The Palestine Chronology

The IDF tightens roadblocks btwn. Jerusalem, Ramallah; imposes a curfew on Silwad nr. Ramallah; shoots, wounds a mentally handicapped Palestinian who strays into a closed military zone nr. Morag; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, and in Aida r.c., Balata r.c., Bayt Rima and Dayr Ghassana nr. Ramallah, Madama nr. Nablus, Salfit; begins work on new segments of the separation wall running s. of Hebron and btwn. East Jerusalem and the Qalandia checkpoint s. of Ramallah, bulldozing 500 d.; reportedly bulldozes large areas in Wadi al-Malih in the n. Jordan Valley. Palestinians in Nablus report that the IDF is digging a trench 3 m deep and 4 m wide to encircle Salim, Azmut, Dayr Hatab, Bayt Dajan, and Bayt Furik villages (combined population 30,000); 3 km have been completed. Armed Palestinians calling themselves the Fatah Fighters kidnap the PA’s security dir. for the Rafah checkpoint Saad al-Sayfan, accusing him of corruption. 15 armed Palestinians occupy the Khan Yunis governate building for 2 hrs., demand that the PA compensate local Palestinians who have lost their homes to IDF bulldozing. Palestinians fire 5 mortars at Gush Katif, causing no damage or injuries. A PA court in Gaza opens a trial against 7 alleged collaborators, including Muhammad and Rami Abu Qaynas, accused of providing Israel with information used to assassinate Hamas leader ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Rantisi on 4/17/04. ( JAZ 9/5; MENA 9/5 in WNC 9/7; VOI 9/6 in WNC 9/8; PR 9/8; PCHR 9/9; PR 9/15)

The IDF assassinates Hamas spiritual leader and founder Shaykh Ahmad Yasin, firing 3 internationally banned flechette missiles at him as he leaves a Gaza City mosque after morning prayers, also killing 3 bodyguards, 4 bystanders, wounding at least 17 Palestinians, including Yasin’s 2 sons. Immediately, 100,000s of Palestinians take to the streets throughout the territories to protest the assassination. The IDF seals Gaza; clashes with Palestinian demonstrators in Balata r.c. (killing an al-Najah Radio correspondent in Balata r.c., apparently thinking his mobile phone was a weapon), Bethlehem, Dayr al-Balah, Hebron (fatally shooting 1 Palestinian watching fr. his balcony), Jenin, Khan Yunis (killing 3 Palestinians), Nablus; fires on residential areas of Rafah, Qalqilya, Tal Zu’rub; imposes a curfew on areas around Jenin, fires on residential areas; temporarily occupies a Palestinian home as an IDF post nr. Dayr al-Balah. 100s of Palestinian youths in East Jerusalem gather at checkpoints to throw stones at IDF soldiers; Palestinian prisoners in 2 Israeli jails riot. Palestinians fire Qassam rockets, mortars, antitank rockets at Gush Katif and Netzarim settlements, nearby IDF posts, the western Negev, damaging 2 apartments in Netzarim but causing no injuries. An ax-wielding Palestinian fr. the West Bank village of Bidiyya wounds 3 Israelis outside an army base in Tel Aviv before being arrested. An unidentified assailant said to be Arab stabs, lightly wounds 3 Israelis on a Jaffa bus. 4 Palestinians are arrested for beating up a Jewish settler in East Jerusalem. Jewish settlers detain, beat a Palestinian man in the Jordan Valley. An estimated 200,000 Palestinians, including reps. of all Palestinian factions, take part in Yasin’s funeral services later in the day, with 21 PSF officers forming an honor guard for Yasin’s coffin, Gaza churches ringing their bells, mosques broadcasting Qur’anic verses. Meanwhile, Israeli defense chiefs meet, agree to target the entire remaining Hamas leadership immediately, without waiting for another Hamas attack. Israel also announces that it will close the only mental health clinic serving East Jerusalem Palestinians (1,200 patients) because of “security concerns.” (AP, BBC, CSM, HA, MA, MM, NYT, REU, WP, WT 3/22; AP, ATL, ITARTASS, MNR, MENA, IDF Radio, IRNA, ITARTASS, JP, VIRI, VOI, VOP, XIN 3/22 in WNC 3/24; al-Arabiyya TV [Dubai], Syrian Arab News Agency 3/22 in WNC 4/27; AFP, BBC, CSM, HA, JT, MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/23; AFP, AYM, DUS, HA, al-Hayat al-Jadida, JT, MA, MENA, al-Ra’i, THWR, TSHR, VIRI, YA 3/23 in WNC 3/25; MM, NYT, PR, WP 3/24; ATL, ITAR-TASS, Izvestiya, JT, al-Ra’i, SA, VOP, XIN 3/24 in WNC 3/26; AYM 3/24 in WNC 4/3; JT, MM, PCHR, WJW 3/25; ITAR-TASS, MENA, NHR, VIRI 3/25 in WNC 3/27; MM 3/26; MNR 3/27 in WNC 3/30; AYM 3/30, VOP 3/31 in WNC 4/2; MEI 4/2; PCHR 4/15)

In Washington, Shalom holds further talks on Sharon’s disengagement plan with VP Dick Cheney, Powell, Rice. (WP 3/23)

An AMB suicide bomber fr. Husan detonates a device on a bus in Jerusalem, killing 8 Israelis, wounding 50. Israel says that the attack is proof that Israel needs to build the separation wall. The IDF immediately sends troops into Husan, seals nearby Bethlehem. The IDF also bars an ambulance fr. crossing a checkpoint to reach a Hebron hospital, allowing an ailing Palestinian woman to die; fires in residential areas of Rafah; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Aida r.c., Balata r.c., Bethlehem; issues orders expropriating 27 dunams of Palestinian land until 12/05 for construction of a security fence around Gaza’s Netzarim settlement. A Hamas mbr. dies in Khan Yunis when a missile he is trying to fire prematurely explodes. Palestinians report that the IDF has recently begun barring Palestinians under age 35 fr. crossing checkpoints around Nablus. On the eve of the International Court of Justice hearings on the wall, Israel begins dismantling a 5-mi. stretch of the barrier running east of the n. West Bank village of Baqa‘ al-Sharqiyya; the wall running west of the village will remain; Israel also reportedly plans not to build a 12.5 mi. stretch of wall cutting Jenin off fr. the Jordan Valley, not to dig deep trenches around Ben-Gurion Airport, to remove 2,953 feet of wall in the Qalqilya area. Palestinians across the territories begin holding demonstrations against the wall to coincide with the hearings. Jewish settlers throw rocks, bottles at Palestinian cars in East Jerusalem. (AFP, NYT, WP, WT 2/22; VOP, XIN 2/22 in WNC 2/24; HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT 2/23; AFP, MENA 2/23 in WNC 2/25; al-Quds 2/23 in WNC 2/26; AP 2/25; PCHR 2/26; MM 3/12)