The Palestine Chronology

The IDF directs shells, heavy machine gun fire at residential areas of Rafah r.c., killing 6 Palestinians (including 2 women, 2 teenagers, a 9-yr.-old girl) and wounding 50; the IDF says it was responding to Palestinian gunfire on an IDF bulldozer working build an observation tower with an overview of the camp, causing no injuries. The IDF also bulldozes 2.5 dunams of Palestinian land and an irrigation system nr. Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids in Tal; shells, destroys a closed Palestinian summer resort nr. Aley Sinai settlement. The IDF removes Jewish settlers, trailers fr. Havat Gilad; late in the evening, some 300 Jewish settlers retake the site. Settlers voluntarily leave a 2d enclave, allowing the IDF to dismantle it, bringing to 22 the number of enclaves removed in recent days. Jewish settlers assault Palestinians, Israeli peace activists attempting to harvest olives nr. Yasuf village; the IDF presses settlers to leave the area, allow harvesting to continue. Jewish setters nr. Hebron confiscate 90 dunams of Palestinian land. A PA security court sentences 1 Palestinian, a fmr. Hamas mbr., to death for collaborating with Israel. (REU 10/17; HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT 10/18; AFP, al-Quds 10/18 in WNC 10/21; WP 10/19; LAW, PCHR 10/23; MEI 10/25; JPI 11/8)

A fmr. U.S. defense official corroborates rumors that Israeli special forces recently conducted a covert reconnaissance mission in w. Iraq to determine Iraq's capacity to strike Israel with Scud missiles. Military analyst and fmr. Pentagon official Anthony Cordesman says that Baghdad is estimated to have only 12+n25 Scuds; by comparison, during the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq fired 39 Scuds at Israel alone. (WP 10/18) (see 9/29)

The IDF directs machine gun fire at residential areas of Rafah r.c. to disperse stone throwing youths, hitting several homes and a school, killing 1 Palestinian bystander, wounding 14, including 9 children; conducts arrest raids in Hebron; bulldozes 100 dunams of olive groves s. of Hebron. Some 2,000 Jewish settlers gather at Havat Gilad to protest the IDF's removal of the unauthorized settler outpost, the 1st inhabited enclave (2 families) to be removed by the IDF in the past wk.; 10s of settlers throw stones at, slash tires of reporters vehicles, Palestinian vehicles, a PRCS truck but do not assault soldiers; most settlers leave in the evening, saying the IDF agreed to allow settlers to stay at the site during daylight hrs. (LAW, MM, PCHR 10/16; HA, NYT, WT 10/17; HA, MM 10/18)

            In Washington, Bush receives Sharon for talks on Iraq, the Palestinians; gives Sharon a U.S. draft road map for creation of a Palestinian state that the U.S. plans to submit to the Quartet as an alternative to the EU draft discussed on 9/17. (HA, MM 10/16; AP, HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT 10/17; AYM 10/17 in WNC 10/21; HA, MM 10/18; HA 10/19; al-Quds 10/20 in WNC 10/22; MM 10/22; MEI 10/25)

Israeli security forces guarding the U.S. emb. in Tel Aviv capture a Palestinian suicide bomber when he bolts fr. the entrance of a nearby cafe after his explosives belt set off a metal detector; no one is injured. 1 Palestinian dies of injuries received on 9/30. The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian in her home in Nablus, shells residential areas of Bayt Hanun. Israel bars access to al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers to Palestinians under age 40. Jewish settlers retake the only inhabited settler outpost removed by the IDF on 10/10; the IDF says it has shut 17 of 24 unauthorized outposts it aims to close. (HA, MM 10/11; NYT, WP 10/12; WT 10/13; MM 10/14; LAW, PCHR, PR 10/16)

Some 5,000 Christian evangelicals hold a rally in solidarity with Israel on the sidelines of a Christian Coalition conference in Washington. Addressing the rally, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson states that "Palestine has been occupied by Yasir Arafat and his thugs . . . [and] we cannot turn it over to them." House majority whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) declares that when he visited the Jewish state, "I didn't see any occupied territory--what I saw was Israel." (WJW 10/17; JPI 10/25; Guardian 10/28)

Senate passes (77-23) a concurrent res. approved by the House (296-133) on 10/10 giving Bush the authority to strike Iraq unilaterally, meaning he needs no further congressional approval to deploy troops, order air strikes, wage a ground war with Iraq. The Pentagon issues orders for the army's V Corps, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force to deploy headquarters staffs, which would coordinate an attack on Iraq, to Kuwait, marking the 1st official nonroutine dispatch of conventional ground forces to the Gulf. (NYT, WP, WT 10/11; NYT 10/12)

The IDF demolishes 1 Palestinian home in Tamun; clashes with Palestinians in Silat al-Haratiyya, injuring 9; fires on residential areas of Jenin; conducts house-to-house searches in Juhur al-Dik nr. Gaza City, detaining more than 100 Palestinians, taking them to Neve Dekalim settlement for interrogation (all but 6, who are taken to jail in Israel, are released after 9 hrs.). IDF soldiers discover a package bomb at a gas station in Afula; the device is disarmed; no group claims responsibility. Palestinians throw an explosive device and an IDF vehicle nr. Askar r.c., lightly injuring 1 soldier. Jewish settlers fr. Tapuach nr. Hebron harvest Palestinian olive trees while Palestinian residents are under curfew, shoot at international peace activists who attempt to intervene. Israel says it has arrested alleged West Bank ALF leader Rakad Salim on charges of paying families of Palestinian suicide bombers, other Palestinians wounded or killed during the intifada on behalf of Iraq. (HA, LAW, PCHR, Rabbis for Human Rights press release 10/2; HA 10/3; PCHR 10/9)

