The Palestine Chronology

The IDF conducts house searches, arrest raids in Bayt Hanun, Nablus, al-Qarara; bulldozes 67 dunams of land in Dayr al-Balah, 39 dunams in al-Qarara, 7 dunams in Wadi al-Silqa. (VOP 1/26 in WNC 1/28; PCHR 1/29)

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)

The IDF issues confiscation orders for 700 dunams of Palestinian land (including 10 Palestinian homes) in Dayr al-Balah nr. Kefar Darom settlement; for no apparent reason, fires on Palestinians waiting to go through the Erez crossing, wounding 25; fires on residential areas of Rafah, seriously injuring 1 woman outside her home; fires on, seriously wounds a deaf-mute Palestinian woman who strays too close to the separation wall nr. Qalqilya; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tulkarm. (PCHR 1/20; VOI, VOP, YA 1/20 in WNC 1/22; LAW, PCHR 1/22)

The IDF sends a bulldozer into Lebanese territory to clear mines laid by Hizballah along the de facto border. Hizballah shells the bulldozer when it crosses the demarcation fence into Lebanon, killing 1 IDF soldier, wounding 2. (HA 1/19; LBC, MNR 1/19 in WNC 1/21; HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/20; IDF Radio, MNR 1/20 in WNC 1/22; MM 1/21; IRNA 1/21 in WNC 1/23; MM 1/22, 1/23; NYT 1/29)

Israel reopens the Erez crossing, allowing 3,600 Palestinian laborers to reach their jobs in the Erez industrial zone and Israel. The IDF raids a mosque in Hebron, detaining worshippers for 2 hrs.; erects new temporary checkpoints around Tulkarm; closes entrances to Salfit; conducts arrest raids, completely demolishes 1 Palestinian home in Yatta, partially demolishes 3 in Rafah; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Anabta, Askar r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Nablus. (WT 1/19; PCHR 1/20; LAW, PCHR 1/22)

The IDF imposes a curfew on Araba w. of Jenin, Far‘un s. of Tulkarm; fires on residential areas of Araba; completely demolishes 7 Palestinian homes, partially demolishes 1 nr. Kefar Darom settlement outside Dayr al-Balah; bulldozes homes in Rafah previously severely damaged by IDF fire, severing a water main serving the western half of the city; conducts arrest raids and house searches in Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah. Israeli Environmental Authority planes spray 1,000 dunams of Palestinian agricultural land in Yatta s. of Hebron with incendiary chemicals, destroying the crops. (VOI 1/16 in WNC 1/21; PCHR 1/22)

The IDF withdraws troops to the outskirts of Nablus, ending Operation Still Water, during which a total of 10 Palestinian homes were destroyed; demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in Dayr al-Balah, 1 in Rafah; bulldozes 53 dunams of land nr. Dayr al-Balah; fences off 120 dunams of land, 2 Palestinian homes along a settler bypass road nr. Wadi al-Silqa; conducts arrest raids in Jenin. (PR 1/7; JP, VOP 1/7 in WNC 1/9; PCHR 1/9)

The IDF begins requiring all visitors to Gaza and the PA-controlled areas of the West Bank (areas A) to obtain prior written permission for travel fr. the Civil Admin. or face the chance that they may be prosecuted, denied reentry into Israel, or deported; allows Palestinian workers in Gaza over age 28 to apply for work visas in Israel (previously workers had to be over age 35). The IDF also ends 4 days of bulldozing nr. Dayr al-Balah, during which 8 Palestinian homes, 12 dunams of land were razed; fires on residential areas nr. Hebron; fires on Palestinian, foreign peace activists staging a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall nr. Ramallah, injuring 18. Sharon orders the removal of another 2 uninhabited unauthorized settlement outposts; settlers immediately appeal to the High Court. (WP, WT 1/5; MM 1/6; PR 1/7; PCHR 1/9; PR 1/14; PCHR 1/22)

After completing a stretch of the separation wall cutting off Jenin fr. Israel, the IDF removes the closure on Jenin, withdraws troops inside the city for the 1st time since 8/03, redeploys troops that have been encircling the city for most of the past 3 yrs. The IDF also fatally shoots a Palestinian allegedly attempting to lay a roadside bomb outside a Gaza settlement; fires on stone-throwing Palestinians in Nablus; bulldozes a Palestinian home in Hebron; places a curfew on, conducts arrest raids in Dayr al-Balah, Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarm; imposes a curfew on, digs trenches across the entrances to Bayt Umar village nr. Hebron. (WP 1/3; WP, WT 1/4; LAW 1/8; PCHR 1/9)

The IDF fires on Palestinian youths breaking curfew, throwing stones at troops in Nablus, killing a 16-yr.-old Palestinian; fires on residential areas of al-Qarara; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron; imposes a curfew on, reinforces troops in al-Khadir village nr. Hebron; bulldozes 3 dunams of land in al-Qarara, additional land nr. Dayr al-Balah and Gaza City. In Nablus, 2 IDF soldiers are wounded by a roadside bomb. (NYT 1/2; LAW 1/8; PCHR 1/9)