The Palestine Chronology

The IDF allows EU monitors to open the Rafah crossing; makes an air strike destroying a storage shed nr. the Rafah border after warning residents to evacuate the area. In the West Bank, the IDF bars all Palestinians fr. entering East Jerusalem until 9/24 for the Rosh Hashanah holidays; patrols in al-Fara‘a r.c., Tamun, Tubas, Yamun nr. Jenin (firing percussion grenades, live ammunition on residential areas); conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Jenin town and r.c. Fatah supporters rally in Gaza’s Jabaliya r.c. to protest Hamas’s refusal to recognize Israel. ESF, Fatah mbrs. exchange fire in Bayt Lahiya, wounding 4 Palestinian bystanders. Unidentified Palestinian gunmen shoot, wound a Force 17 officer nr. Rafah Crossing. (NYT 9/23; OCHA 9/27; PCHR 9/28)

The IDF sends troops into Gaza to level 20 d. of land along the s. border nr. alQarara; sends undercover units into Bala’a and Thinnaba nr. Tulkarm to arrest 5 wanted Palestinians; conducts additional arrest raids in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron; patrols in al-Fara‘a r.c., firing on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 1; raids a girls’ high school in ‘Anata, East Jerusalem, firing tear gas to disperse students and parents attending graduation ceremonies. Jewish settlers fr. the unauthorized outpost of Brakha Bet nr. Nablus break into a Palestinian quarry in nearby Hawara, set fire to several trailers, including 1 in which they know a Palestinian guard is inside; they beat the guard when he escapes the fire; settlers attacked the same quarry on 4/22. Fatah, Hamas mbrs. clash in n. Gaza, leaving 4 mbrs. fr. each side wounded; no reason for the violence is reported. (MM 5/12; HA, IMEMC 5/13; HA 5/14; PCHR 5/18)

IDF undercover units raid Bethlehem, open fire on a car, assassinating wanted AMB mbrs. Daniel Abu Hammami and Ahmad Muslih, wounding a 3d. The IDF also closes Kerem Shalom crossing for the day; raids al-Amal Hospital in Nablus, searching wards for wanted Palestinians; raids a PA police station in Azariyya in East Jerusalem, detaining 2 officers; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and nr. Bethlehem, Tulkarm. In Gaza City, armed Fatah mbrs. protest outside the PA Health Min. offices in Gaza City, demanding assistance for relatives in need of medical treatment abroad, and begin to riot when they are told that budget constraints have forced the government to slash funding for medical transports abroad; when PA police are unable to quell the demonstration, the Health M calls in Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades mbrs. to support the police, sparking an exchange of gunfire with the Fatah mbrs., leaving 3 Fatah mbrs. wounded. In Nablus, AMB gunmen (mbrs. of the PA security forces) fire on the historic Nablus municipal building, forcing employees to evacuate, demanding that the Hamas mayor close his offices, that the PA pay their salaries. To calm tensions, Abbas orders the PA security forces to cancel plans for a massive pro-Fatah rally in Ramallah against Mishal’s 4/21 statements. (IMEMC, PNN, YA 4/23; MM, WP, WT 4/24; OCHA 4/26; PCHR 4/27)

The IDF bars CEC officials fr. transporting election boxes through a Tulkarm checkpoint to 21 al-Sha‘rawiyya polling stations; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin. The Shin Bet summons PNN correspondent Mais Abu Ghazaleh for questioning, releases her with an “offer” to “consider cooperating with them to inform them on her future work with PNN.” Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into the Negev, causing no damage or injuries. Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality fines Fatah, Hamas, the PFLP $100,000 each for hanging campaign posters in East Jerusalem. Fatah gunmen in Nablus fatally shoot Fatah election official Yusif Hassuna after he tells them to stop shooting at campaign posters for Ghassan Shaka‘a (opposed by some Fatah mbrs.) on his house; 1,000 Palestinians later march to Nablus’s main police station to protest the killing, the police’s failure to end lawlessness. Some 40 Islamic Jihad mbrs. march in Tulkarm, demanding the release of prisoners fr. Palestinian jails, calling for an election boycott, firing on a PA police station (causing no injuries); PA police disperse the crowd. (AP, HA, IMEMC, PCHR, YA 1/24; PCHR 1/26; PNN press release 1/28)

