The Palestine Chronology

International diplomacy to end OCL clicks into gear with France proposing that Israel and Hamas impose a 48-hr. humanitarian truce to try to defuse the violence and restore the Gaza cease-fire, with humanitarian groups, Egypt, the EU, the Quartet, and the U.S. opening mediation channels (see Quarterly Update). Israel’s security cabinet meets to discuss the French proposal but does not formally respond.

Israeli actions: The IDF conducts 70 air strikes on Gaza, while the Israeli navy continues shelling from the sea, killing at least 10 Palestinians and wounding 40, bringing the death toll to about 370. The IDF reports hitting 110 individual sites, with primary targets being tunnels on the Rafah border, suspected weapons factories and rocket-launching sites, civil and naval police stations, and groups of resistance mbrs. In Gaza City, at least 20 air strikes hit Haniyeh’s offices, PA Interior Min., and main PA government complex in Gaza City, all of which had been targeted previously; 1 air strike hits an ambulance, killing 1 paramedic, seriously wounding a doctor and the driver. Part of Gaza’s main power grid is also hit, cutting all power to Gaza City. A fuel depot in Rafah is destroyed. In al-Bureij r.c., a mosque and health clinic are hit. In Khan Yunis, a money exchange is destroyed. At least 7 homes across the Strip are targeted. Target locations include Abasan, Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City, Jabaliya town and r.c., Khan Yunis, al-Maghazi (c. Gaza), al-Mughraqa, al-Qarara, Rafah. The IDF launches a YouTube channel to broadcast declassified videos of its operations in Gaza, “other footage of interest to the international community” (JPI 1/8) and begins regular briefings for Internet bloggers worldwide.

Palestinian actions: Palestinians fire 41 rockets, 10 mortars into Israel, damaging 1 home in Sederot and causing several light injuries (excluding shock); 1 rocket lands in Beersheba, 25 mi. fr. the Gaza border, marking the farthest strike to date; 2 other long-range rockets land in Ashdod. Humanitarian notes: Israel allows 93 trucks into Gaza (50 carrying medical supplies and food donated by aid groups; 43 carrying commercial goods), but Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital says it is out of 150 kinds of medicine and 230 other medical supplies, including gloves, scissors, sterilization equipment, nitrogen for anesthesia. Fuel shipments are still cut off; Gaza’s power plant shuts down for lack of fuel. (BBC, HA, Independent 12/30; IDF, IFM, NYT, REU, UNOSAT, WP, WT 12/31; JP, PCHR 1/1; ITV 1/2; IDF 1/3; WP 1/4; IFM 1/8; NYT 1/13)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian worker in Mod’in Ilit settlement, angry over Israel’s war on Gaza, stabs, wounds 4 Jewish settlers before being shot and wounded by a paramedic who arrives on the scene. The IDF fires live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against OCL in al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron, wounding 3 (including teenagers ages 13, 14); makes simultaneous afternoon incursions into Beita and Hawara villages nr. Nablus, imposing curfews through 12/31; conducts simultaneous late-night raids, house searches on 4 villages nr. Jenin, firing on residential areas in all cases, causing no injuries and arresting only 1 teenager; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Abu Dis and Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm. (PCHR, WJW 1/1)

As Israel continues widespread air and naval bombardment of Gaza for a 3d day, Israeli DM Barak declares “all-out war” on Hamas. The IDF declares a 2-mi. buffer zone around the Strip a closed military zone and continues amassing tanks and troops there, indicating further preparations for a ground invasion. Israeli military officials speaking anonymously say they have expanded the IDF’s target list to include Hamas’s support network and symbols of Hamas power, stating that “there are many aspects of Hamas, and we are trying to hit the whole spectrum, because everything is connected and everything supports terrorists against Israel” and that “anything affiliated with Hamas is a legitimate target.”

