The Palestine Chronology

Stabbing and alleged stabbing attacks continue in the West Bank and Jerusalem, leading to the deaths of 2 Palestinians. First, IDF troops shoot and kill a Palestinian youth in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc nr. Bethlehem after he allegedly attempts to stab an Israeli settler (no Israelis are injured). E. of Tulkarm, an Israeli soldier shoots and kills a Palestinian at a checkpoint, claiming that she attempted to stab him. Finally, a Palestinian stabs and lightly injures an Israeli civilian in West Jerusalem. Israeli forces arrest 1 Palestinian woman each in Hebron, outside a settlement nr. Nablus, and s. of Bethlehem, claiming that the women are carrying knives. A video of the Bethlehem incident will show IDF troops forcing the Palestinian woman to pick up a knife prior to her arrest. Late at night, Israeli troops raid the Nablus-area home of the Palestinian woman accused of planning a stabbing attack outside a nearby settlement earlier in the day. They detain and threaten her family. (HA, MNA, WAFA, YA, 12/1; PCHR 12/3)

Elsewhere in the oPt, IDF troops chase, shoot, and injure 3 Palestinian youths in Hebron, alleging that they were preparing to throw Molotov cocktails at an IDF post. IDF troops also conduct late-night raids in 3 villages, al-‘Arub r.c. and al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron, ‘Askar r.c. nr. Nablus, and Dayr ‘Ammar nr. Ramallah, arresting 18 Palestinians and issuing an arrest summons to 1; patrol in 8 villages and al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron and 1 village nr. Qalqilya. Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli soldiers nr. Qalqilya, sparking clashes in which 4 Palestinians are injured and an errant tear gas canister causes minor fire damage to a nearby home. E. of Gaza City, IDF border troops open fire on Palestinian farmers, causing no injuries. Off the coast nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces patrol in al-Tur late at night, sparking clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian youths; there are no serious injuries. They also conduct raids in Issawiyya and al-Tur, arresting 4 Palestinians and shooting tear gas canisters at a Palestinian hospital (several patients suffer burns and tear gas inhalation). Meanwhile, a Palestinian family demolishes their own home in the Old City on order from the Israeli authorities. Israeli forces demolish 2 Palestinian apartments in Bayt Hanina. (HA, JP, MNA, WAFA, YA 12/1; EI, MNA 12/2; PCHR 12/3)

Stabbing and other small-scale violent incidents continue in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) and Israel. In Tel Aviv, 2 Palestinians armed with knives attack a group of Israelis at an office building, killing 2 and injuring 2. Israeli police arrest 1 of the attackers and the other flees. Later, IDF troops raid the Hebron-area home of 1 of the suspects, delivering punitive demolition orders and arresting 3. Nr. Bethlehem, a Palestinian driver opens fire in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, injuring 10 settlers and killing 3 others, including a U.S. citizen. Israeli forces shoot at the driver, causing him to crash his car and killing 1 Palestinian bystander in the crossfire; they arrest the driver at the scene. In c. Hebron, Israeli forces fire tear gas and skunk water, blocking a number of Palestinian children from accessing their school, after a Palestinian allegedly throws a tear gas canister at an Israeli checkpoint and injures a soldier. Also, a Palestinian succumbs to injuries sustained in clashes with the IDF on 11/11. (HA, MNA, NYT, WAFA, YA 11/19; PCHR 11/26)

Elsewhere, a number of Palestinian municipalities in Israel, including Nazareth, Rahat, and Sakhnin, go on strike in protest of the 11/16 outlawing of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement. In the West Bank, IDF troops and stone-throwers clash during raids in Dahaysha r.c. and patrols nr. Jenin, injuring 4 Palestinians and arresting 1, respectively. Israeli forces continue their string of late-night house searches and raids in the Hebron, Ramallah, Jalazun r.c., and Dahaysha r.c. areas, arresting 12 Palestinians and issuing arrest summons to 4; patrol during the day nr. Jenin, Tulkarm, Salfit, Hebron, and Qalqilya. Israeli settlers leave racist graffiti and throw stones at Palestinian homes in a village nr. Ramallah late at night, causing minor damage. Israeli forces begin demolishing a synagogue in the Givat Ze’ev settlement nr. Jerusalem, pursuant to the Israeli govt.’s 11/16 compromise with settler leaders (the demolition will be completed by 12/10). In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces clash with and violently disperse Palestinians at a checkpoint in Abu Dis, seriously injuring 1 Palestinian; arrest 4 Palestinians on raids in Issawiyya and Jabal Mukabir; assault a Palestinian youth in Ras al-Amud. (EI, HA, MNA, NYT, WAFA, YA 11/19; MNA, TOI 11/20; PCHR 11/26)

