The Palestine Chronology

IDF troops on the Gaza border fire a tank shell at a Gaza municipality truck nr. Juhur al-Dik, injuring 4 municipal workers; send tanks, bulldozers into Gaza nr. Bureij r.c. to level land. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF temporarily occupies several buildings in Nablus, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen, leaving 2 armed Palestinians dead; patrols in and around Jenin town and r.c.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Kafr Dan and Qabatya nr. Jenin, Tulkarm; issues military orders confiscating 10 d. of Palestinian land e. of Tulkarm for military training purposes. In tandem with a visit by U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice, 2,000 right-wing Jewish settlers and activists march to and reoccupy the Homesh settlement site in the n. West Bank, evacuated during disengagement in 2005, with plans to stay at the site for 2 days and eventually to rebuild the settlement; the main YESHA settlers group does not endorse the action; the IDF mobilizes 4 brigades to monitor marchers and take action should they or local Palestinians become violent, saying they will forcibly remove the settlers if they do not leave on 3/27 as planned. Fatah-Hamas clashes leave 5 Palestinians wounded in Rafah. Hamas mbrs. fire an antitank missile at, then occupy the Fatah-affiliated Bayt Hanun Sports Club; no injuries are reported. (WT 3/26; NYT, WT 3/27; OCHA 3/28; PCHR 3/29)

Overnight, the Israeli navy rounds up 14 Palestinian fishing boats, detains 56 fishermen, releases 50 later in the day. A Hamas sniper fires across the Gaza border into Israel, wounding an Israeli electrical worker in the 1st armed attack by Hamas since the Gaza cease-fire went into effect 11/26/06. Hamas mbrs. also fire 2 mortars at the IDF post at Qarni crossing, causing no damage or injuries. Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad reiterates Hamas’s call for mutual calm; Israel says that it will continue to abide by the truce but that its patience is wearing thin. In Shati’ r.c., an Islamic Jihad mbr. is killed, 9 Palestinians are injured when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. Egyptian security forces announce that they have captured a Hamas mbr. in the n. Sinai, who allegedly intended to sneak into Israel to stage a suicide bombing. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, firing on stone-throwing Palestinians, wounding 4. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba bar Palestinian worshipers fr. entering al-Ras Mosque in Hebron; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Separately, 50 Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba, under IDF protection, occupy a 4-story Palestinian residential building in Hebron, claiming to have legally purchased it; the owner denies this; officers fr. the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) ask the settlers to see the purchase documents, but they refuse. A Jewish settler fr. Hebron seriously injures a Palestinian man in a deliberate hit and run. In Gaza City, 200 family mbrs. of Palestinians detained by Israel hold a sit-in to demand greater PA and international efforts to secure a prisoner release. (al-Mezan, NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 3/20; PCHR 3/22)

The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Bayt Lahiya, forcing them to return to shore. The IDF sends bulldozers into Gaza n. of Bayt Lahiya to level land along the border fence to improve lines of sight. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in Abu Dis nr. East Jerusalem; conducts patrols, fires on residential areas of Jenin town and r.c., Tubas. (OCHA 3/21; PCHR 3/22)

With approval of the PC, PA Pres. Mahmud Abbas (Fatah) swears in the first Palestinian national unity government headed by PM Ismail Haniyeh (Change and Reform), in keeping with agreements reached by Fatah and Hamas in Mecca on 2/8 aimed at halting intra-Palestinian violence. (NYT, WP, WT 3/18; WP 3/19) 

The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, wounding 3 fishermen. IDF troops discover, dismantle a roadside bomb nr. the s. Gaza border fence nr. Rafah. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin, in Marda, and nr. Hebron, Tulkarm; fires on a number of Palestinian vegetable traders in Abu Dis who reportedly ignore orders to halt, seriously wounding 1, denying him medical attention for 40 mins. Hamas, Fatah mbrs. clash in Bayt Hanun, leaving a Hamas cmdr. dead; the ESF closes local roads, damages 4 homes of Fatah mbrs. with explosive devices, sets fire to the local PA National Security Forces and Force 17 offices during the clashes; Islamic Jihad mbrs. intervene to mediate an end to the fighting. Unknown assailants fire a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at the home of a Fatah activist in Bayt Hanun, causing damage but no injuries. (WP 3/12; OCHA 3/14; PCHR 3/15)

The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya coast, forcing them to return to port. IDF troops on the s. Gaza border fire on Palestinian farmers who stray nr. the border fence e. of al-Qarara and shell open areas nr. Shuka, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols Far‘un nr. Tulkarm, fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops, causing no injuries; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron; raids the offices of Afaq TV in Nablus, reportedly using Palestinians as human shields; issues military orders confiscating 17 d. in Qalqilya and neighboring Azun for “military purposes.” In Jerusalem, a Palestinian taxi driver fr. al-Tur in East Jerusalem dies in Israeli police custody after being stopped at a checkpoint, being arrested and having his taxi confiscated for driving a Palestinian woman from Jordan who did not have the proper visas, being severely beaten by police; news of the death sparks demonstrations in al-Tur, where Israeli police fire tear gas, percussion grenades at protesters, causing no injuries. PA Education Min. Nasir Sha‘ir rescinds the ministry’s 3/5 ban on a book of Palestinian folklore after a massive public outcry, including a demonstration today in Ramallah, stating that the ban was illegal and imposed without his approval; some 1,500 copies of the book, Speak Bird, Speak Again, have been destroyed since the ban was ordered on 3/5. In Gaza, mbrs. of the Popular Resistance Comms. (PRCs) stage a peaceful sit-in in front of the Egyptian legation to protest restrictions on Gazans traveling to Egypt. Some 300 newly trained Fatah security members demonstrate outside the central Gaza governorate offices demanding positions in the PA security forces. In the West Bank, ESF, Fatah mbrs. exchange fire in Nablus (no injuries) and Tubas (2 wounded). Fatah-affiliated PA security force mbrs. demanding payment of back salaries fire on the PA security headquarters in Jenin, force employees to leave the building, declare it closed. Elsewhere in the West Bank, suspected Fatah gunmen fire on the car of a Change and Reform PC minister, wounding a bodyguard. (WT 3/11; OCHA 3/14; PCHR 3/15)