The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, a Palestinian youth succumbs to injuries sustained when shot by a stray IDF bullet on 11/23 nr. Nablus. Meanwhile, IDF troops stationed at a shooting range on the grounds of Palestine Technical University in Tulkarm clash with Palestinian protesters, injuring 15 students with rubber-coated steel bullets and live fire. Protests against Israeli raids onto the campus have been ongoing since 11/15, disrupting classes and injuring many students. IDF troops also clash with Palestinians during late-night raids in a village nr. Bethlehem and Qalandia r.c. nr. Ramallah, injuring 1 Palestinian in the 1st and arresting 2 Palestinians and confiscating property in the latter. The IDF conducts another late-night raid in 1 village nr. Hebron, arresting 3 Palestinians; patrols in 1 village nr. Salfit and 3 nr. Hebron. Israeli forces deliver stop-work orders for 2 homes and an agricultural structure under construction in a village nr. Hebron. In Gaza, IDF troops stationed along the border fence shoot and injure a Palestinian farmer working e. of Khan Yunis. Later, an IED explodes nr. the fence e. of Rafah, causing no injuries or damage; the IDF then fires 6 artillery shells in the direction of Khan Yunis, injuring 3 Palestinians. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish a home in Shaykh Jarrah, displacing 7 Palestinians; prevent workers from repairing a water leak at Haram al-Sharif; issue an arrest summons to a Palestinian and confiscate her property on raids in al-Thawri. (HA, MNA, TOI, WAFA 12/16; MNA, PCHR, WAFA 12/17; PCHR 12/31)

In Zurich, senior Israeli and Turkish officials agree on central provisions of a reconciliation agreement that would normalize ties between their countries after almost 5 years of tension. The 3 conditions outlined by Turkish pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 12/14 have not yet been met. (HA, HUR, NYT, TOI 12/17; REU 12/18)

In the West Bank, 4 Israeli soldiers are injured in a suspected ramming attack outside an Israeli settlement nr. Salfit, and Israeli forces later arrest a Palestinian suspect during a late-night raid nr. Ramallah. IDF troops injure 9 Palestinians in clashes with student protesters at the Palestine Technical University in Tulkarm. The IDF conducts a raid in Ramallah late at night, sparking clashes with stone-throwers wherein 2 Palestinians are injured; conducts further late-night raids and house searches in Tulkarm, Tulkarm r.c. and 1 nearby village, Jenin, and 1 village nr. Ramallah, arresting 12 Palestinians; patrols in 7 villages and al-Fawar r. c. nr. Hebron. Palestinians throw stones at Israeli settlers’ cars on a road to Jerusalem, causing minor damage and light injuries. Off Gaza’s coast nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. In East Jerusalem, Israeli police disperse 40 right-wing Jewish activists demonstrating outside Haram al-Sharif, arresting 2 who allegedly planned to erect a menorah to commemorate Hanukkah. Israeli forces also assault and arrest 4 Palestinian youths in al-Tur; arrest 2 Palestinians walking in the Old City. (HA, JP, MNA, YA 12/10; HA, MNA 12/11; PCHR 12/17)

Israeli NGO Peace Now reports that the Israeli govt. designated as “state land” a 30-dunam (7.4-acre) swath of Palestinian land nr. Bethlehem in 11/2015. The previous designation of state land came in 8/2014. (PCN 12/10; MNA 12/11)

A total of 2 Palestinians and 1 Israeli settler are killed throughout the day. First, Israeli border police shoot and kill a Palestinian in c. Hebron after he allegedly stabs and seriously injures an Israeli settler (the settler will succumb to his injuries on 12/30). After the incident, Israeli settlers march through c. Hebron to protest the attack, sparking minor clashes with Palestinian stone-throwers. Late at night, IDF troops conduct a raid in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem, arresting 5 Palestinians and killing 1 Palestinian in the ensuing clashes with stone-throwers. Meanwhile, IDF troops violently clash with Palestinians protesting their continued presence at Palestine Technical University in Tulkarm; 5 Palestinians are injured. They also conduct late-night house searches and raids in 2 villages nr. Tulkarm, Hebron, 1 village nr. Jenin, Ramallah and a nearby village, and Qalqilya, arresting 12 Palestinians and confiscating personal property; patrol in 1 village each nr. Salfit, Jenin, and Tulkarm, as well as 8 villages nr. Hebron. Israeli forces deliver stop-work orders to 12 homes under construction in a village nr. Qalqilya. Off Gaza’s coast nr. Jabaliya r.c., on 3 occasions, Israeli naval forces open fire on and otherwise confront Palestinian fishing boats, arresting 6 fishermen and confiscating 1 boat. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 1 Palestinian on a late-night raid in al-Thawri. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 12/7; HA, MNA, TOI, WAFA 12/8; PCHR 12/10; HA, MNA 12/30)

