The Palestine Chronology

Israeli soldiers shoot and kill a Palestinian at the Qalandia checkpoint n. of Jerusalem after he allegedly stabs an Israeli border guard, causing moderate injuries. The IDF then violently disperses around 200 Palestinians gathering to throw stones in protest of the killing. Meanwhile, IDF troops violently disperse Palestinians, Israelis, and international activists at Friday demonstrations against Israel’s occupation, settlements, and separation wall in 3 villages nr. Ramallah (Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, and Nabi Salih), Kafr Qaddum nr. Qalqilya, and along Gaza’s border nr. al-Bureij r.c. and Shuja‘iya; at least 6 Palestinians are injured and 2 are arrested. They also patrol during the day nr. Qalqilya, Salfit, and Hebron. (HA, MNA, TOI, YA 9/30; MNA 10/1; PCHR 10/6)

PA pres. Abbas attends the funeral of former Israeli pres. Peres and shakes hands with Israeli PM Netanyahu. Responding to criticism from Hamas and many other Palestinians, a senior Hamas official says that Abbas’s attendance disproves Israeli claims of Palestinian dedication to violence and that it sent a “strong message of Palestinian peace” to the world. MK and Joint List chair Ayman Odeh refuses to attend, along with the rest of the Joint List, citing Peres’s treatment of the Palestinians. The Joint List and PA reportedly agree to refrain from publicly criticizing one another over their different views on this matter. (HA, JP, MNA, NYT, YA 9/30; HA 10/1)

In Gaza, Sarayat al-Shaykh Umar Hadid fighters fire a long-range rocket into Israel, announcing on Twitter that the rocket attack was retaliation for the IDF’s killing of a Palestinian on 9/22 in Hebron. The rocket is intercepted nr. Ashdod by an Iron Dome missile defense battery. IAF jets launch retaliatory air strikes on 4 Hamas military sites in Gaza City and n. Gaza, causing damage. Meanwhile, Israeli forces conduct a limited incursion e. of Khan Yunis to level land. (HA, MNA, WAFA, YA 9/29; PCHR 10/1)

Tensions and violence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank continue to escalate. Israeli forces close Hebron’s al-Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslim worshippers and continue to enforce the restrictions on Palestinian access at Haram al-Sharif that were announced on 9/27, additionally closing all but 3 entrances to the sanctuary. Meanwhile, around 140 right-wing Jewish activists tour Haram al-Sharif. In confrontations outside the sanctuary, Israeli MK Jamal Zahalka (Joint List) verbally confronts several Israeli police officers (the incident is caught on tape and dispersed on social media), and the Israeli police arrest 3 Palestinian women. Elsewhere, Israeli forces arrest 10 Palestinians on raids in al-Tur, Issawiyya, and al-Thawri. An Israeli settler assaults a Palestinian in the Old City, causing minor injuries. Palestinians throw stones at a taxi in al-Tur, injuring 1 international tourist and sparking minor clashes with Israeli police. Israeli forces arrest 2 Palestinian women after they assault an Israeli family in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. Palestinians throughout the West Bank conduct solidarity actions, halting most commercial and civil activity in Nablus and Jenin and protesting in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Tulkarm. Israeli forces violently disperse the protesters, injuring 1 foreign tourist and 18 Palestinians, including 3 with live ammunition. In Hebron, Palestinians throw rocks at international tourists, injuring 1 Japanese woman. Israeli forces conduct house searches and raids nr. Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, and Tulkarm, arresting 6 Palestinians; patrol nr. Qalqilya. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 9/29; HA, JP, TOI, YA 9/30; PCHR 10/1)

In response to a petition filed by the Israeli nongovernmental organization Yesh Din, the Israeli govt. informs the High Court of Justice of its intention to authorize settlement outposts in the Shilo region nr. Ramallah, including Adi Ad and 3 other major outposts. Yesh Din’s petition called for the demolition of Adi Ad on the grounds that it was constructed without building permits on privately owned Palestinian land. (HA, TOI 9/30)

Off the coast of Gaza nr. Dayr al-Balah, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, Israeli forces arrest a Palestinian woman attempting to cross into Israel with a rifle nr. Qalqilya. IDF troops patrol in a village nr. Hebron, sparking clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian youths; 2 of the Palestinians are arrested. The IDF conducts late-night house searches and raids in Hebron, 1 village and al-Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, and 1 village each nr. Jericho, Qalqilya, Jenin, and Nablus, arresting 7 Palestinians and confiscating property; patrols during the day in 2 more villages nr. Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces raid the Jabal Mukabir homes belonging to the family mbrs. of the 2 Palestinian men who attacked a West Jerusalem synagogue on 11/18/2014. They take pictures and make notes of the contents of the homes (they will seal 1 home with cement on 7/1). (JP, MNA 6/28; PCHR 7/2)

Chair of the consultative comm. for reforming the consensus govt., al-Ahmad, canceled his 6/29 trip to Gaza reportedly due to Hamas’s negative response. (MNA 6/28; JP 6/29)

Israeli MK Ghattas (Joint List) sends a statement to PM Netanyahu and DM Ya’alon calling for them to keep Israeli forces away from the Freedom Flotilla III. As the flotilla makes its way from Greece to Gaza, Netanyahu’s office releases a letter in which he told the activists, “Perhaps you meant to set sail for a place not far from here—Syria. There the Asad regime is slaughtering its own people every day with the support of the murderous regime in Iran.” (JP, MNA, YA 6/28; MEMO 6/29)

Israel’s FM dir.-gen. Dore Gold meets with Egyptian officials in Cairo to discuss ways to relaunch peace negotiations with the Palestinians. It is the 1st visit to Cairo of a high-ranking Israeli official since 2011. (JP, YA 6/28)

In the Gaza Strip, dozens of Palestinian students gather in Gaza City to protest the killing of 3 U.S. Muslims in North Carolina on 2/11. In the West Bank, Palestinian and international activists rebuild the “Gate of Jerusalem” tent camp in Abu Dis after the IDF demolished and evacuated it for the 5th time on 2/10. Another group of Palestinian activists tears down an iron gate at the entrance of a village nr. Bethlehem that was installed by the IDF in 2001. The IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in Nur Shams r.c.; patrols nr. Qalqilya and Hebron. IDF troops disperse Palestinian activists holding a sit-in protest at a checkpoint nr. Ramallah, detaining dozens. Israeli forces level land outside a village nr. Qalqilya, clearing the area for settlement expansion. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces conduct vehicle searches in Silwan, sparking clashes with youth in the area; 3 Palestinians are assaulted and arrested. (MNA, WAFA 2/12; PCHR 2/19)

After a meeting between PA PM Hamdallah and Nablus gov. Akram al-Rajub about the recent PA security crackdown in Balata r.c., 7 wanted Palestinians from the camp turn themselves in to PA custody. (MNA 2/12)

Israel’s CEC votes 27–6 to disqualify MK Zoabi (Balad) from the upcoming election on 3/17, responding to a petition alleging that Zoabi supports armed conflict against Israel. The petition was delivered to the CEC by the Yisrael Beytenu party on 1/29 with the support of the Likud, Shas, and Jewish Home parties. Prior to the vote, the joint list led by MKs Herzog (Labor) and Livni (Hatnua) ultimately decides to support the petition. (HA, JP, TOI 2/12; AFP 2/13)