The Palestine Chronology

Israeli DM Barak gives Israeli military and intelligence chiefs the final go-ahead to launch an offensive against Gaza. Olmert and his senior staff begin quietly briefing opposition leaders and prominent political figures on the impending operation. Israeli defense officials speaking to the press off the record say that a Gaza operation will begin when weather clears to allow precision-targeted air strikes. Meanwhile, the IDF allows 100 truckloads of humanitarian aid and fuel for Gaza’s power plant into Gaza. Palestinians fire about 12 rockets and mortars fr. Gaza toward Israel; 1 rocket falls inside the n. Gaza border, hitting a home, killing 2 Palestinian girls. In the West Bank, the IDF for a 2d night conducts coordinated late-night house searches in villages nr. Jenin, making no arrests; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists taking part in the weekly demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, wounding 2. (HA, NYT, WP 12/27; HA 12/28; WP 12/31; PCHR 1/1; JPI 1/8)

The 6-mo. Hamas-Israel truce in Gaza officially expires. Palestinians fire 4 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel and direct sniper fire across the border at IDF troops, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts nearly simultaneous house searches in 7 villages around Jenin but makes no arrests; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 6 Palestinians and 1 Israeli, including a Palestinian and an Israeli journalist); fires tear gas at 2 Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances treating injuries at a wall protest in Ni‘lin, damaging 1. A Palestinian bystander seriously injured in the 10/20/08 IDF assassination of 2 Hamas mbrs. in Khan Yunis dies of his injuries. (NYT 12/19; NYT, WP 12/20; PCHR 12/24)

Israel releases 224 Palestinian prisoners; at least 9,000 Palestinians remain in Israeli jails. Gaza’s power plant shuts down after 4 days of operation for lack of fuel (see 12/11). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Umar nr. Hebron; hours later conducts synchronized house searches in 4 villages and al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron. The IDF also sends undercover units in a vehicle with Palestinian license plates into al-Yamun village nr. Jenin, where they ambush and assassinate Islamic Jihad mbr. Jihad Nawahda. Israel’s High Court orders a 2d revision of the planned separation wall around Bil‘in, ruling that the new IDF route (submitted in compliance with a 9/07 High Court decision) still directs the wall unnecessarily through private Palestinian land. (NYT, WT 12/16; OCHA 12/17; PCHR 12/18)

The IDF conducts midday patrols inside Salfit, firing rubber-coated steel bullets at stone-throwing Palestinian youths who confront them, causing no reported injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 2 Palestinians, including an 8-yr.-old child) and Ni‘lin (injuring 5 Palestinians). Overnight and into the morning, Jewish settlers in Hebron vandalize Palestinian homes, attempt to occupy 1. (PCHR 12/18)

Late in the evening, the IDF makes an air strike on a group of Palestinian resistance mbrs. nr. Gaza’s Jabaliya r.c., wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c.; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 2 Palestinians, including a 10-yr.-old child). In Hebron, Jewish settlers rampage through Palestinian areas for a 9th day, burning 1 home and several gardens, shooting and wounding 1 Palestinian; the IDF occupies 9 Palestinian homes as operational bases, but apparently does not intervene. Jewish settlers fr. Avnei Hefetz nr. Tulkarm uproot 80 Palestinian olive trees, damage an irrigation network, fortify an existing unmanned IDF barrier outside Shu‘fat village. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar block nearby Palestinian roads, stone Palestinian cars. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’ale Levona nr. Ramallah close a secondary Ramallah–Nablus road to Palestinian traffic, stoning Palestinian cars, causing one to flip over, injuring 2 Palestinians. (PCHR 12/18)

