176 / 15150 Results
  • December 31, 2007

    The IDF sends armored vehicles, bulldozers into Gaza s. of Bayt Hanun to level land; local Palestinian gunmen exchange fire with the troops, leaving no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts...

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  • December 30, 2007

    For unclear reasons, IDF soldiers at the Erez crossing fire on 700 Palestinians returning from the Hajj in coordination with Israel and the PA, killing 1 Palestinian woman, wounding at least 1....

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  • December 27, 2007

    The IDF makes an air strike on a car in central Gaza, assassinating Islamic Jihad’s central Gaza cmdr. Muhammad Abu Murshud, wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and 3 bystanders; makes an air strike on...

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  • December 22, 2007

    The IDF levels land inside the Gaza border s. of Qarni crossing. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron and nr. Jenin. In Khan Yunis, unidentified assailants set...

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  • December 13, 2007

    Islamic Jihad fires a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, moderately wounding 1 Israeli. Hrs. later, in response, the IDF fires a surface-tosurface missile at a car in Gaza City, assassinating a cmdr. of...

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  • December 12, 2007

    Israel allows a 20 mW generator into Gaza for the electricity plant, along with 13 Egyptian engineers to install it. Responding to the IDF’s major incursion into s. Gaza on 12/11, Palestinians...

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  • December 9, 2007

    In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Tulkarm. In Gaza City, unidentified assailants shoot, wound a Hamas-...

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  • December 8, 2007

    In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin and in al-Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, Qalqilya, Nablus. In Gaza City, bodyguards of the Hamas-affiliated police chief discover,...

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  • December 5, 2007

    IDF troops on the Gaza border shell Hamas mbrs. preparing to fire a mortar into Israel, killing 2, wounding at least 2. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Bethlehem, where they...

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  • December 4, 2007

    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...

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  • November 30, 2007

    The IDF makes air strikes on 2 groups of armed Palestinians nr. Abasan, killing 5 Hamas and PRC mbrs., wounding 8; sends bulldozers into the Gaza airport site nr. Rafah to level land. In the West...

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  • November 21, 2007

    Israel agrees to allow Gazans to export flowers and strawberries, now at peak harvest, via the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. The IDF sends troops into Abasan nr. Khan Yunis, where they...

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  • November 20, 2007

    In Gaza, IDF bulldozers, tanks level land at al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis. Palestinians nr. al-Bureij r.c. fire 4 mortars toward Israel, but all fall inside the Gaza border. Palestinians nr. Rafah...

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  • November 18, 2007

    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...

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  • November 16, 2007

    The West Bank and Gaza remain effectively severed from each other following Hamas’s takeover of Gaza in 6/07, with Hamas controlling Gaza and Fatah the West Bank (see Quarterly Update in JPS 145...

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  • November 9, 2007

    IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fatally shoot 2 Palestinian children (ages 14, 15) who stray nr. the border fence. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Jenin town and r.c, and nearby Tubas,...

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  • November 8, 2007

    In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 2 Palestinian homes nr. Bethlehem; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin, in Balata r.c., nr. Bethlehem. (PCHR 11/15)

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  • November 7, 2007

    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...

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  • November 6, 2007

    In Gaza, the IDF sends troops into Wadi al-Silqa, raiding and searching homes, detaining 50 Palestinians for questioning, demolishing 3 Palestinian homes, damaging 4 others, bulldozing 80 d. of...

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  • November 5, 2007

    In the West Bank, the IDF imposes a day-long curfew on ‘Azun (see 11/2) after Palestinian youths allegedly stone Jewish settler vehicles in the area; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and...

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  • October 30, 2007

    The IDF makes an air strike on an ESF post in Abasan in s. Gaza, killing 4 ESF officers; makes a 2d air strike on a suspected rocket-launching site in Jabaliya r.c., hitting a home, wounding 6...

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  • October 29, 2007

    Before dawn, Hamas mbrs. fire at least 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel fr. the property of an UNRWA school in Bayt Hanun, causing no damage or injuries. Nearly 2 hrs. later, the IDF sends troops...

