The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli forces raided Ni‘lin and punitively demolished the family home of a Palestinian man who was killed after he allegedly killed 1 Israeli woman in Tel Aviv on 3/9; 2 Palestinians were injured by live ammunition while protesting the demolition. The punitive demolition was carried out in a 4-story apartment building on the second floor with explosives, causing damage to other apartments. Israeli forces also shot and injured 2 Palestinians during a raid in Qabatiya. Elsewhere, Israeli forces issued a demolition order for a house under construction in Tura. Israeli forces also seized 2 tractors in Deir Sharaf. Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided Bardala, sealing water wells. 18 Palestinians were arrested during raids in Qabatiya, al-Jalama, Tubas, al-Am’ari refugee camp, Nablus, Salem, al-Arroub refugee camp, Birzeit, al-Mughayyir, and al-‘Awja. In East Jerusalem, 2 Palestinians were arrested in Jabel Mukaber and al-Tur. (AP, HA, QDS, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 5/23; PCHR 5/25; UNOCHA 6/2)

The head of the Israeli police’s operational division Sigal Bar-Zvi said that Israel should declare a state of emergency over the continuing rise in gun violence in the Palestinian cities and towns in Israel. So far this year, 80 Palestinian citizens of Israel have been murdered. Bar-Zvi blamed organized crime for the rise in the murder rate. (HA 5/24)

Haaretz reported that the second largest Israeli spyware company QuaDream had announced that it would shut down due to its failure to get authorization from the Israeli Defense Ministry to sell its Reign spyware to Morocco and other new clients. Morocco was reportedly barred by Israel from buying QuaDream’s spyware as it had used NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to target senior officials in Europe, including French president Emmanuel Macron. (HA 5/23)

Turkish media reported that Turkish intelligence had arrested 11 members of a Mossad spy ring that operates against Iran. (HA 5/23)

The City of Geneva banned an exhibition organized by Samidoun and Rouge secour organization that highlights the plight of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. (NA 6/1)

Germany pledged $134 million in support of Palestinian development projects in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem for 2023-24. (WAFA 5/23)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces shot and injured 2 Palestinians with live ammunition during a raid in Aqraba. Israeli forces also issued a demolition notice for a house in Idhna, giving the family 8 days to demolish their home. Elsewhere, Israeli forces fired tear gas near a school in Silwad, causing tear-gas related injuries to students and staff. 6 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in Abu Dis, Tulkarm, Nablus, Jifna, and Hebron. In East Jerusalem, 4 Palestinians were arrested during raids in Isawiya. (MEMO, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 1/9; PCHR 1/12; UNOCHA 2/16)

The Israeli prison service began transferring Palestinians to different prisons in Israel to impede contact between them. 70 Palestinian prisoners, including Palestinian presidential candidate Marwan Barghouti, were transferred to the Nafha prison. A total of 2,000 Palestinian prisoners will, according to the plans, be transferred from the prison they are incarcerated in to a new location. (HA, WAFA 1/9; ALM, MEMO 1/10)

Israel Hayom reported that Israel forces had demolished 2 structures at an archeological site in Khirbet Tarfin in Area B on 11/24/2022. The demolition was approved by then Defense Minister Benny Gantz. (HA 1/10)

Likud Party MK Hanoch Milwidsky told the Knesset during a debate on revoking citizenship for Palestinians convicted of terrorism that he prefers Jewish terrorists and will not seek to revoke their citizenship. The proposed legislation Milwidsky was defending would see Palestinians receiving prisoner stipends from the PA, or through a foreign body, having their citizenship revoked. Midwidsky said, “I prefer Jewish murderers to Arab murderers and as a general rule in the Jewish state I prefer Jews to disloyal Arabs here.” (HA, TOI, WAFA 1/9; MEE 1/10)

Representatives from the U.S., Israel, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, and Morocco met in Abu Dhabi for the first day of a two-day summit of the Negev Forum, discussing normalization and regional integration. The members of the forum issued a document on 1/10 stating that they want to develop and implement initiatives to strengthen the Palestinian economy and quality of life. (AX, MEE 1/8; ALM, MEMO 1/9; TOI 1/10; AX 1/11; AN, MEMO 1/12)

