The Palestine Chronology

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Gaza City fatally shoot a Palestinian teenager who strays nr. the border fence while hunting birds. IDF troops exchange cross-border fire with armed Palestinians nr. Jabaliya r.c., causing no reported injuries. A Palestinian is killed when a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border collapses. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm, in Hebron and Nablus, northwest of Jerusalem, and nr. Qalqilya. (OCHA 9/12; PCHR 9/13)

Late in the evening, the IDF sends undercover units dressed in ESF uniforms into Rafah to kidnap and take to Israel Hamas military cmdr. Mihawish al-Nu‘aymat (also reported as Mohawah al-Qadi), who reportedly has information on captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c., Qabatya and nr. Hebron; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 1. A 13-yr.-old Palestinian boy is injured by IDF UXO nr. Nablus. Across Gaza, Fatah supporters for a 3d week hold Friday prayers outside in protest against Hamas; the ESF clashes with demonstrators in al-Bureij r.c., Gaza City, Jabaliya r.c., Khan Yunis, and Rafah, using batons and percussion grenades, leaving a total of 51 Palestinians injured, 20 Fatah mbrs. arrested, 3 journalists temporarily detained; reports differ as to whether the ESF tried to break up peaceful prayer services or only intervened afterward, when Fatah supporters began chanting anti-Hamas slogans and throwing stones at ESF officers. (NYT 9/8; OCHA 9/12; PCHR 9/13)

Overnight in Gaza, the IDF sends troops and tanks, supported by helicopters, into areas around Khan Yunis and al-Qarara, searching and occupying homes, temporarily detaining 150 Palestinians, bulldozing 66 d. of agricultural land, clashing with and shelling local gunmen, killing 4 armed AMB and Hamas mbrs.; troops withdraw in the afternoon. In central Gaza, 6 Islamic Jihad mbrs. attempt to break through the border fence to attack an IDF post inside Israel but are shot dead by IDF soldiers. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm, in Jenin (firing on residential areas and stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 3 children ages 10–13). Some 30,000 Hamas supporters rally in Gaza City in support of ousted PA PM Ismail Haniyeh. ESF officers raid al-Hadath press office in al-Bureij r.c., confiscating documents, computers. (BBC 9/6; NYT, WP, WT 9/7; OCHA 9/12; PCHR 9/13)

Overnight, the IDF sends at least 5 war planes over Turkey and into n. Syria to make an air strike on an industrial building under construction in an open area nr. the Euphrates river, causing no injuries. Syria responds with antiaircraft fire, causing no damage. Syria denounces Israel’s actions and says it is measuring its response, while Israeli PM Ehud Olmert’s office imposes a news blackout. By late in the day, Israel, Syria issue statements declaring that neither side intends to be drawn into a war. (BBC, REU 9/6; NYT, WP 9/7; WT 9/8; WP 9/13; NYT 9/18; HA 11/22)

The IDF sends troops into n. Gaza, bulldozing Palestinian land and searching for rockets and rocket launchers, reportedly uncovering 4 rockets, 11 launchers; Palestinians fire 2 antitank missiles at the troops, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Nablus (where 3 IDF soldiers are wounded when an explosive device detonates nr. their patrol) and nr. Qalqilya, Tulkarm. (IFM 9/5; PCHR 9/6; OCHA 9/12; PCHR 9/13)

Israelis in Sederot close schools, demand government action after Palestinians fire 3 more rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Egyptian border police demolish a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF raids, searches several Hamas-run charities in Nablus, confiscating documents, computers and sealing the offices; patrols in, fires on residential areas of ‘Azun nr. Qalqilya (also firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 2 children, ages 13 and 14), Sa‘ir nr. Hebron (seriously wounding 1 Palestinian); conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qabatya nr. Jenin and Tulkarm r.c., and nr. Hebron. The Israeli High Court rules that the separation wall around Bil‘in, site of weekly nonviolent protests, must be moved westward to prevent the de facto annexation of more han half of the village’s agricultural land, rejecting the government’s claim that a wide buffer zone was needed to protect nearby Mod’in Ilit settlement and determining that the original route took into consideration plans to expand the settlement “as much as possible”; the decision gives the government a “reasonable period of time” to take down and move portions of the wall, which is expected to return 250 acres of land to Bil‘in residents. In Gaza City, the previously unheard-of Security Members Martyrs Brigade took responsibility for detonating a bomb under the car of a prominent Hamas mbr. in Gaza City, causing no injuries; the group is thought to be made up of Fatah security officers still in Gaza who have been underground since Hamas took over in mid6/07. Suspected Fatah mbrs. also fire on an ESF patrol, causing no injuries. In Rafah, ESF officers fire on Fatah mbrs. writing proFatah graffiti, wounding 3. (BBC 9/4; IFM, NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 9/5; PCHR, WT 9/6)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike targeting a car in n. Gaza carrying 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs. allegedly coming fr. a rocket-launching site, hitting the car after the men escape; sends troops into Bayt Hanun and makes 2 air strikes on agricultural lands in the area, causing no reported injuries, withdrawing troops in the afternoon; makes a helicopter air strike on a Hamas training base nr. Dayr al-Balah, missing the target, hitting an open area, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Hebron and Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tulkarm. Meanwhile, in Rafah, the ESF attempts to arrest an Islamic Jihad mbr. violating the acting Hamas government’s ban on carrying weapons in public, sparking an exchange of fire that causes no injuries; the Islamic Jihad mbr. escapes. (NYT 9/4; OCHA 9/5; PCHR 9/6)

