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  • November 17, 2009

    The Israeli Interior Min. approves construction of 900 new housing units in Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem, precipitating sharp criticism from the White House not only for the Gilo project but...

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  • May 28, 2009

    Obama receives PA pres. Abbas at the White House, praising the PA’s security efforts and refusal to join a unity government with Hamas until it meets 1/06 Quartet demands to renounce violence and...

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  • May 18, 2009

    Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu begins a 2-day visit to Washington to discuss the peace process, Iran, bilateral relations, and Middle East regional affairs, holding his 1st mtg. with U.S. pres....

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  • April 21, 2009

    In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem and nr. Jenin, firing on residential areas but causing no injuries. (OCHA 4/22; PCHR 4/23)

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The Israeli Interior Min. approves construction of 900 new housing units in Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem, precipitating sharp criticism from the White House not only for the Gilo project but for “the continued pattern of evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes” in Jerusalem; UN Secy.-Gen. Ban Ki-moon “deplores” the decision. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron (evicting 1 Palestinian family from their home, occupying it as an observation post), Jericho, Nablus. In the Jerusalem environs, Israeli forces demolish 2 Palestinian homes (1 in Wadi Qaddum, housing 30 Palestinians; 1 in Bayt Hanina, displacing 11 Palestinians). (IFM, NYT, OCHA, PLONAD, WP, WT 11/18; PCHR 11/19)

Obama receives PA pres. Abbas at the White House, praising the PA’s security efforts and refusal to join a unity government with Hamas until it meets 1/06 Quartet demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist, but stressing that the PA must do much more to improve West Bank security. (NYT, WP, WT 5/29)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes a predawn raid on caves in the hills nr. Hebron, killing senior Hamas military cmdr. ‘Abd al-Majid Dudin, wanted by Israel for 14 yrs., in an exchange of gunfire; conducts rare daytime house searches nr. Hebron and Nablus, making no arrests; makes synchronized late-night arrest raids, house searches in 4 villages nr. Jenin. (OCHA 5/28; NYT, WP 5/29; OCHA, PCHR 6/4)

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu begins a 2-day visit to Washington to discuss the peace process, Iran, bilateral relations, and Middle East regional affairs, holding his 1st mtg. with U.S. pres. Barack Obama at the White House. Obama privately presses for a total Israeli settlement freeze and endorsement of a 2-state solution, with Netanyahu demurring. The leaders emerge showing no signs of tensions, instead stressing shared goals of preventing Iran fr. developing nuclear weapons and achieving peace btwn. Israel and the Palestinians. (HA, IFM, WP, WT 5/18; NYT, WP, WT 5/19; NYT, WJW 5/21; WP 5/24; NYT 5/29; JPI 6/4; HA 6/11; see also NYT, WP 5/17)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes a rare daytime incursion into al-Khadir nr. Bethlehem, raiding 2 secondary schools while classes are in session, holding the students for several hours while searching for a wanted person; no arrests are made. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-‘Arub refugee camp (r.c.) and 3 villages nr. Hebron. (OCHA 5/20; PCHR 5/21)

A 5th round of Palestinian national unity talks (5/16–18) ends in Cairo without any progress. (Xinhua–New China News Agency 5/18; NYT 5/20)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem and nr. Jenin, firing on residential areas but causing no injuries. (OCHA 4/22; PCHR 4/23)

King Abdallah of Jordan meets with U.S. pres. Barack Obama, special envoy Mitchell at the White House. Obama lays out his admin.’s working plan, still in the formulating stage, for jumpstarting the peace process, asking the king to relay a request to the 22-mbr. Arab League to amend its 2002 peace initiative “to make it more palatable to Israel,” specifically by dropping demands for the Palestinian refugees’ right of return and setting a timetable for normalization with Israel. (AP 4/21; WP 4/26; WT 4/30; AP, al-Quds al-Arabi, UPI 5/6; NYT 5/12)