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  • October 28, 2007

    To increase pressure on Hamas, Israel announces that it will begin curtailing fuel shipments to Gaza by up to 11% and that it has permanently closed the Sufa crossing (closed on 10/26 and 10/27...

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  • October 26, 2007

    IDF troops clash with armed Palestinians in, make 2 air strikes on Gaza City, killing at least 4 Hamas and Islamic Jihad mbrs., wounding at least 5. The IDF also conducts land-leveling operations...

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  • October 24, 2007

    After PRC members fire more than 20 rockets into Israel (causing no damage or injuries) to protest the 10/23 assassination of PRC head Hasanat, Israeli DM Barak authorizes the IDF to cut...

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  • October 22, 2007

    In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on an ESF vehicle in al-Bureij r.c., wounding 1 ESF mbr. Palestinians fire 7 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel; the IDF responds by shelling suspected launching...

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  • October 19, 2007

    In Gaza, the IDF sends tanks, a bulldozer into the Gaza airport site, exchanging heavy fire (heavy machine guns, mortars) with Hamas mbrs., causing no reported injuries; occupies a strip of land...

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  • October 18, 2007

    In Gaza, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Shuka, exchanging fire with local gunmen, wounding 1 armed Palestinian, 1 bystander. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Sarra nr....

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  • October 16, 2007

    Overnight, the IDF launches major arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, clashing with armed Palestinians, killing local AMB leader Basim Abu Saria and a 71-yr.-old Palestinian man,...

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  • October 15, 2007

    IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Gaza Valley fire on Palestinian farmers who stray nr. the border fence, seriously wounding 1. The ESF demolishes 2 smuggling tunnels under the Rafah border. In...

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The IDF sends armored vehicles, bulldozers into Gaza s. of Bayt Hanun to level land; local Palestinian gunmen exchange fire with the troops, leaving no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Tulkarm town and r.c., nr. Jenin; uproots 100 Palestinian olive trees in al-Rihiyya nr. Hebron, sparking clashes with local Palestinians, injuring 1 boy. In Hebron, IDF soldiers angry over the 12/28 death of 2 settlers raid and vandalize a Palestinian home near the site of the killings, causing damage but no injuries. Jewish settlers fr. Gush Etzion stone Palestinian vehicles on roads nr. the settlement, damaging 3. Fatah mbrs., Hamas-affiliated security forces clash in Gaza, leaving 5 Palestinians (2 bystanders, 2 Hamas mbrs., 1 Fatah mbr.) dead, at least 30 injured; clashes start in Khan Yunis and spread to Bayt Lahiya, Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City, Jabaliya r.c., al-Maghazi r.c., Nussayrat r.c., and Rafah. Hamas officials say that the fighting began when Fatah mbrs. opened fire on worshipers leaving a mosque in Khan Yunis, killing a local Hamas figure and a 10-yr.-old boy. Separately, suspected unidentified assailants kidnap, assault, release a local Fatah leader in Gaza City; the family accuses Hamas, but Hamas blames internal Fatah disputes. The 2,000 Palestinian pilgrims denied reentry into Gaza by Egypt via the Rafah crossing (see 12/30) riot at a detention camp in al-Arish where Egypt is holding them; no serious injuries are reported. In Rafah, 15,000 Palestinians protest Egypt’s actions. In Battir, nr. Bethlehem, PFLP and Fatah mbrs. clash; no injuries are reported. (NYT, WP, WT 1/1; OCHA 1/2; PCHR 1/3)

For unclear reasons, IDF soldiers at the Erez crossing fire on 700 Palestinians returning from the Hajj in coordination with Israel and the PA, killing 1 Palestinian woman, wounding at least 1. Meanwhile, Palestinian pilgrims who left Gaza under a deal brokered by Hamas (see 12/5) begin to return via Egypt, where Egypt, under pressure fr. Israel, bars their passage through the Rafah crossing, saying they must go via the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing; the pilgrims refuse, believing they would be arrested for their Hamas connections. Meanwhile, the IDF fires on Hamas mbrs. laying a roadside bomb nr. the s. Gaza border fence, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding a bystander. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. Hamas mbrs. fire 3 mortars fr. Rafah toward the IDF post at Kerem Shalom; the IDF responds with heavy gunfire; no injuries are reported. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron (including arresting a 10-yr.-old boy, heavily damaging 1 home), nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers throw stones, bottles at Palestinian cars traveling a main road linking Hebron and Bethlehem, damaging 1 car; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Hamas-affiliated police raid an area of Bayt Hanun to arrest a wanted Fatah mbr., fire in the air to disperse angry residents who confront them, wounding 2 (see 12/28). A similar confrontation takes place in Khan Yunis, with heavy fire but no injuries reported. Suspected Fatah mbrs. fire on a police patrol in Rafah, causing no injuries. (NYT 12/31; OCHA 1/2; PCHR 1/3)

