The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers planted trees near al-Farisya and ‘Ain al-Hilweh. Israeli forces delivered a stop-work order to 1 Palestinian for his agricultural fields and seized 1 bulldozer. 9 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Beit Fajjar, al-Bireh, Dura, Bayt Liqya, Bayt Rima, and Jaba‘. In East Jerusalem, around 100 Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound for the 2d day in a row. 2 Palestinians were arrested during raids in Isawiya and Shu‘fat. (WAFA, WAFA 7/19; PCHR 7/29)

PA president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz spoke on the phone. According to Gantz’s office, the 2 discussed trust-building steps between Israel and the PA and Gantz gave Abbas best wishes on the occasion of Eid al-Adha. Their conversation was the 1st between Abbas and an Israeli minister since 2017, when Abbas spoke to then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli president Isaac Herzog also called President Abbas to wish him a happy Eid al-Adha. (JP, REU, TOI, TOI, WAFA 7/19; ALM 7/22)

In Syria, Israeli forces conducted air strikes in as-Safira, south of Aleppo, killing 5 people. (AJ, AP, HA, HA, HA 7/20)

A freedom of information request revealed that the director general of the Israeli interior ministry lives in a house in the illegal settlement outpost Keida, which has had a demolition order against it since 2008. The interior ministry said in a statement that its minister Ayelet Shaked “is pleased that the director-general of her ministry lives in Keida.” (HA 7/20)

King Abdullah II of Jordan met with U.S. president Joe Biden in the White House. King Abdullah II was the 1st Middle Eastern leader to visit President Biden in Washington, as the U.S.-Jordanian relationship was tarnished during the Donald Trump administration due to the 1-sided peace proposal made by the administration. A read-out of the meeting said that the 2 discussed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Jordan’s relationship to Israel. (AJ, HA, JP, JP, MEE, NBC, NYT, REU, TOI, TOI 7/19; MEMO, WAFA 7/20)

The ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s issued a statement declaring it will end sales of its ice cream in Israeli settlements, saying that selling its ice cream in the occupied Palestinian territory “is inconsistent with our values.” Ben & Jerry’s also announced it would not renew its licensing agreement with manufacturers of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel but that the ice cream will still be available in Israel. Israel’s prime minister Naftali Bennett said that Ben & Jerry’s had decided to brand itself as an “antisemitic ice cream.” Foreign minister Yair Lapid, who weeks ago said his government would not call all criticism of Israel anti-Semitic, said the company was surrendering to BDS and anti-Semitism and that he would ask 35 U.S. states with anti-BDS laws to enforce them against the U.S. company. On 7/20, Prime Minister Bennett called the CEO of Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, to criticize the decision and Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. Gilad Erdan urged states with anti-BDS laws to take legal action against Ben & Jerry’s. The Israeli president Isaac Herzog likened the Ben & Jerry’s decision to terrorism. Ben & Jerry’s is known to engage publicly on progressive issues. Both founders of the company are Jewish-Americans. (AJ, ALM, AX, BenJerry, FOX, GDN, HA, HA, MEE, MEMO, NBC, REU, TOI, TOI, TOI, TOI, Twitter 7/19; AJ, AP, BBC, CNN, HA, HA, JP, JP, JP, MEE, MEE, REU, TOI, WAFA 7/20; HA, MEMO 7/21; AJ, AP, MEMO 7/22; GDN 7/23; HA 7/26; AX 7/27)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attempt to set a Palestinian vehicle on fire and throw rocks at Palestinian homes in Urif village near Nablus, causing minor damage. After some Palestinian residents confront the settlers, IDF troops enter the village, sparking clashes with stone-throwing residents; 8 Palestinians are injured. Separately, IDF troops arrest a Palestinian at Qalandia checkpoint when she is found with a knife on her person; arrest 6 Palestinians during further raids near Bethlehem, Hebron, and Qalqilya; and patrol near Hebron, Tulkarm, and Salfit. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian mobile home in Qalandia refugee camp near Jerusalem. The Palestinian owner was living in the mobile home since Israeli forces demolished his previous home on 6/20. Israeli forces raze a plot of Palestinian land and confiscate a vehicle, demolish 2 car washes, a food shop, several storage buildings and offices in Silwan and Jabal Mukabir; and arrest 5 Palestinians during late-night raids in Issawiyya. Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians gather along Gaza’s northern coast 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 and Israeli naval forces violently disperse the protests; 10 Palestinians are injured. Earlier in the day, Israeli forces conduct a limited incursion to level land near the site of the planned protest. (MNA, MNA, MNA, MNA, MNA, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 11/19; MNA 11/20; PCHR 11/22)

Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, both of the Jewish Home Party, announce that they intend to remain in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ruling coalition and that they are dropping their demand for Bennett to take over the Defense Ministry. “There’s no apocalypse on the way. There are enemies, but not an enemy that worries me,” Bennett says. (HA, JP, YA 11/19)

Haaretz reports that Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority last week increased by 1,500 the number of permits awarded to West Bank Palestinians hoping to work as dishwashers and cleaners in Israeli restaurants, bars, and cafes. The increase is reportedly designed to ease the strain on restaurant owners who are struggling to find enough low-cost labor. Before this increase, approximately 30,000 West Bank Palestinians were permitted to come into Israel to work such jobs. (HA 11/19)

UNRWA commissioner general Pierre Krähenbühl tells reporters that the agency’s budget shortfall, which was created by U.S. president Trump’s decision to slash U.S. aid to UNRWA earlier this year, has been cut to $21 million, following another round of pledges from the EU and several Gulf countries. The deficit was reportedly $64 million as recently as last week. “This is a very encouraging result at the end of a lot of work,” Krähenbühl says. (AFP, TOI 11/19)