Israeli actions: The IDF reports hitting 100 sites today, including more Islamic University buildings (including the engineering dept., library); homes and offices of Hamas leaders; PA government buildings (including the Interior Min., Finance Min., Foreign Min., Labor Min., Construction and Housing Min., and a PA presidential guest house); Bani Suhayla’s municipal building; the alZawiyya Mosque in Jabaliya r.c. and Omar Bin al-Khattab Mosque in al-Bureij r.c.; more civil and naval police stations; more tunnels along the Rafah border; the headquarters of Hamas’s al-Aqsa TV; Gaza’s port (for a 2d day); and 1 Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades training site. Target areas include Abasan, Bani Suhayla, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (city center, al-Rimal, al-Sabra, Shaykh Ajlin, Tal al-Hawa), Jabaliya town and r.c., Khan Yunis, Nussayrat r.c., al-Qarara, Rafah, Shati’ r.c., Tal al-Za‘atar. Just before strikes on Rafah, Israeli Military Intelligence makes 10,000 automated calls to Rafah residents warning of pending air strikes, breaks into Palestinian radio broadcasts to urge residents across Gaza to move to city centers. Palestinian medical officials report at least 364 Palestinians dead, 1,500 wounded since 12/27.

Palestinian actions: Palestinians fire 66 rockets, 14 mortars into Israel (twice as many as in the previous 24 hrs.), killing 3 Israeli civilians (1 each in Nahal Oz, Ashdod, Ashqelon; 1 of them an Israeli Palestinian) and wounding 5 (3 of them Israeli Palestinians), with 2 rockets hitting 23 mi. north in Gan Yavne/Ashdod. A Palestinian mortar hits an IDF base in Netivot, s. and e. of the Nahal Oz crossing, killing 1 IDF soldier (a Druze), seriously wounding 1, lightly injuring 4. The Israeli toll stands at 4–5 dead, about 20 injured. Reports circulate (e.g., NYT 12/30) of Hamas gunmen executing at least 5 accused collaborators with Israel inside hospitals; the 5 had been jailed for collaboration and transferred to hospitals after being wounded in IDF air strikes on jails.

Humanitarian notes: Israel allows 40 truckloads of humanitarian aid into Gaza; Egypt allows 23 truckloads of emergency goods in, some wounded out through Rafah. International aid groups (including Amnesty International, the UN) say aid transfers are insufficient, warn that the death toll is rising in part because of lack of medicines and medical supplies, food, and fuel.

Of note: One Israeli air strike heavily damages the UN Special Coordinator’s Office (UNSCO) headquarters in Gaza City, prompting the UN to issue a formal complaint. Egyptian TV reports that captured IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit has been wounded in an Israeli air strike in recent days; Hamas does not comment. (BBC, CNN, HA, Houston Chronicle, IFM, REU, White House press briefing, YA 12/29; BBC, IDF, Independent, NYT, WP, WT 12/30; IDF, UNOSAT 12/31; JP, PCHR, WJW 1/1; ITV 1/2; IDF 1/3; NYT, WP 1/4; WT, UNOSAT 1/5; IFM 1/8; Committee to Protect Journalists 1/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against OCL in Issawiyya, Shu‘fat r.c., al-Tur neighborhood in East Jerusalem, causing no serious injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in East Tura village nr. Jenin, Hebron. (PCHR 1/1)

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 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)

Overnight, the IDF sends troops, bulldozers into al-Qarara, raiding and occupying several homes, bulldozing 150 d. of agricultural land and 1 Palestinian home, damaging 2 mosques, detaining and interrogating 11 Palestinians; during the operation, the IDF fires tank shells at armed Palestinians approaching the area, killing an 8-yr.-old Palestinian girl and 2 Hamas mbrs., wounding the girl’s mother and a 3-yr.-old boy. An IDF helicopter fires on an IQB post in Jabaliya r.c., killing a 65-yr.-old Palestinian man in a shop nearby, wounding his 5-yr.-old granddaughter. Palestinians fire 3 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Nablus. The IDF also demolishes 3 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, displacing 25 Palestinians (including 18 children). Palestinian youths throw stones at IDF settler vehicles nr. Ramallah and East Jerusalem, causing no injuries. In Gaza’s Nussayrat r.c., a bomb explodes outside a Hamas activist’s home, causing damage but no injuries. (PCHR, WP 6/12; OCHA 6/18; PCHR 6/19)

