The Palestine Chronology

In continued retaliation for the 7/30 Grad strike, the IDF carries out a predawn air strike on c. Gaza assassinating senior Hamas military cmdr. and rocket maker Issa Batran, marking the 1st Israeli assassination in Gaza since Operation Cast Lead (OCL) ended in 1/09. (Israel attempted to assassinate Batran during OCL, making an air strike on his home, killing his wife and 5 of his children.) Later in the day, unidentified Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, damaging a vacant daycare facility. The IDF responds with 2 additional air strikes on a smuggling tunnel and an open area in s. Gaza. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction materials in the fmr. Jewish settlement sites and in the Erez industrial zone, wounding 3 Palestinians. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night house searches in and around Hebron, summoning several Palestinians for interrogation; fires tear gas and stun grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists taking part in weekly nonviolent demonstrations against land confiscation and settlement expansion nr. Karme Tzur settlement nr. Hebron. (HA, IDF, YA 7/31; MEZ, NYT, WP 8/1; PCHR 8/5; OCHA 8/13)

Overnight, the Israeli navy acting on “prior intelligence” fatally shoots 5 al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (AMB) mbrs. diving off the Gaza coast and the Palestinian fisherman manning their boat, wounding and capturing 2 other AMB divers. The AMB claims the men were unarmed and on a training mission; Israel claims they were en route to Israel to stage an attack. Later in the day, the IDF carries out an air strike on the n. Gaza border area, seriously wounding 1 Hamas mbr. preparing to launch a Qassam rocket. IDF troops on the Israeli side of the Erez crossing fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging construction materials in the industrial zone, wounding 1 Palestinian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. (NYT, WP, WT 6/8; PCHR 6/10; OCHA 6/11; JPI 6/18)

Clinton, Netanyahu both address the AIPAC conference in Washington and then hold an 80-min. meeting on the sidelines to discuss recent tensions. In the evening, Netanyahu holds a working dinner with Biden on bilateral relations. (JTA 3/22; JTA, NYT, WP, WT 3/23; WJW 3/25; JPI 4/2)

In Gaza, 1 IDF soldier is killed by friendly fire when IDF infantry and tank units on the Gaza border are mobilized to halt 3 unarmed Palestinians nr. the border fence, and the tank crew accidentally fires on the infantry unit on the Israeli side of the border; the Palestinians are not injured. After unidentified Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries, the IDF makes an air strike on an alleged weapons depot in Gaza City, destroying it and lightly injuring 8 Palestinian civilians (including 1 woman and 2 children). Later in the evening, unidentified Palestinians fire another rocket toward Israel, but it lands harmlessly nr. the Erez crossing. Late in the evening, IDF troops on the central Gaza border e. of Dayr al-Balah shoot, wound an unarmed Palestinian outside his home 500 m fr. the border. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas. (HA, JP, NYT, YA 3/23; OCHA, PCHR, WJW 3/25)

Hamas mbrs. fire 8 mortars fr. Gaza toward Israel, 6 of which land inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In response, the IDF makes an air strike on 1 mortar-launching site, killing 2 Palestinian teenagers nearby, wounding 2 children. OCHA reports that in addition to mortar fire, Palestinians have fired 6 rockets fr. Gaza toward Israel between 11/27 and 12/2, causing no injuries. Israeli border police arrest Israeli reporter Amira Hass as she leaves Gaza through the Erez crossing, charging her with violating the government ban on Israelis entering Gaza. Hass, who entered Gaza on 10/29 on a boat carrying solidarity activists (see Chronology in JPS 150), was then expelled by Hamas officials who disapproved of her coverage of events in the Strip; she is released pending a hearing. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Jenin. For a 6th straight day, 100s of Jewish settlers riot in Hebron to protest the orders to evacuate Beit Shalom, attacking Palestinians on the street, vandalizing Palestinian homes, damaging cars, and harassing IDF troops; the IDF fires tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinians who attempt to stop the settlers, injuring 3. In 2 other West Bank locations, Jewish settlers protesting the planned eviction set fire to Palestinian stocks of animal feed, slash tires. (HA 12/2; NYT, WP, WT 12/3; WT, PCHR 12/4)

Overnight in Gaza, the IDF sends troops into Khan Yunis to raid and search homes, ordering all Palestinian men over 15 to surrender for questioning, bulldozing 97 d. of agricultural land and damaging 2 homes. During the operation, the IDF makes an air strike on armed Palestinians who approach the border fence nearby, killing 3 Hamas mbrs., wounding 1; troops withdraw to Israel by midday. The IDF also exchanges fire with Islamic Jihad mbrs. on the c. Gaza border, killing 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs.; fires on Palestinian farmers nr. the Erez crossing in n. Gaza, wounding 1. Palestinians fire 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing damage to several greenhouses but no injuries. Late at night, IDF troops enter al-Qarara n. of Khan Yunis to level 60 d. of land; fire on armed Palestinians who approach them, wounding 2. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c., causing damage but no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c. (firing on residential areas, seriously wounding a 16-yr.-old Palestinian boy), and nr. Hebron, Ramallah; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, 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) and fires percussion grenades and tear gas at demonstrators at a similar protest in al-Ma‘sara. (NYT 5/24; OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

