The Palestine Chronology

The IDF conducts a late-night arrest raid in Bethlehem. An Israeli court orders settlers to evacuate the East Jerusalem home seized on 11/22; Israeli police remove the settlers but seal the second floor of the home pending a 12/2 court date to hear the settlers’ case. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba vandalize Palestinian homes nr. the al-Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs. (PCHR 11/27)

In Gaza, UNRWA suspends its program of cash distributions to the 100,000 poorest refugees (intended to enable them to supplement their basic food ration with fresh vegetables and other vital household supplies) because there are no Israeli shekels circulating in Gaza due to Israel’s 8/08 ban on exporting currency to Gaza’s banks and hoarding by Gazans. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night house searches in and around Balata r.c. and Nablus, nr. Qalqilya; occupies 4 Palestinian homes in the Wadi al-Nassara area of Hebron, restricts Palestinian movement in the neighborhood while Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba hold a celebration. (OCHA, PCHR 11/20; PCHR 11/27)

Israel allows into Gaza 30 trucks carrying food and medicine for UNRWA, a limited amount of diesel fuel for Gaza’s electricity plant. The IDF fires on a group of armed Palestinians nr. Bayt Lahiya, wounding 2. Palestinians fire 11 rockets, 1 mortar fr. Gaza into Israel, causing some damage but no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Bayt Umar and al-Fawar refugee camp (r.c.) nr. Hebron. (JP, WP 11/18; OCHA 11/19; PCHR 11/20; JP 1/22; HA 11/23)

Israel imposes a general closure on the West Bank and on 2 checkpoints into Nablus through 10/1 for Rosh Hashanah. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron and nr. Jenin. (OCHA 10/1; PCHR 10/9)

In Tripoli, Lebanon, a remote-controlled car bomb explodes nr. an army bus, killing 4 Lebanese soldiers and 3 bystanders, injuring around 20, marking the 2d attack in Tripoli targeting the army in 6 wks. (NYT, WP 9/30; WT 10/2, 10/13; WP 10/22)

Israeli naval vessels seize 9 Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya coast, detaining 9 fishermen for questioning, releasing them in the evening. In the West Bank, the IDF makes an afternoon raid into al-Til nr. Nablus, arresting 1 Palestinian; fires tear gas, skunk spray at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, wounding 1; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin, injuring 3; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Beit HaShalom and Kiryat Arba attack Palestinians and vandalize Palestinian homes in Wadi al-Nassara; the IDF observes but does not intervene. A Palestinian is killed when he accidentally triggers unexploded IDF ordnance (UXO) in a field nr. Jenin. The Ramallah-based, Fatah-led Health Workers’ Union calls on PA health providers in Gaza to strike to protest the acting Hamas government; this strikes continues through the end of the quarter. (OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4)

Gaza banks report that Israel is blocking the import of currency to the Strip and that banks are now running short of cash to pay public workers’ salaries. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in a car with Palestinian license plates into Nablus in an unusual daytime operation (Nablus is ostensibly under PA security control during the day) to arrest a wanted Palestinian. For a 2d day, Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba attack Palestinians and their property nr. Wadi al-Nassara, seriously injuring an 80-yr.-old Palestinian man. Later, nearby, Jewish settlers attack a Palestinian home, severely beating a Palestinian couple and their 15-yr.-old child (who lost an eye in a similar settler attack 2 yrs. ago). (OCHA, WT 8/6; PCHR 8/7)

