The Palestine Chronology

The IDF sends tanks, troops into Artas village, nr. Bethlehem, to detain a wanted Islamic Jihad mbr. Omar Ayish. In the process the IDF wound 4 Palestinians; throw a grenade into the Ayish home, causing damage but no injuries; leave a trail of cars crushed and overturned by tanks. In response to the raid, Palestinian gunmen fire on Gilo fr. Bayt Jala, lightly injuring 1 Jewish settler. IDF soldiers detain and beat a Red Crescent doctor, ambulance driver at a checkpoint in Nablus. The doctor is released after several hrs. but the driver is kept in custody. (AP 1/29; NYT, PCHR 1/30)

Omri Sharon, the PM's son, meets Arafat in Ramallah to arrange a secret mtg. btwn. Sharon, senior PA officials in Jerusalem for 1/30. (SA 2/3 in WNC 2/4; MM 2/4)

In his State of the Union address, Bush calls Iran, Iraq, North Korea an "axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world"; also refers to a "terrorist underworld, including groups like Hamas, Hizballah, [and] Islamic Jihad." (HA, NYT, WP, WT 1/30; MM 1/31; MM 2/1; MA 2/1 in WNC 2/4; JP, MEI 2/8)

A female Palestinian suicide bomber detonates a device in West Jerusalem, killing 1 Israeli, wounding 2 seriously, 5 moderately. This marks the 1st suicide bombing carried out by a Palestinian woman, though 2 women have been caught placing bombs previously during the al-Aqsa intifada. A release faxed to Hizballah's TV station in Lebanon identifies the woman by name as a Palestinian Hamas mbr. from Nablus University, but neither the school nor the PA can find a woman by that name; no women are reported missing. In response, the Israeli air force flies low-level sorties over Gaza City, breaking the sound barrier, shattering windows. The IDF directs shells, heavy machine gun fire at residential areas of Khan Yunis, Nablus. (MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/28; DUS, MA 1/28 in WNC 1/29; Guardian [Internet] 1/29; NYT 1/30; SA 2/2 in WNC 2/4; JP 2/8)

MK Salah Tarif, Israel's 1st Arab cabinet mbr., resigns, saying he can no longer effectively perform his job in light of an announcement last wk. that Atty. Gen. Rubenstein planned to lift his immunity and indict him for fraud. Tarif has consistently denied charges, 1st raised in 2001, that he gave $5,000 to an Interior M official to obtain citizenship papers for a Palestinian businessman. (WP, WT 1/28)

Israeli Arabs hold a demonstration in Umm al-Fahm protesting Israeli aggression against the Palestinians. (al-Quds 1/28 in WNC 1/29)

2 Israelis wounded in the 1/22 AMB attack die. In Nablus, 15,000 angry Palestinians attend the funeral of 3 of 4 Hamas mbrs. killed by the IDF on 1/22, demand revenge. Israel bars officials of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem fr. leaving Israel to attend the Vatican's Day of Prayer for Peace in Italy. (AP, MM 1/23; WP, WT 1/24)

The IDF announces the results of its investigation into the 12/30 death of 3 Palestinians, whose mutilated bodies were not turned over to the PA until 1/3, raising suspicions that the 3 had been tortured and autopsied without permission. The IDF admits that the tank shells fired at the teenagers were packed with flechettes (banned internationally) and that 1 body was then driven over by a tank. (PCHR 1/30) (see 1/3)

The U.S. steps up pressure on the PA: The White House blames continuing violence on the Palestinians, says cease-fire efforts were derailed by the "arms shipment received and paid for by the Palestinian Authority," and states that the "justifying of the targeting of innocents in return for land is an argument for terrorism." The State Dept. says there is no excuse for the PA "not taking effective steps to stop that terrorism." Powell phones Arafat to demand his full report on the Karine A affair. (AP 1/23; AP, NYT, WJW, WT 1/24; NYT, WP 1/25)

Hizballah fires mortars, rockets at 3 IDF posts in the occupied Shaba` Farms region of the Golan Heights, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF responds by conducing air strikes against Hizballah targets in s. Lebanon. (MM, WP 1/24; al-Nahar 1/24 in WNC 1/25; MM 1/29, 1/30; al-Safir 2/7 in WNC 2/11)

Israel reports evidence it says links Arafat; his close associates Adil Mughrabi, Fuad Shubaki, and Fathi Razim; Hizballah; Iran; and others to the Karine A. Hizballah denies any involvement. (NYT, WP, WT 1/6; MM 1/7)

Meanwhile, the PSF arrests senior Islamic Jihad mbr. Fawaz Khulayif on charges of being involved in shooting attacks on Israelis, wounds 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. during his capture; also arrests National Islamic Salvation party (NISP) Secy. Gen. Jamal Talab Salih. The IDF critically wounds a Palestinian in a shooting incident, halts the ambulance transporting him to the hospital, takes him to an undisclosed location for several hrs. of questioning before releasing him to the hospital in critical condition. The IDF also sets up new checkpoints around Nablus. (WT 1/6; Radio Monte Carlo 1/6 in WNC 1/7; LAW 1/9; al-Quds 1/17 in WNC 1/22)