The Palestine Chronology

The IDF fires missiles nr. a Gaza r.c., destroying 2 Islamic Jihad rocket launchers, wounding 2 Palestinian bystanders; the Islamic Jihad mbrs., who had fired 3 rockets at Sederot (causing no damage or injuries), escape. The IDF also demolishes 2 animal farms w. of Bethlehem to make way for the separation wall. (JAZ 5/30; NYT 5/31; PR 6/1; PCHR 6/2)

The IDF fires missiles at Tal al-Za‘atar in n. Gaza, allegedly targeting Islamic Jihad mbrs. attempting to fire a rocket, but no injuries are reported; shells Jabaliya r.c., hitting a home, wounding 2 Palestinians; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin, Ramallah; patrols in Nablus; captures 4 unarmed Palestinians attempting to sneak across the Israeli border fence in central Gaza to find work; detains a Palestinian in Ariel settlement who apparently was living there secretly with his Jewish settler girlfriend (a fmr. IDF intelligence officer). Palestinian gunmen fire on an IDF outpost nr. Mevo Dotan settlement nr. Jenin; the IDF returns fire, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding and arresting 2. Palestinians also fire an antitank missile at an IDF patrol nr. Rafah, causing no damage or injuries. In Hebron, 10s of Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba (some reports say Avraham Avino) attack and threaten 10s of Palestinians, vandalize and attempt to break into Palestinian homes, seriously injuring a 12-yr.-old Palestinian girl. Some 50 Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai attack a Palestinian home where a number of international peace activists are visiting; the IDF observes but does not intervene. (IMEMC, PRCS 5/28; YA 5/29; OCHA 6/1; PCHR 6/2)

In Gaza, 3 Palestinians representing the AMB, Hamas, Islamic Jihad stage a joint attack on Kefar Darom settlement, firing rifles, 1 mortar, 6 grenades, causing damage but no injuries; the IDF fires back, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding a 2d, who escapes with the 3d assailant; the IDF says that PA security forces spotted the attackers but did not stop them, waiting until after the clash to retrieve the body of the dead man, turn his weapons over to the IDF. Israel pledges to respond to such attacks as it did today, “without escalating the fighting.” The IDF also conducts arrest raids in Mughraqa in central Gaza, nr. Bethlehem; patrols in Nablus, firing on residential areas; occupies a Palestinian home in Hebron as an observation post. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba severely beat 3 Palestinian girls. (IMEMC 5/20; NYT 5/21; OCHA 5/25; PCHR 5/26)

The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Dayr Ghusun nr. Tulkarm, Dura (also firing on residential areas, wounding 5); conducts patrols in Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim poison a Palestinian well nr. Qalqilya, killing a horse. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai chase Palestinians, vandalize homes, destroy water lines in Hebron, damaging 5 houses. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba severely beat a 7-yr.-old Palestinian boy playing nr. the settlement; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Islamic Jihad kidnaps 3 alleged collaborators in Saida nr. Tulkarm; claims to execute 1. (IMEMC 5/8; VOP 5/8 in WNC 5/9; PR 5/11; PCHR 5/12)

The IDF issues military orders to “restore” a 500 d. area nr. Bethlehem to its original state, requiring some 450 olive trees planted since the early 1990s to be uprooted; bulldozes Palestinian land in Sammu‘ nr. Hebron for construction of the separation wall; suspends the cmdr. in charge of troops involved in the fatal shooting of 2 Palestinian teenagers on 5/4. Palestinians fire Qassam rockets at Sederot, causing no damage or injuries. Jewish settlers fr. Tapuach nr. Nablus stone Palestinian vehicles driving nearby, injuring 1 Palestinian. An Islamic Jihad mbr. dies fr. injuries received in clashes with the IDF on 2 May in Saida. (MM, NYT 5/6; NYT 5/9; OCHA 5/11; PCHR 5/12)

Palestinians in 76 locales in the West Bank and 8 in Gaza participate in the 3d round of Palestinian municipal elections. Fatah wins 56% of the vote, Hamas 33%, independents and smaller parties 11%. (AFP, HA, MM, REU 5/5; BBC, MM, NYT, WP, WT 5/6; NYT, WP, WT 5/7; HA 5/8; CSM, HA, MM 5/9; AYM, HJ, al-Quds, XIN 5/9 in WNC 5/10; MM 5/10; MEI, MM 5/13)

The IDF imposes a curfew, makes a predawn raid on Saida nr. Tulkarm to arrest 2 wanted Islamic Jihad mbrs., marking the IDF’s 1st reentry of the town since returning it to PA security control on 3/22, sparking an exchange of gunfire that leaves dead wanted Islamic Jihad mbr. Shafiq ‘Abd al-Ghani and 1 IDF soldier (the 1st Israeli killed by a Palestinian since 2/25); 1 Islamic Jihad mbr. is wounded, escapes, is later arrested; the PA condemns the incursion as a violation of agmts. btwn. the 2 sides; Israel denounces the PA for failing to rein in militants. In response, Islamic Jihad fires 2 rockets at Sederot, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF also demolishes a Palestinian home in Jabal al-Mukabir and 1 in Sur al-Bahir, both in the Jerusalem municipality; sends troops into Tubas nr. Jenin to search Palestinian vehicles. Palestinians fire 3 mortars at a Jewish settlement in n. Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. As part of Abbas’s ongoing anticorruption efforts, PA security forces bulldoze 3 seaside homes in Gaza illegally built on public land seized by senior PA security officials. (BBC, HA 5/2; NYT, WP, WT 5/3; MA, VOP 5/3 in WNC 5/4; OCHA, PCHR 5/5)