The Palestine Chronology

As a gesture to Abbas, Israel allows 450 Gazans to travel to Bethlehem via the Erez crossing to attend Christmas celebrations. The IDF sends 8 armored vehicles into Gaza n. of Jabaliya r.c. under heavy covering fire; no injuries are reported; troops withdraw by evening. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Azun, firing rubber-coated steel bullets at stonethrowing Palestinian youths who confront them, wounding 2 children (ages 6, 16); conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Salfit. Jewish settlers fr. Revava nr. Salfit prevent a Palestinian farmer fr. reaching his land nr. the settlement. (NYT 12/25; OCHA 12/26; PCHR 12/27)

A Hamas mbr. dies nr. the Gaza border n. of Bayt Hanun when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem; shoots, wounds a Palestinian farmer working his land nr. the separation wall s. of Hebron; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 4) and Ma‘sara (injuring 2). Jewish settlers vandalize Palestinian homes, cars in Burkin nr. Salfit; the IDF disperses them. In Gaza City, the Hamas-affiliated security forces detain without charge Omar al-Ghul, a senior associate of PA PM Salam Fayyad, prominent journalist, and frequent critic of Hamas; Abbas denounces the “kidnapping.” Also in Gaza City, 3 Fatah supporters are killed, 35 are wounded by an explosion during a funeral for an AMB mbr. killed in an IDF air strike on 12/13; police say a Fatah mbr. accidentally discharged a hand grenade; Abbas accuses Hamas of causing the explosion, calling it an “assault against all our people.” In Khan Yunis, Fatah mbrs. stone a Hamas vehicle promoting a 20th anniversary rally in Gaza City, sparking a fight, gunfire by the police that leaves 17 injured. (NYT, WP, WT 12/15; OCHA 12/19; PCHR 12/27)

The PA deploys a new 500-mbr. policing unit in Tulkarm, similar to the recently deployed Nablus unit (see Quarterly Update in JPS 146), as part of Abbas’s efforts to expand security control in the West Bank in keeping with the road map. The new unit immediately erects checkpoints around Tulkarm to search for unlicensed guns, stolen vehicles. The Israeli Housing Min. issues bids for construction of 307 new housing units in the Jewish settlement of Har Homa in East Jerusalem that would complete a ring of settlements around Jerusalem, making the division of Jerusalem all but impossible. PA senior negotiator Saeb Erakat sends an urgent message to Rice asking her to intervene to halt the settlement expansion, arguing that it is illegal and undermines efforts made at Annapolis. The UN reports that most public gas stations in Gaza are now closed because of Israeli fuel restrictions. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin r.c. and nr. Hebron, Ramallah. (AP, REU 12/4; OCHA, WP 12/5; PAP, PCHR 12/6; HA 12/20, 1/6; PCHR 1/10)

Israel releases 429 Palestinian prisoners (overwhelmingly Fatah, but including some mbrs. of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the PFLP; around 20 are fr. Gaza) as a gesture to Abbas. Israel also allows 150 Palestinian pilgrims to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing for the Hajj. The IDF conducts arrest raids in Wadi al-Silqa nr. Dayr al-Balah, shooting and wounding 1 Palestinian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Tubas and nr. Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah. The PA orders 92 Hamas-affiliated charities in the West Bank to close. (NYT, WP 12/4; OCHA 12/5; PCHR 12/6)

IDF troops in the Erez industrial zone fatally shoot 2 armed Palestinians laying a roadside bomb nearby, wound and arrest a 3d; fire a shell at Palestinian resistance mbrs. e. of Jabaliya, killing 1 armed Palestinian, wounding another armed Palestinian, 2 bystanders. Hamas mbrs. fire 3 mortars and a rocket fr. n. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with an air strike on the launch site, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding 4. As the Annapolis mtgs. open, at least 15,000 right-wing Israeli demonstrators protest in Jerusalem against any possible concessions by Israeli PM Ehud Olmert to the Palestinians. In Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad host a conference on Palestine, attended by Hamas’s top leaders (including Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmud Zahar), vowing to “not relinquish a centimeter of Palestine” or recognize Israel’s right to exist. (NYT, WP, WT 11/27; OCHA 11/28; PCHR 11/29)

The IDF makes an air strike targeting armed Palestinians nr. Khan Yunis, causing no reported injuries; levels land inside the Gaza border nr. the Erez crossing. In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes a Palestinian road and barn in al-Walaja nr. the separation wall outside Bethlehem; raids, searches a secondary school in Azun nr. Qalqilya when staff is present but classes are not in session; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, in Abu Dis nr. Jerusalem, and nr. Bethlehem. During the day, the new PA policing unit in Nablus, deployed by Palestinian Authority (PA) PM Mahmud Abbas on 11/2 to enhance security in keeping with the road map, makes major arrest raids into ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c. (WT 11/19; OCHA 11/21; PCHR 11/22, 11/29)

