The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, the IDF raids and searches homes nr. Jenin but makes no arrests; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation). Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba and a nearby unauthorized outpost in Wadi al-Nassara attack Palestinian homes for a 2d day, causing damage but no reported injuries. Jewish settlers with a bulldozer occupy and level a plot of Palestinian land s. of Bethlehem; the IDF removes the settlers. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus throw a large rock at a passing Palestinian car, seriously injuring a Palestinian woman and lightly injuring her child; the IDF evacuates the mother to a hospital in Israel. In Gaza, Hamas-affiliated police detain several senior Fatah officials in what Hamas calls a response to Fatah’s detention of West Bank Hamas loyalists on 7/28. Egyptian border police demolish a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border, suffocating 5 Palestinians. (NYT 8/2; OCHA 8/6; PCHR 8/7; 8/13)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, Jenin town and r.c., Nablus; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Tulkarm, causing no injuries. Some 20 Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus, angry over the IDF removal of a mobile home fr. an unauthorized outpost nearby, attack and damage Palestinian houses and an electricity system in Burin, causing a fire that destroys 200 d. of olive trees. Israel’s Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Comm. announces that it is reviving plans to build a new Jewish settlement, Maskiyot, in the n. Jordan Valley, approving an initial 22 housing units for the site. (NYT, WP 7/25; HA 7/26; OCHA, PCHR 7/30)

The IDF conducts major late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, firing on residential areas and stone-throwing youths who confront them wounding 2, arresting 30; also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jenin. (PCHR 7/17; OCHA 7/23; PCHR 7/24)

Israel, Hizballah implement a major prisoner exchange that includes Hizballah’s return of the bodies of the 2 IDF soldiers who were captured and killed on 7/06, sparking the 2006 Lebanon war, and Israel release of Samir Quntar (convicted by Israel in a 1979 attack that left 5 Israelis dead) (HA, IFM, MA, NYT, YA 7/16; AHR, IFM, NYT, WP, WT 7/17)

Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel in violation of the cease-fire, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night house searches in and around Nablus, and in Jenin town and r.c., Qabatya. (WP 7/13; OCHA 7/16; PCHR 7/17)

The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian nr. the Gaza border fence e. of Dayr al-Balah, saying it mistakenly thought he was armed. In retaliation, the AMB fires 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Later, Hamas-affiliated police arrest 7 AMB mbrs. for firing the rockets, marking the 1st such arrests by the Hamas leadership in Gaza. Israel does not reseal Gaza border crossings or take any military action against the rocket fire. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts daytime arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem; patrols in Tulkarm, conducting random ID checks; makes another late-night raid into Nablus, breaking into the municipal headquarters (confiscating computers and documents fr. the accounting department), searching 4 mosques, confiscating 4 school buses; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Jerusalem. (WP, WT 7/11; OCHA 7/16; PCHR 7/17)

The IDF conducts additional late-night raids in Nablus, searching, sealing, and confiscating computers and documents fr. several organizations allegedly connected to the ICA, including Afaq TV station, the Union of Palestinian Women Committees (confiscating food donations intended for needy Nablus families), a clinic, a kindergarten (taking 2 buses). The IDF sends undercover units driving a car with Palestinian license plates into Kafr Dan nr. Jenin, ambushing a Palestinian car and opening fire, assassinating Talal ‘Abid, a wanted mbr. of the Abu Ammar Brigades (a Fatah offshoot in Jenin), arresting a 2d Palestinian; sends troops, bulldozers into Hebron to demolish 2 Palestinian homes (18 residents) for allegedly harboring wanted individuals, also uprooting trees and heavily damaging a 3d home; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas a Palestinians demonstrating against the separation wall in Dayr al-Ghusun nr. Tulkarm, injuring several (including 2 journalists); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha fire 6 mortars at Burin village and 1 at Madama village, causing no damage or injuries (see 7/1, 7/3). Israel’s Interior Min. approves construction of 920 new settler housing units in Har Homa settlement in the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabal Abu Ghunaym in Jerusalem; it is not clear if this figure includes 121 units approved on 6/1. (JP 7/9; PCHR 7/10; WT 7/11; OCHA 7/16; PCHR 7/17; NYT 7/18; AHR 7/21)

