The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli forces placed cement blocks, barring access to several villages in the Jordan Valley. Israeli forces demolished 1 Palestinian-owned home in al-Khadir and demolished 1 car wash near Tuqu‘. 7 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around al-Bireh, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho, and Hebron. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian family who appealed the impeding demolition of their home in Jabal Mukabir to the Israeli high court of justice were told they had until 6/21 to demolish their house. 1 Palestinian was assaulted by 1 settler using pepper spray in Silwan. Israeli settlers with police escort toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. 4 Palestinians were arrested, including 3 during a late-night raid in Wadi al-Juz and 1 at the Haram al-Sharif compound. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/18; PCHR 6/25)

OCHA reported a 250 percent increase in the demolition of Palestinian-owned structures in the period between 6/2 and 6/15 compared to the weekly average since the beginning of 2020. Israel demolished 70 structures in the 2-week period, displacing 90 people and affecting over 280. (OCHR 6/18; WAFA 6/20)

The Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi went on an unannounced visit to Ramallah to discuss Israeli annexation plans with PA president Mahmoud Abbas. Foreign Minister Safadi said, “Jordan will stand by the Palestinians and will use any means at its disposal to guarantee them rights.” (AJ, WAFA, WAFA 6/18; HA, 6/19)

1 Israeli soldier who pled guilty to charges of negligence and reckless endangerment for killing 1 Palestinian man in Gaza without authorization from his superior received 45 days of community service and was demoted to the rank of private as punishment. (ABC 6/18)

Israeli naval vessels seize 9 Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya coast, detaining 9 fishermen for questioning, releasing them in the evening. In the West Bank, the IDF makes an afternoon raid into al-Til nr. Nablus, arresting 1 Palestinian; fires tear gas, skunk spray at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, wounding 1; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin, injuring 3; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Beit HaShalom and Kiryat Arba attack Palestinians and vandalize Palestinian homes in Wadi al-Nassara; the IDF observes but does not intervene. A Palestinian is killed when he accidentally triggers unexploded IDF ordnance (UXO) in a field nr. Jenin. The Ramallah-based, Fatah-led Health Workers’ Union calls on PA health providers in Gaza to strike to protest the acting Hamas government; this strikes continues through the end of the quarter. (OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4)

As the quarter opens, a 6-mo. Hamas-Israel cease-fire in the Hamascontrolled Gaza Strip, which began on 6/19/08, remains in effect, with occasional cross-border incidents reported (see Quarterly Update in JPS 149 for background). Israel, however, maintains a tight closure on Gaza Strip (imposed since 1/08), allowing only the minimum amount of food, fuel, and basic humanitarian aid to enter and permitting no exports or individuals to leave. During the day, Israeli naval vessels pursue Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza coast, confiscating 1, temporarily detaining 2 fishermen. In the West Bank, controlled by the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fire tear gas at, beat Palestinians holding a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Dayr al-Bhussun nr. Tulkarm; conduct late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba and the nearby Beit HaShalom outpost in Hebron’s Wadi al-Nassara neighborhood (comprising the al-Rajabi building seized in 4/08 and surrounding land seized last quarter; see Quarterly Update in JPS 149) attack Palestinians and their property in Wadi al-Nassara, wounding 1 Palestinian. (OCHA 8/20; PCHR 8/21)

In response to Palestinian rocket fire on 8/11, Israel suspends fuel shipments and humanitarian imports to Gaza for 1 day (see 7/8); Hamas official Mahmud Zahhar calls those who fired the rocket on 8/11 in violation of the cease-fire traitors and collaborators, reiterating that “there is a consensus by all Palestinian factions to respect the truce.” In the West Bank, theIDF conducts daytime arrest raids, house searches in Hebron and Tulkarm, and nr. Qalqilya. Jewish settlers who occupied (7/17) a plot of Palestinian land in Wadi alNassara in Hebron attack a Palestinian home with rocks and bottles, injuring a 13-yr.-old boy. Armed Jewish settlers attempt for a 3d time (see 8/6, 8/7) to enter Shu‘fat r.c. to establish an unauthorized outpost; the IDF bars their entry, arrests 13 settlers. PA security forces raid, seal for 1 yr. a school in Hebron, detain the director for alleged affiliation with Hamas (see 8/8). Meanwhile, OCHA reports that Hamas’s crackdown on Fatah in Gaza continues, with 465 Fatah supporters arrested and 204 Fatah-affiliated community organizations shut since the 7/25 Gaza City bombings; 279 of the detainees have been released; 34 of the organizations have been allowed to reopen. (OCHA 8/13; PCHR, WT 8/14)

