The Palestine Chronology

Mbrs. of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claim responsibility for firing 2 manufactured Grad rockets fr. Gaza into Israel; the missiles hit nr. Netivot, causing no damage or injuries. Egypt allows a token delegation of around 85 international activists to cross into Gaza to demonstrate with Gazans for an end to Israel’s siege, while in Cairo, Egyptian authorities disperse another 1,000 international activists calling on Egypt and Israel to open the Gaza border. Inside Israel, about 1,000 Israeli Palestinian and Jewish peace activists march to the Erez crossing in solidarity with the internationals in Egypt. Israeli police arrest a Jewish settler teenager connected to the outlawed right-wing group Kahane Chai suspected in the 12/11 arson of a mosque in Yasuf. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 2 animal shelters on a Palestinian farm located nr. an unauthorized Israeli settlement outpost northeast of Hebron, saying they had been erected illegally; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Shavei Shomron and Einav settlements set up an outpost on a hill nr. Nablus overlooking the spot where a settler was ambushed and killed on 12/24. Jewish settlers at another settlement outpost northwest of Hebron raze 1,500 d. of surrounding Palestinian agricultural land, saying they plan to build a park and swimming pools. (JP 12/31; NYT, WP 1/1; HA 1/2; OCHA, PCHR 1/6; WJW 1/7)

Unidentified Palestinians fire a mortar fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries, marking the 1st cross-border Palestinian fire since 12/16. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in PA-controlled areas just n. of Ramallah at midday, making no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fara‘a r.c. and nr. Nablus. (JP, YA 12/30; OCHA, PCHR 1/6)

Some 1,000 international activists gather in Egypt in preparation for a 12/31 solidarity march to the Rafah border to mark the 1-yr. anniversary of Operation Cast Lead (OCL) and bring tens of thousands of dollars of humanitarian aid into Gaza, but Egypt vows to keep the border closed. French activists protest outside the French emb. in Cairo, while American activists visit the U.S. emb. Israel allows 3 container shipments of glass into Gaza for the first time since 6/07; says it will allow 3 containers of glass per day for 5 days a week for the next month (a total of 81 containers are allowed in as of 2/9, about 90 percent of what Israel had pledged). In the West Bank, Jewish settlers fr. Bet Ayn nr. Hebron attempt to force 2 Palestinian shepherds grazing their sheep on nearby Palestinian land to leave the area; when they refuse, 1 settler opens fire, hitting 1 shepherd in the shoulder; the IDF arrests both Palestinians while they are receiving medical care from paramedics. (NYT, PCHR 12/30; OCHA, PCHR 1/6; OCHA 2/11)

In Cairo, Mubarak and Netanyahu hold a 3-hr. mtg. to discuss the peace process. Afterward, Egyptian FM Ahmad Abu al-Ghayt publicly praises Netanyahu for raising new ideas for advancing the peace process. (NYT 12/30; HA 12/31; AFP, al-Dustur 1/5)

The Lebanese army directs symbolic anti-aircraft fire at 4 Israeli warplanes that violate Lebanese air space in s. Lebanon. (WT 12/30)

Israel announces approval of 692 new settlement housing units in East Jerusalem (Har Homa, Neve Ya’acov, Pisgat Ze’ev); the EU, U.S., and PA criticize the move. IDF troops make a brief incursion into Gaza n. of Bayt Hanun to level land along the border fence to clear lines of sight. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats approaching the boundary of the permitted fishing zone, wounding 1 Palestinian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late night arrest raids, house searches in Bil‘in and nr. Nablus. (PLONAD 12/28; NYT, WP, WT 12/29; PCHR 12/30; WJW 12/31; OCHA 1/6)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jenin. A Jewish settler fr. Carmiel opens fire on a Palestinian woman grazing sheep nr. the settlement, missing her; IDF police detain the woman and interrogate her at Kiryat Arba settlement before releasing her. (PCHR 12/30; OCHA 1/6)

