The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli forces demolished a shack housing 11 people east of Yatta. 4 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around Bayt Umar, al-Shuyukh, and Dahaysha refugee camp. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrested PA governor of Jerusalem Adnan Ghaith during a house raid in Silwan. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian farmland on 2 separate occasions east of Khuza‘a and Khan Yunis; no injuries were reported. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian fishermen on 2 separate occasions off the shore of Bayt Lahiya; no injuries were reported. (WAFA, WAFA 11/21; PCHR 11/28)

Israel’s attorney general Avichai Mendelblit announced that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in the corruption cases 1000, 2000, and 4000. (HA, HA, NYT 11/21; CNN 11/22)

107 members of U.S. congress signed a letter sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticizing the decision to no longer consider Israeli settlements illegal under international law, announced on 11/18. The letter was initiated by Andy Levin (D-MI) and expressed “strong disagreement with the State Department’s decision to reverse decades of bipartisan U.S. policy on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.” The members of congress further warned that the U.S. administration’s policies have “discredited the United States as an honest broker between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.” (HA 11/23)

The Netherlands announced that it will stop paying $1.5 million yearly in aid to the PA because of the stipends the PA pays to families of Palestinian prisoners and families of Palestinians killed by Israel. Israel frames these payments as “terrorist salaries.” The head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Association said, “From a Palestinian perspective, the payments are meant to assist the families of Palestinians who are imprisoned by Israel for various political charges.” Pro-Israel lobbies in the Netherlands have tried to persuade the country from contributing to the PA. (AJ, HA 11/21)

The United Arab Emirates announced a new $12.5 million contribution to UNRWA. (WAFA 11/21)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian journalist was injured by Israeli forces while covering a protest organized by students from Birzeit University at a checkpoint north of Ramallah. Later in a separate incident, a Palestinian child was injured by a rubber-coated bullet to the chest fired by Israeli forces in Bayt Rima; 1 Palestinian was arrested during the incident. An additional 10 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around Jenin, Hebron, Ramallah, and Nablus. Israeli forces also demolished an agricultural building near Tarqumiyya. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian turned himself in to the police after Israeli forces had raided his home and handed his family an arrest summons. 2 other Palestinians were arrested during daytime raids in Issawiyya. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian agricultural land on 2 separate occasions; no injuries were reported. Israeli forces also made incursions to level land east of al-Bureij refugee camp. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 9/9; WAFA 9/10; PCHR 9/12)

Israel’s high court of justice ruled that Israel is permitted to hold the bodies of accused terrorists for the purpose of negotiating with terrorist organizations, overturning a previous ruling by the court. (HA, WAFA 9/9)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel had uncovered sites of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran refuted Netanyahu’s accusation. (HA 9/9; AJ, HA 9/10)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces gave evacuation notices for land seizure to several Palestinians in Bittir near Bethlehem and Halhul and Bayt Umar near Hebron. Israeli forces also gave notice to Palestinians in 7 villages in the Nablus area that 406 dunams (100 acres) will be seized by Israel for a settler-only road and 384 dunams (94 acres) for a military road in the northern Jordan Valley. In Hebron, several Palestinian students, a teacher, and a janitor suffered from tear gas inhalation when Israeli forces fired tear gas into the school yard. The teacher and janitor were taken to a hospital for treatment. Israeli forces also halted construction of a road west of Yatta near Hebron. South of Bethlehem, a Palestinian was hospitalized after an Israeli settler rammed his car. In East Jerusalem, 2 Palestinians were injured and 3 arrested by Israeli police after a confrontation with Israeli settlers. Israeli settlers also sealed the door to the Shaykh Makki Mosque in the Old City for a 3d time (2 previous sealings happened in March). An Israeli court released 5 Palestinians who had been detained since March but banned them from returning to their homes in Silwan for 30 days. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces fired at Palestinian fishermen 3 nautical miles offshore from al-Sudaniyya. Israeli forces also razed farmland and fired at Palestinians near Bayt Lahiya; no injuries were reported. (HA, MNA, MNA, MNA, MNA, MNA, MNA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 4/8)

