The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attempt to set a Palestinian vehicle on fire and throw rocks at Palestinian homes in Urif village near Nablus, causing minor damage. After some Palestinian residents confront the settlers, IDF troops enter the village, sparking clashes with stone-throwing residents; 8 Palestinians are injured. Separately, IDF troops arrest a Palestinian at Qalandia checkpoint when she is found with a knife on her person; arrest 6 Palestinians during further raids near Bethlehem, Hebron, and Qalqilya; and patrol near Hebron, Tulkarm, and Salfit. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian mobile home in Qalandia refugee camp near Jerusalem. The Palestinian owner was living in the mobile home since Israeli forces demolished his previous home on 6/20. Israeli forces raze a plot of Palestinian land and confiscate a vehicle, demolish 2 car washes, a food shop, several storage buildings and offices in Silwan and Jabal Mukabir; and arrest 5 Palestinians during late-night raids in Issawiyya. Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians gather along Gaza’s northern coast to continue the Great March of Return and to cheer on a number of Palestinian boats sailing in a symbolic challenge to the Israeli blockade. IDF troops and Israeli naval forces violently disperse the protests; 10 Palestinians are injured. Earlier in the day, Israeli forces conduct a limited incursion to level land near the site of the planned protest. (MNA, MNA, MNA, MNA, MNA, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 11/19; MNA 11/20; PCHR 11/22)

Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, both of the Jewish Home Party, announce that they intend to remain in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ruling coalition and that they are dropping their demand for Bennett to take over the Defense Ministry. “There’s no apocalypse on the way. There are enemies, but not an enemy that worries me,” Bennett says. (HA, JP, YA 11/19)

Haaretz reports that Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority last week increased by 1,500 the number of permits awarded to West Bank Palestinians hoping to work as dishwashers and cleaners in Israeli restaurants, bars, and cafes. The increase is reportedly designed to ease the strain on restaurant owners who are struggling to find enough low-cost labor. Before this increase, approximately 30,000 West Bank Palestinians were permitted to come into Israel to work such jobs. (HA 11/19)

UNRWA commissioner general Pierre Krähenbühl tells reporters that the agency’s budget shortfall, which was created by U.S. president Trump’s decision to slash U.S. aid to UNRWA earlier this year, has been cut to $21 million, following another round of pledges from the EU and several Gulf countries. The deficit was reportedly $64 million as recently as last week. “This is a very encouraging result at the end of a lot of work,” Krähenbühl says. (AFP, TOI 11/19)

Airbnb, a U.S.-based home-share company with listings all over the world, announces that it is removing all 200-some of its listings in Israel’s West Bank settlements. “We concluded that we should remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians,” a statement from the company reads. In response, Israel’s Tourism Minister Yariv Levin instructs his deputies to restrict the company’s operations across Israel. Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan calls on the settler-hosts who used Airbnb to sue the company using Israel’s anti-boycott law. “National conflicts exist throughout the world,” he argues. “Airbnb will need to explain why they chose a racist political stance against some Israeli citizens.” (EI, HA, JP, YA, YA 11/19; AJ, BBC, CNN 11/20)

Marking the second major BDS victory of the day, the Canadian Federation of Students, Canada’s largest and oldest students’ association, endorses the BDS movement and condemns the “ongoing occupation of Palestine.” Marking the third, the Quakers in Britain Church, a group 17,000 strong, announces that it is divesting from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. “This includes companies—whichever country they are based in—involved for example in the illegal exploitation of natural resources in occupied Palestine, and the construction and servicing of the separation barrier and Israeli settlements,” a senior church official explains. (TOI, TOI 11/19; JP, JP, JTA, TOI 11/20; EI 11/21)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian man from al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas succumbs to injuries sustained during an IDF raid of his home in 2008. Israeli forces demolish 5 residences and a sheep barn in a village nr. Hebron; continue leveling land in a village nr. Bethlehem to eventually expand a nearby Israeli industrial zone. IDF troops clash with residents of a village n. of Jerusalem and 1 nr. Ramallah, injuring 9 with rubber-coated metal bullets and arresting 4; violently disperse Palestinian students demonstrating outside Ofer Prison in Ramallah, injuring 7 with rubber-coated metal bullets and arresting 1; 2 Israeli soldiers are lightly injured in the ensuing clashes. The IDF also conducts house searches and raids in 1 village each nr. Jenin, Hebron, and Qalqilya, as well as in Nablus, arresting 4 Palestinians and issuing arrest summons to 1; patrols in and around Tulkarm, and 1 village nr. Jenin; arrests 2 Palestinians while they are working in an Israeli settlement nr. Bethlehem. Israeli settlers erect 8 mobile homes on Palestinian land s. of Nablus, establishing a settlement outpost; throw stones at a Palestinian’s car nr. Nablus, causing minor damage. Nr. Nablus, armed Palestinians set fire to tires e. of Balata r.c. in protest of the recent PASF crackdown in the area. IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Khan Yunis fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers working nr. the border fence, causing no injuries. Israeli forces also conduct a limited incursion e. of Dayr al-Balah to level land. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces level land in a closed military zone nr. Qalandia, sparking clashes with residents; 9 Palestinians are injured with live ammunition and dozens are lightly injured with rubber-coated metal bullets. Israeli forces also level land on the e. outskirts of Issawiyya, clearing the area for construction of an Israeli national park; demolish temporary bedouin shelters that were funded by the EU. (MNA 3/9; AFP, HA, MNA, WAFA 3/10; AFP, MNA, WAFA 3/11; PCHR 3/12)

