The Palestine Chronology

Palestinian gunmen representing the AMB, Islamic Jihad, the PRCs fire on a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Gaza’s Kissufim crossing, killing 2 Israeli civilians (visiting Jewish settler relatives), wounding 4; IDF soldiers at the crossing return fire, killing 2 Palestinians; 2 soldiers are wounded in the exchange. Israel says it captured an AMB mbr. who infiltrated Israel fr. Gaza with an 11 lb. bomb, with plans to carry out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv; arrested a 2d Palestinian accomplice in Jaffa (with an Israeli ID card, married to an Israeli Arab). An IDF drone fires 2 missiles at a group of armed Palestinians nr. Bayt Lahiya, causing no injuries, in what may be an assassination attempt. The IDF also sends troops into Sa’ir nr. Hebron, fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops, seriously injuring 1 bystander; fires on residential areas of Rafah; severely beats a Palestinian at a flying checkpoint nr. Salfit; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., villages around Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai attack, vandalize a Palestinian home in Hebron. Palestinian groups linked to Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine fire rockets at Gush Katif, causing no damage or injuries. An armed Palestinian in fatigues raids the Rafah apartment of 4 American International Solidarity Movement workers, forces 1 of them (a 75-yr.-old man) into a car with 3 other masked Palestinians, holds him at a local school for 1 hr. before releasing him unharmed; no reason is given. (HA, IMEMC, PCHR, PRCS, WP, WT, XIN 7/24; NYT 7/25; OCHA, PR 7/27; PCHR 7/28)

IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c. and nearby Tamun and nr. Hebron, Qalqilya. Palestinians fire a mortar at Gush Katif, causing no damage or injuries. In response to clashes on 7/6, the AMB and PRCs in Balata r.c. announce that they will no longer observe the cease-fire. (XIN 7/7; VOI 7/7 in WNC 7/8; ISM 7/12; PCHR 7/14)

The IDF declares Gaza settlements closed military zones so that they may bar and remove from them any nonresident Israelis protesting disengagement, then evicts 150 right-wing Israeli disengagement protesters (mostly West Bank settlers, many aligned with the outlawed Kach movement) fr. an abandoned hotel in s. Gaza that they have been occupying for 1 mo.; detains, handcuffs for several hrs. 2 Israeli journalists covering the evictions. The IDF sends troops into Balata r.c., Nablus after Palestinians stating they are mbrs. of the AMB–Ayman Juda Brigade falsely claim to have captured 2 IDF undercover soldiers who entered the city; troops clash with stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them (leaving 7 Palestinians, 1 IDF soldier injured), detain and beat 2 Palestinian journalists covering the incursion; the AMB, Islamic Jihad deny involvement. The IDF fires on residential areas of Dura; demolishes 3 Palestinian homes in Hebron, 3 in Yatta, all bordering Jewish settlements; occupies 2 Palestinian homes nr. Tulkarm, 1 in Jenin as observation posts; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Aida r.c., Bayt Fajjar, Hebron. An Israeli naval vessel fires on a Palestinian fishing boat off Gaza, wounding 1 fisherman. Jewish settlers fr. Gush Katif attack Palestinian traders, farmers waiting nr. the Tuffah checkpoint n. of Gaza City; the IDF intervenes, disperses the settlers. Nr. Nablus, 5 Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar throw stones at a Palestinian taxi. Hamas fires a Qassam rocket at Neve Dekalim, causing no damage or injuries. (BBC, WAFA, XIN 6/30; VOI, VOP 6 /30 in WNC 7/2; IMEMC, NYT, WP, WT 7/1; HA 7/3; OCHA, PR 7/6; PCHR 7/7)

Israel announces that the IDF will resume targeting Islamic Jihad mbrs. for assassination. The PA warns that the move could rupture the unofficial cease-fire, but Israel argues that the targeting would still be in line with truce provisions, which it claims allow Israel to defend itself against imminent attack if the PA security forces fail to do so; the PA rejects this. Later, the IDF fires missiles at a group of Islamic Jihad mbrs. in Bayt Lahiya in an apparent assassination attempt. The IDF also conducts major arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c. and Nablus, clashing with local gunmen, leaving no reported casualties; conducts other arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Jenin; demolishes 10 Palestinian homes in Jiftlik nr. Jericho; bulldozes 5 d. of land in, fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis; conducts patrols in Kafr Dik nr. Nablus, Tamun nr. Jenin. A Palestinian grabs the gun of an Israeli security guard at the Barkan industrial zone nr. Ariel settlement, shoots and wounds the guard, flees. Palestinian gunmen fire on an IDF outpost nr. Gush Katif, causing damage but no injuries. Palestinian gunmen fire on a building in Balata r.c. where Qurai‘ is giving a speech, detonate a roadside bomb as he and his convoy leave the area; no injuries are reported in either incident, no group claims responsibility. (AFP, HA, WP, WT, XIN 6/22; PCHR 6/23; VOP 6/23 in WNC 6/24; OCHA, PR 6/29; PHRC 6/30)

Israel releases the last 398 Palestinian prisoners of 900 that Sharon promised to free in his 2/8 mtg. with PA Pres. Mahmud Abbas in Sharm al-Shaykh; 2 prisoners refuse release (1 to stay in prison with his brother, 1 to take the Palestinian high school matriculation exams [tawjihi] slated to be given to prisoners shortly). The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarm and in Azariyya, Balata r.c., Nablus; searches, temporarily occupies a flour mill in Gaza’s al-Qarara for use as an observation tower to protect Jewish settlers traveling btwn. Gush Katif and Israel; begins work on a new segment of the separation wall s. of Nablus. Palestinian residents of Dayr al-Hatab nr. Nablus report that the IDF has for 3 wks. been bulldozing Palestinian land around Elon Moreh to create a buffer around the settlement. Israel issues tenders for the construction of 22 new housing units in Ma’ale Adumim settlement, despite U.S President George W. Bush’s calls to stop all settlement expansion. A Jewish settler injures a Palestinian girl in a hit-andrun incident n. of Ramallah. In Gaza City, 100s of armed Palestinians (mbrs. of PA military intelligence, the AMB, Fatah) protest the PA’s decision to dismantle the military intelligence service, merge it with the PA security forces, and retire a number of officers; some demonstrators fire in the air. (IMEMC, JP, JTA, WAFA 6/2; VOI 6/2 in WNC 6/3; WP, WT 6/3; IMEMC 6/4; OCHA, PR 6/8; PCHR 6/9)

The IDF arrests 7 unarmed Palestinians attempting to sneak into Israel fr. Gaza (5 nr. Kissufim crossing, 2 in central Gaza) to seek work; raids a photo exhibit sponsored by Hamas in Yassid nr. Nablus. A Palestinian stabs, lightly injures an IDF soldier outside Ganim settlement, steals his gun. Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket toward Sederot, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF arrests 4 suspects. Senior Islamic Jihad mbr. Shaykh Khadir says that Islamic Jihad should reconsider its truce in light of the IDF’s alleged assassination of an AMB mbr. in Balata r.c. on 4/14, the upswing in arrest raids targeting Islamic Jihad mbrs. since the 2/25 Tel Aviv bombing. Jewish settlers fr. Beit Hadassah in Hebron attack Palestinian students outside a girls’ elementary school, injuring 10 (including 3 requiring hospitalization). (IMEMC 4/23; VOI 4/23 in WNC 4/26; HA 4/24; OCHA 4/27; PCHR 4/28)