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed a lawsuit brought by WhatsApp against the Israeli spyware company NSO Group to continue, denying the NSO Group immunity as a foreign government agent. NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware has been used to spy on activists and journalists in several countries, with more than 100 cases where the spyware having been installed via WhatsApp messages in more than 100 cases. (AJ, MDW, MEE 1/9; MEMO 1/10)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces closed off large parts of Hebron to Palestinians, including forcing Palestinians to close their shops in the Bab al-Zawyeh area to allow Israeli settlers to tour it. Israeli forces also seized an excavator in Burin. 7 Palestinians were arrested, including 5 during late-night raids in and around Bethlehem, Burqin, and Deir Ghasana, 1 was arrested at a checkpoint near al-Khader, and 1 was arrested at the entrance to Zabbuba. In East Jerusalem, nearly 1,700 Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound on the Jewish holiday Tisha B’Av, drawing criticism from the Israeli governing party the United Arab List, the PA, Hamas, the EU, and Jordan. Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinian protesters on and around the Haram al-Sharif compound who were expressing anger over the settler incursion, causing injuries and 5 arrests. (AJ, AP, HA, HA, MEMO, MEMO, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 7/18; MEMO, MEMO 7/19; PCHR 7/29)

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt was open for 1 day. (MEMO, WAFA 7/19)

In a statement after the Israeli settlers had toured the Haram al-Sharif compound, Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the Israeli security forces had preserved “freedom of worship for Jews on the Mound [the Haram al-Sharif compound],” a significant departure from the status quo of the Holy Sites and a 1st from an Israeli prime minister. Under the status quo agreement, only Muslims have the right to worship on the Haram al-Sharif compound. 1 day later, Prime Minister Bennett clarified that the wording was a mistake and that he meant “visit” rather than “worship.” (HA, MEMO 7/18; AP, HA, JP, WAFA 7/19)

The Israeli high court of justice rejected a petition from Peace Now to stop the transfer of Israeli public funds to the Amana movement, which funds and builds unauthorized constructions in Israeli settlements and settlement outposts. (HA 7/19)

Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid said that the Israeli government would examine the diplomatic ramifications of the demolition and eviction of the bedouin community Khan al-Ahmar. (HA 7/18; MEMO 7/19)

The PFLP-GC said it had elected a new leader, Talal Naji, to replace Ahmed Jibril who died on 7/7 after months of sickness. (AP, HA 7/18)

17 news outlets published a Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International investigation based on a leak of more than 50,000 records of phone numbers, which had been targeted for surveillance with Pegasus spyware from the Israeli spyware company NSO Group’s clients. The investigation found that at least 180 journalists from 21 countries had been targeted by 12 NSO Group clients, including the governments of Bahrain, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, India, the UAE, Mexico, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Togo, and Rwanda. The investigation also found that heads of governments, including Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan, France’s president Emmanuel Macron, and Morocco’s king Mohammed VI, were among possible victims. Furthermore, the investigation showed that Pegasus spyware was installed on Saudi dissent journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée’s phone and that his son had been listed for targeting before Khashoggi was murdered by special forces in Saudi’s embassy in Istanbul on 10/2/2018. Charges against NSO Group that its spyware was used against Khashoggi have been denied by the company. The Israeli government approves all sales of spyware from NSO Group to potential clients. Amazon subsequently said it had shut down its servers used by NSO Group. The investigation comes as a different investigation into another Israeli spyware company Candiru was released on 7/15. Later, after the Forbidden Stories investigation was published and with international criticism mounting, the Knesset’s foreign affairs and defense committee chairman Ram Ben Barak on 7/22 said that his committee would review the process of granting licenses to export spyware to other countries. France and Luxembourg said they would start investigations into the Israeli-made spyware. (NYT 7/17; AI, AJ, F24, GDN, HA, HA, HA, HA, MEE, NYT 7/18; AJ, ALM, AP, GDN, MEE, MEE, MEMO, MEMO, NPR, REU, REU 7/19; AJ, ALM, AP, AP, HA, HA, HA, MEE, REU 7/20; AJ, AP, HA, HA, MEE, MEE, MEE, MEMO, MEMO, MEMO, REU, REU, REU 7/21; AJ, ALM, BBC, HA, HA, HA, HA, MEE, MEE 7/22; HA, MEE, MEE 7/23; CNN, HILL 7/25)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers set up mobile homes outside of the Shvut Rachel settlement near Jalud to expand the settlement. Israeli forces demolished several structures in Khirbet Humsa after demolishing more than 30 structures on 7/7. Israeli forces also demolished 1 large Canaanite-era cemetery near al-Khader to expand a settlement road; the cemetery was dated around 2300 to 1550 B.C.E. Elsewhere, Israeli forces demolished a large water tank in Bayt Dajan. Palestinian students from Birzeit University held a sit-in protest at the university for the mass arrest of 33 students on 7/14 by Israeli forces in Turmus ‘Ayya, were the students were visiting the family who were victims of a punitive demolition on 7/8. All of the 33 students were released the same day. 10 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around ‘Asira al-Qibliya, Marah Rabah, Deir Qaddis, Abu Dis, and ‘Anin. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian was arrested during a house raid in al-Tur. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian agricultural lands east of Khuza‘a; no injuries were reported. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 7/15; PCHR 7/29)

