The Palestine Chronology

Sharon, returning to work a wk. after suffering a mild stroke, orders the IDF to implement Operation Blue Skies to enforce a no-go zone in n. Gaza by all means possible without re-entering the Strip in order to prevent rocket fire, stating that the operation will be open ended; the IDF takes no immediate action, however. The U.S. says (12/28) that it approves the decision, seeing it “in the context of [the PA’s] failure to address the security situation”; that the PA should take “effective measures against such acts [i.e., rocket fire] so that the measures Israel is taking are not necessary.” During the day, the IDF extends the 12/15 general closure on the West Bank and Gaza until 1/3 because of Hanukah; seals the Erez crossing (closed to most Palestinians since 12/16) to VIP and humanitarian cases; sends troops into Anabta, fires live ammunition at stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron. Late in the evening, the IDF launches an air strike on a Fatah office in Bayt Lahiya, destroying it and cutting electricity to the area; conducts 2 air strikes on a bridge southwest of Bayt Lahiya, also damaging several nearby homes; conducts 3 air strikes on open areas in n. Gaza, causing no injuries. Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh cut down 120 Palestinian olive trees in Burin, nr. Nablus. In Gaza City, Hamas mbrs. detonate an explosive device outside the home of PA police official Abu Wa’il Saada, causing damage but no injuries; Saada family mbrs. exchange fire with the Hamas mbrs., causing no injuries. (AFP, IMEMC, Israeli cabinet communiqu´e, NYT, WT 12/25; HA, YA 12/26; CSM, PCHR, PMC 12/29)

The IDF seals the West Bank; closes the Sufa, Qarni crossings into Gaza; imposes a closure on Tulkarm, barring most travel into and out of the area; raids the offices of Future Studies and Media in Hebron, confiscating computers; bulldozes 500 sq. m. of Palestinian land nr. Kiryat Arba settlement; conducts late night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarm. Palestinians fire 4 rockets towards Ashkelon, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with 10 air strikes, 21 artillery rounds on the n. Gaza no-go zone, wounding 3 Palestinians. (IMEMC, JAZ, WP, YA 12/15; NYT 12/16; Israeli cabinet communiqu´e 12/18; PCHR 12/22; HA 1/13)

Overnight, the IDF raids Kefar Rai, arrests 15 Palestinians in connection with the 12/5 Netanya bombing, including the bomber’s father, 3 brothers; also conducts arrest raids in villages around Hebron and Tulkarm, in Bethlehem. PA security forces detain 13 Islamic Jihad mbrs. in Balata r.c and Nablus, exchanging fire with AMB and Islamic Jihad gunmen opposed to the arrests, causing no reported injuries; also arrest 4 Islamic Jihad mbrs. in the n. West Bank. During the day, the IDF suspends Palestinian VIP passage through checkpoints; further tightens restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank; conducts an air strike on Gaza City, targeting and destroying a 1950s statue of the unknown soldier; confiscates 85 d. of Palestinian land outside Bethlehem for construction of a permanent checkpoint to separate the western rural areas of Bethlehem fr. the rest of the governorate; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Hebron; raids, closes 2 Islamic charities in Jenin. A Palestinian dies of injuries received earlier. (AP, HA, IMEMC, JAZ, XIN, YA 12/6; NYT, WP 12/7; PCHR, YA 12/8)

Israel suspends further implementation of the 11/15 Rafah arrangements brokered by U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice, aimed at easing Palestinian movement in and out of Gaza, between Gaza and the West Bank, and within the West Bank; tells the U.S. that it will not resume discussion of the issue until PA Pres. Mahmud Abbas acts against Palestinian militant groups. (NYT, WP, WT 12/9; HA 12/9, 12/10; HA 12/13; WP 12/15, HA 12/16)

