The Palestine Chronology

As massive Israeli strikes on Gaza enter a 2d day, IDF Southern Command head Maj. Gen. Yo’av Galant says (HA 12/28) that the IDF aims to “send Gaza decades into the past” in terms of Hamas’s leadership, weaponry, and smuggling capabilities while achieving “the maximum number of enemy casualties.” Israel’s security cabinet authorizes the IDF to call up 6,500 reservists, and the IDF begins massing tanks and troops on Gaza’s border, indicating planning for a ground incursion. Israel’s Homefront Command orders 80 factories and businesses within 3 mi. of the Gaza border to close indefinitely for their safety (a move expected [WJW 1/1] to cost Israel’s economy $1 m./day), indicating concerns of increased Palestinian rocket fire once ground operations begin. Israeli Military Intelligence breaks into Palestinian radio broadcasts to warn Gazans against cooperating with Hamas. The IDF drops 300,000 leaflets across Gaza warning residents to evacuate areas where Hamas is operating or storing weapons or to remain at their own risk. The Israeli FMin. opens an international media broadcast outlet in Sederot (a main target of Palestinian rockets), begins tours of Sederot and other Gaza border communities for foreign media, diplomats, and VIPs. (Israel continues to prevent the foreign media fr. entering Gaza.)

Israeli actions: The IDF reports air and naval bombardment of 100 sites across Gaza, bringing the number of targets destroyed since operations began to more than 210. The 2-day Palestinian toll rises to an estimated 300 dead (including at least 22 children, 9 women, 60 other civilians) and 1,300 injured (including at least 235 children and 200 women). Target areas include Abasan, Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, Bani Suhayla (s. Gaza), Bir al-Naja (n. Gaza), Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (city center, al-Rimal, Shaykh Ridwan, Shati’ r.c., al-Shuja‘iyya, Tal al-Hawa, al-Zaytun), Jabaliya town and r.c., Khan Yunis, Khuza (east of Khan Yunis), Nussayrat r.c., al-Qarara (s. Gaza), Rafah, Shati’ r.c., and Tal al-Za‘atar (nr. Jabaliya).

The IDF’s primary targets are around 40 tunnels along the Rafah border, hit with GBU-39s. Other major targets include several buildings at Islamic University (including a science building Israel claims was connected to rocket manufacturing); Gaza City’s PA ministry compound, the offices of acting PM Ismail Haniyeh, and the main police station (destroying the Saraya; allowing about 50 Fatah prisoners to escape, but killing at least 4); Rafah’s main PASF, governorate, and municipal complexes; more civil and naval police stations, metal workshops believed to make rockets; the Gaza City and Rafah ports; at least 3 mosques (Imad ‘Akel Mosque in Jabaliya r.c., Izzeddin al-Qassam Mosque in Abasan, al-Rimal Mosque in Gaza City) alleged to be weapons depots; a Palestinian Energy Authority building in Khan Yunis; a private medical warehouse; and at least 8 homes and 3 apartment buildings.

Palestinian actions: Palestinians fire 17 rockets, 18 mortars into Israel, injuring at least 6 Israeli civilians (including cases of shock). The rockets include 1 manufactured Grad/Katyusha that lands in Gan Yavne 20 mi. inside Israel, outside Ashdod, the farthest to date. In the evening, 100s of Palestinians attempt to flee Gaza through small breaches in the border wall apparently caused by IDF air strikes; they are sent back by Egyptian security forces, who exchange fire with the crowd, leaving at least 1 Palestinian, 1 Egyptian border policeman dead, 4 Palestinians, 5 Egyptian border policemen, an 8-yr.-old Egyptian child wounded.

