The Palestine Chronology

The IDF assassinates Hamas spiritual leader and founder Shaykh Ahmad Yasin, firing 3 internationally banned flechette missiles at him as he leaves a Gaza City mosque after morning prayers, also killing 3 bodyguards, 4 bystanders, wounding at least 17 Palestinians, including Yasin’s 2 sons. Immediately, 100,000s of Palestinians take to the streets throughout the territories to protest the assassination. The IDF seals Gaza; clashes with Palestinian demonstrators in Balata r.c. (killing an al-Najah Radio correspondent in Balata r.c., apparently thinking his mobile phone was a weapon), Bethlehem, Dayr al-Balah, Hebron (fatally shooting 1 Palestinian watching fr. his balcony), Jenin, Khan Yunis (killing 3 Palestinians), Nablus; fires on residential areas of Rafah, Qalqilya, Tal Zu’rub; imposes a curfew on areas around Jenin, fires on residential areas; temporarily occupies a Palestinian home as an IDF post nr. Dayr al-Balah. 100s of Palestinian youths in East Jerusalem gather at checkpoints to throw stones at IDF soldiers; Palestinian prisoners in 2 Israeli jails riot. Palestinians fire Qassam rockets, mortars, antitank rockets at Gush Katif and Netzarim settlements, nearby IDF posts, the western Negev, damaging 2 apartments in Netzarim but causing no injuries. An ax-wielding Palestinian fr. the West Bank village of Bidiyya wounds 3 Israelis outside an army base in Tel Aviv before being arrested. An unidentified assailant said to be Arab stabs, lightly wounds 3 Israelis on a Jaffa bus. 4 Palestinians are arrested for beating up a Jewish settler in East Jerusalem. Jewish settlers detain, beat a Palestinian man in the Jordan Valley. An estimated 200,000 Palestinians, including reps. of all Palestinian factions, take part in Yasin’s funeral services later in the day, with 21 PSF officers forming an honor guard for Yasin’s coffin, Gaza churches ringing their bells, mosques broadcasting Qur’anic verses. Meanwhile, Israeli defense chiefs meet, agree to target the entire remaining Hamas leadership immediately, without waiting for another Hamas attack. Israel also announces that it will close the only mental health clinic serving East Jerusalem Palestinians (1,200 patients) because of “security concerns.” (AP, BBC, CSM, HA, MA, MM, NYT, REU, WP, WT 3/22; AP, ATL, ITARTASS, MNR, MENA, IDF Radio, IRNA, ITARTASS, JP, VIRI, VOI, VOP, XIN 3/22 in WNC 3/24; al-Arabiyya TV [Dubai], Syrian Arab News Agency 3/22 in WNC 4/27; AFP, BBC, CSM, HA, JT, MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/23; AFP, AYM, DUS, HA, al-Hayat al-Jadida, JT, MA, MENA, al-Ra’i, THWR, TSHR, VIRI, YA 3/23 in WNC 3/25; MM, NYT, PR, WP 3/24; ATL, ITAR-TASS, Izvestiya, JT, al-Ra’i, SA, VOP, XIN 3/24 in WNC 3/26; AYM 3/24 in WNC 4/3; JT, MM, PCHR, WJW 3/25; ITAR-TASS, MENA, NHR, VIRI 3/25 in WNC 3/27; MM 3/26; MNR 3/27 in WNC 3/30; AYM 3/30, VOP 3/31 in WNC 4/2; MEI 4/2; PCHR 4/15)

In Washington, Shalom holds further talks on Sharon’s disengagement plan with VP Dick Cheney, Powell, Rice. (WP 3/23)

IDF undercover units ambush, assassinate Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades 2d in command Riyad Abu Zayd as he drives nr. Netzarim. The IDF also makes a predawn raid on Gaza City to demolish the home of a senior Hamas mbr., fatally shooting 2 Palestinians, injuring 9 during the operation; opens fire on a group of Palestinians nr. Qalqilya, wounding 1 man riding a horse cart, killing the horse; shuts the Center for Social Research in East Jerusalem, claiming it is operating illegally as an arm of the PA; shells residential areas of Rafah, destroying 1 Palestinian home; bulldozes another 48 dunams of land nr. Aley Sinai settlement. In Gaza City, around 100,000 Palestinians take part in funeral marches for 6 senior Hamas mbrs. killed on 2/16. (AP, HA, MM, NYT, REU 2/17; LAW, WP, WT 2/18; PR 2/19; LAW, PCHR 2/20; MEI 2/21; MM 2/24)

The IDF reoccupies Bethlehem following Christmas celebrations, reimposes a 24-hr. curfew on residents; assassinates local AMB head Jamal Yahya in Tulkarm; assassinates Hamas mbr. Bassam Ashqar, ambushing his car in Ramallah, also killing a Palestinian bystander; raids Qabatiyya, assassinating local Islamic Jihad leader Yusif Abu Rub, demolishing his family house, arresting local Izzeddine al-Qassam Brigades head Natzir Nazal, senior Hamas mbr. Talal al-Baz; sends undercover units into a hospital in Ramallah, fatally shooting wanted Palestinian Samir al-Shamali, who was working there as a guard, in what may be an assassination, sparking demonstrations, clashes with local residents that leave 1 Palestinian stone thrower dead; fatally shoots 2 Palestinians “approaching” Netzarim settlement; fires on demonstrators protesting the curfew in Nablus, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 20; raids a village n. of Ramallah, firing stun grenades, causing an elderly Palestinian to suffer a fatal heart attack; imposes a curfew on Beitunia, sends 30 tanks into the town; conducts house-to-house searches, arrest raids in Qalqilya; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis. The PA accuses Israel of stepping up attacks on Palestinians in an effort to scuttle Fatah-Hamas talks in Cairo. The IDF also announces that it has begun building 300-yd.-wide buffer zones around several Jewish settlements in the West Bank (see Quarterly Update in JPS 126). Palestinians fire 2 mortars at a Jewish settlement in Gaza, causing damage but no injuries. This evening, Israeli DM Shaul Mofaz orders the IDF to step up pressure on militant groups in the territories. (HP, LAW, PCHR, PM 12/26; HA, NYT, WP, WT 12/27; AYM, Interfax, ITAR-TASS, al-Quds 12/27, De Standaard 12/28 in WNC 12/31; NYT, WT 12/28; LAW, PCHR 1/1)

