The Palestine Chronology

Israel announces that it has arrested 3 PFLP mbrs. for allegedly plotting to assassinate Shas party leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. The IDF orders 27 bedouin to evacuate 3 sites nr. Tubas. Israel also opens bidding on 50 plots of land in Elkana settlement nr. Nablus for construction of new homes. The IDF issues military orders for the demolition of 3 Palestinian homes, 10 wells, 6 sewage systems outside Yatta for expansion of Carmiel settlement; resumes construction on a segment of the separation wall n. of Jerusalem; starts construction of a settler bypass road linking Neve Yaqub settlement to others around Jerusalem; raids Dayr al-Balah for a 2d day, arrests 3 Palestinians who allegedly attempted to sneak into Israel to find work; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Askar r.c. nr. Nablus, Silwad nr. Ramallah. Jewish settlers set up 2 new unauthorized outposts nr. Elon Moreh settlement nr. Nablus, nr. Hebron. A Jewish settler injures a 12-yr.-old Palestinian child in a hit-and-run nr. Bethlehem. Palestinians fire on IDF soldiers outside Neve Dekalim settlement, lightly wounding 1. In Jenin, 10s of AMB mbrs. take over a main intersection, close down a government building, demanding that the PA provide jobs to unemployed militants, fmr. prisoners, relatives of Palestinians killed by the IDF. Palestinian teachers open a 2-day strike to protest PC inactivity in amending the civil service law to increase teacher salaries (see 4/6). (NYT 4/18; MM 4/19; OCHA, PR 4/20; PCHR 4/21)

The IDF sends troops into Tulkarm, confiscates several car motors fr. a local business, clashes with armed Palestinians who arrive on the scene, killing 1 Palestinian resistance mbr., wounding 1 armed Palestinian and 1 bystander; fires missiles at Gaza City, strafes the residential areas with machine gun fire; for no apparent reason fires on Palestinians waiting to cross Abu Huli and al-Mahatin checkpoints, causing no injuries; makes an incursion into Tubas nr. Jenin, fires on Palestinian youths who throw stones at troops; bulldozes Palestinian land around Gaza’s Erez crossing; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Asira and nearby Nablus, Balata r.c., Gaza City, Kafr Qadim nr. Qalqilya; bulldozes the Nabi Samuel road (the only entrance to villages located to the northwest of Jerusalem), transforms it into a car park and temporary housing for guards escorting workers constructing the separation wall in the area. The IDF bars Palestinians with Jerusalem IDs fr. crossing the Qalandia checkpoint into Ramallah without acquiring a new special permit; says they must also cross on foot, may not use vehicles. Hamas fires mortars, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) fires rockets into s. Gaza Jewish settlements, causing no damage or injuries; unidentified Palestinians fire 1 rocket into Israel fr. s. Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. 2 Palestinian gunmen fire on Israeli police officers searching for stolen cars nr. Tulkarm, wounding 1 before being shot dead. An Israeli dies of injuries received in a 1/2 Gaza mortar attack. (JTA, Reuters 1/11; NYT, WP 1/12; PCHR 1/13; PR 1/20; MEI 1/21)