The Palestine Chronology

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)

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)

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)

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 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)

Overnight in Gaza, the IDF sends troops into Dayr al-Balah and al-Maghazi r.c., conducting arrest raids and house searches, bulldozing at least 55 d. of olive and citrus groves, firing on residential areas, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 3, withdrawing by evening. During the day, the IDF bulldozes 150 d. of citrus and olive groves, 2 greenhouses, 270 beehives e. of Bayt Hanun. In Bureij r.c., 2 Hamas mbrs. are injured when explosives they are handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Jenin in a vehicle with Palestinian license plates to ambush and assassinate AMB mbr. Muhammad Abu Sorour, also shooting, wounding, and arresting AMB mbr. Hilal al-Sa‘di, who is traveling with him; conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Bireh, nr. Bethlehem and Nablus; demolishes the single shantylike structure comprising the Netzer unauthorized settlement outpost nr. Bethlehem (which has been removed by the IDF and rebuilt by settlers several times since its 1st incarnation in 2005). In ‘Azun nr. Qalqilya, the IDF deliberately fires on the main electricity transformer, cutting power to the village; bulldozes 7 d. of Palestinian crops; issues military orders confiscating 390 d. of Palestinian land for construction of the separation wall. A Jewish settler fr. Kiryat Arba injures a 2-yr.-old Palestinian girl in a deliberate hit-and-run. Some 700 Fatah mbrs. in al-Maghazi r.c. hold a rally commemorating local Palestinians killed in the 6/07 clashes with Hamas. (NYT 10/12; OCHA 10/17; PCHR 10/18)

IDF troops on the Israeli side of the Qarni crossing shoot, wound 2 Palestinian children (ages 11, 14) who stray nr. the border fence. Islamic Jihad fires a Grad rocket (more accurate, longer range [7.5–12.5 mi.] than homemade Qassam rockets [5–7.5 mi.]), 8 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, striking 7 mi. fr. the border in Netivot, causing light damage and marking the 4th time a Grad has been fired; the IDF suspects that Islamic Jihad has about a dozen Grads, but the Israeli FMin. says Hamas is ultimately responsible. Palestinians also fire a rocket fr. Gaza toward Israel, but it lands nr. Bayt Hanun, injuring a Palestinian teenager. The ESF demolishes a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (an IDF soldier is wounded in an exchange of gunfire in Balata r.c.), in alBireh and Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin (targeting Islamic Jihad). A prominent Gaza Christian, Protestant Holy Bible Society dir. Rami Ayyad, is abducted and murdered, raising concerns among Gaza’s Christians; no group takes responsibility. Ayyad had previously received anonymous death threats accusing him of proselytizing; Hamas vows to bring the murderers to justice.Islamic Jihad mbr. ‘Ali Abu Rmila, wounded in an IDF assassination attempt on 8/25 that killed 2 other Islamic Jihad mbrs., dies of his injuries. (IFM, NYT, WP 10//8; OCHA 10/10; PCHR 10/11)

In an agmt. reached between Hamas and Egypt, apparently without Israeli knowledge, 85 Palestinians fr. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the PRCs stranded in Egypt since the Gaza border was closed on 6/12 are transported in Egyptian busses to the Rafah crossing and allowed entry into Gaza before dawn. The 80 include 2 Reform and Change legislators, a number of suspected Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, and Palestinian civilians with suspected ties to Hamas whom the PA did not grant permission to return to Gaza with the 6,000 Palestinians allowed reentry last quarter (see Chronology in JPS 145). In Gaza, the IDF sends troops into areas e. of Jabaliya r.c., exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen who confront them, killing 2 armed Palestinians. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin. Some 500 Jewish settlers occupy a hill overlooking Road 60 nr. Hebron, barring Palestinian farmers fr. reaching their land. Jewish settlers also occupy sites nr. al-Nabi Yunis Junction in Hebron and nr. Efrat settlement (nr. Bethlehem), declare formation of 2 new unauthorized settlement outposts. (OCHA 10/3; PCHR 10/4)

