The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, 1 Palestinian minor succumbed to wounds sustained from Israeli live ammunition on 5/18. Israeli settlers leveled land in Kisan. Israeli settlers also set up mobile homes south of Hebron. Israeli forces also raided Jaba‘, injuring 4, including 1 minor, when Palestinians confronted the forces. Israeli forces also raided ‘Araqa, injuring 1 minor with live ammunition, when Palestinians confronted the forces. Elsewhere, Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Bethlehem, injuring 7 with rubber-coated bullets and others with tear gas. 11 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around Hebron, Nablus, Jenin, and Jericho. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces raided al-Makassed Hospital, leaving without making arrests. 8 Palestinians were arrested during raids in the Old City, al-Tur, Silwan, and Shu‘fat. In Gaza, 4 Palestinians were killed and many were injured, raising the comprehensive death toll since 5/10 from 232 to 236, including 65 children and 3 pregnant women. The casualties included: 1, and 9 wounded, including 3 children, during an air strike on a house in Khan Yunis; 1, and 1 wounded in an air strike on Bayt Lahiya; 2 in an air strike on a car traveling in Jabaliya. Israeli air strikes also hit power lines near Rafah, causing a total electricity blackout in the city. Israeli forces attacked 1 house in Khan Yunis, causing damage, but the missile remained unexploded as it landed on a bed, saving the family living in the house. 4 factories were also destroyed by Israeli air strikes in an industrial zone east in al-Muntar. In Israel, 1 Israeli soldier was injured by an anti-tank missile rocket fired from Gaza at a military bus. 1 rocket from Gaza hit a house in Ashkelon, causing damage; no injuries were reported. Israeli forces violently dispersed a funeral procession for 1 Palestinian-Israeli who was killed by Israeli police on 5/19 in Umm al-Fahm; 3 were arrested; a general strike was also called in Umm al-Fahm in protest over the killing. (AJ, HA, HA, PCHR, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 5/20; MEE, PCHR 5/21; NYT 5/26; PCHR 5/27)

It was reported that a ceasefire between Hamas, Islamic Jihad in Palestine, and Israel had been brokered by Egypt and would take effect at 2 a.m. on 5/21. Prior to the reporting, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called a meeting at the security cabinet. Shortly after the 2 sides announced the ceasefire, U.S. president Joe Biden praised Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for his role in the ceasefire and Prime Minister Netanyahu for agreeing to it. Biden said in remarks that “Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and to enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy,” in what can be viewed as a slight shift in the paradigm of U.S. statements on Israel and Palestine. President al-Sisi also praised President Biden for his work on the ceasefire agreement. Several prominent Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate welcomed the news of the ceasefire, but said it was time to do more to resolve the roots of the conflict. PA foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki called for the world to address the core issues, saying that the ceasefire is not enough. (AJ, AJ, AP, AP, AP, AP, AX, AX, GDN, HA, REU, REU, WAFA 5/20; AM, AP, CNN, FOX, HA, HA 5/21)

Haaretz reported that 90% of the Israeli citizens charged for the violence in Israeli towns and cities since the start of the Hamas-Israel escalation were Palestinian citizens of Israel. District prosecutors have been criticized for not indicting Jewish-Israelis. (HA 5/20)

Adalah filed a petition on behalf of Palestinians in Shayk Jarrah to have Israeli police remove checkpoints around the neighborhood, which are severely impeding the residents’ freedom of movement. The checkpoints are also meant to block entry of Palestinians who are not residents of the neighborhood, as many residents remain threatened by evictions. (Adalah, HA 5/20)

The Israeli Electric Company said it would not restore the damaged power lines in Gaza until 2 Israelis, believed to be held captive by Hamas, and the bodies of 2 dead Israelis are returned to Israel. (HA 5/20)

PA president Mahmoud Abbas spoke with German chancellor Angela Merkel about efforts to get a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. President Abbas also met with German foreign minister Heiko Maas in Ramallah. (AJ, WAFA, WAFA 5/20)

Before the ceasefire was announced, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh wrote a letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, asking for “mobilization of Arab, Islamic and international support” in ending Israeli air strikes. (AP 5/20)

Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani said that the country had reached an agreement in principle with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signatories about complying with and having the U.S. rejoin the deal. (HA 5/20)

U.S. senator and chair of the Senate budget committee Bernie Sanders (D-VT) said he would introduce a resolution of disapproval of a $735 million arms sale to Israel. (AJ, ALM, HA, REU 5/20)

At the UN, U.S. ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the U.S. had “not been silent,” despite blocking UN security council statements criticizing the violence from the latest escalation between Hamas and Israel. UN general-secretary António Guterres said he was “deeply shocked by the continued air and artillery bombardment” of Gaza and said that Gaza’s children lived in “hell on Earth.” No unified statement was released by the UN general assembly. (AJ, AJ, ALM, HA, REU 5/20)

1 Jewish AP reporter was fired after Stanford University College Republicans criticized her for pro-Palestinian activism while she was a student at the school, before she was hired at AP. Later, more than 100 AP journalists wrote an open letter to AP criticizing the decision. (SFGATE 5/20; FOX, MEE, MEMO 5/21; MEE 5/22; MEE 5/24)

The foreign minister of Germany, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia visited Israel upon the invitation of Israeli foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi to be briefed on the Israeli-Hamas escalation. In meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the 3 foreign ministers were shown parts of a drone that had been shot down on 5/18 that Netanyahu claimed was Iranian. (ALM, HA 5/20)

In the West Bank, 1 Palestinian minor, shot by Israeli forces on 5/12, succumbed to his wounds. Israeli settlers shot and injured 1 Palestinian while raiding Bani Na‘im. Israeli settlers with military escort also raided Silat al-Harithiyya, leading to confrontations; no injuries were reported. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers also blocked a main road to al-Bireh and threw stones at Palestinian vehicles, causing damage. Israeli settlers also threw stones at Palestinian vehicles near Bayt Jala and al-Walaja. Israeli forces shot and killed 1 Palestinian using live ammunition during a Nakba Day protest in Zeita, near Tulkarm. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Aida refugee camp, causing tear-gas related injuries. Elsewhere, Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Tura, injuring 1 with live ammunition. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protesters at a checkpoint near Huwwara, injuring 1 with a rubber-coated bullet; others suffered tear-gas related injuries. Separately, Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Hebron, injuring 1 with live ammunition and 1 with rubber-coated bullets; others suffered tear-gas related injuries. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Bayt Umar, leading to tear-gas related injuries. 7 Palestinians were arrested, including 2 during house raids in al-Khadir and Dura, and 5 during protests near Jenin. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers with military escort raided Bayt Hanina and Shu‘fat refugee camp, leading to confrontations; 2 Palestinians were injured by the Israeli forces in Bayt Hanina. Israeli settlers later raided Shu‘fat refugee camp again, injuring 2 Palestinians with live ammunition. Israeli forces shot and killed 1 Palestinian, saying he had intentionally rammed 7 officers, who were lightly injured, in Shaykh Jarrah; 1 journalist was physically assaulted at the scene and others had stun grenades thrown at them. 25 Palestinians were arrested. In Gaza, 50 Palestinians were killed, including 19 children, and dozens were injured, raising the comprehensive death toll since 5/10 from 153 to 203, including 60 children and 2 pregnant women. The casualties included: 43, including 19 children, and dozens wounded in air strikes hitting residential buildings in Gaza City; 1, and 2 wounded in a drone strike in Jabaliya; 1, and 11 injured in air strikes on a residential buildings in Nuseirat; 3 in air strikes on Bayt Hanun; 2 in a drone strike on a house in Rafah. Israel also attacked and demolished the homes of Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar and his brother in Khan Yunis; no injuries were reported in the air strikes. In Israel, rockets from Gaza hit 1 house in Ashdod and damaged 5 vehicles in Ashkelon; no injuries were reported. Israel’s defense minister Benny Gantz extended the state of emergency in Lydda for 48 hours. Israel arrested 1 Palestinian-Israeli imam Shaykh Kamal Khatib, the deputy leader of the northern faction of the Islamic Movement in Israel, saying he had made incendiary remarks about Israel’s attacks on al-Aqsa Mosque. 28 people were wounded in a subsequent protest in Kafr Kana where he was arrested, including many by Israeli live ammunition. 8 Palestinian-Israelis were arrested in Taiba and Qalansawe. 2 Jordanian citizens were arrested in Gilboa after having crossed from Jordan into Israel. (AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, CNN, HA, HA, NPR, NYT, PCHR, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 5/16; PCHR 5/17; ALM 5/19; HA, PCHR 5/20; MEE 5/21; HA 5/25; NYT 5/26; AP 6/2; NYT 6/24)

Egypt opened the Rafah crossing 1 day earlier than planned to allow the passage of students and medical patients. 95 Palestinians were reported to have been evacuated to Egypt for treatment of injuries before the border officially reopened. (HA, REU 5/16)

2 Israeli settlers were killed and 150 were injured when a structurally unsound seating area collapsed in a synagogue in Givat Ze’ev. (AJ, AP, CNN, HA, REU 5/16)

The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel announced a general strike on 5/18 to protest attacks on members of its community. (HA 5/16)

PA president Mahmoud Abbas spoke to Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte about the Israeli escalation of violence in the Palestinian territories. (WAFA 5/16)

Haaretz reported that Israeli senior officials did not consider a ceasefire option at its latest security cabinet meeting. (HA 5/16)

Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz met with U.S. deputy assistant secretary for Israel and Palestinian affairs Hady Amr. U.S. president Joe Biden said in an Eid holiday speech that his “administration is going to continue to engage Palestinians and Israelis and other regional partners to work toward sustained calm.” Later, secretary of state Antony Blinken said that “the violence must end immediately.” Earlier in the day, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reiterated that his government has no plans for a ceasefire, saying the attacks on Gaza “will take time.” (AJ, HA 5/16; HA 5/17)

Jordanian king Abdullah II said that Jordan has been involved in intense diplomacy with its allies in Europe and the U.S. to put pressure on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza. (HA, REU 5/16)

28 U.S. Democratic senators, led by Jon Ossoff (D-GA), called for an immediate ceasefire “[t]o prevent any further loss of civilian life and to prevent further escalation of conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories.” (HA, NYT 5/17)

At a UN security council (UNSC) meeting on Israel-Palestine, UN secretary-general António Guterres said that the situation was “utterly appalling,” calling for an immediate ceasefire. He said the UN is actively involved in facilitating a ceasefire. This was the 3d time in a week that the UNSC met about the situation and the 3d time the U.S. stalled any joint statement. PA foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said that “[e]ach time Israel hears a foreign leader speak of its right to defend itself it is further emboldened to continue murdering entire families in their sleep.” (AJ, AP, HA, WAFA, WAFA 5/16; TOI 5/17)

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation called for an immediate halt of Israeli attacks on Gaza and “systematic crimes” against Palestinians. Saudi Arabia also condemned Israel’s “fragrant violations” of Palestinian rights. PA foreign minister al-Maliki criticized the countries that had normalized relations with Israel, saying, “running towards this colonial Israeli system without achieving peace and ending the Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian lands represents support for the apartheid regime and participation in its crimes.” (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA 5/16)

Pope Francis, for the 2d Sunday in a row, denounced the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine, saying that the death of children was a “sign that they don’t want to build the future but want to destroy it.” (HA 5/16; WAFA 5/17)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers raided Bayt Dajan, Qabalan, Majdal Bani Fadl near Nablus, and Kafr al-Dik near Salfit, and vandalized more than 50 Palestinian-owned vehicles, setting several on fire; settlers also wrote racist graffiti on several buildings. In Hebron, an Israeli settler assaulted 12 Palestinians. In Gaza, 1 Palestinian man succumbed to injuries he sustained during Israeli airstrikes on 11/14. This brings the comprehensive death toll in the Israeli attack on Gaza starting on 11/12 to 34. Despite the Great March of Return protest being canceled, several Palestinians protested by the Gaza fence; 1 Palestinian was shot by Israeli forces using live ammunition, others suffered tear-gas related injuries. Israeli forces separately opened fire on Palestinian farmland east of Jabalia; no injures were reported. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces opened fire on Palestinian fishermen west of Bayt Lahiya; no injuries were reported. (HA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 11/22; HA 11/23; PCHR 11/28)

IDF troops shoot and kill a Palestinian in central Hebron after he stabs and lightly injures an Israeli soldier. Elsewhere in the West Bank, IDF troops arrest a Palestinian at a checkpoint near Nablus when he is found to be in possession of a knife. They conduct overnight raids in Tulkarm, sparking clashes with stone-throwing Palestinians; there are no serious injuries reported. They arrest 6 Palestinians on further raids in and around Bethlehem, Qalqilya, and Hebron; and patrol near Nablus and Hebron. Israeli forces raze 14 dunams (approximately 3.4 acres) of Palestinian land outside Hebron, uprooting approximately 320 olive and almond trees and demolishing 3 water wells. They uproot an additional 60 olive and orange saplings from Palestinian land near Jericho. Israeli settlers puncture the tires of 7 Palestinian-owned vehicles and leave racist graffiti on nearby walls in Marda village near Salfit overnight. Along Gaza’s border overnight, IDF troops violently disperse dozens of Palestinians setting fire to tires, lighting fireworks, and otherwise continuing the Great March of Return near al-Bureij refugee camp; 4 Palestinians are injured. Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians gathering near Jabaliya refugee camp to continue the Great March of Return and to cheer on a number of Palestinian boats sailing in a symbolic challenge to the Israeli blockade. IDF troops stationed along the border fence and Israeli naval forces disperse the demonstrations; 46 Palestinians are injured (4 seriously). Israeli firefighters put out 3 fires in open areas near Ashqelon that were reportedly sparked by incendiary kites and balloons flown from Gaza. Off Gaza’s coast late at night, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats near Jabaliya refugee camp and Bayt Lahiya, causing no damage or injuries (2 fishermen are arrested). (HA, HA, JP, MNA, MNA, MNA, MNA, MNA, TOI, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 10/22; MNA 10/23; PCHR 10/25)

A senior IDF officer says that the IDF recently identified a new Hezbollah observation post built to look like an environmental NGO site along the Israel-Lebanon border. It is the 6th such site the IDF has identified this year. “Hezbollah is building military infrastructure along the border with its men moving there armed when they are watching the Israeli border,” the officer says. “This is military infrastructure in civilian guise.” A UNIFIL spokesperson responds, rejecting Israel’s claim that there are armed forces in border zone. “UNIFIL has not observed any unauthorized armed persons at the locations or found any basis to report a violation of [UNSC] Resolution 1701 but continues to monitor activities closely.”  (HA, JP, TOI 10/22)

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi says that Jordan has no plans to negotiate with Israel over the 2 pieces of land that were leased to Israel for 25 years in the context of the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty (Jordan’s King Abdullah announced plans not to renew those leases on 10/21). “We are a country with international standing,” he says. “We acted by the letter of the law and we have the tools to protect our interests.” (HA, TOI 10/22)

For an 11th consecutive day, Palestinians across Israel and the oPt gather to protest U.S. pres. Trump’s 12/6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Israeli forces violently disperse them in Tulkarm, al-‘Arub refugee camp near Hebron, and along Gaza’s border near Jabaliya refugee camp and Gaza City; 5 Palestinians are injured. Meanwhile, Israeli forces raze 500 dunams (approximately 123 acres) of Palestinian land near Nablus and cut down dozens of Palestinian trees near Hebron. Israeli border police arrest a Palestinian carrying pipe bombs into an Israeli military court near Nablus. IDF troops arrest 11 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Hebron, Ramallah, Qalqilya, and Bethlehem; and patrol near Tulkarm and Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers tour Haram al-Sharif in the morning. Off Gaza’s coast, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats near Dayr al-Balah and Jabaliya refugee camp, causing no damage or injuries. (HA, TOI, WAFA, YA 12/17; PCHR 12/21)

Unidentified parties fire 2 rockets into Israel; 1 lands in an open area and the other explodes in the yard of a home near Ashqelon, causing minor damage. The IAF conducts air strikes on 6 Hamas sites in northern Gaza, causing damage and no injuries. (HA, WAFA, YA 12/18)

The Egyptian authorities open the Rafah border crossing for the 2d of 4 planned days, allowing passage in both directions. (WAFA 12/17)

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories reopens the Kerem Shalom crossing. The Israeli authorities closed it and the Erez border crossing on 12/13. (TOI 12/17)

For a 5th day in a row, Palestinians across the oPt gather to protest U.S. pres. Trump’s 12/6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Israeli troops violently disperse them in Tulkarm, Ramallah, Hebron, Jericho, and along Gaza’s border near Bayt Hanun, Jabaliya refugee camp, Gaza City, Rafah, Khan Yunis, and al-Bureij refugee camp; at least 45 Palestinians are injured and 3 are arrested. Meanwhile, the IDF uses cement blocks to seal the main road connecting Ramallah and Jalazun refugee camp; arrests 16 Palestinians during raids in and around Nablus, Hebron, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Tulkarm; and patrols near Tulkarm and Tubas. Along Gaza’s border, IDF troops open fire on Palestinian land and other property near Khan Yunis, causing no damage. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 3 Palestinian youths on the way home from school in Ras al-Amud and 4 during raids in Shu‘fat refugee camp and Silwan. (MNA, TOI, WAFA 12/11; HA 12/12; PCHR 12/14)

Unidentified parties launch a rocket from Gaza into southern Israel. It lands in an open area, causing no damage or injuries. The IAF conducts air strikes on 2 Hamas positions in southern Gaza. Later, unidentified parties fire another rocket from Gaza, into Israel near Ashqelon. It is intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. Late at night the IDF shells Hamas sites in northern Gaza, causing minor damage. (HA, YA 12/11; HA, TOI 12/12; PCHR 12/14)

An Israeli settler shoots and kills a Palestinian youth at a settlement outpost nr. Hebron after the Palestinian allegedly sneaks into the settler’s home, then stabs and lightly injures him. Elsewhere in the West Bank, IDF troops raid a printing shop in Tulkarm, destroying much of its contents and confiscating the printer. They arrest 1 Palestinian during a raid nr. Ramallah, and close the entrances to Marda village nr. Salfit following reports of stone throwing in the area. The IDF also violently disperses Palestinian students marching to the Beit El checkpoint to protest the detention of 6 of their classmates; there are no serious injuries. The IDF arrest 13 Palestinians during latenight raids nr. Nablus, Hebron, Tubas, and Bethlehem. Meanwhile, Israeli forces bulldoze 9 homes in the Ofra settlement, after having evacuated it on 2/28. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish a 2-level apartment building in Issawiyya, displacing 30 Palestinians. Along Gaza’s border, Israeli forces conduct limited incursions to level land nr. Bayt Hanun and nr. Dayr al-Balah. Off Gaza’s coast, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats nr. Jabaliya r.c., causing no damage or injuries. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 3/1; MNA, PCHR 3/2; PCHR 3/9)

Unidentified persons fire a rocket into s. Israel from Gaza. It lands in an open area nr. Ashqelon, causing no damage or injuries. Hamas then evacuates several military positions anticipating Israeli retaliation. (HA, JP 3/1)