After a wk. of almost complete Palestinian quiet in Gaza, Israel agrees to an Egyptian request to resume limited imports to the Strip, but states that it will henceforth close Gaza’s borders for 1 day for each Palestinian rocket fired and allow an extra 5 truckloads of food and 200 tons of cement into Gaza (over the minimum level of humanitarian goods) for each day without rocket fire. After Israel opens its border crossings at noon, Palestinians fire 3 mortars from Gaza toward Israel; 1 lands in Gaza and 2 in Israel, causing no damage or injuries; Israel does not respond. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza City coast, wounding 1 fisherman and forcing the boats to return to shore. In the West Bank, late in the evening, the IDF orders PA security forces in Nablus to return to their barracks, then sends some 130 military vehicles into the city to raid and seal several ICA-run schools, businesses (including a shopping mall, claiming that profits of the mall’s owners finance Hamas operations, a claim the shop owners deny), charities, and sport clubs, as well as a major medical center, seizing computers, records, cash; Shin Bet officers post notices that raided properties have been turned over to the Israeli army for 5 yrs., occupants have a limited time to vacate the premises, and anyone entering the sites after this may be arrested and imprisoned for Hamas collaboration. TheIDF also raids the al-Bireh municipal center, destroying computers containing vital data, such as land registrations, births, marriages; patrols in al-Far‘a r.c. nr, Jenin, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 3 (ages 12, 13, 19); lifts the 24-hr. curfew on Ni‘lin that was imposed on 7/5. (AHR, AP, OCHA, WP 7/9; PCHR 7/10, 7/17; AHR 7/21)

Israeli DM Ehud Barak signs an order banning 36 foreign nonprofits that have given money to charities run by the Islamic Charitable Association (ICA), which Israel alleges is connected to Hamas (see Quarterly Update in JPS 148), initiating what it vows will be an “unprecedented” military campaign to seal “scores” of offices that had received money from the 36 groups, viewing the action as “essential for the disruption of Hamas operations” in the West Bank. Late at night, the IDF raids and seals the first 7 ICA charities in Nablus. During the day, the IDF detains 1 Palestinian at a demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (see 7/5); a Palestinian girl videotapes soldiers handcuffing, blindfolding, beating the Palestinian, then shooting him at close range with a rubber-coated steel bullet, injuring him; he is treated by a IDF medic and released. Nr. Salfit, an armed Palestinian shoots, wounds a Jewish settler fr. nearby Yaqir settlement, is shot dead by an IDF soldier; the IDF later (7/20) alleges that the gunman, Mahmud ‘Azi fr. Qarawat Bani Hasan, was the head of the ICA. Late in the evening, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Bireh, nr. Bethlehem and Hebron. Meanwhile, Palestinians fire 2 mortars from Gaza toward Israel; both land inside the Strip, causing no damage or injuries. (BBC 7/7; IFM, OCHA 7/9; BBC, IFM, PCHR 7/10; AHR 7/20; PCHR 7/24)

Israel reseals Gaza’s border crossings in the morning, saying that overnight its radar detected a Palestinians rocket launched from n. Gaza toward Israel (though admitting it has not found any rocket fragments); Hamas denies a rocket was fired, accusing Israel of looking for excuses not to honor the truce agmt. Meanwhile, IDF troops on the s. Gaza border fire on 2 Palestinian women working a field nearby, seriously wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on residential areas of Bayt ‘Awa nr. Hebron, then enters to raid and search homes, claiming that barbed wire nr. the separation wall nearby had been tampered with, threatening to shoot dead anyone to approaches the wall; sends undercover units into Tulkarm to raid an apartment building, arrest a wanted Palestinian; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and in Dahaysha r.c., Jenin town and r.c., and Tulkarm r.c.; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (wounding 5). In the 1st such incident reported, Jewish settlers fr. Brakha settlement nr. Nablus fire 2 mortars toward the nearby Palestinian village of Burin, landing inside a residential area but causing no damage or injuries. (OCHA, WT 7/2; PCHR 7/3)