The IDF makes an air strike on a car in central Gaza, assassinating Islamic Jihad’s central Gaza cmdr. Muhammad Abu Murshud, wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and 3 bystanders; makes an air strike on a car nr. al-Bureij r.c., assassinating local Islamic Jihad cmdr. Muhammad Ahmad Abu Hassanian, a relative traveling with him, and wounding 6 bystanders (including 2 children). The IDF sends troops and bulldozers into Abasan under cover of artillery fire, clashing with local gunmen, killing 1 Hamas and 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., wounding 4 bystanders, demolishing 1 Palestinian home, heavily damaging a 2d home, bulldozing several greenhouses, an irrigation network, 20 beehives, and 160 d. of agricultural land. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in cars with Palestinian license plates into Beitunia nr. Ramallah (where they assassinate PA presidential guard mbr. Mu‘tassim al-Sharif, whom the IDF says is a wanted AMB mbr.), into Jenin r.c. (to arrest a wanted Islamic Jihad mbr.); conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm town and r.c. Israelis uproot 10s of Palestinian olive trees located on the western side of the separation wall in the divided village of Dayr al-Asal nr. Hebron. (REU 12/27; NYT, WP 12/28; OCHA 1/2; PCHR 1/3)

The IDF levels land inside the Gaza border s. of Qarni crossing. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron and nr. Jenin. In Khan Yunis, unidentified assailants set fire to the offices of the Fatah-affiliated al-Majd Association. A PFLP mbr. dies of injuries he sustained 8 mos. ago while preparing an explosive device. (OCHA 12/26; PCHR 12/27)

Islamic Jihad fires a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, moderately wounding 1 Israeli. Hrs. later, in response, the IDF fires a surface-tosurface missile at a car in Gaza City, assassinating a cmdr. of Islamic Jihad’s rocket crews, Sami Tafish, also killing 1 Islamic Jihad mbr., 1 AMB mbr., and 1 civilian. The IDF also levels land inside the Gaza border e. of Dayr al-Balah. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in cars with Palestinian license plates into Jenin r.c. to conduct arrest raids; also conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin. In Gaza City, a Palestinian prisoner dies in Hamasaffiliated police custody; no details are released. (NYT, WP 12/14; OCHA 12/19; PCHR 12/27)

Israel allows a 20 mW generator into Gaza for the electricity plant, along with 13 Egyptian engineers to install it. Responding to the IDF’s major incursion into s. Gaza on 12/11, Palestinians fire 17 rockets, 4 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli. A Palestinian is killed when a smuggling tunnel under the Rafah border collapses. In the West Bank, the IDF bars a Palestinian woman in labor fr. crossing a checkpoint to reach a Qalqilya hospital, forcing her to give birth at the checkpoint; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jenin, Qalqilya, Tulkarm. In n. Gaza, fights erupt btwn. a Fatah-affiliated family and local Hamas mbrs. painting slogans in preparation for Hamas’s 20th anniversary celebrations; no injuries are reported. (NYT, PCHR 12/13; OCHA 12/19; PCHR 12/27)

As agreed at Annapolis (see 11/27), Israeli, Palestinian negotiators meet to open final status talks, but discussions focus on ongoing Israeli settlement activity (see 12/4) and Palestinian rocket fire. No progress is made on core issues. (NYT, WT 12/13; NYT 12/24)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Tulkarm. In Gaza City, unidentified assailants shoot, wound a Hamas-affiliated security force mbr. (OCHA 12/12; PCHR 12/13)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin and in al-Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, Qalqilya, Nablus. In Gaza City, bodyguards of the Hamas-affiliated police chief discover, defuse a bomb planted by unknown assailants under their jeep. (OCHA 12/12; PCHR 12/13)

