The Palestine Chronology

As Operation Pillar of Defense continues, the IDF carries out air strikes on 133 targets across Gaza, killing 31 Palestinians, including several children, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 146. The IDF says that those killed include 18 Islamic Jihad and Hamas fighters. IDF air strikes kill 3 Palestinian journalists, attacks condemned by Reporters Without Borders. Palestinian armed groups fire 140 rockets into Israel, killing 1 IDF soldier and 1 Israeli Defense Ministry contractor, bringing the Israeli death toll to 5. In addition, 2 Israelis are wounded by a rocket strike on a building in s. Israel. The Iron Dome intercepts 51 rockets. Meanwhile, Hamas’s Izzedin al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) claim responsibility for the killing of 6 alleged Palestinian collaborators with Israel in the streets of Gaza City. (AP, HA, MNA, REU 11/20)

U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu in Jerusalem to urge Israel to deescalate the situation in Gaza. At the press conference afterward, she says that the U.S. is pleased with the success of the Iron Dome defense system. In Cairo, Hamas chief Mishal and Islamic Jihad chief Shalah meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Raafat Shehata in an effort to finalize details of a cease-fire agreement with Israel. Egyptian sources hope that a deal will be signed in Cairo on 11/21 and will include not only an immediate cease-fire, but more long-term negotiation of an easing of Israel’s Gaza blockade. The UN Security Council (UNSC) convenes to discuss the situation in Gaza and Israel but does not come to any conclusions. Arab League secy.-gen. Nabil Elaraby visits Rafah with some 10 Arab foreign ministers to show solidarity with the Palestinians. (AP, Guardian, HA 11/20)

In the West Bank, Palestinians clash with IDF forces at the funerals in Hebron and al-Nabi Salih for the 2 Palestinians killed (see 11/19) in demonstrations against Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense. The IDF also conducts house searches and arrest raids in 1 village nr. Jenin in the afternoon, and in Jenin, Tulkarm and 2 nearby villages, Hebron and 2 nearby villages, Bethlehem, 1 nearby village, and Dahayshah r.c. and Aida r.c. (both in Bethlehem) at night. (MNA 11/20; PCHR 11/22)

Jordanian protesters hold rallies across the country and issue a call for a ‘‘popular uprising’’ against the government in light of rising fuel prices and unpopular economic policies. This is the 7th consecutive day of demonstrations. (HA 11/20)

The IDF’s attacks on the Gaza Strip continue, with reports indicating nearly 20 more Palestinians killed and as many as 300 Israeli air strikes during the day. As the Palestinian death toll approaches 50, with scores more wounded, Gaza’s hospitals feel the strain. IDF targets include the private homes of Hamas officials, police buildings, government buildings, and smuggling tunnels. Israel’s interior min. Eli Yishai says that the goal of the operation is to ‘‘send Gaza back to the Middle Ages.’’ Palestinian armed groups fire over 70 rockets into Israel, with Israel’s Iron Dome defense system intercepting 57 rockets, bringing the total of intercepted projectiles since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense to over 250. Sixteeen Israelis are injured. (REU, BBC, HA, MNA 11/17)

Tunisian FM Rafik Abdesslem makes a solidarity visit to the Gaza Strip, vowing that his government will take steps in the Arab League and UN to stop Israeli aggression. Most of the diplomatic focus is on tentative Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire. In Cairo, Egyptian pres. Morsi holds talks with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar’s Emir Shaykh Hamad Bin-Khalifa al-Thani, Hamas leader Khalid Mishal, and Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan ‘Abdallah Shalah. Dep. head of Hamas’s politbureau Musa Abu Marzuq says despite efforts to secure a temporary cease-fire, Israel and Hamas are both far from reaching an agreement. As part of a potential deal, Hamas officials are reported to be demanding an easing of the blockade and an end to the assassination of Hamas leaders. (Guardian, MNA, MNA, WP 11/17)

Palestinians demonstrate across the West Bank to protest the continued Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, with IDF forces wounding and arresting dozens, including in major clashes nr. Huwara checkpoint outside Nablus. The IDF patrols in 1 village nr. Ramallah in the morning, and in 2 villages nr. Salfit, 1 village nr. Ramallah, 2 villages nr. Qalqilya, Tulkarm, 3 villages nr. Hebron, and al-‘Arub refugee camp (r.c.) nr. Hebron, where IDF soldiers wound 1 Palestinian with live ammunition in clashes with residents, at night; conducts house searches and arrest raids in Jenin, 1 village each nr. Hebron, Nablus at night. (MNA 11/17; PCHR 11/22)

Israeli naval vessels fire warning shots at Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. IDF troops make a brief incursion into Khuza village in s. Gaza, firing on residential areas (causing no injuries), demolishing a house under construction, and leveling 5 d. of agricultural land. Late at night, IDF troops on the s. Gaza border fire several artillery shells at armed Palestinians operating nr. the border e. of Khan Yunis, wounding 2. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts synchronized patrols in 4 villages nr. Jenin in the morning. Other IDF patrols are conducted in Tulkarm, 2 villages nr. Qalqilya, and 1 nr. Ramallah in the morning; in 1 village nr. Tulkarm in the afternoon; and in 1 village nr. Qalqilya in the evening. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah; 1 of the Palestinians arrested was released during the 2011 prisoner swap that freed captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. (PCHR 6/21; OCHA 6/22)

On the 5th anniversary of Israel’s sealing of Gaza’s borders after Hamas’s 2007 takeover, 50 international aid groups and UN agencies (including UNICEF and the WHO) sign a petition urging Israel to lift the siege of Gaza. The petition reads in full: ‘‘For over five years in Gaza, more than 1.6 million people have been under blockade in violation of international law. More than half of these people are children. We the undersigned say with one voice: end the blockade now.’’ (OCHA 6/14; MNA, NYT 6/15)