Fatah vice-chair Mahmoud al-Aloul, in his first interview since his 2/15 appointment to the post, says that a 1-state solution “in which everyone lives equally” would be “acceptable,” but that he doubts Israel would accept such a res. to the conflict. He also comments on recent PA communications with the Trump admin. “It is still not clear to us what will be the U.S. policy in the coming period,” he says. (SA, TOI 3/1)

U.S. dep. asst. secy. of state Erin Barclay says that the Trump admin. is reviewing the U.S. relationship with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with an eye toward ending the council’s “obsession with Israel.” She says that “in order for this council to have any credibility, let alone success, it must move away from its unbalanced and unproductive positions.” Israeli PM Netanyahu has reportedly raised the UNHRC issue with the Trump admin. (HA, JP, REU 3/1; HA, JP 3/2)

Dozens of Gazans gather nr. the border for a 2d day, protesting the Israeli killing of 7 Gazans on 10/9. IDF troops open fire on the protesters, killing 2, injuring 26, and arresting 5 of the 70 who cross into Israel. Meanwhile, unidentified Palestinians fire a rocket toward Ashqelon, Israel, and it is intercepted by an Iron Dome missile defense battery. IAF jets launch retaliatory air strikes on Hamas military sites in s. and c. Gaza, killing 1 pregnant Palestinian and her young daughter and injuring 5 others. Off the coast nr. Jabaliya r.c., Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI 10/10; PCHR 10/15)

Stabbing attacks continue in East Jerusalem, with 2 such incidents today. First, Israeli police shoot and kill a Palestinian youth nr. a gate to the Old City after he allegedly stabs and injures 2 Israelis. Later, Israeli police shoot and kill a Palestinian after he stabs and injures 2 policemen nr. the same gate (a 3d police officer is injured by friendly fire), and clashes break out following the attack. After a funeral for the Palestinian killed in Shu‘fat r.c. on 10/8, Israeli forces clash with and violently disperse stone-throwing Palestinians. Israeli forces also arrest 2 Palestinians in a hospital in al-Tur and clash with stone-throwers, injuring at least 29 Palestinians. (MNA, WAFA 10/10; MNA, YA 10/11; PCHR 10/15)

In the West Bank, undercover Israeli forces shoot and injure a Palestinian youth and detain 4 others in overnight clashes nr. Jenin; the IDF will conduct raids in the village during the day, confiscating computers and arresting 1 Palestinian. Throughout the day IDF troops violently disperse Palestinian stone-throwers and protesters across the West Bank, injuring 34 Palestinians and 1 Israeli soldier. The IDF also conducts raids and patrols throughout the region, arresting 4 Palestinians and confiscating a vehicle. Israeli settlers continue attacking Palestinians and their property, clashing with Palestinians outside the Kiryat Arba settlement; Israeli forces violently disperse the gathering. Palestinian shops in and around Hebron observe a general strike in the morning, protesting the killings of Palestinians from the area by Israeli forces on 10/7 and 10/9. In Israel, around 1,500 Palestinian citizens peacefully march through Nazareth in protest of the recent Israeli attacks and restrictions on access at Haram al-Sharif. A similar demonstration in Ramla turns violent, and the Israeli police arrest 10 Palestinians accused of stone-throwing. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 10/10; HA, JP, MNA, WAFA, YA 10/11; TOI 10/12; PCHR 10/14)

Israeli PM Netanyahu approves the deployment of 16 reserve companies of border police—as many as 2,000 troops—in Palestinian cities across Israel, in Jerusalem, and along major highways (the cabinet will approve the proposal on 10/11). (JP, TOI 10/10)

The IDF launches dozens of air strikes across the Gaza Strip, killing 28 Palestinians and wounding approximately 550. There are fatal strikes in Gaza City, Rafah, Dayr al-Balah, Jabaliya, Khan Yunis, and Bayt Lahiya, among others. Palestinians fire dozens of projectiles into Israel, with 1 rocket hitting a house in Ashdod, causing damage. Other targeted towns include Beersheba, Ashqelon, and Sdot Negev in the s., and Rehovot, Yavne, Lod, Ramle, and Gadera in the c. Iron Dome batteries intercept 2 rockets fired at the Jerusalem area and 2 others fall in open areas. A mortar shell injures 2 Israeli soldiers close to the border. (AFP, AP, HA, JP, MNA, REU 7/10; PCHR 7/11)

Israeli PM Netanyahu says that attacks will continue to “expand and continue until the fire on our communities is over and the quiet returns.” The PM also tells mbrs. of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Comms. that a cease-fire with Hamas is not on the agenda. Islamic Jihad spokesperson Abu Ahmad says the “factions in Gaza are not going to surrender.” At an emergency meeting of the UNSC in New York, UN Secy.-Gen. Ban says that “it is now more urgent than ever to try to find common ground for a return to calm and a cease-fire understanding,” and that he has been in contact with Israel, the PA, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the Arab League, the U.S., and the EU. Palestinian UN amb. Riyad Mansour tells the meeting that the international community is obliged to ensure protection of Palestinian civilians, and accuses Israel of violating its responsibility as an occupying power. Israeli UN amb. Ron Prosor says Hamas is “committing a double war crime: targeting Israeli civilians while hiding behind Palestinian civilians.” Pres. Obama telephones PM Netanyahu and tells him that the U.S. is willing to help negotiate a cease-fire. State Dept. spokesperson Psaki says that Kerry has been “reaching out to countries in the region” including Qatar and Egypt, which “can play a role in bringing an end to the rocket fire from Hamas.” (AFP, AP, HA, JP, MNA, REU 7/10)

In the morning, the Israeli air force drops leaflets over Gaza warning residents that they will be shot if they approach closer than 300 m to the Gaza border fence; a map showing the no-go zones places the southern villages of Abasan and Khuza within the no-go area. Claiming retaliation for the 1/5 IDF air strike that killed 2 of its mbrs., the PRCs fire at least 10 mortars toward the Kerem Shalom crossing (3 land inside Gaza), causing no damage or injuries. Israel shuts the Kerem Shalom crossing through 1/9 in response. Later, unidentified Palestinians fire an antitank weapon across the border at an IDF patrol operating inside Israel e. of Jabaliya, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF directs artillery fire (6 shells) at the launch site causing no injuries. Late in the day, unidentified Palestinians fire a manufactured Grad-type rocket that lands nr. Ashqelon, causing no damage or injuries. (IFM, YA 1/7; JP, NYT, WP 1/8; OCHA 1/13; PCHR 1/14)

Olmert’s security cabinet revives discussion of opening phase 3 of OCL (see 1/9), agreeing to make a final decision whether to expand or wind down operations within 2–3 days, by which time the IDF believes ground forces will have done all they can from the open and suburban areas they currently hold to weaken Hamas’s ability and desire to fire rockets.

Combat notes: The IDF significantly increases attacks, particularly around Gaza City, and continues to send troops into Gaza. Palestinians report (AYM 1/12) heavy clashes with the IDF n. of Bayt Lahiya, in Daraj and al-Shuja‘iyya neighborhoods on the eastern boundary of Gaza City, and in Dahadih and al-Zaytun to the south of the city. Overnight, the IDF also sends troops back into Khuza (see 1/11) under heavy artillery fire (possibly including white phosphorous), occupying a number of homes as staging posts and prompting 1,000s of residents to flee their homes.

The IDF reports carrying out more than 120 air strikes (half of them after nightfall, targeting Gaza City), uncovering 1 boobytrapped home and 2 booby-trapped tunnels. Targets include the PA Interior Min. offices in n. Gaza, more than 35 tunnels on the Rafah border, homes of Hamas leaders, at least 22 mortar and rocket launching sites, at least 26 groups of armed men, at least 10 “Hamas outposts,” 2 suspected weapons depots and manufacturing facilities, 2 mosques, 2 hotels. Air strike target areas include Bayt Lahiya, Gaza City (city center and Shaykh Ridwan, al-Sudaniyya, Tal al-Hawa, al-Zaytun), Jabaliya town, al-Maghazi r.c., Nussayrat, Rafah, al-Shabura r.c., al-Shuka, Tal al-Za‘atar, the Twam area (northern outskirts of Gaza City), Yibna r.c. IDF gunboats shell Nussayrat, Rafah, a fishing port w. of Rafah. Heavy tank and artillery fire are reported in Bayt Hanun, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (al-Shuja‘iyya, al-Zaytun), Jabaliya town, al-Mughraqa, Twam.

Israeli attacks are so intense that reliable updates on Palestinian casualty estimates are not possible. The IDF estimates killing at least 30 Palestinians in air strikes. UNRWA reports at least 19 Palestinian children killed and 52 children injured in nighttime operations (possibly overlapping with air strikes), 1 paramedic killed by tank fire in Jabaliya during the day. The IDF reports 8 soldiers wounded (1 severely, 1 moderately, 6 lightly) in various incidents, all after nightfall; 3 of the soldiers are injured when they trigger a setup in a booby-trapped house.

Palestinians fire 17 rockets and 7 mortars into Israel, with 1 rocket in Ashqelon and 1 in Sederot causing damage but no reported injuries.