In the West Bank, IDF undercover units raid the Nablus homes of 3 AMB mbrs. (Nadir al-Sarkaji, Ghassan Abu Sharikh, and ‘Anan Sobeh) allegedly behind the fatal shooting of a settler on 12/24, killing all 3 and wounding 1 bystander. The deaths constitute assassinations, as the men could have been detained: 2 of them are called to surrender and are fatally shot as they leave their homes unarmed; in the 3d case, soldiers enter the home, and when the wanted man refuses to exit a closet and surrender, soldiers rig the closet door with explosives and detonate the charge, killing him. IDF soldiers surrounding the buildings fire tear gas to disperse stone-throwing Palestinian youths who confront them, hitting 2 (ages 12 and 19) with tear gas canisters, injuring them. PA PM Fayyad denounces the IDF’s failure to coordinate the raids with the Dayton-trained PASF units responsible for security in Nablus, which were in the process of conducting a police investigation of the 12/24 killing. IDF troops in the West Bank also conduct late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Nablus. (NYT, WP, WT 12/27; JPI 12/28; PCHR 12/30; OCHA 1/6)

Hamas officials in Lebanon confirm that 2 senior Hamas bodyguards and a 3d person (possibly a Hamas mbr.) were killed and 5 people wounded late on 12/26 in a large explosion at a Hamas office in the Dahiya neighborhood of s. Beirut (Hizballah’s stronghold). (HA 12/26; Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, WT, XIN 12/27; AFP, Kuwait News Agency, Middle East News Agency, MNA, YA 12/28; MNA, al-Nahar, al-Sharq al-Awsat 1/6)

Late in the evening, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border nr. Bayt Hanun fire on a group of unarmed Palestinian laborers attempting to cross into Israel to find work, calling in a helicopter air strike 20 mins. later, killing 3 Palestinians and wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, stun grenades, tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinians and nonviolent international (and, in the case of Bil‘in, Israeli) activists taking part in protests against the separation wall in Bil‘in and Ni‘lin (10s suffer tear gas inhalation at both sites); fires stun grenades and tear gas at Palestinian and international activists taking part in a nonviolent protest against the separation wall in al-Ma‘sara, also beating several protesters (moderately injuring 2 Palestinian children, ages 10 and 13); conducts late-night house searches in al-‘Arub r.c. (occupying 1 home as an observation post) and nr. Jenin, making no arrests. The PASF in Nablus detains and interrogates some 150 Palestinians in connection with the fatal shooting of a settler on 12/24. (PCHR 12/30; OCHA 1/6)

In the West Bank, the IDF stages synchronized late-night house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., arresting 1 Palestinian; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas and nr. Hebron, Ramallah. A Jewish settler is fatally shot while driving nr. Nablus; a caller to a Palestinian radio station claims the attack was carried out by the Fatah-offshoot al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (AMB). Jewish settlers, implementing their “price-tag doctrine” of retaliation, vandalize Palestinian homes and block Palestinian traffic nr. Yitzhar settlement s. of Nablus; bar Palestinian traffic, stone and vandalize Palestinian vehicles, and uproot 100s of Palestinian trees nr. Shavei Shomron settlement, home to the deceased settler; attempt to prevent a Palestinian bus fr. passing through the Einav checkpoint nr. Tulkarm. (NYT 12/25; PCHR 12/30; OCHA 1/6)

In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a gas station and grocery store in Qusra village nr. Nablus, saying Palestinian youths had used the buildings as cover to throw stones at passing IDF troops; conducts late-night house searches nr. Hebron and Jenin, and in Balata r.c. and Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, but makes only 2 arrests. (PCHR 12/30; OCHA 1/6)

In the West Bank, the IDF stages synchronized late-night house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., making no arrests; conducts other late-night arrest raids, house searches n. of Jerusalem. The UN reports that in the previous wk., 1 alleged Hamas mbr. was killed and another wounded mishandling explosives in Gaza; 1 Palestinian was electrocuted and injured in a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border. (OCHA, PCHR 12/23; PCHR 12/30)

After 2 days of intensive talks and a meeting that stretches overnight, Netanyahu is unable to secure cabinet approval for a German deal endorsed by Hamas to release some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for the release of captured IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit. DM Barak tells the press that freeing Shalit is still a “top priority” but “not at any price.” (WP 12/22; WT 12/23; JPI 1/1)

