The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian who allegedly rammed an Israeli at a checkpoint near Fawwar refugee camp. Israeli forces were also filmed abusing and assaulting a gas station worker in the refugee camp. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shot and injured 2 Palestinians with baton rounds and arrested 4 others during a raid in Bayt Awa. Israeli forces also issued demolition notices for the family homes of 3 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces on 11/16 near Bayt Jala. 14 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around Nablus, Qalqilya, the Masafer Yatta area, Hebron, and Ramallah. In Gaza, Israeli forces bombed Khan Yunis, Rafah, Jabalia refugee camp, Nuseirat refugee camp, Maghazi, al-Bureij refugee camp, and Dayr al-Balah, killing at least 165 people, including Al-Quds journalist Jabr Abu Hadros and 6 members of his family in Nuseirat refugee camp and former Palestinian minister of awqaf and religious affairs and al-Aqsa Mosque preacher Sheikh Yousef Salameh in Maghazi. Israel also bombed near the Rafah crossing and hit the European Hospital, killing at least 5 people. 2 Israeli soldiers were killed and 13 were injured in combat. In Lebanon, Israel said it attacked several Hezbollah positions. In Syria, Israeli airstrikes killed 23 people, including 5 Syrians and 6 Iraqis, and wounded 18, near the Iraqi border. Israeli forces also bombed near Aleppo. (AJ, AJ, HA, NYT, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 12/30; AJ, HA, WAFA 12/31; AJ 1/2)

More than 21,672 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 8,800 children and 6,300 women, and around 56,165 have been injured since 10/7. At least 7,000 people were missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 312 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7, including 79 children. More than 3,812 people have been injured. Israel reported that 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured since 10/7. 168 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 955 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12 due to the Israeli blockade. As of 12/23, at least 65,000 housing units had been destroyed and 290,000 had been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7, constituting over 60% of all housing units. UNOCHA said more than 100,000 people have fled to Rafah in the past few days. UNICEF delivered 600,000 doses of vaccines to Gaza, saying that more than 16,800 infants have missed routine vaccines. UNRWA said 40% of Palestinians in Gaza were at risk of famine. 103 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza. (AJ, UNOCHA, UNOCHA 12/30)

The Gaza Ministry of Health held a press conference saying Palestinians captured by Israeli forces in Gaza were being tortured and held in poor condition. The ministry also said it had been able to reopen the medical facilities al-Arabi Hospital, Patient Friend’s Benevolent Society, Assahaba Medical Complex, al-Helou International Hospital, and several first aid centers. Lastly, it said that 5,300 people in critical condition needed to be evacuated to hospitals outside of Gaza to save their lives. 13 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are partially functioning, 9 of which are located in the south, the rest are out of service. (AJ, UNOCHA 12/30)

The armed wing of the PFLP, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, released a picture it said showed the body of 1 of the Israeli soldiers held captive in Gaza, saying he was killed by Israeli forces when they tried to rescue him. It was unclear if the soldier was taken captive on 10/7 or during the ongoing ground invasion. (AJ, HA, REU 12/30)

The PA foreign ministry said Israel was targeting UNRWA to expel the agency from Gaza. (AJ 12/30)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference that the border zone between Egypt and Gaza, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, must be under Israeli control. Netanyahu also said Israel will attack Iran if Hezbollah expands its attacks on Israel. Ynet reported that Israel wants an underground wall along the Gaza border with Egypt. Netanyahu reportedly invited Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet member Benny Gantz to participate in the press conference, which they declined. PLO secretary-general Hussein al-Sheikh said Netanyahu’s plans were “a blatant violation of agreements with Egypt and a termination of all agreements with the PLO,” calling on a unified Palestinian and Arab stance against it. (AJ, HA, REU, REU 12/30; AJ, AJ, WAFA, WAFA 12/31)

Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israeli leaders will discuss resettling Palestinians in Gaza after the war. (AJ 12/30)

Israeli forces hacked the broadcast of the radio channel Voice of Palestine, issuing threats to people in Gaza. (WAFA 12/30)

The Wall Street Journal said that by mid-December Israel had dropped 29,000 bombs on Gaza, destroying 70% of homes, making Israel’s attacks “comparable in scale to the most devastating warfare in the modern record.” (AJ, HA 12/30; AJ, WAFA 12/31)

The New York Times reported that the Israeli military was so ill-prepared for Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 10/7 that soldiers used WhatsApp groups and social media posts to decide where to target. (AJ, NYT 12/30)

In the West Bank, 1 Palestinian was shot in his foot by Israeli forces using live ammunition near the separation wall southwest of Jenin. 11 Palestinians were arrested during raids in and around Halhul, al-‘Arub refugee camp, Bayt Awa, Ramallah, ‘Urif, and Tubas. Israeli forces razed a dirt road and demolished water pipes near al-‘Izzariya. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 11/18; PCHR 11/21)