In West Jerusalem, Israeli police shoot and kill a Palestinian nr. the Old City after he allegedly hits 1 Israeli with his car and stabs another, lightly injuring both. On Gaza’s s. border, unknown assailants open fire on IDF vehicles patrolling along the border fence, causing minor damage, according to the IDF. Late at night, IAF jets launch air strikes on a Hamas military site in n. Gaza, causing damage. During the day, IDF troops stationed along the border e. of al-Bureij r.c. violently disperse Palestinian stone-throwers, injuring 1. In the West Bank, IDF troops patrol in 1 village each nr. Tulkarm and Nablus, sparking clashes with stone-throwers in each; 2 Palestinians are injured and 3 are arrested. There are several incidents in the Hebron area today as Israeli forces raid a medical center, assaulting a 14-year-old Palestinian patient; deliver stop-work orders to 3 homes under construction e. of Bayt Umar; and remove the doors and windows from several residences and confiscate drilling equipment in a village nr. Hebron. IDF troops violently clash with Palestinian protesters in 1 village nr. Ramallah and at Palestine Technical University in Tulkarm; 12 Palestinians are injured. They also conduct late-night raids and house searches in Jenin and Jenin r.c., Qalqilya, 1 village nr. Salfit, 2 nr. Nablus, and 3 each nr. Hebron and Ramallah, arresting 15 Palestinians; patrol in 5 villages nr. Hebron and 1 nr. Tulkarm. In East Jerusalem, a number of right-wing Jewish activists tour Haram al-Sharif in the morning. Israeli forces arrest a Palestinian youth in Silwan claiming she had a knife; raid the home of a PA security forces (PASF) officer in Abu Dis, sparking clashes with stone-throwers (there are no injuries). They also arrest 7 Palestinians on late-night raids in Jabal Mukabir, Issawiyya, and the Old City. (MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 12/6; HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA 12/7; PCHR 12/10)

For the 4th day in a row, hundreds of Gazans gather along the s. border with Israel to protest the recent Israeli crackdown, and the IDF violently disperses them, injuring 2 and detaining 1 of dozens who briefly break through the border fence. In a related development, an Israeli military source says that the IDF’s Southern Command has ordered soldiers to focus on using tear gas and firing warning shots in the air in their efforts to disperse groups of Palestinians nr. the border fence. The source says there has been no official change in the rules of engagement, but that the IDF’s commanders hope to reduce the number of Palestinians killed in similar confrontations. Separately, off the coast nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. (HA, JP, MNA, WAFA 10/12; JP, 10/13; PCHR 10/15)

Small-scale attacks and stabbings continue amid the ongoing wave of violence in the oPt and Israel. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian man outside the Old City overnight after he allegedly attempts to stab a border police officer, according to the Israeli police, but Palestinian witnesses contest the claim. Later, 2 Palestinian youths attack a group of Israeli settlers nr. Shu‘fat, stabbing and seriously injuring 2. Israeli police shoot the attackers, killing 1 and injuring the other. Around the same time, Israeli police shoot and seriously injure a Palestinian youth after she stabs and injures 2 Israelis in Shaykh Jarrah. In West Jerusalem, IDF troops shoot and kill a Palestinian on a bus nr. Chords Bridge after he attempts to stab 1 of them and take a gun. Meanwhile, IDF troops clash with and violently disperse Palestinians throwing stones and protesting in various neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, injuring 29 Palestinians. Elsewhere in the West Bank, IDF troops conduct raids in 1 village each nr. Salfit and Ramallah, sparking clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian youths in both cases; 2 Palestinians are injured. Late at night, Israeli forces raid a village nr. Ramallah, surrounding a Palestinian’s home, firing live rounds through the windows, and sparking clashes with Palestinian stone-throwers, injuring 1 Palestinian and arresting 3. They arrest another Palestinian on a late-night raid nr. Hebron. In Israel, Israeli police arrest a senior official of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Rahat on charges related to incitement. (HA, JP, MNA, NYT, TOI, WAFA, YA 10/12; JP, MNA, YA 10/13; PCHR 10/15)