Olmert authorizes his Kadima party to begin preparations for party primaries as early as late summer 2008 in effort to deter the Labor party fr. calling a no-confidence vote over the latest corruption charges against him, a move that could collapse the government and force new elections. (HA 6/11; MM, WP 6/12)

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)

The IDF sends tanks, bulldozers into Gaza nr. al-Qarara to level land for a 2d day.Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishermen off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Zayta for a 2d day, firing on residential areas, conducting random ID checks, and arresting 3 Palestinian teenagers; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers throw stones at Palestinian vehicles driving nr. Qalqilya, causing no injuries. Palestinians throw stones at a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Ramallah, causing no injuries. (OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

The IDF sends troops, bulldozers into Gaza City, where they demolish a Palestinian home, 2 businesses, and 2 agricultural storehouses and arrest 4 Palestinians (all mbrs. of the Hillis clan); also levels previously bulldozed land nr. al-Qarara. Later, IDF aircraft fire 2 missiles a group of armed Hamas mbrs. e. of Gaza City, wounding 6. Egyptian border police find, demolish 12 smuggling tunnels along the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Zayta nr. Tulkarm, firing on residential areas, conducting random ID checks, and arresting 1 Palestinian teenager; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Shima settlement nr. Hebron attack Palestinian shepherds nearby and confiscate 60 sheep, arguing that the Palestinians had been “illegally” grazing their flocks on “state land”; the IDF secures the return of the sheep but bars the Palestinians fr. keeping them in the area. (OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

Overnight in Gaza, the IDF sends troops into Khan Yunis to raid and search homes, ordering all Palestinian men over 15 to surrender for questioning, bulldozing 97 d. of agricultural land and damaging 2 homes. During the operation, the IDF makes an air strike on armed Palestinians who approach the border fence nearby, killing 3 Hamas mbrs., wounding 1; troops withdraw to Israel by midday. The IDF also exchanges fire with Islamic Jihad mbrs. on the c. Gaza border, killing 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs.; fires on Palestinian farmers nr. the Erez crossing in n. Gaza, wounding 1. Palestinians fire 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing damage to several greenhouses but no injuries. Late at night, IDF troops enter al-Qarara n. of Khan Yunis to level 60 d. of land; fire on armed Palestinians who approach them, wounding 2. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c., causing damage but no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c. (firing on residential areas, seriously wounding a 16-yr.-old Palestinian boy), and nr. Hebron, Ramallah; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, 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) and fires percussion grenades and tear gas at demonstrators at a similar protest in al-Ma‘sara. (NYT 5/24; OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

Overnight in Gaza the IDF makes an incursion into Wadi al-Silqa, raiding and searching homes, bulldozing 4 Palestinian homes, exchanging fire with local gunmen, wounding 2 armed Palestinians. During the day, the IDF raids al-Qarara, ordering all males aged 16 and older to surrender for interrogation, arresting 5 Palestinians (including the primary target: Abu Rish Brigades cmdr. Ala’ Abu Madif, whom Israel claims received military training in Iran), firing on residential areas (wounding a Palestinian father and infant), bulldozing 113 d. of agricultural land, and damaging water, electricity, and phone networks before withdrawing late at night. Late at night, the IDF makes an air strike assassinating Islamic Jihad’s Nussayrat cmdr. Abdallah al-Ghussayn as he drives through Jabaliya r.c., wounding another Islamic Jihad mbr. with him; for no known reason makes a helicopter air strike targeting a 4th-floor apartment in a Bayt Lahiya apartment building, causing heavy damage and lightly injuring a 3-mo.-old girl. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem and in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. A fmr. PA intelligence officer in c. Gaza is killed; a previously unknown group called Country’s Honor claims responsibility. (OCHA 3/16; PCHR 4/17; IFM 5/19)

