The Palestine Chronology

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)

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 conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem. More than 40 human rights activists fr. 17 countries (including Israel) organized by the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement (FGM) complete a 2-day voyage fr. Cyprus to Gaza, sailing in 2 boats carrying humanitarian aid, to challenge Israel’s blockade; the Israeli navy allows the boats to pass unchallenged. (NYT 8/24; OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28; WP 8/29)

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 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)

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 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)

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)

Abbas refuses to grant asylum to 188 Fatah mbrs. who fled to Israel on 8/2 to escape interfactional fighting, ordering them back to Gaza, stating that a Fatah presence must remain in the Strip. Israel repatriates 32 of the 188 today; Hamas initially detains them, releases all but 5 before the end of the day. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. (WT 8/4; NYT 8/5; OCHA 8/6; PCHR 8/7)

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)