The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli forces raided Sabastiyya to clear the area in preparation for a settler tour; tear-gas related injuries were reported. Israeli forces also raided Jaba‘, leading to confrontations with Palestinians; 6 Palestinians were injured by rubber-coated bullets, others suffered tear-gas related injuries. 18 Palestinians were arrested during raids in and around Tulkarm, Jalazun refugee camp, Ramallah, Tuqu‘, Bethlehem, Nablus, and Salfit. In Gaza, Israeli forces made incursions and levelled land east of Juhur al-Dik. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 12/9; PCHR 12/10)

After being exposed in a leak on 12/7, PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi released a statement confirming that she had submitted a letter of resignation to PA president Mahmoud Abbas. Ashrawi met with President Abbas on 11/24 and subsequently handed her resignation on 11/26. In a statement Ashrawi said that her resignation was leaked by “senior sources,” despite her agreement with Abbas that her resignation would not be publicized until the end of the year. Ashrawi said she had resigned because she “believe[s] that it is time to carry out the required reform and to activate the PLO in a manner that restores its standing and role . . . [and because] the Palestinian political system needs renewal and reinvigoration with the inclusion of youth, women, and additional qualified professional. It is incumbent upon us all to assume our individual responsibilities and to carry out our duties with honesty and integrity, including by facilitating this needed change.” Later in the day, President Abbas accepted Ashrawi’s resignation. (HA 12/7; AJ 12/8; HA, PLO, Twitter, WAFA 12/9)

An Israeli military court allowed a plea bargain for an Israeli soldier who shot and killed a 23-year-old Palestinian man in March 2019. The Israeli soldier shot the Palestinian man while he was assisting another man who had been shot by Israeli forces while tending to his car that had broken down. According to the plea deal, he will serve 3 months community service and receive a 3-month suspended sentence for 2 years in exchange for confessing to negligent manslaughter. The lawyer representing the Palestinian family said that “[t]he army is sending a clear message that soldiers who kill or injure Palestinians will not be punished.” (HA 12/9; AJ, IN, WP 12/10)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians near Ramallah; 1 Palestinian minor was hit by shrapnel from a tear gas canister. Israeli forces also forced Palestinian workers to stop rehabilitating a road near Kisan, confiscating 1 bulldozer. 6 Palestinians were arrested during raids in and around Tulkarm, Hebron, Ramallah, and Salfit. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian family started demolishing their own home in Jabal Mukabir. 15 Palestinians were arrested during raids in Issawiyya and al-Tur. In Gaza, rockets were fired at Israel as the UAE and Bahrain signed deals to normalize relations with Israel in Washington D.C (see below); 2 Israelis were lightly injured by debris in Ashdod. (REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA 9/15; HA, HA 9/16; PCHR 9/17)

At a signing ceremony in Washington D.C., Bahrain and the UAE formalized their deals to normalize relations with Israel, breaking with the stipulations of the Arab Peace Initiative. The text of the UAE-Israel agreement mentioned the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 1 paragraph: “Recalling the reception held on January 28, 2020, at which President Trump presented his Vision for Peace, and committing to continuing their efforts to achieve a just, comprehensive, realistic and enduring solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” The text did not mention halting Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank nor halting settlement expansion, which has also been linked to the agreement between the UAE and Israel. PA president Mahmoud Abbas called for a Day of Rage and the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. President Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh also discussed the situation in a phone call. Palestinians protested the signing ceremony in Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarm, and Gaza City. (AJ, AJ, HA, REU, REU, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 9/15; HA, HA, WAFA 9/16)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers injured 4 Palestinians, including 1 pregnant woman while they were traveling by car northeast of Ramallah; 2, including the pregnant woman, were described as in critical condition. 1 Palestinian was shot and wounded at a checkpoint south of Nablus after allegedly ramming 2 Israeli soldiers who sustained “minor wounds”; according to the Israeli army, the suspect tried to stab the soldiers after crashing his vehicle. Israeli forces also injured 2 Palestinians using live ammunition near Bethlehem and Jenin. 1 45-year-old Palestinian prisoner died of a heart attack at Ofer prison near Ramallah. Israeli forces demolished 2 houses and 1 shack and handed demolition notices for 5 Palestinian-owned houses near Yatta. Elsewhere, Israeli forces seized 3 tents in a Bedouin community near Ramallah. 3 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around Bethlehem, Yatta, and Jenin. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian photojournalist was arrested during a house raid in Issawiyya; Israeli forces seized his equipment during the raid. In Gaza, Israeli forces made incursions to level agricultural lands. Israeli forces also opened fire at agricultural lands east of Khan Yunis and Khuza‘a. (HA 9/1; WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 9/2; PCHR, WAFA 9/3; WAFA 9/4)