IDF troops on the Gaza border shell Hamas mbrs. preparing to fire a mortar into Israel, killing 2, wounding at least 2. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Bethlehem, where they are confronted by PA security officers who do not realize their identity, sparking an exchange of fire that kills 1 PA security officer. Egypt allows 2,000 Gazans to enter Egypt through the Rafah crossing for the Hajj in a deal arranged by Hamas and coordinated with Saudi Arabia, angering the PA, Israel, and the U.S. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin and in Abu Dis outside Jerusalem, Qalqilya. (NYT, PCHR 12/6; NYT 12/11; OCHA 12/12; PCHR 12/13)

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)

The IDF makes air strikes on 2 groups of armed Palestinians nr. Abasan, killing 5 Hamas and PRC mbrs., wounding 8; sends bulldozers into the Gaza airport site nr. Rafah to level land. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (searching a mosque), nr. Jenin; 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). (NYT 12/2; OCHA 12/5; PCHR 12/6)

Israel agrees to allow Gazans to export flowers and strawberries, now at peak harvest, via the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. The IDF sends troops into Abasan nr. Khan Yunis, where they exchange fire with Palestinian gunmen, wounding 3. A Palestinian bystander wounded during an 11/19 IDF raid on Khan Yunis dies. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, and in Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. Jewish settlers fire on a Palestinian bus nr. Beit Lid Junction btwn. Nablus and Tulkarm, forcing the bus off the road but causing no injuries. In Jabaliya r.c., unidentified assailants blow up a patrol car belonging to the Hamas-affiliated Gaza police (by this date, the Hamas government in Gaza has dissolved the Executive Support Force, reorganizing members into 4 units that previously existed under the PA Interior Min.: police, internal security, national security, and naval police), causing no injuries. At Ramallah’s Birzeit University, a large fight breaks out btwn. student groups affiliated with Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), leaving 1 student injured; the university suspends classes until 11/26 to contain the violence. (PCHR 11/22; OCHA 11/28; PCHR 11/29)

In Gaza, IDF bulldozers, tanks level land at al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis. Palestinians nr. al-Bureij r.c. fire 4 mortars toward Israel, but all fall inside the Gaza border. Palestinians nr. Rafah fire 3 mortars toward Kerem Shalom crossing, causing no damage. In both cases, the IDF responds with heavy machine gun fire, causing no reported damage or injuries. Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb nr. an IDF patrol inside the Israeli border nr. Kissufim base, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Tulkarm and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Qalqilya, Ramallah. (OCHA 11/21; PCHR 11/22)

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)

The West Bank and Gaza remain effectively severed from each other following Hamas’s takeover of Gaza in 6/07, with Hamas controlling Gaza and Fatah the West Bank (see Quarterly Update in JPS 145). Tight Israeli restrictions on Gaza’s borders dating from 8/07 remain in place, including reduced fuel imports, a near-total ban on exports, and limited imports of basic goods. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) roadblocks in the West Bank divide the territory into 3 cantons, and Palestinian access to the Jordan Valley is limited. In Gaza, 30,000 Palestinians attend a Hamas-organized rally in Gaza City to protest ongoing Israeli archaeological excavations nr. al-Aqsa Mosque. Some 1,500 Palestinians attend a similar Hamas rally in al-Maghazi refugee camp (r.c.), also denouncing the upcoming U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace summit, tentatively set for 11/26–27. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin, and in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c. nr. Nablus, Salfit; 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 nr. Ramallah (injuring 5). Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh nr. Nablus set fire to 50 nearby Palestinian olive trees. Hamas releases almost all of the approximately 450 Fatah mbrs. detained during demonstrations in Gaza City on 11/12. (NYT 11/16; OCHA 11/21; PCHR 11/22)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fatally shoot 2 Palestinian children (ages 14, 15) who stray nr. the border fence. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Jenin town and r.c, and nearby Tubas, firing on residential areas, causing no injuries. (PCHR 11/15)