In Gaza, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches, ID checks in Um al-Nasser nr. Bayt Lahiya, detaining 67 Palestinians for questioning, firing on residential areas (particularly to hold back a group of journalists attempting to reach the area) and making an air strike on a previously destroyed Palestinian home. Overnight, the IDF raids Balata r.c., blows up the home of a senior AMB mbr., causing no reported injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Salfit, Tulkarm. The U.S. complains that Israel is not allowing Abbas’s security forces to expand their control of the West Bank before the Annapolis conference, citing the 11/3 confiscation of body armor intended for the PA presidential guard and the continuing raids on Nablus since the new PA security force has been deployed there, undermining its credibility. (PCHR, PAP, WT 11/8; PCHR 11/15)

For the 1st time since 6/07, Abbas meets with 4 West Bank Hamas officials in an effort to encourage them to split fr. their Gaza counterparts. In Nablus, the PA deploys a new 308-mbr. policing unit trained by Western advisers at a multimillion dollar training facility in Jericho; they will form part of a new National Security Force unit set up to “operate in coordination with Israeli forces to fight crime and terrorism” as part of Abbas’s new security effort “to restore law and order” in the West Bank, in keeping with road map requirements; the unit will patrol during the day only, while the IDF will continue night operations. In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on an ESF post nr. Rafah, killing 1 ESF officer, wounding 3. Nr. Bayt Hanun, 2 Palestinians are injured when a mortar they are preparing misfires. A Palestinian is injured when a smuggling tunnel under the Rafah border collapses. In the West Bank, the IDF lifts the round-the-clock curfew on ‘Azun imposed on 10/31; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Tulkarm town, r.c. and nr. Qalqilya; 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 demonstrator, 1 journalist). Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba and Harsina in Hebron attack, vandalize nearby Palestinian homes, also beating 1 Palestinian. (NYT, WT 11/3; NYT 11/6; OCHA 11/7; PCHR 11/8; NYT 11/14)

As a gesture to Abbas, Israel frees 57 Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank (mostly Fatah mbrs. but also mbrs. of the DFLP, PFLP, and PA security forces) to mark Ramadan; the release of 29 prisoners fr. Gaza to “encourage the moderates” there is delayed until 10/2 after Israeli pres. Shimon Peres initially refuses to sign the releases, citing captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit’s continued detention in Gaza, finally signing them late in the evening. Meanwhile, the IDF on the Israeli side of the Erez crossing fires at a crowd on the Palestinians side gathered to welcome home the prisoners, wounding a 14-yr.-old Palestinian boy. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Hebron, nr. Ramallah; removes Jewish settlers fr. 2 unauthorized settlement outposts occupied on 9/30 as well as fr. 2 new sites occupied today nr. Elon Moreh settlement nr. Nablus and Keddumim settlement nr. Qalqilya. In Gaza, some 300 PFLP mbrs. stage a solidarity sit-in outside the home of a UNRWA staff mbr. who was temporarily kidnapped, beaten by unknown assailants earlier in the day. (NYT 10/2; OCHA 10/3; PCHR 10/4)

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)

The IDF makes an air strike on a car in Gaza City suspected to be carrying wanted Palestinians, missing the target and hitting a nearby home, causing heavy damage but no injuries. Islamic Jihad fires 10 mortars at the IDF base at Kissufim crossing, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron, and in Bethlehem, Qalqilya, nr. Hebron and Nablus; raids the offices of a children’s charity in Jenin, confiscating documents. For a 2d day in Jerusalem, Israeli police escort a group of Jewish settlers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to mark the Tisha B’Av holiday. A Jewish settler fr. Kiryat Arba seriously injures a 10-yr.-old Palestinian boy in a deliberate hit-and-run in Hebron. Jewish settlers severely beat a Palestinian teenager nr. Nablus. In Ramallah, PA presidential guardsmen halt a car carrying the son and daughter of jailed Fatah tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti (seen as a potential challenger to Abbas), harass them both, detain and beat the son at the PA headquarters. Pro-Fatah students at al-Najah University in Nablus attack, beat pro-Hamas students protesting Abbas’s ouster of the Haniyeh government, leading to police intervention and an exchange of fire that leaves 3 students wounded, 1 critically. In Gaza City, 10,000 Hamas supporters stage a nonviolent march to PC headquarters to protest PA attacks on Hamas activists and institutions in the West Bank. (OCHA, WP 7/25; PCHR 7/26)