Humanitarian notes: Israel allows the entry to Gaza of 100 truckloads of food and medical aid, 10 ambulances, and fuel for hospitals, donated by Jordan, Turkey, and international aid organizations. The shipments include 4 truckloads of pharmaceuticals from the PA central pharmacy in Ramallah (the 2d PA delivery since the PA had blocked the shipments of medicine to Gaza in early 9/08; see 12/16), transferred by the PA at UNRWA request. Humanitarian groups, however, continue to warn of deteriorating medical conditions and lack of food in Gaza and urge Israel to allow unrestricted entry of aid. OCHA reports power outages of up to 16 hrs./day in Gaza City, n. Gaza, and c. Gaza; says all flour mills have shut down for lack of grain imports, threatening widespread bread shortages. (AFP, AP, BBC, HA, IDF, IFM, JAZ, OCHA, REU 12/28; IDF, JP, al-Masryun[Egypt], NYT, SFR, WP, WT 12/29; BBC, Defense Update [online], Global Research [online], WP 12/30; REU, UNOSAT 12/31; JP, PCHR, WJW, WP 1/1; IDF, NYT 1/3; WP 1/4; IFM 1/8; WP 1/10)

Across the West Bank, Palestinians protest against OCL, clashing with the IDF at numerous points (Abu Dis, Issawiyya, and al-Ram nr. Jerusalem; Bani Na‘im nr. Hebron; Ni‘lin and Silwad nr. Ramallah), leaving 3 Palestinians dead, 31 Palestinians, 1 IDF soldier, 1 Israeli child injured. In at least one instance, PASF breaks up one protest by 100s of Palestinians in Ramallah when demonstrators unfurl Hamas banners; the PASF reportedly (NYT 1/3) has been ordered to prevent any popular displays of support for Hamas. The IDF conducts daytime house searches nr. Jenin, making no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bil‘in and nr. Hebron, Nablus. Palestinians stone a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Hebron, lightly injuring an 8-yr.-old girl. (PCHR, WJW 1/1)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts random ID checks of Palestinians harvesting olives nr. Nablus, arresting 1; raids, imposes a curfew on Azun nr. Qalqilya, fires on residential areas, blocks a main road with sand and rocks, then withdraws; fires rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin (seriously injuring an 11-yr.-old girl); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fara‘a r.c. (firing live ammunition at stone-throwing Palestinian youths who confront them, wounding 3, 1 of them seriously) and nr. Bethlehem (occupying 1 Palestinian home as an observation post, evicting the family), Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar attack Palestinians harvesting olives nearby, burn 15 olive trees, march through Bidan village in a show of force. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba demand that a Palestinian mechanic near the settlement fix their car, beat him when he refuses. Jewish settlers temporarily reoccupy the evacuated Homesh settlement site, stone passing Palestinian vehicles. The WHO arranges an emergency shipment of 4 truckloads of medical items into Gaza, noting that the PA’s Ramallah-based central pharmacy has sent no medial supplies to Gaza since it took over that function from the WHO on 9/1; as a result, 94 essential drugs have been entirely depleted in Gaza. (OCHA 10/29; PCHR 10/30; AIC 11/9)

Israeli FM Tzipi Livni narrowly wins Kadima party elections to replace Ehud Olmert as party head. Olmert, Israel’s current PM, called for party elections on 6/11/08, after government investigators turned up serious new evidence of his financial impropriety (see Quarterly Update in JPS 149). He vowed to resign as PM formally once a new party head was elected. (NYT 9/17; HA, NYT, WP, WT 9/18)

Israel reopens Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing for limited imports of humanitarian goods and the Nahal Oz crossing for limited fuel (see 9/14). In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, injuring 6; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Azariyya nr. Jerusalem and al-Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, and nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar burn Palestinian olive trees nr. Nablus. (PCHR 9/18; OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25; AIC 11/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes an early-evening raid into Nablus, occupying several buildings in Ras al-‘Ayn neighborhood as observation posts, raiding an apartment building to capture 2 wanted AMB mbrs., wounding 1 wanted man and fatally shooting 1 Palestinian bystander in the process. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm, in Ni‘lin (those arrested include 2 boys ages 11 and 14), and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Tubas. Some 20 Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus throws stones at residents of ‘Asira al-Qibliyya, who throw stones back, prompting the IDF to fire in the air and at the legs of the Palestinians “to try to restore order”; no serious injuries are reported. Jewish settlers attack an IDF contingent that enters an unauthorized settlement outpost nr. Ramallah to confiscate construction equipment being used to expand the outpost; no serious injuries are reported; late in the evening, Jewish settlers from another nearby outpost enter an IDF base w. of Ramallah, damage the water supply. (PCHR 9/11; NYT 9/12; NYT 9/14; OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18; AIC 11/9)