Syrian and Israeli negotiating teams open a 3d round of indirect peace talks in Istanbul. (Israel Radio, MM 7/2)

Israel keeps Gaza crossings shut for a 4th day, citing rocket fire on 6/26. Today, unidentified Palestinians fire 2 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Hamas-affiliated Gaza imams use their Friday sermons to stress that supporting the truce serves the greater interests of the Palestinian people. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); fires tear gas, percussion grenades at demonstrators at a similar protest al-Ma‘sara (10s suffer tear gas inhalation). (NYT 6/28; NYT 6/30; OCHA 7/2; PCHR 7/3)

Gaza’s border crossings remained sealed for a 3d day. The IDF fires warning shots at Palestinian farmers who stray nr. the Gaza border fence e. of Khan Yunis, seriously injuring 2 elderly Palestinians. The Israeli navy fires warning shots at fishermen to keep them close to shore. AMB mbrs. fire 2 rockets into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Hamas’s Gaza security chiefSiyam meets with heads of the various Gaza factions to discuss ways of reacting to IDF actions in the West Bank while respecting the Gaza cease-fire. Islamic Jihad pledges to coordinate its responses with Hamas. In the West Bank, the IDF makes an unusual daytime raid into Bayt Umar village nr. Hebron, setting up road blocks, checking IDs, raiding and searching homes, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront troops, killing a 16-yr.-old Palestinian boy, arresting 1 Palestinian; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin, and outside East Jerusalem. Jewish settlers fr. Halamish nr. Ramallah burn a Palestinian olive tree. Nr. Jabaliya r.c., unidentified assailants detonate a bomb outside a fmr. PA Preventive Security officer’s home, causing damage but no injuries. (NYT, WT 6/27; MM 6/30; OCHA 7/2; PCHR 7/3)

The IDF makes a predawn raid on an apartment building in Nablus, assassinating Islamic Jihad cmdr. Tariq Abu Ghalil (targeted by the IDF on 3 prior occasions) and a bystander in an adjacent apartment. In response, Islamic Jihad mbrs. in Gaza fire 3 rockets, 1 mortar fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 2 Israelis, causing light injuries. Israel calls the rocket attacks a “grave violation of the calm,” closes all commercial crossing into the Strip, but does not take military action. Hamas calls the closure of the crossings a violation of the truce agmt. but says it will maintain the cease-fire. Meanwhile, the IDF uproots, replants more than 80 olive trees along the separation wall route around Jerusalem (farmers do not expect the trees to survive); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against separation wall construction in Ni‘lin nr. Ramallah (injuring 12 Palestinians, including an 11-yr.- old boy); fires rubber-coated steel bullets at residents of Far‘un village nr. Tulkarm who hold a protest march to a group of houses slated for IDF demolition, wounding a 9-yr.- old Palestinian boy; conducts late-night arrest raids and house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Tulkarm. Jewish settlers fr. Mitzpe Ya’ir nr. Hebron stone and injure 2 Palestinians nr. Yatta. (MM 6/24; MM, NYT, OCHA, WP 6/25; NYT, PCHR, WP 6/26; OCHA 7/2)

On the sidelines of a donors conference in Berlin, U.S. secy. of state Rice meets with Israeli and PA negotiators and invites them to take part a series of trilateral discussions in New York and Washington beginning in 7/08 in an effort to reach a deal on Palestinian statehood before Bush leaves office. The sides accept. (WP, WT 6/29; NYT 7/29)

As the cease-fire in Gaza generally continues to hold, Israel increases the amount of food and medicine allowed entry to Gaza by 50%. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah, in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. Unidentified assailants burn 100 d. of Palestinian olive groves located on the western side of the separation wall nr. Tulkarm. In Gaza City, a bomb explodes outside a local IQB leader’s home, causing damage but no injuries. (WT 6/23; OCHA 6/25; PCHR 6/26)