The Israeli Knesset passes, 41–11, the 1st reading of 2 bills designed to deter stone-throwing, including mandatory minimum sentences and the imposition of penalties on parents of minors convicted for such crimes. The 2 bills comprise several measures agreed to by the security cabinet on 9/24 and the full cabinet on 10/11 (key provisions of the measures will pass into law on 11/2). (JP, KNE 10/13)

Israel’s High Court of Justice reaffirms its 2014 order to demolish a synagogue in the West Bank settlement Givat Ze’ev, rejecting a petition from settler leaders. The court orders the synagogue’s demolition within 1 week (the demolition deadline will be delayed to 11/19, following another petition). (JP 10/13)

In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces assault and arrest 1 Palestinian at an entrance to Haram al-Sharif while 30 right-wing Jewish activists tour the sanctuary. Another Palestinian is arrested in the Old City. Off Gaza’s s. coast, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, IDF troops conduct house searches and raids in Hebron and nr. Salfit, arresting 4 Palestinians and damaging some furniture. Similarly they patrol nr. Tulkarm, Hebron, and in al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron. (MNA 9/10; PCHR 9/17)

The UNGA approves a res., 119–8, with 45 abstentions, to allow non-mbr. observer states— Palestine and the Vatican—to raise their flags outside the UN’s headquarters and offices (an official flag-raising ceremony will take place on 9/30). (MNA, NYT 9/10; HA, MNA 9/11)

The European Parliament passes a symbolic motion, 525–70, with 31 abstaining, that supports the labeling of products imported from Israel’s settlements. (HA, JP, TOI, YA 9/10)

In Paris, PA FM al-Maliki and French FM Fabius sign 5 agreements on politics, finance, and French-funded development projects in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). They also discuss updates on the French initiative to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, including a possible UNSC res. (MNA, WAFA 9/10)

In the West Bank, the IDF orders temporary alterations to its rules of engagement, responding to the increased tensions since the 7/31 arson attack. Israeli soldiers are now required to hold their fire unless their lives are in immediate danger, and are only permitted to fire shots in the air toward a fleeing suspect rather than at the lower body. Israeli forces demolish multiple residential units in the n. Jordan Valley overnight. IDF troops conduct raids in c. Hebron and a nearby village, arresting 1 Palestinian and assaulting and lightly injuring 2; patrol in 1 village each nr. Hebron, Qalqilya, and Salfit. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces deny a group of Palestinian youths entrance to Haram al-Sharif for the 2d day in a row, then they detain a Palestinian woman and youth suspected of assaulting Israeli officers in the sanctuary. Israeli forces also demolish a store in al-Tur and a commercial building in the Qalandia industrial zone n. of the city; patrol in Silwan and Issawiyya, sparking minor clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian youths. (JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA 8/11; HA, JP, TOI 8/12; PCHR 8/13)

The IPS says talks broke down today with the Palestinian prisoners who declared a campaign of disobedience in the Nafha and Ramon Prisons on 8/10. IPS reportedly offered to lift the restrictions after 6 mos. while the prisoners demanded they be lifted immediately. (MNA 8/11)

In East Jerusalem, IDF troops shoot and kill a Palestinian teenager during an arrest raid in Qalandia r.c. Later, thousands of Palestinians march in a funeral procession for the teenager in Qalandia; Israeli forces stationed in the area clash with a number of stone-throwing mourners; 14 Palestinians and 3 Israeli troops are injured. Israeli forces also arrest 11 Palestinians during raids in Issawiyya; arrest and assault a Palestinian in the Old City. Israeli settlers assault a Palestinian bus driver with pepper spray in Shaykh Jarrah. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts raids and house searches in 2 villages nr. Hebron, 3 nr. Ramallah, 1 each nr. Jenin, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm, as well as Bethlehem and a nearby area, arresting 16 Palestinians, issuing an arrest summons to 1, and confiscating a tractor; patrols in 1 village nr. Hebron, and Salfit and a nearby village. Meanwhile, hundreds of Israeli settlers set up a tent camp in and around the Beit El settlement to protest the Israeli High Court’s 7/26 injunction against building in the settlement and its order for 2 residential buildings to be demolished by 7/30. Minor clashes break out when Israeli forces attempt to disperse the settlers; around 50 settlers are arrested. (DPA, HA, MNA, NYT, WAFA, YA 7/27; HA, MNA, YA 7/28; EI 7/29; PCHR 7/30)