Humanitarian notes: The IDF observes the daily 3-hr. humanitarian lull, allowing 120 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. UNRWA estimates that internally displaced Gazans number now 90,000: 30,000 seeking shelter in UNRWA schools; 60,000 in the homes of friends and relatives. (AP, AYM, BBC, HA, IDF, IFM, JP, MA, MM, al-Ra’i, REU, RFM, WP, YA 1/12; HA, MM, NYT, REU, WP, WT, YA 1/13; AYM, HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/14; PCHR 1/15; BBC, WJW 1/16; ITIC 1/19)

In the West Bank, unidentified armed Palestinians fire on an IDF patrol nr. Kiryat Arba settlement, wounding 3. In response, the IDF raids, searches Palestinian homes nr. Kiryat Arba, making no arrests. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. (HA 1/13; PCHR 1/15)

Israel warns of an expanded ground war in Gaza and begins moving more tanks and reservists to the Gaza border. The IDF drops leaflets and sends out automated phone messages across Gaza, warning of an escalation in fighting.

Combat notes: IDF tanks and artillery pound Gaza throughout the day. The IDF reports making air strikes on about 120 targets, including the home of IQB head Ahmad Jabari (presumed to be in hiding), at least 15 rocket-launching sites, 21 suspected weapons depots (including a mosque and school in Rafah, the homes of several Hamas mbrs.), 16 tunnels, 3 Hamas outposts, 1 police station, and 2 vehicles allegedly transporting weapons. In Khan Yunis, an air strike destroys Gaza European Hospital’s fuel depot, electricity generator, and water supply system. Target areas include Bani Suhayla, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Gaza City (al-Nasser, Shaykh Ridwan, al-Shuja‘iyya), Jabaliya, Khan Yunis, al-Maghazi, Nussayrat, Rafah. IDF ground forces engage in heavy exchanges with Palestinians in and nr. Bayt Lahiya. Heavy IDF tank and artillery fire are reported in Jabaliya (where 8 family mbrs. are killed by an IDF tank shell that lands outside their home), Khuza (possibly involving white phosphorus, burning 15 homes and 100s of individuals), Nussayrat, and Tal al-Hawa in Gaza City. The IDF claims to kill 16 armed Palestinians, including Hamas’s “leading authority on Grad rockets,” IQB cmdr. Amir Mansi, during a strike on a rocket-launching site. The estimated Palestinian toll reaches 820–840 dead.

Palestinians fire 9 rockets and 10 mortars into Israel, the fewest since OCL began on 12/27; 3 Grad rockets strike Ashqelon (each causing damage and light injuries, including shock), others land in open areas nr. Ashdod and in the Negev (causing no damage or injuries). The IDF reports 7 ground troops lightly wounded in various exchanges.

Humanitarian notes: The IDF observes a 3-hr. humanitarian lull to allow relief agencies to recover casualties and distribute food but does not allow new aid through Gaza’s crossings on the Sabbath.

Of note: The IDF reports that ground troops have been facing extensive tunnel networks inside the Strip, especially in Gaza City, which the Palestinian factions are using to try to ambush soldiers. IDF sources and Israeli journalists embedded with IDF troops report recent incidents in which Palestinian fighters tried to lure troops into a boobytrapped building in al-Zaytun; left a weapons cache rigged with explosives where the IDF would find it (the booby trap did not detonate); and sent a suicide bomber on a failed attempt to attack a group of soldiers. The IDF also acknowledges that it has rounded up and interrogated scores of Palestinians to gain knowledge of local Hamas positions and tactics. Israeli intelligence officers acknowledge phoning Gazans, sometimes overtly and sometimes pretending to be sympathetic Arabs fr. abroad, to gain information about conditions and locations of Palestinian forces on the ground. (AP, BBC, IDF, REU 1/10; IDF, NYT, WP, WT 1/11; MM, QA, WP 1/12; al-Akhbar, MM 1/13; NYT 1/14; PCHR 1/15; WJW 1/16; ITIC 1/19; JPI 1/23)

The IDF fires live ammunition at Palestinians demonstrating against OCL in Bayt Awa nr. Hebron, seriously wounding a 13-yr.-old boy; fires live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinians holding a similar protest in Sa’ir nr. Hebron, wounding 3 Palestinians; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in ‘Askar r.c. nr. Nablus, nr. Hebron. (PCHR 1/15)

The Israeli security cabinet reportedly begins internal debate on opening phase 3 of OCL, which would involve deep incursions into Gaza’s built-up areas to deal a crushing blow to Hamas. Israeli military and intelligence sources warn that the new goal would require deep, sustained incursions into Gaza’s densely populated areas, likely resulting in months of combat and heavy casualties.

Combat notes: Heavy IDF aerial, naval, and ground assaults across Gaza continue. The IDF reports carrying out more than 110 air strikes, in many cases to support troops battling on the ground. Targets include 20 “terror operatives” (possibly assassinations), more than a dozen rocket-launching sites and squads, more than 20 suspected weapons depots (including homes of 3 Hamas mbrs.) and other outposts, at least 10 homes and 1 apartment building, 2 tunnels on the Rafah border, a market in Bayt Lahiya, 1 ESF post in Gaza City, a mosque in Dayr al-Balah. Target areas include Abasan, Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr alBalah, Gaza City (city center and al-Nasser, Shaykh Ridwan), Jabaliya town and r.c., Khan Yunis, Khuza, Nussayrat, al-Qarara, Rafah, Shati’ r.c., open areas in central Gaza.

At least 1 air strike on a residential area e. of Jabaliya involves white phosphorous munitions that cause extensive fire damage to 4 homes. Another air strike hits the rooftop of a Gaza City building housing the offices of some 20 international press agencies, destroying broadcasting equipment and wounding 1 journalist.

IDF ground forces take up new positions in Juhur al-Dik and al-Mughraqa in c. Gaza, and al-Shuka in s. Gaza (bulldozing 13 homes). Heavy tank and artillery fire are reported in Bayt Lahiya, Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (al-Shuja‘iyya, alTuffah, al-Zaytun), Jabaliya. Heavy closequarter combat is reported in Gaza City and nr. Bayt Lahiya, with Palestinians firing antitank weapons and mortars and sniping at ground troops, moderately wounding 1 IDF soldier and lightly wounding 7.

Palestinians also fire 30 rockets and 1 mortar into Israel (including several Grads that hit Ashqelon), causing no reported damage or injuries.

At least 35 Palestinians are killed during the day, bringing the estimated Palestinian toll to around 795 dead and 3,300 wounded.

Humanitarian notes: The UN and other relief groups resume humanitarian aid transfers after receiving assurances fr. the Israeli government that they will not be targeted. During today’s 3-hr. humanitarian lull, Israel allows 41 trucks carrying food and medicine into the Strip. (Committee to Protect Journalists, Daily News, IDF, MA, MM, YA 1/9; IDF, NYT, WT, WP 1/10; NYT 1/11; PCHR 1/15)

Israel seals the West Bank through 1/10 citing unspecified security concerns. The IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinians demonstrating against OCL after Friday prayers in Bayt Umar nr. Hebron (injuring 2), Hawara s. of Nablus, Hebron (injuring 4), Issawiyya, Ras al-Amud in East Jerusalem; also fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists attending weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 3 Palestinians, arresting 5), Jayyus (injuring 9, including 2 wounded by live ammunition, which is not used at the other rallies), Ni‘lin (injuring 5 Palestinians); conducts late-night house searches in Azmut nr. Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo nr. Ramallah beat and fire on 2 Palestinians collecting water at a well nr. the settlement, wounding 1. (IDF 1/9; PCHR 1/15)

The UNSC passes (14–0, with the U.S. abstaining) res. 1860, calling for an “immediate, durable, and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza” but not outlining an implementation or enforcement mechanism (see Doc. A8). Israel says it will not halt its operations until a Hamas cease-fire can be guaranteed. Meanwhile, Egypt begins intensive bilateral talks with Israeli and Hamas envoys to mediate a cease-fire.

Combat notes: The IDF carries out another 60 air strikes across Gaza, with heavy bombing of the Rafah border. Targets include more than 18 homes of senior IQB members (all believed to be in hiding), “a number of armed operatives” assassinated (not named), several groups of armed men, 15 tunnels (including some homes believed to be covering entrances to tunnels), 11 suspected weapons depots (including 1 mosque in n. Gaza), 15 rocket-launching sites, the PASF headquarters and PA Youth and Sports Min. offices in Rafah, and an Islamic Jihad office in Abasan. Target areas include Abasan, Bani Suhayla, Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (city center, al-Nasser), Jabaliya town and r.c., Khan Yunis, al-Nasser (n. of Rafah), Nussayrat, Rafah. Heavy naval shelling of Dayr al-Balah and the nearby al-Qur’an area of c. Gaza is also reported. As ground operations continue, the IDF begins moving a small number of reservists into the Strip for the 1st time since OCL began. Heavy artillery and ground fire is reported in Abasan, Gaza City (al-Sha‘af, al-Shuja‘iyya, Tal al-Hawa, alZaytun), al-Qarara. Late in the evening, IDF troops withdraw from al-Qarara; residents report at least 20 homes destroyed since the IDF took up positions in the city on 1/6.

Palestinians fire at least 15 rockets and 1 mortar into Israel, lightly injuring 4 Israelis. Areas hit by rockets include Ashdod, Ashqelon, Beersheba (4 Grads), Ofakim.

The Palestinian toll, including bodies recovered during the humanitarian lull today (see below), reaches at least 758 dead and more than 3,100 injured. In addition, a Ukrainian woman (married to a Gazan) and her toddler are killed by an IDF shell in Gaza City, becoming the 1st foreign casualties inside Gaza (1 Egyptian was killed on the Rafah border on 12/28). Today, 3 IDF soldiers are killed and 14 are wounded (1 seriously, 1 moderately, 12 lightly) during clashes inside Gaza, bringing the Israeli toll to 13–14 dead and more than 100 injured.

