The Palestine Chronology

Abbas issues a presidential decree banning all militias, including the AMB, which vows to ignore the order. Meanwhile, the IDF withdraws fr. an area n. of Jabaliya r.c. occupied on 6/22; bulldozes 3 plots of Palestinian land nr. the Erez crossing, the border fence e. of Dayr al-Balah, and the Sufa crossing. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza City coast, forcing them back to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF raids Jenin r.c., surrounds the home of a wanted Islamic Jihad mbr., sparking an exchange of gunfire that leaves 1 Palestinian bystander (a relative of the wanted man) dead; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c. (firing percussion grenades that spark a fire, damaging a restaurant) and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Beit Hadasah severely beat a 13-yr.-old Palestinian boy in Hebron. (OCHA, WP 6/27; PCHR, WP 6/28)

In Gaza, the IDF sends tanks, troops into al-Qarara, occupying homes as sniper posts, exchanging fire with Palestinians who also fire 15 mortars at IDF tanks; no injuries are reported; the IDF withdraws late in the evening. In the West Bank, the IDF broadens its crackdown on Hamas, arresting the head of the IQB; sends troops into al- ‘Aqaba village in the Jordan Valley, raiding the home of the mayor, demanding that he remove a Palestinian flag atop the local school, raiding the school and removing the flag when he refuses; conducts patrols in, fire on residential areas of Nablus, causing no injuries; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus, Tulkarm. An ESF mbr. dies of injuries received in a 1/25 Fatah attack on his patrol in Jabaliya r.c. (NYT, WP, WT 6/24; OCHA 6/27; PCHR 6/28)

While daily clashes at Nahr al-Barid continue, Lebanese soldiers raid an apartment building in Tripoli suspected of housing an arms cache, resulting in a clash with 6 suspected FI mbrs. (3 Saudis, 1 Chechen, 2 Lebanese). During the 10-hr. battle, the 6 militants, 2 bystanders, 1 soldier, 1 police officer are killed, 12 soldiers are wounded. (WP 6/24; NYT, WP, WT 6/25)

In Gaza, the IDF bulldozes Palestinian land 300 m. inside Gaza n. of Jabaliya r.c., occupying the area. In the West Bank, the IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian nr. Hebron who allegedly attempted to infiltrate an IDF post; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah, in Jenin town and r.c. (firing on residential areas, wounding a Palestinian woman inside her home), Nablus; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists attending the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 2 internationals. Jewish settlers fr. Rachelim settlement nr. Nablus uproot and cart away 300 Palestinian olive trees fr. nearby Qaryut (the IDF secures the return of 140 trees). Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus cut down 20 Palestinian olive, almond trees in nearby Burkin village. Jewish settlers fr. Tekoa nr. Bethlehem set fire to 300 d. of nearby Palestinian agricultural land, including 400 olive trees. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai in Hebron burn 50 nearby Palestinian olive and almond trees. Suspected Hamas mbrs. toss a homemade bomb at the Fatah offices in Qalqilya, causing damage but no injuries. (WP 6/23; OCHA 6/27; PCHR 6/28)

In Gaza, the IDF bulldozes Palestinian land along the border e. of Jabaliya r.c. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin and in Balata r.c., Nablus. (PCHR 6/28)