A group of Palestinians in Israeli prisons cancels its plans, announced on 3/9, to begin a series of demonstrations on 3/10 in protest of the poor conditions. According to Al Jazeera, the move comes after the group makes a preliminary deal with the Israel Prison Service (IPS), allowing for more frequent family visits, but an IPS official will refute the report on 3/11. (AJ 3/10; JP 3/11; PNN 3/12)

In the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, an IDF officeris lightly injured from gunfire emanating from Syria nr. Qunaytra. Meanwhile, senior United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) official Pierre Krähenbühl accompanies a convoy of aid into Yarmouk r.c. in Syria, the 1st shipment of assistance to the camp’s 18,000 occupants in 3 mos. (HA, JP, TOI, YA 3/10; MNA 3/11)

In Gaza, the chair of Qatar’s Comm. to Rebuild Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi announces a series of new projects to build 1,000 housing units in Gaza, and that the 1st shipment of materials—4 truckloads of cement—arrived from Israel today. They will be funded through disbursals of the $1 b. Qatar pledged at the 10/12/2014 Gaza reconstruction conference in Cairo. (AFP, NYT 3/10; MEMO, REU 3/11; IMEMC 3/12; YA 3/13)

During the day, the IDF launches multiple strikes on targets across the Gaza Strip, killing 21 Palestinians, except during a 5-hour humanitarian cease-fire. After the humanitarian pause, Palestinian groups resume rocket fire into Israel, launching 105 projectiles, 20 of which are intercepted by Iron Dome batteries. One Israeli soldier nr. the border is wounded by a mortar shell just before the end of the pause. Meanwhile, 13 armed Palestinians enter Israel through a tunnel, but their attack is halted by IDF troops. Reports differ on whether or not 1 Palestinian is killed during the attack. Palestinians also launch a drone into s. Israel, which IDF troops shoot down nr. Ashqelon. UNRWA announces that 20 rockets were discovered in an unused school in Gaza, and condemns those responsible for a “flagrant breach” of international law. (AFP, AP, HA, JP, MNA, REU 7/17; AJ, PCHR 7/18)

At approximately 10:30 P.M., the IDF launches a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, beginning with heavy artillery shelling of Bayt Hanun and Bayt Lahiya in the n. and incursions nr. the border fence to expand the buffer zone. IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner says the invasion has 2 objectives: “to strike Hamas . . . so they do not have the motivation to continue” and “to strike the terrorist infrastructure, the rockets, the tunnels.” During the invasion, 1 Israeli soldier is killed by friendly fire. Israeli media report that the ground invasion is initiated largely in response to the tunnel attack early in the day. (AFP, AP, HA, JP, MNA, REU 7/17; AJ, PCHR 7/18)

In the West Bank, IDF troops shoot a Palestinian farmer nr. Nablus, shoot and injure 1 resident during clashes in al-Fara’a r.c. nr. Tubas, and shoot and injure 2 residents during clashes nr. Ramallah. IDF troops also shoot and injure 7 Palestinians during a demonstration at Qalandia checkpoint. The IDF conducts house searches, arrest raids in 1 village nr. Qalqilya at night; patrols in 3 villages and al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron and 1 village nr. Salfit in the afternoon. Meanwhile, armed Palestinians open fire on IDF troops at a checkpoint nr. Ramallah, causing no injuries. In East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces raid Haram al-Sharif and assault worshippers protesting a visit by rightwing Jewish activists. Israeli forces also detain approximately 36 Palestinians. Meanwhile, police charge 3 Jewish Israelis with the murder of Abu Khdeir. (AFP, AP, HA, JP, MNA, REU 7/17; AJ, PCHR 7/18)