In the West Bank, Jewish settlers in Hebron attack Palestinians and their property in Wadi al-Nassara, severely beating 2 Palestinians. Separately, Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba stone Palestinian cars driving nr. the settlement, causing no reported injuries. In Gaza, Hamas-affiliated police raid an area of Gaza City controlled by the Hillis family, which Hamas has accused of hiding suspects wanted in connection with the 7/25 bombings, sparking violent clashing involving exchanges of mortars and grenades that leave 11 Palestinians dead (2 policemen, 8 mbrs. of the Hillis clan, 1 bystander) and 88 injured (including 12 children), marking some of the heaviest intra-Palestinian fighting since 6/07. (A 12th Palestinian dies several days later.) By afternoon, Hamas forces seize control of the 100,000-resident Shijaiyah neighborhood, conduct house-to-house searches for weapons and suspects, arresting 50 people. During the fighting, 188 Fatah mbrs. fr. Gaza, including clan leader and senior Fatah mbr. Ahmad Hillis, flee to Nahal Oz crossing, where Israel grants them entry for transit to the West Bank; Hamas police fire on the fleeing men, injuring 22, who are treated in Israeli hospitals. Hamas also closes a PFLP radio station in Gaza for reporting sympathetic to Fatah. (NYT, WP, WT 8/3; WT 8/4; OCHA 8/6; PCHR 8/7; OCHA 8/20)

In the afternoon, the IDF sends troops, bulldozers into Abasan and al-Fukhari, firing on residential areas (wounding 1 Palestinian), leveling 15 d. of agricultural land.IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on a group of Palestinian civilians and journalists examining an agricultural plot recently bulldozed by the IDF nr. al-Bureij r.c., wounding 1 press photographer. Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night patrols in Ramallah and neighboring al-Bireh; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Ramallah. Jewish settlers begin work on a new unauthorized settlement outpost, Sinsana B, on 200 d. of privately owned Palestinian land nr. Hebron, a short distance fr. the existing unauthorized outpost Sinsana A; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Jewish settlers fr. Havat Ya’ir in Hebron, wielding iron pipes and heavy tools, beat an elderly Palestinian couple and their 32-yr.-old relative grazing sheep nearby, seriously injuring them. In Gaza’s Nussayrat r.c.,Hamas-affiliated police cordon off 2 apartments owned by PA PM Salam Fayyad’s cabinet secy. Sadi al-Krunz (Fatah), currently residing in Ramallah. (OCHA 6/11; PCHR 6/12)

Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories commemorate the Nakba by visiting the sites of Palestinian villages destroyed in 1948, holding somber rallies and moments of silence, and, in Qalandia r.c., releasing 1,000s of black balloons (1 for each day since the State of Israel was declared). In Gaza, the IDF begins digging a trench (around 300 ft. long, 10 ft. wide, 15 ft. deep) fr. an IDF post e. of Abasan to Khuza, firing on nearby residential areas, causing no reported injuries. IDF troops at the Erez crossing fire bullets, tear gas at 100s of Palestinians staging a nonviolent protest against the Israeli siege. IDF troops on the c. Gaza border e. of Juhur al-Dik fire on 3 Palestinian girls who stray nr. the border fence, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Taqou’ nr. Bethlehem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus. A Palestinian civilian wounded during the 5/4 IDF incursion into Khuza dies. (CNN 5/15; PCHR 5/22)

Under a deal brokered by the Arab League, the Hizballah-led opposition and Lebanon’s ruling coalition agree to open talks in Qatar on 5/16 to negotiate an agmt. on a cabinet and new electoral law, to be followed by election of consensus pres. candidate Gen. Michel Suleiman. Hizballah removes roadblocks leading to Beirut airport, allowing some flights to resume in the evening. (BBC 5/15; NYT, WP, WT 5/16; WP 5/18)

Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, killing an Israeli. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in cars with Palestinian license plates into Bayt Eiba nr. Nablus, where they surround a Palestinian home, order all occupants to surrender (which they do), arrest 2 wanted AMB mbrs. (1 of whom was among the AMB mbrs. granted amnesty by Israel in 7/07); patrols in al-‘Arub r.c., firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no injuries but arresting 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Jenin town and r.c. (NYT, WP 5/13; PCHR 5/15)

The Arab League sends a high-level delegation to Lebanon to discuss the political crisis. With scattered fighting continuing, the Lebanese army warns that it will begin using force to quell clashes if a cease-fire does not hold. Lebanese security officials say that as many as 62 Lebanese have died and 198 have been injured since clashes erupted on 5/6. (NYT, WP 5/13; NYT 5/16; NYT, WP 5/18)

