The Palestine Chronology

During the day, the IDF carries out 3 air strikes on an Islamic Jihad training camp in s. Gaza, killing 5 Islamic Jihad mbrs. allegedly responsible for the rocket fire on 10/26 (including field cmdr. Ahmad Shaykh Khalil) and wounding 3. Over the course of the day, Islamic Jihad responds with a volley of at least 24 rockets and mortars on s. Israel; at least 1 Grad strikes Ashqelon, killing 1 Israeli and wounding 2. Late at night, the IDF carries out another 9 air strikes on 8 Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza City, Bayt Hanun in n. Gaza, Dayr al-Balah in c. Gaza, and Khan Yunis and Rafah in s. Gaza, killing another 4 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and wounding at least 1 Islamic Jihad mbr. and 2 bystanders. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Tulkarm, 2 villages nr. Ramallah, and 1 nr. Qalqilya in the afternoon; conducts late-night patrols in Jericho, 2 villages nr. Jenin, and 2 nr. Tulkarm. (YA 10/29; NYT, WP 10/30; PCHR 11/3; OCHA 11/4; JPI 11/11)

Quartet reps. hold separate talks with Palestinian and Israeli officials to urge the sides to resume direct talks, but report no progress. (WP 10/27)

Unidentified Palestinians fire 1 Grad rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF retaliates with 6 air strikes on Gaza, destroying an agricultural storehouse in Wadi al-Silqa in c. Gaza (also damaging 5 homes) and 3 storage sheds in Khan Yunis, and hitting a Hamas training site in Dayr al-Balah in c. Gaza; no injuries are reported. Israeli naval vessels intercept and confiscate a Palestinian fishing boat off the c. Gaza coast, arresting 2 fishermen. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night patrols in 1 village nr. Ramallah. (IDFS, PCHR, YA 10/27; PCHR 11/3; OCHA 11/4)

In Doha, PA pres. Mahmud Abbas meets with Arab League FMs and Arab League secy.-gen. Nabil Elaraby to discuss plans to seek recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN in 9/2011. Abbas meets on the sidelines with U.S. asst. secy. of state Jeremy Feltman. (WAFA 8/23)

The IDF carries out a late-night drone missile strike on a car nr. Rafah, assassinating the head of Islamic Jihad’s military wing Isma’il Asmar, injuring a girl nearby. Islamic Jihad responds by firing 4 Qassam rockets and several mortars into Israel, lightly wounding an Israeli infant. (Egyptian officials say that a Palestinian rocket fired fr. Rafah landed on the Egyptian side of the border, in Egyptian Rafah, injuring 1 woman.) Israel responds with 2 drone missile strikes on a suspected rocket-launching team nr. Dayr al-Balah, wounding 2 armed Palestinians. In the West Bank, IDF soldiers enter Tulkarm, randomly stopping Palestinians and checking their IDs; conduct late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Bet Ayn nr. Hebron uproot 10s of olive and plum trees on nearby Palestinian land. The Israeli High Court rejects an appeal by residents of al-Walaja who challenged the separation wall route on the grounds that it would cut off the village from Bethlehem, holding that the residents did not prove that the planned route would severely harm the village. (JP, JTA, WAFA, WP, WT 8/24; PCHR, WP 8/25; OCHA 8/26; PCHR 10/27)

As the quarter opens, Israel maintains a tight siege on Hamas-controlled Gaza, imposing a 300-meter no-go zone inside the full length of the Gaza border and limiting the Palestinian fishing zone off Gaza to 500–1,000 m. off Bayt Lahiya and Rafah and 3 naut. mi. elsewhere. In the West Bank, governed by the Fatahled Palestinian Authority (PA), Israeli military operations are relatively low. Israeli troops on the Gaza border fatally shoot a mentally handicapped Palestinian teenager who approaches the border fence e. of Dayr al-Balah in c. Gaza. In the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) patrols 6 villages nr. Jericho, Qalqilya, Ramallah, and Tulkarm during the day and 2 villages nr. Jenin and Ramallah late at night. An Israeli military court says it is holding Samer Allawi, a senior Palestinian journalist who serves as al-Jazeera satellite network’s Kabul bureau chief, on suspicion of being a Hamas mbr. but has not yet indicted him; the IDF confirms that it detained him on 8/9/11 at a border crossing to Jordan when he attempted leave the West Bank, where he had visited family in Nablus; Allawi denies any Hamas connection. (AFP 8/16; JTA, WP, WT 8/17; PCHR 8/18; OCHA 8/19)