IDF troops along the s. Gaza border e. of Khan Yunis fire on a group of armed Palestinians inside Gaza, causing no injuries; troops then cross into Gaza, exchange fire with armed Palestinians, wounding 4. PRC mbrs. then fire 11 mortars fr. Gaza toward the IDF military post at Nahal Oz crossing; 3 mortars hit the base, wounding 6 IDF soldiers, 1 critically. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts an evening raid on an Internet cafe nr. Jenin, checking IDs and searching ´ the premises but making no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jerusalem, Qalqilya, Tulkarm; conducts synchronized, late-night house searches in Tubas and neighboring al-Fara‘ r.c., and in 8 villages s. of Jenin, making no arrests; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 1 Japanese activist), Jayyus nr. Qalqilya (injuring 2 Palestinians), and Ni‘lin (injuring 2 Danish activists, 1 Palestinian teenager). Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba and Beit Shalom attack Palestinians, vandalize property in nearby Palestinian areas, seriously injuring 4 Palestinians, including a 6-yr.-old boy. Later, IDF troops close the area, take up positions on surrounding rooftops, escort 5 busloads of settlers from other parts of the West Bank into the area to “defend” the illegal Beit Shalom outpost. In the evening, the settlers rampage through Palestinian areas, burning cars, slashing tires, breaking windows of cars and homes, destroying water tanks; the IDF does not intervene. (NYT 11/29; OCHA 12/3; PCHR 12/4)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinians holding a nonviolent protest against settlements at the evacuated settlement site of Homesh nr. Jenin (wounding 5); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation), Jayyus nr. Qalqilya (10s suffer tear gas inhalation; a Palestinian Council mbr. and PLO Exec. Comm. mbr. are detained for questioning), and Ni‘lin (injuring 1). In East Jerusalem, Israeli police raid and halt a cultural event at a theater in the city organized by the Jerusalemite Youth Parliament and several local NGOs and schools, stating that it was a political event connected to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which the organizers deny. (PCHR 11/27)

AsIsrael continues to seal Gaza’s borders completely, aid agencies (including Oxfam and UNRWA) warn of an impending humanitarian crisis. UNRWA Gaza dir. John Ging states that “it is unprecedented that the UN is unable to get its supplies in to a population under such obvious distress.” Unnamed Hamas officials say that Israel apparently is not interested in maintaining the truce and therefore would face consequences. Today, Hamas admits to firing 11 Grad-type rockets fr. Gaza toward Israel (4 of which landed inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries) in addition to 3 regular rockets and several mortars, 1 of which (unclear whether rocket or mortar) hits an Israeli home in Sederot, causing damage and lightly injuring 1 Israeli. The IDF makes air strikes on suspected launch sites in n. Gaza, wounding 2 armed Palestinians. In the West Bank, the IDF fires tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinians holding a nonviolent protest against settlements at the evacuated settlement site of Homesh nr. Jenin (wounding 1); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron; 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 Bil’in (injuring 2); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin (injuring 1). (NYT, WP 11/15; WT 11/16; OCHA 11/19; PCHR 11/20)

Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire 14 rockets fr. Gaza toward Israel, 7 of which land inside Israel, none of which causes damage or injuries. FGM sends another boat fr. Cyprus to Gaza (see 8/23, 10/29), this time carrying 13 mbrs. of various European parliaments and veteran Israeli journalist Amira Hass; Israel does not block the boat. A 7-yr.-old Palestinian boy fr. Gaza dies after Israel repeatedly denies him transportation to an Israeli or foreign hospital to be treated for breathing and heart problems. 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 Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); fires rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin (injuring 1 Palestinian journalist covering the incident, 1 international); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Tulkarm, and nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba vandalize Palestinian property, including removing a fence that separates the settlement fr. a neighboring plot of Palestinian land. (HA, NYT 11/8; OCHA 11/12; PCHR 11/13)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late night arrest raids in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, and in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas (firing live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 6); 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 2 Palestinians, 1 international). Israel imposes new restrictions requiring Palestinian medical personnel fr. the West Bank who work in Jerusalem to enter Jerusalem only through the Qalandia checkpoint, the most crowded checkpoint, causing them significant delays. Heavy rains cause the collapse of 10 smuggling tunnels on the Rafah border, trapping and injuring at least 7 Palestinians. Egypt allows the entry of a delegation of Islamic Jihad officials fr. Gaza who are heading to Damascus for a wk. of internal discussions on Egypt’s proposed national unity plan ahead of national unity talks in Cairo on 11/9. Inside Israel, Hebrew University student Ali Baher, an Israeli Palestinian, is detained by campus security, questioned for 3 hrs., charged with “inappropriate conduct” for refusing on political grounds to shake hands with Pres. Shimon Peres, who randomly approached Baher while he was touring the campus library meeting with students; the university evicts Baher from campus housing and orders a disciplinary hearing (date not set) to decide whether he should be suspended. (MNA 11/2; OCHA 11/5; PCHR, Physicians for Human Rights–Israel press release 11/6)