As daily clashes continue at Nahr al-Barid r.c., FI kills 3 Lebanese soldiers—2 by a mortar, 1 by a booby-trapped device. The estimated death toll to date is 120 soldiers, 81 FI members, 41 civilians. (WT 7/25)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border shoot, seriously wound 2 armed Palestinians nr. the border fence n. of Bayt Lahiya. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in al-Khadir nr. Bethlehem. In Nablus, PA security forces loyal to Abbas release Hamas official and senior adviser to fmr. Interior M Qawasmi Ahmad Dolah (arrested on 7/2); 6 other Hamas officials recently arrested in Nablus have been freed in the past few days. In Gaza, Hamas says that it is installing a temporary legal comm. comprising an Islamic law expert, a military court lawyer, and the head of the main prison temporarily to replace the nonfunctioning PA court system. (AP 7/21; WT 7/22; OCHA 7/25; PCHR 7/26)

Israel releases fmr. Education M Nasser al-Sha‘ir (arrested 5/24, dismissed by Abbas on 6/14) after he signs a pledge renouncing his ties to Hamas, vowing never to hold an official position representing the group. In Gaza, 2 Palestinian children are injured by a roadside bomb planted nr. an ESF post. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 2 Palestinian homes nr. Jerusalem (in Anata, Bayt Hanina); conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem, in Hebron. Some 3,500 Jewish settlers bring construction materials to the Homesh settlement site with the intention of rebuilding the settlement vacated under Israel’s 9/05 disengagement plan; settlers set fire to 10s of nearby Palestinian olive trees, vandalize fuel tanks and cars at a nearby Palestinian gas station. The IDF closed several main checkpoints (nr. Hebron, Qalqilya, Ramallah) and stretches of Route 60 to block settlers fr. reaching the site, causing major obstacles to Palestinian movement. (OCHA, WT 7/18; PCHR 7/19)

Palestinians fire 4 mortars, 1 RPG at IDF troops stationed at the Rafah airport, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts patrols in Nablus. Jewish settlers in Hebron attack a Palestinian family, vandalize several homes; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Jewish settlers fr. Otniel nr. Hebron, escorted by IDF troops, occupy 30 d. of Palestinian land in nearby Yatta, set up tents and light towers, uproot 10s of Palestinian olive and almond trees to make way for a new unauthorized settlement outpost; the IDF also erects an observation tower on the land. The Palestinian rights group al-Haq reports that Abbas’s security forces in the West Bank have detained up to 400 Hamas mbrs. since Hamas took control of Gaza on 6/15. (NYT 7/15; OCHA 7/18; PCHR 7/19)

With the legal mandate of the PA emergency cabinet set to expire on 6/14, Abbas dissolves Fayyad’s emergency government and quickly reappoints it, with 4 added ministers, as a “caretaker government” to rule indefinitely.The IDF sends troops in s. Gaza to reoccupy the Rafah airport site, firing on residential areas of nearby Shuka, wounding 1 Palestinian, withdrawing in the evening; Hamas fires 5 mortars at the troops during the day, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 2) and a similar protest in Wadi Nays nr. Bethlehem (injuring 4). (HA 7/13; NYT, WT 7/14; NYT, WP, WT 7/15; OCHA 7/18; PCHR 7/19)

Under intense pressure from human and legal rights groups, Abbas temporarily suspends a 7/6 presidential decree expanding the mandate of the PA security forces at the expense of the judiciary. Overnight, the IDF sends tanks and bulldozers supported by helicopters, drones, warplanes into central Gaza nr. al-Bureij r.c., searching residential areas for weapons and wanted Palestinians, detaining 10s of Palestinians, bulldozing 118 d. of land, clashing with Hamas mbrs. who detonate a roadside bomb nr. an IDF vehicle, killing 1 IDF soldier (the 1st killed by Palestinians since 11/1/06), lightly wounding 2. The IDF also makes an air strike on a rocket launching site nr. al-Bureij r.c., injuring 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. In the West Bank, the IDF fatally shoots an Islamic Jihad gunman who opened fire on an IDF checkpoint nr. Tulkarm without causing injuries; demolishes 3 Palestinian homes, an agricultural warehouse nr. Qalqilya; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. In Khan Yunis, 5,000 Fatah mbrs. stage a march in support of Abbas; when they stone an ESF post, ESF mbrs. fire in the air to disperse the crowd, wounding 1 Fatah mbr. In Gaza City, Hamas supporters hold a sit-in to protest Abbas’s recent decision to halt salary payments to employees hired after 12/05. In al-Bureij r.c., Islamic Jihad mbrs. kidnap, kill an alleged Palestinian collaborator. (AYM 7/12; NYT, WP, WT 7/13; OCHA 7/18; PCHR 7/19)

The Lebanese army shells FI targets in Nahr al-Barid r.c. fr. land and sea, sparking the heaviest clashes in wks. Additional troops sent into the camp reportedly encounter sniper fire and booby-trapped buildings as they advance deeper into areas controlled by FI. At least 4 soldiers and 1 civilian are killed, 20 soldiers injured during the day. (NYT, WP, WT 7/13)