In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 2 Palestinian homes nr. Bethlehem; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin, in Balata r.c., nr. Bethlehem. (PCHR 11/15)

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)

In Gaza, the IDF sends troops into Wadi al-Silqa, raiding and searching homes, detaining 50 Palestinians for questioning, demolishing 3 Palestinian homes, damaging 4 others, bulldozing 80 d. of agricultural land, before withdrawing late in the evening. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and Jenin (firing on stone-throwing Palestinian youths who confront them, wounding 1), in Balata r.c. (demolishing the home of a wanted Palestinian), Qalqilya. In central Gaza, unidentified gunmen ambush, attempt to kidnap the al-Maghazi r.c. municipal dir., who escapes. Also in al-Maghazi, local leaders of Fatah al-Yasir, Hamas, the PRCs hold a demonstration to protest the upcoming Annapolis peace talks. In Hebron, the PSF orders classes at the Palestine Polytechnic University suspended, surrounds the campus to prevent recent tensions btwn. the Hamas-dominated student council and a Fatah-affiliated student group fr. erupting into violence. (OCHA 11/7; PCHR 11/8)

In the West Bank, the IDF imposes a day-long curfew on ‘Azun (see 11/2) after Palestinian youths allegedly stone Jewish settler vehicles in the area; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and in Hebron, Nablus. In Jerusalem, Israeli police impersonating an Israel TV (ITV) Channel 2 news crew arrest a Palestinian wanted for making unspecified threats; ITV’s chmn. and Israeli journalist associations condemn the police, saying the deception could endanger real journalists. Nr. Hebron, a Palestinian boy is injured when he accidentally triggers IDF UXO. The PA’s newly deployed Nablus policing unit (see 11/2) makes an arrest raid on Balata r.c., clashing with wanted AMB mbrs., leaving up to 10 Palestinians wounded; the PA stresses that it undertook the raid because the AMB was challenging its authority, not because of AMB actions against Israel. In Gaza, 1,000s of Palestinians stage a protest march to the Rafah border to demand a lifting of the siege; ESF officers fire into the air to keep the demonstrators fr. reaching the crossing. (AP, HA, NYT 11/6; OCHA 11/7; PCHR 11/8; NYT 11/14)

The IDF makes an air strike on an ESF post in Abasan in s. Gaza, killing 4 ESF officers; makes a 2d air strike on a suspected rocket-launching site in Jabaliya r.c., hitting a home, wounding 6 Palestinian civilians (ages 1, 3, 29, 30, 75, 82). Palestinians fire 2 rockets, 5 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing damage but no injuries; the IDF shells the launching site, causing no reported injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF sends troops into Dayr al-Balah, conducting arrest raids and house searches, occupying a home as an observation post, leveling land to improve lines of site; launches a similar operation in al-Shuka (Palestinian militants fire on the troops, detonate a roadside bomb, causing no injuries). In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes the farming community of Khirbat Qussa, located btwn. the separation wall and the Green Line nr. Hebron, demolishing the 15 homes, 12 cave dwellings, and 27 sheep pens comprising the village, evicting the 267 residents to the “Palestinian” side of the separation wall. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Nablus, Salfit; raids a number of stores and a bank in Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha nr. Nablus prevent Palestinians fr. reaching their olive groves; the IDF intervenes, forcing the settlers to leave. The IDF also intervenes to prevent Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh nr. Nablus fr. blocking Palestinians access to their olive groves nearby. Inside Israel, some 100 Israeli police officers make an overnight raid on the Galilee Druze village of Pekiin to arrest men suspected of vandalizing a cell phone antenna, firing live ammunition at stonethrowing residents who protest the predawn incursion, wounding 10s. An AMB mbr. wounded by the IDF in Nablus on 10/16 dies. (NYT, OCHA, PAP, WP 10/31; PCHR, WT 11/1)

