The Palestine Chronology

Netanyahu warns Hamas that Israel will retaliate if rocket and mortar fire fr. Gaza resumes. Though no rocket or mortar fire is reported during the day, the IDF makes a late-night air strike on a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 4 villages nr. Jenin, Ramallah, and Tulkarm during the day and 1 nr. Jericho late at night; raids 2 villages nr Qalqilya late in the evening, searching homes for Palestinian youths who allegedly threw stones at troops earlier in the day, arresting 1 teenager. (WT 3/29; PCHR 3/31; OCHA 4/1)

The Knesset passes (37-11, with 72 abstaining or not voting) into law the “Citizenship Loyalty Law” which allows the court to revoke the citizenship status of anyone found guilty of treason, espionage, terrorism, or assisting a terrorist organization. The law is widely seen as being aimed at Israeli Palestinians. Knesset also votes to strip former Israeli Arab MK Azmi Bishara of his parliamentary benefits, including his pension. (Israel National News 3/29; JTA 3/30; JPI 4/8)

Palestinians fire at least 7 mortars, 6 homemade Qassam rockets, and 2 manufactured Grad rockets fr. Gaza into Israel during the day, causing no injuries. Israel retaliates with several air strikes and tank fire on Hamas buildings and a launching site, lightly injuring 3 Palestinians. The largest strike (4 missiles) targets the fmr. PA General Intelligence building outside of Jabaliya in the evening, heavily damaging the building and collaterally damaging 30 homes, 4 businesses, and 2 schools. Sources say that Hamas seems to have stepped back fr. rocket and mortar fire since its large barrage on 3/19, with most fire now coming fr. Islamic Jihad and other groups. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 3 wells nr. Bethlehem (all more than 100 yrs. old); bulldozes a Palestinian road nr. Salfit for the 2d time in 3 mos. (Jewish settlers seek to annex the waterrich area to the Yakir and Revava settlements; Palestinian residents paved the road to claim ownership and repaved it after the IDF bulldozed the 1st time); patrols in 4 village nr. Qalqilya, 4 nr. Ramallah, and 2 each nr. Jenin (where troops fire tear gas at stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no injuries) and Jericho, as well as searching 2 open areas nr. Tulkarm. (HA, IsRN, JP, JTA 3/24; NYT, WP, WT 3/25; PCHR 3/31; OCHA 4/1)

By this date, allied air strikes on Libya have reportedly “all but destroyed” the Libyan air force and air defenses and the focus has shifted to targeting Qaddafi’s ground forces. At this stage, NATO takes the lead fr. the U.S. in enforcing the no-fly zone. The intervention is not enough to give Libyan rebels the upper hand, however; fierce fighting continues nationwide through the end of the quarter. (NYT 3/24, 3/25)

In Yemen, Pres. Saleh, responding to growing pressure (see 3/18), reins in the military and states that he would step down if he could arrange “an honorable transfer of power” that would keep the govt. in “safe hands.” Over next 2 wks., Saleh and the opposition hold talks but cannot reach an agreement. Meanwhile, protests continue (mostly nonviolent, ranging in size fr. the 1,000s to around 100,000). (NYT, WP, WT 3/25; NYT, WP 3/26–27; WP 3/28, 3/29; NYT 3/29; NYT, WP 3/31–4/1;NYT 4/3)

Overnight, Israel makes an air strike on Gaza, killing 1 Palestinian preparing to fire a rocket into Israel. Between dawn and mid-morning, Islamic Jihad fires 3 manufactured Grad rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing light damage and slightly injuring 1 Israeli. Later, unidentified Palestinians fire 7 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, some of which allegedly contain white phosphorous, causing no damage or injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF carries out several air strikes on training sites, rocket launching sites, and smuggling tunnels on the Rafah border, causing no reported injuries. In the afternoon, suspected Palestinian assailants leave a bomb nr. Jerusalem’s central bus station and convention center that detonates, killing 1 British woman, injuring 38 Israelis; the PA immediately condemns the incident; no group claims responsibility. In the West Bank, the IDF blocks a funeral procession fr. using a main road in Bayt Umar village nr. Hebron, sparking a clash in which 2 Palestinian mourners are wounded by live ammunition and 4 are arrested. Hours later, the IDF sends undercover units into Bayt Umar to raid and search a gas station, beating the owners and confiscating a computer. Several hours after that, the IDF returns to block the main entrance of the village with cement blocks and sand barriers. The IDF also patrols in Jericho (photographing the Intercontinental Hotel) and 3 villages nr. Ramallah; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and in Tulkarm. (AFP, HA, IFM, IsRN, JTA, MNA, REU, YA 3/23; IsRN, JP, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 3/24; NYT, WT 3/25; PCHR 3/31; JPI, OCHA 4/1)