Israel’s Coordinator of Govt. Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Unit cmdr. Yoav Mordechai signs an agreement with the PA Minister of Civil Affairs Hassan al-Shaykh to grant Palestinian mobile phone users in the West Bank access to 3G high-speed data services. The new services are expected to be in place by mid-2016. (AP, HA 11/19)

The Israeli crackdown on the oPt continues amid the ongoing wave of violence. In the West Bank, Israeli forces punitively demolish the Hebron apartment of the Palestinian who stabbed an Israeli woman to death outside the Gush Etzion settlement nr. Bethlehem on 11/10/2014. Throughout the day, IDF troops violently disperse Palestinians protesting w. of Tulkarm and outside a settlement nr. Ramallah, injuring 3 Palestinians. The IDF conducts a raid in a village nr. Bethlehem, sparking clashes with stonethrowing Palestinian youths; 1 Palestinian is injured with live ammunition. IDF troops also conduct late-night raids and patrol in other areas across the West Bank, arresting 21 Palestinians, including 1 senior Hamas official on charges related to incitement, and issuing arrest summons to 4. Israeli settlers burn tires and verbally confront Palestinians nr. Salfit. In East Jerusalem, a large group of Israeli settlers escorted by Israeli forces forcibly evict Palestinians from 2 homes in Silwan. The property was allegedly purchased by the Israeli settler association Ateret Cohanim. Later, Israeli forces raid the Jabal Mukabir home of 1 of the Palestinians who attacked a group of Israelis on a bus in East Jerusalem on 10/13 and the Old City home of the Palestinian who attacked a group of Israelis in Tel Aviv on 10/8, taking measurements and preparing for a possible punitive demolition. They also arrest 7 Palestinians on late-night raids in Abu Dis, Ras al-Amud, and Issawiyya. In West Jerusalem, Jewish Israelis attempt to assault a Palestinian man on his way home from work, but his boss intervenes. (HA, MNA 10/19; EI, HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA 10/20; PCHR 10/22)

Israeli PM Netanyahu orders the Israeli police to suspend their construction of a concrete barrier in East Jerusalem between Jabal Mukabir and the nearby Israeli settlement East Talpiot, responding to complaints from his cabinet about dividing Jerusalem. The police erected sections of the planned 300 m barrier on 10/18. (HA, TOI 10/19)

Israel’s Foreign Ministry summons the French amb. to Israel to a disciplinary meeting, during which Israeli officials criticize the French plans to push for the UNSC to sponsor an international observer force at Haram al-Sharif, as reported in the French press on 10/17. Meanwhile, U.S. secy. of state Kerry says that the U.S. opposes the French proposal for an international observer force. (HA, JP, TOI 10/19)

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Dayr al-Balah and Jabaliya fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers and agricultural areas nr. the border fence, causing damage. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and raids in and around Qalqilya, 2 villages nr. Ramallah, 1 village nr. Jenin, and Tulkarm, arresting 4 Palestinians; patrols in 1 village each nr. Hebron, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, and Salfit. IDF troops arrest 3 Palestinians at a checkpoint nr. Jerusalem and 2 more at an entrance to the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. Israeli forces deliver stop-work orders to Palestinians in 1 village each nr. Hebron and Tubas; demolish a well, a wall, and 10 olive trees in a village nr. Jenin. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 1 Palestinian woman as she is exiting Haram al-Sharif and 6 youth playing in the sanctuary. They also conduct house searches and raids in al-Jdayra, arresting 4 youth and sparking light clashes; arrest 2 Palestinian youths in Bayt Hanina. Israeli authorities issue demolition orders for 5 Palestinian-owned buildings in Silwan. (MNA, WAFA 3/23; MNA 3/24; PCHR 3/26)

