The Palestine Chronology

PA pres. Mahmud Abbas sends a letter to U.S. pres. Barack Obama to inform him that if the UN bid is successful, he intends to resume negotiations with Israel. (AFP, HA, REU 10/16)

Qatar announces a $254 m. plan for reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, the largest such injection of aid since the end of Operation Cast Lead in 1/2009. (REU 10/16)

Israeli government officials say that Palestinians deployed an anti-aircraft missile for the 1st time in the Gaza Strip the previous week, missing their target. (AFP 10/16)

Unidentified Palestinians fire 2 rockets from Gaza into Israel, 1 of which lands by a house nr. Ashqelon, causing no injuries. The IDF fires missiles at an IQB training site in the n. Gaza Strip at night, causing no injuries. IDF troops on the Gaza border open fire on Palestinians and internationals staging nonviolent protests nr. Bayt Hanun and the Erez crossing against Israel’s imposition of a no-go zone inside the Gaza border, causing no reported injuries. (JP 10/16)

Palestinian and international protesters block a key highway linking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv (Road 443) in the West Bank to protest the uprooting of olive trees by Jewish settlers. The IDF forces them off the road, firing shock grenades. (AIC, IMEMC 10/16)

PA security forces raid an apartment in Nablus and claim to have confiscated documents and weapons belong to the IQB. (MNA 10/16)

Israeli coalition party Yisrael Beiteinu announces it intends to request that the Central Election Comm. disqualify Balad party from the upcoming elections on the grounds that it ‘‘supports terror and acts against the existence of Israel as a Jewish, democratic state.’’ A Likud MK submits a similar petition. (JP, YA 10/16)

On the 2d day of his trip to Israel, Republican presidential candidate Romney prays at the Western Wall and gives a public address to 300 select supporters in Jerusalem (calling Jerusalem the capital of Israel). He vows to support Israel’s right to defend itself and calls for Israel and the U.S. to use ‘‘any and all means’’ to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He does not repeat the comment his foreign policy aide, Dan Senor, made en route to Israel that Romney would ‘‘respect’’ an Israeli decision to strike Iran unilaterally, nor does he mention the Palestinians or the peace process. Romney meets with his former business colleague PM Netanyahu, who makes kind remarks but is seen (e.g., WP 7/30) as being careful not to take sides in the election. He also meets with Israeli pres. Peres and PA PM Salam Fayyad; the Romney camp cancels at the last minute a planned meeting with Labor party officials. In an interview with CNN later in the day, Romney says that the U.S., in consultation with Israel, should move its embassy to Jerusalem. In response, White House spokesman Josh Earnest says: ‘‘The view of this administration is the capital should be determined in final status negotiations between the parties. That’s the position held by the previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican.’’ (NYT, WP, WT 7/30; WP 7/31; WJW 8/2)

Timed with Romney’s visit to Israel, the Obama admin. leaks a story to the Israeli daily Ha’Aretz that NSA Donilon briefed an Israeli official (some say PM Netanyahu, though Israel explicitly denies this) over dinner in Israel earlier in 7/2012 on ‘‘U.S. contingency plans for any attack on Iran,’’ emphasizing that the U.S. is making serious preparations for a military strike if such action is deemed necessary. A Netanyahu spokesman says Donilon did not share any operational plans. Donilon’s office says it does not comment on private meetings. (WT 7/30)

In Tunis en route to Israel, U.S. defense secy. Leon Panetta says Israel and the U.S. are united in support of strong sanctions against Iran. (NYT, WP 7/30)

Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 2 villages nr. Ramallah and 1 nr. Jenin in the morning; patrols in 2 villages nr. Jenin and Ramallah in the evening. Jewish settlers block roads and stone Palestinian cars nr. the evacuated settlement of Homesh nr. Jenin. (PCHR 8/2; OCHA 8/3)

The IDF patrols in Tulkarm and 2 nearby villages, 2 villages nr. Jenin, and 1 each nr. Jericho, Hebron, and Ramallah in the morning; stages 3 groups of synchronized patrols s. of Jenin (4 villages), e. and n. of Jenin (3 villages), and n. of Ramallah (2 villages) in the afternoon; conducts synchronized late-night patrols in 3 villages nr. Tulkarm; and conducts other late-night patrols in Jericho and nearby ‘Aqabat Jabir r.c., and in 1 village nr. Salfit. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in East Jerusalem in the afternoon and nr. Hebron late at night; bulldozes Palestinian irrigation networks located between 2 Jewish settlements nr. Hebron; and confiscates a bulldozer and rock crusher from a Palestinian quarry n. of Jerusalem. (PCHR 5/23; OCHA 5/25)

The White House convenes a meeting with American Jewish leaders to reassure them that the Obama admin. is committed to keeping Iran free of nuclear weapons. In Israel, PM Netanyahu reiterates his position that ‘‘the objectives of Iran are clear: It wants to destroy Israel and is developing nuclear weapons to realize that goal.’’ (HA 5/21; NYT, WP, WT 5/22; WJW 5/31)