Abbas issues a presidential decree banning all militias, including the AMB, which vows to ignore the order. Meanwhile, the IDF withdraws fr. an area n. of Jabaliya r.c. occupied on 6/22; bulldozes 3 plots of Palestinian land nr. the Erez crossing, the border fence e. of Dayr al-Balah, and the Sufa crossing. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza City coast, forcing them back to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF raids Jenin r.c., surrounds the home of a wanted Islamic Jihad mbr., sparking an exchange of gunfire that leaves 1 Palestinian bystander (a relative of the wanted man) dead; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c. (firing percussion grenades that spark a fire, damaging a restaurant) and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Beit Hadasah severely beat a 13-yr.-old Palestinian boy in Hebron. (OCHA, WP 6/27; PCHR, WP 6/28)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Nablus and in Balata r.c., Tubas. The Palestinian groups holding IDF soldier Gilad Shalit release a video of him to mark the anniversary of his capture in a raid 1 yr. ago in which he urges the Israeli government to agree to a swap of Hamas prisoners for his release. The Army of Islam issues a new video of kidnapped BBC correspondent Johnston warning that he would be killed if an attempt were made to free him by force. AMB mbrs. stage marches in Bayt Ula and Tarqumiyya nr. Hebron in support of Abbas’s emergency government. (NYT, WP 6/26; OCHA 6/27; PCHR 6/28)

In retaliation for the deaths in Jenin late on 6/19, the AMB, Islamic Jihad fire at least 6 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel during the day, lightly injuring 1 Israeli; the IDF responds with helicopter air strikes on 2 launching sites nr. Bayt Hanun, 1 nr. Erez crossing, causing no reported injuries. Islamic Jihad mbrs. also fire 4 RPGs at IDF soldiers nr. Dayr al-Balah and detonate a roadside bomb, causing no injuries. The IDF makes a major raid on al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis, killing 5 Palestinians (at least 4 of them armed, including at least 2 Hamas mbrs.); 1 IDF soldier is injured. After the UN and Israeli human rights groups warn of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza within a mo. if borders are not opened to trade, Israel allows shipments of wheat flour into Gaza through Kerem Shalom; also temporarily opens the Erez crossing to allow some 200 foreign nationals, a handful of special medical cases to leave Gaza. Meanwhile, Egypt withdraws its security delegation fr. Gaza, orders its amb. to move residence fr. Gaza to Ramallah in what is seen as a political move backing Abbas and breaking ties with Hamas. ESF mbrs. kidnap, fatally shoot a Fatah mbr. in Gaza City. Unidentified gunmen fire on an ESF patrol nr. Nussayrat r.c., causing no injuries. AMB mbrs. stage a march in Hebron in support of Abbas. (NYT 6/20; Interfax, MNA, OCS, XIN 6/20 in WNC 6/21; NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 6/21; OCHA 6/27; PCHR 6/28)

The U.S. and EU end their boycott on aid to and diplomatic contacts with Abbas’s PA, pledging to work with and support the emergency government. In Gaza, Hamas mbrs. on the Gaza side of the Erez crossing exchange fire with IDF soldiers on the Israeli side, trapping in the crossfire some 400 Palestinians hoping to leave Gaza, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 11. Israel has allowed around 200 Fatah mbrs. to flee Gaza for the West Bank via Erez. Egypt reports that 344 Fatah security mbrs. have fled Gaza for Egypt; all will be repatriated to the West Bank. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Jenin; demolishes a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem. (AFP, MENA 6/18 in WNC 6/19; NYT, WP, WT 6/19; PCHR 6/21)

Clashes at Nahr al-Barid r.c. btwn. the Lebanese army, FI continue, with the army resuming shelling of the camp; at least 3 soldiers are reported killed. In ‘Ayn al-Hilwa r.c., 2 Jund al-Sham mbrs. are killed, 3 are injured when explosives they are handling detonate prematurely. (DS 6/19 in WNC 6/20; NYT, WP, WT 6/19)

Abbas swears in a 12-mbr. emergency cabinet; issues a presidential decree suspending article 79 of the Basic Law allowing the PC to vote out the government by a no-confidence vote and requiring PC approval for all ministerial appointments. The cabinet comprises mostly independent technocrats, except for veteran Fatah mbr. ‘Abd al-Raziq Yahiya, named interior minister to control the PA security branches. Hamas rejects Abbas’s actions as illegal. Both Hamas and Abbas stress, however, that Gaza and the West Bank must continue to be considered a single administrative and political unit as laid out in the 1993 Oslo Accord, rejecting Israel’s appeal to the U.S. that they officially be “delinked.” In Gaza, some 1,000 Fatah loyalists encamp at the Erez crossing, requesting transit to the West Bank, afraid to leave the corridor for fear of reprisals. In Khan Yunis, residents report Hamas mbrs. going door to door collecting unauthorized weapons. The Army of Islam releases a video rejecting Hamas demands to release BBC reporter Johnston, threatening to kill him if Hamas goes after the group. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah. (AYM, MNA, QA 6/17 in WNC 6/18; NYT, WP, WT 6/18; OCS 6/18 in WNC 6/19; NYT, PCHR 6/21)