Humanitarian notes: IDF soldiers fire on relief workers in 3 incidents in which the UN and ICRC had fully coordinated their movements with the IDF in advance (providing the IDF with the license plates of the vehicles, giving precise times and routes of travel, and using clearly marked vehicles) and received IDF assurances that travel would be safe. One UN driver is killed and 2 other UN employees and 1 ICRC employee are wounded. The UN and other groups scale back or suspend aid deliveries to Gaza, citing security concerns.

During the humanitarian lull, the IDF allows ICRC workers back into a heavily damaged residential block of al-Zaytun (see 1/7), where they rescue 103 injured Palestinians who have been stranded since 1/5 and report finding 40–50 bodies, fearing that more dead and injured may be trapped under demolished homes. The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem reports (WP 1/9) new evidence that IDF soldiers stationed outside the destroyed houses were aware people were trapped but denied aid. UN Undersecy. Gen. for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes urges Israel to investigate, calling (WP 1/9) it “a particularly outrageous incident” and “absolutely horrifying.”

Israel allows 223 Palestinian dual nationals to exit Gaza via the Erez crossing for Jordan (see 1/2).

The UN estimates that 20,000 Gazans have been internally displaced by the fighting. (AP, HA, IDF, IHY, JP, MA, NYT, UNIS, YA 1/8; AFP, Daily Star, IDF, IFM, ITARTASS, MET, NYT, RFM, UNIS, WP, WT 1/9; AFP, AP, NYT, WT 1/12; AYM, JP, NYT, WT 1/13; IHY, MM 1/14; PCHR 1/15; WJW 1/16; NYT 1/17; ITIC 1/18; JPI 1/23)

In the West Bank, the IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian who allegedly attempts to set fire to a gas station outside the Ma’ale Adumim settlement e. of Jerusalem; fires live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinians demonstrating against OCL in al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron, seriously wounding 2 (including a 12-yr.-old boy); fires live ammunition at Palestinians protesting against the separation wall in Bil‘in, wounding 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qabatya nr. Jenin. (PCHR 1/15)

The PFLP General Command fires 4 rockets fr. s. Lebanon into Israel, 3 of which explode near Nahariya, lightly wounding 4 Israelis (5 others are treated for shock). The IDF fires 5 shells the border as a “measured response” and intensifies surveillance overflights of s. Lebanon. Hizballah, the Lebanese government, and Fatah and Hamas reps. in Lebanon condemn the fire, assuring Israel they have no intention of opening a 2d front. The Lebanese army and UNIFIL pledge to step up surveillance in s. Lebanon (ITV, MM, MNR, RFM 1/8; Guardian, HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT, SFR, al-Watan, YA 1/9; YA 1/10; AFP, AP, NYT, WT 1/12; HA, MM 1/15; JPI 1/23)

Israel agrees in principle to the 1/6 Egyptian-French cease-fire proposal, agreeing to send an envoy to Cairo on 1/8 to discuss details with Egyptian officials. On the ground, Israeli air, naval, and ground attacks continue across the Strip, “tightening the noose” around Gaza’s population centers. IDF reservists begin to complete their training and deploy to staging areas on the Gaza border. IDF officials say that since Israeli troops entered Gaza on 1/3, Hamas and other Palestinian fighters have largely pulled back into the cities and refugee camps, sniping and engaging IDF troops on the edges of densely populated areas but not coming out to engage directly.

Combat notes: The IDF carries out more than 40 air strikes on targets across Gaza, hitting the PA presidential compound in Gaza City (already hit several times), 14 rocketlaunching sites, more tunnels on the Rafah border, 9 homes allegedly hiding smuggling tunnels, 4 groups of armed Palestinians, 1 Hamas outpost, 1 suspected weapons depot, 2 mosques (Bani Suhayla, Khan Yunis). Target areas include Abu Middayn (c. Gaza), Bani Suhayla, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (Shaykh Ridwan), the al-Fukhari area (nr. Khan Yunis), Jabaliya, Khan Yunis, Khuza, Ma’an (e. of Khan Yunis), al-Maghazi, Nussayrat, Rafah, the Western Sawahira area (c. Gaza). Particularly heavy IDF artillery fire and exchanges of gunfire are reported in al-Atatra, the al-Salatin area northwest of Bayt Lahiya, the Izbat ‘Abid Rabbuh area e. of Jabaliya, alQarara, and al-Zaytun in Gaza City. In the afternoon, the IDF drops leaflets on houses nr. the Rafah border, ordering residents to evacuate their homes; aerial bombing there begins after dark.

Palestinians fire 17 rockets and 5 mortars into Israel, lightly injuring 2 Israelis; around a dozen are Grads that land in Ashdod and Ashqelon, the rest are Qassams that land closer to the Gaza border. With IDF troops now in control of open areas around Bayt Hanun and Bayt Lahiya, most rocket and mortar fire is coming from densely populated urban areas.

At least 29 Palestinians are killed today, bringing the estimated Palestinian toll to at least 682 dead and 3,085 injured. One IDF soldier is moderately wounded, 8 are lightly wounded in exchanges with Palestinians inside Gaza.

Humanitarian notes: In the afternoon, the IDF observes a 3-hr. cease-fire nr. Gaza City to allow 80 truckloads of humanitarian aid to enter the Strip and to give Gazans an opportunity to seek food, fuel, and medical care. Some Israeli gunfire is reported (WP 1/22) during the lull, leaving at least 2 Palestinian girls (ages 2, 7) dead and their father and sister wounded. Aid groups say the imports do not come close to relieving the dire crisis. Moreover, Palestinians are reportedly (NYT 1/8) running low on cash to buy supplies because Israel has barred the import of currency; banks are closed because of the fighting; and ATMs do not work because of the lack of electricity.

The ICRC reports finding 16 bodies (7 women, 6 children, 3 men) and 18 seriously wounded Palestinians (including 4 emaciated children too weak to stand) in a cluster of destroyed houses in Gaza City’s al-Zaytun neighborhood. The ICRC received specific reports of these casualties on 1/3, but the IDF had barred ambulances and rescue workers fr. reaching the site; international aid workers finally enter the area with donkey carts to evacuate the wounded, ignoring IDF efforts to chase them away. The ICRC later attempts to return to the area to remove the bodies and check reports of additional casualties but is blocked by the IDF. The ICRC’s headquarters in Geneva issues a rare denunciation of Israel, calling (WP 1/8) the IDF’s handling of the incident “unacceptable,” stating that it had “failed to meet its obligations under international law to care for and evacuate the wounded.” (AP, Arutz 7, AYM, BBC, HA, IDF, JP, MA, MM, REU, RFM, RIA, YA 1/7; IDF, IFM, IHY, JP, MA, MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT, YA 1/8; WP 1/14; PCHR 1/15; NYT 1/17; ITIC 1/18; WP 1/22)

The IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron; fires rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades to disperse Palestinian and international activists demonstrating against OCL in Ni‘lin; no injuries are reported. (PCHR 1/8, 1/15)

As OCL enters day 10, IDF ground forces tighten the circle around Gaza City and continue to operate against Palestinian rocketlaunching units across n. Gaza, still avoiding entering densely populated areas. Troops deploy to segment the Strip into 3 main operational zones: a northern zone running fr. the n. Gaza border south to Netzarim Junction (the Qarni Crossing–Netzarim settlement line drawn on 1/4); a central zone fr. Netzarim Junction to Khan Yunis; and a southern zone fr. Khan Yunis to the Rafah border. While IDF troops are still entering Gaza, IDF reservists have not yet been sent in.

Meanwhile, French pres. Nicholas Sarkozy begins a regional tour to press for a 48-hr. humanitarian cease-fire, meeting with Mubarak in Cairo and Olmert in Israel).

Combat notes: In Gaza City, residents and medical workers report that IDF troops are concentrated in the al-Shuja‘iyya, al-Tuffah, and al-Zaytun neighborhoods (al-Zaytun is a strategic high point, providing a view over the breadth of the Strip) and that fighting is so intense (involving heavy Israeli tank and helicopter fire) that bodies of the dead have been left lying in the street and ambulances are unable to reach the area. IDF troops occupy at least 3 high-rise buildings in eastern areas of Gaza City as observation posts, expelling the residents and exchanging heavy gunfire with Palestinian gunmen. Israeli aircraft drop leaflets over Gaza City warning residents to evacuate their neighborhood; 1,000s of Gazans report receiving automated phone messages form the IDF saying “We are getting rid of Hamas.”

In addition to carrying out air strikes in support of advancing ground troops, the IDF reports making 40 air strikes targeting tunnels on the Rafah border, weapons caches, homes of senior Hamas and PFLP mbrs. (most of whom are in hiding), the Gaza airport site. Target areas include Abasan, Bayt Hanun, Bani Suhayla, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (the center city, al-Tuffah, al-Shuja‘iyya, Tal al-Hawa, alZaytun), Jabaliya, Khan Yunis, Khuza, the al-Mawasi area (w. of Khan Yunis), Nussayrat, Rafah, al-Shabura r.c. (nr. Rafah), Shati’ r.c., al-Shuka, Yibna r.c. (nr. Rafah).

Of particular note: A home in Gaza City’s al-Zaytun neighborhood, where the IDF placed 110 Palestinians it had rounded up on 1/4, is hit by an air strike and repeatedly shelled, killing at least 30 mbrs. of an extended family (including 5 children age 4 and younger) and wounding scores; the IDF bars relief workers fr. reaching the scene until 1/7. A shell fired from an Israeli naval vessel hits a Palestinian home in Shati’ r.c., killing a family of 7 asleep in their beds. A late-night air strike hits an UNRWA school in Shati’ r.c. being used as a shelter, killing 3 members of a single family. The IDF also makes air strikes hitting the offices of the Hamas-affiliated al-Risala for a 2d time (see 1/3). Photographs and live footage of the ongoing operations clearly show IDF artillery firing white phosphorus shells on densely populated areas, though Israel denies using the munitions. The IDF fires flechette shells on residential areas nr. Bayt Hanun, killing at least 1 Palestinian, wounding at least 3.