The IDF raids Yatta, detains several candidates in the 1/25 elections after they conclude a rally; bars Fatah candidates fr. crossing a checkpoint nr. Qalqilya to attend a campaign rally in Azun Itma village; raids a Fatah campaign rally in East Jerusalem, detaining Fatah candidate Uthman Abu Gharbiyya; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Dura (occupying 3 Palestinian homes as observation posts), Jenin and in Bethlehem, Hebron, Yatta. IDF troops stationed on the central Gaza border detain 7 Palestinian teenagers (ages 13–15) fr. Nussayrat r.c. attempting to sneak into Israel to find work. Some 3,000 Palestinian, Israeli, and international protesters led by several Palestinian candidates to the 1/25 elections take part in the weekly nonviolent march against the separation wall in Bil‘in; the IDF fires tear gas to disperse the crowd. A Jewish settler moderately injures a Palestinian in a hit-and-run nr. Nablus. (IMEMC 1/20; Gush Shalom press release, JAZ 1/21; PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. press release 1/23; PCHR 1/26)

An Islamic Jihad suicide bomber fr. Nablus detonates a device in a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing only himself, wounding 24 Israelis (1 critically). The PA accuses Islamic Jihad of trying to derail the 1/25 elections. The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian throwing a Molotov cocktail at troops in Hebron; arrests Fatah candidate fr. Jerusalem Ahmad ‘Abd al-Rahim at a campaign rally in Shu‘fat, East Jerusalem; raids, seals an office in East Jerusalem linked to Change and Reform campaigning, confiscating computers, documents; demolishes 3 Palestinian homes nr. Jenin for construction of the separation wall; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and nr. Hebron, nr. Ramallah, and in Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, Tubas. Palestinians fire a rocket fr. n. Gaza towards Israel, but it lands in Bayt Lahiya, damaging a Palestinian home, lightly injuring a 7-yr.-old girl. (AP, IMEMC, JTA 1/19; HA, NYT, IMEMC, WP, WT 1/20; WT 1/21; PCHR 1/26)

As the campaign period for the 1/25 Palestinian elections opens, Israeli police in East Jerusalem arrest Independent Palestine candidate Mustafa Barghouthi as he campaigns, releases him after 4 hrs.; detain 7 Fatah candidates campaigning in the city; disperse a Third Way rally led by Palestinian Council (PC) mbr. Hanan Ashrawi (Jerusalem); in 2 separate incidents, bars Central Election Commission (CEC) staff mbrs. fr. crossing a Tulkarm checkpoint to attend an election-related mtg. in nearby Dayr al-Ghusun and the Jordan Valley; blocks the transportation of election campaigning material fr. the West Bank to Gaza; sends troops into Jenin town and r.c. Meanwhile, the IDF opens the new Kerem Shalom commercial crossing on the Egypt-Gaza-Israel border; fatally shoots wanted Palestinian Mustafa Muhammad during an arrest raid nr. Hebron; raids a Palestinian school in Anata n. of Jerusalem, firing rubber bullets, injuring 1 teacher, 1 student and then fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops, wounding 8; bulldozes a Palestinian home in Bayt Hanina; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, Jalazun r.c., Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, Qalqilya; dismantles 3 unauthorized settlement outposts nr. Bat Ayin, Efrat, Pdu’el. In response to the 1/2 assassination, Islamic Jihad fires at least 12 rockets at the Negev, the ARB fires a rocket at Sederot, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with artillery fire on 8 roads leading to the n. Gaza no-go zone, causing no injuries. The AMB, ARB claim joint responsibility for detonating an explosive device nr. an IDF bulldozer operating on Jenin r.c., seriously injuring 1 IDF soldier. PA police arrest Gaza AMB leader Ala’ al-Hams for plotting the kidnapping of 3 Britons on 12/28. Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino break into, rob, vandalize several Palestinian shops in Hebron. (AFP, AP, BBC, HA, IMEMC, JAZ 1/3; IMEMC, PMC, WP, WT, YA 1/4; HA, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 1/5; HA 1/6; PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. press release 1/23)