The Palestine Chronology

Before dawn, the IDF sends undercover units into Nablus to arrest 6 Palestinians, including PA General Intelligence officer Amjad Mus‘ad; in the evening, fires 27 artillery rounds at n. Gaza in response to 3 mortars fired by Palestinians towards Israel, causing no damage or injuries on either side; late in the evening, undercover units return to Nablus, surround a PA security vehicle patrolling the area, order the7 PA security officers to lie on the ground, confiscate their weapons and phones, hold them for an hr., release them. The IDF also lifts the seal on the West Bank and Gaza imposed on 12/5, opens Qalandia crossing (closed since 12/8); raids and closes 10s of shops in Anabta, withdraws, later returns to conduct arrest raids and house searches; bulldozes a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem, sparking clashes with 10s of local Palestinians; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, nr. Tulkarm. IDF soldiers bar an ambulance fr. transporting a critically ill 10-yr.-old Palestinian boy to a hospital in Jerusalem, beating a female paramedic and driver, arresting the paramedic; a 2d ambulance arrives, takes the patient to a Ramallah hospital. In Dayr al-Balah, 10 AMB gunmen angry over the Fatah primaries raid a PA election office, force it to close. In Gaza City, unidentified gunmen fire on a PA police patrol, killing 1 PA policeman, wounding a 2d; the incident may be connected to the Bayt Hanun clan violence (see 12/7) as the dead policeman belongs to 1 of the families. (AP, HA, IMEMC, PCHR, PRCS, XIN, YA 12/12; AP, NYT 12/13; PCHR 12/15; PLO press release 12/21)

Before dawn, the IDF raids Dayr al-Balah, demolishes 1 Palestinian home, fires on an ambulance, wounding a paramedic; sends 200 troops, heavy armor into Dahaysha r.c., conducting house-to-house searches, detain-ing at least 30 Palestinians; conducts arrest raids elsewhere in the West Bank, including Nablus, detaining at least 25 Palestinians. Israel also assassinates AMB Jenin leader Ala’ Ahmad Sabbagh and Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades Jenin cmdr. Imad Nasharti, firing a rocket into a house in Jenin r.c., where they were staying; fires on other residential areas of Jenin r.c., Khan Yunis, Rafah, Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids, bulldozes 5 dunams of land in al-Qarara; conducts arrest raids, demolishes 1 Palestinian home in Tulkarm. (WP 11/26; HA, LAW, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 11/27; al-Quds 11/28 in WNC 11/29)

The Israel Project, a group of U.S. political consultants funded by American Jewish organizations and individual donors, sends a 6-page memo to pro-Israel leaders urging them to keep quiet while the U.S. pursues a possible war on Iraq. (WP 11/27)