After a week of increased Lebanese army shelling of Nahr al-Barid and reinforcing of positions surrounding the camp, the remaining FI mbrs. holed up in the r.c. make a last-ditch, predawn effort to flee, clashing with soldiers who kill more than 50 FI mbrs., capture 32, and take control of the camp; 5 Lebanese soldiers are also killed, bringing the toll since the crisis began on 5/20/07 to at least 163 soldiers, 222 FI mbrs., 42 civilians. The army says it must conduct demining operations in the camp before refugees may return; Lebanese PM Fuad Siniora vows to repair all damage. (NYT, WP, WT 9/3; WT 9/4, 9/16)

The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, in Balata r.c. and Nablus. In Gaza, 1,000s of Hamas supporters rally at the Rafah border crossing to protest its continued closure by Israel; when the demonstrators attempt to break through the Rafah crossing to reach Egypt, ESF mbrs. fire into the air to disperse the crowd, killing 1 Palestinian teenager, wounding several. In Gaza City, a bomb destroys an ESF vehicle parked outside the home of a senior ESF cmdr., causing no injuries; Hamas blames Fatah, which denies involvement. (NYT 9/2; OCHA 9/5; PCHR 9/6)

The IDF admitsthat 3 Palestinian children killed in an 8/29 strike on Bayt Hanun were playing tag, not retrieving a rocket launcher. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron; fires on stone-throwing Palestinian youths outside al-Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, wounding a 7-yr.-old boy; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 8 (similar demonstrations are held without incident in al-Walaja and Um Salamuna nr. Bethlehem). Jewish settlers fr. Givat Havat and Kiryat Arba in Hebron beat a Palestinian farmer working his land btwn. the 2 settlements. The IDF bars Jewish settlers fr. reaching the evacuated Homesh settlement site; settlers set fire to 2 IDF vehicles in protest. The PA closes 103 charitable associations in the West Bank (80% affiliated with Hamas) for being “improperly registered”. Responding to a call by Fatah to boycott Friday prayers in mosques and begin weekly prayer protests against Hamas’s “persecution” of Fatah mbrs. in Gaza, some 5,000 Fatah supporters hold prayers in a Gaza City park, then stage a march and rally denouncing Hamas, attacking Hamas-controlled buildings with stones, pipe bombs. Some 7,000 Fatah supporters hold a similar demonstration in Rafah, attacking the home of a prominent Hamas mbr. The ESF violently disperses both protests, firing into the air, beating demonstrators, and tossing percussion grenades, arresting scores, injuring 10–20 (including 2 journalists), wounding an Egyptian on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border. Fatah mbrs. stone an ESF patrol in al-Bureij r.c., causing no injuries. (NYT, WP 9/1; OCHA 9/5; PCHR 9/6; Conflicts Forum 10/8)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire a surface-to-surface missile into Gaza for unclear reasons, causing no damage or injuries. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Bayt Lahiya, forcing them to return to shore. Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 3 Israelis. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jericho (very rare), nr. Tulkarm; patrols in the Old City of Nablus, clashing with Palestinian gunmen, leaving 1 AMB mbr. wounded. (OCHA 9/5; PCHR 9/6)

