The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers vandalized 1 solar panel and 15 olive seedlings near ‘Urif. Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Dura and Bayt Umar, leading to tear-gas related injuries. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Hebron, injuring 13, including 5 with live ammunition and 8 with rubber-coated bullets; others suffered tear-gas related injuries. Elsewhere, Israeli forces seized a caravan in Sabastiyya. 5 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in Tarqumiyya and Jenin refugee camp; Israeli forces also seized a vehicle during a house raid in Aqraba. In East Jerusalem, 1 Israeli settler rammed Palestinians with his vehicle near the Old City, causing injuries; Palestinians were throwing stones at the vehicle but it was unclear what transpired before the ramming, which appeared in a video. Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinians in Shaykh Jarrah during a tour of the neighborhood by 2 Israeli lawmakers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Israeli forces attacked Palestinian worshipers with tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber-coated bullets at the Haram al-Sharif compound, injuring more than 305 people, including inside of al-Aqsa Mosque where a sound bomb caught a carpet on fire. Israeli forces prevented the Palestinian Red Crescent from entering the compound. Israel also reversed its decision from 5/9 to allow Jewish worshipers to enter the Haram al-Sharif compound for the Israeli celebration of Jerusalem Day. The Jerusalem Day march was later canceled by its organizers as Israeli police decided to prevent the settler march to go through the Damascus Gate plaza. Israeli forces also confiscated the keys to the al-Aqsa Mosque from the Islamic Waqf. Also at the Haram al-Sharif compound, Israeli police were filmed beating up an Israeli-accredited Palestinian journalist covering the events for Anadolu Agency. The Palestinian Red Crescent said that 612 Palestinians were injured throughout Jerusalem, including 333 who were hospitalized. In Gaza, Israeli started a military operation later dubbed “Guardian of the Wall” after Hamas fired rockets at Israel, giving Israel hours to leave the Haram al-Sharif compound. Hamas had earlier in the day warned Israel that it would fire rockets at 6 p.m. if Israel did not remove its forces from the holy places. 20 Palestinians were killed, including 9 children, and dozens were injured. The casualties included: 2, including 1 child, in 1 drone strike at Jabaliya; 10, including 6 children in 2 drone strikes at Bayt Hanun, with 32 others wounded, including 12 children; and 1, with 2 injured, in an Israeli air strike in Khan Yunis. 7 were also killed, including 1 child, and 34 were injured in Jabaliya in an explosion that was not conclusively attributed to an Israeli air strike. Additionally, damage was sustained in al-Bureij refugee camp, al-Qarara, and Rafah. In Israel, 1 Palestinian citizen of Israel was shot dead and 1 other injured by 1 Jewish-Israeli in Lydda; 3 Jewish-Israelis were arrested. Israeli forces later violently dispersed Palestinian-Israeli protesters at the Lydda city hall. In Ramla, Jewish-Israelis threw stones at Palestinian-Israelis and their property and set fire to trash cans. Israeli police dispersed Palestinian-Israeli protesters in Nazareth, Kafr Kana, Kafr Manda, Shefa-Amr, Majdal Krum, Dayr Khana, Umm al-Fahm, Baka al-Garbiyeh, Taiba, Jaffa, Haifa, and Jaljulya; 46 were arrested. The Knesset was evacuated after a rocket from Gaza landed in the vicinity of Jerusalem. (HA 5/9; AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AX, FOX, GDN, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, MEE, MEE, MEE, MEE, MEMO, NYT, PCHR, REU, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 5/10; ALM, HA, HA, MEE, PCHR, PCHR 5/11; ALM, HA, WAFA 5/12; WAFA 5/19; MEE 5/21; NYT 5/26)

Israel closed all crossings to Gaza and the sea for fishing as collective punishment for rockets fired at Israel. (PCHR 5/10)

The PA prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and the PA presidency condemned Israel’s attack on the Haram al-Sharif compound and called on the international community to take action. The PA civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh said the Palestinian leadership is “examining all options to respond to this heinous aggression against the holy sites and the citizens.” PA president Mahmoud Abbas also discussed the situation with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 5/10)

Leader of the Ra’am (United Arab List) Mansour Abbas said that he had broken off contacts with Israeli opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett just before he was to have a joint meeting with them, citing the violence in Jerusalem and Gaza. Mansour Abbas met with Naftali Bennett on 5/9. (ALM, HA 5/10; ALM, HA, MEMO, NBC 5/11)

Israel attacked Syria in the Quneitra region with a helicopter, injuring 1. (HA 5/10)

Iran confirmed that it is in direct talks with Saudi Arabia to resolve the issues between the 2 countries. A Saudi official confirmed the talks on 5/7. (AJ, HA, REU 5/10)

The U.S. said 1 of its Coast Guard ships had fired 30 warning shots at 13 Iranian vessels that came too close to the ship and 6 other U.S. navy vessels. Iran said that it was the U.S. that had acted recklessly in the encounter. (AJ, HA, REU 5/10; AP, MEMO 5/11)