U.S. Consul Gen. Jacob Walles meets with Abbas in Ramallah, says that the U.S. is prepared to resume direct aid as soon as Abbas swears in a new government that does not include Hamas, even if it controls only the West Bank; indicates that international sanctions on the PA would also be lifted. Abbas issues a presidential decree outlawing the ESF, Hamas’s IQB, all other militias affiliated with Hamas on the grounds that they carried out a “military coup against the Palestinian legitimacy and its government.” Abbas also angrily rejects offers by Arab League Secy. Gen. ‘Amr Musa to mediate btwn. him and Damascus-based Hamas leader Khalid Mishal, stating that he would not hold a dialogue with “killers.” Olmert says that Israel will “cooperate fully” with Abbas’s new government, calling the new situation “an opportunity.” Israel says it will allow food, basic supplies into Gaza but otherwise will consider Gaza a “terrorist entity” with which it will not deal. Haniyeh says Hamas will not seek to set up a parallel government in Gaza to rival Abbas, though it will assume day-to-day government functions. In Gaza, at least 2 Fatah mbrs. are killed in revenge slayings; bodies of 7 Hamas mbrs., 1 Fatah mbr. killed in recent fighting are found. Hamas mbrs. confiscate weapons fr. Fatah mbrs., set up roadblocks nr. crossing points into Israel to prevent Fatah officials fr. fleeing, but several senior Fatah mbrs. make it through the Erez crossing, are allowed by Israel to go to the West Bank. Looters break into Yasir Arafat’s fmr. residence, kept largely as a museum, and steal many items before Hamas mbrs. secure the building, prevent further thefts. In the West Bank, AMB mbrs. temporarily take over the parliament building, several PA ministries in Ramallah, ordering Hamas-affiliated employees to leave and not return, raising Fatah flags; raid the Hebron and Nablus municipal offices, order the Change and Reform–dominated municipal council mbrs. to surrender control of the city governments; in Bethlehem, Fatah mbrs. raid and search the homes of elected Change and Reform officials. The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jenin. (MNA, OCS 6/16 in WNC 6/17; NYT, WP, WT 6/17; PCHR 6/21; WP 7/8)

Firmly in control of Gaza, Hamas declares amnesty for Fatah leaders, except National Security Advisor (NSA) Dahlan, with the aim of quelling violence, releasing several of the 10 senior Fatah political security officials captured earlier in the day; orders all mbrs. of the PA security forces in Gaza to continue to report for duty to provide law and order, albeit under Hamas cmdrs. Hamas also calls for the immediate release of kidnapped BBC correspondent Johnston. With fighting suspended, Palestinian crowds loot abandoned Fatah buildings, targeting in particular Dahlan’s home and Abbas’s presidential compound; Hamas mbrs. surround and prevent looting at Abbas’s Gaza residence. Some violence persists, with a Fatah mbr. thrown to his death from a high building by the family of a man he killed earlier; a Fatah security official commits suicide after learning that he was on a Hamas wanted list. Meanwhile, Egypt reinforces its forces on the border with Gaza with riot police, APCs, and water cannons, fearing that Palestinians will attempt to flee Gaza for Egypt en masse at the first opportunity. Israel temporarily opens the Erez crossing to allow Fatah officials to escape Gaza for Ramallah. In the West Bank, Abbas names Finance M Salam al-Fayyad as his new PM, charging him with forming a government; issues a presidential decree suspending articles of the Basic Law (the interim Palestinian constitution) requiring the new government to receive a vote of confidence from the PC (currently controlled by the Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform party). Fatah-Hamas tensions remain high in the West Bank, where heavily armed Fatah mbrs. patrol in Ramallah in a show of force; Fatah mbrs. ransack Change and Reform offices, Hamas-run charity organizations in several cities; kidnap at least 9 Hamas mbrs. AMB mbrs. fatally shoot a Hamas mbr. in Nablus. Inside Israel, the Israel Prisons Service separates Fatah, Hamas detainees to prevent rioting. Meanwhile, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches, patrols in villages around Jenin, firing on residential areas, causing no injuries. In Gaza, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Dayr al-Balah; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists attending weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 2. (AP, HA, WP, QA 6/15; NYT, WP, WT 6/16; Interfax 6/16 in WNC 6/17; PCHR 6/21; NYT 7/9)

