The Palestine Chronology

The IDF sends tanks, bulldozers into c. Gaza to level land along the border nr. Abu al-Ajin. Islamic Jihad mbr. Ibrahim al-Louh, injured in the 12/27 IDF assassination of central Gaza cmdr. Murshud, dies. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, nr. Bethlehem. A Jewish settler kills a Palestinian in a deliberate hit-and-run nr. Bil‘in. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba vandalize a Palestinian car. Some 500 Islamic Jihad, PRC mbrs. rally at the Rafah crossing to protest its continued closure; PRC mbrs. detonate 2 bombs nr. the border wall, causing no damage or injuries. Hamas-affiliated police fire warning shots at a busload of Islamic Jihad mbrs. who fail to stop at a checkpoint outside al-Bureij r.c., wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. Hamas-affiliated police raid an area of Rafah to arrest wanted Fatah mbrs., sparking clashes that leave 3 Fatah mbrs., 1 policeman injured. In Khan Yunis, Fatah mbrs. start a brawl with Hamas-affiliated police who remove pro-Fatah banners, leaving 3 Palestinians injured. (OCHA 1/2; PCHR 1/3)

The IDF makes an air strike on a car in central Gaza, assassinating Islamic Jihad’s central Gaza cmdr. Muhammad Abu Murshud, wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and 3 bystanders; makes an air strike on a car nr. al-Bureij r.c., assassinating local Islamic Jihad cmdr. Muhammad Ahmad Abu Hassanian, a relative traveling with him, and wounding 6 bystanders (including 2 children). The IDF sends troops and bulldozers into Abasan under cover of artillery fire, clashing with local gunmen, killing 1 Hamas and 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., wounding 4 bystanders, demolishing 1 Palestinian home, heavily damaging a 2d home, bulldozing several greenhouses, an irrigation network, 20 beehives, and 160 d. of agricultural land. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in cars with Palestinian license plates into Beitunia nr. Ramallah (where they assassinate PA presidential guard mbr. Mu‘tassim al-Sharif, whom the IDF says is a wanted AMB mbr.), into Jenin r.c. (to arrest a wanted Islamic Jihad mbr.); conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm town and r.c. Israelis uproot 10s of Palestinian olive trees located on the western side of the separation wall in the divided village of Dayr al-Asal nr. Hebron. (REU 12/27; NYT, WP 12/28; OCHA 1/2; PCHR 1/3)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinians collecting scrap metal who stray nr. the border fence n. of Bayt Lahiya, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF partially demolishes a Palestinian home in Ibaydiyya nr. Bethlehem; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring ‘Askar r.c., in Bayt Fajjar and Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem, in Hebron, and nr. al-Fawar r.c. (shooting, wounding 1 Palestinian). In Bureij r.c., a Palestinian is injured when an explosive device he is handling explodes prematurely. Fatah, ESF mbrs. clash in n. Gaza for a 2d day, leaving a 2-yr.-old Palestinian boy dead, 6 Palestinians injured. In Gaza City, ESF mbrs. exchange fire with a Fatah-affiliated family, killing 1 Palestinian; unidentified gunmen halt, seize a UN vehicle, leaving the Palestinian UN employee unharmed. Outside Gaza City, a PRC mbr. is shot dead in apparent factional violence. In Khan Yunis, unidentified gunmen shoot, wound a PSF officer. (NYT, WP 3/23; OCHA 3/28; PCHR 3/29)