The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers raid a nursery in Deir Sharaf, setting fire to 2 bulldozers, a truck, and a forklift. Israeli settlers also raid Sinjil, vandalizing Palestinian-owned vehicles. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers build a settler road near al-Rakiz in the Masafer Yatta area. Israeli settlers also bring their cattle to graze on Palestinian farmland near Qarawat Bani Hassan, causing damage to crops. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers place a mobile home on Palestinian-owned land near Tuqu’. Israeli forces raid Askar refugee camp, Ein as-Sultan, ‘Anata, Madama, and ‘Asira ash-Shamaliya, injuring 7 Palestinians, including 6 with live ammunition. Elsewhere, Israeli forces demolish 7 structures and seize vehicles in Idhna. Israeli forces also issue a $38,500 ransom for the release of 48 cows they seized from a Palestinian in ‘Ain al-Hilweh. Israeli forces arrest 35 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Hebron, Jenin, Qalqilya, and Ramallah. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers tour the Haram al-Sharif compound. In Gaza, telecommunications services are down for the fifth day in a row. Israeli forces bomb Khan Yunis, Rafah, Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City, Maghazi, Jabalia refugee camp, and al-Bureij refugee camp, killing at least 158 people, including at least 20 in a strike on a house in Gaza City. Israeli airstrikes also target al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis and an UNRWA warehouse in Dayr al-Balah, causing damage. 50 rockets are fired at Israel, causing damage in Netivot. 2 Israeli soldiers are killed in combat. In Lebanon, Israeli forces carry out airstrikes in Ayta ash Shab. In the Red Sea, Houthis say they targeted a Greek ship bound for Israel after its crew rejected its warnings. The U.S. attacks Houthis in Yemen for the third time in a week. In Pakistan, Iranian forces bomb what they call terrorist targets in Koh Sabz, killing 2 children. (AJ, AJ, AP, AP, HA, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 1/16; AP, AP, NYT 1/17; AP 1/19)

More than 24,285 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 10,600 children and 7,200 women, and around 61,154 have been injured since 10/7. At least 7,000 people are missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 348 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7, including 87 children. More than 4,215 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 188 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,135 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12 due to the Israeli blockade. At least 69,000 housing units have been destroyed and 290,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7, constituting over 60% of all housing units. 204 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza via the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings. (AJ, REU, UNOCHA 1/16)

Israel releases the body of a 4-year-old Palestinian its forces killed on 1/7 in Beit Iksa to her family. (AJ, WAFA 1/16)

Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh arrives in Qatar for treatment of his injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike in December which killed his colleague. Dahdouh has lost most of his family to Israeli airstrikes in October and earlier this month. (AP 1/16; AJ 1/17)

Israel and Qatar announce that medicine will enter Gaza to help both Palestinians and Israelis kept in captivity. A delegation of Israeli security officials meet with Egyptian officials in Egypt.  (AJ, AJ, HA, HA 1/16; AJ, AP, NYT 1/17)

PA spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh says any reforms to the PA will be made according to the Palestinian agenda, not external agendas, in reference to reports that the U.S. is requiring the PA to reform before it can take control of Gaza. (WAFA 1/16)

Jordanian prime minister Bisher Khasawneh says the displacement of Palestinians would be an existential threat to Jordan. (AJ, HA, REU 1/16)

U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken tells CNBC that Israel has a right to defend itself but “at the same time, we want to see this conflict come to an end as quickly as possible.” Blinken also says Arab countries are not interested in rebuilding Gaza if Israel destroys what is built again shortly after. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says the U.S. is prepared to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Kirby also says National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk has been in Qatar in recent days to negotiate the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan meets with Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Davos, Switzerland, discussing aid to Gaza and negotiations over the release of captives. Sullivan tells the World Economic Forum that Saudi-Israeli normalization is linked to creating a pathway for the establishment of a Palestinian state. (AJ, AX, HA, REU 1/16; NYT 1/17)

U.S. senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) forces a vote on a Senate resolution that would oblige the State Department to provide the Senate with a report on whether U.S.-provided arms to Israel have been used to violate human rights in Gaza within 30 days. The resolution fails with 72 votes against and 11 for. (AJ, AP, HA, INT, NYT 1/16; REU 1/17)

Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide says in an interview that a “number of countries” are working to build a broad Palestinian unity government. (HA, REU 1/16)

The EU adds Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar to its terrorism sanctions blacklist. Hamas calls the decision silly, saying Sinwar does not have money or assets in Palestine or elsewhere. (AJ, AP, HA, REU 1/16)

The Times of Israel reports that the Israeli Ministry of Health has instructed doctors and medics not to talk to UN investigators that are investigating Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 10/7/2023. (AJ 1/16)

Der Spiegel reports that Germany is considering sending tank ammunition to Israel. Israel reportedly requested 10,000 rounds of 120mm ammunition from Germany and departments involved with the arms transfer have reportedly already agreed in principle to the transfer. Hamas responds to the reporting, saying Germany would become “a direct partner in the war against our people in Gaza.” (REU 1/16; AJ 1/17)

In the Gaza Strip, armed Palestinians fire 4 rockets into s. Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF responds with 8 air strikes in the Gaza Strip, targeting military training sites belonging to Hamas’s Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades, and the Popular Resistance Comms. (PRC) in the c. Gaza Strip, Rafah, and Khan Yunis. Damage is sustained, and 2 civilians are wounded when they are hit by shrapnel in separate attacks. Off the coast nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishermen, causing no damage or injuries. Meanwhile, a 10-year-old boy dies, succumbing to injuries sustained in an Israeli air strike on 6/11. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in Ramallah and 8 villages nearby, Nablus and 4 villages and ‘Askar r.c. nearby, Tulkarm and 3 villages and Nur Shams r.c. nearby, Tubas and 1 village and al-Fara‘a r.c. nearby, Jenin and 1 nearby village, Jericho and ‘Ayn al-Sultan r.c. nearby, 1 village each nr. Qalqilya and Jerusalem, and al-Bireh at night; patrols in 2 villages nr. Jericho, 1 village nr. Ramallah at night. Jewish settlers stone Palestinian vehicles nr. Nablus, injuring 3 and causing damage. Separately, Jewish settlers throw stones at Palestinians and their homes in Susia nr. Hebron. (HA, JP, MNA 6/14; PCHR 6/19)

Israeli PM Netanyahu announces that the Israeli govt. holds the PA responsible for the fate of the 3 missing Israeli teenagers, since “the terrorists originated from Palestinian territory.” Anonymous PA officials tell the media that Abbas has instructed his security services to help in the manhunt. Meanwhile, the IDF continues intensive sweeps of the s. West Bank, and wideranging arrest raids, which pick up 80 Palestinians, including 4 mbrs. of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The IDF also imposes a closure on the s. West Bank, from Bethlehem to the Hebron region. IDF sources tell the media that the working assumption is that the youth are alive. (HA, JP, MNA, YA 6/15)

Israel says it will not expand the Gaza cease-fire to the West Bank, noting that Palestinians have fired 15 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel since the unilateral truce went into effect on 11/26. IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Gaza City fire on Palestinian farmers who stray too close to the border fence, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on stone-throwing youths in ‘Askar r.c. nr. Nablus, killing a 15-yr.-old Palestinian; patrols in Hebron’s al-Rajabi neighborhood, firing percussion grenades, severely beating a 16-yr.-old Palestinian boy who throws stones at troops; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah and in Hebron, Nur al-Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm, al-Sammu‘. A Jewish settler injures 3 Palestinians in a deliberate hit-and-run at Hawara checkpoint outside Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Haggai nr. Hebron fire on a Palestinian home in nearby Khirbat Qalqas, seriously wounding a 6-yr.-old Palestinian boy. Under IDF protection, Jewish settler women fr. Kiryat Arba hold a gathering on a plot of Palestinian land, which they have planned to confiscate for some time, adjacent to the settlement. (MM, NYT, WP 12/4; OCHA 12/6; PCHR 12/7; AIC 1/17)