Before dawn, Hamas mbrs. fire at least 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel fr. the property of an UNRWA school in Bayt Hanun, causing no damage or injuries. Nearly 2 hrs. later, the IDF sends troops into the area in response, occupying the school and surrounding area while classes are in session, clashing with and making an air strike on Hamas mbrs., leaving 3 Hamas gunmen, 1 Palestinian civilian, 1 IDF soldier dead and 2 IDF soldiers, 2 Hamas mbrs., 7 bystanders (including 2 children) seriously wounded. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen along the Rafah coast, damaging an UNRWA building; the UNRWA condemns the incidents. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (exchanging fire with local Palestinians, leaving 1 IDF soldier wounded), in Qalqilya, and nr. Hebron, Jenin. In Hebron, unidentified gunmen fire on a PSF patrol, wounding 5 PSF officers. In Ramallah, Palestinians demonstrate for the release of Hamas mbrs. held by the PA; PA security forces disperse the protesters. (NYT, WP 10/30; OCHA 10/31; IFM, PCHR 11/1; NYT 11/2)

To increase pressure on Hamas, Israel announces that it will begin curtailing fuel shipments to Gaza by up to 11% and that it has permanently closed the Sufa crossing (closed on 10/26 and 10/27 for the weekend), leaving Kerem Shalom (fully controlled by Israel) the sole crossing point for goods and humanitarian aid. (Officially the government calls the move “self-defense.”) Israel says that it will allow into Gaza “the minimum amount of food and medicines necessary to avoid a humanitarian crisis.” In Gaza, the IDF shoots, wounds a Palestinian fisherman laying nets on the Bayt Lahiya coast; sends troops into al-Shuka, where they exchange tank and heavy machine gun fire with armed Palestinians firing RPGs, leaving 1 Hamas mbr., 1 IDF soldier dead, 2 IDF soldiers wounded; conducts land-leveling operations inside the Gaza border nr. Dayr al-Balah, firing on residential areas, causing no reported injuries. Palestinians fire an RPG at an IDF jeep patrolling the Gaza border e. of al-Maghazi r.c., missing the target, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Itamar nr. Nablus harass Palestinians harvesting olives nearby; the IDF intervenes, forcing the settlers to leave. In Gaza City, some 300 PA workers stage a peaceful sit-in to protest nonpayment of their salaries. (NYT, WP, WT 10/29; OCHA 10/31; PCHR 11/1)

IDF troops clash with armed Palestinians in, make 2 air strikes on Gaza City, killing at least 4 Hamas and Islamic Jihad mbrs., wounding at least 5. The IDF also conducts land-leveling operations inside the Gaza border e. of Gaza City. Egyptian border police find, demolish 2 smuggling tunnels on the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus (also raiding an Islamic charity, confiscating computers and files), nr. Jenin; fires percussion grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets at 2 groups of stone-throwing Palestinians in Hebron, injuring 4; 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 3). Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai nr. Hebron attack and vandalize a nearby Palestinian home; the IDF intervenes to halt the attack. Palestinians stone a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Ramallah, injuring 2 settlers. (NYT 10/27; OCHA 10/31; PCHR 11/1)

After PRC members fire more than 20 rockets into Israel (causing no damage or injuries) to protest the 10/23 assassination of PRC head Hasanat, Israeli DM Barak authorizes the IDF to cut electricity for several hrs. to parts of Gaza fr. which rockets were fired.; Dep. DM Matan Vilnai says that targeted power cuts will increasingly be used to punish the Palestinians as long as rocket fire continues and that he expects electricity to be cut by two-thirds in the coming weeks. In the evening, IDF fires a surface-to-surface missile at a suspected rocket-launching site e. of Gaza City, killing 2 Palestinian boys (ages 14, 17), wounding 2 other Palestinians; sends troops into Abasan, where they clash with armed Palestinians, wounding 2. A Hamas mbr. is killed when a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border collapses. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem and Hebron, and in Jenin r.c. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus prevent local Palestinians fr. harvesting their olive groves. Armed Palestinians fire on a bus stop outside Ariel settlement, wounding 3 Jewish settlers. ESF officers storm and occupy a Fatah office in central Gaza; no injuries or arrests are reported. Some 5,000 Hamas supporters stage marches in n. Gaza camps in support of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. (PCHR, WT 10/25; OCHA 10/31; PCHR 11/1)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on an ESF vehicle in al-Bureij r.c., wounding 1 ESF mbr. Palestinians fire 7 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel; the IDF responds by shelling suspected launching site; no injuries or damage are reported. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a major raid on Jenin targeting Islamic Jihad, demolishing 1 building, fatally shooting 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. in an exchange of fire that also leaves 1 IDF soldier wounded; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus. Around half of the 2,200 Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s Ketziot prison riot against searches by guards, leaving 14 prisoners, 15 guards injured. An 8-yr.-old Palestinian girl wounded by the IDF during 10/18 arrest raids in Tulkarm dies. In Gaza City, 100 Palestinians protest outside the UNSCO building against the PA’s halt to issuing passports and travel documents for Gazans. (WT 10/23; NYT, OCHA, WP 10/24; PCHR 10/25)

