The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers raided Burqa, vandalizing 3 vehicles and leading to confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinian; tear-gas related injuries were reported. Israeli settlers also assaulted 1 Palestinian family in the Masafer Yatta area, injuring 1 minor. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers set up tents in Deir Balut. Israeli settlers also toured a religious site in Kifl Haris. Israeli forces hit 1 Palestinian minor with a military vehicle during a raid in Beit Furik, causing injuries. Israeli forces also issued a notification that Israel will seize 2 dunams (.5 acre) of land in al-Khader. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shot and injured 1 Palestinian man trying to enter Israel for work at the separation wall near Qalqilya. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers led by former MK Yehuda Glick toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/4; WAFA 6/5; PCHR 6/8; UNOCHA 6/18)

The Israeli cabinet decided to expand a law allowing Israeli residential communities to choose who can live in the communities and to subsidize land prices in communities with “demographic and security hardships,” as part of the larger policy of Judaizing the Galilee. (HA 6/5; MEE 6/6; WAFA 6/7)

In the West Bank, the IDF seals Attara nr. Ramallah for 3 hrs. after troops discover a suspicious object during vehicle checks at the entrance to the village. The IDF conducts late-night raids, house searches nr. Qalqilya and Salfit and in Jenin town and r.c., but makes no arrests; a Palestinian whose house is raided reports money missing. The IDF also patrols and opens fire in Qabatya but makes no arrests and causes no injuries. Jewish settlers fr. Susia, escorted by the IDF, erect tents and set up electricity generators on an unauthorized settlement outpost site nr. Hebron that was dismantled by the IDF on 9/9. The Israeli High Court, ruling on a petition filed in 2003, orders the IDF to dismantle sections of the separation wall in Khirbat Jibara and Jayyus n. of Qalqilya, reinstating Palestinian access to 2,488 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of land. (OCHA 9/11; OCHA, PCHR 9/17; OCHA Humanitarian Monitor 9/09)

In Silwan in East Jerusalem, a Jewish settler shoots, wounds 1 Palestinian, also hitting 1 Palestinian teenager with shrapnel; the settler is arrested by Israeli police. The al-Aqsa Association reports that the Israeli authorities are digging a new tunnel under Silwan. (NYT 9/12; OCHA , PCHR 9/17; OCHA Humanitarian Monitor 9/09)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts predawn patrols in Tulkarm town and r.c.; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin; conducts late-night patrols in al-Fara‘a r.c. and Tammun village nr. Tubas. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha settlement nr. Nablus burn 7 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of Palestinian agricultural land. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim nr. Qalqilya stone Palestinian vehicles passing by the settlement, causing no injuries; the IDF removes them. In Hebron, a group of Jewish settlers beats 2 Palestinians. As the Palestinian school yr. begins, the Ramallah-based, Fatah-run Palestinian Teachers’ Union calls on Gaza’s 10,000 teachers and school administrators to strike to protest Hamas’s de facto rule, acknowledging that the strike is, in part, intended to disrupt life in Gaza and weaken the Hamas government; the PA pledges to continue to pay the teachers’ salaries as long as they observe the strike, which lasts through the end of the quarter; Hamas authorities quickly begin contracting 1,000s of substitute teachers to keep schools running. (OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28; WT 10/15)

The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza coast nr. Dayr alBalah, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF confiscates 199 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of Palestinian land w. of Jenin nr. Yabad to expand Road 585; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, Qabatya, Qalqilya and nr. Hebron, Jenin. In Gaza, unidentified assailants detonate an explosive device outside the apartment of senior PA security officer Col. Sulayman Khadir, wounding 4 bystanders, causing extensive damage. (OCHA 2/28; PCHR 3/1)

With implementation of Israeli PM Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan to evacuate troops and settlers fr. Gaza and 4 West Bank settlements slated to begin in mid-8/05, some 1,500 right-wing Israeli disengagement protesters, mostly young Jewish settlers, try to block around 100 intersections across Israel in one of the largest demonstrations to date. Israeli police deploy 1,000s of officers to keep roads open, demonstrations peaceful; arrest around 400 protesters. In the occupied territories, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fatally shoots a Palestinian who allegedly attempts to stab a solider at a checkpoint outside Tulkarm (Palestinian observers dispute this, saying the man was angry, but merely approached the soldiers to question delays at the checkpoint); conducts arrest raids, house searches in Askar refugee camp (r.c.; targeting wanted al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade [AMB] mbrs), al-Mughayyir n. of Ramallah, Sawahara e. of Jerusalem. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim bulldoze 30 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of olive trees nr. Qalqilya. A Palestinian dies of injuries received earlier. (IMEMC, MM, PRCS 5/16; JTA, MM 5/17; OCHA, PR, WP 5/18; PCHR 5/19)