The IDF launches air strikes on 5 rocketlaunching sites in nr. Bayt Hanun, killing 3 Palestinian children (ages 8–12); Israel says it hit viable targets, claiming that Hamas was using the children to “adjust” the launchers, states its “sorrow for the cynical use the terror organizations make of the active participation of teenagers in terror attacks”; relatives of the children say they were playing in the vicinity of an Islamic Jihad launcher. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Rafah, forcing them to return to shore. Palestinians fire 1 rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Nr. Gaza City, a Palestinian dies when a roadside bomb he is planting explodes prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 6 Palestinian homes in Qalqilya; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Bethlehem. Meanwhile, AMB mbrs. in Ramallah fire on the car of a Hamas-affiliated municipal council mbr., causing damage but no injuries. A Hamas mbr. dies of injuries received in an 8/23 IDF missile attack on Gaza. (AP, IFM, YA 8/29; NYT, PCHR, WP 8/30; OCHA 9/5; PCHR 9/6; NYT 9/26)

IDF troops on the Gaza border, shoot, wound, detain, and transport to Israel a mentally handicapped Palestinian who strays nr. the border barrier nr. Jabaliya. The IDF makes an incursion into Abu Safiyya nr. Bayt Hanun, searching homes, arresting 12 Palestinians. Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, hitting a home, injuring 1 Israeli. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya, firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, injuring 14 (including 9 children). Meanwhile, armed clashes erupt in Khan Yunis when ESF officers attempt to arrest a wanted Fatah mbr., leaving 17 Palestinians injured. Hamas closes 4 private medical clinics in Gaza that were adhering to a Fatah work slowdown. In Nablus, suspected Fatah mbrs. kidnap, beat, release a Hamas mbr. (WT 8/29; IFM 8/29; OCHA 8/29; PCHR 8/30)

IDF troops stationed on the Gaza border fatally shoot a Palestinian shepherd who strays nr. the border fence nr. Juhur al-Dik; troops conduct bulldozing operations in the area. The IDF makes an air strike on a suspected rocket-launching site nr. Bayt Hanun, causing no injuries. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing vessels off the Bayt Lahiya coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF arrests Palestinian Awad Abu Suway, head of a Bethlehem group that organizes local nonviolent protests against the separation wall, and his 65-yr.-old father; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c. and in Hebron, Nablus, and neighboring Balata r.c. PA police rescue an IDF soldier who mistakenly drives into Jenin and is surrounded by an angry mob; police safely turn over the soldier to the IDF, but the crowd burns his vehicle; Israel praises the PA police, saying their actions are a sign of PA Pres. Mahmud Abbas’s growing authority. A Palestinian civilian injured in an 8/14 IDF air strike on Khan Yunis dies. (AP 8/27; WP 8/28; OCHA 8/29; PCHR 8/30)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on a suspected rocket-launching site nr. Bayt Hanun, causing no injuries. The UNRWA appeals to Israel to allow 5 truckloads of paper into Gaza so that textbooks may be printed for students, who resume classes on 9/1, arguing that the paper constitutes humanitarian aid; Israel refuses, saying the paper might be used to print books “with Hamas ideology . . . or for other propagandist endeavors.” UNRWA also argues that Israel should resume imports of construction materials to Gaza for homes, schools, other infrastructure projects, the deterioration of which constitutes a public health concern. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches in Nablus and neighboring Askar r.c. A Jewish settler in Hebron injures a Palestinian woman in a deliberate hit-and-run incident. The Palestinian Union of Medical Professions in Gaza announces a work slowdown, with mbrs. working only btwn. 8:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M., to protest the Hamas acting government’s replacement of senior health officials at several clinics and hospitals (see Quarterly Update in JPS 145). (UNIS 8/27; OCHA 8/29; PCHR 8/30; OCHA 9/13)

Clashes with FI in Nahr al-Barid r.c. leave 3 Lebanese soldiers dead. (WP 8/27)

In Gaza, the IDF fatally shoots 2 armed Palestinians on the border nr. Jabaliya; sends troops into al-Shuka nr. Rafah to bulldoze 6 d. of agricultural land nr. the Gaza airport; bulldozes Palestinian land along the border fence n. of Bayt Lahiya. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Sa‘ida nr. Tulkarm to raid 2 Palestinian homes, mortally shooting Islamic Jihad cmdr. Tariq Milhem in an exchange of fire, allowing him to bleed to death over 2 hrs., also fatally shooting his 11-yr.-old brother, wounding 2 other family mbrs. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Balata r.c. nr. Nablus, wounding 1 Palestinian woman; conducts house searches in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 2. Jewish settlers fire on a Palestinian wedding party nr. Nablus, wounding 2 Palestinians. Jewish settlers in Hebron assault an 11-yr.-old Palestinian boy riding his bike, breaking his arm. Meanwhile, 500 Fatah mbrs. hold an unauthorized protest against the Hamas-led government outside the main security headquarters in Gaza City, throwing stones at ESF officers guarding the building, who fire into the air and beat back the demonstrators, injuring 15. Separately in Gaza City, ESF officers raid a wedding to halt celebratory gunfire, scuffling with guests, beating and injuring 1 Palestinian. (WT 8/25; OCHA 8/29; PCHR 8/30)

