The Palestine Chronology

Israeli officials cancel a ceremony to honor the Palestinian firefighters who assisted in battling the Mount Carmel fire last week, after 3 crew mbrs. were refused permits to enter Israel. In 2 separate incidents, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction materials in the fmr. Jewish settlement sites, wounding 2 Palestinians. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 5 water wells in Umm al-Daraj village nr. Hebron, saying the wells, some of which were built in the 1950s, were constructed without permits; patrols in al-‘Auja village nr. Jericho in the evening; conducts arrest raids, house searches in 2 villages nr. Tulkarm. In East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities demolish 2 Palestinian homes under construction in Silwan and Sur Bahir. In Gaza City, 10,000s of Hamas supporters take part in a rally marking the movement’s 23d anniversary. (HA 12/14; NYT, WP, WT 12/15; PCHR 12/16; OCHA 12/17)

Pres. Obama, asked during his trip to Indonesia about his reaction to Israel’s 11/8 construction announcement, states sharply that “this kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotations. I’m concerned that we’re not seeing each side make the extra effort . . . to get a breakthrough. Each of these incremental steps can end up breaking trust.” Hours later, Netanyahu’s office responds saying “Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is the capital of the State of Israel. . . . Israel sees no link between the peace process and its development plans in Jerusalem.” (IFM, Israel Radio News [Internet], MNA, REU 11/9; NYT, WT 11/10)

Israeli tax authorities and border police seal the entrances to the Jerusalem suburb of Issawiyya, checking Palestinians leaving and entering the village and raiding businesses in search of Palestinian tax evaders. Border police fire rubber-coated steel bullets at stone-throwing Palestinian youths who confront them, injuring 19 Palestinian children (ages 10–15); 1 Israeli border policeman is also injured. Also in East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities raid, search 2 Palestinian homes in Silwan, arresting 2 Palestinians. Silwan residents report that in recent weeks, Israeli authorities have stepped up arrests of young Palestinian men in Issawiyya and Silwan, and that Jewish settlers and settlement guards in Silwan have been accosting local Palestinians more frequently, generating almost daily low-grade clashes. The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Issawiyya later in the evening; and conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and nearby al-‘Arub r.c., in al-Bireh (searching the home of Palestinian Council secy. Mahmud al-Ramahi, but making no arrests; Ramahi was one of the Hamas-affiliated elected PC mbrs. that Israel arrested after the 2006 capture of Shalit to pressure Hamas but he was recently released; 7 Hamas-affiliated PC mbrs. are still jailed by Israel), and nr. Tulkarm. Meanwhile, the IDF makes brief incursions into n. Gaza nr. Bayt Lahiya and c. Gaza e. of al-Maghazi r.c. to bulldoze Palestinian lands along the border fence to clear lines of sight. Unidentified Palestinians fire 2 mortars fr. Gaza toward Israel, 1 landing in Israel and 1 inside Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. OCHA (11/11) reports that in the previous wk., the IDF imposed at least 8 new barriers to Palestinian travel around Hebron. (YA 11/9; NYT 11/10; OCHA, PCHR 11/11)