Palestinians fire 28 rockets, 5 mortars into Israel, hitting Ashdod, Ashqelon, Beersheba, Sederot, and Shaar Hanegev, damaging an empty kindergarten in Ashdod, injuring 2 Israelis in Shaar Hanegev.

More than 40 Palestinians are killed today (almost half of them children), bringing the estimated Palestinian toll to 550 dead, 2,500 injured. The Israeli toll reaches 9–10 dead, more than 70 wounded: 3 IDF soldiers are killed, 24 wounded (4 seriously) by friendly fire when their unit is hit by an Israeli tank shell outside Gaza City; an IDF officer is killed during an exchange of fire in n. Gaza, possibly by an IDF tank shell; 6 IDF soldiers are wounded in clashes with Palestinians nr. the e. Gaza border.

Humanitarian notes: Israel allows 80 truckloads of food, medicine, and medical equipment into Gaza, but the UN says much more is needed. Relief agencies (including the ICRC, UNRWA, and UNSCO) warn that two-thirds of the Strip is still without power, suffering freezing winter temperatures; 250,000 Gazans are without any running water; and water supplies for another 500,000 Gazans are expected to run out within days because of lack of fuel for pumps and backup generators. Shifa hospital, which has been running fully on generators for 3 days, warns that it has only a 2-day supply of generator fuel. (BBC, CNN, IDF, IDF Radio, MM, NYT, REU, RFM, UNIS, UNOSAT, WT 1/5; AFP, BBC, Guardian, HA, IDF, IFM, Israel Radio News, MA, MM, NYT, WP, WT, YA 1/6; IFM, PCHR, WJW, WT 1/8; Committee to Protect Journalists, MM, YA 1/9; NYT, WP 1/10; NYT 1/17; WP 1/27; BBC 2/23)

The IDF arrests 2 12-yr.-old Palestinians at an OCL protest nr. Hebron; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem and in al-Bireh, Ramallah. Clubwielding PASF officers violently disperse a protest against OCL by students attempting to march fr. Ramallah’s Birzeit University to a main IDF checkpoint at Atarot. (PCHR 1/8)

IDF ground forces backed by naval and air support continue to enter Gaza overnight, with troops taking up positions across n. Gaza (from which most Palestinian rockets have been fired), surrounding Gaza City, retaking the former Netzarim settlement site nr. the Gaza coast south of Gaza City, and bifurcating the Strip into e. and w. (cutting a swath roughly from the Qarni and Nahal Oz crossings to Netzarim on the coast, driving 1,000s of residents from Juhur al-Dik, al-Mughraqa, and al-Zahra’ with heavy artillery and tank fire), but not entering dense urban areas.

Combat notes: IDF-Palestinian ground fighting is described as “fierce,” characterized by heavy IDF artillery fire and heavy Palestinian sniping and mortar fire. Because the IDF stays out of built-up areas, there are few reports of close-quarter combat or heavy exchanges of gunfire. While ground troops concentrate in the north, Israeli air strikes and naval bombardment focus equally on the north and south, hitting more tunnels on the Rafah border and targeting Hamas leaders for assassination. (The IDF claims to assassinate Hamas rocket cmdr. Hussam Hamdan and IQB and long-range rocket cmdr. Muhammad Hilu in Khan Yunis, senior IQB mbr. Muhammad Shalbush in Jabaliya, but there is no independent confirmation.)

The IDF reports hitting 45 sites and carrying out 40 air strikes during the day, striking a produce market in Gaza City, several mosques, a medical building and 3 mobile clinics in Shati’ r.c. run by a Danish charity, homes of at least 4 Hamas mbrs. (most of whom have gone into hiding), and suspected weapons depots across Gaza. Target areas include Abasan, Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (al-Daraj, Tal al-Hawa, al-Tuffah, al-Yarmuk, al-Zaytun), Jabaliya, Juhur al-Dik, Khan Yunis, al-Mughraqa, al-Nasser (n. of Rafah), Rafah, Shati’ r.c., al-Shuka, al-Zahra’. After dark, IDF troops conduct door-to-door searches on the outskirts of Gaza City.

Palestinians fire 29 rockets (including at least 12 Grads) and 5 mortars into Israel, hitting Ashdod, Ashqelon, Netivot, Ofakim, and Sederot; 1 house in Sederot is damaged and 1 Israeli woman lightly injured. 

At least 47 Palestinians (including 4 paramedics) are killed and 400 wounded (including 3 paramedics) during the day; 1 IDF soldier is killed, 1 is seriously wounded in a heavy exchange of gunfire nr. Jabaliya; 15 IDF soldiers are wounded (3 seriously) by Palestinian mortar fire inside Gaza. The UN and Palestinian medical workers estimate the Palestinian toll to have reached at least 507 dead, 2,400 injured. The Israeli toll stands at 5–6 killed, more than 40 injured.

Humanitarian notes: The Israeli FMin. announced a new joint office of the FMin. and Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, called the Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Center (HACC), to coordinate humanitarian organizations operating on aid transfers to the Strip. The UN reports that shortages of fuel, electricity, and water are worsening. Gazan hospitals report drastic shortages of anesthesia, surgical equipment, heaters, spare parts. (AP, BBC, IDF, JAZ, National Public Radio, OCHA, REU, WT 1/4; IDF, IFM, NYT, RFM, UNOSAT, WP, WT 1/5; BBC 1/6; IFM, PCHR 1/8; WP 1/27)

In the West Bank, the IDF fatally shoots 1 Palestinian demonstrator who attempts to climb the separation wall nr. Qalqilya; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, nr. Jenin. Israel’s High Court rules that the IDF may seal 2 floors of the home of the East Jerusalem Palestinian who killed 8 students at the Mercaz HaRava yeshiva in Jerusalem in 3/6/08, even though the gunman was killed during the attack and sealing the home would serve only to punish his extended family; another floor of the home will not be sealed because it is being rented to an unrelated family. (PCHR 1/8)

Israel begins phase 2 of OCL, a massive ground advance into Gaza, in the evening. The IDF states that “the objective . . . is to destroy the terrorist infrastructure of the Hamas in the precise area of operation, while taking control of some of [sic] rocket launching areas used by Hamas in order to greatly reduce the quantity of rockets fired at Israel and Israeli civilians.” Israeli FM Livni acknowledges that Israel has broader aims, stating that toppling Hamas is “a strategic Israeli objective,” but that it might take more than one large-scale military operation such as OCL to do the job.

Israeli actions: Before phase 2 begins in the evening, the IDF launches artillery strikes on some 40 targets concentrated in open areas around Bayt Hanun, east of Rafah, and along Gaza’s main north–south artery in an apparent effort to clear the areas of mines and tunnels, to move Palestinians away from those areas in preparation for the insertion of ground forces.

The IDF also continues air strikes and naval bombardments across Gaza. Target areas include Bayt Lahiya, Gaza City (al-Nasser, al-Rimal, al-Shuja‘iyya, al-Tuffah, al-Zaytun), Jabaliya, Juhur al-Dik, Khan Yunis, Khuza, al-Mughraqa, Nussayrat, Rafah, al-Shuka (e. of Rafah). Targets include 2 mosques in Bayt Lahiya and Jabaliya, killing at least 13 worshipers and injuring 30 during evening prayers; a car in Khan Yunis, assassinating senior Hamas military cmdr. Muhammad Ma‘aruf; 2 PA security compounds in Gaza City; the al-Aqsa Radio and the al-Risala newspaper offices in Gaza City; tunnels on the Rafah border; suspected rocket-launching sites and weapons depots. By evening, the Palestinian toll reaches at least 460 dead and more than 2,000 wounded.

At dusk, the IDF drops leaflets on n. Gaza warning residents that troops will soon operate in this area and that they should evacuate for their safety. Around 8:00 P.M. local time, the IDF cuts power to the Strip and begins sending ground forces into n. Gaza, taking up positions on the outskirts of Bayt Hanun and Bayt Lahiya (occupying homes as operational bases); securing areas e. of Gaza City nr. the Qarni crossing, but notably keeping a distance from Jabaliya (considered a Hamas stronghold), and just inside the s. Gaza border e. of Rafah (with tanks firing flechette shells at houses and agricultural areas, killing 1 Palestinian and wounding 7 inside their homes). Heavy gun battles are reported, with Hamas issuing a statement that it is firing mortars at IDF ground forces. After ground operations begin, the IDF announces a naval blockade of Gaza out to 20 nautical miles.

Palestinian actions: During the day, Palestinians fire 28 rockets and 7 mortars into Israel, hitting as far as Ashdod and Ashqelon to the n., and Netivot to the e., lightly damaging 3 homes and an apartment building, lightly injuring 2 Israelis.

Of note: Embedded with some IDF ground units are the first Israeli journalists and 2 foreign reporters (BBC and Reuters) allowed into Gaza since late 10/08. These journalists have been given “trusted” status by the government for their “long history of relations with the IDF” and are under the strict rules of the IDF censor; the general ban on foreign journalists is still in place, despite a 12/31 High Court ruling ordering the government to allow journalists access. (AFP, AP, BBC, IDF, IFM, ITV, Organization of the Islamic Conference [OIC] press release, REU, YA 1/3; HA, IFM, JAZ, JP, NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 1/4; NYT, UNOSAT, WP, WT 1/5; IFM, PCHR 1/8; HA 1/11; JP 1/22; JPI 2/6; Harpers 3/09)

Israel’s security cabinet authorizes the IDF to open phase 2 of OCL at its discretion by sending ground troops into Gaza “to destroy the terrorist infrastructure of the Hamas in the area of operation, while taking control of some of [sic] rocket launching area used by the Hamas”; authorizes the call-up of 10,000s of additional reservists. The IDF does not immediately take action.