Egyptian security officials acknowledge that they are building an underground steel barrier along the Rafah border to prevent smuggling. In the West Bank, the IDF ceases permanent staffing of the major Bayt Ibia checkpoint at the w. entrance to Nablus (established in 2001), easing Palestinian access to the city; conducts latenight house searches nr. Hebron, making no arrests; makes late-night arrest raids in Qalqilya. The PASF arrests 15 Hamas mbrs. across the West Bank and fires on a car carrying Hizb al-Tahrir’s senior spokesman, arresting him; no explanation is given. (NYT 12/22; NYT, OCHA, PCHR 12/23; WT 1/6)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron late in the evening, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, arresting a 14-yr.-old Palestinian boy; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c. and nr. Hebron, Jenin. (OCHA, PCHR 12/23)

The IDF admits that in the 1990s government forensic pathologists harvested organs from dead bodies (including those of Palestinians, IDF soldiers, and foreign workers) without permission, but says the practice was stopped “a decade ago.” The admission comes after an U.S. academic released a copy of an interview from 2000 with the head of Israel’s Abu Kabir forensic institute in which the physician admitted the harvesting. (WP, WT 12/21; WJW 12/24)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night house searches in Bil‘in, arresting 2 Palestinians involved in the weekly demonstrations against the separation wall, including artist Ibrahim Bernat (who makes portraits from rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun grenade canisters fired by IDF troops against demonstrators), confiscating his portrait collection. A Jewish settler fr. Gush Etzion nr. Bethlehem fires on 5 Palestinian farmers working land in Safa village nr. Hebron that settlers have previously tried to seize; no injuries are reported; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo stone Palestinian vehicles driving on the Ramallah– Nablus road nr. the settlement, causing no injuries; the IDF observes but does not intervene. (OCHA, PCHR 12/23)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes a rare daytime raid on 2 houses in the center of Hebron, violently beating several Palestinians (moderately injuring 5), detaining 4 for questioning, ultimately arresting 1; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades, tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinians and nonviolent international (and, in the case of Bil‘in, Israeli) activists taking part in protests against the separation wall in Bil‘in and Ni‘lin (10s suffer tear gas inhalation at both sites); fires stun grenades and tear gas at Palestinian and international activists taking part in a nonviolent protest against the separation wall in al-Ma‘sara, also beating several protesters (moderately injuring 1 Palestinian); conducts late-night house searches in Tubas and nr. Jenin, making no arrests. (OCHA, PCHR 12/23)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night patrols in Rumana nr. Jenin, arresting 2 16-yr.-old Palestinians who are out on the street; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities issue fines of thousands of dollars and demolition orders for 9 Palestinian homes and 1 mosque in Jabal Mukabir neighborhood. Israeli security forces break up Palestinians holding a public gathering at Damascus Gate to mark the formal end of the Arab League’s designation of Jerusalem as the Arab cultural capital for 2009; at least 6 Palestinians are arrested for illegal political activity in Jerusalem, and several are beaten. (OCHA, PCHR 12/23)

For the 1st time since 11/23, Palestinians fire 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF does not retaliate—an indication that Israel believes the cease-fire pledge that Hamas secured fr. the other Gaza factions on 11/21 is generally holding. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night house searches in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem and nr. Qalqilya, making no arrests. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo nr. Ramallah, escorted by IDF troops, attack Palestinian farmers working their fields nearby; the soldiers order the farmers to leave the area. (OCHA, PCHR 12/23; YA 12/30)