In Gaza, the IDF sends tanks, bulldozers into Juhur al-Dik, areas n. of Rafah to bulldoze land. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Tulkarm, and nr. Jenin. Israel announces plans to construct several new housing units in Har Brakha settlement nr. Nablus on 229 d. of Palestinian land fr. neighboring Burin village. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus vandalize a nearby Palestinian home, set fire to Palestinian crops, beat Palestinians who come to put out the fire. A new contingent of 500 PA security officers trained in Jordan takes up patrols in Jenin, adding to the 150 police officers already there in what the PA has dubbed “Operation Smile and Hope”. In Jabaliya r.c., a Fatah mbr. is injured by an explosive device left outside his door; no group claims responsibility. (NYT, WT 5/4; OCHA 5/7; PCHR 5/8)

Israel resumes shipments (suspended 4/9) of industrial gasoline for Gaza’s power plant but continues to suspend gasoline and diesel for cars and generators. The UNOCHA calls the fuel supplies for the power plant “insufficient” and urges Israel to resume shipment of all forms of fuel, saying that schools and clinics are unable to function normally without regular transportation. Overnight, the IDF sends troops into areas e. of Gaza City, sparking clashes that leave 4 armed Palestinians dead and 1 IDF soldier, 4 armed Palestinians wounded. In the morning, Hamas and Islamic Jihad mbrs. stage a diversion nr. the Nahal Oz crossing to lure IDF soldiers into Gaza, ambushing the unit once it enters the Strip, killing 3 IDF soldiers; the IDF responds with tank fire and air strikes, killing 4 Hamas and Islamic Jihad mbrs. The IDF increases tank fire, air strikes on Palestinian targets throughout the day, killing 14 Palestinian civilians, including 11 in a helicopter air strike on a mosque in Juhur al-Dik in c. Gaza, and Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana’a (his clearly marked Reuters press vehicle is hit directly by a flechette tank shell), wounding 34 (including 17 children, 1 woman); 2 IDF soldiers are also wounded. The IDF also bulldozes 6 Palestinian homes, 200 d. of agricultural land in Juhur al-Dik. An IDF infantry unit crosses into Gaza nr. Bayt Lahiya to engage armed Palestinians in the area, fires on a car of Palestinian farmers trying to fleeing the area, killing 1 Palestinian farmer, wounding 2. Palestinians fire 10 rockets, 2 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel during the day, causing no damage or injuries; 1 rocket fired toward Israel lands nr. Jabaliya r.c., injuring 2 Palestinians. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin r.c. (firing on residential areas, arresting an AMB mbr. granted amnesty by Israel in 7/07) during the day, and late at night in and around Jenin and Tulkarm, in Nablus, and nr. Hebron. In the evening (8:30 P.M. EST; 2:30 A.M. on 4/17 local time), IDF undercover units ambush a car in Qabatya, assassinating local Islamic Jihad cmdr. Bilal Zaalah (also reported as Bilal Kmayel) and a 2d Islamic Jihad mbr. (BBC, IFM, OCHA, REU 4/16; HA, NYT, PCHR, WP 4/17; OCHA 4/23; PCHR 4/24)

Overnight in Gaza the IDF makes an incursion into Wadi al-Silqa, raiding and searching homes, bulldozing 4 Palestinian homes, exchanging fire with local gunmen, wounding 2 armed Palestinians. During the day, the IDF raids al-Qarara, ordering all males aged 16 and older to surrender for interrogation, arresting 5 Palestinians (including the primary target: Abu Rish Brigades cmdr. Ala’ Abu Madif, whom Israel claims received military training in Iran), firing on residential areas (wounding a Palestinian father and infant), bulldozing 113 d. of agricultural land, and damaging water, electricity, and phone networks before withdrawing late at night. Late at night, the IDF makes an air strike assassinating Islamic Jihad’s Nussayrat cmdr. Abdallah al-Ghussayn as he drives through Jabaliya r.c., wounding another Islamic Jihad mbr. with him; for no known reason makes a helicopter air strike targeting a 4th-floor apartment in a Bayt Lahiya apartment building, causing heavy damage and lightly injuring a 3-mo.-old girl. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem and in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. A fmr. PA intelligence officer in c. Gaza is killed; a previously unknown group called Country’s Honor claims responsibility. (OCHA 3/16; PCHR 4/17; IFM 5/19)

