The Palestine Chronology

The IDF conducts 11 air strikes and 6 mock air raids on n. Gaza (destroying a bridge nr. Bayt Hanun; hitting several main roads in Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, and Um al-Nasser; damaging several homes and injuring 6 Palestinian bystanders, including 3 children). Later, Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza towards Ashkelon, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF threatens to cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip if rocket attacks continue. The IDF also tightens restrictions on Palestinian movement into and out of Qalqilya; bars a Palestinian heart attack victim fr. crossing a checkpoint into Tulkarm (still under closure; see 12/15) to reach a hospital, allowing him to die; conducts arrest raids in Balata r.c. (an IDF dog bites a 12-yr.-old and a 19-yr.-old Palestinian), Bayt Umar nr. Hebron, al-Bireh, Tulkarm (targeting the AMB). In Alar nr. Tulkarm, 2 Palestinian construction workers surprise an IDF undercover unit inside an unfinished house; the soldiers detain and beat the men, fire on other Palestinians who arrive on the scene, call in reinforcements to extract them. An IDF jeep hits, injures a 10-yr.-old Palestinian nr. Qalqilya. Israel issues tenders for the construction of 137 new housing units in Ariel and Karnei Shomron settlements. Jewish settlers fr. Matan nr. Qalqilya raze 110 d. of nearby Palestinian agricultural land. (AP, BBC, HA 12/18; WT, XIN, YA 12/19; HA, PLO press release 12/21; PCHR 12/22)

Sharon is hospitalized after suffering a mild stroke. Doctors say there will be no permanent damage; he will not be at any greater risk of another stroke, will stay in the hospital for “a few days” of observation. (JTA, NYT, WP, WT 12/19; NYT, WP, YA 12/20)

The IDF raids al-Quds Open University campus in Hebron, holds 52 students and staff for interrogation for 3 hrs. until the Temporary International Presence in Hebron intervenes; raids, searches Palestinian homes nr. Nablus, Ramallah; conducts late night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem. Also in Gaza, 1 Italian, 1 French journalist are kidnapped, quickly released by unidentified gunmen who say they wanted to pressure the PA to address employment issues in the Strip. In Bayt Lahiya, suspected militant Fatah mbrs. shoot, wound PA military intelligence official Bassam Azzam (who was close to assassinated military intelligence cmdr. Musa Arafat). Later, suspected Hamas mbrs. kidnap, shoot, then dump seriously wounded senior Fatah official Samir al-Juz in Bayt Lahiya. Soon after, a previously unknown group calling itself the Omar Bin al-Khattab Brigades (OBKB; suspected to be made up of disaffected PA General Intelligence officers angry over the 10/2 clashes) kidnaps senior Hamas mbrs. (Bassam Obeido, Hassan Safi, Ra’id Raz) in Bethlehem, Hebron, and Tulkarm, stating that “this is a response to Hamas’s violations and disregard for law and order and their attacks on security institutions and Palestinian leaders.... This is our first response”; Hamas blames elements of Fatah; the AMB says it is not involved. (HA, IMEMC, JAZ 10/6; Irish Examiner 10/7; AFP, NYT 10/8; MEI 10/12; PCHR 10/13)

The IDF erects 10s of new checkpoints around Tulkarm (turned over to PA security control on 3/22), imposes a curfew on the nearby villages of Allar (sparking demonstrations by local residents), Saida (also conducting house searches); conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Azun, and Bayt Umar and Halhul nr. Hebron; informs residents of a house nr. a settler bypass road in Wadi al-Silqa that they will only be allowed to enter and leave their home during three 2-hr. periods each day (see 3/19); begins construction of a new 43-km stretch of the separation wall btwn. Tarqumiyya (northwest of Hebron) and Sammu‘ (southwest of Hebron). Palestinians throw stones, a Molotov cocktail at a Jewish settler vehicle Modi’in settlement nr. Ramallah. lightly injuring 3 settlers. After 26 AMB mbrs. on Israel’s wanted list are forced by the PA to leave the PA’s Ramallah headquarters, where they have been given sanctuary for more than a yr., 6 of them go on a rampage, firing on Abbas’s office inside the compound while Abbas is there, ransacking several nearby restaurants, causing no injuries. A PA court convicts 4 Palestinians of collaborating with Israel, sentences 3 to jail terms of 3–5 yrs., releases the 4th. (IMEMC 3/30; AYM 3/30 in WNC 3/31; MM, NYT, PCHR 3/31; JAZ, VOI 3/31 in WNC 4/1; MM, WP 4/1; OCHA 4/6; PCHR, PR 4/7)

Israel releases 500 Palestinian prisoners, all of whom must sign pledges that they “opposed terror” and will not undertake “any activity against the State of Israel”; the IDF bars journalists fr. filming prisoners released at Tarqumiyya crossing nr. Hebron, detaining 3 journalists for 1 hr. The IDF imposes a curfew, closure on Nahalin village after local Palestinian youths throw stones at Beitar Ilit settlement, lightly injuring a 2-yr.-old child; raids Nablus to arrest a senior Hamas mbr. who allegedly was plotting a car bombing against an IDF target; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Umar nr. Hebron; fires on Palestinians demonstrating against the separation wall nr. Bil‘in outside Ramallah, wounding 10. Jewish settlers place 5 mobile homes on Palestinian land in al-Rashayda nr. Bethlehem, establishing an unauthorized outpost. (HA, MM 2/211; NYT, WP, WT 2/22; NYT, PR 2/23; PCHR 2/24; MEI 3/4)