Israel releases Reform and Change PC mbr.Mansur (detained without charge in Nablus on 7/20). The IDF repatriates to Gaza another 26 of the 188 Fatah mbrs. who fled on 8/2; the PA allows 88 to take asylum in Jericho; 16 who were wounded during their flight remain in Israeli hospitals; the other 24 remain in IDF custody, where they are questioned regarding possible ties to attacks on Israeli targets. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts early-morning house searches in Yatta nr. Hebron, including searching the home of PC mbr. Khalil al-Rab‘i, holding him for questioning; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and nr. Tubas, Tulkarm. Jewish settlers fr. Taffuh settlement nr. Salfit, beat a Palestinian shepherd and steal 23 sheep, open fire on residential areas nearby. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba beat an elderly Palestinian couple outside their home nr. the unauthorized settlement outpost in Wadi al-Nassara (see 8/1). A Palestinian teenager dies of injuries sustained when the IDF opened fire on a funeral in Ni‘lin on 7/30. (NYT, WP 8/5; OCHA 8/6; PCHR 8/7)

As the quarter opened, Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiating teams created at the 11/07 Annapolis summit were holding regular meetings to discuss final status. Israel, meanwhile, maintained an extremely tight seal on Gaza following Hamas’s 1/23– 2/3 breach of the Gaza-Egypt border (see Quarterly Update in JPS 147); no exports were permitted and only very limited humanitarian imports were allowed. During the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) makes a ground incursion into Rafah, clashing with local gunmen, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding 7 Palestinians (including 1 bystander). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Ayn al-Sultan refugee camp (r.c.) nr. Jericho, nr. Nablus. A Palestinian resistance mbr. wounded during a 2/11 IDF raid on Wadi al-Silqa dies. An Islamic Jihad mbr. dies of injuries sustained on 2/15 when a mortar he was preparing exploded prematurely. (WP 2/17; OCHA 2/20; PCHR 2/21; OCHA 3/4)

Israel releases 429 Palestinian prisoners (overwhelmingly Fatah, but including some mbrs. of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the PFLP; around 20 are fr. Gaza) as a gesture to Abbas. Israel also allows 150 Palestinian pilgrims to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing for the Hajj. The IDF conducts arrest raids in Wadi al-Silqa nr. Dayr al-Balah, shooting and wounding 1 Palestinian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Tubas and nr. Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah. The PA orders 92 Hamas-affiliated charities in the West Bank to close. (NYT, WP 12/4; OCHA 12/5; PCHR 12/6)

The IDF sends tanks, bulldozers into Gaza e. of al-Maghazi r.c. to level land along the border fence. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Til; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinians, Israeli and international peace activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 3 and arresting 10. Palestinians also take part in weekly nonviolent protest against the separation wall in Wadi Nis nr. Um Salamuna. Jewish settlers fr. Susia attack Palestinian farmers and a shepherd working in their fields nearby; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Fatah-affiliated PA security forces deploying in central Gaza on orders (5/10) from Abbas clash with local Hamas mbrs. in Gaza City and Jabaliya r.c. in the heaviest FatahHamas fighting in 2 mos., wounding at least 10 Palestinians; Hamas mbrs. also seize several PA police cars, equipment; ESF mbrs. do not engage in the fighting. (IMEMC, MM 5/11; NYT 5/12; OCHA 5/16; PCHR 5/17)

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of alMaghazi r.c. fire on Palestinian shepherds who stray nr. the border fence, causing no injuries. PA security forces demolish a smugglers’ tunnel on the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF exchanges fire with AMB mbrs. in Nablus, leaving 2 wanted AMB mbrs. dead; temporarily occupies several buildings in Jenin town and r.c., exchanging fire with local Palestinians, leaving 1 armed Palestinian dead; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya, nr. Nablus; begins work on a new segment of the separation wall s. of Wadi Rahan nr. Bethlehem. After heavy rains, the retaining wall of a sewage pond in n. Gaza collapses, flooding the village of Um al-Nasser, killing at least 5 Palestinians (including 2-yr.-old and 5-yr.-old boys), injuring 20, leaving 333 Palestinian families homeless (the UNRWA sets up a temporary camp); villagers attack newly appointed PA Interior M Hani al-Qawasmi when he arrives to survey the damage, forcing him to leave. Also in Gaza, unidentified gunmen attack the PA Agriculture Min. offices (causing no injuries), then demand jobs in the PA security forces; Palestinian Red Crescent Society employees stage a sit-in outside the ICRC headquarters to demand payment of back salaries. (REU 3/27; IMEMC, NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 3/28; PCHR 3/29)

