The Palestine Chronology

The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers in Hebron beat a 13-yr.-old Palestinian boy. The Fatah-aligned PA Government Employees Union (GEU; comprising some 80,000 members, about half of public workers, including 25,000 healthcare workers and 37,000 teachers) ends a strike that began on 9/2 to protest the Hamas-led PA’s failure to pay salaries (see Quarterly Update in JPS 142); the workers are to receive 1-mo.’s salary immediately, with the remaining back salaries paid in installments over the next 6 mos. In Jabaliya r.c., unidentified gunmen shoot, wound 2 PRC mbrs. (NYT 1/14; OCHA 1/17; PCHR 1/18)

U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice begins a 3-day tour of Israel, Ramallah, Egypt, Jordan to explore with Olmert, Abbas, Pres. Husni Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdallah of Jordan the possibilities of reviving road map implementation and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (IFM, NYT, State Dept. press release, WP, WT 1/14; IFM, MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/15 MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/16; MM 1/18)