Israeli naval vessels intercept a Palestinian fishing boat that approaches the boundary of the permitted fishing zone off the Bayt Lahiya coast, damaging the boat, forcing the fishermen to jump into the sea, and then detaining them, taking them to Ashdod port in Israel for several hrs. of questioning, before releasing them to Gaza. A smuggling tunnel under the Rafah border collapses, killing 3 Palestinians. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Nablus. In East Jerusalem, Palestinians in Silwan report that during the previous wk., Israeli workers and archeologists resumed work on 2 archeological tunnels under the city leading to the al-Aqsa Mosque (see Quarterly Update in JPS 154). A group of right-wing Jews breaks into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to hold prayers marking Hanukkah, but Waqf officials ask Israeli police to intervene, and police remove them peacefully. Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem celebrating Hanukkah attack a number of Palestinian shops and residents in the Old City; Israeli security forces observe but do not intervene. The PASF crackdown on Hamas mbrs. in the West Bank winds down today, with the UN reporting at least 80 and as many as 300 detained. The Israeli High Court rules that a 2007-imposed ban on family visits by Gazans to Palestinians held in Israeli jails is valid. (OCHA, PCHR 12/16; PCHR 12/23; HA 12/31)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts synchronized late-night house searches in 4 villages south and west of Jenin, arresting only 1 Palestinian; conducts other late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Qalqilya. Palestinians in Yasuf receive Israel’s chief rabbi Yona Metzger, who requested permission to make an official visit to condemn the 12/11 arson and vandalism attack on the village mosque by Jewish settlers. In Gaza, 10,000s of Palestinians rally to mark Hamas’s 22d anniversary. In the West Bank, the PA security forces (PASF) begin rounding up Hamas mbrs. to prevent anniversary rallies there. (NYT, WP, WT 12/15; OCHA, PCHR 12/16; WJW 12/17)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts rare daytime arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, Tubas, and nr. Nablus. Late in the evening, 2 IDF soldiers enter the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, violently beating and insulting a guard who asks them to remove their shoes. In Hebron, Jewish settlers brutally beat a 13- yr.-old Palestinian boy on his way home from school; the IDF observes but does not intervene. (OCHA, PCHR 12/16)

Israeli DM Barak orders government funding to be revoked from a yeshiva in Har Brakha settlement after the yeshiva’s head rabbi encourages his students to refuse orders to evacuate unauthorized settlement outposts. Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet approves (21–5) changes to Israel’s map of national priority areas to include several isolated West Bank settlements, including several right-wing settlements (including Kiryat Arba and Keddumim) that have led protests against Netanyahu’s settlement freeze. These newly designated areas will be entitled to millions of dollars in additional government financing. (NYT, WT 12/14)

Before dawn, unidentified Palestinians fire several mortars or antitank missiles toward IDF troops on the central Gaza border inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF returns fire, fatally shooting 1 Palestinian civilian outside his home in al-Bureij r.c., some 700 m from the border. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Nablus. (OCHA, PCHR 12/16)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, stun grenades, tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinians and nonviolent international (and, in the case of Bil‘in, Israeli) activists taking part in protests against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation) and Ni‘lin (moderately injuring 3 Palestinians); fires stun grenades and tear gas at Palestinian and international activists taking part in a nonviolent protest against the separation wall in al-Ma‘sara, also beating several protesters (moderately injuring 2 Palestinians); makes a late-night incursion into Jenin r.c., patrolling streets for several hrs. and firing stun grenades, causing no injuries. Jewish settlers vandalize a mosque in Yasuf village nr. Nablus, burning prayer rugs and Qur’ans, leaving behind Hebrew graffiti protesting Netanyahu’s 10-mo. settlement freeze. (WP 12/12; WT 12/13; NYT 12/14; OCHA, PCHR 12/16)

The IDF conducts military exercises in the Golan Heights. Meanwhile, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border make a brief incursion to detain 2 Palestinian teenagers scavenging for scrap metal from destroyed buildings nr. the border fence n. of Bayt Hanun, holding them for 12 hrs. of interrogation before releasing them. Israel allows Gazans to export 1 truckload of carnations (30,000 flowers), marking the first exports permitted since 4/27/09. In the West Bank, the IDF raids Khirbat Tana village, located in area C northeast of Nablus and w. of Mehola settlement, early in the morning, searching several homes and confiscating 4 tractors, stating the area is a closed military zone (see Quarterly Update for details). The IDF also shuts the Shavei Shomron checkpoint on the Jenin–Nablus route for road repair work that is expected to take 9 mos.; the closure creates long delays for Palestinians traveling between Jenin and the s. West Bank. Jewish settlers fr. Revava northwest of Salfit brutally beat a 13-yr.-old Palestinian child; the IDF evacuates the child to an Israeli hospital. (NYT 12/11; OCHA, PCHR 12/16)

