The Palestine Chronology

International diplomacy to end OCL clicks into gear with France proposing that Israel and Hamas impose a 48-hr. humanitarian truce to try to defuse the violence and restore the Gaza cease-fire, with humanitarian groups, Egypt, the EU, the Quartet, and the U.S. opening mediation channels (see Quarterly Update). Israel’s security cabinet meets to discuss the French proposal but does not formally respond.

Israeli actions: The IDF conducts 70 air strikes on Gaza, while the Israeli navy continues shelling from the sea, killing at least 10 Palestinians and wounding 40, bringing the death toll to about 370. The IDF reports hitting 110 individual sites, with primary targets being tunnels on the Rafah border, suspected weapons factories and rocket-launching sites, civil and naval police stations, and groups of resistance mbrs. In Gaza City, at least 20 air strikes hit Haniyeh’s offices, PA Interior Min., and main PA government complex in Gaza City, all of which had been targeted previously; 1 air strike hits an ambulance, killing 1 paramedic, seriously wounding a doctor and the driver. Part of Gaza’s main power grid is also hit, cutting all power to Gaza City. A fuel depot in Rafah is destroyed. In al-Bureij r.c., a mosque and health clinic are hit. In Khan Yunis, a money exchange is destroyed. At least 7 homes across the Strip are targeted. Target locations include Abasan, Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City, Jabaliya town and r.c., Khan Yunis, al-Maghazi (c. Gaza), al-Mughraqa, al-Qarara, Rafah. The IDF launches a YouTube channel to broadcast declassified videos of its operations in Gaza, “other footage of interest to the international community” (JPI 1/8) and begins regular briefings for Internet bloggers worldwide.

Palestinian actions: Palestinians fire 41 rockets, 10 mortars into Israel, damaging 1 home in Sederot and causing several light injuries (excluding shock); 1 rocket lands in Beersheba, 25 mi. fr. the Gaza border, marking the farthest strike to date; 2 other long-range rockets land in Ashdod. Humanitarian notes: Israel allows 93 trucks into Gaza (50 carrying medical supplies and food donated by aid groups; 43 carrying commercial goods), but Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital says it is out of 150 kinds of medicine and 230 other medical supplies, including gloves, scissors, sterilization equipment, nitrogen for anesthesia. Fuel shipments are still cut off; Gaza’s power plant shuts down for lack of fuel. (BBC, HA, Independent 12/30; IDF, IFM, NYT, REU, UNOSAT, WP, WT 12/31; JP, PCHR 1/1; ITV 1/2; IDF 1/3; WP 1/4; IFM 1/8; NYT 1/13)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian worker in Mod’in Ilit settlement, angry over Israel’s war on Gaza, stabs, wounds 4 Jewish settlers before being shot and wounded by a paramedic who arrives on the scene. The IDF fires live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against OCL in al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron, wounding 3 (including teenagers ages 13, 14); makes simultaneous afternoon incursions into Beita and Hawara villages nr. Nablus, imposing curfews through 12/31; conducts simultaneous late-night raids, house searches on 4 villages nr. Jenin, firing on residential areas in all cases, causing no injuries and arresting only 1 teenager; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Abu Dis and Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm. (PCHR, WJW 1/1)

Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire 19 rockets, 3 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, damaging a home, lightly injuring 1 Israeli in 2 separate instances. The IDF makes 2 air strikes on rocket-launching sites in Gaza City, wounding a 2-yr.-old girl. In the West Bank, IDF troops for no apparent reason fire on a group of Palestinian laborers on their way to work nr. Hebron, wounding 1 with live ammunition; conduct early morning patrols in Tulkarm; conduct daytime raids, search Palestinian homes and shops nr. Bethlehem and Ramallah, making no arrests; conduct late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah, Tulkarm and in Balata r.c., Hebron, Nablus. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces bulldoze a tent, displacing a family whose house on the site had been bulldozed in 11/08. (Forward, MM, WT 12/22; PCHR 12/24)