ICC prosecutor Bensouda files an appeal challenging the 7/16 ruling issued by a special panel ordering her to reconsider her 11/2014 decision not to investigate Israel’s deadly raid on the Mavi Marmara in 5/2010. (HA 7/27)

Cypriot pres. Anastasiades discusses a new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative with PA pres. Abbas, according to PA sources, which reportedly includes invitations for Abbas and Israeli PM Netanyahu to address EU leaders at a future summit in Brussels. They say it is not intended to replace the French initiative. The Cypriot pres. will discuss the initiative with Netanyahu on 7/28. (JP, MNA, REU, TOI 7/28)

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces conduct simultaneous limited incursions e. of Dayr al-Balah and e. of Khan Yunis to level land. In the West Bank, Israeli forces deliver demolition notices for a tent and a barn in a village nr. Hebron. The IDF conducts house searches and raids in al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron and a village nr. Ramallah, arresting 6 Palestinians; patrols in Tulkarm, 3 villages nr. Ramallah, and 1 each nr. Jenin, Hebron, and Jericho. An Israeli settler rams a car into 4 Palestinian women on a road nr. Qalqilya, injuring all of them. Israeli settlers uproot 450 olive trees nr. Salfit; enter Nablus to perform religious rites, sparking minor clashes between their IDF escort and Palestinian youth. (MNA, WAFA 4/21; HA, MNA, TOI 4/22; PCHR 4/23)

The PA announces that it will be paying its employees their full salaries for 4/2015 as well as the remaining 40% that was deducted in 1–3/2015 during Israel’s tax revenue freeze. (WAFA 4/22)

At a meeting of the UNSC, French and British diplomats urge the council to pass a res. setting parameters for a new round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Also, New Zealand’s amb. to the UN Jim McLay announces that his office is working on a separate draft res. that he plans to propose to the UNSC, adding that he hasn’t seen the French draft res. (JP, REU 4/21; AFP, AP, RT, TOI 4/22; WAFA 4/23)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian man stabs 2 Israeli soldiers at a junction nr. Ramallah, critically injuring 1, then the soldiers shoot and kill him. The IDF consequently conducts raids in several villages in the area and detains 7 Palestinians. The IDF also conducts house searches and raids in and around Hebron, and in Tubas, arresting 7 Palestinians; patrols in 1 village each nr. Jenin and Salfit. IDF troops assault a Palestinian man at a mobile checkpoint in Hebron, lightly injuring him. Palestinians throw rocks at 2 Israeli buses nr. Jerusalem, lightly injuring 3 in the 2 incidents. Off the coast of Gaza nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest a Palestinian doctor in Wadi al-Rababa. (WAFA 4/7; HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 4/8; PCHR 4/9)

Late at night, PLO delegates led by Exec. Comm. mbr. Ahmad Majdalani meet with Syrian dep. FM Faisal Mekdad in Damascus; Syrian govt. says it is ready to support Palestinian fighters in Yarmouk r.c., outside Damascus. (MNA 4/7; MNA, TOI 4/8)

Palestinian envoy to France Hale Fahoum says the Palestinian leadership supports the recently announced French initiative to pass a UNSC res. setting parameters for future peace negotiations. (YA 4/7)

FIFA Pres. Sepp Blatter says he opposes the Palestinian campaign to suspend Israel from international soccer competition ahead of a meeting with PFA head Jibril Rajoub in Cairo. (AFP, REU 4/7)

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Dayr al-Balah and Jabaliya fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers and agricultural areas nr. the border fence, causing damage. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and raids in and around Qalqilya, 2 villages nr. Ramallah, 1 village nr. Jenin, and Tulkarm, arresting 4 Palestinians; patrols in 1 village each nr. Hebron, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, and Salfit. IDF troops arrest 3 Palestinians at a checkpoint nr. Jerusalem and 2 more at an entrance to the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. Israeli forces deliver stop-work orders to Palestinians in 1 village each nr. Hebron and Tubas; demolish a well, a wall, and 10 olive trees in a village nr. Jenin. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 1 Palestinian woman as she is exiting Haram al-Sharif and 6 youth playing in the sanctuary. They also conduct house searches and raids in al-Jdayra, arresting 4 youth and sparking light clashes; arrest 2 Palestinian youths in Bayt Hanina. Israeli authorities issue demolition orders for 5 Palestinian-owned buildings in Silwan. (MNA, WAFA 3/23; MNA 3/24; PCHR 3/26)

Swiss amb. to the PA Paul Garnier visits Gaza to discuss a possible long-term cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. UN Special Coordinator Serry conducted similar meetings in Gaza on 3/2. (MNA 3/23; ALM 4/14)

