The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles traveling near Sinjil. Israeli forces violently dispersed a protest in Kafr Qaddum, causing tear-gas related injuries. Israeli forces also clashed with Palestinians in Jaba‘, causing tear-gas related injuries. PA forces arrested a number of attendants at a party held in the Nabi Musa mosque near Jericho; it was later revealed that the PA had approved the party as part of a promotional video intended to increase tourism. However, several attendees, including famous Palestinian DJ Sama Abdulhadi, were still detained days later. 1 Palestinian was arrested at a checkpoint near Tubas. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers clashed with Israeli police and attacked Palestinian passersby during a demonstration against the police because of the death of an Israeli settler during a police pursuit on 12/21; chants of “Death to Arabs” were filmed during the protest. In Gaza, 3 Palestinians, including a minor, were wounded by Israeli forces during air attacks in Gaza City and substantial damage was reported in al-Bureij refugee camp and Dayr al-Balah, including to a mosque, a children’s hospital, a sports club, and a warehouse; Israel said it had intercepted 1 missile from Gaza prior to its attack. Israeli forces also opened fire at agricultural lands east of Dayr al-Balah and al-Bureij refugee camp; no injuries were reported. In Israel, 2 Christmas trees belonging to Catholic and Orthodox churches in Sakhnin were set on fire. (AJ, GDN, HA, HA, HA, MEMO, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 12/26; PCHR, WAFA 12/27; HA 12/28; ALM 12/30; PCHR 12/31)

Israeli protesters demonstrated against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the 27th Saturday in a row in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The protesters are demanding that Prime Minister Netanyahu resign due to his COVID-19 response, the Israeli economy, and the corruption cases against him. (HA 12/26; WAFA 12/27)

According to reports in Le Monde, UAE and Israeli officials are working to eliminate the UNRWA and have been working toward that goal since the 2 countries’ normalization agreement in August. (JP, MEE, YNET 12/27)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces shot and injured 3 Palestinians, including 1 minor by live ammunition as they were protesting the Psagot settlement east of al-Bireh; others suffered tear-gas related injuries. In East Jerusalem, the Israeli municipality demolished a staircase leading to the Lion’s Gate at the Haram al-Sharif compound. Israeli forces arrested 5 Palestinians as they were headed to the funeral of 1 Palestinian killed by Israeli forces on 11/25 at a checkpoint in the West Bank, near East Jerusalem. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen west of Bayt Lahiya; no injuries were reported. (WAFA 11/29; WAFA, WAFA 11/30; PCHR 12/3)

The WHO delivered 15 ventilators to Gaza hospitals as the COVID-19 virus continues to challenge the Gazan health system. The ventilators were paid for by Kuwait. (REU 11/29; HA 11/30)

An Israeli court rejected a petition filed by Palestinians to reclaim their land that had been seized by Israel and used by settlers to build settlement outposts south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. The ruling paves the way for Israel to legalize the settlement outposts. (HA 11/30)

PA president Mahmoud Abbas met with the King Abdallah II of Jordan in the Jordanian city of Aqaba. In a statement released by Jordan after the meeting, Jordan reaffirmed its commitment to a Palestinian state. President Abbas later traveled to Egypt, meeting with secretary-general of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit and the Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry. Abbas is scheduled to meet with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on 11/30. This marked the 1st time Abbas left the West Bank in 2020. (WAFA 11/28; HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA 11/29; WAFA, WAFA 11/30)

The Israeli security cabinet approved the transfer of $756 million to the PA in tax funds but continues to withhold $181.5 million that the PA pays to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and their families. (HA 11/29)

According to Iraqi officials, 1 Iranian senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Muslim Shahdan, had been killed in an air strike along with 3 others as they entered Syria from Iraq in a car. There were no reports of who carried out the air strike, but Israel has frequently been carrying out air strikes in Syria and Iraq and is believed to have assassinated an Iranian nuclear scientist on 11/27. (HA, TOI 12/1)

UN secretary-general António Guterres said in a statement commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People that “the question of Palestine remains distressingly unresolved,” and criticized Israel for continuing to make a 2-state solution less viable. (WAFA 11/29)