHR 6/17)

Israel’s security cabinet approves an aggressive new campaign (dubbed Operation Continuous Story) against Palestinian militants in Gaza following the 3/14 Ashdod bombings. The IDF closes Gaza’s Erez crossing “indefinitely”; raids a mtg. of PA officials and local administrators in Jenin, arresting several participants, including the mayors of 2 local communities, 1 local council mbr.; fires on a PSF post at Netzarim junction in Gaza, seriously injuring 1 PSF officer, severely damaging the building; places a curfew on, fires on residential areas of Husan; shells residential areas of Rafah, demolishing 1 Palestinian home, heavily damaging 1, occupying a 3d as an observation post; seizes 4 Palestinian homes in Tulkarm, 2 in Balata r.c. as observation posts; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, nr. Hebron; fires on stone-throwing youths in Balata r.c., wounding 1 teenager, 3 bystanders; fires live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at a group of Palestinian, Israeli, international protesters demonstrating against the separation wall nr. Ramallah, wounding 15. The IDF also allows 1 West Bank administrative detainee deported to Gaza in 9/02 to return to her West Bank home. Jewish settlers fr. Beitar Ilit nr. Bethlehem, accompanied by IDF soldiers, bulldoze 5 dunams of adjacent Palestinian olive groves. (VOP 3/15 in WNC 3/17; AFP, HA 3/16; MM, PR, REU, WP 3/17; MM, PCHR 3/18; MEI 3/19; PCHR 3/25)

The IDF fires on residential areas nr. Bethlehem, Qalqilya; demolishes several Palestinian homes in Rafah, conducts house searches, arrest raids in Bethlehem; fires tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinians demonstrating peacefully against the separation wall nr. Ramallah. The IDF also issues orders confiscating 32,000 dunams of West Bank land along the Green Line nr. Ariel settlement for construction of a 3-mi. segment of the separation wall. (VOP 3/12 in WNC 3/16; WT 3/13; PCHR 3/18)

The IDF lifts the seal on the West Bank, Gaza imposed on 3/4; fires on Palestinians working their fields in s. Gaza who stray too close to Morag settlement, killing a Palestinian teenager; fires on the boy’s funeral procession later in the day, wounding 1; fatally shoots a Palestinian grocer in Salfit during an arrest raid; fires live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international demonstrators holding a peaceful protest against the separation wall nr. Bayt Laqia, injuring 10s; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Qalqilya, and in Nablus, al-Qarara; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, Rafah. A Jewish settler beats up a young Palestinian woman in Hebron; IDF soldiers observe but do not intervene. A 16-yr.-old Palestinian dies of injuries received when he was deliberately run over by a Jewish settler in East Jerusalem a wk. ago. (MM 3/8; VOP 3/8 in WNC 3/12; BBC, WP 3/9; PR 3/10; PCHR 3/11; MEI 3/19)

The IDF transfers a West Bank administrative detainee to Gaza for 4 yrs.; fires on 4 Palestinians, allegedly al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AMB) mbrs. attempting to infiltrate Gaza’s Gush Katif settlement, killing 2 Palestinians, capturing 1; fires tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets into a school playground, wounding 3 children; bulldozes 120 dunams of land in al-Mughraqa; conducts house searches in al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis. In Khan Yunis, unidentified gunmen open fire on the office of Palestinian Council (PC) mbr. Ibrahim Abu Naja, aclose ally of PA head Yasir Arafat, causing significant damage but no injuries. (PCHR 2/19; HA 2/20; LAW, PCHR 2/26)

The IDF sends troops into Rafah to search for smugglers’ tunnels, completely demolishes 22 Palestinian homes, a mosque along the Rafah border with Egypt, heavily damages another 16 homes, leaving 400 Palestinians homeless; raids 2 Palestinian charities in Ramallah, confiscating computers, files; fires stun grenades, tear gas into a high school in Nablus; fires on residential areas of Rafah, wounding 3. The IDF also expels a West Bank Palestinian administrative detainee to Gaza; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Askar r.c., Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Salfit, Ramallah; bulldozes 5 dunams of land in Bayt Lahia, 2 dunams nr. Kefar Darom; arrests 4 herders nr. Bayt Hanun. IDF soldiers scuffle with Jewish settlers who protest the removal of a synagogue built by supporters of deceased right-wing Rabbi Meir Kahane, the only permanent structure at the unauthorized settlement outpost of West Tapuach; soldiers do not attempt to remove trailer homes at the site. Palestinians fire 3 mortars at a Jewish settlement in Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. (AP, HA, MM, PCHR, PRCS 1/20; NYT, PR, WP 1/21; LAW, MM, PCHR 1/22; JPI 1/30)

Israel retaliates for Hizballah’s 1/19 shelling of an IDF bulldozer inside s. Lebanon by sending warplanes to strike Hizballah targets in s. Lebanon. In Washington, U.S. Secy. of State Colin Powell accuses Hizballah of deliberately taking action to escalate hostilities with Israel. (HA 1/20; LBC, MNR 1/20 in WNC 1/22; NYT, PR, WP, WT 1/21; WJW 1/22; MNR 1/22 in WNC 1/24)