Fearing that the continued tax revenue freeze could spark an uprising in the West Bank, Senior IDF officers say that the IDF has issued 10,000 permits for Palestinian laborers in the West Bank and has directed its troops to engage in clashes with Palestinian protesters less frequently. (TOI 3/23; YA 3/24)

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough clarifies the Obama admin.’s response to Israeli PM Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric and subsequent attempts to defend himself from international criticism in a speech at the annual J Street conference. “After the election,” McDonough says, “the PM said that he had not changed his position, but for many in Israel and in the international community, such contradictory comments call into question his commitment to a 2-state solution, as did his suggestion that the construction of settlements has a strategic purpose of dividing Palestinian communities and his claim that conditions in the larger Middle East must be more stable before a Palestinian state can be established.” (YA 3/23; HA, TOI 3/24)

In Geneva, the UNHRC holds its scheduled debate on Israeli violations of Palestinian rights in the oPt. Israel is absent, pursuant to its longtime boycott of the council, but so is the U.S. Israel’s FM denies a Reuters report claiming that the U.S. absence stems from the Obama admin.’s recently announced reassessment of its policy on defending Israel in international institutions. Later, U.S. amb to the UNHRC Keith Harper confirms that the U.S. has joined the Israeli boycott due to the UNHRC’s focus on Israel. (JP, REU, TOI 3/23; JP 3/24)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts a house search and raid in Jericho, arresting 2 Palestinians; patrols in Nablus, al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, and 1 village nr. Jenin. Israeli settlers park a group of mobile homes on Palestinian land nr. Nablus, establishing a new settlement outpost. Elsewhere, Palestinians in a village nr. Ramallah say that the Israeli authorities have informed them that they are planning on opening a major road e. of the city, having kept it closed since 2001 (Israeli forces will open the road on 5/25). Israeli authorities also inform farmers nr. Salfit that they plan to demolish 20 olive trees in the area. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces and settlers surround and attempt to evacuate a Palestinian-rented home in the Old City, but the tenants’ lawyer secures a stay on a 3/15 eviction order until 5/2015; small clashes break out. Separately, Israeli forces conduct house searches and raids in Issawiyya and Ras al-Amud, arresting 7 Palestinians. (HA, MNA, WAFA 3/16; PCHR 3/19; EI 3/25)

Israeli PM Netanyahu says that if he is chosen to serve a 3d consecutive term as PM, there will be no Palestinian state, responding to the confusion on 3/8 when his office refuted a Likud Party statement that said he was disavowing his 2009 Bar Ilan speech, in which he 1st came out in favor of the 2-state solution. (AFP, HA, MNA, TOI, YA 3/16)

Palestinian amb. to Iraq Ahmad Aqil says that the Iraqi Higher Judicial Council has issued a res. applying equal status as Iraqi citizens to Palestinian refugees in Iraq—except for full Iraqi nationality. While it is consistent with existing law protecting the rights of Palestinian refugees that passed under Saddam Hussein, those laws were not thoroughly enforced after his overthrow and around 22,000 Palestinians left Iraq. (MNA 3/16)

Iranian FM Zarif and U.S. Secy. of State Kerry, along with other reps. of Iran and the U.S., meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, for a week of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. Zarif travels to Brussels to meet with envoys from several EU mbr. states as well as EU foreign policy chief Mogherini. (AFP, JP, TOI 3/16)

Off the coast of Gaza nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, hundreds of Jewish Israelis visit a religious site in a Palestinian village nr. Salfit after IDF troops raid the village, shut down all the entrances, and force all the stores to close. IDF troops violently disperse Palestinian, Israeli, and international protesters at demonstrations against Israel’s separation wall, settlements, and occupation in c. Hebron, 5 areas nr. Ramallah (Bil‘in, Nabi Salih, Ni‘lin, Silwad, and Jalazun r.c.), and 2 villages nr. Qalqilya (Kafr Qaddum and ‘Izbat al-Tabib); 4 Palestinians are detained and 9 are seriously injured, including 1 photojournalist, and 3 Palestinians from live ammunition. IDF troops also dismantle and evacuate the rebuilt “Gate of Jerusalem” protest tent camp in Abu Dis for the 10th time. The IDF conducts house searches and raids in 1 village nr. Ramallah and 2 nr. Bethlehem, arresting 2 Palestinians and issuing summons to 3; patrols in 1 village each nr. Ramallah, Hebron, and Tulkarm, as well as 2 nr. Jericho. (MNA 2/27, 2/28; PCHR 3/5)

