The Palestine Chronology

The IDF overtly assassinates senior al-Qassam Brigades mbr. Muhannad Tahir in Nablus, also killing a 2d Hamas mbr. The IDF lifts closures in most areas for several hrs.; orders Palestinian men ages 15-55 in Amari r.c., Ramallah to surrender for questioning; confiscates a mobile clinic transporting a heart patient to a Ramallah hospital, arresting the patient, the driver; bulldozes Palestinian land in Bayt Lahia, Dayr al-Balah, Shaykh Ajlin; arrests 2 Palestinian journalists working for Reuters for filming international peace activists barring an IDF tank, bulldozer fr. approaching a house in Nablus. In Lod, a bomb placed on a railroad track explodes, lightly injuring 2 Israelis. The IDF dismantles 2 Jewish settlement enclaves built without Israeli permission; each has only 1 family in residence. (GS, HA, UPMRC 6/30; MM, NYT, WP, WT 7/1; NYT, WT 7/2)

The IDF reportedly transfers 10s of PA security officers detained in the West Bank to Gaza through the Erez crossing at dawn. Palestinian sources claim to have seen several other groups of PSF officers brought into Gaza through the crossing in recent days and apparently freed, suggesting that Israel is quietly implementing plans threatened previously to "deport" to Gaza West Bank Palestinians suspected of plotting or staging attacks on Israeli targets. (AYM 7/3 in WNC 7/8; AYM 7/4 in WNC 7/5) (see 6/21)