Chairman of the Hamas politburo Ismail Haniyeh embarked for Beirut for a week-long visit, where he is expected to meet with leaders of other Palestinian factions, Lebanese officials, and Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah. According to the spokesperson for PA president Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian factions will discuss “Palestinian unity to defeat conspiracies against Palestine.” President Abbas and other West Bank officials will be connected to the factions in Beirut via video conference. (AJ, WAFA 9/2)

Senior advisor to U.S. president Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, met with the Qatari emir Shaykh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Qatar to discuss potential Qatari normalization with Israel. According to Emir al-Thani’s cabinet, al-Thani informed Kushner that Qatari normalization of ties with Israel is dependent on a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as the capital. (AJ, HA 9/2)

Syrian state news said Israeli fighter jets fired missiles near the T-4 airbase in Homs province, causing damage. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 16 people were killed in the attacks. (HA, TOI 9/3)

U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. administration had sanctioned ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and head of the ICC’s Jurisdiction, Complementarity, and Cooperation Division Phakiso Mochochoko. Secretary Pompeo said that the U.S. had made the move “because the ICC continues to target Americans.” The UN secretary-general António Guterres expressed concern about the U.S.’s renewed attack on the ICC. Besides ICC’s investigation into potential war crimes committed by the U.S. in Afghanistan, the court is also investigating potential war crimes committed by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories. (BBC, Guardian, ICC, 9/2; WAFA 9/3; REU 9/15)

The EU contributed $10.65 million to the PA to help pay salaries and pensions for the month of July for civil servants in the West Bank. (WAFA 9/2)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces demolished 8 structures in a bedouin village north of Ramallah and delivered demolition notices for 2 houses near Bethlehem. 11 Palestinians were arrested in and around Tulkarm, Jenin, Bethlehem, and Ramallah; during the raid in Tulkarm, 2 Palestinians were shot by Israeli forces using rubber-coated bullets; during the raid near Jenin, 1 Palestinian was shot by live ammunition. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian-owned home was demolished in Silwan and 1 Palestinian family demolished their own home in Sur Bahir to avoid exorbitant Israeli demolition fees. 4 Palestinians were arrested. In Gaza, Hamas authorities initiated a 48-hour curfew after 4 members of the same family tested positive for the COVID-19 virus on 8/24; these were the 1st people to test positive in Gaza outside of designated quarantine facilities. Israeli forces attacked buildings east of Rafah, causing damage; incendiary balloons were sent toward Israel, causing fires. (AJ, AJ, HA, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 8/25; PCHR 8/27)

Both PA president Mahmoud Abbas and PA prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh met separately with the British foreign secretary Dominic Raab in Ramallah. President Abbas told Secretary Raab peace cannot be achieved by bypassing the Palestinians through normalization of relations with other Arab countries. (WAFA, WAFA 8/25)

Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz and the defense minister of the UAE Mohammed al-Bawardi spoke during a phone call where the 2 discussed shared security interests. (HA, REU 8/25)