On the 1st day of the cease-fire in Gaza, no Israeli-Palestinian violence is reported inside the Strip. Israeli naval vessels, however, fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Rafah, forcing them to return to shore. Hamas removes armed mbrs. fr. posts along the border with Israel. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Qalqilya; raids several Palestinian homes in Hebron, detains and photographs 30 residents for no apparent reason; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus and in Jenin town and r.c., Qabatya. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus block a road, stone Palestinian cars driving in the area, burn 800 d. of Palestinian olive groves, stone local Palestinians who attempt to reach the area to put out the fires; the IDF observes but only intervenes to detain Palestinians who arrive to extinguish the fire. Jewish settlers fr. Tapuach settlement nr. Salfit burn 48 d. of nearby Palestinian crops. A Jewish settler seriously injures a 70-yr.-old Palestinian man in a deliberate hit-and-run along the Qalqilya-Nablus road outside Qalqilya; the IDF evacuates him to an Israeli hospital. In Gaza City, unidentified gunmen fire on the offices of a Hamas-affiliated newspaper, causing damage but no injuries. In al-Bureij r.c., Hamas-affiliated police raid, fire in the air to disperse a wedding party, claiming attendees were playing pro-Fatah songs; no injuries are reported. (MM 6/19; AHR, NYT, WP 6/20; OCHA 6/25; PCHR 6/26)

Just before a Gaza cease-fire goes into effect, the IDF makes a series of air strikes on Gaza (killing 1 armed Palestinian, wounding 1), and Palestinians (mostly Islamic Jihad mbrs. seeking revenge for IDF killings of its mbrs. in previous days) fire 33 rockets and 10 mortars into Israel (causing light damage but no injuries); 5 rockets land inside Gaza, wounding 1 armed Palestinian, 2 civilians. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Bethlehem; also makes a major arrest raid in Qalqilya, searching, firing on, and heavily damaging a 3-story apartment building and 2 homes, demolishing 2 uninhabited Palestinian homes.(PCHR, WT 6/19; NYT 6/20; OCHA 6/25; PCHR 6/26)

Israel publicly calls for opening “direct, bilateral” peace talks with Lebanon, which says it is not interested (NYT, WP 6/19)

Hamas and Israel agree “in principle” on phased a cease-fire deal for Gaza to begin at 6:00 A.M. local time on 6/19 (11:00 P.M. 6/18 EST) and last for 6 mos. Meanwhile, in Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on a car in Dayr al-Balah carrying 3 mbrs. of the Army of Islam (essentially the militia of the local Daghmash clan) in an apparent assassination attempt, initially missing the car and wounding 3 bystanders, firing a 2d missile that kills targeted Army of Islam mbr. Salah Salluha, wounding 2. Later the IDF makes an air strike on a car nr. Khan Yunis assassinating 5 Army of Islam mbrs. (including Mu‘ataz Daghmash, a senior mbr. and brother of the group’s leader). Later, Palestinians fire up to 10 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, nr. Hebron and Ramallah (MA, HA, YA 6/17; MM, NYT, OCHA; WP 6/18; PCHR 6/19; HA, MM 6/20; NYT 6/22; AYM, al-Hayat al-Jadida [Ramallah] 6/23)

In Gaza, the IDF fatally shoots 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs. laying a roadside bomb nr. the border fence e. of Khuza; makes an air strike destroying a workshop in Khan Yunis, causing no injuries; fires on Palestinian farmers who stray nr. the border fence nr. Kerem Shalom crossing, causing no injuries. Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, hitting a cemetery in Ashqelon, lightly wounding 1 Israeli; the IDF makes an air strike on the launch site e. of Gaza City, killing 1 Islamic Jihad mbr., wounding 1. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar settlement nr. Nablus attack and drive off 3 Palestinian shepherds (ages 12, 14, 30) tending a flock nearby, then kill their 3 donkeys. Unidentified assailants detonate a roadside bomb nr. a Hamas-affiliated police patrol in Gaza City, causing no injuries. (MM 6/16; NYT 6/17; OCHA 6/18; PCHR 6/19)