Israel says it has completed removal of 50 West Bank roadblocks, as pledged to Secy. Rice on 3/30 during her visit; the PA says it has seen no changes and asks the State Dept. to verify (see Quarterly Update). Meanwhile, in Gaza, the IDF sends troops into al-Qarara, where they clash with Islamic Jihad gunmen, wounding 4 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 2 civilians, reportedly using several Palestinians as human shields, bulldozing 58 d. of crop land and olive trees. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on residential areas, demolishes a monument to Yasir Arafat in Kafr Qaddum nr. Qalqilya; patrols in Hebron (shooting, wounding 1 Palestinian who allegedly tries to seize a gun fr. a solider); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin. A Jewish settler driving nr. Nablus injures a Palestinian in a deliberate hit and run. Jewish settlers nr. Nablus break into a Palestinian nursery, steal irrigation pipes, vandalize a car. (WT 4/4; OCHA, PCHR 4/9)

In Gaza, IDF troops enter al-Qarara, bulldoze 4 Palestinian homes, animal pens, 93 d. of agricultural land; also bulldoze areas along the separation wall e. of alBureij, al-Maghazi. Palestinians fire at least 1 rocket fr. Gaza toward Israel that lands inside Gaza, hitting a home, seriously injuring 1 Palestinian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem and Tulkarm, in Hebron, Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. Unidentified gunmen shoot, wound a Hamas-affiliated police officer in Dayr al-Balah. In Gaza City, 5,000 NGO reps. and citizens rally to call on the factions to implement a national unity government. (PCHR 3/27; OCHA 4/2; PCHR 4/3)

IDF troops on the Gaza border fire on agricultural areas along the border nr. alQarara, killing a Palestinian farmer; bulldoze land on the Palestinian side of the Qarni crossing. On the Rafah border, 2 smuggling tunnels collapse, killing 1 Palestinian, injuring 3. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 5 Palestinian homes in 3 villages s. of Hebron to build a settlers-only bypass road and possibly to expand Susia settlement; patrols in al-Bireh and Ramallah, spot-checking Palestinian IDs; enters Beita nr. Nablus, imposes a curfew, fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding and arresting 1 Palestinian, arresting a 2d; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. (OCHA 3/26; PCHR 3/27)

Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Sulayman secures a pledge by Hamas, Islamic Jihad to suspend rocket fire fr. Gaza unilaterally while he works to obtain a more formal bilateral cease-fire agmt. with Israel. In Jerusalem, an armed Palestinian enters the library of Mercaz Harav, Israel’s leading Zionist yeshiva and the ideological home of the far-right religious settler movement, and opens fire on students with an AK-47, killing 8 Israelis and wounding 9 before an IDF soldier and 2 undercover policemen enter the building and shoot him dead; Israeli security officials identify the attacker as a bus driver for the school and an East Jerusalem resident who apparently acted alone. Israeli police later raid Jabal Mukabir neighborhood, detaining 9 Palestinians for questioning. In Gaza, Islamic Jihad, Hamas mbrs. ambush an IDF patrol that enters Gaza through the Kissufim crossing, detonating a roadside bomb and firing on the vehicle, killing 1 IDF soldier, wounding at least 1. In response, the IDF shells an Islamic Jihad site nr. al-Qarara, killing 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs.; makes an air strike on an Islamic Jihad rocketlaunching site nr. Dayr al-Balah, killing 1 Islamic Jihad mbr. A 5th Islamic Jihad mbr. is killed when a rocket he is preparing to fire into Israel explodes prematurely. The IDF also bulldozes land inside the Gaza border fence e. of al-Qarara. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Rafah coast, heavily damaging 1 boat, causing no injuries. Palestinians fire 7 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, damaging 2 houses, lightly injuring 1 Israeli. Egypt begins replacing some stretches of barbed wire along the Rafah border with a 10-ft.-high stone and concrete wall. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes the Bethlehem home of a wanted Palestinian; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm r.c., nr. Jenin (raiding and sealing al-Majd TV and al-Salam Press offices for allegedly aiding Islamic Jihad), Salfit. (HA, IFM 3/6; AP, HA, NYT, WP, WT 3/7; NYT, WP 3/8; OCHA 3/12; PCHR 3/13)