At its weekly session, the Israeli cabinet gives the IDF the green light to initiate attacks on Hamas targets in Gaza, in addition to hitting sites fr. which rockets and mortars are launched. Some reports suggest the cabinet took a decision to launch a military strike on Gaza and has authorized the IDF chief of staff to prepare to implement previously drafted plans for a ground invasion into Gaza to oust Hamas. Senior Hamas officials in Gaza immediately go underground, fearing assassination. The cabinet also authorizes the Israeli FMin. to launch an international public relations campaign enlisting support for a military offensive against Hamas. Israeli FM Tzipi Livni plans a series of teleconferences with UN Secy.-Gen. Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice, and the FMs of Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin reports that Hamas has rockets that would strike as far n. as Kiryat Gat, Ashdod, Beersheba. (International Middle East Media Center [Bayt Sahur] 12/21; Forward, MM, WP, WT, YA 12/22)

The IDF conducts evening patrols in Anabta village nr. Tulkarm, firing rubbercoated steel bullets at stone-throwing Palestinian youths who confront them, causing no reported injuries; conducts synchronized, late-night house searches in 3 villages nr. Jenin, making no arrests; conducts additional late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, nr. Ramallah. (PCHR 12/18)

In Sharm al-Shaykh, Egypt, Rice attends a high-level Quartet mtg. to discuss ways of keeping the process alive during the Israeli and U.S. government transitions. Abbas, Livni brief the Quartet on their talks since the 11/07 Annapolis summit, pledge to continue negotiations despite the political uncertainty in Israel, and reaffirm that “nothing would be considered agreed until everything is agreed.” The Quartet reiterates its support for continued negotations, praises the PA’s security reforms, and urges the international community to fulfill aid pledges to the PA to ease the economic crisis in the territories. (HA 11/8; IFM, NYT, WP, WT 11/9; WP 11/10)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes an evening incursion into Anabta nr. Tulkarm, firing on residential areas and then on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1 teenager; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, in Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Bethlehem. Israeli police evict a Palestinian family (14 mbrs., including 7 children) fr. their home in Shaykh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, turning the property over to Jewish settlers who claim to have purchased the land fr. relatives of the Ottoman-era owners even though an Israeli court ruled in 2006 that their claim was based on forged documents. (AFP, XIN 11/9; OCHA 11/12; PCHR 11/13; NYT 12/7)

IDF troops, bulldozers cross into s. Gaza to level land along the border e. of Khan Yunis, exchanging fire with Hamas mbrs., causing no reported injures. In a similar incident nr. the Erez crossing, IDF soldiers exchange fire with DFLP gunmen, causing no reported injuries. The IDF also makes an air strike on an alleged rocket-launching site in n. Gaza, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nur al-Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm, nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba beat a 6-yr.-old Palestinian boy on his way to school until his grandfather halts the attack; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Hamas accuses PA security forces in the West Bank of arresting 26 Hamas mbrs. and supporters, mostly in Hebron, but also in Bethlehem, Jericho, and Salfit. (HA, JP, MNA, REU, YA 11/8; HA, JAZ, MNA 11/9; OCHA 11/12; PCHR 11/13)

After a last-minute talks in Cairo between Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Sulayman and senior Hamas official Mahmud Zahhar fr. Gaza, Hamas’s dep. leader Musa Abu Marzuq announces from Damascus that Hamas will not attend national unity talks in Cairo on 11/9. Hamas officials cite Egyptian and PA unwillingness to compromise on the wording of an Egyptian draft national unity statement or to discuss issues of importance to Hamas, and the PA’s failure to fulfill a pledge to release 100s of Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners held in the West Bank as a confidence-building gesture in advance of the summit. (AFP 11/8; NYT, WT 11/9; see also MNR 11/7)

Rice stops in Jenin to meet with Abbas and to inaugurate a new hospital wing funded by USAID, announcing another $14 m. in USAID funds for Jenin. (HA 11/8; IFM, NYT, WP, WT 11/9)

