The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, around 500 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops conduct arrest raids and weapons searches in al-Fawar refugee camp (r.c.), sparking major clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian youths; at least 33 Palestinians are injured (1 bystander succumbs to his injuries later in the day). Initial reports of the clashes say that IDF snipers were aiming at Palestinian youths’ lower bodies; an autopsy of the fatally injured youth later shows that he was shot in the heart. B’Tselem will report on 9/9 that the Palestinian killed did not, in fact, take part in the clashes, despite media reports at the time. The IDF remains deployed in the camp for nearly 24 hours. Meanwhile, IDF troops conduct further raids and house searches late at night nr. Ramallah and nr. Hebron, arresting 10 Palestinians and issuing an arrest summons to 1; and patrol during the day nr. Hebron, Nablus, and Qalqilya. Israeli forces uproot around 50 olive trees outside a village nr. Tulkarm, and demolish 7 homes outside Sa‘ir village nr. Hebron, 3 homes and a room in Bayt Jala nr. Bethlehem, and 1 home outside Duma village nr. Nablus. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish a stable in Jabal Mukabir and a car showroom in Anata, and forcibly disperse Palestinian protesters at a sit-in in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners at a Red Crescent office in Sheikh Jarrah. Along Gaza’s border, IDF troops arrest 4 Palestinians after they cut through the border fence and enter Israeli territory. It is unclear what they intended to do. (HA, MNA, TOI, WAFA 8/16; MNA, TOI 8/17; PCHR 8/18; HA 8/21; MNA 9/10)

In Gaza, a small group claiming affiliation with ISIS fires 3 rockets toward Israel, with 1 landing in an open area nr. the Kissufim kibbutz on the Israeli side of the border, causing no injuries or damage. The IAF launches air strikes on a Hamas military site in c. Gaza in response; 4 Palestinians are injured. IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Bayt Hanun shoot and injure a Palestinian teenager approaching the border fence. They also fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers nearby, causing no injuries. Off the coast nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces fire warning shots at Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage. In the West Bank, IDF troops violently disperse Palestinian, Israeli, and international protesters at weekly demonstrations against the Israeli occupation in 4 villages nr. Ramallah (Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, Silwad, and Nabi Salih), and Kafr Qaddum nr. Qalqilya; 1 Palestinian is seriously injured. The IDF also patrols in a village nr. Bethlehem, sparking minor clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian youths (3 are arrested), as well as in 2 villages nr. Hebron and 1 each nr. Ramallah and Jenin. (HA, JP, MNA, REU, TOI, YA 8/7; MNA, WAFA 8/8; AFP 8/9; PCHR 8/13)

PA Prisoners’ Affairs Comm. head Qaraqe says that the IDF prosecutor intends to request permission from the courts to begin forcefeeding Muhammad Allan, a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike since 6/16. The International Comm. of the Red Cross says that Allan’s life is“at immediate risk” and calls for the Israeli authorities to allow his family to visit him. (EI 8/7; AFP, HA, WAFA 8/8)

In the West Bank, a winter storm causes the Red Cross to postpone family visits scheduled for today and 1/8 to Palestinians in Israeli prisons. The IDF installs an iron gate at the entrance of a village nr. Nablus, then bars Palestinians from crossing in or out. (MNA, WAFA 1/7; PCHR 1/15)

Hamas criticizes the PA unity govt.’s 12/30 decision to rehire civil servants who lost their jobs when Hamas came to power in 2007, with spokesperson Abu Zuhri saying, “We have endured a great deal from this govt., but it still enjoys the sufferings of Gaza. They had better stop testing our endurance.” PA PM Hamdallah earlier suggests that the civil servants hired by the Hamas-run govt. should either be offered severance pay or small projects to work on. (MNA 1/9)

Gaza’s power plant shuts down completely for lack of fuel imports— a result of Israeli import restrictions; OCHA reports that because of ongoing fuel and electricity shortages, more than 40% of Gazans have been without running water for the past week and rolling blackouts across the Strip have increased to 18 hrs./day. Israel allows the International Comm. of the Red Cross (ICRC) to bring in enough fuel to supply back-up generators at Gaza hospitals for 2 weeks. Unidentified Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians and international activists staging a nonviolent march to the Erez crossing to protest Israel’s imposition of a no-go zone along the border; no injuries are reported. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Zabbuba village nr. Jenin in the afternoon, firing on residential areas to keep Palestinians indoors and then firing tear gas at stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no serious injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, and nr. Qalqilya and Salfit. Jewish settlers enter a Palestinian a Palestinian area n. of Hebron but are followed and removed by Israeli border police. (JP, YA 2/28; PCHR 3/1; OCHA 3/2)