Concerned by the escalating settler violence directed at Israeli security forces, the Israeli cabinet at its weekly meeting votes to suspend all direct and indirect government funding to unauthorized settlement outposts (especially citing infrastructure such as roads, garbage collection, and school buses) in the 1st de facto admission that public funds are used to advance illegal settlement. Olmert also proposes increasing arrests and administrative detention of Jewish settlers who break the law. The Jerusalem District Juvenile Court remands and indicts 3 Jewish settler girls (ages 12, 15, 17) for reckless endangerment, aggravated assault of security forces, and obstruction of a police officer for attacks against Israeli border police in Givat Harsina on 10/30. IDF district cmdr. Noam Tivon cancels plans to give a speech at a yeshiva in Efrat settlement nr. Bethlehem after Jewish settlers fr. Hebron threaten to hold a massive demonstration to block his visit, calling him an “expulsion criminal” for previously ordering the removal settlers fr. the unauthorized Federman Farm outpost. (YA 11/2; NYT, WP 11/3; WT 11/4; MM 11/4, 11/7)

A Palestinian fr. the West Bank village of Tuqu‘ nr. Bethlehem, apparently acting alone, enters the Jewish settlement of Gilo, stabs and wounds an Israeli police officer and fatally stabs an 86-yr.-old Jewish settler before being caught by another Gilo resident. Later, the IDF raids, searches several homes in Tuqu‘, arresting 2 Palestinians (including a young woman). The IDF also enters al-‘Arub r.c. in pursuit of Palestinian youths who allegedly threw stones at passing IDF vehicles, detaining 4 children for 3 hrs.; begins bulldozing Palestinian land in the al-‘Amra nature reserve, located w. of the separation wall s. of Jenin; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus. (NYT 10/24; OCHA 10/29; PCHR 10/30)

In the afternoon, IDF troops on the s. Gaza border nr. al-Qarara fire on 2 unarmed Palestinians who stray nr. the border fence, order them to lie on the ground, then send soldiers into Gaza to arrest and remand them to Israel. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts afternoon arrest raids nr. Tulkarm; 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 Bil‘in (1 Palestinian journalist, 1 Japanese activist are wounded); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin (wounding 7); conducts late-night house searches in Jenin town and r.c. but makes no arrests. At least 50 Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba attack Palestinians harvesting olives nearby, injuring 1 Palestinian and 2 Israeli peace activists aiding with the harvest. (OCHA 10/8; PCHR 10/9)

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 5; makes a late-night incursion into ‘Anabta nr. Tulkarm, patrolling streets, firing on houses and shops, then firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Tubas, and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin. (OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18)

Israel releases 165 Fatah-affiliated prisoners as a goodwill gesture to mark Ramadan (see 9/4); none are fr. Gaza. 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 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Jenin town and r.c. A Palestinian woman sprays an acid-like substance on 2 IDF soldiers checking IDs at Hawara checkpoint nr. Nablus, lightly injuring them; the soldiers open fire, causing no injuries, but the woman escapes. (MNA, OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11)

An Israeli security official confirms that Israel allowed 900 assault weapons and ammunition to be transferred to PA security forces in late 8/08 to build the capacity of forces loyal to Abbas; the arms came via Jordan, but the source is not noted. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, 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 2; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, neighboring ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c., and al-Til, and nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Beit HaShalom attack Palestinians, vandalize nearby homes. The IDF declares the Joseph’s Tomb area nr. Nablus a closed military zone, escorts Jewish settlers to the site to pray. (NYT 9/6; OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11; AIC 11/9)