Democratic candidate Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, to be inaugurated on 1/20/09. (MM 11/4; MM, NYT, WP, WT 11/5; MM 11/5, 11/6, 11/7)

In a major escalation and violation of the Gaza cease-fire, the IDF sends a large infantry unit into central Gaza nr. Dayr al-Balah allegedly to destroy a tunnel nr. the border, occupying 2 Palestinian homes (1 covering the tunnel), wounding 1 Palestinian woman in the process; troops then clash with Hamas gunmen who arrive on the scene, killing a senior Hamas cmdr., wounding 2 Hamas mbrs., leaving 4 IDF soldiers wounded, and marking the 1st armed clash since the cease-fire went into effect on 6/19. Israel publicly accuses Hamas of plotting to dig under the border fence to capture soldiers and abduct them to Gaza; separately, Israeli defense officials acknowledge (see WT 11/20) that they simply wanted to send a message to Hamas not to operate near the border. In response, Hamas fires 10 mortars fr. Gaza toward Israel; several land inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Later, the IDF makes air strikes on Khan Yunis and al-Qarara, killing 5 Hamas mbrs., wounding several. Israel calls these attacks “pinpoint operations” against specific threats, saying it still intends to adhere to the cease-fire. The IDF also sends troops into n. Gaza nr. Bayt Hanun to level land. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Bethlehem and Tulkarm. OCHA reports that in the previous wk. at least 8 IDF soldiers have been injured in clashes with Jewish settlers seeking retaliation for the 10/26 evacuation of Federman Farm. (IFM, JAZ, NYT, OCHA, PCHR, WP 11/5; MM, PCHR 11/6; WT 11/20)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Tulkarm, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. To demonstrate disapproval of unauthorized settlement in keeping with the Israeli cabinet’s 11/2 decision, the IDF tears down several shacks erected by Jewish settlers nr. the unauthorized outpost of Migron (n. of Jerusalem) who intended to expand the outpost; the IDF continues to guard Migron itself, which is connected to Israel’s electricity grid and has paved access roads. Jewish settlers fr. Kochav Ya’acov nr. Ramallah attack Palestinians harvesting olives nearby; the IDF disperses the settlers. (WT 11/4; OCHA 11/5; PCHR 11/6)

An IDF unit patrolling inside Israel along the s. Gaza border fires on agricultural and residential areas of Khuza, breaking a window at a girls’ school; 1 Palestinian girl is injured by flying shards of glass. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem and Dahaysha r.c., nr. Hebron and Tulkarm. (OCHA 10/29; PCHR 10/30)

Egyptian border police blow up 2 smuggling tunnels under the Rafah border, killing 5 Palestinians, wounding 4. In the West Bank, the IDF fires tear gas, percussion grenades at a European Union delegation visiting the separation wall in Ni‘lin (seriously injuring their Palestinian guide), then firing rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists who gather at the scene to protest, injuring 4 Palestinians and a British journalist; steps up patrols around Hebron, randomly checking Palestinian IDs; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Dahaysha r.c. (firing live ammunition and percussion grenades inside a home, seriously injuring a Palestinian teenager and his father), nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarm. (NYT, OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25)

Israeli pres. Shimon Peres authorizes Livni to form a new government. Israeli law gives her 42 days to complete the task or step aside for the pres. either to authorize another party to form a coalition or to call early elections. Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams will continue to hold their regular mtgs., and Olmert and Abbas will continue to meet biweekly to discuss the teams’ progress, but no major agreements are expected until a new government is formed. (IFM 9/22; WT 9/23)

A 19-yr.-old Palestinian resident of Jabal Mukabir in East Jerusalem drives his car into a group of IDF soldiers in the Old City, injuring 19 before being shot dead; Israeli police believe the man acted intentionally and alone, though the family believes the incident was an accident. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Jenin town and r.c., causing no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and Tulkarm, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. A Palestinian woman (apparently the same who staged a similar attack on 9/8) sprays an acid-like substance on an IDF soldier checking IDs at Hawara checkpoint, blinding him and injuring 3 Palestinians nearby; she is captured, arrested. (JP, YA 9/22; NYT, WP 9/23; OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25)