An IDF helicopter fires on a group of Hamas mbrs. in Bayt Hanun, causing no injuries. Later, Hamas mbrs. fire 4 rocketpropelled grenades at an IDF patrol along the Gaza border e. of al-Maghazi r.c.; the IDF later sends bulldozers into the area to level land, clear lines of sight. Hamas mbrs. fire 3 mortars fr. Gaza toward Israel, causing no damage or injuries; IDF troops inside Israel direct heavy machine gunfire at the launch site, causing no reported injuries. The IDF also conducts a 2d day of land-leveling operations inside the Gaza border e. of al-Maghazi. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Dahaysha r.c. and al-Duha village nr. Bethlehem, then fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding 4; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, and in Jenin town and r.c. (raiding a local lawyer’s home, confiscating computers and files). (PCHR 6/19)

In Gaza, the IDF fatally shoots 2 armed Palestinians laying a roadside bomb nr. the border fence n. of Bayt Lahiya; makes an air strike on a group of IQB mbrs. in Khuza, wounding 2; makes a late-night air strike on and fires a surface-to-surface missile across the border at a 2d group of IQB mbrs. nr. Khuza, killing 3 Hamas mbrs. An explosion destroys Hamas field cmdr. Hasan Abu Shaqfa’s Bayt Lahiya home, killing Abu Shaqfa, 4 other Hamas mbrs., a 4-mo.-old girl, and another bystander and damaging several surrounding homes; Hamas initially says the explosion was caused by an IDF air strike and fires 21 rockets (reported by the IDF to include 3 Gradstyle rockets) and 22 mortars into Israel in response (lightly injuring 1 Israeli), but later (6/14) reports that explosives the Hamas mbrs. were handling detonated prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Balata r.c. and al-Far‘a r.c. (firing on residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian), and nr. Hebron. Nr. Nablus, 2 Jewish settlers attempt to break into a Palestinian car and shop in Hawara village, are confronted by local Palestinians, whom they then attack with knives and iron bars; the IDF arrests the settlers. (MM, NYT, WP, WT 6/13; WP 6/15; OCHA 6/18; PCHR 6/19)

Overnight, the IDF sends troops, bulldozers into al-Qarara, raiding and occupying several homes, bulldozing 150 d. of agricultural land and 1 Palestinian home, damaging 2 mosques, detaining and interrogating 11 Palestinians; during the operation, the IDF fires tank shells at armed Palestinians approaching the area, killing an 8-yr.-old Palestinian girl and 2 Hamas mbrs., wounding the girl’s mother and a 3-yr.-old boy. An IDF helicopter fires on an IQB post in Jabaliya r.c., killing a 65-yr.-old Palestinian man in a shop nearby, wounding his 5-yr.-old granddaughter. Palestinians fire 3 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Nablus. The IDF also demolishes 3 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, displacing 25 Palestinians (including 18 children). Palestinian youths throw stones at IDF settler vehicles nr. Ramallah and East Jerusalem, causing no injuries. In Gaza’s Nussayrat r.c., a bomb explodes outside a Hamas activist’s home, causing damage but no injuries. (PCHR, WP 6/12; OCHA 6/18; PCHR 6/19)

Olmert authorizes his Kadima party to begin preparations for party primaries as early as late summer 2008 in effort to deter the Labor party fr. calling a no-confidence vote over the latest corruption charges against him, a move that could collapse the government and force new elections. (HA 6/11; MM, WP 6/12)

Overnight in Gaza, the IDF sends troops, bulldozers into Shuka to raid and search homes, arresting 1 Palestinian and remanding him to Israel, bulldozing 31 d. of almond and olive trees before withdrawing in the morning. During the day, the IDF fires an artillery shell at a rocket-launching site outside Gaza City, killing 3 Hamas mbrs., wounding 2; sends tanks, bulldozers into Gaza to bulldoze 10 d. of olive trees nr. Rafah. Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire several mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with artillery fire, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF makes an overnight raid into Dayr Abu Mash‘al nr. Ramallah, occupying a Palestinian home as a military outpost, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1 Palestinian teenager; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin, Nablus, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah. A Palestinian seriously injured in a smuggling tunnel collapse in Rafah on 6/2 dies. (OCHA, WP 6/11; PCHR 6/12)