In Syria, security forces make a predawn assault on the main mosque in Dara‘a, where antigovernment protesters have taken refuge, killing 15. Clashes last throughout the day and spread to 4 nearby villages. Over the succeeding days, clashes spread to towns and villages across the nation, becoming nr. daily events but remaining relatively small (in the 1,000s) and uncoordinated. Hot spots include Baniyas, Hama, Homs, Idlib, Latakia (which was reported to be “near anarchy”), and the Kurdish zone. (Only a few protests are reported in Damascus.) Govt. forces routinely dispersed the rallies, violently killing around 100 nationwide by 4/4. Meanwhile, Syrian activists mobilize through online social networking sites to call for mass protests every Friday until the regime falls. (NYT, SANA 3/23; NYT, WP, WT 3/24; NYT, WP 3/26–28; NYT, WP, WT 3/29; NYT, WP 3/30; NYT, WP 3/31, 4/1; NYT 4/2, 4/3; NYT, WP 4/4; WT 4/5; NYT, WP 4/6; NYT 4/7; NYT, WP 4/8; WP 4/9; NYT, WP 4/9, 4/10)

Israel makes 2 air strikes on Gaza targeting the launch site of 4 mortars fired into Israel minutes earlier (causing no damage or injuries), hitting a nearby residential area, killing 4 Palestinian civilians (including 3 children) and wounding 11 (4 critically); Netanyahu expresses regret for accidentally harming civilians but accuses Palestinian militants of using civilians as human shields to carry out rocket and mortar attacks (even while there was no rocket fire at the time of the strikes). In the evening, Palestinians fire a manufactured Grad rocket and several mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Later, the IDF carries out a 3d air strike, killing 4 Islamic Jihad mbrs. preparing to launch a rocket into Israel. The IDF also makes a brief incursion into Gaza northeast of Gaza City to level lands and clear lines of sight. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishermen off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a predawn raid on Awarta, imposing a curfew and arresting 9 Palestinians, possibly in connection to the 3/11 Itamar murders; patrols in 2 villages nr. Ramallah and Salfit. (IRM 3/22; NYT, REU, WP, WT 3/23; NYT, PCHR 3/24; OCHA 4/1)

The Knesset passes (37-25, with 58 abstaining or not voting) the “Nakba Law,” which allows state funding to be reduced to communities or groups that commemorate the Nakba, deny Israel is a Jewish state, question whether Israel is a democracy, or harm Israeli national symbols. It also passes (35-20, with 65 abstaining or not voting) the “Admissions Committee Law” allowing Negev and Galilee Jewish communities with fewer than 400 families to reject potential residents (i.e., Palestinians) who are “socially unacceptable.” (IsRN 3/23; JTA 3/24)

The IDF detains 2 Lebanese shepherds who accidentally crossed the Blue Line into Israeli territory and turns them over to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). (DS 3/23)

In response to recent rocket and mortar strikes, Israel makes at least 10 air strikes (war planes and drones) on Hamas targets across Gaza (including a training camp, several factories, a mechanic’s garage, and a home), injuring at least 7 Palestinians (including 1 Hamas-affiliated police officer and 6 civilians, including 2 children) and collaterally damaging 10s of homes, 7 shops, and 2 cars; in at least 1 instance, Israeli intelligence officers phone a targeted house before a drone missile strike. Late in the evening, Palestinians fire 1 Qassam rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF for a 2d time (see 3/16) storms an al-Wataniya cell phone tower nr. Jenin, searching the area but making no arrests; patrols in al-Bireh, Jericho, Qalqilya and 3 nearby villages, 3 villages nr. Salfit (summoning 1 Palestinian for questioning). Jewish settlers stab 1 Palestinian and shoot 2 others in 2 separate, nonfatal incidents nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Harsina settlement nr. Hebron stone nearby Palestinian homes and cars, lightly injuring 1 Palestinian girl. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza hold their 7th straight day of demonstrations calling for national reconciliation. (IsRN, WP 3/22; PCHR 3/24; OCHA 4/1)