U.S. Secy. of State Kerry calls PA Pres. Mahmoud Abbas and asks him to refrain from undertaking any further unilateral measures that might jeopardize a return to peace negotiations until after Israel’s 3/17 election. (JP 3/1)

Italy’s Chamber of Deputies passes a nonbinding res., 300–45, calling on the Italian govt. to recognize the state of Palestine. (TOI 2/27; MNA 2/28)

Ahead of Israeli PM Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on 3/3, Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Labor) publishes an op-ed in the New York Times criticizing Netanyahu for jeopardizing the U.S.-Israel relationship with a partisan controversy over the speech. (BB, NYT, TOI 2/27; HA, TOI, YA 2/28)

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) introduces the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which would give Congress a 60-day period to review and approve or disapprove any agreement the Obama admin. makes with the rest of the P5+1 and Iran. (AFP, AP 2/28)

In the Gaza Strip, IDF troops e. of Khan Yunis open fire on Palestinian farmers nr. the border fence, causing damage. In the West Bank, dozens of Palestinian and international activists rebuild the “Gate of Jerusalem” tent camp in Abu Dis, and the IDF tears it down hours later for the 2d time in 2 days. Meanwhile, 100s of Palestinians march through Ramallah to the home of the Jordanian amb. following ISIS’s 2/3 video depicting its fighters killing a Jordanian hostage. In the morning, IDF troops raid a Palestinian high school in Nablus, evacuating it and detaining its principal and asst. principal. The IDF arrests a Palestinian child at the Allenby border crossing with Jordan; conducts house searches and arrest raids nr. Hebron, Ramallah, Salfit, and in Tulkarm. Israeli forces also deliver demolition orders to Palestinians in Silwan nr. Ramallah for several wells. In East Jerusalem, Israeli police arrest a 10-year-old Palestinian outside his home in al-Tur. In the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, an IDF soldier is moderately injured by a landmine nr. the border. (HA, MNA, WAFA 2/4; MNA, WAFA 2/5; PCHR 2/12)

The Israeli govt. continues freezing transfers of tax revenues to the PA in response to the Palestinians’ accession to the ICC. Following the 1/2 freeze of NIS 500 m. (around $127.6 m.) of revenues collected in 12/2014, Israel collected around $100 m. worth of revenues in 1/2015. A senior Israeli official says that the freeze will continue until the govt. “finishes formulating its response to the PA’s unilateral move to the ICC, a step that runs contrary to all previous agreements.” (JP 2/4; MNA 2/11)

Israeli amb. to the U.S. Ron Dermer meets with 7 Jewish Democrats from the House of Reps. to discuss PM Netanyahu’s 3/3 speech to Congress. The mbrs. criticize the timing of the speech. (AP, POL 2/4)

In the Gaza Strip, IDF troops e. of Khan Yunis detain 3 Palestinians as they attempt to cross the border fence into Israel. In the West Bank, Israeli forces conduct house searches and arrest raids nr. Ramallah and Jenin; patrol nr. Hebron and Salfit; demolish 30 dunams (around 7.4 acres) of wheat fields nr. Bethlehem; and deliver eviction orders to several Palestinian bedouin families in a village nr. Jericho. Israeli settlers level land so they can establish a road leading to an outpost s. of Bethlehem. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces fire sound bombs and tear gas at Palestinian students as they exit their elementary school in al-Tur, then arrest 1 of their parents. (MNA, WAFA 1/15; PCHR 1/22; OCHA 1/23)

In Cairo, the Arab League agrees to make the “necessary communications and consultations” with international partners to submit a new proposal on behalf of the Palestinians to the UNSC. Diplomats from 5 Arab countries will form a joint comm. to organize the resubmission, and PA Pres. Abbas agrees to respect the comm.’s decisions regarding timing. (AP, HA, JP, MNA, WAFA 1/15; TOI 1/17)

After meeting with the U.S. Consul Gen. to Israel and Palestine Michael Ratney in Ramallah, PA PM Hamdallah calls on the international community to pressure Israel into unfreezing its tax revenue transfers to the PA. (AJ, REU, WAFA, YA 1/15) 

Iranian FM Zarif meets with German FM Steinmeier in Berlin, then with EU foreign affairs chief Mogherini, to discuss the ongoing negotiations over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. In Geneva, reps. of Iran and the U.S. discuss the negotiations. (AFP 1/16; MNA 1/17)