As Israeli PM Olmert begins a 3-day visit to Washington, Israel announces that, in keeping with its Annapolis pledges to ease Palestinian movement, the IDF has removed 4 manned checkpoints (improving access to the Jordan Valley, Dead Sea, areas n. of Nablus, s. of Hebron) and 70 unmanned checkpoints (of around 600) across the West Bank, and plans further steps to ease the movement of agricultural goods btwn. the Jordan Valley and the northern West Bank. Israel also pledges to issue new permits to allow 5,000 Palestinian workers to remain overnight in Israel, 500 West Bank Palestinian businessmen to enter Israel, and 130 NGO employees and Palestinian VIPs to travel in and out of Israel more easily; authorizes the PA to set up 20 new police stations for new units undergoing training in Jordan. (IFM 6/3)

In Gaza, the IDF sends bulldozers into al-Qarara to level 100 d. of agricultural land; support troops fire on surrounding residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian outside his home. Palestinian gunmen fire on an IDF unit patrolling the Israeli side of Gaza’s Kissufim crossing (nr. Khan Yunis; closed since Israel’s 9/05 disengagement fr. Gaza), wounding 1 soldier. Palestinians fire 3 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF uproots 47 olive trees nr. Ni‘lin for construction of the separation wall; conducts daytime house searches in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c. and nr. Nablus, Ramallah, Tulkarm. Jewish settlers protesting the lifting of an IDF roadblock in Hebron block Palestinian traffic in parts of the city. Palestinians throw stones at Jewish settler vehicles nr. Ramallah, causing no injuries. (OCHA 6/4; PCHR 6/5)

Overnight, the IDF sends troops back into Shuka (see 5/27) to bulldoze 200 d. of agricultural land, demolish 4Palestinian homes, and arrest 12 Palestinians; IDF aircraft supporting the ground troops fire missiles at 2 groups of armed Palestinians who approach the area, killing 2 Palestinian gunmen, wounding 1 civilian. During the day, IDF troops stationed at Gaza’s Nahal Oz crossing fire on Palestinian children collecting scrap metal nearby, wounding 3. Israeli naval vessels fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya, Gaza City, and Rafah coasts, forcing them to return to shore. Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb along the Gaza border e. of Dayr al-Balah as an IDF jeep patrolling inside Israel passes, causing no damage or injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF sends bulldozers, troops into Bayt Hanun in n. Gaza, conducting house searches, bulldozing 50 d. of agricultural land, detaining several Palestinians for questioning, releasing them, and withdrawing around midnight. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Bethlehem to arrest a wanted Palestinian teenager; conducts evening arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus; conducts similar late-night operations in Nur al-Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah. A Palestinian civilian injured in an IDF air strike in al-Fukhari on 5/27 dies. In Gaza City, unidentified assailants detonate a bomb outside a store previously criticized for “immoral behavior,” causing no injuries. (PCHR 5/29; OCHA 6/4; PCHR 6/5)

Overnight in Gaza, the IDF sends troops into al-Fukhari nr. Khan Yunis and nearby Shuka to raid and search homes, firing on armed Palestinians who confront them, wounding 2 civilians, 1 armed Palestinian. Troops withdraw to Israel early in the morning. The Israeli navy detains 6 Palestinian fishing off the Rafah coast, questions and releases 16 fishermen. Palestinians fire a rocket toward Israel, but it lands inside Gaza, hitting a home e. of Gaza City, injuring a mother, 2 children. Egyptian border police find a cache of more than 1,000 lbs of explosives, including mortars and rockets, on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border. Overnight in the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Qabatya to raid and search homes, 2 schools, a mosque, confiscating money and computers, arresting 10 Palestinians; before withdrawing in late morning, troops fire tear gas at children heading to school, injuring 10. The IDF also conducts daytime arrest raids nr. Qalqilya; fires tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (pop. 5,000) nr. Ramallah, causing no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qalqilya, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. (NYT, OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

