The Palestine Chronology

Unidentified Palestinians fire a mortar fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries, marking the 1st cross-border Palestinian fire since 12/16. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in PA-controlled areas just n. of Ramallah at midday, making no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fara‘a r.c. and nr. Nablus. (JP, YA 12/30; OCHA, PCHR 1/6)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c. The PA declares a boycott against Israeli goods made in Jewish settlements, with National Economy M Hassan AbuLibdeh saying the government has already confiscated $1 m. worth of settlement-made products. The UN reports that since 11/25, 1 Palestinian has been killed in a smuggling tunnel collapse on the Rafah border and 1 Palestinian has been killed and 4 injured (including a 14-yr.-old boy) mishandling explosives. (OCHA, WT 12/9; PCHR 12/10)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya and nr. Nablus, Salfit. (PCHR 12/3; OCHA 12/9)

Netanyahu declares a 10-mo. halt to all new residential housing approvals and construction in West Bank settlements, though building in East Jerusalem and work on 2,900 West Bank housing units currently under construction and any “public buildings essential for normal life” (e.g., schools, synagogues) in West Bank settlements would proceed. The U.S. welcomes this move as “significant.” PA PM Salam Fayyad says that the offer is not enough, the PA insists on a total settlement freeze. (IFM 11/25; NYT, WP, WT 11/26)

IDF troops briefly enter s. Gaza to bulldoze land along the border fence e. of Abasan, firing on nearby residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian. Israeli naval vessels detain a Palestinian fishing boat off the Bayt Lahiya coast, interrogating and releasing the fishermen. The UN reports that 2 Palestinians were killed and 6 were injured in tunnel collapses on the Rafah border in the previous wk.; in addition, the body of a Palestinian missing since 7/1 has been found in a collapsed smuggling tunnel. In the West Bank, IDF undercover units enter Yatta village in a vehicle with Palestinian license plates, raid an auto mechanics shop, arresting 1 Palestinian. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring ‘Askar r.c., and nr. Hebron, Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar cut down 24 Palestinian olive trees in nearby Burin village. Jewish settlers fr. Gilad settlement stone Palestinian cars on the Qalqilya–Nablus road. In Khan Yunis, a bomb explodes at the wedding of a fmr. Fatah-affiliated PA security officer, injuring 42 Palestinians; no group claims responsibility. (OCHA, PCHR 7/23)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm; conducts late-night patrols in Silat al-Harithiyya nr. Jenin, erecting a checkpoint and checking IDs and car registrations. The UN reports that the IDF has removed the physical infrastructure of an IDF checkpoint at the entrance to Jericho; soldiers remain posted at the site but have not been stopping Palestinian vehicles; the IDF has also opened 3 checkpoints nr. Jenin, Jericho, and Nablus (Tayasir, Ma’ale Ephraim, and Hamra, respectively) around the clock. Jewish settlers fr. Eli settlement nr. Nablus set fire to nearby Palestinian crop land; the IDF observes but refuses to stop the settlers or call firefighters. A Hamas mbr. dies in PA custody in Hebron, and Hamas accuses the PASF of torturing him; the 34-yr.-old man was arrested on charges of money laundering, illegal gun possession, and conspiracy to target PASF forces. (JTA, REU 6/15; OCHA, PCHR, WJW 6/18)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinian farmers nearly 1,000 m fr. the border fence, wounding 2. A 7-mo.- old Palestinian boy dies of respiratory infection that doctors believe could have been successfully treated if Israel had approved requests to transfer him abroad for medical treatment. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts synchronized late-night arrest raids and house searches in Jenin town and r.c. and 2 nearby villages; makes other late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Balata r.c. and Nablus, and in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers place 2 mobile homes on a plot of Palestinian land w. of Bethlehem, declaring the establishment of a new outpost. (al-Mezan Center press release, PCHR 6/4; OCHA, PCHR 6/11)

Obama receives PA pres. Abbas at the White House, praising the PA’s security efforts and refusal to join a unity government with Hamas until it meets 1/06 Quartet demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist, but stressing that the PA must do much more to improve West Bank security. (NYT, WP, WT 5/29)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes a predawn raid on caves in the hills nr. Hebron, killing senior Hamas military cmdr. ‘Abd al-Majid Dudin, wanted by Israel for 14 yrs., in an exchange of gunfire; conducts rare daytime house searches nr. Hebron and Nablus, making no arrests; makes synchronized late-night arrest raids, house searches in 4 villages nr. Jenin. (OCHA 5/28; NYT, WP 5/29; OCHA, PCHR 6/4)