E. of Beirut, Druze politician Shaykh Sali Aridi of the pro-Syrian Lebanese Democratic Party is assassinated by a bomb placed under his car. No group claims responsibility. (WP 9/11)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes a morning incursion into Ni‘lin, surrounding and firing tear gas into a girls school for no apparent reason while classes are in session (10s of students suffer tear gas inhalation), then fires on 10s of stone-throwing Palestinian youths who confront them, wounding 7; destroys an unlicensed fruit and vegetable stand nr. the Qalandia checkpoint that provides the only source income for 6 Palestinian families; demolishes 32 bedouin structures in Mu’arrajat nr. Ramallah, displacing 60 bedouin (including 36 children); seizes Palestinian land in Hebron to erect a new electricity network to serve local Jewish settlements; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Dahaysha r.c. and Nablus, and in al-‘Askra village nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba stone Palestinian elementary school students on their way home fr. school, occupy the yards of 2 Palestinian homes and hold prayers (the IDF removes them). (OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11; AIC 11/9)

The Pentagon announces a $77-m. deal to sell Israel 1,000 GBU-39 bunker-buster munitions. Israeli military experts say the bombs would not be suitable for an attack on Iran but “could provide a powerful new weapon” against Gaza. (AP 9/15)

Israeli naval vessels seize 9 Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya coast, detaining 9 fishermen for questioning, releasing them in the evening. In the West Bank, the IDF makes an afternoon raid into al-Til nr. Nablus, arresting 1 Palestinian; fires tear gas, skunk spray at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, wounding 1; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin, injuring 3; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Beit HaShalom and Kiryat Arba attack Palestinians and vandalize Palestinian homes in Wadi al-Nassara; the IDF observes but does not intervene. A Palestinian is killed when he accidentally triggers unexploded IDF ordnance (UXO) in a field nr. Jenin. The Ramallah-based, Fatah-led Health Workers’ Union calls on PA health providers in Gaza to strike to protest the acting Hamas government; this strikes continues through the end of the quarter. (OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Ramallah and neighboring al-Bireh; fires tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin (10s suffer fr. tear gas inhalation); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Silwad nr. Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem; fires tear gas, skunk spray (see Quarterly Update in JPS 149) at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in. Separately, Jewish settlers fr. Matityahu settlement nr. Ramallah fire on a Palestinian home in Bil‘in, causing no injuries. In 2 incidents in East Jerusalem, Jewish settlers vandalize 20 graves in a Muslim cemetery; attempt to seize a strip of Palestinian land, but are chased off by local Palestinians. (OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28)

In the West Bank, IDF undercover units enter Kafr Qallil nr. Nablus in the afternoon, driving vehicles with Palestinian license plates, to capture 2 wanted Palestinians (1 a mbr. of military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP], the other of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade [AMB]). The IDF also issues a military order confiscating Palestinian land in Hebron for construction of a settler-only bypass road and military outpost; fires tear gas, rubbercoated steel bullets at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, injuring 10; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Bethlehem and Ramallah. (OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28)

In Gaza, unidentified Palestinians fire 3 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. On the Rafah border, 3 Palestinians are killed when a smuggling tunnel collapses; Hamas blames Egyptian efforts to seal tunnels using water, gas, explosives for killing 8 Palestinian smugglers since 8/1, calling the tactics irresponsible. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, wounding 7; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qabatya and Tubas, nr. Ramallah. Jewish settlers in Hebron unsuccessfully attempt to set fire to al-Ras Mosque (see 8/7). (OCHA, WT 8/13; PCHR, WT 8/14)