Overnight, the IDF sends troops into Hebron to search the offices of several schools, youth centers, orphanages (housing some 1,000 children) owned by the Islamic Charitable Association (ICA), issuing an order declaring the ICA an illegal organization affiliated with Hamas, demanding that the buildings be vacated and turned over to the IDF for a 3-yr. period by 4/8, and stating that anyone remaining in the buildings will be considered to be admitting membership in Hamas and thereby subject to 5-yr. imprisonment; soldiers immediately confiscate 2 buses, a car, computers, appliances, furniture, documents; the ICA, a major philanthropic group founded in 1962 that runs many schools, nurseries, bakeries, and other services for the poor across the West Bank, denies Hamas affiliation. During the day, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Ramallah. In East Jerusalem, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home. Meanwhile, in s. Gaza, the IDF sends troops into al-Qarara, firing on residential areas, killing 1 Palestinian civilian. (OCHA, WP 2/27; PCHR 2/28; al-Ahram Weekly [Cairo] 4/18)

Responding to Israel’s 2/7 electricity cuts, Palestinians fire 21 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing slight damage but no injuries. The IDF sends tanks, bulldozers into Gaza e. of al-Qarara to level land along the border. In the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Azun nr. Qalqilya, imposing a curfew, firing on residential areas, conducting arrest raids and house searches (troops are still in the village and the curfew in place at the end of the day); patrols in Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 1). (NYT, WP 2/9; OCHA 2/13; PCHR 2/14)

The IDF makes a major pre-dawn incursion into Gaza City, sending in tanks and helicopters, clashing with local Palestinians, and conducting at least 4 air strikes, leaving at least 17 Palestinians dead (5 bystanders; 12 Hamas mbrs., including the son of senior Hamas mbr. Mahmud al-Zahar, whose oldest son was killed when the IDF attempted to assassinate him in 2003), around 55 wounded by the time troops withdraw in the evening. The IDF also sends troops into al-Qarara, firing on residential areas, wounding a 71-yr.-old Palestinian man, bulldozing 20 d. of agricultural land before withdrawing in the evening; fires a missile across the border at armed AMB mbrs. e. of Gaza City, wounding 4; sends armored vehicles, bulldozers back into the Erez industrial zone (see 1/14) under cover of heavy fire to continue land-leveling operations (no injuries are reported). In retaliation for the Gaza City incursion, Palestinians fire around 25 mortars and 25 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, hitting a house, moderately injuring 4 Israelis; Hamas claims responsibility for 17 of the mortars and 3 of the rockets, marking the 1st time since 6/07 that it has fired rockets. A Hamas gunman also fires across the border into Israel, killing an Ecuadorian laborer on an Israeli farm. In the West Bank, the IDF raids Qabatya nr. Jenin, fatally shoots local Islamic Jihad cmdr. Walid Obaydi in an apparent assassination, also wounding 2 other Palestinians (Obaydi has been on Israel’s most wanted list for 7 yrs.; the IDF attempted to assassinate him on 8/9/07 in Jenin r.c.); sends undercover units into Nablus to ambush and arrest a wanted PFLP mbr.; conducts separate late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus; bulldozes 40 d. of almond and olive trees, 6 wells nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Beit Hadasah throw Molotov cocktails into a Palestinian home, causing damage; the IDF intervenes, detains 2 of the Palestinian homeowner’s sons for questioning. (NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 1/16; PCHR 1/17)