The Palestine Chronology

Jewish settlers launch an organized campaign of civil disobedience to protest Netanyahu’s settlement freeze, blocking traffic at major intersections leading into Jerusalem. Israeli police quickly disperse them without violence, but settlers say they plan to keep up such actions randomly over the coming days to frustrate the government. Meanwhile, IDF undercover units stage a major late-night raid on a Nablus apartment building, arresting Palestinian Salah al-Bukhari, wanted since 2001. The IDF also stages late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and nr. Bethlehem, Nablus, Salfit, Tulkarm. Hamas-affiliated police manning the Gaza side of the Erez crossing block the exit of 37 Palestinian medical patients granted permission by Israel to leave the Strip, stating they have not obtained the proper exit visa from Gaza’s Interior Min. (see 12/6). (OCHA 12/9; WJW, PCHR 12/10)

IDF troops make a brief incursion into n. Gaza and fire at Palestinian residential areas in Bayt Lahiya; no casualties are reported. (PCHR 9/10)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Tulkarm, and Hebron, arresting 5 Palestinians; patrols in and opens fire on residential areas of Qabatya, causing no injuries and making no arrests; sets up flying checkpoints on roads leading to Jerusalem, halting and searching Palestinian vehicles. (PCHR 9/10)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border nr. Bayt Hanun fire on Palestinian farmers approaching their land some 600 m fr. the border fence, killing 1 Palestinian teenager. The IDF also makes a brief incursion into s. Gaza to level land in Khuza village nr. Khan Yunis. (PCHR 9/10; OCHA 9/11; OCHA Humanitarian Report 9/09)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, sound bombs, tear gas at Palestinian and international human rights activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (injuring 3, including an Israeli and a Palestinian journalist) and at Palestinian activists, some of whom throw stones at IDF troops, taking part in a demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 2, including 1 teenager); conducts latenight raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm town and r.c., in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas, and nr. Jenin, Ramallah, and Hebron, making no arrests but summoning at least 1 Palestinian for questioning; patrols Qabatya but makes no arrests. (PCHR 9/10)

On the 2d Friday of Ramadan, the IDF continues to enforce age restrictions announced on 8/23 limiting Palestinian access to Jerusalem for prayers; an estimated 130,000 Palestinians enter the city, but as a result of intense crowding at Qalandia checkpoint, many other “qualified” Palestinians are prevented fr. entering and 19 people (primarily women and children) are injured in the crush of worshipers awaiting entry at IDF checkpoints around the city. (PCHR 9/10; OCHA 9/11; OCHA Humanitarian Report 9/09)

The IDF sends troops back into n. Gaza to level more land along the border fence nr. Bayt Hanun (see 7/14). In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 19 Bedouin tents and animal pens along the Ramallah–Jericho road belonging to 7 Bedouin families, displacing 50 Palestinians, including 32 children; conducts late-night house searches in Bethlehem (including the home of Abbas adviser Brig. Kifah Barakat, stating that he had “overstepped red lines” in Jerusalem, not further explained), Jenin town and r.c., and Tulkarm r.c., making no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c. and Nablus, nr. Hebron and Jenin. Israel grants Israeli Palestinians permission to travel to Nablus by car for the mo.- long Nablus shopping festival (ends 8/16); they have previously been allowed to enter Nablus on foot only, leaving their cars at IDF checkpoints at the entrance to the city. (PCHR 7/16; OCHA, PCHR 7/23)

In the West Bank, the IDF forces a Palestinian family to demolish an addition to their home in Bayt Hanina on the outskirts of Jerusalem, threatening them with a $4,500 fine if the IDF were forced to carry out the order; conducts separate synchronized late-night arrest raids, house searches in villages nr. Jenin and Tulkarm; conducts similar late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bil‘in, nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers accompanied by IDF troops level 5 d. of Palestinian agricultural land s. of Hebron, install 3 mobile homes and an electricity generator to expand the unauthorized settlement outpost of Avigal. (OCHA, PCHR 7/9)

In London, Mitchell, Barak meet briefly to exchange details on a possible settlement freeze, steps toward Arab normalization, and Palestinian efforts to improve security. (NYT, WP 7/7; WT 7/8; WJW 7/9; see also NYT 7/4)

Israel’s Land Registration Office in Ma’ale Adumim settlement recently placed 12 notices in al-Quds newspaper announcing the registration of a total of 138,500 d. (2% of West Bank land) nr. the Dead Sea as “state land,” ordering Palestinians to place ownership claims within 45 days or consider the land forfeited. In the West Bank, 50 Jewish settlers fr. a settlement nr. Tulkarm seize a plot of Palestinian land nr. Kafr Labad, erect a tent to establish a new outpost, drive off Palestinian farmers who own the land. For a 2d day, no Israeli-Palestinian violence is reported. (HA, OCHA, PCHR 7/2; OCHA Humanitarian Monitor 7/09)

Israel releases elected Hamas-affiliated speaker of the Palestinian parliament ‘Aziz Dwayk, jailed nearly 3 yrs. before as part of an IDF arrest sweep targeting Hamas leaders in the wake of IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit’s capture; some 40 other Hamas legislators remain in custody. The release raises speculation that a Hamas-Israeli prisoner exchange deal to free Shalit is imminent. A wk. after making public comments about Arabs that were denounced as racist, Israeli internal security M Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Yisrael Beitainu) makes a highly controversial 90-min. visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, including entering the mosque, to “review police deployments” at the site. He says his visit was coordinated with Muslim authorities, which they deny. A similar visit to the compound by Ariel Sharon in 2000 sparked the al-Aqsa intifada. In the West Bank, the IDF levels 500 d. of Palestinian land in Issawiyya on the outskirts of Jerusalem to “preserve the natural beauty of the city [i.e., Jerusalem]”; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm. Jewish settlers fr. Avnei Hefetz settlement nr. Tulkarm erect a tent in nearby Kafr Labad village, previously bulldozed by the IDF, with the aim of expanding the settlement. (NYT, WP, WT 6/24; OCHA, PCHR 6/25)