Fatah and Hamas officials announce an (unsigned) reconciliation agreement, pledging to form a transitional national unity govt. made up of independent technocrats chosen by consensus that would prioritize planning for legislative and presidential elections within a year (including agreeing on new mbrs. for the Central Elections Commission), rebuilding Gaza, and reunifying West Bank and Gaza institutions. Netanyahu denounces the agreement, saying the PA “must choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas.” The PA replies that “Netanyahu must choose between a just peace with the united Palestinian people . . . and settlements.” (IFM, REU 4/27; NYT, WP, WT 4/28; NYT 4/29)

The IDF makes a brief incursion into s. Gaza to level lands and clear lines of sight e. of Dayr al-Balah. In Egypt’s Sinai, a new explosion damages the recently repaired natural gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan, cutting supplies once again. (NYT, PCHR 4/28; OCHA 5/6)

Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Israel responds with at least 3 air strikes on Hamas training sites in Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City, and Khan Yunis, causing collateral damage to 6 homes but no reported injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts patrols in Jericho and 3 villages nr. Qalqilya and Tulkarm; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nabi Salih, arresting an organizer of the weekly demonstrations against the separation wall. Palestinians and international activists demonstrate against construction of settlements and the separation wall at the Qalandia crossing and in Bayt Umar. IDF soldiers fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters, injuring 4 Palestinians (including 2 journalists) and 1 international activist. Jewish settlers fr. Taffuh settlement s. of Nablus attempt to seize Palestinian agricultural lands e. of Salfit but are removed by the IDF. Jewish settlers fr. Karnei Shomron settlement nr. Qalqilya stone Palestinian vehicles. (AFP 3/5; IsRN 3/6; PCHR 3/10; OCHA 3/18)

IDF troops on the c. Gaza border fire on armed Palestinians operating e. of Dayr al-Balah, wounding 1. The IDF makes a day-long incursion into Khuza‘a village in s. Gaza to level lands and clear lines of sight. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the s. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts morning arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin; raids Hebron in the evening to arrest local human rights activists Issa ‘Amru on charges of incitement and affiliation with an illegal organization (the Youth Commission against Settlement in Hebron); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron and late-night patrols in villages nr. Jericho and Ramallah. In reaction to the IDF’s removal of 3 structures at Havat Gilad outpost on 2/28, Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar implement their “price-tag doctrine” of retaliating against Palestinians for any action to curb settlers, throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Palestinian home and smashing the windows of 7 Palestinian cars nr. Nablus. (WT 3/2; PCHR 3/3; OCHA 3/4; WJW 3/10)

By this date, rebel forces in Libya have set up a provisional govt. in Benghazi and today call for international intervention (imposition of a no-fly zone, air strikes, supply of weapons but not ground forces) to topple Qaddafi. Analysts say the country looks poised for a “long and bloody stalemate.” Fierce fighting continues nationwide and more than 100,000 Libyans and foreigners have fled the country. The international community is meeting intensively to discuss options. (NYT, WP, WT 3/2; WP 3/3; NYT, WP, WT 3/4–8; NYT 3/9; WP, WT 3/11; NYT, WP 3/12)

Israeli naval vessels seize a Palestinian fishing boat off the Gaza coast, detaining but quickly releasing 4 fishermen. Unidentified Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF makes 2 air strikes on an IQB training site nr. Dayr al-Balah (partially damaging a building but causing no injuries) and a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border (injuring 1 Palestinian). In the West Bank, the IDF enters al-Ras village in the afternoon, arresting 3 Palestinians off the street; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities demolish a Palestinian home in Bayt Hanina neighborhood. (JP 1/4; AFP, JP, UPI 1/5; PCHR 1/6; OCHA 1/7)