Israel ends the siege on Arafat's compound in Ramallah, allowing Arafat, all those inside with him to leave; troops remain in Ramallah however. A Palestinian heart attack victim dies at an IDF checkpoint nr. Khan Yunis when troops deny his passage to a hospital for several hrs. Palestinians in Nablus defy the curfew by reopening schools. The IDF surrounds 3 Nablus schools, forces them to close; fires on curfew breakers in nearby Balata r.c., injuring 3 children. The IDF also fires tear gas into an education center for children and the mentally disabled in Shu`fat r.c., injuring 150 children; demolishes 4 Palestinian houses nr. Netzarim settlement; fires on stone-throwing Palestinian children nr. Bayt Hanun and Khan Yunis, injuring 4. (AFP, JT 9/29, Interfax, MENA, QA 9/30 in WNC 10/1; MM, NYT, WP, WT 9/30; CSM 10/1; LAW, PCHR 10/2; MEI 10/11; WP 11/8)

The Jerusalem Report, citing Britain’s respected Jane’s Foreign Report, claims that IDF special forces are currently operating inside western Iraq, with the knowledge of the U.S., to locate missile launchers that could be used against Israel. (JP 9/29)

The IDF demolishes 2 Palestinian homes nr. Gaza City, damaging 8 others; halts an ambulance nr. Nablus, taking a relative of the patient into custody; fires tear gas at PRCS property, ambulances, paramedics in Nablus, Tulkarm. Palestinians fire 2 mortars, a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, damaging 1 home, causing no injuries; the IDF believes the rocket was a new, larger Qassam-3, with a range of up to 12 km. Palestinian gunmen fire at a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Tulkarm, injuring 1 settler. A Palestinian dies of injuries received on 9/10. An Israeli court indicts 4 East Jerusalem Palestinians for murder for their alleged role in the 7/31/02 Hebrew University bombing. A Palestinian indicted in civilian court on terrorism charges on 7/30 is convicted, sentenced to 22 yrs. Israel announces that 6 wks. ago it arrested 10 bedouin IDF soldiers fr. the Galilee on charges of spying for Hizballah. (JTA 9/12; HA, WP 9/13; LAW, PCHR 9/18; PCHR 9/20; HA 10/23; MM, NYT, WP, WT 10/24; MM 10/29)

In a speech to the opening session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) a day after the 1st anniversary of the al-Qa`ida attacks on the U.S., Bush warns the UN to take action quickly to force Iraq to "unconditionally accept" inspection, disarmament of its chemical and biological weapons and nuclear research facilities, intimating that the U.S. will take action unilaterally if the UN does not. Bush also reiterates his support for the creation of "an independent and democratic Palestine living side by side with Israel in peace and security," adding that "Palestinians deserve a government that serves their interests and listens to their voices." (NYT, Jerusalem Times, WP, WT 9/12; HA, MM 9/13; AYM 9/13, MENA, al-Quds 9/14, MENA 9/15 in WNC 9/16; NYT 9/14; JT, WP 9/15; MM 9/17; MEI 9/27)

The American Jewish Comm., Israel 21c (a Silicon Valley+n based group supported by executives of high-tech companies) launch an ad campaign to run on cable TV news stations in 100 U.S. cities promoting Israel's side in its conflict with the Palestinians, portraying Israel as the only democratic country and country sharing American values in the Middle East. (JTA 9/17; AP 9/18; WJW 9/19, 9/26)

A Hamas gunman infiltrates Elon Moreh settlement, kills 4 Jewish settlers. 1 Israeli injured in the 3/27 Netanya attack dies. The IDF closes main roads across Gaza, cutting the Strip into 3 sections. The PSF arrests senior Hamas, Islamic Jihad mbrs. in Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah. Arafat issues an urgent appeal for an unconditional cease-fire. Sharon convenes his cabinet to discuss the escalating Palestinian attacks. U.S. Secy. of State Colin Powell phones Sharon to urge against exiling Arafat. The cabinet agrees to "totally isolate" Arafat, calls up 20,000 IDF reserves in preparation for a major assault. (HA 3/28; XIN 3/28 in WNC 3/29; MM, NYT, REU, WP, WT 3/29; NYT 3/30; WT 4/1; MEI 4/5; WP 5/6)

The Arab summit unanimously adopts the Saudi initiative, pledges $480 m. aid to the Palestinians, urges against a U.S. attack on Iraq. (CNN 3/28; al-Quds, XIN 3/28 in WNC 3/29; HA, NYT, WP, WT 3/29; al-Majallah 3/30 in WNC 4/1; HA 4/4; MEI, MM 4/5)

The IDF sends tanks, troops into Artas village, nr. Bethlehem, to detain a wanted Islamic Jihad mbr. Omar Ayish. In the process the IDF wound 4 Palestinians; throw a grenade into the Ayish home, causing damage but no injuries; leave a trail of cars crushed and overturned by tanks. In response to the raid, Palestinian gunmen fire on Gilo fr. Bayt Jala, lightly injuring 1 Jewish settler. IDF soldiers detain and beat a Red Crescent doctor, ambulance driver at a checkpoint in Nablus. The doctor is released after several hrs. but the driver is kept in custody. (AP 1/29; NYT, PCHR 1/30)

Omri Sharon, the PM's son, meets Arafat in Ramallah to arrange a secret mtg. btwn. Sharon, senior PA officials in Jerusalem for 1/30. (SA 2/3 in WNC 2/4; MM 2/4)

In his State of the Union address, Bush calls Iran, Iraq, North Korea an "axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world"; also refers to a "terrorist underworld, including groups like Hamas, Hizballah, [and] Islamic Jihad." (HA, NYT, WP, WT 1/30; MM 1/31; MM 2/1; MA 2/1 in WNC 2/4; JP, MEI 2/8)