A Palestinian suicide bomber fr. Bethlehem detonates a device on a bus in Jerusa-lem, killing 11 Israelis, wounding 48 (8 of them seriously). Hamas, Islamic Jihad both take responsibility, but family, friends of the bomber say he supported Islamic Jihad. Sharon convenes his security cabinet; does not invite fmr. PM and current FM Benjamin Netanyahu, who is challenging him for the PM candidacy in the upcoming Likud primaries on 11/28. Fearing that Sharon will stage a major retaliatory attack, the PSF evacuates its offices in Bethlehem. After the mtg., Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin states that in light of U.S. military intentions against Iraq, “We are not going to allow any kind of escalation.” The IDF shells a PA military intelligence post nr. Netzarim settlement, killing 1 PA intelligence officer; makes a predawn raid on 3 villages nr. Khan Yunis in s. Gaza, demolishing the home of a senior DFLP mbr., firing on residential areas, wounding 4 Palestinians; bulldozes 39 dunams of Palestinian land e. of Dayr al-Balah, 11.5 dunams and several structures nr. Bayt Lahia. (HA, MM, NYT, WP 11/21; ATL, Interfax 11/21 in WNC 11/22; MM, NYT, WP, WT 11/22; QA 11/22, MA 11/24 in WNC 11/25; LAW, PCHR 11/27)

The IDF fire on a PSF patrol operating btwn. Dayr al-Balah and Kefar Darom settlement, killing 1 PSF officer, seriously injuring a 2d. The IDF also demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in Brazil camp; bulldozes Palestinian land around Netzarim settlement. (PCHR 11/8)

In Spain, Peres, Arafat hold a brief 1-on-1 mtg. to discuss how to widen their cease-fire, restart peace talks. Arafat says that the PA has cracked down on Hamas, arrested more than 60 PFLP mbrs. since the Ze'evi assassination on 10/17. Peres tells Arafat he must arrest at least another 10-15 of Israel's most wanted. (RNE 11/3 in WNC 11/5; NYT, WT 11/4)

Sharon cancels plans to come to the U.S. on 11/11 for the opening of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session, where he was expected to meet with Bush. (NYT, WP, WT 11/4; WP 11/5; NYT 11/6)

Israeli-Palestinian violence continues. The IDF says that overnight Palestinians threw 60 grenades at an IDF post in Rafah, where a Palestinian boy was killed on 7/7, but caused no damage. Following the boy's funeral today, Palestinians fire on the same IDF post, causing no injuries. Undercover IDF units kidnap senior Hamas mbr. Ayoub Sharawi, wanted by Israel for allegedly "dispatching terrorist cells," fr. Hebron. The IDF also directs machine gun fire at residential areas of Khan Yunis (injuring 2), Yibna; occupies 2 Palestinian homes in Nabi Salah as a military post, evicting residents and injuring 12, including 1 Palestinian woman who suffers a miscarriage; bulldozes 40 dunams Palestinian land nr. Netzarim settlement; sets fire to an olive grove along the Zawata-Bayt Ibia road; fires on a Force-17 post in Hebron. Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb nr. an IDF vehicle outside Hebron, injuring at least 1 soldier; fire on a Jewish settler bus nr. Ramallah, injuring 1 settler. Jewish settlers vandalize Palestinian property, severely beat 3 Palestinians in Hebron; vandalize Palestinian homes, cars in al-Sahla; bulldoze land, set fire to cattle pens, damage water wells in al-Musafir. 2 Palestinians are shot, wounded by snipers nr. Abraham Avino settlement in Hebron. The PA sentences Tahir Walid Jabir to life in prison with hard labor for collaborating with Israel. (PMC 7/8; HA, HP, NYT, PMC, WT 7/9; NYT 7/10; MEI 7/13)

After an Israeli cabinet mtg. on the security situation, DM Ben-Eliezer says Israel will ease its "policy of restraint," gauge its response to "terrorist attacks in terms of their potential to do violence, and not their results." The cabinet reportedly approves IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz's revisions to the IDF's 6/2 assault plan, entitled "The Destruction of the Palestinian Authority and Disarmament of All Armed Forces," which he recommends be implemented after the next big suicide bombing inside Israel that causes heavy casualties. (HA 7/8; MM 7/11; AFP [Internet], CBS News [Internet] 7/12; HA, WP 7/13; REU 7/14; WP 7/16; AN 7/16 in WNC 7/17)

With Sharon's permission, Peres meets with Palestinian Council (PC) speaker Ahmad Qurai` to discuss the cease-fire. (NYT 7/12; MA 7/17 in WNC 7/18; MM 7/19)