Hamas presses its offensive in Gaza, taking over all PA ministry offices in Gaza City, securing control of Rafah, forcing PSF officers to surrender their Gaza City headquarters (after destroying all equipment, computers, archives; eye-witness reports say Hamas mbrs. summarily execute at least 7 PSF mbrs.) and other main security compounds; capturing and executing Fatah’s n. Gaza cmdr. Samih al-Madhun. At least 27 Palestinians are killed (14 of them in the fight for the PSF headquarters), 70 wounded in fighting during the day. Nearly 100 senior Fatah security and admin. officials flee Gaza for Egypt by boat (Egypt has already returned the 40 PA presidential guards who fled on 6/13). At the same time, the IDF occupies hills outside Bayt Lahiya to prevent rocket fire into Israel. With Gaza under almost complete Hamas control, Abbas declares a state of emergency, fires Haniyeh, and dissolves the national unity government. He also for the first time orders PA/Fatah forces to take offensive action against Hamas. Late in the evening, Hamas gains control of Abbas’s Gaza City offices, the only remaining Gaza institution still in the hands of Fatah/the PA. In the West Bank, PA forces under Abbas’s control begin rounding up 10s of Hamas mbrs. In and around Nablus and in Jenin, Tulkarm, masked AMB mbrs. raid offices affiliated with Hamas, Change and Reform, looting and sometimes setting fire to them, exchanging fire with Hamas mbrs., leaving at least 13 Palestinians injured. The AMB also abducts 5 Hamas mbrs. in Jenin. Meanwhile, Abbas’s national security adviser Muhammad Dahlan (the U.S. and Israel’s hope for restoring order to Gaza) returns from an extended stay in Egypt, where he underwent minor surgery, going to Ramallah instead of Gaza to confer with Abbas. Meanwhile, the IDF sends an undercover unit into Saida nr. Tulkarm, driving a car with Palestinian license plates, assassinating wanted AMB mbr. Muhammad Twair in a driveby shooting, also wounding 2 bystanders; sends patrols in Ithna nr. Hebron, Kafr Dan and Kafr Ra’i nr. Jenin, firing on residential areas and on stone-throwing youths who confront them, seriously wounding 1 Palestinian. Jewish settlers burn 10s of olive trees nr. Tulkarm; the IDF bars firefighters fr. reaching the scene. In Gaza, 5 Palestinian children (ages 10–15) are killed and 4 (ages 9–16) are wounded by IDF UXO nr. Shuka while collecting scrap metal; the 8 children are from 3 families: 2 Mansour boys are killed, 2 Hessi boys are killed, and 1 Barbakh boy is killed and 4 are wounded. (AFP, Jerusalem Post, MENA, MNA 6/14 in WNC 6/15; AP, BBC, NYT, WP, WT 6/15; WP 6/18; PCHR 6/21)

In Gaza, Fatah-Hamas fighting escalates for the 4th day, leaving at least 24 armed Palestinians, 4 civilians dead and more than 100 wounded (the highest 1- day total in 18 mos. of factional fighting), as gunmen on both sides continue to ignore appeals by their political leaders to halt the violence. (Egyptian mediators try to broker another cease-fire, but the Hamas delegation cannot reach the talks because of Fatah roadblocks.) By evening, Hamas is reported to be in control of most of n. Gaza. During the day, Hamas gunmen and ESF mbrs. surround secondary Fatah and PA security posts across Gaza. In light of increasingly coordinated Hamas attacks, Abbas accuses Hamas of attempting to stage a coup, for the 1st time orders his security forces to defend their positions. Of note: Hamas stages major assaults on Fatah’s security headquarters in Khan Yunis and Gaza City, where some 200 Hamas mbrs. firing mortars and RPGs seize the post from 500 Fatah fighters. After dark, 100s of Hamas gunman raid a major hilltop NSF post in Jabaliya r.c., using small arms and grenades, taking the post after an intense gunfight that leaves 21 dead and 60 wounded (included in the figures above). PA presidential guardsmen fire RPGs at Haniyeh’s home in what Hamas condemns as an assassination attempt (no one is injured); in retaliation, Hamas mbrs. fire mortars toward Abbas’s Gaza residence, causing no damage or injuries (Abbas is in Ramallah). Hamas mbrs. also attack the home of PSF cmdr. Hassan Muhsin (not home at the time), killing his wife, son, daughter, and niece; ransack the vacant home of PC mbr. Nabil Shaath; occupy a PA-funded TV station in Gaza City. Human Rights Watch issues a statement accusing both factions of war crimes for executing captives and killing bystanders. In the West Bank, Fatah and Hamas kidnap rival mbrs. (including the AMB kidnapping of Hamas-affiliated Dep. Transportation M Fadi Shabanah); PA presidential guardsmen attack, close a Hamas TV station in Ramallah. Palestinians in Ramallah stage a demonstration against the interfactional fighting. On the Israeli-Palestinian front, Palestinians fire several rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli. The IDF fires on stonethrowing youths nr. Nablus, wounding an 11-yr.-old Palestinian bystander. More than 1,000 Jewish settlers, escorted by the IDF, reoccupy the evacuated Homesh settlement site nr. Nablus, closing the local stretch of the Nablus–Jenin road to Palestinian traffic. Inside Israel, the Israel Lands Authority demolishes a home in the Israeli Palestinian neighborhood of al-Jawarish in Ramla built without a permit. (MENA, MNA, OCS, PSCT 6/12 in WNC 6/13; NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 6/13; PCHR 6/14)