Egyptian border police discover, demolish 20 smuggling tunnels on the Rafah border; smugglers exchange fire with police, leaving 2 unidentified individuals dead and 4 wounded inside Egyptian territory. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, and international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, wounding 7. For a 2d day, armed Jewish settlers attempt to enter Shu‘fat r.c. to establish an unauthorized outpost; the IDF bars their entry. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba dump trash in front of the entrance of Hebron’s al-Ras Mosque. Jewish settlers fr. Givat Ha’avot settlement in Hebron vandalize 5 nearby Palestinian homes. The Israeli Interior Min. approves construction of 400 new settler housing units in Neve Ya’acov settlement n. of Jerusalem, and authorizes tenders to be issued for construction of 286 housing units in Beitar Ilit nr. Bethlehem (approved by the Housing Min. on 5/21) and 130 units in Har Homa in East Jerusalem (some of which may have been approved by the Interior Min. on 7/9). Israel also reportedly agrees to transfer settlers living in the unauthorized outpost of Migron nr. Ramallah to another settlement (as yet undecided) where 40 new units would be built to accommodate them. (OCHA 8/13; PCHR 8/14)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border shoot, wound a Palestinian collecting scrap metal who strays nr. the border fence. In the West Bank, the IDF detain without charge the father of a young girl who filmed IDF troops in Ni‘lin shooting and wounding a bound Palestinian prisoner on 7/7; fire on residential areas of Bayt Umar nr. Hebron, then fire on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1; also patrols in, fires on residential areas of Baytin and al-Bireh nr. Ramallah, causing no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Qalqilya. (PCHR 7/24; OCHA, PCHR 7/30)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of al-Bireh, Dayr al-Sudan, al-Mazara’, and Sinjil nr. Ramallah and Kafr Ra’i nr. Jenin; no injuries are reported. The IDF also fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in and Ni‘lin (10s suffer tear gas inhalation at both locations). (NYT 7/19; OCHA 7/23; PCHR 7/24)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinian farmers, preventing them fr. reaching their fields nr. the border fence but causing no injuries. In the West Bank, Ni‘lin villagers defy an IDF curfew to stage peaceful protest marches against the IDF blockade imposed on 7/5; the IDF fires tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets at the protesters, lightly injuring around 50. The IDF also bulldozes newly paved roads in Ni‘lin while the curfew is in place, damaging part of the municipal sewage system; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Tulkarm, and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqilya, Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Asfar settlement nr. Bethlehem beat 2 Palestinian shepherds grazing their flocks nearby. In Hebron, local Jewish settlers harass a French diplomatic delegation touring the city with Palestinian guides, arguing that settlers should lead the tour because the delegation was on “Israeli land.” A carload of Jewish settlers fires on a Palestinian taxi nr. Jenin, seriously wounding 1 Palestinian. (WT 7/7; OCHA 7/9; PCHR 7/10)

Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishermen off the Bayt Lahiya coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF blockades, imposes a round-theclock curfew on Ni‘lin nr. Ramallah in what the army calls an “open-ended effort to curb protests” against the separation wall (see 5/27); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm and in Jenin town and r.c. and Qabatya. Jewish settlers fr. Hebron attack, beat 4 Palestinian farmers; the IDF halts the attack only after international peace activists arrive. Jewish settlers fr. the unauthorized outpost of Asael nr. Hebron burn 15 d. of Palestinian crop land and kidnap, severely beat a Palestinian, tying him to a telephone pole inside the outpost; the IDF bars an ambulance fr. reaching him for over 2 hrs. In Nussayrat r.c., rival wings of Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigade exchange fire, causing no injuries; Hamas-affiliated police bring the situation under control, arresting several Islamic Jihad mbrs. In Rafah, 2 unidentified gunmen shoot, wound a fmr. PA police officer. A Palestinian teenager injured by IDF UXO nr. Shuka on 7/2 dies. (WP 7/6; OCHA 7/9; PCHR 7/10; Nation 7/19)