The IDF patrols in Kafr Haris, Tubas (firing on residential areas); conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Askar r.c. nr. Nablus, al-Til nr. Tulkarm and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. Islamic Jihad fires 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In Ramallah, 10s of PA employees aligned with Fatah temporarily take over the PC building, demanding salaries. After Hamas mbrs. shoot, wound a PSF officer in Khan Yunis, Fatah mbrs. assassinate a senior Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades mbr. (MM 6/14; MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 6/15; PCHR 6/22)

The IDF conducts arrest raids in Askar r.c., Balata r.c., Nablus; raids, searches, interrogates the employees of a flour mill in al-Qarara; fires on residential areas of Rafah. Some 40,000s Jewish settlers gather in Gaza’s Neve Dekalim settlement to protest Sharon’s disengagement plan; during the rally, Palestinians fire 2 rockets, 3 mortars toward the settlement, lightly wounding 2 IDF soldiers. Jewish settlers fr. Karnei Shomron uproot 300 Palestinian olive trees nr. the settlement. (JAZ, XIN 4/27; NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 4/28; VOP 4/28 in WNC 4/28; WP 4/29; OCHA, PCHR 5/5)

The Palestinian Resistance Comms. (PRCs) fire a new Nasser 3 rocket, with a longer range than the Qassam 2, at Sederot, causing minor damage to a wall, garden shed; also fire 2 mortars at Gaza’s Kefar Darom settlement, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF fires missiles at 2 metal workshops (suspected Hamas weapons factories) in Gaza City, destroying the buildings but causing no injuries. The IDF also bulldozes 77 dunams of agricultural land in Bayt Hanun, 37 dunams nr. Khan Yunis; demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in al-Qarara, 1 in Rafah; fires on residential areas of, conducts arrest raids in Askar r.c., then fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops, wounding 4; raids residential areas nr. Dayr al-Balah, firing on homes, arresting several Palestinians, occupying and partially demolishing 1 house, destroying a fence and gas pipelines to a fuel station; conducts arrest raids in Hebron, Jenin, nr. Nablus. (HA, MA, MM, REU 6/18; VOI, VOP 6/18, VOI 6/19 in WNC 6/22; WP 6/20; PCHR 6/24)

IDF undercover units traveling in cars with Palestinian license plates raid Askar r.c., arrest 4 Palestinians. The IDF also begins (without forewarning) requiring special licenses for trucks crossing through al-Hamra checkpoint in the n. Jordan Valley, Tayasir checkpoint outside Jenin; fires on residential areas in Rafah, nr. Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron; orders the confiscation of 220 dunams of Dayr al-Balah land that the IDF has already bulldozed; begins construction of a new settler bypass road nr. Tulkarm. Palestinians fire 2 antitank rockets at an IDF convoy in Rafah, wounding 2 soldiers; fire 2 Qassam rockets, 1 causing heavy damage to a greenhouse in a Gaza settlement, 1 landing outside Sederot, causing no damage or injuries. (HA 2/8; PCHR 2/12)

The IDF fires on a Palestinian cell phone company car in Dayr al-Balah, wounding 2 company workers; demolishes 3 Palestinian homes nr. Rafah (also bulldozing 5 dunams of land), 1 in Jenin, 1 nr. Khan Yunis (also bulldozing 3 dunams of land), 1 nr. Nablus; bulldozes a Palestinian gas station in Silwan; conducts arrest raids in Askar r.c., Bayt Lahia, Bethlehem, Hebron; searches homes in Jenin, Qalqilya, Ramallah (including ransacking the home of a Palestinian-American family); fires on residential areas of Bayt Lahia; tightens the closure on Tulkarm. In Hebron, 6 IDF soldiers reportedly severely beat a Palestinian teenager, kicking him, hitting him with their rifle butts. Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket at Native Haasara moshav inside Israel, causing damage but no injuries. A Palestinian dies of injuries received in the 6/10 attempted assassination of Rantisi, bringing that toll to 4. A Tel Aviv court sentences a 17-yr.-old Israeli Arab to 2 yrs. in jail for planning to carry out a suicide bombing; the court says the sentence is light because the boy turned himself in to authorities. (HA, HP 6/18; MENA 6/18 in WNC 6/20; LAW, PCHR, WT 6/19; PCHR 6/26)