The IDF makes an air strike on a police post in Khan Yunis, killing 7 Hamas-affiliated policemen, wounding 1; makes an incursion into al-Shuka, searching homes, exchanging fire with local gunmen, killing 2 armed Palestinians, arresting 40 Palestinians; fires across the border toward Palestinian homes and agricultural areas in al-Qarara, damaging several homes but causing no injuries; sends armored vehicles, bulldozers into the Erez industrial zone to level land. Palestinians fire 8 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, hitting a factory and a home, injuring 4 Israelis. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts major arrest raids, house searches in Hebron (detaining 30 Palestinians, including 3 journalists) in connection with the 2/4 bombing; also conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around East Jerusalem, nr. Ramallah, and in Nablus, Nur al-Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm, Qabatya, Silwad. PA teachers and health workers begin a 2-day strike to protest new PA restrictions on obtaining government services such as ID cards, birth certificates. In Gaza City, unidentified assailants blow up the jeep of a mbr. of the Hamas-affiliated internal security service, damaging 2 other vehicles but causing no injuries. (HA, MA, NYT, OCHA, WP, WT, YA 2/6; PCHR 2/7)

As gestures to Abbas before the Annapolis summit, Israel allows 250 Palestinians students (out of more than 600) with valid foreign student visas to leave Gaza for Egypt via the Erez crossing to resume their studies abroad; makes an “exception” to the closure of the Sufa crossing to allow entry of gravel for an emergency sewage rehabilitation project in n. Gaza. Hamas mbrs. engage an IDF unit that moves into n. Gaza nr. Bayt Lahiya, causing no injuries; the IDF returns fire, killing 3 Hamas mbrs. Palestinians fire mortars fr. Gaza at an IDF base inside Israel, lightly wounding 4 soldiers; the IDF responds with tank fire, killing 1 armed Palestinian, wounding 3 armed Palestinians, 3 bystanders. Late in the evening, the IDF makes an air strike on a Hamas training camp nr. Dayr al-Balah, killing 3 Hamas mbrs. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on a Palestinian family picnicking nr. Ramallah, killing 1 Palestinian; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Bethlehem. (WT 12/3; OCHA 12/5; PAP, PCHR 12/6)

Israel announces a further reduction in fuel supplies to Gaza, where 70% of fuel stations reportedly are already closed. The IDF withdraws troops who have been stationed in the Erez industrial zone since 11/23 but sends tanks, troops into the Gaza airport site nr. Rafah to level land, withdrawing by evening. The IDF makes an air strike on a police post nr. Khan Yunis, killing 1 Hamas-affiliated policeman, wounding 5; fires on an unarmed Palestinian teenager who strays nr. the border fence e. of Rafah, wounding him; makes late-night air strikes on 2 Hamas border patrols nr. Khan Yunis, killing 4 Hamas mbrs., wounding 1. Palestinians fire at least 16 rockets and mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing light damage but no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. In Hebron, the PA security forces fire on and beat Palestinians taking part in the funeral procession for the Hizb al-Tahrir supporter killed in an anti-Annapolis demonstration on 11/27, claiming the funeral had turned into a pro-Islamist rally; at least 60 Palestinians are injured, including 24 requiring hospitalization. (JP, NYT, PCHR, WP 11/29; OCHA 12/5; PCHR 12/6)

IDF troops in the Erez industrial zone fatally shoot 2 armed Palestinians laying a roadside bomb nearby, wound and arrest a 3d; fire a shell at Palestinian resistance mbrs. e. of Jabaliya, killing 1 armed Palestinian, wounding another armed Palestinian, 2 bystanders. Hamas mbrs. fire 3 mortars and a rocket fr. n. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with an air strike on the launch site, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding 4. As the Annapolis mtgs. open, at least 15,000 right-wing Israeli demonstrators protest in Jerusalem against any possible concessions by Israeli PM Ehud Olmert to the Palestinians. In Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad host a conference on Palestine, attended by Hamas’s top leaders (including Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmud Zahar), vowing to “not relinquish a centimeter of Palestine” or recognize Israel’s right to exist. (NYT, WP, WT 11/27; OCHA 11/28; PCHR 11/29)

The IDF makes an air strike targeting armed Palestinians nr. Khan Yunis, causing no reported injuries; levels land inside the Gaza border nr. the Erez crossing. In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes a Palestinian road and barn in al-Walaja nr. the separation wall outside Bethlehem; raids, searches a secondary school in Azun nr. Qalqilya when staff is present but classes are not in session; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, in Abu Dis nr. Jerusalem, and nr. Bethlehem. During the day, the new PA policing unit in Nablus, deployed by Palestinian Authority (PA) PM Mahmud Abbas on 11/2 to enhance security in keeping with the road map, makes major arrest raids into ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c. (WT 11/19; OCHA 11/21; PCHR 11/22, 11/29)

