The Palestine Chronology

Stabbing and other small-scale violent incidents continue amid the ongoing wave of violence. IDF troops open fire on 2 Palestinians, killing 1 and injuring the other, after they allegedly attempt to stab an Israeli border policeman at a checkpoint nr. Nablus. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces shoot and seriously injure a Palestinian after he stabs and moderately injures an Israeli at a light rail station nr. Shaykh Jarrah (the Palestinian succumbs to his injuries later in the day). An Israeli bystander is accidentally shot and injured during the incident. The Israeli crackdown across the oPt continues as well, with IDF troops clashing with and violently dispersing Palestinian protesters nr. Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and in 4 locations along Gaza’s border; an 8-mo.-old Palestinian baby dies from tear gas inhalation nr. Bethlehem, 1 Palestinian is rammed with an IDF vehicle, and 63 are injured overall. Israeli forces also violently disperse Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists at Friday demonstrations against Israel’s occupation and recent violence in 4 villages nr. Ramallah (Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, Silwad, and Nabi Salih) and Kafr Qaddum nr. Qalqilya; there are no serious injuries. The IDF conducts a late-night raid nr. Ramallah, arresting 1 Palestinian; patrols in the Ramallah, Hebron, and Qalqilya areas, sparking clashes with stone-throwers in each (5 Palestinians are injured and 2 are arrested). Further patrols in 4 villages nr. Hebron and 2 nr. Qalqilya do not lead to clashes. Israeli forces return the bodies of 7 Palestinians killed by IDF troops in and around Hebron since 10/1. They also place concrete blocks and fences on a number of roads in c. Hebron and bar Palestinians who do not live in Hebron from entering the city, following the recent violence in the area. (EI, HA, JP, MNA, NYT, TOI, YA 10/30; HA, JP, MNA, WAFA 10/31; JP 11/1; PCHR 11/5)

PA pres. Abbas submits files to the International Criminal Court (ICC) documenting recent Israeli violations of international law in the oPt, including the recent “extrajudicial killings” and home demolitions. Abbas also asks ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to lead a delegation to the oPt to further document alleged Israeli violations of international law. (JP, TOI 10/30; AP, MNA, TOI 10/31)

Palestinians in Gaza fire an antitank missile at an IDF patrol inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries. During the day, Palestinians also fire 10 mortars toward Israel in 2 barrages, causing no damage or injuries; some of the mortars land inside Gaza. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts synchronized morning patrols in Tulkarm and several nearby villages; patrols in alBireh and neighboring al-Am‘ari r.c., and in 3 villages nr. Jericho and Ramallah. Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall, land confiscations, and settlement expansion in Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, and Nabi Salih/Dayr Nizam. IDF soldiers fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters, injuring 4 Palestinians, including 2 children. A Jewish settler deliberately attempts to run down a Palestinian nr. the Hawara checkpoint nr. Nablus, moderately injuring him; the IDF does not intervene. Jewish settlers fr. Taffuh settlement attempt to seize a plot of nearby Palestinian agricultural land but are sent away by the IDF. Jewish settlers close Jit intersection nr. Qalqilya with burning tires, blocking the main Qalqilya-Nablus road. In separate incidents, Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim and Karnei Shomron settlements stone Palestinian vehicles nr. Qalqilya. In East Jerusalem, Palestinians clash with Israeli border police in Silwan, leaving at least 1 Israeli officer injured. (IsRN, JP 3/18; WP 3/19; PCHR 3/24; OCHA 4/1)

After 2 days of clashes with protesters, arrest raids targeting opposition figures, and imposition of a nighttime curfew in Manama, Bahrain’s troops demolish the giant pearl monument in Pearl Square in a symbolic crushing of antigovernment protesters. No further demonstrations are reported this quarter. By 3/20 observers describe daily life returning to normal (schools and stores reopen, traffic moving) but note “a sense of political paralysis.” Saudi, UAE, and Kuwaiti forces remain in the country through the end of the quarter. (WP 3/19; NYT 3/21)

In Syria, govt. forces violently disperse protests (ranging in size fr. the 100s to the 1,000s) held after Friday prayers in Baniyas, Dara‘a, Damascus, and Homs, fatally shooting 6 protesters and wounding 10s. Though protests are small, the govt. response is harsh and tensions are high. (NYT, WP 3/19)

In Yemen, govt. troops and supporters open fire for more than 20 minutes on protesters demonstrating after Friday prayers in Sana’a, leaving at least 47 dead and 100s injured but failing to disperse the crowd. Afterward, the govt. declares a state of emergency, allowing authorities to curtail civil rights and monitor communications. Over the next 5 days, Yemen’s ambassador to the UN, several other ambassadors, the country’s most influential military commander Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar (a relative and very close ally of Pres. Saleh), and 4 other generals resigned in protest, and Saleh’s own tribe and another key tribal leader called on him to step down. Saleh also fires his cabinet in an apparent attempt to preempt a mass resignation to protest recent deadly clashes. Popular protests also continued. (NYT, WP 3/19; NYT, WP 3/20–21; NYT, WP, WT 3/22–23; NYT, WP 3/24)

In the West Bank, the IDF raids and searches homes nr. Jenin but makes no arrests; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation). Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba and a nearby unauthorized outpost in Wadi al-Nassara attack Palestinian homes for a 2d day, causing damage but no reported injuries. Jewish settlers with a bulldozer occupy and level a plot of Palestinian land s. of Bethlehem; the IDF removes the settlers. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus throw a large rock at a passing Palestinian car, seriously injuring a Palestinian woman and lightly injuring her child; the IDF evacuates the mother to a hospital in Israel. In Gaza, Hamas-affiliated police detain several senior Fatah officials in what Hamas calls a response to Fatah’s detention of West Bank Hamas loyalists on 7/28. Egyptian border police demolish a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border, suffocating 5 Palestinians. (NYT 8/2; OCHA 8/6; PCHR 8/7; 8/13)

IDF troops clash with armed Palestinians in, make 2 air strikes on Gaza City, killing at least 4 Hamas and Islamic Jihad mbrs., wounding at least 5. The IDF also conducts land-leveling operations inside the Gaza border e. of Gaza City. Egyptian border police find, demolish 2 smuggling tunnels on the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus (also raiding an Islamic charity, confiscating computers and files), nr. Jenin; fires percussion grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets at 2 groups of stone-throwing Palestinians in Hebron, injuring 4; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 3). Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai nr. Hebron attack and vandalize a nearby Palestinian home; the IDF intervenes to halt the attack. Palestinians stone a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Ramallah, injuring 2 settlers. (NYT 10/27; OCHA 10/31; PCHR 11/1)