IDF troops inside Israel fatally shoot an armed Palestinian who approaches the s. Gaza border. The IDF also bulldozes 5 d. of Palestinian land inside the border fence nr. Wadi al-Silqa; later conducts arrest raids, house searches in Wadi al-Silqa, detaining 3 Palestinians. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night house searches in and around Nablus but makes no arrests; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 8, including 3 children). Jewish settlers fr. Efrat uproot 100 Palestinian olive trees to make way for new construction begun on 3/23. Palestinians stone Jewish settler vehicles nr. Ramallah, causing no injuries. In n. Gaza, 50,000 Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah al-Yasir (an AMB offshoot) supporters hold a peaceful demonstration calling on the Arab League summit assembling in Damascus to find a way to break Israel’s siege of Gaza. In Jabaliya r.c., 2,000 Palestinians attend a rally organized by Islamic Jihad to call on Fatah and Hamas to form a unity government. (OCHA 4/2; PCHR 4/3)

Overnight, the IDF makes several air strikes on Gaza, killing 5 Hamas mbrs. before withdrawing ground troops fr. Gaza in the morning, stating that it is suspending Operation Hot Winter during U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice’s upcoming 3/4–5 visit. The toll for the 5-day operation is at least 110 Palestinians (half of them civilians, including at least 24 children; Hamas says it lost 37 mbrs.; Islamic Jihad and the PRCs say they lost 15) and 3 Israelis dead (1 civilian inside Israel, 2 IDF soldiers in Gaza), and nearly 400 Palestinians injured (most of them civilians). In addition, 21 Palestinian homes were destroyed (leaving 147 Gazans homeless) and 88 heavily damaged (affecting 616 Gazans), 90 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of agricultural land was bulldozed, and 80 Palestinians were detained for questioning (at least 5 were remanded to Israel). Palestinians fired more than 200 rockets (allegedly including 21 Grads). The IDF, however, makes more air strikes during the day, killing another 3 Palestinians (at least 2 of them civilians, including a child), destroying the Palestinian Council (PC) headquarters in Gaza City. Palestinians fire 18 rockets (allegedly including 1 Grad) into Israel, causing damage but no injuries; 1 rocket lands inside Gaza, hitting a home, wounding 2 Palestinians. In the West Bank, 1,000s of Palestinians demonstrate against Operation Hot Winter; a Jewish settler fr. Talmon B settlement nr. Ramallah fires on demonstrators in nearby al-Mazra‘a, killing a Palestinian teenager; IDF soldiers fire on another protest nr. Hebron, wounding 2 Palestinians. The IDF also exchanges fire with Palestinian gunmen nr. Bethlehem, wounding 3; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Nablus. (BBC, NYT, PCHR, REU, WP 3/3; MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/4; PCHR 3/6; OCHA 4/18)

As the quarter opened, Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiating teams created at the 11/07 Annapolis summit were holding regular meetings to discuss final status. Israel, meanwhile, maintained an extremely tight seal on Gaza following Hamas’s 1/23– 2/3 breach of the Gaza-Egypt border (see Quarterly Update in JPS 147); no exports were permitted and only very limited humanitarian imports were allowed. During the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) makes a ground incursion into Rafah, clashing with local gunmen, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding 7 Palestinians (including 1 bystander). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Ayn al-Sultan refugee camp (r.c.) nr. Jericho, nr. Nablus. A Palestinian resistance mbr. wounded during a 2/11 IDF raid on Wadi al-Silqa dies. An Islamic Jihad mbr. dies of injuries sustained on 2/15 when a mortar he was preparing exploded prematurely. (WP 2/17; OCHA 2/20; PCHR 2/21; OCHA 3/4)