The Intercept and Local Call reported that Israeli settlers and soldiers had cooperated in the deliberately killing at least 4 Palestinians on 5/14, a day where Israeli soldiers and settlers ultimately killed 11 Palestinians across the West Bank. In videos obtained by B’Tselem, it is evident that Israeli settlers stand side by side with Israeli soldiers firing automatic rifles at Palestinians trying to protect themselves from a settler raid in ‘Urif. Similar joint attacks by settlers and soldiers led to killings of Palestinians in Iskaka, ‘Asira al-Qibliya, and al-Reihiya. (+972, INT 7/15; HA 7/16)

Haaretz said that documents they had examined revealed that the Israeli defense ministry had worked with a Jewish National Fund subsidiary, Himanuta, to purchase Palestinian-owned land in the West Bank and to prevent Palestinians from accessing the land in question. The deals between Himanuta and the defense ministry were made in 2018 and 2019. Among the purchases were a 1,000-dunam (250 acres) plot of land near the Hamra settlement, which Israel closed off to its Palestinian owners more than 50 years ago; a plot of land near Ramallah; the home of the Bakri family in Hebron; and a 218-dunam (54 acres) plot of land near the Argaman settlement. (HA 7/15)

Israel and Morocco signed a cybersecurity agreement in Rabat, further bolstering the 2 countries’ normalization deal. (MEMO 7/15)

The New York Times reported that Israel is refusing to extricate a Mexican former federal prosecutor, Tomas Zeron De Lucio, who is wanted for falsifying evidence, torture, and misuse of the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. According to NYT sources, Israel is refusing the extradition because of the country’s perception of Mexico as supportive of Palestine. Zeron De Lucio is said to have sought political asylum in Israel. (HA, MEMO, NYT 7/15; GDN, TOI 7/22; TOI 7/23)

The Canadian cybersecurity research group Citizen Lab said that spyware from the Israeli company Candiru was used to spy on more than 100 activists from several countries including Saudi Arabia, Israel, Hungary, Indonesia, the UK, Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Spain, Turkey, Armenia, and Singapore. Spyware was installed on the users’ computers using the Microsoft operating system Windows. Microsoft said it had updated its software to close the hole in its security. 1 of the ways the spyware infected users’ devices was when a user clicked on a URL set up by the attacker. Citizen Lab found that activists had been hacked through domain names from fake websites with domain names such as “amnesty reports,” “refugee international,” woman studies,” “euro news,” and “CNN 24-7.” (AJ, AP, GDN, MEE, REU 7/15; ALM 7/16; NYT 7/17)

Lebanese prime minister-designate Saad Hariri resigned 9 months after being picked to try to form a government. Hariri’s resignation followed a meeting with President Michel Aoun on 7/14, where he proposed a 24-minister cabinet. (AJ, HA, REU, REU 7/14; AJ, AP, AX, HA, MEMO, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU 7/15; AP 7/16)

Facebook suspended the account of a Palestinian user who uploaded a letter from the Palestinian political prisoner in Israeli jail Khalida Jarrar to her recently deceased daughter. The account was initially suspended for 60 days but was unblocked by Facebook on 7/20. (HA 7/20; HA 7/21)

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said at a conference hosted by the Geneva Institute that China plans to increase its involvement in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. At the virtual conference were also a member of the Knesset from the Meretz (Vigor) party and Ahmad Majdalani, the PA social development minister. (HA 7/15)

A football exhibition match between Beitar Jerusalem and the Spanish F.C. Barcelona was canceled after Barcelona demanded the game should not be held in Jerusalem, which the owner of Beitar Jerusalem refused. Barcelona’s demand came after weeks of pressure from Palestinians, including chairman of the Palestinian Football Association Jibril Rajoub and Joint List member of Knesset Sami Abu Shehadeh. (ALM 7/13; AJ, AP, HA, MEE, MEMO 7/15; ALM 7/16; WAFA 7/17; MEMO 7/18)