Israel releases 4 Fatah-affiliated political prisoners as a goodwill gesture to Abbas, marking the start of Ramadan; none are fr. Gaza. 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 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c., nr. Hebron and Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba stone a Palestinian teenager, vandalize several homes nearby. (OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11; AIC 11/9)

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)

The 2 FGM boats that sailed into Gaza on 8/23 depart Gaza for Cyprus (unimpeded by the Israeli navy) carrying 9 Gazans (mostly students with valid visas to study abroad and a family seeking medical treatment for their 10-yr.-old son) who had been unable to get Israeli permission to leave the Strip; to make space on the boats for the 9 Gazans, 9 FGM activists remain in Gaza. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Nablus in cars bearing Palestinian license plates to raid an auto supply store, arresting 1 Palestinian; 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 11 (including 8 children, ages 12–16); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Nablus. (OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4)

Abbas begins a 2-day visit to Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders regarding the status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. (BBC 8/28)

In the West Bank, the IDF bars Palestinian workers fr. paving a road inside al-Walaja village nr. Bethlehem, stating that the area is under the jurisdiction of Israel’s Jerusalem municipal authority; this marks the 1st clear indication that Israel plans to annex the area to Jerusalem after its separation wall, which is planned to bisect al-Walaja, is completed. The IDF also makes daytime raids on 3 radio and TV stations in Hebron, arresting employees and confiscating broadcasting equipment; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, nr. Hebron and Ramallah, and in Nur al-Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm. (PCHR 8/2; OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28)

As the quarter opens, a 6-mo. Hamas-Israel cease-fire in the Hamascontrolled Gaza Strip, which began on 6/19/08, remains in effect, with occasional cross-border incidents reported (see Quarterly Update in JPS 149 for background). Israel, however, maintains a tight closure on Gaza Strip (imposed since 1/08), allowing only the minimum amount of food, fuel, and basic humanitarian aid to enter and permitting no exports or individuals to leave. During the day, Israeli naval vessels pursue Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza coast, confiscating 1, temporarily detaining 2 fishermen. In the West Bank, controlled by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fire tear gas at, beat Palestinians holding a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Dayr al-Bhussun nr. Tulkarm; conduct late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba and the nearby Beit HaShalom outpost in Hebron’s Wadi al-Nassara neighborhood (comprising the al-Rajabi building seized in 4/08 and surrounding land seized last quarter; see Quarterly Update in JPS 149) attack Palestinians and their property in Wadi al-Nassara, wounding 1 Palestinian. (OCHA 8/20; PCHR 8/21)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas, “skunk” spray at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 1 Palestinian, 1 German, 2 Americans); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (wounding 9); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, in Bethlehem, nr. Hebron. (OCHA 8/20; PCHR 8/21)

In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes 6 d. of Palestinian olive groves nr. Jenin; issues a military order seizing a 1,500 sq. m. area of land nr. Ramat Yishai settlement in Hebron for construction of a “road for military purposes”; patrols, fires tear gas at Palestinians in Tulkarm; 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, wounding 16; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. (OCHA 8/20; PCHR 8/21)

In the West Bank, the IDF raids and searches homes nr. Jenin but makes no arrests; 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 (10s suffer tear gas inhalation). Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba and a nearby unauthorized outpost in Wadi al-Nassara attack Palestinian homes for a 2d day, causing damage but no reported injuries. Jewish settlers with a bulldozer occupy and level a plot of Palestinian land s. of Bethlehem; the IDF removes the settlers. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus throw a large rock at a passing Palestinian car, seriously injuring a Palestinian woman and lightly injuring her child; the IDF evacuates the mother to a hospital in Israel. In Gaza, Hamas-affiliated police detain several senior Fatah officials in what Hamas calls a response to Fatah’s detention of West Bank Hamas loyalists on 7/28. Egyptian border police demolish a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border, suffocating 5 Palestinians. (NYT 8/2; OCHA 8/6; PCHR 8/7; 8/13)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires live ammunition at a group of children who approach IDF bulldozers working on the separation wall nr. Ni‘lin while a nonviolent protest at the site winds down, fatally shooting an 11- yr.-old Palestinian boy in the head; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin. (HA, NYT, OCHA, PCHR, WP, WT 7/30; PCHR 8/7)

