The Palestine Chronology

In Gaza, the IDF conducts air strikes destroying the Jabaliya r.c. home of an Islamic Jihad mbr. accused of firing rockets into Israel (residents are warned in advance to evacuate, but 14 bystanders are injured, 11 nearby houses damaged), the Bayt Hanun home of a PRC mbr. thought to be holding a weapons cache (residents are warned in advance to evacuate, but 1 bystander is injured); shells a group of Palestinian civilians nr. Bayt Hanun attempting to cart away a disused rocket launcher to sell as scrap, killing 3 Palestinian civilians, wounding 3; conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Shuka;. Palestinians fire 4 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Araba and Fahma, both nr. Jenin, deliberately damaging 35 water tanks atop homes in Fahma; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya, nr. Jenin, in and around Hebron, Nablus; begins bulldozing 250 d. of agricultural land nr. Qalqilya for construction of the separation wall (see 8/10). Jewish settlers fr. Mitzvah Lakhish, Negohot settlements nr. Hebron (escorted by the IDF) bulldoze at least 100 d. of neighboring Palestinian land. Unidentified Palestinian gunmen (suspected PRC mbrs.) kidnap 2 Fox News journalists (1 American reporter, 1 cameraman fr. New Zealand) in Gaza City; no group takes responsibility or issues demands; Hamas condemns the action. (WP, WT 8/15; NYT, WP 8/16; PCHR 8/17; Roadmap Risk Assessment [Jerusalem] 8/19)

Overnight, the IDF continues air strikes on s. Beirut and in the Biqa‘ Valley, killing at least 7 Lebanese, while Hizballah fires rockets into n. Israel. Minutes before the 8:00 A.M. local (1:00 A.M. ET) truce deadline, violence quiets. During the day, 10,000s of Lebanese displaced by the fighting begin returning to their homes to assess damage, although IDF warnings on vehicular movement in s. Lebanon remain in place; 1,000s of Lebanese begin returning fr. Syria. In a televised address, Nasrallah promises Lebanese that Hizballah will provide funds to rebuild; on the ground Hizballah mbrs. in areas of s. Lebanon and s. Beirut take charge of clean-up and rescue efforts, with the help of Lebanese civil defense teams and army units. During the day, Hizballah holds its fire, whereas the IDF fires on groups of Hizballah mbrs. in 5 incidents, killing at least 5 Hizballah mbrs. it claims posed an immediate threat (permissible defensive action under UN Res. 1701); flies drones around s. Lebanon, monitoring the situation. At least 5 Lebanese civilians are killed by accidentally detonating unexploded IDF ordnance. (WP 8/14; NYT, WP, WT 8/15)

Overnight, the IDF launches ground operations in al-Shuka, using helicopters, drones, and some 50 tanks, armored vehicles, bulldozers; seals off Dahaniyya airport, the eastern entrance to Rafah, the main north–south Gaza highway; makes heavy air and artillery strikes on residential areas throughout the day, with Palestinian militants retaliating with antitank and light weapons fire, leaving 2 Hamas mbrs., 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 1 PA security officer, 5 bystanders dead and more than 30 Palestinians wounded (including at least 8 militants, 18 civilians). Palestinians fire 4 rockets toward Israel, but all land inside Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Qalqilya and in ‘Ayn alSultan r.c. nr Jericho, Balata r.c., Hebron, Nablus. (NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 8/3; NYT, WP 8/4; PCHR 8/10)

The IDF operates in 20 villages in s. Lebanon, most of them less than 2 mi. inside the border, engaging in intense clashes with Hizballah (particularly in Bint Jubayl, Maroun al-Ras, Marwahin, Rajmin), with Hizballah killing 4 IDF soldiers, wounding 4, destroying at least 4 APCs in Aita al-Sha‘b and Taybeh. The IDF also continues air strikes across Lebanon, including in s. Beirut (hitting houses of senior Hizballah and Hamas mbrs.), Blat, Nabatiyya, Rashaya, Taybeh, in the Biqa‘ Valley, and in the far n. nr. the border with Syria. Hizballah fires around 180 rockets into n. Israel, killing 5 Israeli civilians in Acre and 3 bedouin in Tarshiha nr. Ma’alot (all 8 killed during a 1- hr. barrage of 40 rockets), also hitting Kiryat Shimona (in another barrage of 30 rockets). (BBC, JAZ, NYT 8/3; AP, NYT, WP, WT 8/4)

The IDF expands Operation Summer Rains overnight, sending 50 tanks, troops back into n. Gaza in and around Gaza City, engaging in intense clashes with and conducting air strikes on Palestinian gunmen, leaving at least 7 Hamas mbrs., 5 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 9 civilians dead, at least 57 Palestinians wounded, bulldozing wide tracts of land. In at least 3 incidents in Jabaliya r.c., the IDF phones Hamas mbrs. warning them to evacuate their houses, then conducts air strikes destroying the homes. The IDF also closes the Qarni crossing. Palestinians fire 13 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli in Sederot. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in a car with Palestinian license plates into Kafr Qadim nr. Qalqilya, surrounds a home, evacuates and checks residents, demolishes the home, arrests 1 Palestinian, injures 1; bars a Palestinian heart attack victim fr. crossing a checkpoint to reach a Qalqilya hospital, allowing him to die; patrols, searches cars in Yatta nr. Hebron; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, and in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Jenin, Nablus. In Rafah, a Palestinian is killed in an exchange of fire btwn. PA security forces, armed Palestinians. Israeli security sources reveal that Israeli-Canadian citizen Falah, arrested on 7/8 and held without access to a lawyer, was detained for photographing a military antenna nr. Ras al-Naqura, alleging that he was sent “to photograph and report where rockets have landed in Israel,” noting that he visited Beirut, Tehran within the last 2 yrs.; Falah, who was arrested before Hizballah’s 7/12 cross-border raid and the firing of rockets into Israel, said the photos were for academic purposes, he did not know the antenna was military, and his trips to Lebanon, Iran were public knowledge. (REU, NYT, WP 7/26; NYT, WP, WT 7/26; PCHR 7/27; OCHA 8/2; PCHR 8/3)