In the West Bank, the IDF raids a house in al-Mukabir belonging to the family of construction worker Hussam Dweikat (shot dead on 7/2/08 when he deliberately rammed his bulldozer into a crowd in West Jerusalem), harasses family mbrs., and threatens to arrest Dweikat’s father because the family had rebuilt part of the house demolished by the IDF in reprisal for the 7/08 attack; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus. After mediation by UN agencies, the PA in Ramallah and Hamas authorities in Gaza reach an understanding regarding control of the Referrals Abroad Dept. (see 3/22) allowing normal operations to resume; the World Health Organization estimates that at least 3 patients (and as many as 8) died while waiting for referral documents authorizing their treatment abroad. A military court in Gaza sentences 4 Palestinians to death and 3 Palestinians to life with hard labor in the 7/06 death of an Islamic University prof. during interfactional fighting; only 1 of those convicted is currently held by Hamas police; the others escaped when the IDF bombed Gaza’s central prison on 12/28/08, at the opening of OCL. (OCHA, PCHR 4/29) 

In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Qabatya village nr. Jenin at midday in a car with Palestinian license plates to raid a cafe and arrest a wanted ´ Palestinian; demolishes 4 Palestinian homes in Azariyya nr. Jerusalem, in the E1 area marked for expansion of Ma’ale Adumim settlement, displacing 42 Palestinians. Late in the evening, the IDF conducts synchronized late-night incursions into Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, and Zatara village nr. Bethlehem to raid and search the homes of 8 senior figures affiliated with Hamas (fmr. PA Dep. PM and Education M Nasser al-Din al-Sha‘ir in Nablus; Reform and Change Palestinian Council legislators Nizar ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Ramadan and ‘Assam Nu‘man Salhab in Hebron; Ayman Husayn Darghma in Ramallah; Khalid Tafish Thwayb in Zatara; Reform and Change office director for Ramallah and al-Bireh Mazin al-Rimawi in Ramallah; senior Hamas leader Adnan Ahed Asfur and al-Najah University prof. Issam Rashid al-Ashqar in Nablus), arresting them for their “ongoing efforts to restore the administrative branch of the Hamas terror organization in the [West Bank].” The moves come as an Israeli Justice Min. comm. debates limiting the privileges (e.g., visitation, phone calls, study groups) of Hamas prisoners in Israel. Some 40 Hamas-affiliated legislators have been arrested since Shalit’s capture in 6/06, most of whom remain in detention. Hamas views the moves as Israel’s attempts to pressure it to make concessions in the ongoing Cairo prisoner exchange talks. The IDF conducts additional late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, and Tulkarm. Mbrs. of Kiryat Arba settlement’s private security service detain a Canadian journalist and a fieldworker for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem as they pass nr. the settlement, holding them until the IDF arrives to question them; they are released 4 hrs. later. (OCHA 3/18; PCHR 3/19; NYT, WP, WT 3/20; OCHA 3/24, 3/25; PCHR 3/26; JPI 4/3)

In the West Bank, Israel reopens a main road to Bani Na‘im nr. Hebron (closed since 2001); authorizes the Palestinian Authority (PA) to build an additional 12 police stations across the West Bank (Israel previously approved 20 and the PA has built 19); issues VIP travel permits to 120 high-ranking PA security officers and Palestinian personalities (bringing to about 390 the number of VIP permits issued to date); increases the number of Palestinian workers allowed into Israel (no figures given); allows Israeli Palestinians to visit Nablus and Jenin on weekends (intended to boost those local economies). The IDF also levels Palestinian land to expand an IDF checkpoint nr. Einav settlement nr. Tulkarm; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, in Hebron, nr. Jenin and Ramallah. In Gaza,IDF troops on the s. Gaza border fire on unarmed Palestinians inspecting damaged homes e. of Khuza nr. the border fence, wounding a Palestinian teenager. The UN reports that Palestinians have fired 21 rockets and mortars into Israel since 2/18, causing no damage or injuries. A Palestinian teenager dies of injuries sustained during the 1/15 IDF air strikes that assassinated Gaza’s acting interior minister Sa‘id Siyam during OCL. (IFM 2/24; OCHA 2/25; PCHR 2/26)

Israel’s new parliament, elected on 2/10/09, is sworn in. (WP 2/25)