U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. no longer considers Israeli settlements illegal under international law. Secretary Pompeo explained that the Trump administration called the notion that settlements are illegal under international law a distraction and said the issue should be addressed in Israeli courts. Pompeo’s announcement received sharp criticism and condemnation from several countries and international organizations. PA prime minister Mohammad Shtyyeh called it “a mockery of international law and resolutions that criminalize Israeli settlements and prohibit the occupying power from transferring its civilian population into occupied territory.” (AJ, Amnesty, CNN, EU, HA, HA, NYT 11/18; AJ, BBC, HA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 11/19)

For unknown reasons, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border shoot and wound a Palestinian teenager fr. Bayt Lahiya who is at least 900 meters fr. the border. (PCHR 8/27)

In the West Bank, the IDF detains dozens of farmers in and around Bayt Awa nr. Hebron and warns them of straying near the separation wall. (PCHR 8/27)

Israel reseals Gaza’s border crossings in the morning, saying that overnight its radar detected a Palestinians rocket launched from n. Gaza toward Israel (though admitting it has not found any rocket fragments); Hamas denies a rocket was fired, accusing Israel of looking for excuses not to honor the truce agmt. Meanwhile, IDF troops on the s. Gaza border fire on 2 Palestinian women working a field nearby, seriously wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on residential areas of Bayt ‘Awa nr. Hebron, then enters to raid and search homes, claiming that barbed wire nr. the separation wall nearby had been tampered with, threatening to shoot dead anyone to approaches the wall; sends undercover units into Tulkarm to raid an apartment building, arrest a wanted Palestinian; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and in Dahaysha r.c., Jenin town and r.c., and Tulkarm r.c.; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (wounding 5). In the 1st such incident reported, Jewish settlers fr. Brakha settlement nr. Nablus fire 2 mortars toward the nearby Palestinian village of Burin, landing inside a residential area but causing no damage or injuries. (OCHA, WT 7/2; PCHR 7/3)

Syrian and Israeli negotiating teams open a 3d round of indirect peace talks in Istanbul. (Israel Radio, MM 7/2)

Days of Penitence continues in n. Gaza with the IDF killing 10 Palestinians (including 7 armed Palestinians, 2–6 of them Islamic Jihad mbrs.; 3 civilians, including 1 deaf mute, 1 child inside an UNRWA school); demolishing a kindergarten, 2 factories, at least 7 Palestinian homes in Jabaliya r.c.; firing toward reporters covering events in Jabaliya. Palestinians fire 4 Qassam rockets at Sederot, causing no damage or injuries. A 13-yr.-old Palestinian dies of injuries received in Jabaliya on 10/1. The IDF also assassinates senior Izzeddine al-Qassam Brigades mbrs. Mahdi Mushtaha (reportedly one of the developers of the Qassam missile), Khalid al-‘Amriti in a missile strike on their car as they drive in Gaza City, injuring 4 bystanders; attempts to assassinate 2 wanted Hamas mbrs. in an air strike on Gaza City, wounding them, 1 bystander; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, Rafah. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber bullets, tear gas at a group of Palestinians, Israelis, internationals protesting the separation wall nr. Bayt Awa nr. Hebron, wounding 1 Dane, at least 14 Palestinians; reimposes a ban on Palestinians entering the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron (see 9/26); conducts arrest raids in and around Hebron, and in Bayt Laqia, Dahaysha r.c., Tulkarm. A Jewish settler seriously injures a 42-yr.-old Palestinian woman in a hit-and-run nr. Hebron. A Palestinian wounded in Salfit 2 wks. ago dies of her injuries. (NYT, WP 10/3; JAZ, VOI, VOP 10/3 in WNC 10/5; NYT, WP 10/4; JP, VOI 10/4 in WNC 10/6; PR 10/6; PCHR 10/7)

The IDF assassinates senior Hamas cmdr. Khalid Abu Silmiyya by firing a missile at his car as he drives in Gaza City, wounding 8 bystanders; fatally shoots a Palestinian who crosses fr. Gaza into Israel nr. Kissufim crossing; fatally shoots a mentally handicapped Palestinian who strays too nr. Gush Katif; fires live ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, international peace activists demonstrating against the separation wall nr. Hebron; fires tear gas, stun grenades outside 2 girls’ schools in Beitunia while classes are in session, seriously wounding 1 student in her classroom; fires on stone-throwing youths in Aida r.c. nr. Bethlehem; fires on residential areas of Rafah; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bir Basha nr. Jenin, Dahaysha r.c., Duha, Qalqilya; tightens access to Tulkarm and places a curfew on nearby Bayt Awa. (VOI, VOP 9/19 in WNC 9/21; AP, PCHR, WP, WT 9/20; JAZ, VOI, VOP, YA 9/20 in WNC 9/22; PCHR 9/23)