Palestinians fire 3 rockets (including 1 Grad), 1 mortar into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Israeli naval vessels intercept a Palestinian fishing boat off the c. Gaza coast, releasing the fishermen but seizing the boat. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 2 village nr. Ramallah in the morning and 4 villages nr. Qalqilya late in the day. In Gaza, 1,000s of Palestinian students at al-Azhar University hold a sit-in on campus in support of national reconciliation. (IsRN, XIN 3/20; IsRN, JP, WP 3/21; PCHR 3/24; OCHA 4/1)

Palestinians fire 2 rockets (including 1 Grad) and 54 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel within 15 mins., lightly injuring 2 Israelis, damaging an empty kindergarten, and marking the largest barrage since OCL in 1/2009. Hamas acknowledges it fired 33 of the mortars, targeting IDF bases along the border in retaliation for a 3/16 Israeli air strike that killed 2 Hamas mbrs. Israel retaliates with heavy air strikes and tank fire on Hamas facility e. of Gaza City, killing a Hamas official and wounding at least 5 Palestinians (including at least 2 civilians); artillery fire throughout the morning directed at villages on the s. Gaza border with Israel, damaging a mosque in Abassan but causing no injuries; 4 air strikes on rocket-launching sites in s. Gaza, causing no reported injuries; and, late at night, artillery fire directed at suspicious movement nr. the s. Gaza border, killing 2 16-yr.-old Palestinians, allegedly armed. Meanwhile, a group of 10 armed, plain-clothed Palestinians claiming to be Hamas-affiliated security forces raid the Gaza City bureaus of CNN, NHK news channel, and Reuters, attacking journalists, destroying cameras, and confiscating tapes to punish them for filming Hamas police dispersing a 3/17 Palestinian rally. Hamas’s interior M Fathi Hamad denies the men were connected to Hamas, and Reuters confirms that the men did not show identification. In the West Bank, Jewish settlers fr. Dolev settlement nr. Ramallah set up a tent and hold Purim services on a nearby plot of Palestinian land; the IDF observes but does not intervene, and the settlers leave on their own the next morning (3/20). Jewish settlers attack Palestinians and international activists working an olive grove nr. Hebron; the IDF intervenes to remove the settlers. Jewish settlers fr. Suissa settlement nr. Hebron raid a nearby Palestinian farm, releasing 100s of sheep into crop fields; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Jewish settlers stone Palestinian cars driving nr. Hebron and Qalqilya. (AP, JP 3/19; JP, NYT, WP 3/20; PCHR 3/24; OCHA 4/1)

U.S., British, and French forces begin strikes (fr. planes and warships) on Libya. The forces target radar and antimissile batteries to enforce a no-fly zone against Qaddafi’s forces. (NYT, WP 3/20)

When protests in Dara’a resume today, Syrian security forces seal off the city and clash with the demonstrators. Violence in Dara’a continues through 3/22. (NYT, WP 3/20; NYT, WP 3/21)

Palestinians in Gaza fire an antitank missile at an IDF patrol inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries. During the day, Palestinians also fire 10 mortars toward Israel in 2 barrages, causing no damage or injuries; some of the mortars land inside Gaza. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts synchronized morning patrols in Tulkarm and several nearby villages; patrols in alBireh and neighboring al-Am‘ari r.c., and in 3 villages nr. Jericho and Ramallah. Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall, land confiscations, and settlement expansion in Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, and Nabi Salih/Dayr Nizam. IDF soldiers fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters, injuring 4 Palestinians, including 2 children. A Jewish settler deliberately attempts to run down a Palestinian nr. the Hawara checkpoint nr. Nablus, moderately injuring him; the IDF does not intervene. Jewish settlers fr. Taffuh settlement attempt to seize a plot of nearby Palestinian agricultural land but are sent away by the IDF. Jewish settlers close Jit intersection nr. Qalqilya with burning tires, blocking the main Qalqilya-Nablus road. In separate incidents, Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim and Karnei Shomron settlements stone Palestinian vehicles nr. Qalqilya. In East Jerusalem, Palestinians clash with Israeli border police in Silwan, leaving at least 1 Israeli officer injured. (IsRN, JP 3/18; WP 3/19; PCHR 3/24; OCHA 4/1)