The donors’ Ad Hoc Liaison Comm. (AHLC) meets in New York to discuss the PA’s financial crisis and how to better target aid to PA security reform efforts. (IMF, “Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework for the West Bank and Gaza: Second Review of Progress,” 9/22; UNOSC, “UN Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committees,” 9/22; World Bank, “Palestinian Economic Prospects: Aid, Access and Reform,” 9/22; IFM 9/22, 9/23)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, injuring 5; makes a late-night incursion into ‘Anabta nr. Tulkarm, patrolling streets, firing on houses and shops, then firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Tubas, and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin. (OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes an early-evening raid into Nablus, occupying several buildings in Ras al-‘Ayn neighborhood as observation posts, raiding an apartment building to capture 2 wanted AMB mbrs., wounding 1 wanted man and fatally shooting 1 Palestinian bystander in the process. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm, in Ni‘lin (those arrested include 2 boys ages 11 and 14), and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Tubas. Some 20 Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus throws stones at residents of ‘Asira al-Qibliyya, who throw stones back, prompting the IDF to fire in the air and at the legs of the Palestinians “to try to restore order”; no serious injuries are reported. Jewish settlers attack an IDF contingent that enters an unauthorized settlement outpost nr. Ramallah to confiscate construction equipment being used to expand the outpost; no serious injuries are reported; late in the evening, Jewish settlers from another nearby outpost enter an IDF base w. of Ramallah, damage the water supply. (PCHR 9/11; NYT 9/12; NYT 9/14; OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18; AIC 11/9)

E. of Beirut, Druze politician Shaykh Sali Aridi of the pro-Syrian Lebanese Democratic Party is assassinated by a bomb placed under his car. No group claims responsibility. (WP 9/11)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, and Tulkarm. (OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Hebron, and nr. Bethlehem, Nablus, Qalqilya, Ramallah, and Tulkarm. (PCHR 9/4; OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11)

In a rare Israeli prosecution of Israeli security forces for their actions in the West Bank, 2 Israeli border policemen are convicted of manslaughter for kidnapping a 17-yr.-old Palestinian and throwing him from a moving vehicle in Hebron in 2002; they face up to 20 yrs. in jail. (WP 9/4)

In the West Bank, the IDF moves into al-Kum village nr. Hebron before dawn, sets up checkpoints, checks Palestinians’ IDs as they leave dawn prayers, arresting 3; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., nr. Tulkarm, and in Bethlehem, Nablus (targeting al-Najah University students), Tubas. Jewish settlers in Hebron attack a Palestinian home, injuring 1 Palestinian. (PCHR 8/28; OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts predawn patrols in Tulkarm town and r.c.; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin; conducts late-night patrols in al-Fara‘a r.c. and Tammun village nr. Tubas. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha settlement nr. Nablus burn 7 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of Palestinian agricultural land. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim nr. Qalqilya stone Palestinian vehicles passing by the settlement, causing no injuries; the IDF removes them. In Hebron, a group of Jewish settlers beats 2 Palestinians. As the Palestinian school yr. begins, the Ramallah-based, Fatah-run Palestinian Teachers’ Union calls on Gaza’s 10,000 teachers and school administrators to strike to protest Hamas’s de facto rule, acknowledging that the strike is, in part, intended to disrupt life in Gaza and weaken the Hamas government; the PA pledges to continue to pay the teachers’ salaries as long as they observe the strike, which lasts through the end of the quarter; Hamas authorities quickly begin contracting 1,000s of substitute teachers to keep schools running. (OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28; WT 10/15)

