The Palestine Chronology

In Gaza, the IDF sends tanks, troops into Jabaliya r.c., clashing with Palestinian gunmen, killing 1 Hamas mbr., 1 Palestinian civilian; expands operations on the Rafah border, taking up positions nr. Rafah crossing, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen (killing 2 Palestinian militants), ordering male residents in some neighborhoods to surrender for interrogation (handcuffing and blindfolding them), reportedly finding a smugglers tunnel (the 13th it says it has found in the past 3 mos.); simultaneously sends troops into al-Shuka, conducting arrest raids, house searches. Overnight, the IDF sends troops into Qabatya, conducts arrest raids and house searches, exchanges fire with Palestinian gunmen (killing 1 Palestinian gunman, wounding 3), fires on stone-throwing youths who confront them (killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 7). Also in the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in vehicles with Palestinian license plates into ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c. nr. Nablus, opening fire on a taxi, assassinating wanted AMB mbr. ‘Adil Abu al-Rish, killing his cousin, who was not wanted; raids offices of Change and Reform PC mbrs. in Ramallah, arresting the office director; raids al-Quds University campus of religious studies in Abu Dis, arresting 2 Palestinians; makes arrest raids in Qalqilya (exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen, killing an Islamic Jihad mbr., wounding 13 Palestinians), nr. Nablus, Tulkarm; later makes a 2d raid into Qalqilya, firing on stone-throwing Palestinians, fatally shooting a Palestinian civilian. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus detain 2 Palestinian workers in the nearby Hawara cemetery, releasing them after the IDF intervenes. In Khan Yunis, unidentified gunmen fire on the home of a Fatah mbr., wounding him. A Fatah mbr. dies of injuries received in clashes with Hamas on 10/1. (NYT, WP, WT 10/8; OCHA 10/18; PCHR 10/19; OCHA 11/1)

The IDF sends undercover units into Bethlehem to conduct arrest raids, house searches; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, Jericho, Qalqilya; sends troops into Dura, fires on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 4; patrols in al-Aqaba nr. Jenin. Some 15 Jewish settlers in Hebron attack 2 international peace activists, lightly injuring them. (PCHR 4/27)

With PA security forces (predominantly Fatah mbrs.) refusing to deploy on his orders, new PA Interior M Said Siyam appoints PRC head Jamal Abu Samhadana (formerly a Fatah member and senior PA security officer) as inspector gen. of the Interior Min. to set up a new volunteer security force, the Executive Support Force (ESF), to help restore law and order to the streets. The ESF ideally would include mbrs. of “all the resistance branches.” Israel, the U.S. accuse PM Haniyeh of forming his own militia to counter Abbas. (MM, NYT, WP, WT 4/21; MM, WT 4/25; XIN 4/30; NYT 5/20)

The IDF officially ends operations in the Nablus area, but reenters Balata r.c. and Nablus late in the evening, patrolling streets and firing on residential areas; fatally shoots 2 Palestinians laying roadside bombs along the Gaza border nr. Dayr al-Balah; makes an air strike on 3 AMB mbrs. driving in Bayt Lahiya, missing the vehicle, injuring 2 bystanders in an apparent assassination attempt; shells uninhabited areas nr. Rafah, causing no damage or injuries; fires on 3 unarmed Palestinians attempting to sneak into Israel fr. Gaza nr. Dayr al-Balah to find jobs, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 2; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron (occupying 1 house as an observation post), in Silwad nr. Ramallah; patrols in Askar r.c. nr. Nablus; fires on stone-throwing Palestinians in Bayt Umar nr. Hebron. Elsewhere in Gaza, a Hamas mbr. dies in a mysterious explosion, possibly while preparing explosives. A Jewish settler fr. a settlement nr. Jericho shoots, wounds a Palestinian farmer working his nearby land. (REU, XIN 2/24; NYT 2/25; PCHR 3/2)