In the morning, Israeli drones make an air strike on a car driving w. of Gaza City, assassinating Army of Islam (AOI) senior mbr. Muhammad al-Nemnem, wounding 2 bystanders; Israel later accuses Nemnem of involvement in “attacks against Israeli and U.S. targets in the Sinai Peninsula.” The IDF makes a brief incursion into c. Gaza e. of al-Bureij r.c. to level land and clear lines of sight; an Israeli tank fires a shell at the surrounding area, but no damage or injuries are reported. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols without incident in al-Yamun village in the afternoon; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and in Nabi Salih. In East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces conduct early morning arrest raids, house searches in Silwan, detaining 5 Palestinians (including 4 children ages 13–16). Of note: Israel prevents fmr. PA PM and negotiations adviser Ahmed Qurai‘ from crossing into Jordan via the Allenby crossing, citing a previously unannounced decision by the government that from now on only Pres. Abbas and PM Fayyad would receive special treatment; Israeli security officials say the decision had to do with Qurai‘’s recent statements denouncing Israel’s settlement policy. The PASF for the 1st time arrests a Palestinian for selling goods made in a Jewish settlement, enforcing the PA’s 4/2010 law prohibiting the sale of settlement-produced products (see Quarterly Updates in JPS 156–57); the defendant is jailed in Bethlehem pending trial. (MNA, YA 11/3; NYT, PCHR, UNSCO 11/4; OCHA 11/5; OCHA, PCHR 11/11)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction material in the fmr. settlement sites, wounding 1. Hamas’s acting FM Mahmud Zahhar warns that Gazans who fire rockets at Israel violate an agreement among Palestinian factions not to initiate strikes on Israeli targets and face possible arrest. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 2 villages nr. Jericho and Jenin in the morning, making no arrests; makes a late-night raid into Mazra‘a village nr. Ramallah, patrolling streets and firing rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas, stun grenades at stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no serious injuries; makes a late-night raid on a Palestinian apartment building in Ya‘bad village nr. Jenin, photographing it and questioning the owner; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Askar r.c. and nearby Nablus, in Hebron, and nr. Salfit. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo settlement throw stones at Palestinians driving on the nearby Nablus– Ramallah road, causing no injuries. In East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces raid and search a Palestinian home in the alBustan area of Silwan early in the morning, arresting 2 Palestinians. (al-Hayat 10/31; PCHR 11/4; OCHA 11/5)

Meeting in Libya, Arab League FMs strongly endorse the 10/2 Palestinian decision to halt direct talks with Israel until Israel halts settlement construction, pledging to meet again in 1 mo. to discuss alternatives and decide on next steps; a meeting is set for 11/9. (REU 10/8; MNA, NYT, UNSCO, WP 10/9; al-Ahram Weekly 10/8–14)

Overnight, in the West Bank, the IDF raids a Palestinian residential building in Hebron, killing 2 IQB mbrs. in an exchange of fire (with the IDF firing machine guns, medium-caliber bullets, and grenades) and then bulldozing the structure, also destroying an adjacent store, heavily damaging 4 houses and another store nearby, and arresting 12 Palestinians. The IQB mbrs. allegedly were behind the 8/31 shooting of 4 Jewish settlers nr. Hebron; Palestinians do not consider their deaths willful killings or assassinations. The IDF also patrols in 3 villages n. of Tulkarm late at night, making no arrests. Palestinians (accompanied by Israeli and international activists in some locations) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall, land confiscations, and settlement expansion in Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, Nabi Salih/Dayr Nizam. IDF soldiers fire rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters; 10s suffer tear gas inhalation and a 13-yr.-old Palestinian is moderately wounded. In East Jerusalem, a Jewish settler deliberately attempts to run down a group of Palestinian stonethrowing children with his car in Silwan, injuring 2 (both age 10). Also in East Jerusalem, 2 settlement guards posted outside a Palestinian house previously seized by settlers beat a local Palestinian working on his home nearby; the IDF observes but does not intervene until the Palestinian begins to fight back, at which point they arrest him and order him to stay away from his home for 1 wk. (WP 10/9; PCHR 10/14; OCHA 10/15)

Israel seals the West Bank and Gaza crossings through 9/30 for Sukkoth holidays. A private Israeli security guard posted outside Beit Yonatan settlement building in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem (where some 400 settlers live among 30,000 Palestinians), fatally shoots a Palestinian, sparking massive street clashes across East Jerusalem between stone-throwing Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces who fire tear gas, stun grenades, and water cannons. The security guard, who is questioned and released by Israeli police, says he opened fire with his automatic weapon because he felt he was in mortal danger when local Palestinians blocked and stoned his car while he was patrolling around the building. Meanwhile, the IDF raids a Hebron school and detains 2 Palestinian teenagers for beating up a settler youth who harassed them, releasing them in the afternoon; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron; patrols late at night, without incident in villages west of Ramallah. Some 60 armed Jewish settlers storm a residential section of al-Mazra‘a village nr. Ramallah, occupy rooftops, and photograph the area before withdrawing without incident. (NYT, PCHR, WP 9/23; OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/30; OCHA 10/1)