Israeli and Syrian negotiators open a 4th round of indirect peace talks in Istanbul. (JP, XIN, YA 7/30)

Early in the morning, the IDF steps up shelling of a Hebron home surrounded on 7/26, then bulldozes it; the body of wanted Hamas mbr. Shihab al-Natsha is found inside and confiscated by the IDF. Also in the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron and in Jenin town and r.c., Tulkarm; fires tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in a nonviolent protest against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, wounding 7. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha set fire to 10 d. of Palestinian crops and a house in Burin. Jewish settlers burn 50 d. of Palestinian olive groves nr. Qalqilya. (NYT 7/29; OCHA, PCHR 7/30)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation; 1 Israeli journalist is injured) and Ni‘lin (5 are injured, including a French journalist). In Gaza, 3 bombs explode next to a car used by the IQB parked near a busy Gaza City beach (killing 3 Hamas mbrs. and 2 bystanders, including a 6-yr.old girl; wounding 17), the Gaza City home of Hamas official Marwan Abu Ras (no injuries), and a caf´e (killing 1 bystander), marking one of the most serious upsurges of intra-Palestinian violence since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 6/07; Fatah denies responsibility for the bombings. (NYT, WP 7/26; OCHA, PCHR 7/30; AHR 8/1)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires on Palestinian, Israeli, international activists protesting against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (10s suffer fr. tear gas inhalation); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (arresting 26 Palestinians, including Reform and Change PC mbr. Muna Mansur and the manager of the Nablus mall targeted on 7/8), nr. Jenin; raids an Islamic charity and kindergarten in Jericho, confiscating computers and documents. (OCHA 7/23; PCHR 7/24)

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)

An unidentified gunman shoots, wounds 2 Israeli policemen in Jerusalem’s Old City (1 policeman dies of his injuries btwn. 7/23 and 7/30); no group takes responsibility, but Israel says it assumes it was a nationalist attack by a Palestinian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts early morning arrest raids, house searches in Jalazun r.c.; fatally shoots a 50-yr.-old Hamas mbr. in an alleged exchange of gunfire nr. Yakir settlement nr. Salfit; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation) and al-Ma‘sara (wounding 2); fires rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinians and international activists protesting IDF bulldozing operations for construction of the separation wall nr. Ni‘lin, wounding 5, arresting 4; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., nr. Bethlehem. (WP 7/13; OCHA 7/16; PCHR 7/17)

The IDF conducts additional late-night raids in Nablus, searching, sealing, and confiscating computers and documents fr. several organizations allegedly connected to the ICA, including Afaq TV station, the Union of Palestinian Women Committees (confiscating food donations intended for needy Nablus families), a clinic, a kindergarten (taking 2 buses). The IDF sends undercover units driving a car with Palestinian license plates into Kafr Dan nr. Jenin, ambushing a Palestinian car and opening fire, assassinating Talal ‘Abid, a wanted mbr. of the Abu Ammar Brigades (a Fatah offshoot in Jenin), arresting a 2d Palestinian; sends troops, bulldozers into Hebron to demolish 2 Palestinian homes (18 residents) for allegedly harboring wanted individuals, also uprooting trees and heavily damaging a 3d home; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas a Palestinians demonstrating against the separation wall in Dayr al-Ghusun nr. Tulkarm, injuring several (including 2 journalists); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha fire 6 mortars at Burin village and 1 at Madama village, causing no damage or injuries (see 7/1, 7/3). Israel’s Interior Min. approves construction of 920 new settler housing units in Har Homa settlement in the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabal Abu Ghunaym in Jerusalem; it is not clear if this figure includes 121 units approved on 6/1. (JP 7/9; PCHR 7/10; WT 7/11; OCHA 7/16; PCHR 7/17; NYT 7/18; AHR 7/21)