Overnight, the IDF deploys an artillery battery outside the s. Gaza Strip (since Operation First Rain, artillery has been positioned in Nahal Oz, outside the n. Gaza); begins massing troops in the Gaza border in case the Israeli cabinet calls for ground operations; conducts arrest raids, house searches in the n. West Bank targeting mostly Islamic Jihad mbrs. During the day, the IDF begins erecting a massive new checkpoint (the Zaatara checkpoint) s. of Nablus at Tapuach Junction that will sever the Nablus and Jenin districts from the rest of the West Bank, creating a northern West Bank canton; the crossing, which is similar to the Qalandia checkpoint that Israel has said will be treated as an international crossing, was approved by the IDF Central Command 9 mos. ago and should begin operation in 2 mos. An IDF drone fires on a car in n. Gaza that launched rockets toward Sederot (causing no damage), killing AMB mbr. Majid Nattat. Soon after, Palestinians fire another 2 rockets and a mortar toward Sederot, and the IDF carries out 2 air strikes on 2 roads leading to Bayt Lahiya; no injuries are reported in the exchange. Later, the IDF carries out another 3 air strikes on n. Gaza, causing no reported injuries; fires stun grenades to disperse Palestinians hoping to cross the al-Ram checkpoint into Jerusalem to mark the final Friday of Ramadan at al-Aqsa mosque. Late in the evening, the IDF launches F-16 air strikes on uninhabited areas of n. Gaza; patrols, shoots out street lights in Nablus; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron. Palestinians then fire an antitank rocket at the Erez crossing, causing no damage or injuries. Meanwhile, 10,000s of Palestinians attend the Gaza funerals of the 7 Palestinians killed in the 10/28 Muhanna assassination; AMB, Hamas, Islamic Jihad hold massive armed marches, firing automatic weapons in the air in violation of their agmt. with the PA not to carry or use weapons in public. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba, escorted by IDF soldiers, severely beat 2 Palestinians in Hebron. Separately, Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba vandalize several Palestinian homes in Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai violently beat 2 Palestinian teenagers in Hebron; the IDF intervenes and detains 1 Palestinian. Mofaz orders the eviction of 15 Jewish settler families living in the unauthorized enclave of Amona in Hebron. (AP, CSM, HA, IDF Radio, IMEMC, REU, YA 10/28; NYT, WP, WT 10/29; HA, IMEMC 10/30; OCHA 10/31; PCHR 11/10)

By morning, the IDF imposes a general curfew across the West Bank, sealing all Palestinian-controlled areas (including the northern villages of Alar, Qabatya, Sa‘ida, al-Til, Yabad, which are considered Islamic Jihad strongholds), cutting off the n. West Bank from the rest of the West Bank, barring all Palestinian private vehicles in the n. West Bank; recommends that Palestinians leave the n. Gaza border area nr. Bayt Hanun; reshuts the Erez, Qarni crossings (opened 10/26). Overnight IDF air strikes on suspected rocket launching sites in n. Gaza damage a bridge but cause no injuries. During the day, the IDF continues mock air raids, sonic booms over Gaza; sends 35 jeeps, Apache helicopters into Jenin to arrest local Islamic Jihad leader ‘Abd al-Halim Izzeddin (a leading moderate in the group), 3 other Islamic Jihad mbrs.; also arrests the father of the 10/26 bomber, 13 suspected Islamic Jihad mbrs. in raids across the n. West Bank in connection with the Hadera bombing; 3 Hamas mbrs. are also arrested. In addition, the IDF clashes with more than 150 radical settler youths while evacuating 5 unauthorized settlement outposts nr. Efrat, Elon Moreh, Keddumim, Kiryat Arba, Worshippers Way in Hebron, leaving 1 IDF soldier hospitalized. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba harass Palestinians in Hebron. In the evening, the IDF assassinates Islamic Jihad n. Gaza cmdr. Shadi Muhanna, Muhanna deputy Muhammad Qandil, 5 others (including at least 3 bystanders), wounding 19 in an air strike on Muhanna’s car as he drives in Jabaliya r.c. just as evening prayers let out; also conducts several F-16 air strikes on open areas in n. Gaza (in 1 instance possibly targeting Abu Rish Brigades and Hamas positions in the area, but causing no injuries); conducts patrols, arrest raids, house searches in Dura, Jenin town and r.c., and nearby Kefar Rai. (AP, HA, YA 10/27; CSM, HA, JT, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 10/28; NYT 10/29; PCHR 11/10)