Some 10,000 Jewish settlers protest the 10-mo. settlement freeze outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence. Also in Jerusalem, Palestinians in Shaykh Jarrah report that in the previous wk., Jewish settlers have slashed the tires of 19 Palestinian vehicles in the neighborhood. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c. nr. Nablus and Ramallah. The Israeli High Court rejects a petition by a Palestinian student at Bethlehem University that challenged her deportation from the West Bank to Gaza in 10/09 because her legal address was in Gaza and she did not have an Israeli permit to live in the West Bank. (NYT, PCHR, WP 12/10; OCHA, PCHR 12/16)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c. The PA declares a boycott against Israeli goods made in Jewish settlements, with National Economy M Hassan AbuLibdeh saying the government has already confiscated $1 m. worth of settlement-made products. The UN reports that since 11/25, 1 Palestinian has been killed in a smuggling tunnel collapse on the Rafah border and 1 Palestinian has been killed and 4 injured (including a 14-yr.-old boy) mishandling explosives. (OCHA, WT 12/9; PCHR 12/10)

Jewish settlers launch an organized campaign of civil disobedience to protest Netanyahu’s settlement freeze, blocking traffic at major intersections leading into Jerusalem. Israeli police quickly disperse them without violence, but settlers say they plan to keep up such actions randomly over the coming days to frustrate the government. Meanwhile, IDF undercover units stage a major late-night raid on a Nablus apartment building, arresting Palestinian Salah al-Bukhari, wanted since 2001. The IDF also stages late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and nr. Bethlehem, Nablus, Salfit, Tulkarm. Hamas-affiliated police manning the Gaza side of the Erez crossing block the exit of 37 Palestinian medical patients granted permission by Israel to leave the Strip, stating they have not obtained the proper exit visa from Gaza’s Interior Min. (see 12/6). (OCHA 12/9; WJW, PCHR 12/10)

The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights reports that Gaza’s Hamas-run Interior Min. has started requiring Palestinians wishing to exit Gaza to obtain an exit permit from the ministry’s new Office of Travel Registration, with Hamas-affiliated police already enforcing the order on Palestinians exiting through the Erez crossing, but notably not at the Rafah crossing. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron (in 1 case severely beating several family members and allegedly stealing money and gold from 1 family). Jewish settlers fr. Efrat nr. Bethlehem burn at least 50 newly planted Palestinian olive trees in nearby Umm Salamuna village. (OCHA 12/9; PCHR 12/10)

In East Jerusalem, the IDF forces a Palestinian to demolish his home or face a fine (amount not reported). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin. (OCHA 12/9; PCHR 12/10)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, stun grenades, tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinians and nonviolent international (and, in the case of Bil‘in, Israeli) activists taking part in protests against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation) and Ni‘lin (moderately injuring 1 Palestinian); fires stun grenades and tear gas at Palestinian and international activists taking part in a nonviolent protest against the separation wall in al-Ma‘sara, also beating several protesters (moderately injuring 1 Palestinian); conducts late-night house searches in and around Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar attempt to occupy 2 Palestinian homes nearby but are fended off by stonethrowing Palestinians. (OCHA 12/9; PCHR 12/10)

Netanyahu summons West Bank settlement leaders to a meeting at his office to appeal to them to observe the 10-mo. construction freeze, but they refuse, vowing to continue to bar entry into settlements to inspectors searching for illegal construction. The IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Tulkarm. Jewish settlers evict a Palestinian family from their home in Shaykh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, citing a 10/09 Israeli court ruling that the land on which the home sits belongs to a settler organization (see Quarterly Update for details); a settler family moves into the home under guard of the IDF and a private Israeli security company. (NYT 12/4; OCHA 12/9; PCHR 12/10)

The Israeli government approves construction of 84 structures in West Bank settlements despite the 11/25 freeze. Meanwhile, Israel makes its 1st arrests in enforcing its 10-mo. ban on new Jewish settlement construction, briefly detaining the mayor of Bet Arye settlement and 2 Jewish settlers in Elon Moreh when they confront police escorting building inspectors delivering stop-work orders. Israeli security officials say inspectors have handed out 60 stop-work orders since beginning on 11/30. YESHA settlement council leaders attend a high-profile ceremony to start construction of a new synagogue in Efrat settlement, vowing they will continue to settle the West Bank with or without government support. Also in the West Bank, the IDF makes unusual daytime arrest raids nr. Jenin; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jenin. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border shoot, wound, detain 1 Palestinian nr. the border fence outside Bayt Lahiya. (NYT, PCHR 12/3; OCHA 12/9; PCHR 12/10)