Overnight, the IDF pulls troops out of Rafah and al-Shuka and back into the Dahaniyya airport, ending a 3-day offensive; troops go back into al-Shuka briefly during the day to surround, evacuate, blow up a Palestinian home, also bulldozing 20 d. of surrounding agricultural land. Late in the evening, the IDF makes an air strike destroying a Palestinian home nr. Bayt Lahiya, damaging 2 others after warning residents by phone to evacuate. In the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Silat al-Harithiyya nr. Jenin, occupies a house as a sniper post, shoots and assassinates wanted Islamic Jihad mbr. Sami al-‘Imari; arrests, searches the Ramallah home of Change and Reform PC mbr. Fadl Hamdan; conducts arrest raids, house searches and fires on residential areas of Shayukh nr. Hebron in a raid targeting the AMB; searches vehicles, an Internet caf´e in Hebron; issues military orders confiscating 10s of d. of agricultural land southwest of Hebron for construction of the separation wall. Jewish settlers driving nr. Nablus open fire at a Palestinian truck driving ahead of them, killing a 48-yr.-old Palestinian, wounding his son. Unidentified gunmen ambush the car of the PA military intelligence head for n. Gaza as it drives through Jabaliya, wounding him, 2 passengers. (OCHA 8/9; PCHR 8/10)

The IDF intensifies air strikes across Lebanon, hitting targets in s. Beirut, Ansar, al-Jibbayn, Nabatiyya, Naqura, Qana, Tyre (striking within 40 yards of a UN humanitarian aid convoy traveling with prior coordination with the IDF, hitting a car traveling in the opposite direction), killing 10s of Lebanese civilians, several Lebanese soldiers, 1 PFLP-GC mbr. Ground operations continue across s. Lebanon, with Hizballah claiming to disable 4 tanks (in Adassiyya, Ras al-Biyada, Wadi Hunin), acknowledging the death of 3 Hizballah mbrs. The IDF says that it has taken prisoner 22-yr.-old Hizballah mbr. Hasan Ali Sulayman, who has allegedly admitted under interrogation to involvement in the 7/12 capture of 2 IDF soldiers. Hizballah fires around 160 rockets into n. Israel, killing 3 Israeli civilians (1 an Israeli Palestinian) in Haifa, and killing 12 IDF reservists, wounding 5 in Kfar Giladi on the border with Lebanon. (REU 8/6; NYT, WP, WT 8/7; IFM 8/8; PCHR 8/10)

The IDF begins dismantling 1 of its main posts in Khan Yunis in preparation for disengagement; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Aida r.c. and Wadi al-Silqa, around Hebron, nr. Qalqilya. Major Hamas-Fatah clashes erupt in Gaza City when PA preventive security force officers outside the force’s headquarters open fire on a car driven by an Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades mbr. Within the hr., Hamas political leaders, senior PA officials hold a press conference appealing for calm, say they are ready to put aside all differences and hold talks on improving relations. Hrs. later unidentified gunmen (some reports say Hamas mbrs.) fire on the Gaza City homes of PA police cmdr. Abu Shibak (see 6/10), Fatah Gaza head Abdallah Franji, Fatah Revolutionary Council mbr. Majid Abu Shammala, Force 17 head Faisal Abu Sharkh, PA security forces Col. Nabil Tamus, and the offices of leading Fatah mbr. Samir Masharawi and the PA preventive security forces headquarters; exchange gunfire with Abu Shibak’s and Franji’s bodyguards, leaving at least 7 Palestinians (at least 2 Franji bodyguards, 2 Abu Shibak bodyguards, 1 attacker) injured. In Jericho and Ramallah, 10s of Palestinians, including some political leaders and heads of organizations, organized by the National and Islamic Higher Committee for the Follow-up of the Intifada (NIHC) stage marches to demand that the PA take action to end lawlessness, support rule of law. A PA police officer dies of injuries received during the IDF incursion into Tulkarm on 7/13. In s. Israel, 1,000s of Israeli protesters observe a 3d and final day of demonstrations against disengagement. (AFP, IMEMC, PCHR, PR, REU, XIN 7/20; AYM 7/20 in WNC 7/21; NYT, PCHR, WP 7/21; OCHA 7/27; PCHR 7/28)