The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (targeting AMB mbrs., at least 1 of whom was among the AMB mbrs. granted amnesty by Israel in 7/06; see Quarterly Update in JPS 145); fires on residential areas, blowing up a 4-story apartment building owned by a Palestinian (displacing 4 families) in Jenin town and r.c. A Jewish settler nr. Jerusalem stabs, wounds a Palestinian. In Gaza’s al-Bureij r.c., unidentified assailants set fire to the local Fatah al-Yasir offices. A Hamas mbr. wounded in an apparent factional shooting in Rafah on 9/19 dies. (OCHA 9/26; PCHR 9/27)

Islamic Jihad and the PRCs in n. Gaza take joint responsibility for a predawn rocket strike on the IDF’s Zikim base nr. the Gaza border that hits a tent full of sleeping soldiers, critically wounding 1, seriously wounding 2, moderately wounding 7, marking the highest casualty toll in a rocket strike to date; another 60 soldiers are lightly injured or treated for shock. The IDF responds with air strikes, shelling on suspected rocketlaunching sites in n. Gaza, hitting a home in Bayt Hanun, wounding 4 Palestinian children and an adult. Palestinians retaliate by firing 7 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The Israeli DMin. begins drafting an assessment for DM Ehud Barak of the impact of cutting water, electricity, fuel services to Gaza. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 21 agricultural structures in Anata nr. Jerusalem for being too close to the separation wall and a settler bypass road; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and Nablus, nr. Jenin and Tulkarm; issues military orders shutting the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs to Muslims for 5 days during Ramadan so that Jewish settlers may celebrate concurrent Jewish holidays. Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino, escorted by IDF troops, occupy the roof of al-Aqtab Mosque (seized by the IDF in 1994 after the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs shooting), begin construction on it to expand their outpost. In Jabaliya r.c., Hamas mbrs. occupy the home of the Fatah-affiliated PA prisoners’ affairs minister, who fled to Ramallah. (IFM, NYT, WP, WT 9/11; NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 9/12; PCHR 9/13; OCHA 10/19)

In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in a car with Palestinian license plates into ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a r.c., shooting, wounding, arresting a Hamas mbr.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, Nablus and in Jenin town and r.c. (firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 9, ages 11– 16). Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino in Hebron beat 3 Palestinian children, ages 12– 16. A 13-yr.-old Palestinian dies of injures sustained during a 9/6 IDF arrest campaign in Jenin. (OCHA 9/12; PCHR 9/13)

In the West Bank, the IDF surrounds Hebron’s al-Ansar Mosque during evening prayers, photographing and checking the IDs of worshipers as they leave; conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a r.c., Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, Qabatya. The ESF raids, searches the homes of several Fatah mbrs., beating and injuring 8, detaining 14; 1 wanted Fatah mbr. evades arrest when neighbors stone ESF officers who come to detain him. PA security forces violently disperse a demonstration by students at the predominantly Hamas Hebron University protesting tuition increases, also beat and detain 2 journalists covering the event; in response, some 100 Hamas mbrs. burn tires, attack the local PA police station. (OCHA 9/12; PCHR 9/13)

Late in the evening, the IDF sends undercover units dressed in ESF uniforms into Rafah to kidnap and take to Israel Hamas military cmdr. Mihawish al-Nu‘aymat (also reported as Mohawah al-Qadi), who reportedly has information on captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c., Qabatya and nr. Hebron; 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 1. A 13-yr.-old Palestinian boy is injured by IDF UXO nr. Nablus. Across Gaza, Fatah supporters for a 3d week hold Friday prayers outside in protest against Hamas; the ESF clashes with demonstrators in al-Bureij r.c., Gaza City, Jabaliya r.c., Khan Yunis, and Rafah, using batons and percussion grenades, leaving a total of 51 Palestinians injured, 20 Fatah mbrs. arrested, 3 journalists temporarily detained; reports differ as to whether the ESF tried to break up peaceful prayer services or only intervened afterward, when Fatah supporters began chanting anti-Hamas slogans and throwing stones at ESF officers. (NYT 9/8; OCHA 9/12; PCHR 9/13)