In the West Bank, the IDF bars Palestinian workers fr. paving a road inside al-Walaja village nr. Bethlehem, stating that the area is under the jurisdiction of Israel’s Jerusalem municipal authority; this marks the 1st clear indication that Israel plans to annex the area to Jerusalem after its separation wall, which is planned to bisect al-Walaja, is completed. The IDF also makes daytime raids on 3 radio and TV stations in Hebron, arresting employees and confiscating broadcasting equipment; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, nr. Hebron and Ramallah, and in Nur al-Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm. (PCHR 8/2; OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Dahaysha r.c., seriously wounding a Palestinian teenager; conducts daytime arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Jala and nr. Hebron, and similar latenight operations in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Dahaysha r.c. and Nablus (firing on stone-throwing youths, wounding 2), and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, and Salfit; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Anabta nr. Tulkarm, causing no injuries. The IDF also demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem’s Bayt Hanina neighborhood, displacing 16 Palestinains (including 11 children). (PCHR 8/14; OCHA 8/20; PCHR 8/21)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, Jenin town and r.c., Nablus; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Tulkarm, causing no injuries. Some 20 Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus, angry over the IDF removal of a mobile home fr. an unauthorized outpost nearby, attack and damage Palestinian houses and an electricity system in Burin, causing a fire that destroys 200 d. of olive trees. Israel’s Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Comm. announces that it is reviving plans to build a new Jewish settlement, Maskiyot, in the n. Jordan Valley, approving an initial 22 housing units for the site. (NYT, WP 7/25; HA 7/26; OCHA, PCHR 7/30)

The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian nr. the Gaza border fence e. of Dayr al-Balah, saying it mistakenly thought he was armed. In retaliation, the AMB fires 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Later, Hamas-affiliated police arrest 7 AMB mbrs. for firing the rockets, marking the 1st such arrests by the Hamas leadership in Gaza. Israel does not reseal Gaza border crossings or take any military action against the rocket fire. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts daytime arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem; patrols in Tulkarm, conducting random ID checks; makes another late-night raid into Nablus, breaking into the municipal headquarters (confiscating computers and documents fr. the accounting department), searching 4 mosques, confiscating 4 school buses; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Jerusalem. (WP, WT 7/11; OCHA 7/16; PCHR 7/17)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinian farmers, preventing them fr. reaching their fields nr. the border fence but causing no injuries. In the West Bank, Ni‘lin villagers defy an IDF curfew to stage peaceful protest marches against the IDF blockade imposed on 7/5; the IDF fires tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets at the protesters, lightly injuring around 50. The IDF also bulldozes newly paved roads in Ni‘lin while the curfew is in place, damaging part of the municipal sewage system; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Tulkarm, and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqilya, Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Asfar settlement nr. Bethlehem beat 2 Palestinian shepherds grazing their flocks nearby. In Hebron, local Jewish settlers harass a French diplomatic delegation touring the city with Palestinian guides, arguing that settlers should lead the tour because the delegation was on “Israeli land.” A carload of Jewish settlers fires on a Palestinian taxi nr. Jenin, seriously wounding 1 Palestinian. (WT 7/7; OCHA 7/9; PCHR 7/10)

In Gaza, Hamas mbrs. fire 5 mortars at an IDF unit that enters Gaza nr. al-Bureij r.c., forcing the soldiers to retreat. Palestinians fire 4 mortars at the Nahal Oz crossing, seriously injuring a Palestinian worker. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols, sets up checkpoints in Tulkarm during the day; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarm, nr. Hebron (also raiding, sealing for 3 yrs. an Islamic Charity Society office and kindergarten). The PA opens 3 police stations manned by a total of 105 policemen in 3 villages surrounding Jenin (see 6/3). (IFM, WT 6/4; NYT, PCHR, WP 6/5; al-Akhbar [Cairo] 6/6; OCHA 6/11; PCHR 6/12)