In the West Bank, the IDF moves back into Azun village in the morning (see 8/29), raiding an auto repair shop and confiscating 6 cars with Israeli license plates; conducts afternoon patrols in 4 other villages nr. Qalqilya, 1 nr. Tulkarm, withdrawing without incident; conducts late-night patrols in Tulkarm, nearby Anabta, and Kafr al-Dik nr. Salfit, conducting no searches and making no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron. In Jerusalem, Israeli security forces raid the Wadi Hilwa quarter of Silwan, detaining 5 Palestinians for questioning, releasing all but 1 the same day. (PCHR 9/2; OCHA 9/3)

In East Jerusalem, some 200 Palestinians protesting the settler incident in Silwan on 6/26 and the Jerusalem Planning Commission’s 6/21 preliminary approval for the rezoning and demolition of 22 Palestinian homes demonstrate outside the settlers’ Beit Yonatan apartment building. The Palestinians throw stones, bricks, and Molotov cocktails at Israeli police who attempt to disperse them, leaving 6 policemen injured. In the evening, 10s of Jewish settlers break into the al-Rajabi quarter of Silwan, clashing with local Palestinians and opening fire indiscriminately, causing no serious injuries; IDF troops intervene, firing rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at the Palestinians, seriously injuring 1 and lightly injuring 10. Meanwhile, Israel begins construction of 20 new housing units for Jews at the Shepherd Hotel site in East Jerusalem’s Shaykh Jarrah neighborhood. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinians and international activists staging a weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall nr. Bethlehem (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Nablus. In the 2d such incident in Gaza since 3/2010 (see Quarterly Update in JPS 156), Hamas-affiliated police raid the Palestine Islamic Bank, presenting a warrant for the seizure of all the money ($16,000) fr. the account of a Hamas-affiliated educational organization whose assets had been frozen by the PA, taking the money at gunpoint when the teller refuses. Officials of the acting Hamas government say a court had ruled that the PA action freezing the organization’s assets was illegal. (ITV 6/27; NYT 6/28; PCHR 7/1; OCHA 7/2; JPI 7/9)

Gaza’s electricity plant shuts down for lack of fuel; because of the power deficit and increased summer usage, Palestinians face rolling outages of 12–16 hrs./ day. A fire in a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border injures 2 Palestinians. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a late-night raid on and search of a home nr. Hebron, making no arrests. In East Jerusalem, 10s of armed Jewish settlers storm and attempt to seize a Palestinian home in the disputed Silwan area, but Palestinian residents fend them off. (PCHR 7/1; OCHA 7/2)

Israel’s Jerusalem Planning Commission grants preliminary approval for the rezoning and demolition of 22 Palestinian homes in Silwan neighborhood to create an archaeological park, a 1,000-unit Jewish residential area, and tourist zone; the rezoning measure would also retroactively approve Jewish settlers’ Beit Yonatan construction, reaffirmed as illegal by Israel’s Jerusalem District Court on 5/25 (see above). The State Dept. denounces the move as undermining proximity talks. Meanwhile, the IDF begins large-scale bulldozing of land between Pisgat Ze’ev and Neve Ya’acov settlements just n. of Jerusalem for construction of 600 new settlement housing units that will link the 2 settlements, which it intends to keep under final status. The IDF also makes a major late-night incursion into Dayr Samit village nr. Hebron, surrounding and detonating stun grenades around a Palestinian home, blowing off the door, and firing at the windows and roof before raiding the home, beating the residents, and arresting 2 men. Troops then raid and search several surrounding homes, in total arresting 25 mbrs. of the extended al-Adam/al-Hroub clan. The IDF also conducts late-night raids and searches nr. Jenin, summoning 7 Palestinians for interrogation. (NYT, WT 6/22; NYT 6/23; PCHR 6/24; OCHA 6/25)