Israelis in Sederot close schools, demand government action after Palestinians fire 3 more rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Egyptian border police demolish a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF raids, searches several Hamas-run charities in Nablus, confiscating documents, computers and sealing the offices; patrols in, fires on residential areas of ‘Azun nr. Qalqilya (also firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 2 children, ages 13 and 14), Sa‘ir nr. Hebron (seriously wounding 1 Palestinian); conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qabatya nr. Jenin and Tulkarm r.c., and nr. Hebron. The Israeli High Court rules that the separation wall around Bil‘in, site of weekly nonviolent protests, must be moved westward to prevent the de facto annexation of more han half of the village’s agricultural land, rejecting the government’s claim that a wide buffer zone was needed to protect nearby Mod’in Ilit settlement and determining that the original route took into consideration plans to expand the settlement “as much as possible”; the decision gives the government a “reasonable period of time” to take down and move portions of the wall, which is expected to return 250 acres of land to Bil‘in residents. In Gaza City, the previously unheard-of Security Members Martyrs Brigade took responsibility for detonating a bomb under the car of a prominent Hamas mbr. in Gaza City, causing no injuries; the group is thought to be made up of Fatah security officers still in Gaza who have been underground since Hamas took over in mid6/07. Suspected Fatah mbrs. also fire on an ESF patrol, causing no injuries. In Rafah, ESF officers fire on Fatah mbrs. writing proFatah graffiti, wounding 3. (BBC 9/4; IFM, NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 9/5; PCHR, WT 9/6)

Islamic Jihad fires 7 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries although 1 lands nr. a daycare center and school, causing panic; public and government officials call for immediate school closures until the Israeli government takes steps to halt rocket fire; Israeli officials urge cutting water, fuel, and electricity to Gaza or carrying out a massive military strike. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 4 Palestinian homes in and nr. East Jerusalem; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus (targeting Hamas; firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding 9) and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin. (NYT, WP, WT 9/4; OCHA 9/5; PCHR 9/6)

The Lebanese army continues to search Nahr al-Barid r.c. for fugitive FI mbrs., occasionally exchanging gunfire with hold-outs; no casualties are reported. Journalists entering the camp for the 1st time state that “shell blasts honeycombed nearly every building.” (WT 9/4)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike targeting a car in n. Gaza carrying 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs. allegedly coming fr. a rocket-launching site, hitting the car after the men escape; sends troops into Bayt Hanun and makes 2 air strikes on agricultural lands in the area, causing no reported injuries, withdrawing troops in the afternoon; makes a helicopter air strike on a Hamas training base nr. Dayr al-Balah, missing the target, hitting an open area, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Hebron and Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tulkarm. Meanwhile, in Rafah, the ESF attempts to arrest an Islamic Jihad mbr. violating the acting Hamas government’s ban on carrying weapons in public, sparking an exchange of fire that causes no injuries; the Islamic Jihad mbr. escapes. (NYT 9/4; OCHA 9/5; PCHR 9/6)

After a week of increased Lebanese army shelling of Nahr al-Barid and reinforcing of positions surrounding the camp, the remaining FI mbrs. holed up in the r.c. make a last-ditch, predawn effort to flee, clashing with soldiers who kill more than 50 FI mbrs., capture 32, and take control of the camp; 5 Lebanese soldiers are also killed, bringing the toll since the crisis began on 5/20/07 to at least 163 soldiers, 222 FI mbrs., 42 civilians. The army says it must conduct demining operations in the camp before refugees may return; Lebanese PM Fuad Siniora vows to repair all damage. (NYT, WP, WT 9/3; WT 9/4, 9/16)

IDF troops stationed on the Gaza border fatally shoot a Palestinian shepherd who strays nr. the border fence nr. Juhur al-Dik; troops conduct bulldozing operations in the area. The IDF makes an air strike on a suspected rocket-launching site nr. Bayt Hanun, causing no injuries. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing vessels off the Bayt Lahiya coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF arrests Palestinian Awad Abu Suway, head of a Bethlehem group that organizes local nonviolent protests against the separation wall, and his 65-yr.-old father; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c. and in Hebron, Nablus, and neighboring Balata r.c. PA police rescue an IDF soldier who mistakenly drives into Jenin and is surrounded by an angry mob; police safely turn over the soldier to the IDF, but the crowd burns his vehicle; Israel praises the PA police, saying their actions are a sign of PA Pres. Mahmud Abbas’s growing authority. A Palestinian civilian injured in an 8/14 IDF air strike on Khan Yunis dies. (AP 8/27; WP 8/28; OCHA 8/29; PCHR 8/30)