Under a temporary cease-fire brokered by the Palestinian Clerics Association btwn. the Lebanese army and Fatah alIslam (FI) militants who have been fighting in and around the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Barid nr. Tripoli since 5/07, army soldiers escort the remaining families of FI mbrs. (22 women, 41 children) out of the r.c. in anticipation of a final assault. The army estimates that 70 FI mbrs. are left in the camp and are refusing to surrender. (NYT, WT 8/25)

Overnight, the IDF makes an incursion into Khuza’a nr. Khan Yunis, storming houses, occupying homes and a school as observation posts, clashing with and calling in air strikes on armed Palestinians who confront them (wounding at least 6 Palestinians, including 2 civilians), bulldozing 6 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of Palestinian land, detaining 5 Palestinians (4 of whom are released later in the day). During the day, IDF troops on the Gaza border fire a surface-tosurface missile into Gaza at a group of Hamas mbrs., killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding 1. Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire an RPG at an IDF patrol on the Gaza border nr. Dayr al-Balah, causing no damage or injuries. Nr. Gaza City, 1 Hamas mbr. is killed, another wounded when a roadside bomb they are planting explodes prematurely. In 2 separate incidents in Hebron, Jewish settlers attack, vandalize Palestinian homes. In Wadi al-Juz in East Jerusalem, the IDF raids a home where some 25 Israeli Palestinian religious figures, including Islamic Movement head Shaykh Raed Salah, are having a dinner, ordering the group to disband because they are holding an “illegal meeting”; when the group refuses, the IDF fires percussion grenades into the home, injuring 4. (REU 8/23; OCHA 8/29; PCHR 8/30)

Fuel imports to Gaza resume for the 1st time since 8/15 after the EU receives assurances that Hamas will not benefit fr. electricity sales. The IDF bulldozes Palestinian land along the Gaza border e. of Jabaliya r.c. to improve lines of sight. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, damaging 10 boats, arresting 8 fishermen, forcing others to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home nr. Salfit; patrols in Jenin town and r.c.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a r.c. (3 IDF soldiers are wounded in an exchange of fire with armed Palestinians). (PCHR 8/23; OCHA 8/29; PCHR 8/30)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on a group of armed Islamic Jihad mbrs. nr. the n. Gaza border fence, killing 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs.; makes an air strike on 2 Hamas mbrs. nr. the border barrier e. of Gaza City, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding 1; makes an air strike on an Islamic Jihad training site nr. Rafah, wounding 1 Islamic Jihad mbr.; fires a tank shell at 2 Palestinian children (ages 9, 12) nr. a site previously used to launch rockets, killing them (the IDF claims that militants often use children to retrieve rocket launchers, so they were a viable target). Palestinians fire 3 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing light damage but no injuries. In Bayt Hanun, a Palestinian is injured when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. Hamas takes over management of the Rafah Labor Association, formerly headed by Fatah. (OCHA,WP 8/22; PCHR 8/23)

The IDF shells a car driving nr. al-Bureij r.c., assassinating 2 ESF officers (Muhammad Abu ‘Arab, Ali Baroud) and 4 Hamas mbrs. (Ismail Abu Abda, ‘Abid Abu Hilu, Ahmad al-Qrainawi, Muhammad al-Qrainawi), wounding 1 bystander; sends troops into Abasan nr. Khan Yunis, bulldozing land, firing on residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian. An Islamic Jihad mbr. is injured when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. Gaza’s sole power plant, which produces 25% of Gaza’s electricity, shuts down after depleting its fuel reserves (see 8/19; 70% of Gaza’s electricity is provided by Israel, 5% by Egypt). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah, Tulkarm; fires on stone-throwing Palestinian youths outside ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a r.c., wounding 2; later patrols in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a, exchanging fire with local gunmen, killing 1 armed Palestinian. (HA, NYT 8/21; OCHA, WP 8/22; PCHR 8/23)

