The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Hebron, and nr. Bethlehem, Nablus, Qalqilya, Ramallah, and Tulkarm. (PCHR 9/4; OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11)

In a rare Israeli prosecution of Israeli security forces for their actions in the West Bank, 2 Israeli border policemen are convicted of manslaughter for kidnapping a 17-yr.-old Palestinian and throwing him from a moving vehicle in Hebron in 2002; they face up to 20 yrs. in jail. (WP 9/4)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., and in Nablus. The IDF bars a group of Jewish settlers fr. entering the Palestinian village of Bayt Safafa in East Jerusalem, but makes no arrests. Jewish settlers stone, lightly injure a Palestinian Council (PC) mbr. nr. the evacuated settlement of Homesh s. of Jenin. (OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., and in Ni‘lin (shooting and seriously wounding 1 Palestinian). (OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4)

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 moves into al-Kum village nr. Hebron before dawn, sets up checkpoints, checks Palestinians’ IDs as they leave dawn prayers, arresting 3; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., nr. Tulkarm, and in Bethlehem, Nablus (targeting al-Najah University students), Tubas. Jewish settlers in Hebron attack a Palestinian home, injuring 1 Palestinian. (PCHR 8/28; OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4)

For a 2d day, Palestinians fire 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Israel closes Gaza border crossings for 48 hrs. in response. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. (OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28)

Timed with Rice’s arrival in Israel, the Israeli human rights group Peace Now issues a report showing that Israeli settlement construction in 2008 to date has nearly doubled compared to the same period in 2007, with significant construction taking place in East Jerusalem and the unauthorized settlement outposts that Israel pledged to the U.S. it would remove as part of its road map commitments to advance the peace process. In her meeting with Israeli FM Tzipi Livni, Rice urges Israel not to take such steps that undermine peace talks. Livni calls the 2008 construction “small activities” that should not be used by the Palestinians as an “excuse” not to negotiate. Rice then holds a 3-way mtg. in Jerusalem with the PA and Israeli negotiating teams, then heads to Ramallah to meet with Abbas. (NYT, WP, WT 8/27)

U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Israel for a 2-day visit to press Israel and the PA for a joint statement on the peace process before the end of Pres. George W. Bush’s term. Hrs. before her arrival, Israel releases 198 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to Abbas, including 2 long-held prisoners given life sentences for murdering Israelis: Said al-Atba (a mbr. of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine [DFLP] convicted in 1977) and Muhammad Abu Ali (convicted in 1980; elected to the PA legislature representing Fatah while jailed); none of those released are fr. Hamas. In Gaza, Palestinians fire 2 rockets into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem, nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Susia in Hebron destroy a Palestinian olive crop nearby. (NYT 8/26; OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts predawn patrols in Tulkarm town and r.c.; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin; conducts late-night patrols in al-Fara‘a r.c. and Tammun village nr. Tubas. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha settlement nr. Nablus burn 7 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of Palestinian agricultural land. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim nr. Qalqilya stone Palestinian vehicles passing by the settlement, causing no injuries; the IDF removes them. In Hebron, a group of Jewish settlers beats 2 Palestinians. As the Palestinian school yr. begins, the Ramallah-based, Fatah-run Palestinian Teachers’ Union calls on Gaza’s 10,000 teachers and school administrators to strike to protest Hamas’s de facto rule, acknowledging that the strike is, in part, intended to disrupt life in Gaza and weaken the Hamas government; the PA pledges to continue to pay the teachers’ salaries as long as they observe the strike, which lasts through the end of the quarter; Hamas authorities quickly begin contracting 1,000s of substitute teachers to keep schools running. (OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28; WT 10/15)

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)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Tammun village nr. Tubas, then fires on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 2 (ages 10, 12); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem and Jenin, in Hebron, outside Jerusalem. (OCHA 8/20; PCHR 8/21)

Israel opens the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing into Gaza for the first time since 4/08, when a Palestinian suicide bomber struck there; 15 trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter Gaza. Israel says it will allow around 80 trucks to enter over the next few days as a “trial run” prior to reopening the crossing for regular imports as part of the 6/19 cease-fire deal with Hamas. In the West Bank, the IDF searches homes and shops in Tulkarm, making no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Jenin town and refugee camp (r.c.), and nr. Hebron. As part of a new crackdown on Hamas in Hebron, PA security officials inform the head of the privately run Islamic Charitable Association (ICA), allegedly affiliated with Hamas, that the PA has removed the organization’s governing board and replaced it with a governing body comprising exclusively of Fatah mbrs. to run the charity and its affiliated orphanage and boarding school. (OCHA, WP, WT 8/20; PCHR 8/21; AHR 8/23)