UN security council members met at an emergency session to discuss the situation in Palestine-Israel. No statement was issued after the meeting. U.S. state department spokesperson Ned Price said that the U.S. administration wanted to make sure that a statement would “not escalate tensions.” Spokesperson Price also refused to say if the U.S. condemned the Israeli air strike that killed 9 Palestinian children, and suggested that Palestinians, contrary to Israelis, do not have the right to defend themselves, saying that only states recognized by the U.S. have that right. (HA, MEE 5/11)

The IDF continues heavy air strikes (including 1 missile dropped fr. a war plane and 13 missiles fired fr. helicopters and drones) and artillery attacks (more than a dozen) hitting at least 19 targets across Gaza, killing another 11 Palestinians (5 civilians and 6 militants), wounding 20 (19 civilians and 1 militant), and damaging a commercial building and several homes. Israeli DM Barak stresses that the assaults are in response to the bus attack on 4/7 and not the start of a major offensive. Palestinians fire another 24 mortars and 6 rockets, causing damage in 2 incidents but no injuries. Various factions claim responsibility for firing, including the AMB, DFLP, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the PRCs. Israel’s new Iron Dome system intercepts 3 of the rockets. In addition, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fired warning shots at Palestinian farmers nr. the border fence, forcing them to flee. Israeli naval vessels fired toward the Gaza City beach and at Palestinian fishermen off the coast w. of Nussayrat r.c., causing no injuries. With the past 24 hrs. marking the worst flare-up in crossborder violence since OCL, UN Secy.-Gen. Ban calls on both sides to observe a ceasefire immediately. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Jericho and 2 villages nr. Ramallah (firing rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no serious injuries); conducts morning arrest raids, house searches nr. Jericho. Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall, land confiscations, and settlement expansion in Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, and Nabi Salih/Dayr Nizam. IDF soldiers fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters, causing no serious injuries; 5 Palestinians are arrested. (IsRN, JP, MNA 4/8; JP, MNA, NYT, WP 4/9; IFM 4/10; PCHR 4/14; OCHA 4/15)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists taking part in weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 3 Palestinians, including a pregnant woman); fires tear gas and beats several Palestinians at a similar nonviolent demonstration in al-Ma‘sara (injuring an Israeli man and a 9-yr.-old Palestinian child). Jewish settlers fr. Karnei Shomron and Keddumim nr. Qalqilya force Palestinian farmers off land nr. the settlement, block roads in the area to Palestinian traffic. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai in Hebron stone a Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance transporting a patient fr. a hospital to her home, forcing the ambulance back to Hebron hospital; the IDF observes but does not intervene. (OCHA 4/15; PCHR 4/16)

The 6-mo. Hamas-Israel truce in Gaza officially expires. Palestinians fire 4 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel and direct sniper fire across the border at IDF troops, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts nearly simultaneous house searches in 7 villages around Jenin but makes no arrests; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 6 Palestinians and 1 Israeli, including a Palestinian and an Israeli journalist); fires tear gas at 2 Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances treating injuries at a wall protest in Ni‘lin, damaging 1. A Palestinian bystander seriously injured in the 10/20/08 IDF assassination of 2 Hamas mbrs. in Khan Yunis dies of his injuries. (NYT 12/19; NYT, WP 12/20; PCHR 12/24)

IDF soldiers on the c. Gaza boarder e. of al-Maghazi fire on Palestinian farmers who stray nr. the border fence while tending their fields, causing no injuries.Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF issues a military order confiscating 1,500 d. of Palestinian land in Bayt Hanina for construction of the separation wall around Ramot settlement; searches a Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance, a house in Bayt Umar nr. Hebron; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); severely beats and fires tear gas, percussion grenades at demonstrators at a similar protest al-Ma‘sara (injuring 2); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Ramallah (arresting 9 Palestinian teenagers in Jalazun r.c.). Jewish settlers fr. Susia attack and beat several Palestinian farmers and shepherds in nearby Yatta, injuring 2. Several hrs. later, Jewish settlers fr. Mitzpe Ya’ir nr. Hebron attack Palestinian farmers and shepherds in the same area, injuring 3; the IDF detains the injured Palestinians for questioning. Unidentified gunmen shoot, wound 3 Jewish settlers hiking nr. Nachliel settlement nr. Ramallah. (OCHA 6/25; PCHR 6/26)

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)

The IDF shoots, wounds, then beats a Palestinian in Hebron for no apparent reason; sends troops into Nablus, erects checkpoints, searches several Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulances; conducts arrest raids in al-Tawani nr. Hebron, Tubas, Yatta; fires steel-coated rubber bullets, tear gas at Palestinians, Israelis, international peace activists conducting a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring an Israeli. (OCHA 4/6; PCHR 4/7)