Overnight, Hamas mbrs. kidnap, shoot, wound, release a PA presidential guard mbr. in Gaza City. An appeal made by Haniyeh at Friday prayers in Gaza for Hamas and Fatah mbrs. to observe his and Abbas’s calls to halt their infighting is ignored as Fatah, Hamas mbrs. exchange fire nr. Gaza City, with Hamas mbrs. attacking a house where Fatah gunmen are suspected of hiding. Meanwhile, the IDF makes a major raid on Shuka in s. Gaza, searching, occupying homes as observation posts, ordering all males ages 16–45 to surrender for ID checks, detaining 53 (who are transported to Kerem Shalom crossing for interrogation). IDF troops on the n. Gaza border trade tank fire for RPG fire fr. Palestinian gunmen, causing no injuries; fire on a group of Palestinian teenagers hunting birds southeast of Bayt Hanun, wounding and detaining 1. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on a group of Palestinians hunting birds nr. Hebron, killing 1 Palestinian, seriously wounding 1; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron and in Balata r.c., Nablus, Tulkarm; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists attending the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 6; fires rubbercoated steel bullets at Palestinians holding a similar nonviolent protest against the separation wall in Um Salamuna nr. Bethlehem, injuring 2. Jewish settlers vandalize a Palestinian cemetery nr. Salfit. (NYT 6/9; OCHA 6/13; PCHR 6/14)

Abbas convenes a special PC session to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1967 war and Israeli occupation, warning Palestinians that internal fighting undermines their national aspirations. While Israel does not officially mark the day, some 300 Israeli peace activists in Hebron protest the occupation, exchanging words with 30 Jewish settlers holding a counterdemonstration. In Gaza, the IDF bulldozes Palestinian land nr. al-Maghazi to improve lines of sight. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Rafah, forcing them back to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qabatya (firing rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at schoolchildren, prompting stone throwing; more IDF gunfire that leaves 8 Palestinians, including 6 children, wounded). In Gaza, Hamas, Fatah mbrs. exchange fire nr. Qarni crossing, leaving several wounded. Unidentified gunmen raid the Gaza City offices of the Palmedia press agency, stealing a computer, TV editing equipment; no group claims responsibility. (OCHA 6/6; NYT, WP, WT 6/6; PCHR 6/7)

The IDF makes at least 4 air strikes on Gaza targeting Hamas, attempting to assassinate Hamas mbr. Muhammad Shatat as he drives in Gaza City (causing no injuries), hitting 2 suspected weapons caches and 2 money exchanges in Jabaliya r.c. (also destroying a Palestinian home) and Gaza City (wounding 7 Palestinians, including a pregnant woman, 2 children). Palestinians fire at least 3 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In Jabaliya, 2 Abu Rish Brigades mbrs. (affiliated with Fatah) are injured when explosives they are handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem and Nablus, in Qalqilya, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah, Salfit, Tulkarm. Meanwhile, Abbas, Hamas-affiliated PA PM Ismail Haniyeh meet in Gaza to discuss ways of calming intra-Palestinian violence. Abbas also meets with reps. of other factions to urge them to halt rocket fire into Israel. Unidentified gunmen fire on the home of a Fatah leader in Gaza City, wounding 1 Palestinian. A Palestinian dies of injuries received in an 5/18 IDF air strike on Gaza City that assassinated 2 Hamas mbrs. (IFM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 5/24; OCHA 5/30; PCHR 5/31)

With the cease-fire at Nahr al-Barid r.c. holding, the Lebanese army reinforces troops around the camp. Palestinian refugees continue to flee the r.c. during the day, most heading to nearby Biddawi r.c.; at most, half of the 40,000 residents remain. The UN warns the camp is still without water, electricity; food supplies are low. The PLO says it would not object to the Lebanese army entering the r.c. if necessary; raises the possibility of sending in fighters fr. Palestinian factions who know the layout of the r.c. to roust the FI mbrs. Palestinian leaders in the camp and local Islamist figures in Tripoli attempt to negotiate a FI surrender. Meanwhile, a bomb explodes in the Druze village of Aley nr. Beirut, wounding 16 Lebanese; no group claims responsibility. (AFP, DS, LBC, OCS 5/23 in WNC 5/24; NYT, WP, WT 5/24; WT 5/25)