In Gaza, Fatah-Hamas fighting escalates for the 4th day, leaving at least 24 armed Palestinians, 4 civilians dead and more than 100 wounded (the highest 1- day total in 18 mos. of factional fighting), as gunmen on both sides continue to ignore appeals by their political leaders to halt the violence. (Egyptian mediators try to broker another cease-fire, but the Hamas delegation cannot reach the talks because of Fatah roadblocks.) By evening, Hamas is reported to be in control of most of n. Gaza. During the day, Hamas gunmen and ESF mbrs. surround secondary Fatah and PA security posts across Gaza. In light of increasingly coordinated Hamas attacks, Abbas accuses Hamas of attempting to stage a coup, for the 1st time orders his security forces to defend their positions. Of note: Hamas stages major assaults on Fatah’s security headquarters in Khan Yunis and Gaza City, where some 200 Hamas mbrs. firing mortars and RPGs seize the post from 500 Fatah fighters. After dark, 100s of Hamas gunman raid a major hilltop NSF post in Jabaliya r.c., using small arms and grenades, taking the post after an intense gunfight that leaves 21 dead and 60 wounded (included in the figures above). PA presidential guardsmen fire RPGs at Haniyeh’s home in what Hamas condemns as an assassination attempt (no one is injured); in retaliation, Hamas mbrs. fire mortars toward Abbas’s Gaza residence, causing no damage or injuries (Abbas is in Ramallah). Hamas mbrs. also attack the home of PSF cmdr. Hassan Muhsin (not home at the time), killing his wife, son, daughter, and niece; ransack the vacant home of PC mbr. Nabil Shaath; occupy a PA-funded TV station in Gaza City. Human Rights Watch issues a statement accusing both factions of war crimes for executing captives and killing bystanders. In the West Bank, Fatah and Hamas kidnap rival mbrs. (including the AMB kidnapping of Hamas-affiliated Dep. Transportation M Fadi Shabanah); PA presidential guardsmen attack, close a Hamas TV station in Ramallah. Palestinians in Ramallah stage a demonstration against the interfactional fighting. On the Israeli-Palestinian front, Palestinians fire several rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli. The IDF fires on stonethrowing youths nr. Nablus, wounding an 11-yr.-old Palestinian bystander. More than 1,000 Jewish settlers, escorted by the IDF, reoccupy the evacuated Homesh settlement site nr. Nablus, closing the local stretch of the Nablus–Jenin road to Palestinian traffic. Inside Israel, the Israel Lands Authority demolishes a home in the Israeli Palestinian neighborhood of al-Jawarish in Ramla built without a permit. (MENA, MNA, OCS, PSCT 6/12 in WNC 6/13; NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 6/13; PCHR 6/14)

In Gaza, Fatah-Hamas fighting that erupted in Rafah on 6/9 escalates sharply, spreading across the Strip (Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City, Jabaliya r.c., Rafah), with 100s of gunmen exchanging RPG and machine gun fire, and sides kidnapping rival mbrs. and setting up security checkpoints, leaving at least 4 Palestinians dead, 36 wounded (mostly civilians). Incidents include a PA presidential guard mbr. being shot and thrown off an 18-story Gaza City building, the retaliatory abduction and killing of a Hamas cleric, and the murder of an ESF officer by throwing him off a high-rise building. Late in the evening, Fatah, Hamas officials call on their fighters to leave the streets and observe a cease-fire. Meanwhile, in response to the 6/9 Islamic Jihad–AMB attack, the IDF makes 3 predawn air strikes on Gaza City, destroying a study center and charitable association run by Islamic Jihad and an alleged AMB weapons depot, wounding 7 bystanders. The IDF ends operations in Shuka, releasing all but 6 Palestinians detained at the start of the incursion on 6/8. Citing intraPalestinian fighting, Israel forces the closure of Rafah crossing, barring EU monitors fr. reaching the site. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers burn 200 d. of Palestinian agricultural land nr. Tulkarm. (NYT, WP, WT 6/11; OCHA 6/13; PCHR 6/14)

In Gaza, IDF troops fire on residential areas of Bayt Hanun, wounding 2 Palestinians; conduct arrest raids, house searches in Dayr al-Balah; bulldoze Palestinian land e. of Jabaliya. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c. and in Nablus, Qalqilya. In Rafah, Fatah mbrs. fire on an ESF patrol, sparking an exchange of gunfire and RPGs that lasts several hrs., leaving 1 Fatah mbr. dead, 15 Palestinians wounded. In Gaza City, 19 Palestinians are wounded in interfactional fighting. Incidents include suspected Hamas mbrs. throwing a grenade at a Fatah mbr.; unidentified gunmen kidnapping Hamas-affiliated physician Fuad al-Barawi fr. a graduation ceremony for his brother, a PA presidential guard mbr., shooting him 5 times before releasing him. In Dayr alBalah, unidentified gunmen kidnap, shoot, wound, release a PA presidential guardsman. In Khan Yunis, a Fatah mbr. is stabbed, wounded by a Hamas mbr. (a cousin) in a family dispute with factional overtones. (HA 6/7; WP 6/8; NYT 6/9; OCHA 6/13; PCHR 6/14)

Daily exchanges of fire btwn. the Lebanese army and FI, ongoing since 6/1, continue at Nahr al-Barid r.c., leaving 1 Lebanese soldier dead. In the Biqa‘ Valley, the Lebanese army raids a building where 3 sophisticated car bombs are being prepared by a Saudi and 2 Syrian militants who had fought in Iraq and have ties to FI. A bomb explodes in a Christian neighborhood of Beirut, killing 1 Lebanese; no group claims responsibility. (WP 6/8)