As Israeli PM Olmert begins a 3-day visit to Washington, Israel announces that, in keeping with its Annapolis pledges to ease Palestinian movement, the IDF has removed 4 manned checkpoints (improving access to the Jordan Valley, Dead Sea, areas n. of Nablus, s. of Hebron) and 70 unmanned checkpoints (of around 600) across the West Bank, and plans further steps to ease the movement of agricultural goods btwn. the Jordan Valley and the northern West Bank. Israel also pledges to issue new permits to allow 5,000 Palestinian workers to remain overnight in Israel, 500 West Bank Palestinian businessmen to enter Israel, and 130 NGO employees and Palestinian VIPs to travel in and out of Israel more easily; authorizes the PA to set up 20 new police stations for new units undergoing training in Jordan. (IFM 6/3)

In Gaza, the IDF sends bulldozers into al-Qarara to level 100 d. of agricultural land; support troops fire on surrounding residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian outside his home. Palestinian gunmen fire on an IDF unit patrolling the Israeli side of Gaza’s Kissufim crossing (nr. Khan Yunis; closed since Israel’s 9/05 disengagement fr. Gaza), wounding 1 soldier. Palestinians fire 3 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF uproots 47 olive trees nr. Ni‘lin for construction of the separation wall; conducts daytime house searches in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c. and nr. Nablus, Ramallah, Tulkarm. Jewish settlers protesting the lifting of an IDF roadblock in Hebron block Palestinian traffic in parts of the city. Palestinians throw stones at Jewish settler vehicles nr. Ramallah, causing no injuries. (OCHA 6/4; PCHR 6/5)

Overnight, the IDF sends troops back into Shuka (see 5/27) to bulldoze 200 d. of agricultural land, demolish 4Palestinian homes, and arrest 12 Palestinians; IDF aircraft supporting the ground troops fire missiles at 2 groups of armed Palestinians who approach the area, killing 2 Palestinian gunmen, wounding 1 civilian. During the day, IDF troops stationed at Gaza’s Nahal Oz crossing fire on Palestinian children collecting scrap metal nearby, wounding 3. Israeli naval vessels fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya, Gaza City, and Rafah coasts, forcing them to return to shore. Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb along the Gaza border e. of Dayr al-Balah as an IDF jeep patrolling inside Israel passes, causing no damage or injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF sends bulldozers, troops into Bayt Hanun in n. Gaza, conducting house searches, bulldozing 50 d. of agricultural land, detaining several Palestinians for questioning, releasing them, and withdrawing around midnight. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Bethlehem to arrest a wanted Palestinian teenager; conducts evening arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus; conducts similar late-night operations in Nur al-Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah. A Palestinian civilian injured in an IDF air strike in al-Fukhari on 5/27 dies. In Gaza City, unidentified assailants detonate a bomb outside a store previously criticized for “immoral behavior,” causing no injuries. (PCHR 5/29; OCHA 6/4; PCHR 6/5)

In Gaza, the IDF makes a late-night air strike on a group of Hamas mbrs. in Khan Yunis, missing them, hitting an apartment building, causing no injuries; makes a latenight incursion into Bayt Hanun, under cover of aircraft that fire on several groups of Palestinians and buildings, killing a 55-yr.-old Palestinian in his home, seriously wounding another Palestinian, demolishing several greenhouses, damaging 5 homes. A Palestinian shepherd is injured when he accidentally triggers a landmine e. of Jabaliya r.c. In the West Bank, the IDF shoots, wounds an unarmed Palestinian who strays nr. the separation wall northwest of Jerusalem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, in Anata e. of Jerusalem and Qabatya, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Qalqilya. Jewish settlers fr. Karnei Shomron nr. Tulkarm stone Palestinian cars passing by the settlement, damaging 1. (PCHR 4/24; OCHA, PCHR 4/30)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on a car carrying 2 Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades mbrs. nr. Khan Yunis, missing it, wounding 6 bystanders. Gazan PC mbrs. erect a tent in front of the PC headquarters in Gaza City, begin a hunger strike to protest Israel’s ongoing siege. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on stone-throwing Palestinian youths outside Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem, wounding 5 with live ammunition; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qabatya, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Qalqilya, Tulkarm. Israel bars access to the Jordan River to 15,000 Christians making a pilgrimage to Jesus’s baptismal cite to mark Orthodox Christian Holy Week, keeping them behind a fence 30 ft. fr. the river. Birzeit University student council elections allot 25 seats to Fatah, 19 to Hamas, 5 each to the PFLP and a joint Islamic Jihad/People’s Party list. Students clash over the results, prompting the university to close the campus until tensions cool. (OCHA, WT 4/23; PCHR 4/24)

