The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers razed 20 dunums (5 acres) of land near Jalud. Israeli forces punitively demolished the home of an alleged attacker in Turmus ‘Ayya, displacing his family and damaging nearby buildings as the house was blown up. 8 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around al-Arroub refugee camp, Hebron, Dahariya, al-Khader, and Abu Dis. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces delivered a demolition order for a 4-story building in Shu‘fat, which would displace 55 Palestinians. 2 Palestinians were arrested during raids in Isawiya and the Old City. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on residential buildings east of Rafah, causing damage but no injuries. (AJ, ALM, AX, HA, JP, MEE, MEMO, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 7/8; AP, TOI 7/9; PCHR 7/15)

Palestinian owners of the land seized by Israeli settlers for the Evyater settlement outpost petitioned the Israeli high court of justice to cancel the deal made between the Israeli settlers and the Israeli government on 7/1. (HA, WAFA 7/8)

1 Palestinian prisoner held on administrative detention was released from detention to a hospital in Ramallah after 65 days of hunger strike. (PCHR 7/7; AP, HA, MEE, MEMO, WAFA 7/8; AJ 7/9)

PA president Mahmoud Abbas and other senior PA officials met with 11 U.S. congresspeople in Ramallah, including the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Ted Deutch (D-FL), David Cicilline (D-RI), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Andy Barr (R-KY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), and French Hill (R-AR). The members of Congress met with Israeli officials on 7/6. (MEE 7/6; JNS 7/7; WAFA 7/8)

Israel charged a Palestinian Israeli imam of Lydda’s largest mosque, Shaykh Yousef al-Baz, with incitement to violence for sharing a movie clip on Facebook showing people killing a police officer. Shaykh al-Baz was arrested on 6/17. (ALM, HA 7/8)

Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid and Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi met at the Allenby Bridge, where the 2 made agreements for Jordan to buy 50 million cubic meters of water from Israel and to increase the Jordanian export to the West Bank from $160 million to $700 million. Foreign minister Safadi also called for Israeli to halt settlement expansions, maintaining the status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem, and called evictions of Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem a “war crime.” Walla News also reported that Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett secretly met with Jordan’s king Abdullah II in Amman last week and that PA president Mahmoud Abbas was summoned to meet King Abdullah shortly after his meeting with Prime Minister Bennett. President Abbas met with King Abdullah in Amman on 6/30. (AJ, ALM, AP, AX, HA, HA, MEE, MEMO, REU, TOI 7/8; MEMO 7/9)

The Israeli high court of justice denied petitions challenging the legality of the nation-state law, ruling 10-1 that the law is not anti-democratic in the eyes of the judges. The dissenting judge is the court’s only Palestinian Israeli judge. Chairman of the Joint Arab List Ayman Odeh called the ruling “racist and anti-democratic.” Adalah said that the court had “enshrined Jewish supremacy and racial segregation as founding principles of the Israeli regime” with its ruling. For more about the Nation-State law, see the IPS publication “Israel's Nation-State Law: Institutionalizing Discrimination.” (AJ, AP, HA, JP, TOI, WAFA, WP 7/8; MEMO 7/9)

The U.S. embassy in Israel issued a statement criticizing the Israeli punitive demolition of the house of an accused Palestinian-American assailant in Turmus ‘Ayya (see above); secretary of state Antony Blinken “raised concern directly with senior Israeli officials” about the issue, possibly because the family living in the building are U.S. citizens. House chairman Meeks also called the Israeli foreign minister to protest the demolition. (AJ, ALM, AX, HA, JP, MEE, MEMO, REU, REU 7/8; AX 7/14)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces handed stop-work orders for 13 Palestinian houses in Qabalan. Israeli forces also seized 2 caravans in Susiya and 1 tractor in Bardala. 4 Palestinians were arrested at checkpoints near Nablus and Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers attacked 1 Palestinian man and 1 Israeli man trying to help him, causing injuries. Israeli forces arrested 2 Palestinian minors suspected of slapping 1 ultra-orthodox Jewish man and filming the incident on the Jerusalem light rail. 1 Palestinian family started demolishing their own home in Jabal Mukabir. 9 Palestinians were arrested, including 7 minors during late-night raids in the Old City and al-Tur, and 2 were arrested in the Old City during the 8th day of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians at the Damascus Gate plaza. (HA, WAFA, WAFA 4/20; ALM, HA 4/21; PCHR 4/22)

PA health minister Mai al-Kaila said the PA had ordered 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer and Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines. It is not clear when the doses will arrive. The total cost for the 4.5 million doses was $27 million. (HA, WAFA 4/20)

The Israeli supreme court dismissed a petition from 9 Palestinian-Israeli families to have the court order the local municipality to open an Arab school in Upper Nazareth. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel called the decision “saddening” and said the city has neglected its Palestinian-Israeli students, who constitute 1/3d of the total student body. (HA 4/20)

At a normalization celebration event at the UAE embassy in Washington D.C., the ambassadors of Israel and the UAE to the U.S., along with diplomats from Morocco and Bahrain, planted an olive tree. White House National Security Council official Barbara Leaf and House representative Ted Deutch (D-FL) were also at the event. (HA, JTA 4/21)

Israel sent COVID-19 medical aid to Jordan upon Jordanian request, including ventilators, test kits, and face masks. The move was seen as an Israeli effort to ease tension between the 2 countries, which have been high in recent months. The request was made in March, when Jordan’s COVID-19 cases were peaking. (HA 4/20)