Israeli action: The IDF continues air strikes and naval bombardment of Gaza, carrying out 65 air strikes and hitting 65 individual sites. Target areas include al-Atatra, Bayt Lahiya, Dahaniyya, Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (Shaykh Ridwan, al-Shuja‘iyya, Tal al-Hawa, al-Yarmuk), Jabaliya, Khan Yunis, Nussayrat, Rafah, Tal al-Za‘atar. Primary targets include the homes of more than 12 senior Hamas officials (including senior IQB official Imad Akel, who reportedly is killed along with 3 children nearby; and Haniyeh’s chief of staff Muhammad Madhun and fmr. PA Refugee Affairs M Atif Udwan, who are believed to be in hiding); a car carrying Hamas’s Gaza City military cmdr. Muhammad (Abu Zakariya) al-Jamal, assassinating him; the Rafah airport site (already heavily damaged by yrs. of IDF attacks); the American International School in al-Atatra in n. Gaza; a public works dept. building southwest of Gaza City; tunnels on the Rafah border; and suspected weapons depots across Gaza. The estimated Palestinian toll reaches 431 killed, more than 2,200 injured.

Palestinian actions: Palestinians fire 26 rockets and 5 mortars into Israel, including 10 rockets that strike nr. Ashqelon, 1 of which causes damage and lightly injures 2 Israelis.

Humanitarian notes: The IDF escorts 226 foreigners who opt to leave Gaza to the Allenby Bridge crossing into Jordan; allows 64 truckloads of humanitarian goods into the Strip.

Of note: By this date, nearly all of Gaza’s police stations and government buildings have been destroyed. One senior Israeli security official states that “All of the offices and databases are gone. When all this is over, no civil servant will have an office to sit in.” (HA, IDF, IFM, ITV 1/2; AFP, AP, HA, IDF, Nation, NYT, REU, WP, WT, YA 1/3; Adalah 1/4; IFM, JP, PCHR 1/8; WT 1/22; JPI 1/23)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists taking part in weekly nonviolent protests against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 5 Palestinians), Ni‘lin (wounding 1 Israeli, 3 Palestinians), and Jayyus (injuring 3 Palestinians; 1 is hit with live ammunition). In Jerusalem, 100s of Palestinians clash with Israeli police after Friday prayers. Small demonstrations against OCL are reported in East Jerusalem and across the West Bank (including Bani Na‘im nr. Hebron, Bethlehem, Hebron, Issawiyya, Ramallah, Shu‘fat r.c.). IDF troops shoot at protesters in Bani Na‘im, wounding 5. The PASF breaks up large rallies against OCL in Hebron and Ramallah, firing tear gas at demonstrators, ripping up pro-Hamas placards and flags, beating and arresting suspected Hamas supporters, injuring at least 10 Palestinians. (HA, NYT, REU, WP, WT, YA 1/3; PCHR 1/8)

As Israel continues widespread air and naval bombardment of Gaza for a 3d day, Israeli DM Barak declares “all-out war” on Hamas. The IDF declares a 2-mi. buffer zone around the Strip a closed military zone and continues amassing tanks and troops there, indicating further preparations for a ground invasion. Israeli military officials speaking anonymously say they have expanded the IDF’s target list to include Hamas’s support network and symbols of Hamas power, stating that “there are many aspects of Hamas, and we are trying to hit the whole spectrum, because everything is connected and everything supports terrorists against Israel” and that “anything affiliated with Hamas is a legitimate target.”

Israeli actions: The IDF reports hitting 100 sites today, including more Islamic University buildings (including the engineering dept., library); homes and offices of Hamas leaders; PA government buildings (including the Interior Min., Finance Min., Foreign Min., Labor Min., Construction and Housing Min., and a PA presidential guest house); Bani Suhayla’s municipal building; the alZawiyya Mosque in Jabaliya r.c. and Omar Bin al-Khattab Mosque in al-Bureij r.c.; more civil and naval police stations; more tunnels along the Rafah border; the headquarters of Hamas’s al-Aqsa TV; Gaza’s port (for a 2d day); and 1 Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades training site. Target areas include Abasan, Bani Suhayla, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (city center, al-Rimal, al-Sabra, Shaykh Ajlin, Tal al-Hawa), Jabaliya town and r.c., Khan Yunis, Nussayrat r.c., al-Qarara, Rafah, Shati’ r.c., Tal al-Za‘atar. Just before strikes on Rafah, Israeli Military Intelligence makes 10,000 automated calls to Rafah residents warning of pending air strikes, breaks into Palestinian radio broadcasts to urge residents across Gaza to move to city centers. Palestinian medical officials report at least 364 Palestinians dead, 1,500 wounded since 12/27.

Palestinian actions: Palestinians fire 66 rockets, 14 mortars into Israel (twice as many as in the previous 24 hrs.), killing 3 Israeli civilians (1 each in Nahal Oz, Ashdod, Ashqelon; 1 of them an Israeli Palestinian) and wounding 5 (3 of them Israeli Palestinians), with 2 rockets hitting 23 mi. north in Gan Yavne/Ashdod. A Palestinian mortar hits an IDF base in Netivot, s. and e. of the Nahal Oz crossing, killing 1 IDF soldier (a Druze), seriously wounding 1, lightly injuring 4. The Israeli toll stands at 4–5 dead, about 20 injured. Reports circulate (e.g., NYT 12/30) of Hamas gunmen executing at least 5 accused collaborators with Israel inside hospitals; the 5 had been jailed for collaboration and transferred to hospitals after being wounded in IDF air strikes on jails.

Humanitarian notes: Israel allows 40 truckloads of humanitarian aid into Gaza; Egypt allows 23 truckloads of emergency goods in, some wounded out through Rafah. International aid groups (including Amnesty International, the UN) say aid transfers are insufficient, warn that the death toll is rising in part because of lack of medicines and medical supplies, food, and fuel.

Of note: One Israeli air strike heavily damages the UN Special Coordinator’s Office (UNSCO) headquarters in Gaza City, prompting the UN to issue a formal complaint. Egyptian TV reports that captured IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit has been wounded in an Israeli air strike in recent days; Hamas does not comment. (BBC, CNN, HA, Houston Chronicle, IFM, REU, White House press briefing, YA 12/29; BBC, IDF, Independent, NYT, WP, WT 12/30; IDF, UNOSAT 12/31; JP, PCHR, WJW 1/1; ITV 1/2; IDF 1/3; NYT, WP 1/4; WT, UNOSAT 1/5; IFM 1/8; Committee to Protect Journalists 1/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against OCL in Issawiyya, Shu‘fat r.c., al-Tur neighborhood in East Jerusalem, causing no serious injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in East Tura village nr. Jenin, Hebron. (PCHR 1/1)

Overnight, the IDF makes an incursion into Abasan, raiding and searching homes, occupying several as operational bases, making air strikes on local gunmen who confront them (killing 1 Hamas mbr., seriously wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and 1 Hamas mbr.), demolishing 1 Palestinian home, bulldozing 110 d. of agricultural land and 4 poultry farms, arresting 4 Palestinians before withdrawing late in the evening. The IDF also makes an early-morning incursion into Jabaliya town, fatally shooting a Palestinian civilian riding a bicycle for no apparent reason, exchanging fire with local gunmen (killing 1 armed Palestinian, 1 bystander), hitting 3 Palestinian homes with tank fire (injuring 3 Palestinian civilians). Later, Palestinians fire a Grad-type rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, striking a shopping mall in Ashqelon, wounding 16 Israelis, 3 of them seriously; several groups, excluding Hamas, claim responsibility. Late in the evening, the IDF makes an air strike on Gaza City, killing 2 Palestinian resistance mbrs. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem and Nablus, and in Qalqilya. (NYT, PCHR, WP 5/15; PCHR 5/22)

The IDF intensifies Operation Hot Winter overnight, sending large numbers of ground troops into the Jabaliya area, Bayt Hanun, Gaza City, marking Israel’s largest ground incursion into n. Gaza since 2005. As Palestinians across the Strip hunker down in their homes, IDF troops accompanied by tanks, helicopters, warplanes conduct house-tohouse searches for weapons in the Jabaliya area, clashing with local gunmen, occupying homes as staging areas, directing tank fire at residential and commercial buildings, rounding up 10s of Palestinians for questioning, bulldozing electricity and telephone cables. The IDF also continues intensive air strikes across Gaza, destroying a mosque frequented by Hamas security forces and the Gaza City home of an Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades cmdr. (he survives, but 6 family mbrs. are killed), as well as alleged weapons stores and several police stations. At least 62 Palestinians (29 civilians, including at least 15 children, 7 women; 25 militants; 8 Hamas-affiliated police officers) are killed and at least 175 wounded (including 44 children, 6 women, 1 paramedic) during the day, marking the Palestinians’ highest 1-day toll since the outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada in 2000; 2 IDF soldiers are also killed and 7 injured in the heavy fighting, some of them by roadside bombs planted by the Palestinian factions in anticipation of an incursion. Palestinians fire around 24 rockets into Israel (the IDF claims 7 are Grad rockets fired by Hamas), lightly wounding 6 Israelis (including a woman, 2 children) nr. Ashqelon. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Bayt Jala nr. Bethlehem, firing tear gas at the local PA police headquarters for no apparent reason; fires on Palestinians nr. Hebron demonstrating against Operation Hot Winter, wounding 1 with live ammunition; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. Also nr. Hebron, a Palestinian teenager is injured when an explosive device he attempts to throw at an IDF observation tower explodes prematurely. (NYT, WP, WT 3/2; PCHR 3/6)