Israel reports that a Libyan ship that had threatened to run the Gaza blockade (see 7/11) has diverted toward the Egyptian port of al-Arish, defusing a potential crisis; the Egyptian Red Crescent Society will take the goods to Gaza through the Rafah terminal. (Israel had been urging Egypt and Italy to intervene with Libya to encourage it to divert the boat.) Meanwhile, IDF troops on the c. Gaza border shell residential areas of Gaza Valley village after spotting “suspicious figures” in the area, hitting 1 home, killing 1 Palestinian woman and wounding 3 civilians in and around the house. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them back to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Salfit. Israeli authorities demolish 6 Palestinian homes in and around East Jerusalem (3 in Issawiyya, 1 in Bayt Hanina, 2 in Jabal Mukabir). (NYT, WP, WT 7/14; PCHR 7/15; OCHA 7/16)

In Gaza, 3 Palestinians (including a 14- yr.-old boy) are lightly injured when they accidentally trigger IDF UXO in the debris of a home in Bayt Lahiya. The IDF arrests 3 unarmed Palestinians trying to cross the border e. of al-Maghazi r.c. to look for work in Israel. The International Comm. of the Red Cross informs the family of a missing 12-yr.-old boy fr. Jabaliya r.c. that the child was shot and wounded nr. the border fence and is being treated in an Israeli hospital. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron. (OCHA 5/6; PCHR 5/7)

In Gaza, the IDF makes air strikes on an AMB car carrying rockets to a launch site nr. Bayt Hanun (the targets escape unharmed, 2 bystanders are wounded; a PA security officer later sent to retrieve the deserted car is killed by IDF fire that also wounds 2 bystanders) and on a bridge in n. Gaza; allows the Erez crossing to open for several hrs. for the import of food, medical supplies. The International Comm. of the Red Cross (ICRC) reports that 3 Palestinians with medical problems stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border, closed since 6/25, have died of heat stroke; that some 4,000 Palestinians, including 578 “urgent humanitarian cases” are now waiting on the Egyptian border for reentry to Gaza. A 12- yr.-old Palestinian dies of injuries received in the IDF shelling of Bayt Lahiya on 7/6. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, and in and around Hebron, Nablus. Overnight, Hamas mbrs. fire on a group of AMB mbrs. in Gaza City, wounding 5 and kidnapping 2; in retaliation, the AMB kidnaps 2 Hamas mbrs.; all 4 abducted men are released by early morning. (HA 7/11; NYT, OCHA 7/12; PCHR 7/13)

The IDF fires on residential areas of Rafah, killing 1 Palestinian; opens fire in Nur al-Shams r.c., killing 1 Palestinian teenager, wounding 5 after a Molotov cocktail is thrown at a passing IDF jeep fr. the area; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Jenin and in ‘Azun, Hebron, Khan Yunis, Tulkarm; occupies 3 houses in Jenin, Hebron, Tulkarm as observation posts; bulldozes a grove of Palestinian olive trees in Bayt Surik nr. Jerusalem; arrests 5 Palestinian farmers working their fields nr. the separation wall around Qalqilya nr. ‘Azun, releasing 3 after questioning, holding 2. In response to the 8/4 Shafa ‘Amr killings, AMB gunmen fire on a Jewish settler vehicle in the West Bank, wounding 2 settlers. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’on attack, beat 4 Palestinian farmers working their nearby fields. Palestinian gunmen fire on the International Comm. of the Red Cross (ICRC) headquarters in Khan Yunis, causing damage but no injuries. The PA security forces arrest Khan Yunis Fatah official and Qaddumi spokesman Sulayman al-Farah on suspicion of building a local militia; Farah earlier announced that Qaddumi ordered his office to set up a 1,500-man force to help the PA maintain law and order in Gaza during disengagement (see 7/16). (IMEMC, UPI 8/7; NYT 8/8; HA, NYT, WT 8/9; OCHA, PR 8/10; PCHR 8/11)

As Israeli-Palestinian tensions continue to run high in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fatally shoots 3 Palestinians who enter a closed military zone nr. Gaza’s border with Israel; fires missiles at 3 sites in Gaza City (the local Fatah headquarters, Hamas’s al-Risala newspaper, an electrical transformer), cutting electricity to part of the city, wounding at least 3 Palestinian children. Gaza crossings into Israel remain closed for the 8th consecutive week. Rejecting a 5/15 petition by a Palestinian human rights group, the Israeli High Court says the IDF may widen the Philadelphi Route buffer zone along the Gaza border with Egypt, potentially demolishing 100s of Palestinian homes, ruling that the army has a “real, imminent need” to do so. The IDF announces over loudspeakers in Rafah’s Bloc O section, where much bulldozing has occurred, that Palestinians have 24 hrs. to evacuate their homes; fires on residential areas to encourage Palestinians to leave. The International Comm. of the Red Cross begins setting up a tent camp in Rafah able to provide emergency housing for 1,500 Palestinians left homeless by IDF bulldozing operations in the past wk. and those fleeing in fear of further demolitions. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Dahaysha refugee camp (r.c.) nr. Bethlehem, begins bulldozing 45 dunams (4 dunams = 1 acre) of Palestinian land nr. Jerusalem for a new segment of the separation wall. (AFP, NYT, WP, WT 5/16; AFP, MM, NYT 5/17; VOP 5/17 in WNC 5/19; PCHR 5/20)