Lebanese PM Siniora delays elections for a 2d time until 11/12 to give the governing coalition and opposition more time to agree on a compromise candidate. (NYT, WP 10/23) (see 9/22)

In Gaza, the IDF sends tanks, a bulldozer into the Gaza airport site, exchanging heavy fire (heavy machine guns, mortars) with Hamas mbrs., causing no reported injuries; occupies a strip of land in the al-Hawouz area northeast of Bayt Lahiya. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Mas’ha nr. Salfit, firing percussion grenades and live ammunition in residential areas, causing no reported injuries; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin, Nablus; begins bulldozing confiscated land nr. Salfit for the expansion of the Burkin industrial zone; 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 5, including a journalist covering the demonstration) and al-Ma‘sara nr. Bethlehem (lightly injuring 3). Hamas, Islamic Jihad mbrs. exchange fire in Khan Yunis’s al-Rihab Mosque, wounding 3 Palestinians, after Hamas allegedly attempts to seize control of the building. (OCHA 10/24; PCHR 10/25)

In Gaza, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Shuka, exchanging fire with local gunmen, wounding 1 armed Palestinian, 1 bystander. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Sarra nr. Nablus, firing percussion grenades in residential areas, then firing rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinians who confront them, causing no reported casualties; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem (confiscating 1 car, destroying 2) and Tulkarm (firing on residential areas, seriously wounding an 8-yr.-old girl), and nr. Hebron, Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba barricade a road used by Palestinians nr. the settlement. An ESF officer, 3 mbrs. of the Fatah-affiliated Hillis clan are killed, 30 Palestinians are wounded in an armed clash in Gaza City that erupts when ESF officers came to a house looking for clan members believed to have opened fire on a traffic police checkpoint on 10/16, wounding 3 bystanders. (NYT 10/19; OCHA 10/24; PCHR 10/25)

Overnight, the IDF launches major arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, clashing with armed Palestinians, killing local AMB leader Basim Abu Saria and a 71-yr.-old Palestinian man, wounding 8 Palestinians (2 gunmen, 1 cameraman for the German press agency, and 5 bystanders, including a woman and a child); during the operation, the IDF blows up an apartment in a 4-story complex, damaging 2 other apartments, 10 nearby buildings, 4 cars, 7 electricity relays, 3 water pipes, displacing 3 Palestinian families (20 persons). Also in the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Anabta nr. Tulkarm, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron and in al-Bireh, Jenin town and r.c., Ramallah. In 2 separate incidents nr. Nablus, Jewish settlers attack Palestinians harvesting olives; the Palestinian DCO contacts its IDF counterpart, which removes the settlers; 1 Palestinian is injured. In Gaza, the IDF bulldozes 3 d. of Palestinian olive groves nr. Qarni crossing; Palestinians fire 3 mortars at the troops, who respond with heavy machine gun fire; no injuries are reported. (NYT, OCHA 10/17; PCHR 10/18)

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Gaza Valley fire on Palestinian farmers who stray nr. the border fence, seriously wounding 1. The ESF demolishes 2 smuggling tunnels under the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Qalqilya in 5 cars with Palestinian license plates in search of wanted Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades mbr. Yahiya Abu Awad (who is not found), surrounding several homes, demolishing 1 Palestinian home, searching another, firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, seriously wounding 1; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin, and nr. Hebron, Ramallah, Salfit (imposing a curfew and firing on Palestinian children returning from school, wounding 3). (OCHA 10/17; PCHR 10/18)