After 2 days of clashes with protesters, arrest raids targeting opposition figures, and imposition of a nighttime curfew in Manama, Bahrain’s troops demolish the giant pearl monument in Pearl Square in a symbolic crushing of antigovernment protesters. No further demonstrations are reported this quarter. By 3/20 observers describe daily life returning to normal (schools and stores reopen, traffic moving) but note “a sense of political paralysis.” Saudi, UAE, and Kuwaiti forces remain in the country through the end of the quarter. (WP 3/19; NYT 3/21)

In Syria, govt. forces violently disperse protests (ranging in size fr. the 100s to the 1,000s) held after Friday prayers in Baniyas, Dara‘a, Damascus, and Homs, fatally shooting 6 protesters and wounding 10s. Though protests are small, the govt. response is harsh and tensions are high. (NYT, WP 3/19)

In Yemen, govt. troops and supporters open fire for more than 20 minutes on protesters demonstrating after Friday prayers in Sana’a, leaving at least 47 dead and 100s injured but failing to disperse the crowd. Afterward, the govt. declares a state of emergency, allowing authorities to curtail civil rights and monitor communications. Over the next 5 days, Yemen’s ambassador to the UN, several other ambassadors, the country’s most influential military commander Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar (a relative and very close ally of Pres. Saleh), and 4 other generals resigned in protest, and Saleh’s own tribe and another key tribal leader called on him to step down. Saleh also fires his cabinet in an apparent attempt to preempt a mass resignation to protest recent deadly clashes. Popular protests also continued. (NYT, WP 3/19; NYT, WP 3/20–21; NYT, WP, WT 3/22–23; NYT, WP 3/24)

Uruguay recognizes an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 lines. (XIN 3/16)

Egypt completes repairs to its natural gas pipeline damaged during the 2/2011 Egyptian unrest (see Quarterly Update in JPS 159) and resumes sending natural gas to Israel. The Israeli navy detains a ship, the German-owned and Liberian flagged Victoria, en route fr. Syria to Egypt, 200 mi. off the Israeli coast that Israel claims was attempting to deliver arms to Gaza fr. Iran, taking it to Ashdod for further inspection; Israeli authorities said the ship carried 4 crates holding some 70,000 rounds of ammunition for Kalashnikov rifles, 1,000s of mortars, 6 Chinese C-704 antiship missiles, and 2 radar systems. Iran denies smuggling arms. The IDF makes a brief incursion into c. Gaza to level lands e. of al-Bureij r.c. to clear lines of sight. On the Rafah border, 2 Palestinians are killed, 4 are injured in an explosion in a smuggling tunnel. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that another 4 Palestinians have been killed in tunnel accidents since 3/2. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night patrols in Jenin and surrounding villages; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron. Jewish settlers attempt to enter Kafr Laqif village nr. Qalqilya but are prevented by the IDF and stone nearby Palestinian homes instead. In separate instances, Jewish settlers fr. Karnei Shomron and Keddumim settlements, both nr. Nablus, stone passing Palestinian vehicles. Across the West Bank and Gaza, 1,000s of Palestinians turn out for candlelight vigils calling for national reconciliation. Hamas security forces violently break up the biggest rally (as many as 100,000) in Gaza City, injuring 5 protesters. In the West Bank, PA security forces (PASF) fire tear gas at some 8,000 protesters in Ramallah, briefly dispersing them and injuring 20; some protesters return, vowing to stay in Ramallah’s Manara Square until the West Bank and Gaza are reunited (they stay until 4/17). Meanwhile, Hamas’s acting PM in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh invites Abbas to Gaza for reconciliation talks; Abbas responds favorably. Inside Israel, 2 cars owned by Israeli Palestinian students at Safad Academic College were torched during a campus event to promote Arab-Jewish dialogue. Anti-Arab graffiti also was sprayed on the wall of the college, saying: “Arabs get out,” “Death to Arabs,” and “Kahane was right.” (General Delegation of the PLO to the United States letter, IFM, National Public Radio 3/15; JAZ, JP, JTA, MNA, NYT, WP, WT 3/16; PCHR 3/17; OCHA 3/18; JPI 4/1)

In Bahrain, protesters ramp up demonstrations in response to Saudi Arabia’s incursion, while the king imposes a 3-mo. state of emergency, deploys the military, and closes schools and govt. offices. (NYT 3/16)