Overnight, the IDF sends troops into Gaza City, arresting 3 Palestinians; expands the incursion in the morning, firing artillery shells at a car carrying resistance mbrs. (killing 1 armed Palestinian, wounding 1), and bulldozing a mosque, 3 stores, a transmission tower, 10 d. of olive groves, a bird farm (killing 1,500 birds), several smaller animal pens, 85 beehives before withdrawing in the evening. The IDF also fires on, arrests a Palestinian farmer working his land nr. the border fence e. of Khan Yunis; makes a late-night incursion into Khan Yunis, where troops clash with local gunmen, leaving 1 IDF soldier, 1 Hamas mbr. dead and arresting 5 Palestinians (including a child). Palestinians fire 3 rockets, 32 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Jenin town and r.c. and Qalqilya (also raiding, sealing an Islamic charity, library, supermarket, and press; searching al-Quds Open University), and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarm. (IFM 4/8; OCHA, PCHR 4/9; NYT, WP 4/10)

In Gaza, the IDF bulldozes 24 d. of olive groves and a small Gaza police outpost nr. al-Maghazi r.c. Egyptian border police discover, demolish a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Anata nr. Jerusalem; occupies a Palestinian home nr. Jenin as a military outpost; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm and in al-Bireh (raiding and searching the municipal building, rounding up 2 municipal employees fr. their homes and bringing them to the offices to log onto password-protected computers), Ramallah (raiding the chamber of commerce offices), Jericho. The Israeli Housing Min. presents Olmert with a proposal for construction of 1,900 new Jewish settler housing units across the West Bank in 2008: 682 units in Beitar Ilit nr. Bethlehem, 510 units in Givat Ze’ev n. of Jerusalem, 302 units in Ma’ale Adumim e. of Jerusalem, 160 units in Binyamin settlement n. of Jerusalem, 158 units in Efrat nr. Bethlehem, and 48 units each in Ariel nr. Salfit and Kiryat Arba in Hebron. Palestinians throw stones at Jewish settler vehicles nr. Nablus; the settlers respond by shooting, killing 3 Palestinian sheep nearby. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim nr. Qalqilya stone Palestinian vehicles driving nearby, causing no reported injuries. PA security forces impose a night curfew on Kafr Thuluth nr. Qalqilya to prevent clashes btwn. feuding families (the curfew is still in place as of 4/8). (PCHR 4/3; OCHA, PCHR 4/9)

The IDF sends troops into c. Gaza, where they clash with local gunmen, killing 2 Hamas mbrs.; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Hanun. Palestinians fire mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, wounding 2 Israelis. In Dayr al-Balah, a Palestinian is injured when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids in Jenin town and r.c. (firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1) and Ramallah, in and around Nablus and Tulkarm, and nr. Bethlehem. Lawyers secure a 7-day freeze on IDF closure orders issued on 2/26 against ICA properties in Hebron. (NYT, OCHA 4/2; PCHR 4/3)

In Gaza, IDF troops enter al-Qarara, bulldoze 4 Palestinian homes, animal pens, 93 d. of agricultural land; also bulldoze areas along the separation wall e. of alBureij, al-Maghazi. Palestinians fire at least 1 rocket fr. Gaza toward Israel that lands inside Gaza, hitting a home, seriously injuring 1 Palestinian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem and Tulkarm, in Hebron, Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. Unidentified gunmen shoot, wound a Hamas-affiliated police officer in Dayr al-Balah. In Gaza City, 5,000 NGO reps. and citizens rally to call on the factions to implement a national unity government. (PCHR 3/27; OCHA 4/2; PCHR 4/3)