Airbnb, a U.S.-based home-share company with listings all over the world, announces that it is removing all 200-some of its listings in Israel’s West Bank settlements. “We concluded that we should remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians,” a statement from the company reads. In response, Israel’s Tourism Minister Yariv Levin instructs his deputies to restrict the company’s operations across Israel. Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan calls on the settler-hosts who used Airbnb to sue the company using Israel’s anti-boycott law. “National conflicts exist throughout the world,” he argues. “Airbnb will need to explain why they chose a racist political stance against some Israeli citizens.” (EI, HA, JP, YA, YA 11/19; AJ, BBC, CNN 11/20)

Marking the second major BDS victory of the day, the Canadian Federation of Students, Canada’s largest and oldest students’ association, endorses the BDS movement and condemns the “ongoing occupation of Palestine.” Marking the third, the Quakers in Britain Church, a group 17,000 strong, announces that it is divesting from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. “This includes companies—whichever country they are based in—involved for example in the illegal exploitation of natural resources in occupied Palestine, and the construction and servicing of the separation barrier and Israeli settlements,” a senior church official explains. (TOI, TOI 11/19; JP, JP, JTA, TOI 11/20; EI 11/21)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces demolish 3 Palestinian residential structures and confiscate solar panels from Khirbet al-Halawa near Hebron. They also deliver stop-work orders to 2 Palestinian homes under construction near Hebron; patrol near Nablus and Hebron; and arrest 13 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Tulkarm and Nablus. Israeli settlers uproot approximately 40 olive trees in a Palestinian grove near Hebron. Along Gaza’s border, IDF troops violently disperse dozens of Palestinians gathering along the border fence near Dayr al-Balah to continue the Great March of Return; 5 Palestinians are injured. Separately, Israeli forces conduct a limited incursion to level land near Bayt Lahiya. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 1 Palestinian during a raid in Abu Dis. (MNA, WAFA, WAFA 10/9; MNA 10/10; PCHR 10/11)

The first shipment of Qatari-funded diesel fuel—450,000 liters on 6 trucks—enters Gaza to supply the region’s only power plant. The shipment was previously blocked on 10/4, allegedly due to PA president Abbas’s interference, and it is reportedly going forward today without PA approval. A UN spokesperson says that 7 more truckloads of fuel are set to enter Gaza on 10/10, with the goal of 15 truckloads entering per day. “In addition to other long-term efforts underway to increase the energy supply, additional fuel for the Gaza Power Plant remains the fastest and most immediate way to increase electricity and help alleviate the humanitarian and related public health needs on the ground,” the spokesperson says. Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu blames PA president Mahmoud Abbas for “suffocating” Gaza. “I am trying to find a solution that will restore quiet and security,” he says. “I am not interested in getting into needless wars.” A Hamas spokesperson rejects allegations that Hamas will benefit from the $60 million that Qatar recently pledged to support Gaza. “The funds that came from Qatar through international associations are directed to the Gaza power plant in a move to partially ease [the burden] on Gazans in terms of electricity,” he says. “Hamas has absolutely nothing to do with the money.” (MNA, HA, HA, JP, TOI, YA 10/9)

A U.S. State Department spokesperson comments on the case of U.S.-Palestinian student Lara Alqasem, who the Israeli authorities denied entry to Israel and have detained since 10/2. “We are aware of her case. Our embassy is providing consular access as we would to all American citizens,” she says. “Ultimately it is up to the government of Israel to decide who it wants to let into the country.” Later, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan says he would reconsider allowing Alqasem entry if she publicly condemns the BDS movement. (HA, HA, TOI 10/9) 

In Gaza, Sarayat al-Shaykh Umar Hadid fire a Katyusha 130 rocket into Israel and it lands nr. Ashqelon, causing no serious damage or injuries. The group says that the recent rocket attacks (today and 6/3) are meant to remind Hamas that Israel is the enemy. In response, IAF jets launch air strikes on a vacant Hamas military base in n. Gaza, causing severe damage. Off the coast nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces fire warning shots at Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, IDF troops violently disperse Palestinian and international activists nonviolently commemorating the 48th anniversary of al-Naksa nr. Jerusalem; there are no serious injuries. The IDF also conducts house searches and raids in 2 villages each nr. Hebron and Qalqilya, arresting 4 Palestinians and issuing arrest summons to 3 others; patrols in 2 villages each nr. Ramallah and Tulkarm, and 1 each nr. Hebron, Qalqilya, and Jericho. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 3 Palestinians on raids in Issawiyya and the Old City. (MNA, WAFA 6/6; HA, MNA, REU 6/7; PCHR 6/11)

An Egyptian appeals court overturns a lower court’s 2/28 designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization, following an appeal from the State Litigation Authority. A court official says the previous ruling is thrown out because the lower court did not have the proper jurisdiction. Hamas welcomes the new decision. (AHR, MNA, YA 6/6)

On the 2d day of billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s summit for pro-Israel U.S. megadonors in Las Vegas, a letter is read aloud from Israeli PM Netanyahu announcing that the Israeli govt. will begin expanding its efforts to counter the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The same day, Netanyahu announces that Strategic Affairs Min. Gilad Erdan’s office will receive NIS 100 m. (around $25.4 m.) to escalate its anti-BDS efforts, including hiring 10 new employees to deal solely with “delegitimization” activities worldwide. (FWD 6/4; TOI, YA 6/7; HA [Beinart Analysis], JTA 6/10)