The Palestine Chronology

Off the coast of the Gaza Strip, nr. Rafah, Israeli naval forces open fire on 2 Palestinian fishing boats, damaging 1 and sinking the other. In the West Bank, IDF troops enter Bil‘in at dawn and deliver warnings about the weekly, nonviolent protests. Clashes break out between stone-throwing Palestinian residents and the Israeli soldiers, and several Palestinians are injured by concussion bombs, tear gas, and rubber-coated metal bullets. Clashes erupt after IDF troops raid 2 villages nr. Ramallah, injuring an IDF soldier. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers bulldoze farmlands w. of Salfit. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces clash with a group of Palestinian women outside Haram al-Sharif who are protesting the ID card restrictions that sparked a similar incident on 11/16; 2 women are arrested. In the Negev, Israeli military and police enter the bedouin village al-‘Araqib and demolish 3 homes, as well as several other structures. (IMEMC 11/17; MNA 11/18; PCHR 11/20)

Egyptian officials announce that the width of the buffer zone being constructed on the border with the Gaza Strip is to be doubled to 1,000 m, and as many as 2,000 in some places along the 13 km border. The announcement comes after the discovery and demolition of 12 tunnels. (MEE, REU 11/17; HA 11/18; TOI 1/6)

European Union (EU) foreign ministers express concern in a press statement about the recent tension in East Jerusalem and formally condemn recent Israeli settlement developments. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini describes a leaked EU doc. proposing new sanctions against Israeli settlements as “hypothetical and internal.” (HA, JP 11/17)

Israel’s FM Avigdor Lieberman says that while it was not possible to stop the UNGA voting in favor of the PA’s bid for recognition as a non-member observer state, the Israeli government would ‘‘exact a price’’ from Abbas in response. (HA 9/29)

Israel’s planning comm. approves establishment of a new Jewish community in the n. Negev in place of the Bedouin village Umm al-Hieran, whose roughly 500 residents will be forcibly relocated. (YA 9/29)

Israel releases 2 Hamas-affiliated mbrs. of the Palestinian Council after 15 mos. in administrative detention. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 1 village nr. Qalqilya and 1 village nr. Tulkarm in the morning, in 1 village nr. Ramallah and 1 village nr. Jericho in the afternoon, and in 1 village nr. Jenin at night. Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists protest land confiscation nr. Karme Tzur settlement nr. Hebron. (MNA 9/29; IMEMC 9/30; PCHR 10/4)

The IDF assassinates senior Hamas military cmdr. Thabit Ayadi, fatally shooting him in a raid on Tulkarm, also arresting 3 Palestinians, raiding 10s of homes; demolishes 2 Palestinian homes nr. Bethlehem, 1 nr. Nablus; conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Fawwar r.c., Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah. In retaliation, PRC mbrs. fire 2 rockets at the Sufa crossing into Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF also sends 100s of reinforcements to Hebron, where confrontations continue with Jewish settlers protesting their planned eviction fr. the Hebron market; several settlers are arrested. (AFP, HA, IMEMC, YA 1/17; IMEMC, NYT 1/18; PCHR 1/19)

Israeli authorities bulldoze 7 Palestinian buildings in unrecognized villages in the Negev for being built without permits, present bedouin with orders to demolish another 40 structures, including a mosque. (Palestine News Agency [WAFA] 1/18)

Palestinians fire 2 rockets fr. Gaza at the Negev, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with artillery fire on n. Gaza, damaging 3 homes in Bayt Lahiya. The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’on uproot 150 Palestinian olive trees in Yatta. The ARB, AMB, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PRCs hold a press conference in Rafah calling on all Palestinian factions to halt intra-Palestinian violence in Gaza, condemning the death of 2 Egyptian border guards on 1/4. (AFP, HA, IMEMC 1/6; HA 1/8; YA 1/9; PCHR 1/19)

Islamic Jihad announces that it will halt all rocket attacks fr. n. Gaza if Israel pledges to cease targeting its mbrs. Hrs. later, the IDF raids a house in Qabatya, assassinating Islamic Jihad mbrs. Jihad Zakarna and Arshad Abu Zayd, also wounding at least 7 bystanders; Islamic Jihad retaliates by firing at least 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF also sets up 2 new artillery positions outside n. and s. Gaza to deter rocket fire; opens the Rafah checkpoint for several hrs. to allow Palestinians making the hajj to leave for Saudi Arabia. Shin Bet reports that it has detained 3 PRC “rocket engineers” in the Negev on their way fr. Gaza to the West Bank. In Ramallah, PA police fire in the air to disperse 60 Islamic Jihad mbrs. protesting outside Abbas’s residence against the PA’s arrest of 4 fellow mbrs. earlier in the wk. Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh severely beat a 73-yr.-old Palestinian man walking nr. the settlement. (AFP, HA, IMEMC, XIN, YA 10/30; HA, NYT, WP 10/31; PCHR 11/10)