The IDF makes an air strike on Gaza City, assassinating PRC leader and Interior Min. official Mubarak Hasanat; bulldozes at least 150 d. of Palestinian citrus groves nr. Bayt Hanun, also demolishing a storehouse and fuel tank. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya coast, forcing them to return to shore. Palestinians fire 8 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing damage but no injuries; the IDF responds by shelling launching sites, causing no reported injuries. An ailing 77- yr.-old Palestinian dies at the Erez crossing when the IDF denies him transit to an Israeli hospital despite having the proper Israeli permits. PA security forces raid the home of a Hamas mbr. in Hebron, confiscating a computer, personal belongings. A Palestinian prisoner dies of injuries sustained in the 10/22 riot in Israel’s Ketziot jail. (NYT, OCHA, WP 10/24; PCHR 10/25)

Overnight, the IDF sends tanks and troops, backed by air support, into Gaza City and Khan Yunis in a major day-long ground offensive targeting primarily Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but also including the AMB, arresting 10s of Palestinians, bulldozing 1 Palestinian home and 70 dunams of land, and leaving at least 13 Palestinians (including at least 4 gunmen and 6 civilians, including a 10-yr.-old boy) dead, more than 50 Palestinians and at least 2 IDF soldiers wounded; Fatah and Hamas gunmen fight side-by-side against the IDF, using small arms and antitank weapons. The IDF also makes an air strike on a car in Gaza City, assassinating Islamic Jihad senior cmdr. Raed Fanuna; bulldozes Palestinian land on the Gaza side of the Qarni crossing and industrial zone, along the border southeast of Khuza’a in s. Gaza. For a 2d day, the Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza City coast, forcing them back to shore. Islamic Jihad fires 4 rockets, 5 mortars fr. Gaza toward the Erez crossing; 2 mortars land on the Gaza side, injuring a Palestinian child; those landing on the Israeli side cause no damage or injuries. In Khan Yunis, a Palestinian is killed when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF launches a major arrest campaign in the Old City of Nablus, imposing a curfew, searching homes (occupying at least 7 as sniper posts), taking over local radio stations, searching hospitals; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, nr. Jenin. In Ramallah, unidentified gunmen fire on the home of senior Fatah official Hani al-Hassan, causing no injuries. In Hebron, unidentified gunmen fire on the home of the local PA General Intelligence head, causing no injuries. Islamic Jihad mbr. Zakariyya al-Tartar dies of injuries received in a 6/24 IDF air strike on his vehicle in Gaza City. (PCHR, WP, WT 6/28; OCHA 7/4; PCHR 7/5)

The IDF makes 2 air strikes on Palestinians allegedly planting a roadside bomb nr. troops operating in n. Gaza, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding another. Hamas fires 3 mortars at the IDF post at Erez crossing in response, causing no injuries. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis.IDFUXO injures an 11-yr.-old Palestinian boy in Bayt Lahiya, 4 Palestinian children in Gaza City. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a predawn raid on an apartment building in Hebron searching for 2 Palestinian men who had thrown objects at their patrol, fatally shooting an innocent 75-yr.-old Palestinian man, wounding his 66-yr.-old wife and 6 other relatives; the 2 wanted men were later arrested elsewhere. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in and around Nablus, and in ‘Aida r.c. nr. Bethlehem, Halhul nr. Hebron, Jenin, Qabatya, Tulkarm. (al-Jazeera 6/6; NYT, PCHR, WT 6/7; OCHA 6/13; PCHR 6/14)

In overnight raids, the IDF, Shin Bet arrest 33 senior Hamas or Hamas-affiliated political figures across the West Bank (Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Salfit, Tulkarm), including PA Education M Nasir al-Sha‘ir, PA State M Wasfi Kabaha, at least 3 PC mbrs., 5 mayors, a number of heads of educational and charitable associations. The IDF also makes at least 7 air strikes on Gaza, targeting at least 3 ESF positions in Gaza City, Khan Yunis, Rafah, injuring at least 2 ESF mbrs. and 13 bystanders; a guard house outside Haniyeh’s Shati‘ r.c. home, causing no casualties; the home of a PRC mbr. in Jabaliya r.c., hitting an adjacent home instead, wounding 2 Palestinians; an alleged weapons factory in Rafah, wounding 5 bystanders; a Hamas post in Dayr al-Balah, causing no injuries; and a money exchange in Gaza City. The IDF also fires on a group of Palestinians on the Bayt Lahiya shore, wounding 1 Palestinian fisherman. Palestinians fire 2 mortars at the IDF post at Erez (causing no injuries, but light damage that will slow processing of trucks going through the crossing) and at least 12 rockets fr. Gaza toward Israel (only 5 land inside Israel, causing light damage but no injuries). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Jenin (also searching the offices of the PA Waqf Min., confiscating documents) and nr. Qalqilya, Tulkarm. A Palestinian woman dies of injuries received in a 5/17 IDF air strike on Gaza City. A Hamas mbr. dies of wounds received in clashes with Fatah on 5/13. (BBC, IFM, WP 5/24; NYT, WT 5/25; NYT 5/27; OCHA 5/30; PCHR 5/31)