The IDF faces intense fighting in s. Lebanon, where some 100 Hizballah mbrs. ambush an elite IDF Golani Brigade unit in Bint Jubayl, pinning them down for 1 hr. under a heavy barrage of mortars, antitank rounds, RPGs, and small-arms fire before they could return fire, killing 8 IDF soldiers, wounding at least 22; the IDF estimates that it killed around 20 Hizballah mbrs. A 9th IDF soldier is killed, 5 are wounded by antitank fire in clashes nr. Maroun al-Ras. Meanwhile, the IDF continues air strikes nr. Beirut and in s. Lebanon, including hitting an Amal command center and the Hizballah headquarters in Tyre. In Anjar nr. the Syrian border, a truck carrying emergency food, medical supplies donated by the UAE (see 7/18) is hit, killing the Syrian driver. Hizballah fires around 150 rockets into Israel, striking Carmiel, Haifa, Jish, Safad, Tiberias. Israel allows 2 Jordanian military transports carrying humanitarian aid to land at Beirut airport, though it still will not provide safety guarantees for trucks transporting the supplies southward on the coastal highway or across the border fr. Syria, where relief goods for 20,000 people have been stockpiled. The UN moves 5 convoys of supplies (containing wheat, soap, diapers, water purification tablets, medical kits) to the south on 5 routes approved for one-time use by the IDF. (NYT, WP, WT 7/27)

Overnight, the IDF withdraws fr. alMaghazi r.c., leaving a total of 207 d. of land, 4 Palestinian homes demolished, 9 other homes partially demolished. Also in Gaza, the IDF fires a tank shell at a home in Gaza City, alleging that a Hamas mbr. on the roof was preparing to fire an RPG, killing a handicapped Palestinian on the roof, 3 relatives inside, wounding 2; shells areas nr. Khan Yunis and the Sufa crossing in the south and in n. Gaza, wounding at least 6 Palestinian civilians. In the West Bank, the IDF withdraws troops fr. Nablus, ending a 3-day operation; before leaving, troops blow up the main government offices (killing a Palestinian bystander), fire on stone-throwing Palestinians youths, wounding 21. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Qalqilya. (WP 7/21; NYT, PCHR 7/22; PCHR 7/27; B’Tselem 8/3)

The IDF calls up 3 battalions (several 1,000) additional reserves, positions troops and armor on the n. Israel border in preparation for “limited” ground operations to “mop up” Hizballah strongholds and weapons sites, continues pinpoint special forces operations inside s. Lebanon, urges residents to evacuate n. of the Litani River immediately (see 7/20; local officials estimate that 70% of the southern population has left). The U.S. approves Israel’s request to expedite delivery of precision-guided missiles (including at least 25, possibly 100, 5,000-lb GBU-28 bunker busters) to maintain the intensity of IDF air strikes. IDF artillery hits a UN observation post in Zarit, s. Lebanon, causing extensive damage but no injuries; makes air strikes on the Beirut–Damascus highway and several bridges, targeting empty passenger busses returning fr. Syria after evacuating foreigners; continues air strikes on Baalbek (killing at least 5 Lebanese civilians, wounding 20) and on s. Lebanon. At least 12 Lebanese are killed during the day. Hizballah fires 35–50 rockets into n. Israel, 10 of them hitting Haifa (injuring 3 Israelis) and others hitting Carmiel, Kiryat Shimona, Nahariya, Safad, Tiberias, and several n. Israeli villages. Hizballah acknowledges that 6 Hizballah mbrs. have been killed since 7/12, whereas Israel claims that around 100 have been killed. UN humanitarian relief coordinator Jan Egeland estimates that 500,000 Lebanese are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, but says that the UN cannot provide it without Israel, Lebanon guaranteeing safe corridors for movement of civilians and aid. Today, Israel allows 1 Greek ship carrying 22 tons of humanitarian goods to enter Beirut. (AP 7/21; NYT, WP, WT 7/22; NYT 8/11)

The IDF reopens Gaza’s Sufa crossing; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron and nr. Bethlehem, Tulkarm. (OCHA, PCHR 6/1)

Unidentified militants in s. Lebanon (thought to be Hizballah mbrs. retaliating on behalf of Islamic Jihad for the suspected Israeli assassination of a senior Islamic Jihad mbr. on 5/26) fire Katyusha rockets across the border at an IDF post, seriously injuring 1 IDF soldier. The IDF makes air strikes on 2 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine–General Command (PFLPGC) posts, on a weapons depot nr. the Syrian border in the Biqa‘Valley and in s. Beirut, killing 1 PFLP-GC mbr., wounding at least 5. Later, Hizballah fires mortars, rockets toward at least 10 IDF outposts on the n. Israel border, wounding 1 IDF solider; the IDF fires artillery, conducts air strikes on Hizballah targets in s. Lebanon, killing at least 1 Hizballah mbr., wounding 2 civilians; Hizballah fires several rockets into n. Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) brokers a cease-fire. (IFM, NYT, WP, WT 5/29; MM 5/30; NYT 6/1; MM 6/2)