The Palestine Chronology

The PA announces that pres. Abbas will receive new Israeli vice PM Mofaz on 7/1 in Ramallah to discuss relaunching peace talks. Mofaz’s office says discussions about a meeting are underway but does not confirm that a date has been set. (WP 6/29)

Jewish settlers complete the evacuation of Ulpana outpost. The IDF patrols in 2 villages nr. Ramallah and 1 nr. Tulkarm in the morning; and in 1 village each nr. Jenin, Jericho, Qalqilya, and Ramallah late at night. (NYT 6/29; PCHR 7/5; JPI 7/6; OCHA 7/13)

Hamas reports that senior IQB official Kamal Ghanaja (an aide to assassinated IQB commander Mahmud al-Mabhuh; (see QU in JPS 155) has been killed in Damascus. His body, bound and tortured, was found in his burned Damascus home. While Hamas accuses Israel of assassination, Israel says it believes the Syrian regime, angry over Hamas’s refusal to support Asad, carried out the murder. Syrian opposition groups suspect pro-government militias. (WP 6/29)

Washington Jewish Week reports that 60 rabbis representing the Washingtonbased Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federation of North America (JFNA) recently made a lobbying trip to New York to meet with the UN representatives of 12 countries (mostly Eastern European) to press the UN to reverse its ‘‘poor and unjust treatment of Israel,’’ to block Palestinian statehood efforts, and to urge the dismantling of UN committees that focus exclusively on Palestinian issues (e.g., the Division for Palestinian Rights, the Comm. on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and the Special Comm. to Investigate Israeli Human Rights Practices Affecting the Palestinian People). The group was advised by fmr. U.S. ambs. to the UN Richard Shifter and Jeanne Kirkpatrick. The JFNA says it requested meetings with 14 countries, but 2 (unnamed) declined. (WJW 6/28)

Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a major raid into Jenin r.c., surrounding the homes of local Islamic Jihad leader Mahmoud Sa’adi, 4 other Islamic Jihad mbrs., and 1 Fatah member, detaining all 6; the 5 Islamic Jihad members are released later in the day. The IDF also conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches, and patrols in 2 villages nr. Qalqilya. A Jewish settler fires at Palestinians grazing their sheep nr. Hebron and attempts to steal several sheep. (PCHR 3/1; OCHA 3/2)

Israeli PM Netanyahu receives a delegation of senior executives of the Jewish Federation of North American, an umbrella group representing a network of Jewish donors across Canada and the U.S., who say they would provide financial and political support to Israel if tension with Iran escalate. (JPI 3/9)

The Arab League postpones its planned 11/9 meeting until after the 11/16–20 Eid al-Adha holiday to give ongoing U.S.-Israeli talks a final chance to reach an arrangement that would allow continuation of Israeli-Palestinian direct talks. (MNA 11/7; Foreign Policy 11/9)

Netanyahu arrives in the U.S. on a 5-day visit to attend the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) general assembly in New Orleans and consult with U.S. officials (excluding Obama, who left on 11/5 for a 10-day trip to South East Asia). On the sidelines of the JFNA assembly today, he meets with VP Joe Biden for talks that focus primarily on Iran (WP 11/9; WJW 11/11)

IDF troops on the Israeli side of the Erez crossing fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction materials inside the industrial zone, wounding 1. IDF troops make a brief incursion into c. Gaza to level lands along the border fence e. of Gaza Valley village. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts a rare daytime house search nr. Jenin; patrols without incident 2 villages nr. Jenin during the day; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Qalqilya (also detonating explosives in a store on the 1st floor of a Palestinian building, causing heavy damage), Ramallah. (OCHA, PCHR 11/11)