The IDF launches Operation Hot Winter (also called Operation Warm Winter) targeting Gaza’s “terrorist infrastructure,” making more than 20 air strikes, mostly on n. and c. Gaza, killing 20 Palestinians (including at least 2 unarmed adults and 5 children, including 4 boys ages 8–14 playing soccer in Jabaliya town), wounding more than 50 (including at least 14 children, 5 women). One of the air strikes targets a Hamas-affiliated police post nr. the home of Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh in Shati’ r.c., killing 2 police officers. Another levels the labor syndicate headquarters in Gaza City. The IDF and Gaza militants also continue to trade heavy fire across the border, with Palestinians firing at least 31 rockets and 15 mortars, injuring 2 Israelis. Israel alleges that the rockets include 8 Grads fired by Hamas, 2 of which hit a house and cemetery in Ashqelon; none causes injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on Palestinians in Salfit holding a nonviolent protest against the IDF attacks on Gaza, wounding 2; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. (BBC, al-Dustur [Amman], REU 2/28; NYT, WP, WT 2/29; PCHR 3/6)

In Gaza, the IDF launches air strikes destroying the homes of 5 Palestinian militants in Jabaliya, Gaza City, and Rafah after warning residents to leave, destroying the homes of 2 bystanders, wounding 1 bystander. Hamas, Islamic Jihad fire at least 13 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, killing 1 Israeli woman in Sederot (marking the 1st fatality in a rocket strike since 7/05, the 7th fatality since rocket strikes began in 1/02; see Quarterly Update in JPS 123), wounding 2 Israelis in Ashqelon and Sederot, damaging a home. In the West Bank, the IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian bystander during an arrest raid in Nablus; conducts arrest raids in Balata r.c., Qabatya, Tulkarm. (NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 11/16; PCHR 11/23)

The IDF pulls most troops out of Bayt Hanun before dawn; bulldozers and tanks remain positioned nr. Bayt Lahiya. Clashes continue in Jabaliya during the day, leaving at least 8 Palestinians dead, including an AMB mbr. assassinated in an air strike on his car in n. Gaza (3 AMB mbrs. are wounded), 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. nr. Bayt Lahiya, the sister-in-law of Change and Reform PC mbr. Jamila al-Shanti (who helped organize the 11/3 women’s demonstration in Bayt Hanun), 2 Palestinians affiliated with Hamas are killed in Jabaliya r.c. when the IDF fires tank shells at Palestinians who allegedly fired RPGs fr. Shanti’s home, a Palestinian civilian fatally shot nr. Bayt Lahiya. IDF air strikes destroy the Gaza City home of a senior Hamas military cmdr., damage several neighboring homes after ordering the residents to leave. A Palestinian wounded in Bayt Hanun on 11/6 dies. Palestinians fire 6 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel (4 hitting nr. Ashkelon), causing no damage or injuries; IDF artillery shells Bayt Hanun in response. The IDF says it seized “large amounts of weaponry” during the operation, including rocket launchers, RPGs, mines, rifles, ammunition but no rockets or antitank weapons. The UN estimates that some 250 Palestinians were wounded, 30 Palestinian homes demolished, 100 damaged (residents put the number at around 40 demolished, 400 damaged), water and sewerage systems damaged, large tracks of trees uprooted during the operation. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Qalqilya (in a car with Palestinian license plates to arrest several wanted Palestinians, wounding 1), al-Yamun nr. Jenin (assassinating AMB mbrs. Tahir ‘Abahra, Salim Abu al-Hayja, Mahmud Abu Hasan, ‘Ala’ Khamaysa and killing 1 Palestinian bystander, wounding 3 Palestinians); conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem. (IFM, REU 11/7; NYT, WP, WT 11/8; PCHR, WP 11/9)

Before dawn, the IDF responds to Hamas’s 7/3 rocket fire on Ashqelon by carrying out air strikes on the PA Interior Min. in Gaza City (destroying it and wounding at least 7 Palestinians in homes nearby, including 4 children), a Hamas-run school in Gaza City, a Hamas training camp in s. Gaza. Later, Hamas fires a 2d 2-engine Qassam rocket that lands outside Ashqelon, causing no damage or injuries, the Israeli security cabinet authorizes the IDF to step up operations in Gaza and the West Bank aimed at halting rocket fire and “striking at institutions and infrastructures that serve terrorism,” particularly targeting Hamas. During the day, the IDF moves more tanks, troops into n. Gaza and begins to push south toward Bayt Hanun and Jabaliya r.c., reoccupying fmr. settlement sites, occupying a 7th Palestinian home as an operational base, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen and shelling (fr. land and sea) areas where militants are allegedly burying explosives, killing 1 Hamas mbr., 1 PA naval officer, wounding at least 17 Palestinians (10 PA naval officers at a barracks nr. where the Hamas mbr. was killed, 7 children). In Gaza City, 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. are killed when explosives they are handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into ‘Ayn al-Sultan r.c. nr. Jericho, surrounds a building, orders wanted AMB cmdr. Mahmud Haymur to surrender, ordering him to undress when he emerges and then executing him by shooting him in the head at point blank range; surrounds, fires on a PA police station in Halhul nr. Hebron, demanding custody of an Israeli Palestinian believed to be held there (police allow soldiers to search the station to confirm he is not there); raids 3 Islamic charities nr. Hebron, Jenin, and Nablus, confiscating computers, vandalizing offices; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, nr. Tulkarm and Qalqilya, and in Bethlehem. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba, under IDF escort, begin work on a new settler bypass road linking the settlement to the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs. In Gaza City, unidentified gunmen assassinate senior Hamas mbr. Husayn Abu Ajwa, who is considered a leading promoter of religious and political reform within the movement. (IFM, NYT, PCHR, REU, WP, WT 7/5; HA, NYT, OCHA, PCHR, WP, WT 7/6; HA 7/8; PCHR 7/13; OCHA 7/18)

Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire 2 rockets fr. n. Gaza towards an IDF base nr. Ashkelon, injuring 5 IDF soldiers; the IDF retaliates with artillery fire on the launch site, killing 1 Palestinian bystander in adjacent Jabaliya r.c.; Israel warns that it could send ground forces back into Gaza. The IDF also raids Nablus, assassinates local PFLP cmdr. Bashar Hanani (also reported as Bashar Khalani), AMB mbrs. Ahmad Jayyusi and Anas Hamad; shells areas northwest of Bayt Lahiya, wounding a farmer working his land; sends troops into Qabatya, fires on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 5 Palestinians; raids, searches a building in Qiffin nr. Tulkarm, confiscating files fr. and sealing the offices of the Loans Association, Palestinian Peoples Party, Popular Campaign against the Wall, and Union of Agricultural Relief Comms.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, Nablus, Ramallah and nr. Hebron, Jenin; uproots 200 Palestinian olive trees northwest of Hebron to erect a gate cutting al-Jaba village off fr. a nearby Jewish settlement. In the evening, the Israeli security cabinet approves new measures, known as Operation Blue Skies, aimed at curbing Palestinian rocket fire fr. Gaza, including using artillery, helicopter, and gunboat fire to enforce a new n. Gaza buffer zone; more stringent monitoring of the Gaza Strip by air; “other steps we have not taken until now,” but does not immediately give orders for the IDF to implement the plan. (BBC, IMEMC, JTA, PCHR, PM, XIN, YA 12/22; BBC, HA, IMEMC, JTA, NYT, WP, WT 12/23; PCHR 12/29)

Arye Bar, Israeli construction and housing min. dir. gen. meets with Fin. Min. Yitzhak Modai on behalf of hospitalized Housing Min. Ariel Sharon; Modai instructs treasury to approve construction of 4,000 new housing units in Israel and o.t. (Modai had earlier approved 2,000 of the housing min.'s 4,500-unit request.) Housing min. announces more than 16,000 housing units are in various stages of construction in o.t. (Yedi'ot Aharonot 7/5 in FBIS 7/6)

Hamas members storm houses of Fateh members in Khan Yunis, wounding several. IDF opens fire on residents of Jabaliya, Dayr al-Balah camps, Gaza, wounding 3. (AFP 7/5 in FBIS 7/6)

Hizballah attacks Israeli intelligence position in Bint Jubayl (inside S. Lebanon "security zone"); Israel shells Litani River basin. Armed dispute in 'Ayn al-Hilwa camp near Sidon kills 2. (VOL, Voice of the Oppressed 7/6 in FBIS 7/6)

Israel releases 4 Palestinians into custody of Red Cross in Tyre, Lebanon. The 4 "Fateh activists" had served out sentences at Asqalan prison following their arrest 12/20/90 on a "suspicious vessel" (embarked in Cyprus) off the Lebanese coast. (Qol Yisra'el 7/5 in FBIS 7/6; AFP 7/5 in FBIS 7/7)

Arab League Council concludes 2-day emergency meeting in Cairo to discuss situation in S. Lebanon; endorses 2 draft resolutions urging an end to Israeli aggression and promoting reconstruction, as well as a statement urging UNSC to resort to Chapter VII of UN Charter to halt Israeli aggression, implement res. 425. (MENA 7/5 in FBIS 7/7; MM 7/6)

Jordanian parliament passes law legalizing independent political parties; first multiparty elections since 1954 will be held in 11/93. (MM 7/6)