In Gaza, 2,000 Palestinians hold a peaceful demonstration at a sealed breach in the Rafah border to urge Egypt to keep the border open. Outside Rafah, 2 Palestinian teenagers are injured when they accidentally trigger unexploded IDF ordnance. In the West Bank, the IDF sets up a checkpoint outside a Bayt Umar cemetery to check the IDs of mourners attending the funeral of the 2d Kefar Etzion attacker (see 1/24); later fires percussion grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets at mourners, wounding 6; fires on residential areas of al-Khadir nr. Bethlehem, causing no injuries; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin, northwest of Jerusalem; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 2). Palestinian children throw stones at Jewish settler vehicles traveling on Route 55 nr. Azun and Route 60 nr. Hawara, damaging 2 but causing no injuries. Inside Israel, 20,000 Israeli Palestinians march in Sakhnin to protest a 1/27 government decision not to try police officers who fatally shot 13 Israeli Palestinians during 10/00 antigovernment demonstrations in Um al-Fahm in solidarity with the intifada. In Gaza City, Hamas-affiliated police release Fayyad adviser Ghul, arrested on 12/14. (AFP 2/1; NYT, WP 2/2; OCHA 2/6; PCHR 2/7)

The World Food Program and UNRWA, which distribute food to 887,000 Gazans, say that because of Israel’s restrictions on food and fuel imports, they will have to cease operations by 1/24 and 1/25, respectively. Bakeries are expected to run out of flour within days, and meat prices have doubled in the past 10 days. The UN reports 40–50% of Gazans no longer have access to running water. In Gaza City, 1,500 Palestinians attend a PPCAS rally urging Israel to lift the siege. Reform and Change legislators lead a peaceful demonstration of 1,000 Palestinians at the Rafah border, appealing to Egypt to open the crossing. Palestinians fire 8 rockets and mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Egyptian security forces uncover a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border, exchange gunfire with the tunnel’s Egyptian owners, leaving 1 dead, 1 injured. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron; fires on 10s of Palestinians in al-Shayukh nr. Hebron holding a nonviolent protest against Israel’s siege of Gaza, wounding 1. A 2d AMB mbr. wounded in a 1/15 IDF missile strike dies (see 1/17). (NYT, WP, WT 1/22; OCHA, WP 1/23; PCHR 1/24)

The IDF makes an air strike on a car in Bayt Lahiya, assassinating PRC cmdr. Raed Abu al-Ful, also killing a Palestinian woman traveling with him; makes an air strike on another car in Bayt Lahiya carrying suspected militants, missing the car, killing a Palestinian woman and child nearby, seriously wounding 6 bystanders (including 3 children); makes an air strike on Gaza City, killing 2 Hamas mbrs., wounding 4; fires on unarmed Palestinians who stray nr. the border fence e. of Dayr al-Balah, wounding 1; sends tanks, a bulldozer into Gaza to level land nr. al-Maghazi r.c. and nearby alMusaddar. Palestinians fire about 40 rockets fr. Gaza toward Israel, half of which land inside Israel, hitting 2 houses, damaging a road, lightly injuring 4 Israelis. Olmert vows to wage “war” on Gaza to stop rocket attacks, orders Gaza’s crossing sealed completely for several days to punish Gazans. The PA warns that escalated IDF offensives in Gaza jeopardize peace talks. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Balata r.c. nr. Nablus, where they surround and fire on a Palestinian home (wounding a 3-yr.-old boy), sparking an exchange of gunfire that leaves 1 wanted Palestinian dead, another wounded, 4 Palestinians under arrest; sends undercover units into Tulkarm, detaining 25 Palestinians; conducts additional arrest raids, house searches in villages nr. Tulkarm, Hebron, Ramallah; sends troops into al-Bireh and Jenin to set up roadblocks and conduct ID checks, making no arrests; patrols in ‘Aqaba nr. Tubas. An AMB mbr. wounded in a 1/15 IDF missile strike dies. (NYT, WP 1/18; NYT, PCHR 1/19; OCHA 1/23; PCHR 1/24)