Swiss amb. to the PA Paul Garnier visits Gaza to discuss a possible long-term cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. UN Special Coordinator Serry conducted similar meetings in Gaza on 3/2. (MNA 3/23; ALM 4/14)

Fearing that the continued tax revenue freeze could spark an uprising in the West Bank, Senior IDF officers say that the IDF has issued 10,000 permits for Palestinian laborers in the West Bank and has directed its troops to engage in clashes with Palestinian protesters less frequently. (TOI 3/23; YA 3/24)

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough clarifies the Obama admin.’s response to Israeli PM Netanyahu’s campaign rhetoric and subsequent attempts to defend himself from international criticism in a speech at the annual J Street conference. “After the election,” McDonough says, “the PM said that he had not changed his position, but for many in Israel and in the international community, such contradictory comments call into question his commitment to a 2-state solution, as did his suggestion that the construction of settlements has a strategic purpose of dividing Palestinian communities and his claim that conditions in the larger Middle East must be more stable before a Palestinian state can be established.” (YA 3/23; HA, TOI 3/24)

In Geneva, the UNHRC holds its scheduled debate on Israeli violations of Palestinian rights in the oPt. Israel is absent, pursuant to its longtime boycott of the council, but so is the U.S. Israel’s FM denies a Reuters report claiming that the U.S. absence stems from the Obama admin.’s recently announced reassessment of its policy on defending Israel in international institutions. Later, U.S. amb to the UNHRC Keith Harper confirms that the U.S. has joined the Israeli boycott due to the UNHRC’s focus on Israel. (JP, REU, TOI 3/23; JP 3/24)

In Gaza, Israeli authorities close both the Kerem Shalom and the Erez border crossings. In 2 separate incidents, IDF troops stationed e. of Gaza City fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers approaching the border fence, causing damage. Later, IDF troops stationed along the n. border open fire on a group of Palestinian farmers, causing damage to a car but no injuries. They also arrest 2 Palestinians nr. the border fence e. of al-Maghazi r.c. Unknown assailants set fire to a car belonging to the spokesperson of Gaza’s union of civil servants in Gaza City. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and raids in 1 village each nr. Hebron, Bethlehem, and Ramallah, arresting 2 Palestinians and issuing arrest summons to 1; patrols in 4 villages nr. Hebron, and in and around Tulkarm; evacuates and demolishes the “Gate of Jerusalem” protest tent camp in Abu Dis for the 11th time, forcing hundreds of Palestinian and international activists to leave the area and detaining 7. Israeli forces demolish a marble factory nr. Jenin. Israeli settlers poison a Palestinian family’s water tank in Hebron, but it is discovered before anyone is hurt; assault 2 Palestinian farmers outside a town nr. Jenin, injuring both; throw stones at Palestinian vehicles outside a village nr. Jenin, causing damage. A Palestinian drives his car into a group of IDF troops in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, injuring 1; the man is arrested. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 3 Palestinians in Haram al-Sharif. They also conduct house searches and raids in Bayt Hanina, Issawiyya, Ras al-Amud, and al-Tur, arresting 8 Palestinians. (JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA 3/17; PCHR 3/19)

National elections are held in Israel to determine the makeup of the 20th Knesset. Despite early exit polls predicting a close result, the Likud Party wins 30 seats, making it the largest bloc. During the day, Israeli PM Netanyahu attempts to increase voter turnout among his supporters by saying that Palestinian citizens are voting in “droves” and that their participation will lead to a victory for the left-wing factions. (AFP, BBC, HA, JP, NYT, TOI, YA 3/17; HA, JTA, WAFA 3/18)

The PA announces that it will operate under an emergency budget for 2015 starting on 4/1, as the economic crisis precipitated by Israel’s ongoing tax revenue freeze continues (over $400 m. is currently being withheld). Employees will continue to receive only partial salaries and govt. offices will receive 50% less funding than in 2014. (REU, TOI 3/17)

Reps. of the U.S. and Iran continue their negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program for a 2d day in a row and reportedly discuss the open letter that 47 Republican senators sent to Iran’s leaders on 3/9. (AFP, AP, JP, TOI 3/17)