In Gaza, the IDF assassinates IQB mbrs. Ra’ed Habib and Munir al-Jamal in an air strike on their car in Gaza City, wounding 6 bystanders; makes 5 other air strikes on Hamas and ESF targets in Bayt Lahiya, Dayr al-Balah, and Gaza City, wounding 10 bystanders, destroying 2 alleged weapons factories, damaging several homes. In retaliation, Hamas fires 17 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, injuring 2 Israelis in Sederot. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza City coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Kafr Dan nr. Jenin, wounding 3 Palestinians; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c.; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists holding a weekly nonviolent protest against the separation wall in Bil‘in nr. Ramallah, injuring 2. Jewish settlers scuffle with Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists demonstrating against the wall in Bani Na‘im nr. Hebron; the IDF intervenes, detaining 5 activists. Meanwhile, Fatah-Hamas fighting in Gaza continues, leaving 4 Palestinians dead and more than a dozen wounded. Incidents include Abbas’s presidential guard firing RPGs and mortars at the predominantly Hamas Islamic University in Gaza City. A 7-yr.-old Palestinian boy dies of injuries received in the 5/17 Fatah attack on a funeral in Rafah. (AP, WP 5/18; NYT, WP, WT 5/19; PCHR 5/21; OCHA 5/23; PCHR 5/24)

As part of an ongoing crackdown on Hamas in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) makes an air strike on a Rafah building controlled by the Executive Support Force (ESF)—a branch of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Interior Min. loyal to Hamasaffiliated PM Ismail Haniyeh—killing 3 ESF mbrs. and wounding at least 21 ESF mbrs., 3 mbrs. of the Fatah-affiliated PA Preventive Security Force (PSF) in a PSF office nearby, 3 bystanders (including 2 journalists). Hamas mbrs. fire 12 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, hitting a home in Sederot, moderately injuring 1 Israeli, and hitting a transformer, cutting electricity to 24,000 residents. The IDF responds with an air strike on a house nr. Jabaliya refugee camp (r.c.), killing 2 Hamas mbrs., wounding 3. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert convenes his security cabinet which authorizes the IDF to carry out “severe and harsh” attacks on Gaza, including assassinations of resistance leaders, to prevent further rocket fire, effectively ending the 11/26/06 Gaza cease-fire, frequently violated by both sides. Meanwhile in Gaza, factional fighting btwn. Fatah, Hamas (ongoing since PA Pres. Mahmud Abbas [Fatah] deployed 1,000s of PA security forces under his control without coordinating with either independent Interior M Hani al-Qawasmi, who resigned in protest, or ESF cmdrs. on the ground) escalates sharply, particularly in Gaza City, leaving at least 20 Palestinians dead, 10s wounded, and a number of Fatah and Hamas mbrs. kidnapped. Among the incidents: an Egyptian official is fatally shot by Fatah mbrs. while walking the streets of Rafah with Fatah and Change and Reform legislators to test the intra-Palestinian cease-fire declared on 5/15; Hamas mbrs. ambush a PSF vehicle not knowing that it is transporting Hamas detainees, killing 5 Hamas mbrs., 2 PSF mbrs.; Fatah makes a retaliatory strike on an ESF post outside the Interior Min.’s offices in Gaza City, firing rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), killing 4 ESF mbrs.; some 200 Hamas mbrs. attack and occupy the home of PA internal security head Rashid Abu Shibak (who is not home at the time), killing at least 4 bodyguards; Hamas mbrs. fire mortars at Abbas’s Gaza residence, causing no injuries; Hamas mbrs. fire antitank rockets at the PA General Intelligence base nr. Shati‘ r.c. (After Fatah’s attacks today, the ESF, which has largely remained in its barracks, deploys “to respond with all our power” to further attacks.) Among the wounded are 8 Palestinian civilians among 200 who turned out in Gaza City to protest the interfactional violence and who placed themselves btwn. Fatah and Hamas gunmen to prevent further clashes. Palestinians in Ramallah observe a 1-day general strike to protest the factional violence. Midday, Hamas announces a unilateral cease-fire to begin at 8:00 P.M. local time, and Abbas calls on Fatah mbrs. to follow suit, but gun battles resume within hrs., leaving 2 Fatah mbrs. dead, 10 Palestinians wounded (included in totals above). Israeli Vice PM Shimon Peres says that Israel would respond favorably if Abbas asked for assistance in quelling the violence. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids in al-Til nr. Tulkarm (deliberately setting fire to a Palestinian home, damaging 5 others), neighboring Allar, and in and around Balata r.c. and Nablus. Jewish settlers fire on Palestinian homes in Bayt Furik nr. Nablus, causing no injuries; the IDF intervenes, removes the settlers. (BBC, HA, REU 5/16; IFM, NYT, WP, WT 5/17; PCHR 5/21; OCHA 5/23; PCHR 5/24)