The Palestine Chronology

PLO Executive Comm. mbr. Hanan Ashrawi urges the EU to go beyond verbal condemnation of Israeli violations and to take action—such as a full ban on the import of settlement products and reconsidering the EU-Israel Association Agreement—in light of Israel’s persistent human rights abuses. (WAFA 12/6)

Canadian FM John Baird says that PM Stephen Harper has relayed to Israeli PM Netanyahu Canada’s opposition to the recent settlement expansion plans. Netanyahu dismisses international anger and says that Israel will keep the area in question under any future peace deal. (AP 12/5; Globe and Mail 12/6)

Jordan’s King Abdallah II visits Ramallah for talks with Pres. Mahmud Abbas and other senior officials, in a high-profile show of support following the successful UN statehood bid (11/29). (AFP 12/6)

In the West Bank, Jewish settlers attack a Palestinian man during an olive harvest s. of Nablus, while IDF forces invade Barqa village nr. Nablus and ransack 36 homes. In c. Hebron, Israeli soldiers injure 20 Palestinians in clashes provoked when soldiers tried to arrest a Palestinian police officer, who resisted (it is unclear why he is wanted). The IDF patrols in Salfit and 1 village each nr. Jenin and Ramallah in the morning; 1 village each nr. Hebron, Qalqilya, and Salfit in the afternoon; 2 villages nr. Jericho and 1 village each nr. Jenin, Ramallah, and Salfit at night. The IDF also conducts house searches and arrest raids in 1 village nr. Bethlehem at night. (MNA 12/6; PCHR 12/13)

Speaking after a visit to Damascus, Filippo Grandi, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), says that parties in Syria’s civil war must respect the neutrality of Palestinian refugees. He expresses particular concern over the role of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine–General Command (PFLP–GC), a pro-Asad faction that is strong in the Yarmuk r.c. nr. Damascus. (AP 12/6; AFP 12/7)

The IDF assassinates Hamas commander Ahmad Jabari and his bodyguard and separately kills 7 other Palestinians in a number of air strikes on military and civilian targets across the Gaza Strip, leaving around 90 wounded. The dead include 2 children and an elderly man. Code-named Operation Pillar of Cloud in Hebrew (a Torah reference) and renamed Operation Pillar of Defense for foreign audiences, the Israeli military attacks are described as the ‘‘beginning’’ of an effort to increase deterrence and remove Hamas’s rocketlaunching capabilities. The IQB warns that Israel has ‘‘opened the gates of hell’’ with Jabari’s assassination, and fires dozens of rockets and mortars into Israel. They are joined by the DFLP, Islamic Jihad, PFLP, and PRCs, all of whom claim responsibility for rocket and mortar fire. In total, over 90 projectiles hit Israel from the Gaza Strip, causing 4 injuries. The Iron Dome rocket-defense system intercepts 30 rockets. Overnight, the IDF undertakes air strikes on around 100 sites across the Gaza Strip. U.S. pres. Obama calls Israel PM Netanyahu to express his support for Israel’s military operation and the country’s right to selfdefense. Obama also calls Egyptian pres. Mohamed Morsi to stress the importance of de-escalation and to pledge to stay in close touch. Egypt strongly condemns Israel’s military assault, and UN secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon calls for a cease-fire. The UNSC holds an emergency meeting but takes no action. (Guardian, REU 11/14; JP, MNA 11/15)

Unidentified assailants fire 4 rockets from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula into Israel, landing nr. an agricultural community and causing no injuries. (HA 11/14)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 1 village nr. Jericho in the morning, in 1 village nr. Salfit in the afternoon, and in 2 villages nr. Jericho and 1 village nr. Ramallah at night; conducts house searches and arrest raids in Balata r.c. and 1 village nr. Hebron at night. Palestinians across the West Bank demonstrate to mark the day before the 24th anniversary of the PLO’s declaration of independence, blocking roads nr. Bethlehem, Jericho, and Ramallah, and clashing with soldiers at checkpoints in Atara (nr. Ramallah) and Bethlehem. (AFP, PCHR 11/14)

Israeli DM Barak says that almost all the villages nr. the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights are now controlled by the Syrian opposition. (AP 11/14)

On a 2d day of violent protests in Jordan against price hikes and in general opposition to King Abdullah’s regime, unidentified gunmen attack 2 police stations, and ensuing clashes leave 1 protester dead—the 1st fatality in Jordanian demonstrations in 2012. (AP 11/15)

In a State of the Union address devoted to domestic affairs, Pres. Obama pointedly calls on Syrian pres. Asad to realize “that the forces of change cannot be reversed and that human dignity cannot be denied” and urges the international community to “isolate” his regime. He also stresses that the U.S. will not take any options (i.e., a military strike) off the table in dealing with Iran and emphasizes “our ironclad commitment—and I mean ironclad—to Israel’s security.” (NYT, WP, WT 1/25; WJW 2/2)

