The Palestine Chronology

Israeli naval vessels fire on and detain a Palestinian fishing boat off the coast of n. Gaza, ordering 3 fishermen to strip naked and swim to the gunboat and the 4th fisherman to accompany the gunboat to Ashdod port; the fishermen are released in the evening. IDF troops on the s. Gaza border fire on residential areas of al-Shuka, moderately wounding a Palestinian woman. In the West Bank, an IDF soldier is killed in a friendly fire incident nr. Ramallah. The IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem. (OCHA 5/13; PCHR 5/14)

At an emergency session in Cairo, the Arab League states unanimously reject the Obama admin.’s request as relayed by King Abdallah (see 4/21) to amend the 2002 Arab League initiative by dropping demands for the Palestinian right of return as a means of jumpstarting comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace talks. (Irish Times 5/8; NYT 5/12; see also AP, UPI 5/6)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem and nr. Jenin, firing on residential areas but causing no injuries. (OCHA 4/22; PCHR 4/23)

King Abdallah of Jordan meets with U.S. pres. Barack Obama, special envoy Mitchell at the White House. Obama lays out his admin.’s working plan, still in the formulating stage, for jumpstarting the peace process, asking the king to relay a request to the 22-mbr. Arab League to amend its 2002 peace initiative “to make it more palatable to Israel,” specifically by dropping demands for the Palestinian refugees’ right of return and setting a timetable for normalization with Israel. (AP 4/21; WP 4/26; WT 4/30; AP, al-Quds al-Arabi, UPI 5/6; NYT 5/12)