Unidentified Palestinians fire 4 mortars fr. Gaza toward Israel; 3 land inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries, while 1 lands harmlessly in Gaza. Late in the evening, the IDF responds with air strikes on a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border and on the destroyed Dahaniyya airport site in s. Gaza (causing no injuries), as well as on a Hamas building in Bayt Hanun (destroying it, damaging 26 houses, 23 shops, a clinic, the local municipal building, and a sports club nearby, injuring 15 Palestinian bystanders, and knocking out electricity to some areas). Unidentified Palestinians detonate a bomb hidden in a donkey cart by the Gaza border fence as an IDF border patrol unit on the Israeli side of the border passes, killing the donkey but causing no IDF injuries. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging construction materials fr. former settlement sites nr. the border twice during the day, causing no injuries; also fire warning shots at farmers who stray nr. the border fence nr. Bayt Lahiya, causing no injuries. Later, IDF troops make an incursion into the n. Gaza buffer zone nr. Bayt Lahiya to search the area, opening fire but causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Tubas and nr. Hebron, Nablus. Israel’s Jerusalem District Court upholds a decision to evacuate and seal the Beit Yonatan building in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem, built without a permit in 2004 by the right-wing group Ateret Cohanim and housing 8 settler families. Hamas-affiliated police in Gaza say they have arrested several suspects in the 5/23 UNRWA arson. (HA, JP, JTA, UPI 5/25; JP, YA 5/26; OCHA, PCHR 5/27)

Israeli Interior M Eli Yishai grants retroactive approval to a 7-story settleroccupied building in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem that Israel’s High Court ruled illegal in 7/09. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border nr. Bayt Hanun fire across the border to disperse a peaceful Palestinian demonstration against Israel’s self-declared no-go zone inside the Gaza border (no injuries reported). In the West Bank, IDF troops covered by helicopters escort Israeli tax authorities into Shu‘fat r.c. (sealed on 2/7), raiding 10s of homes and shops and several medical centers, arresting 60 Palestinians, and allowing tax authorities to confiscate furniture. Troops fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, injuring 2 Palestinian journalists. The IDF evacuates late at night. The IDF also sets up a checkpoint at the entrance of Khirbat Jabara s. of Tulkarm in the morning, sealing the village and leveling land around the new checkpoint; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Hebron. (WT 2/10; PCHR 2/11; MNA 2/22)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes a brief incursion into Jenin r.c., setting up an observation point outside a Palestinian home, firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets at stone-throwing youths who approach them, injuring 1; stages synchronized latenight arrest raids, house searches in villages around Jenin; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and nr. Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli work on an archeological tunnel from Silwan to the Old City causes a road outside Silwan to collapse. (OCHA 1/20; PCHR 1/21)

Netanyahu and his cabinet approve plans to build 2 barriers rigged with surveillance equipment along approximately half of Israel’s 150-mi. border with Egypt to prevent illegal border crossings; 1 segment will be nr. the Rafah border with Gaza, the other will be nr. Elat; construction is expected to take several years and cost NIS $1 b. In the afternoon, unidentified Palestinians fire 4 mortars toward Israel, but all land inside Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. In the evening, the IDF carries out an air strike on a group of Islamic Jihad mbrs. nr. the c. Gaza border e. of Dayr al-Balah as they are preparing to fire a rocket into Israel, killing 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs. (including senior field cmdr. Awad Abu Nasir). In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes the only elementary school, 11 Palestinian homes, 10 animal pens, and a greenhouse in Khirbat Tana, displacing at least 120 Palestinians (mostly children) and marking the apparent first stage of Israel’s implementation of a 2/09 court order to raze the village (see 12/10/09); demolishes another Palestinian home in al-Tur nr. East Jerusalem; conducts late-night house searches in several villages around Jenin and nr. Hebron and Tubas, making no arrests; conducts similar late-night searches in the al-Bustan quarter of Silwan in East Jerusalem, beating and detaining 4 Palestinian children (ages 11–13) for 11 hrs. of questioning before releasing them. (HA, IFM, JP, Reuters, YA 1/10; NYT, WP, WT 1/11; NYT, WT 1/12; OCHA 1/13; PCHR, WJW 1/14; JPI 1/29)