Unidentified Palestinians fire 2 Qassam rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border nr. the Erez crossing fire warning shots and tear gas at a group of Palestinians and international activists staging a nonviolent march to the crossing to protest Israel’s imposition of a no-go zone; no serious injuries are reported. With a sharp increase in the number of Gazans seeking to exit to Egypt through the Rafah border, the Gaza Interior Min. reimposes requirements (lifted on 12/18/11) that Gazans register with the ministry before traveling. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 8 Palestinian homes in Anata village nr. East Jerusalem, displacing 52 Palestinians, including 29 children; escorts 100s of Jewish settlers to pray at Joseph’s tomb in Balata village nr. Nablus; patrols in 1 village nr. Salfit in the morning, briefly detaining several Palestinian for questioning; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron and Nablus. (JP 1/24; PCHR 1/26; OCHA 1/27)

After a long delay, Hamas authorities in Gaza allow the Central Elections Commission to open a voter registration office in Gaza to prepare for eventual elections in implementation of the 5/2010 national unity deal. (WP 1/25)

Jordan says King Abdallah will receive Hamas leader Mishal on 1/29, when he makes his 1st official visit to Jordan in 13 yrs. Officials say that the kingdom will continue to bar Hamas for undertaking political activities on its soil. Analysts view this as: (1) Jordan trying to take a more active diplomatic role and say reopening diplomatic ties with Hamas could be a step toward trying to broker reconciliation btwn. Hamas and Fatah (WP 1/25); and (2) the king engaging with Islamists, who have gained strength regionally during the Arab Spring, to quiet Jordan’s own Islamist opposition. (WP, WT 1/25)

Police in Azerbaijan arrest several people allegedly linked to an Iranian-backed Hizballah cell for plotting an attack against Israeli amb. to Azerbaijan Michael Lotem and on a Jewish school in Baku. (JPI 2/3; NHR 2/21)

A Lebanese court sentences fmr. brig. gen. Fayiz Karam to 2 yrs. in jail (including time served) for giving classified information to Israel. Karam, jailed in mid-2009, will be released in 6 mos. (NYT 1/25)

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators hold a 3d round of preliminary talks in Jordan. No details are released. (WP 1/17)

The IDF patrols in 3 villages nr. Jenin, 2 nr. Ramallah, and 1 nr. Salfit during the day; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in ‘Ayn Bayt alMa’a r.c. nr. Nablus, in Jenin, and nr. Qalqilya (including rearresting 1 Palestinian freed in the 10/2011 Shalit prisoner release). Jewish settlers fr. Tal Rumayda settlement in Hebron set fire to a nearby Palestinian vehicle. (PCHR 1/19; OCHA 1/20)

Abbas says that Israel has offered nothing new in talks in Jordan, but that 2 more mtgs. are planned in hopes that the sides can agree on baselines for resuming negotiations before the Quartet’s 1/26/12 target date. (NYT 1/13)

Israel’s High Court upholds (6-5) a controversial law that bans most Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens fr. obtaining citizenship on the ground this would pose a security threat. IDF troops on the c. Gaza border fire 2 artillery shells at a group of armed Palestinians nr. the border e. of al-Bureij r.c., moderately wounding 2. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 4 villages nr. Ramallah and 2 nr. Tulkarm (synchronized) in the morning; in 2 villages nr. Jenin (firing tear gas and percussion grenades at stone-throwing youths in 1 instance), 2 nr. Jericho, and 1 nr. Salfit in the afternoon; and in Birzeit late at night. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nabi Saleh. (WP 1/13; PCHR 1/19; OCHA 1/20)

Jordan announces that Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to send their chief negotiators to Jordan on 1/3 to meet with Quartet officials. Though the parties stress that the meeting will not be a formal negotiating session, it will mark the 1st time the negotiators have met since 9/2010. The Quartet hopes that Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat and Netanyahu’s personal emissary Yitzhak Molcho will present their positions on security and borders and agree on the agenda for future direct talks, technically relaunching negotiations by the Quartet’s selfimposed 1/26/12 deadline (see QU in JPS 162 for background). Erakat says the Palestinian demand for a settlement freeze still stands and that the Palestinians have agreed to attend out of respect for Jordan. (HA 1/1; NYT, WP, WT 1/2)

Unidentified Palestinians fire 2 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; Israel claims the mortars carried white phosphorous that Palestinians would have scavenged fr. Israeli munitions fired into Gaza during OCL. The IDF conducts morning patrols in 3 villages northwest of Jenin (firing rubber-coated steel bullets at stonethrowing youths in 1 instance, causing no serious injuries); conducts synchronized afternoon patrols in 2 villages nr. Ramallah; conducts evening patrols in 2 villages nr. Ramallah (firing rubbercoated steel bullets at stone-throwing youths in 1 instance, causing no serious injuries), and 1 each nr. Jericho and Salfit; conducts late-night patrols in Jericho, Birzeit, 2 villages nr. Ramallah, and 1 village nr. Tulkarm; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jenin, Nablus. (JP 1/1, 1/2; OCHA, PCHR 1/5)