In Gaza, the IDF sends tanks, bulldozers into al-Bureij r.c. to level land, sparking an exchange of gunfire that leaves 1 Palestinian bystander wounded. Israel authorizes the Nahal Oz fuel pipeline to reopen, but the European Union (EU), which underwrites PA fuel imports, suspends payments for fuel supplies until it receives assurances that the Hamas government in Gaza will not receive tax revenues fr. the sale of electricity produced with the fuel imports. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin and in Bethlehem, Qalqilya, Tulkarm; patrols in al-Yamun nr. Jenin. In Gaza, unidentified gunmen raid Fatah’s Dayr al-Balah offices, confiscating computers, documents. (NYT 8/19; OCHA 8/22; PCHR 8/23)

In Gaza, Palestinians begin experiencing longer blackouts resulting fr. fuel shortages since Israel closed the Nahal Oz pipeline on 8/15. Hamas volunteers undertake a clean-up campaign in Khan Yunis, where municipal sanitation workers have been on strike over salary issues. The IDF makes an air strike on an Islamic Jihad rocketlaunching site nr. Bayt Lahiya in n. Gaza, causing no injuries. A 10-yr.-old Palestinian boy is injured when a Palestinian rocket fired fr. Gaza toward Israel hits a Palestinian home nr. Bayt Hanun, nr. the n. Gaza border. In the West Bank, the IDF kills 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. in an exchange of fire nr. Jenin; sends troops into Kafr Dan nr. Jenin to patrol, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, killing a 14-yr.-old Palestinian boy, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Palestinian resistance mbrs. that leaves 1 armed Palestinian dead, 7 Palestinians wounded; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (firing on residential areas, wounding a Palestinian woman in her home), in Qalqilya, nr. Hebron; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 5. (BBC 8/17; NYT 8/19; OCHA 8/22; PCHR 8/23)

In the West Bank, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers conduct arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron; patrol in and around Jenin. In Gaza, where Israel has completely sealed borders to all but humanitarian aid since Hamas’s 6/15/07 ouster of Fatah (see Quarterly Update), 3 Hamas mbrs. are injured when rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) they are handling explode prematurely. The Hamas-dominated Executive Support Force (ESF) detains pro-Fatah Palestinian Authority (PA) Atty. Gen. Ahmad Mughami when he returns to Gaza, which he had fled during the 6/07 intra-Palestinian clashes, and orders him to stay away fr. his offices; Mughami refuses to resign, is released. (NYT 8/17; OCHA 8/22; PCHR 8/23)

Israel cuts off fuel imports into Gaza through the Nahal Oz crossing, citing “specific terror warnings.” Palestinians fire mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home nr. East Jerusalem; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (1 IDF soldier is wounded when Palestinians detonate an explosive device nr. his patrol), nr. Bethlehem and Hebron. (PCHR 8/16; BBC 8/17; NYT 8/19; OCHA 8/22; PCHR 8/23)

Overnight in Gaza, the IDF launches a major raid on Khan Yunis, Abasan, and al-Qarara, killing a total of 10 Palestinians (6 Palestinians are killed in exchanges of gunfire; 1 Hamas mbr. and 1 bystander are killed in an air strike; 2 Palestinians are killed when an IDF tank round hits a home), wounding at least 24; rounding up all men ages 15–50 for questioning (detaining 143); occupying and searching Palestinian homes; and bulldozing 80 d. of land, 1 Palestinian home, and several greenhouses. The IDF launches a smaller raid, land leveling operation in Bayt Lahiya. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, nr. Jenin. In Gaza City, Daghmash family mbrs. fire on an ESF patrol, killing 2 ESF mbrs., wounding 10, sparking clashes btwn. the ESF and Army of Islam that last into the evening, when clan leaders surrender family mbrs. who attacked the patrol. (NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 8/15; PCHR 8/16)

In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Qabatya to arrest a wanted Palestinian; conducts additional arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Ramallah, and in Jenin town and r.c., Tulkarm; bulldoze bedouin tents housing 40 bedouin in al-Hadidiyya in the Jordan Valley. Despite the 8/12 Hamas ban on unauthorized demonstrations, 300 Fatah mbrs. go forward with a planned protest in Gaza City against the Hamas leadership in Gaza (see 8/12); ESF officers violently disperse the crowd, seizing cameras fr. journalists and later raiding media outlets to confiscate the politically damaging footage. (NYT, WP 8/14; OCHA 8/15; PCHR 8/16)