U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo spoke to the Republican National Convention from Jerusalem while on an official trip to the Middle East. Secretary Pompeo’s performance at the Republican National Convention was a violation of the Hatch Act and a congressional investigation was initiated shortly after his speech was broadcasted. In his speech, Pompeo touted U.S. president Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, saying “this very city of God, Jerusalem, the rightful capital of the Jewish homeland.” Secretary Pompeo also met with the prime minister of Sudan Abdalla Hamdok to discuss normalizing ties between Sudan and Israel, among other issues. A Sudanese spokesperson said that the transitional government was not mandated to normalize ties with Israel. (AJ, HA, HA, HA, HA 8/25; HA 8/27)

The Democratic candidate for vice president Kamala Harris said in a call with Jewish supporters that a Biden administration will not condition U.S. military aid to Israel. (HA 8/26)

The director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, Matthias Schmale, called on Israel to start allowing fuel into Gaza as Gaza’s only power plant had remained closed for 1 week due to lack of fuel as Israel blocked the entrance of fuel to Gaza. (WAFA 8/25)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian school in ‘Ayn Bus was set on fire, damaging classrooms, and racist Hebrew graffiti was painted on the building. Israeli forces seized tracts of land north of Hebron to expand an Israeli settlement. 11 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around Biddu, Bethlehem Tubas, Tulkarm, Hebron, and Jenin. During a raid in Jenin, Israeli forces confiscated a vehicle and cash. Palestinians protested the U.S. administration’s version of a peace plan in several places throughout the West Bank; at least 12 Palestinians were reported injured. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian-owned store in Wadi al-Juz. 8 Palestinians were arrested, including 3 during raids in Silwan and the Old City, and 5 at the Haram al-Sharif compound. In Gaza, Palestinians also protested the U.S. administration’s peace plan. (AJ, HA, HA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 1/28; PCHR 1/30)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted in the 3 corruption cases against him. Prime Minister Netanyahu had earlier on that day, before the indictment, withdrawn his request for immunity from prosecution. (AJ, HA 1/28)

U.S. president Donald Trump, flanked by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, presented the U.S. administration’s version of a peace plan, which on all contentious issues took maximalist Israeli positions. The plan presented a vision for 2 states; however, the map of these 2 “states” presented with the plan showed a carved-up West Bank where the majority of Israeli settlements and the Jordan Valley were annexed by Israel. A swath of land in Israel, where some 250,000 Palestinian citizens of Israel live, would be annexed to the Palestinian “state.” Some land in Israel along the Egyptian border would also be part of the Palestinian state. Jerusalem would become part of Israel and the Palestinian capitol would be east of Jerusalem on the West Bank side of the separation border. Gaza and the West Bank would be connected by a bridge or a tunnel. The Palestinian state would be demilitarized, including disarming Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine (PIJ). Israel would control all of Palestine’s international borders. There would be no right of return for Palestinians as “[t]heir Arab brothers have the moral responsibility to integrate them into their countries as the Jews were integrated into the State of Israel.” Furthermore, the peace plan would allow Jews to pray on Haram al-Sharif and the PA would have to stop paying stipends to families of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. Palestinians, according to the plan, would have 4 years after the “peace deal” was signed to achieve the right to their own state. (BBC, NPR, NYT, REU 1/28; AJ, HA 1/29; HA 1/30)

The Palestinian leadership’s response to the U.S. administration’s vision of a peace plan was condemnation. PA president Mahmoud Abbas said that “Trump and Netanyahu declared the slap of the century, not the deal. And we will respond with slaps.” At President Abbas’s speech were representatives from Hamas and PIJ. Hamas said Abbas had spoken with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and that the 2 had agreed to stand together in unity on the matter. Abbas also called for an urgent session at the Arab League to discuss the U.S. peace plan. (AJ, AJ, HA, WAFA, WAFA 1/28)

Shortly after the U.S. peace plan was released, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he would convene the Israeli cabinet on 2/1 to start annexing Israeli settlements, the Jordan Valley, and the northern Dead Sea. Jared Kushner, senior advisor to President Trump, said shortly after Netanyahu’s announcement that he did not believe that Israel would start annexing West Bank settlements on 2/1, contradicting the Israeli prime minister. (HA, HA, HA 1/29)