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Serry requests a 5-hour humanitarian cease-fire and it is observed. An unnamed Israeli defense official tells the media that the cease-fire is for Palestinians in Gaza to see the damage wrought by Israel thus far. (AFP, AP, HA, REU 7/17)

Hours before the ground invasion starts, the U.S. Senate agrees to a nonbinding res. condemning the rocket fire against Israel and reiterating Israel’s right to defend itself. The res. has 78 cosponsors and the support of many U.S.-based, pro-Israel groups, including AIPAC. (AFP, AP, JP 7/17; AJ 7/18)

In the Gaza Strip, IDF troops conduct a limited incursion close to the border fence nr. Bayt Hanun, and level land before withdrawing. In the West Bank, IDF troops shoot and kill 3 Palestinian civilians and wound 18 others including 5 children during an arrest raid in Qalandia r.c. nr. Jerusalem. One of those killed was an UNRWA employee, the agency reveals. The IDF claims that its forces were met by a rioting crowd of some 1,500 camp residents throwing stones and petrol bombs. In Aida r.c. nr. Bethlehem, IDF troops shoot and wound 2 Palestinians with rubber-coated metal bullets during protests against the deaths in Qalandia. Meanwhile, the IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in Hebron in the afternoon, and in 1 village nr. Bethlehem at night, patrols in Tulkarm in the morning, and in 2 villages nr. Jenin and 1 village nr. Jericho in the afternoon, and in Jenin at night. In a raid on Sanur village nr. Jenin, IDF troops clash with residents, shooting and wounding 2 Palestinians with rubber-coated metal bullets. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish 2 homes in al-Tur. (AFP, HA, MNA, REU 8/26; PCHR 8/29)

In response to the killings in Qalandia, an unnamed Palestinian official tells news agencies that talks scheduled for today are canceled. However, U.S. State Dept. spokesperson Marie Harf categorically denies that any meeting was canceled. Israeli television subsequently reports that Israeli and Palestinian officials had met in the morning before the news broke of the Qalandia raid. An unnamed Palestinian official also subsequently confirms to Xinhua News Agency that the 2 teams met in Saeb Erakat’s house in Jericho. Meanwhile, Egyptian FM Nabil Fahmi holds talks with Pres. Abbas in Ramallah, and relays a message from interim Egyptian pres. Adly Mansour, thanking Abbas for supporting the military coup that ousted Morsi. (HA, JP, REU 8/26; MNA 8/28)

An Israeli delegation headed by outgoing National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror arrives in Washington for high-level talks with U.S. officials. Discussions are expected to focus on Syria, the Iranian nuclear program and future talks with Tehran, and the role of Hizballah in the Syrian civil war. U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice is coordinating talks on the U.S. side. (HA 8/26)

UN chemical weapons inspectors visit 1 of the sites in Syria allegedly targeted last week by chemical weapons. The convoy came under sniper fire on the initial attempt, but the team successfully visited the Damascus suburb Ghouta. The UN team’s work includes collecting samples of munitions fragments and debris and taking testimonies. Meanwhile, U.S. Secy. of State John Kerry says that Pres. Obama believes there must be “accountability” for those using “the world’s most heinous weapons,” and that the pres. is consulting with allies about how best to act. (AP, REU, WP 8/26)

The IDF escalates its n. Gaza incursion, sending troops deep into Jabaliya r.c., occupying several homes as outposts, sparking clashes with Palestinians, shelling and conducting at least 5 air strikes on residential areas, leave at least 27 Palestinians dead (including 15 armed Palestinians; 12 unarmed bystanders, including 10 killed by IDF shelling at an UNRWA school) and more than 131 wounded; 6 IDF soldiers are also wounded. Troops also demolish at least 22 Palestinian homes in Jabaliya to allow better access for military vehicles, occupy a UN school and a PA security office. Palestinian gunmen fatally shoot 2 IDF soldiers, 1 Jewish settler jogger outside Jabaliya nr. Aley Sinai settlement, before being shot dead by troops. In the evening, Sharon’s security cabinet approves a plan, codenamed Days of Penitence, for a major, prolonged ground offensive in n. Gaza. Elsewhere in Gaza, the IDF bulldozes 2 d. of greenhouses and apiaries in Dayr al-Balah; demolishes 2 Palestinian homes, fires on residential areas in Rafah. In the West Bank, the IDF declares the northern and central Jordan Valley a closed military zone; conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Azun, Dura, Faqqu’a and Yamun nr. Jenin, Hebron, Qalandia r.c. (AP, HA, MM 9/30; AFP, VOI, VOP 9/30 in WNC 10/2; MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 10/1; QA 10/1 in WNC 10/5; PCHR 10/7)