The last of the 6,374 Palestinians stranded in Egypt during the Fatah-Hamas fighting and permitted reentry to Gaza cross through Erez. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Hebron, Salfit. Palestinians throw stones at a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Hebron, lightly injuring 2 settlers. After Fatah announces plans for a major “freedom of expression” rally in Gaza City on 8/13 to protest recent Hamas arrests of Fatah mbrs. at weddings (e.g., 8/1, 8/10), Hamas bans “all demonstrations and public gatherings” that do not have official permission. Gaza medical unions begin a 3-day strike to protest Hamas’s firing of 2 al-Shifa Hospital officials on 8/9. (NYT 8/13; NYT, WP 8/14; OCHA 8/15; PCHR 8/16)

In Gaza, the IDF deploys a helicopter to fire nr. Palestinian farmers working their fields outside Khuza’a, forcing them to leave the area. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Nablus and nr. Hebron, Jenin. In Bayt Hanun, 150 Fatah mbrs. demonstrating against the ESF’s arrest of 15 supporters on 8/10 and another 17 detained across Gaza overnight, exchange gunfire with ESF mbrs. who attempt to disperse them, leaving 20 Palestinians wounded. Gaza City and Khan Yunis municipal employees go on strike to protest nonpayment of their salaries. (NYT, WT 8/12; OCHA 8/15; PCHR 8/16)

In Gaza, the IDF fires on Palestinian teenagers who stray nr. the border fence nr. the Qarni industrial zone, wounding 1; exchanges fire with Palestinian gunmen across the Gaza border e. of Gaza City, causing no injuries; withdraws troops fr. the Rafah airport in the evening (see 8/9). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent protests against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 8) and Um Salamuna (injuring 4). In Jerusalem’s Old City, an Israeli Palestinian fr. the Galilee grabs a gun from an Israeli security officer, shoots and wounds him before being shot dead by another guard; 9 bystanders are wounded. In Bayt Hanun, the ESF arrests at least 15 Fatah mbrs. for firing guns at a wedding; Fatah says there was no gunfire, that the ESF targeted revelers singing pro-Fatah songs; when some 150 women and children rally outside the local ESF offices to protest the arrests, ESF officers fire in the air to disperse the crowd, causing no injuries. In Gaza City, some 20,000 Hamas supporters march fr. local mosques to the PC headquarters to protest recent PA attacks on Hamas activists in the West Bank. In Halhul nr. Hebron, suspected Hamas mbrs. retaliating for the NSF’s arrest of 10 Hamas mbrs. earlier in the day, shoot and wound Halhul police chief Driss Jabari. (NYT, WP, WT 8/11; NYT 8/12; OCHA 8/15; PCHR 8/16)

The IDF makes air strikes on a suspected Islamic Jihad rocket launch site nr. Rafah airport, sends in troops to occupy and search the area, causing damage but no injuries; fatally shoots an Islamic Jihad mbr. laying a roadside bomb nr. an IDF observation tower at the Nahal Oz crossing. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Qalqilya and in Jenin town and r.c.; seals 8 Palestinian shops in the Old City of Hebron nr. Beit Romano settlement, declaring the area a closed military zone. A 15-yr.-old Palestinian is injured by IDF UXO nr. Jenin. The Hamas-led admin. in Gaza fires Exec. Dir. Hazza’ Abed, Public Relations Dir. Juma‘ al-Saqqa of Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital, charging them with financial improprieties and corruption, and arresting Saqqa; Fatah claims that the men were removed for political reasons. In Gaza City, unidentified assailants detonate an explosive device outside the Fatal al-Yasir offices, causing damage but no injuries. (NYT 8/10; OCHA 8/15; PCHR 8/16)

In Gaza, 2 Palestinian children (ages 7, 9) are killed nr. Bayt Lahiya when a Palestinian rocket fired toward Israel explodes prematurely. Some 3,000 IDF soldiers and border police forcibly remove 2 Jewish settler families, 100s of settler activists squatting in vacant Palestinian stores in Hebron’s wholesale market (see 8/5, 8/6); 12 IDF soldiers refuse to take part in the evacuation and are sentenced to 14–28 days military detention; during the eviction, settlers set fire to a Palestinian shop. (HA, NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 8/8; PCHR 8/9)

The IDF ends operations nr. Bayt Lahiya begun on 7/31, withdrawing troops into an abandoned settlement site on the n. Gaza border; sends tanks and bulldozer, supported by helicopters, into the Rafah airport area to level land (Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire a mortar at troops, causing no injuries). In the West Bank, the IDF patrols, searches houses in Nablus. A Jewish settler fr. Gilad nr. Nablus beats a Palestinian man. (OCHA 8/8; PCHR 8/9)