After the postponement of the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike reported on 4/7, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails started an open-ended hunger strike to protest their treatment by the Israelis. (HA, WAFA 4/8)

A French employee at the French consulate in Jerusalem was sentenced to 7 years in prison by an Israeli court for smuggling arms from Gaza to the West Bank. He confessed to having smuggled 30 guns, receiving $7,200 for his services. (HA 4/8; MEMO 4/9)

Russian president Vladimir Putin said weeks after U.S. president Donald Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty of the Golan Heights that the U.S. change of policy is “a violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions.” (MNA 4/9)

In response to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comment on 4/6 that he would extend Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank, the Arab League’s assistant secretary-general Saeed Abu Ali said that such actions would lead to “dangerous repercussions” and called for an “immediate official investigation” by the International Criminal Court of “the ongoing settlement crimes in the Palestinian territories.” (MEMO 4/9)

In a White House statement, President Trump announced that the U.S had decided to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization. Prime Minister Netanyahu later tweeted on his Hebrew language account, “Thank you for the answer to another important request that serves the interests of our country and the region,” implying that the terror designation was made upon request by Netanyahu. On Netanyahu’s English language Twitter account, the word “request” was omitted. (NPR 4/8; HILL 4/9; HA 4/10)

In the West Bank, IDF troops arrest 21 Palestinians during late-night raids near Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm; and patrol near Ramallah, Hebron, Tulkarm, and Qalqilya. Israeli settlers cut down 2 olive trees in a Palestinian grove near Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 4 Palestinians during a raid in Silwan. Along Gaza’s coast, IDF troops violently disperse a few hundred Palestinians gathering near al-Bureij refugee camp to continue the Great March of Return for a 3d day in a row; 1 Palestinian minor is injured. Off Gaza’s coast, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats near Jabaliya refugee camp, causing no damage or injuries (1 fisherman is arrested). In Israel, Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian home for the 2d time in Lod. (MNA, WAFA 1/20; MNA, MNA 1/21; PCHR 1/24)

A Qatari diplomat says that the $15 million that was supposed to be transferred to Gaza last week is set to go through this week, following a relatively quiet day of protests on 1/18. “Due to the violence on the border, the Israeli government postponed it,” he says. “The agreement is subject to there not being too much violence, so last Friday they approved to do the third tranche.” (HA, JP, REU, TOI, YA 1/20)

YNet reports that PA prime minister Rami Hamdallah formally informed U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo that the Palestinians have decided to reject future U.S. financial assistance, including that which supports the PA security forces, in response to the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act, which the U.S. passed into law in 10/2018 (see *S. 2946 of 5/24/18 at congressionalmonitor.org for details). That law, which is set to go into effect at the end of the month, forced the Palestinians to either accept future U.S. aid or open themselves up to terrorism lawsuits from individual U.S. citizens, inter alia. (JP, TOI, YA 1/20)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu lands in Chad to renew the diplomatic ties between Israel and Chad that were severed in 1972. At a joint press conference with Netanyahu, Chad’s President Idriss Déby says, ‘The purpose of your visit is to bring our two countries closer and to cooperate.” Netanyahu calls it the renewal of ties a “breakthrough” and a sign of Israel’s “rising standing” in the Muslim world. (HA, JP, TOI, TOI 1/20)

After unverified reports of Syrian air defenses intercepting an Israeli air strike near Damascus, several ground-to-ground projectiles are fired from Syria into northern Israel. They are all intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Late at night, Israeli forces strike approximately 10 government weapons depots, intelligence sites, and other targets in Syria, killing 21 people, including 12 member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. An IDF spokesperson says that Iranian forces were responsible for the projectile launched into Israel earlier in the day. “This was planned in advance as an attempt to deter us from continuing to act against them,” he says. (HA, JP, TOI, YA, YA 1/20; JP, TOI 1/21; HA 1/22)