The IDF makes a predawn raid on an apartment building in Nablus, assassinating Islamic Jihad cmdr. Tariq Abu Ghalil (targeted by the IDF on 3 prior occasions) and a bystander in an adjacent apartment. In response, Islamic Jihad mbrs. in Gaza fire 3 rockets, 1 mortar fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 2 Israelis, causing light injuries. Israel calls the rocket attacks a “grave violation of the calm,” closes all commercial crossing into the Strip, but does not take military action. Hamas calls the closure of the crossings a violation of the truce agmt. but says it will maintain the cease-fire. Meanwhile, the IDF uproots, replants more than 80 olive trees along the separation wall route around Jerusalem (farmers do not expect the trees to survive); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against separation wall construction in Ni‘lin nr. Ramallah (injuring 12 Palestinians, including an 11-yr.- old boy); fires rubber-coated steel bullets at residents of Far‘un village nr. Tulkarm who hold a protest march to a group of houses slated for IDF demolition, wounding a 9-yr.- old Palestinian boy; conducts late-night arrest raids and house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Tulkarm. Jewish settlers fr. Mitzpe Ya’ir nr. Hebron stone and injure 2 Palestinians nr. Yatta. (MM 6/24; MM, NYT, OCHA, WP 6/25; NYT, PCHR, WP 6/26; OCHA 7/2)

On the sidelines of a donors conference in Berlin, U.S. secy. of state Rice meets with Israeli and PA negotiators and invites them to take part a series of trilateral discussions in New York and Washington beginning in 7/08 in an effort to reach a deal on Palestinian statehood before Bush leaves office. The sides accept. (WP, WT 6/29; NYT 7/29)

As Israeli PM Olmert begins a 3-day visit to Washington, Israel announces that, in keeping with its Annapolis pledges to ease Palestinian movement, the IDF has removed 4 manned checkpoints (improving access to the Jordan Valley, Dead Sea, areas n. of Nablus, s. of Hebron) and 70 unmanned checkpoints (of around 600) across the West Bank, and plans further steps to ease the movement of agricultural goods btwn. the Jordan Valley and the northern West Bank. Israel also pledges to issue new permits to allow 5,000 Palestinian workers to remain overnight in Israel, 500 West Bank Palestinian businessmen to enter Israel, and 130 NGO employees and Palestinian VIPs to travel in and out of Israel more easily; authorizes the PA to set up 20 new police stations for new units undergoing training in Jordan. (IFM 6/3)

In Gaza, the IDF sends bulldozers into al-Qarara to level 100 d. of agricultural land; support troops fire on surrounding residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian outside his home. Palestinian gunmen fire on an IDF unit patrolling the Israeli side of Gaza’s Kissufim crossing (nr. Khan Yunis; closed since Israel’s 9/05 disengagement fr. Gaza), wounding 1 soldier. Palestinians fire 3 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF uproots 47 olive trees nr. Ni‘lin for construction of the separation wall; conducts daytime house searches in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c. and nr. Nablus, Ramallah, Tulkarm. Jewish settlers protesting the lifting of an IDF roadblock in Hebron block Palestinian traffic in parts of the city. Palestinians throw stones at Jewish settler vehicles nr. Ramallah, causing no injuries. (OCHA 6/4; PCHR 6/5)

Overnight in Gaza, the IDF sends troops into al-Fukhari nr. Khan Yunis and nearby Shuka to raid and search homes, firing on armed Palestinians who confront them, wounding 2 civilians, 1 armed Palestinian. Troops withdraw to Israel early in the morning. The Israeli navy detains 6 Palestinian fishing off the Rafah coast, questions and releases 16 fishermen. Palestinians fire a rocket toward Israel, but it lands inside Gaza, hitting a home e. of Gaza City, injuring a mother, 2 children. Egyptian border police find a cache of more than 1,000 lbs of explosives, including mortars and rockets, on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border. Overnight in the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Qabatya to raid and search homes, 2 schools, a mosque, confiscating money and computers, arresting 10 Palestinians; before withdrawing in late morning, troops fire tear gas at children heading to school, injuring 10. The IDF also conducts daytime arrest raids nr. Qalqilya; fires tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (pop. 5,000) nr. Ramallah, causing no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qalqilya, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. (NYT, OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)