In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Qabatya village nr. Jenin at midday in a car with Palestinian license plates to raid a cafe and arrest a wanted ´ Palestinian; demolishes 4 Palestinian homes in Azariyya nr. Jerusalem, in the E1 area marked for expansion of Ma’ale Adumim settlement, displacing 42 Palestinians. Late in the evening, the IDF conducts synchronized late-night incursions into Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, and Zatara village nr. Bethlehem to raid and search the homes of 8 senior figures affiliated with Hamas (fmr. PA Dep. PM and Education M Nasser al-Din al-Sha‘ir in Nablus; Reform and Change Palestinian Council legislators Nizar ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Ramadan and ‘Assam Nu‘man Salhab in Hebron; Ayman Husayn Darghma in Ramallah; Khalid Tafish Thwayb in Zatara; Reform and Change office director for Ramallah and al-Bireh Mazin al-Rimawi in Ramallah; senior Hamas leader Adnan Ahed Asfur and al-Najah University prof. Issam Rashid al-Ashqar in Nablus), arresting them for their “ongoing efforts to restore the administrative branch of the Hamas terror organization in the [West Bank].” The moves come as an Israeli Justice Min. comm. debates limiting the privileges (e.g., visitation, phone calls, study groups) of Hamas prisoners in Israel. Some 40 Hamas-affiliated legislators have been arrested since Shalit’s capture in 6/06, most of whom remain in detention. Hamas views the moves as Israel’s attempts to pressure it to make concessions in the ongoing Cairo prisoner exchange talks. The IDF conducts additional late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, and Tulkarm. Mbrs. of Kiryat Arba settlement’s private security service detain a Canadian journalist and a fieldworker for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem as they pass nr. the settlement, holding them until the IDF arrives to question them; they are released 4 hrs. later. (OCHA 3/18; PCHR 3/19; NYT, WP, WT 3/20; OCHA 3/24, 3/25; PCHR 3/26; JPI 4/3)

Some 400 Gazans protest on the Rafah border demanding that Egypt unilaterally open the crossing into Gaza. Egypt deploys 100s of additional police and border patrol officers along the Rafah border, fearing another breach, as occurred in 1/08 (see Quarterly Update in JPS 147). On the Rafah border, 5 Palestinians are killed, 3 are injured when a smuggling tunnel collapses. In the West Bank, the IDF raids and occupies a Palestinian home nr. Bethlehem as an observation post; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Tulkarm. Israeli security forces raid a theater in East Jerusalem to prevent a Palestinian folklore troupe fr. performing as part of a series of events billed as celebrating the Arab League designation of Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture for 2009), saying the program violates the ban on Palestinian political activity in the city. (WT 2/22; OCHA 2/24, 2/25; PCHR 2/26)

Unknown assailants fire a Katyusha rocket fr. s. Lebanon into n. Israel, lightly injuring 3 Israelis. A 2d rocket lands inside Lebanon, causing no damage or injuries. Israel files a formal complaint with the UN, demanding stepped-up UNIFIL and Lebanese government enforcement in s. Lebanon in keeping with UN Res. 1701’s provisions to halt arms smuggling into s. Lebanon and reiterating Israel’s right to self-defense. (WJW 2/26)

As the quarter opens, Israel’s near total blockade of Gaza enters its 21st month, since Hamas’s takeover of Gaza in 6/07. Israel continues to bar exports fr. Gaza, strictly limit imports, and ban all but VIPs and emergency medical cases fr. transiting the border. Imports include limited commodities and enough staple goods and fuel for electricity, emergency services, and cooking to preclude a humanitarian crisis, but are insufficient to meet daily needs, adequately maintain basic services, or repair the heavy damage fr. Israel’s 23-day assault on Gaza, Operation Cast Lead (OCL), which ended on 1/18/09. Today, Palestinians fire 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) respond with 2 air strikes on tunnels on the Rafah border, causing no injuries. In Bayt Lahiya, 1 Palestinian scavenging scrap metal is killed, 4 are injured when they accidentally trigger unexploded IDF ordnance (UXO). In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes 20 olive trees on a plot of Palestinian land on the s. border of Ni‘lin, declaring it a closed military zone; conducts synchronized late-night arrest raids, house searches into Tulkarm, neighboring Nur Shams refugee camp (r.c.), and 5 nearby villages; conducts similar late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron; closes a gate in the separation wall nr. Dahiyat al-Barid (located btwn. the separation wall and the Green Line nr. Jerusalem), forcing villagers to travel 1–2 hrs. through the Qalandia crossing to access the rest of the West Bank. The Israeli government authorizes the confiscation of 1,700 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of Palestinian land in the villages of al-Ma‘sara, Umm Salamuna, and Wadi al-Nas nr. Bethlehem for expansion of Efrat and Gush Etzion settlements (2,500 new housing units, increasing the settler population there fr. 9,000 to 30,000). (Mideast Mirror 2/16; NYT, WP 2/17; OCHA 2/18; PCHR 2/19; OCHA 2/24)