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 patrols in, fires on residential areas of Dahaysha r.c., seriously wounding a Palestinian teenager; conducts daytime arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Jala and nr. Hebron, and similar latenight operations in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Dahaysha r.c. and Nablus (firing on stone-throwing youths, wounding 2), and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, and Salfit; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Anabta nr. Tulkarm, causing no injuries. The IDF also demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem’s Bayt Hanina neighborhood, displacing 16 Palestinains (including 11 children). (PCHR 8/14; OCHA 8/20; PCHR 8/21)

The IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Hebron. (OCHA 8/13; PCHR 8/14)

Meeting with Abbas in Jerusalem, Olmert pledges to release 150 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to improve the climate of negotiations and support for Abbas; the release is tentatively set for 8/25. Today, Israel releases 6 Palestinian prisoners (fulfilling a requirement of the 7/16 prisoner release deal with Hizballah): the 6 include Hamas-affiliated Nablus mayor Adli Yaish (see 7/14) and 5 minors arrested for stone-throwing. Meanwhile, the IDF sends undercover units into Ramallah to arrest a wanted Palestinian; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, and in and around Jenin town and r.c., Tulkarm (breaking into a taxi company, stealing 3 cars). Armed Jewish settlers attempt to enter East Jerusalem’s Shu‘fat r.c. to establish an unauthorized outpost, claiming ownership of land inside the camp; the IDF bars their entry. (AFP, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 8/7; OCHA 8/13; PCHR 8/14)

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)

Amid investigations into his criminal wrongdoing, Olmert announces that he will not run in the Kadima party elections, now set for 9/17, and will resign as PM as soon as the party picks a new leader. (HA, REU 7/30; NYT, WP, WT 7/31)

Israeli, Palestinian negotiators arrive in Washington for talks under U.S. auspices (see 6/24). (MM 7/30; WP 7/31)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts daytime arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus and similar late-night operations nr. Nablus and Salfit, and in and around Hebron, Jenin town and r.c., Tubas; sends undercover units in a car with Palestinian license plates into Burqin to abduct a wanted Islamic Jihad mbr.; fires on the funeral for the 11-yr.-old Palestinian boy killed in Ni‘lin on 7/29, leaving 1 Palestinian teenager brain dead, wounding 7 others; takes up positions in Anabta nr. Tulkarm, fires on residential areas, then fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding 1 Palestinian. (WP 7/31; OCHA 8/6; PCHR 8/7)

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)

In the West Bank, the IDF sets up checkpoints, conducts random ID checks in Hebron; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Jenin. The IDF forcibly evicts 70 Palestinians (including 20 children) from a Palestinian apartment building in East Jerusalem, then demolishes it, sparking unarmed clashes btwn. local residents and police (no serious injuries are reported). Fatah-Hamas tensions over the 7/25 bombings and ongoing Hamas crackdown spread to the West Bank, where PA security forces arrest more than 50 Hamas-affiliated activists and academics in Nablus (including acting mayor Hafiz Shahin; the Hamas-affiliated elected mayor and dep. mayor are in Israeli custody). Sources in Gaza, say Hamas-affiliated police have detained around 200 Fatah supporters since 7/25. Today, Gaza’s acting Hamas government bans the entry to Gaza of 3 daily newspapers seen as critical of its authority: al-Ayyam, al-Hayat, al-Quds. (NYT 7/29; OCHA, PCHR 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 conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, Jenin town and r.c., Nablus; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Tulkarm, causing no injuries. Some 20 Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus, angry over the IDF removal of a mobile home fr. an unauthorized outpost nearby, attack and damage Palestinian houses and an electricity system in Burin, causing a fire that destroys 200 d. of olive trees. Israel’s Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Comm. announces that it is reviving plans to build a new Jewish settlement, Maskiyot, in the n. Jordan Valley, approving an initial 22 housing units for the site. (NYT, WP 7/25; HA 7/26; OCHA, PCHR 7/30)

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)

Copying the 7/2 attack in Jerusalem, Palestinian construction worker Ghassan Abu Teir (a resident of Jerusalem with no political affiliation) steals a bulldozer and careens down a busy Jerusalem street, ramming cars and a bus, injuring 16 people before being shot dead by an armed Israeli driver. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, and nr. Tulkarm. (NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 7/23; PCHR 7/24)

In the West Bank, the IDF raids, searches shops in Tulkarm; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qabatya, and nr. Hebron, Jenin. Armed Jewish settlers fr. Gilad settlement nr. Qalqilya attack 2 Palestinian farmers, severely beat them, and spray a chemical substance on their faces and bodies, then burn 2 d. of nearby Palestinian olive groves; when local Palestinians arrive to put out the fire, they are fired upon by the settlers (who use live ammunition) and the IDF (using rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades). Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba attack Palestinian homes, attempt to break into at least 1 home in the same area where settlers seized a plot of land on 7/17. (OCHA 7/23; PCHR 7/24)

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 conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Jenin town and r.c. The IDF fatally shoots a Syrian drug smuggler, wounds a 2d when they cross the n. Israel border into the Golan. (WP 7/20; AHR 7/21; OCHA 7/23; PCHR 7/24)