Israeli-Palestinian clashes, now in their 8th mo., continue, with Israel Defense Force (IDF) increasingly striking Palestinian targets and entering areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA) without provocation so as to "keep them guessing and [have] them spend more time defending themselves" and with Palestinians stepping up their sniping at soldiers and settlers and firing of mortars (especially in Gaza). To date, around 511 Palestinians, 82 Israelis have been killed. Today, 1 Palestinian is shot dead by IDF troops. The IDF also shells the PA Preventive Security Force (PSF) offices in Jabaliyya, Jinin; directs shells, heavy machine gun fire at residential areas of Khan Yunis; sends tanks, bulldozers into 2 PA-controlled areas in Gaza, occupying a multistory building in al-Qarara nr. Gush Katif settlement and a factory in Dayr al-Balah. IDF soldiers at a checkpoint on the Nablus-Ramallah road halt a Red Crescent ambulance en route to pick up a critically ill patient, severely beat 3 medics, empty the ambulance and damage supplies; the harassment ends when the International Comm. of the Red Cross (ICRC) intervenes. (AFP [Internet], HP 5/16; MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 5/17; LAW, WT 5/18)

The IDF concedes that the 5/14 attack on a PSF post in Beitunia that left 5 PSF officers dead was a "blunder" and that the area was quiet when soldiers attacked. (WP 5/17; AN, HJ 5/17 in WNC 5/18, 5/21; HA, NYT 5/18)

PA Information M Yasir `Abid Rabbuh appeals to Congress to support the recommendations of the Mitchell Comm., the U.S.-led international inquiry into the causes of the al-Aqsa intifada headed by fmr. U.S. sen. George Mitchell. The comm.'s preliminary report (submitted to Israel and the PA on 5/1) suggests a two-pronged approach to restoring calm based on Israel halting all settlement construction, the PA making a 100% effort to halt violence. The comm.'s final report is expected in 1 wk. The State Dept. says Secy. of State Colin Powell is considering meeting with Sharon, Arafat on the sidelines of his trip to Africa, Europe 5/22+n30. (WT 5/18)

In Washington, U.S. Pres. George W. Bush holds a strategy session on the Middle East with his top foreign policy advisers, including Secy. of State Powell, Secy. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Adviser (NSA) Condoleeza Rice. Powell advocates using the recommendations of the Mitchell Comm. and the Jordanian-Egyptian initiative as the base for a cease-fire plan. Both plans call for a full freeze on settlement construction, which admin. officials claim they cannot directly demand from Israeli PM Ariel Sharon. (MM 5/16; MM, NYT 5/17)

Israeli-Palestinian clashes continue, leaving 2 Palestinians dead; 1 dies en route to the hospital by car after the IDF bars an ambulance fr. reaching the scene. Nr. Jinin, IDF soldiers fire 3 warning shots toward a marked Vatican car carrying the Catholic Bishop Boulos Marcuzzo. A roadside bomb explodes nr. an IDF post outside Jabaliyya, causing no damage; in response, the IDF shells residential areas of Jabaliyya, destroying 1 building. The IDF also shells residential areas in Khan Yunis (damaging 7 Palestinian homes, killing livestock), fires on a Red Crescent ambulance nr. Gaza City, delays a 2d ambulance fr. reaching a wounded Palestinian for 20 mins. The IDF also begins work on a new 100 m. settlement road to link Kefar Darom with its greenhouses, bulldozing 72 dunams of Palestinian agricultural land and dividing a Palestinian farm in half. (Latin Patriarchate press release, LAW 1/9; IsRN, WT 1/10; NYT, PCHR 1/12; WJW 1/18)

Israeli, PA security officials agree to resume low-level security contacts. Arafat, Israel's Shahak meet to discuss reviving negotiations in light of progress on security. (HA, MA [Internet], YA 1/10; SA 1/10 in WNC 1/11; NYT 1/12)

The Mitchell Comm. technical staff arrives in Israel to begin their research. The staff refuses to sign an Israeli document requiring them to have an Israeli rep. present at all stages of testimony, to coordinate any planned tours of Israel or the PA areas with the FMin. (YA 1/9) (see 12/10)