The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, 1 Palestinian man shot by Israeli forces during a raid in Jenin refugee camp on 5/13 succumbed to his injuries. An Israeli settlement guard detained 1 Palestinian minor near the Yitzhar settlement. Israeli settlers also vandalized 50 olive trees in Yasuf. Israeli forces arrested 1 Palestinian man from al-Bireh carrying an axe; Israeli police claimed that a suicide note was found on his person. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protesters during a Nakba Day commemoration near al-Bireh, injuring 20, including 7 with live ammunition, 3 with baton rounds, and 6 with tear gas. Elsewhere, Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinians commemorating the Nakba at Palestine Technical University in Tulkarm, causing tear-gas related injuries. Israeli forces also delivered a demolition notice for 1 house in as-Samu. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen northwest of Rafah; no injuries were reported. In Israel, Israeli forces arrested 3 Palestinian students at Tel Aviv University during a Nakba Day protest, claiming the 3 had assaulted right-wing counter protesters; 2 were released the same day. (AJ, AP, AX, HA, HA, MEE, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 5/15; HA, MDW, MEMO, MEMO 5/16; PCHR 5/19; UNOCHA 6/4)

Israel reopened the crossings between Gaza and Israel for the 1st time since 5/3. (HA 5/14; MEMO 5/15; PCHR 5/19)

The Israeli high court of justice rejected 4 petitions against the planned Jerusalem cable car project. The project had been heavily criticized by Palestinians for seeking to deepen the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and by Israelis who believe the cable car would harm the aesthetics of the city. (AP, HA, REU 5/15; MEE 5/16)

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett instructed his government to examine options of demolishing the family homes of Palestinian citizens of Israel convicted of committing attacks against Israeli Jews and whether Israel can deport their families to Gaza. (JP 5/16)

Berlin police arrested more than 170 pro-Palestine protesters marking Nakba Day. Berlin police had banned all Palestinian events and protests in the days surrounding Nakba Day, citing the potential for anti-Semitic sentiments. 1 of the banned pro-Palestine protests was organized by the Jewish organization Jüdische Stimme. (HRW 5/20; +972 5/21)

Members of the Somalia parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s new president. During Mohamud’s previous tenure, he secretly met with then Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in 2016, discussing potential normalization. (TOI 5/22)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces raided al-Ibrahimi Mosque and prevented Muslim worshippers from entering the mosque. Israeli forces also sealed the entrance to Nabi Saleh. Elsewhere, Israeli forces dismantled and seized 2 residential structures in al-Muarajat, displacing 12. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Hebron, injuring 1 with a rubber-coated bullet. 9 Palestinians were arrested, including 8 during late-night raids in Sa‘ir, Yatta, as-Samu, and Tell; 1 was arrested at a checkpoint near Nablus. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. 1 Palestinian stabbed and injured 1 Israeli soldier and 1 Israeli settler while being arrested in relation to a car-torching incident in Ras al-Amud. In Gaza, 2 Palestinians were arrested in the vicinity of the Gaza fence. In Israel, 1 Palestinian citizen of Israel was attacked by 4 Israeli Jewish people, who yelled “death to Arabs,” used pepper spray through the window of his vehicle, and vandalized his vehicle in Beersheba. The man was placed in house arrest after receiving treatment at a hospital, despite a judge saying that the Palestinian man was clearly attacked 1st by the Israelis. (HA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/20; MEMO, WAFA 3/21; HA 3/23; PCHR 3/24; UNOCHA 3/25)

Israel said it had arrested 2 Palestinian men in the Galilee region for allegedly working with Hezbollah. (HA 3/20)

A Jewish vigilante militia set up by a former Israeli police officer was formally launched in the Naqab desert. The militia, The Barel Rangers, says it will patrol the Naqab to protect Jewish residents against Palestinian attacks. (AJ 3/24; MEE 3/26)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers wrote racist graffiti on houses and slashed the tires of Palestinian-owned vehicles in Fara‘ata. Israeli settlers also rammed 2 Israeli soldiers with their cars at a checkpoint near the Homesh settlement outpost. Israeli forces delivered a demolition notice for 1 Palestinian home in Kisan and stop-work orders for 1 school and 8 residential and agricultural structures in Shaab al-Batn in the Masafer Yatta area. In Gaza, Israeli forces made incursions and leveled land near Beit Hanun. 16 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in Bayt Rima, Tulkarm, Tubas, Marah Rabah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Deir Sammit, as-Samu, and Yatta. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on agricultural lands east of Abasan; no injuries were reported. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces opened fire on Palestinian fishermen northwest of Rafah; no injuries were reported. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/14; HA, MEMO 3/16; HA, PCHR 3/17; UNOCHA 3/25)

PA prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh met with U.S. deputy assistant secretary for Israeli and Palestinian affairs Hady Amr in Ramallah, discussing the PA economy and the Palestinian people’s frustration with the lack of progress in their situation. (WAFA, WAFA 3/14)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in al-Arroub refugee camp; injuring 1 with a rubber-coated bullet and others with tear gas. Israeli forces also demolished 1 fence in Jericho. 24 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in Silwad, Beitin, Ein Yabrud, Bayt Rima, Qalqilya, Jaba‘, Dayr Abu Da‘if, Dheisheh refugee camp, and As-Samu; Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinians protesting the raid in Dheisheh refugee camp, injuring 1 with live ammunition. In East Jerusalem, Palestinians in Jabel Mukaber held a general strike in protest against planned Israeli demolitions in the neighborhood. (WAFA, WAFA 3/10; PCHR 3/17; UNOCHA 3/25)

The Knesset passed a bill amending the citizenship law to ban Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza married to Israeli citizens from obtaining Israeli residency or citizenship. The bill passed 45–15, with the United Arab List and Meretz in the government coalition opposing it. Interior minister Ayelet Shaked who spearheaded the efforts to pass the bill called the passage a victory for Israel as a “Jewish and democratic state” rather than a “state for all its citizens.” (HA, JP, TOI, TOI, WAFA 3/10; AJ, AP, EI, HILL, MDW, MEMO, WAFA 3/11; HA, HA, MEMO 3/12; ALM, MEMO, WAFA 3/14; MEMO, WAFA 3/17)

Prominent Palestinian lawyer and activist Salah Hamouri was placed in administrative detention after arrest on allegations of being a member of the PFLP. Hamouri, who lives in East Jerusalem, was 1 of the 6 Palestinians who in November 2021 discovered that his phone was infected with Pegasus spyware from the Israeli NSO Group. (MEMO 3/8; HA 3/13; WAFA 3/28)

Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid met with Jordan’s king Abdullah II in Amman. King Abdullah II called for Israel to preserve the status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem and to establish a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as the capital along the 1967 borders. (ALM, AP, HA, MEMO, REU 3/10)

The U.S. Senate passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill, including $1 billion of “emergency” Iron Dome missile defense system funding to Israel. The House and Senate tried to pass the standalone bill for the Iron Dome funding to Israel, but the military aid was consistently blocked from being fast-tracked by senator Rand Paul (R-KY). Also in the omnibus spending bill was an additional $3.3 billion in military aid on top of the $1 billion for Iron Dome spending, and $500 million for missile-defense partnerships between the U.S. and Israel. Additionally, the bill included funding for the Israel Relations Normalization Act, $219 million in aid to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza via the Economic Support Fund, $40 million in security assistance to the PA, and $50 million for the Middle East Partnership Act. (AP, HA, MEMO 3/11)