Overnight in Gaza, the IDF sends troops into Khan Yunis to raid and search homes, ordering all Palestinian men over 15 to surrender for questioning, bulldozing 97 d. of agricultural land and damaging 2 homes. During the operation, the IDF makes an air strike on armed Palestinians who approach the border fence nearby, killing 3 Hamas mbrs., wounding 1; troops withdraw to Israel by midday. The IDF also exchanges fire with Islamic Jihad mbrs. on the c. Gaza border, killing 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs.; fires on Palestinian farmers nr. the Erez crossing in n. Gaza, wounding 1. Palestinians fire 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing damage to several greenhouses but no injuries. Late at night, IDF troops enter al-Qarara n. of Khan Yunis to level 60 d. of land; fire on armed Palestinians who approach them, wounding 2. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c., causing damage but no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c. (firing on residential areas, seriously wounding a 16-yr.-old Palestinian boy), and nr. Hebron, Ramallah; 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 (10s suffer tear gas inhalation) and fires percussion grenades and tear gas at demonstrators at a similar protest in al-Ma‘sara. (NYT 5/24; OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on an empty car in Jabaliya r.c. owned by a member of Hamas’s Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) in an apparent assassination attempt, destroying the car, damaging surrounding homes, causing no reported injuries; sends tanks, troops into areas southeast of Gaza City to bulldozes 200 d. of olive groves. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border shell an alleged rocket-launching site w. of Bayt Lahiya in n. Gaza, injuring 2 Palestinian children (ages 4, 17) and damaging a house. IDF troops on the s. Gaza border direct heavy machine gun fire towards residential areas of Abasan, wounding 1 Palestinian inside his home. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, causing no reported injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF raids, searches a store in Yatta nr. Hebron, arresting the owner and confiscating a computer; chases and detains 17 Palestinian children who throw stones at an IDF post outside al-Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, questioning and releasing 12, arresting 5; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin. The IDF also demolishes a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem, displacing a family of 7. Jewish settlers fr. Itamar nr. Nablus seize an area of Palestinian land and begin leveling work for construction of a new settler-only bypass road. Jewish settlers angry over the removal of an IDF roadblock nr. Hebron demonstrate, block Palestinian traffic. Israel’s Housing min. issues tenders for construction of 286 new settlement housing units in Beitar Ilit nr. Bethlehem. A Palestinian teenager injured during the IDF’s 4/11/08 raid on al-Bureij r.c. dies (see Chronology in JPS 148). (PCHR 5/22; OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

Israeli police hold a press conference to announce serious new corruption and financial impropriety allegations against Israeli PM Ehud Olmert (see Quarterly Update for details). (NYT, WP, WT 5/22; NYT 5/23; MM 6/12; NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 5/28)

Israel, Syria, Turkey announce that Israel and Syria have been holding “serious and continuous” indirect peace talks through Turkish mediators since 2/07; high-level Israeli and Syrian negotiating teams are in Istanbul taking part in a preliminary round of indirect negotiations. (IFM 5/21; NYT, WP, WT 5/22; NYT 5/23; MM 6/12)

Lebanese political figures holding national unity talks in Doha formally announce that they have reached a comprehensive agmt. ending their 18-mo. political standoff and paving the way for Gen. Michel Suleiman’s election as pres, including agmts. on redistricting Beirut, an electoral law, and allotment of cabinet seats that will give Hizballah veto power over major decisions. (MM, NYT, WP 5/21; MM, NYT, WP, WT 5/22)