The IDF fires on a group of Palestinians who attempt to sneak into Israel nr. Gaza’s Sufa crossing to find work, killing 1 Palestinian, detaining 2; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus. A Jewish settler seriously injures a 12-yr.-old Palestinian, a 13-yr.-old Palestinian in a hit-and-run nr. Qalqilya; an Israeli ambulance refuses to evacuate the children to an Israeli hospital, taking them to Nablus instead. Jewish settlers fr. Karme Tzur nr. Hebron seize 25 d. of neighboring Palestinian land to expand their settlement. Some 20 Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba seize 15 dunams (d.; 4 dunams = 1 acre) of Palestinian land to build a settler-only road linking the settlement to the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs, scuffle with Palestinian residents, injuring 3. A Palestinian bystander dies of injuries received during the IDF’s 1/26 assassination of a Hamas mbr. in Qalqilya. (VOP 2/25; PCHR 3/3)

After the Palestinian Council (PC) gives its approval (54–12, with 4 abstentions, 14 not attending), PA Pres. Mahmud Abbas swears in PM Ahmad Qurai‘’s new cabinet. Abbas says that the cabinet’s first main goals will be providing security, reform, holding legislative elections. (AFP, AP, JAZ, MM, PSCT, REU, VOI, VOP 2/24; MM, NYT, WP, WT 2/25; HA, HJ, VOP 2/28; PR 3/2; MEI 3/4)

The IDF fires on Palestinian farmers working their fields nr. Khan Yunis, seriously wounding 1; fires on a Khan Yunis cemetery, wounding 1 Palestinian; detains 4 Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Dayr al-Balah; bulldozes 45 dunams (4 dunams = 1 acre) of Palestinian agricultural land, irrigation works nr. Rafah; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, in Dahaysha refugee camp (r.c.), nr. Jenin, in Qalqilya; orders confiscation of 141 dunams of land in al-Mughayar village e. of Jenin for construction of the separation wall. A Palestinian dies of injuries received earlier. (VOP 2/17 in WNC 2/19; PCHR 2/19)

A Hamas suicide bomber detonates a device in Hebron, killing 2 Jewish settlers. Nr. Qalqilya, 2 Palestinian gunmen infiltrate a settlement, wound 2 Jewish settlers before being killed; no group takes responsibility. The IDF continues operations in Bayt Hanun, fatally shooting an Islamic Jihad mbr., wounding 24, bulldozing land, firing on residential areas; demolishes 7 Palestinian homes in Rafah refugee camp (r.c.), 2 in al-Mughraqa; bulldozes 120 dunams (4 dunams = 1 acre) of Palestinian agricultural land in Khan Yunis. The IDF also fires flares e. of Khan Yunis, staring a fire in a wheat field; bars Palestinian firefighters fr. reaching the area, allowing 32 dunams to burn. In Hebron, Jewish settlers beat a pregnant Palestinian, causing her to suffer a miscarriage; set fire to a Palestinian home. (NYT, WP 5/18; MM 5/19; PR 5/21; LAW, PCHR 5/22; NYT 5/30)

Despite the Hebron bombing, new Palestinian Authority (PA) PM Mahmud Abbas, Israeli PM Ariel Sharon meet in Jerusalem regarding the road map, marking their 1st meeting and the 1st senior-level PA-Israeli talks since 9/26/00. Sharon says he cannot accept the road map but offers to redeploy the IDF from 1 (unnamed) West Bank Palestinian city and fr. n. Gaza in exchange for a commitment to crack down on militant groups. (NYT, WP, WT 5/18; MM 5/19; AYM 5/20 in WNC 5/23; NYT, PR 5/21; HA 5/23; al-Musawwar 5/23 in WNC 5/27; HA 5/28; MEI 5/30)