Israel’s siege of Gaza, imposed after Hamas’s takeover of the Strip in 6/07, remains tight. In Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conduct late-night arrest raids, house searches in Shuka nr. Rafah, arresting 3 Palestinians, wounding 1 with live ammunition, bulldozing 8 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of greenhouses and a poultry farm (killing 50,000 chickens). In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Qaryut nr. Nablus, detaining 4 Palestinians (including 3 teenagers) for questioning; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin and Hebron (partially bulldozing a Palestinian home in Bayt Umar); 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 n. of Jerusalem nr. Ramallah (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); and beats demonstrators at a similar protest al-Ma‘sara nr. Bethlehem (lightly injuring 3). Nr. Nablus, 10s of armed Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar vandalize Palestinian homes in nearby Asira al-Qibliyya. In Gaza City, unknown assailants detonate a bomb outside a Catholic school in Gaza City, causing damage but no injuries. (OCHA 5/21; PCHR 5/22)

U.S. pres. George W. Bush ends a 4-day visit to Israel to mark Israel’s 60th anniversary (see Quarterly Update in JPS 148). (NYT, WP, WT 5/17; NYT 5/19)

Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories commemorate the Nakba by visiting the sites of Palestinian villages destroyed in 1948, holding somber rallies and moments of silence, and, in Qalandia r.c., releasing 1,000s of black balloons (1 for each day since the State of Israel was declared). In Gaza, the IDF begins digging a trench (around 300 ft. long, 10 ft. wide, 15 ft. deep) fr. an IDF post e. of Abasan to Khuza, firing on nearby residential areas, causing no reported injuries. IDF troops at the Erez crossing fire bullets, tear gas at 100s of Palestinians staging a nonviolent protest against the Israeli siege. IDF troops on the c. Gaza border e. of Juhur al-Dik fire on 3 Palestinian girls who stray nr. the border fence, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Taqou’ nr. Bethlehem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus. A Palestinian civilian wounded during the 5/4 IDF incursion into Khuza dies. (CNN 5/15; PCHR 5/22)

Under a deal brokered by the Arab League, the Hizballah-led opposition and Lebanon’s ruling coalition agree to open talks in Qatar on 5/16 to negotiate an agmt. on a cabinet and new electoral law, to be followed by election of consensus pres. candidate Gen. Michel Suleiman. Hizballah removes roadblocks leading to Beirut airport, allowing some flights to resume in the evening. (BBC 5/15; NYT, WP, WT 5/16; WP 5/18)

Overnight, the IDF makes an incursion into Abasan, raiding and searching homes, occupying several as operational bases, making air strikes on local gunmen who confront them (killing 1 Hamas mbr., seriously wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and 1 Hamas mbr.), demolishing 1 Palestinian home, bulldozing 110 d. of agricultural land and 4 poultry farms, arresting 4 Palestinians before withdrawing late in the evening. The IDF also makes an early-morning incursion into Jabaliya town, fatally shooting a Palestinian civilian riding a bicycle for no apparent reason, exchanging fire with local gunmen (killing 1 armed Palestinian, 1 bystander), hitting 3 Palestinian homes with tank fire (injuring 3 Palestinian civilians). Later, Palestinians fire a Grad-type rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, striking a shopping mall in Ashqelon, wounding 16 Israelis, 3 of them seriously; several groups, excluding Hamas, claim responsibility. Late in the evening, the IDF makes an air strike on Gaza City, killing 2 Palestinian resistance mbrs. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem and Nablus, and in Qalqilya. (NYT, PCHR, WP 5/15; PCHR 5/22)

Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, killing an Israeli. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in cars with Palestinian license plates into Bayt Eiba nr. Nablus, where they surround a Palestinian home, order all occupants to surrender (which they do), arrest 2 wanted AMB mbrs. (1 of whom was among the AMB mbrs. granted amnesty by Israel in 7/07); patrols in al-‘Arub r.c., firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no injuries but arresting 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Jenin town and r.c. (NYT, WP 5/13; PCHR 5/15)

The Arab League sends a high-level delegation to Lebanon to discuss the political crisis. With scattered fighting continuing, the Lebanese army warns that it will begin using force to quell clashes if a cease-fire does not hold. Lebanese security officials say that as many as 62 Lebanese have died and 198 have been injured since clashes erupted on 5/6. (NYT, WP 5/13; NYT 5/16; NYT, WP 5/18)