The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers vandalized 40 olive trees in Yasuf. Israeli settlers also razed a plot of land in Khirbet al-Farisiyya. Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian after he allegedly opened fire at a settler vehicle driving near Huwwara, causing no injuries to the settlers. Prior to the incident Israeli forces had closed several businesses in the town. Israeli forces also shot and killed 2 Palestinians, claiming they opened fire at an Israeli settler vehicle near Shufa. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shot, injured, and arrested a Palestinian during a raid in Tulkarm refugee camp; 5 Israeli soldiers were injured by an explosive thrown at them during the raid. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinians protesting an incursion at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, injuring 3 with live ammunition, 1 with a tear-gas canister to his head, and 120 with tear gas. Meanwhile, Israeli forces shot and injured 2 Palestinians with live ammunition during a raid in Balata refugee camp. Israeli forces also fired tear gas near a school in as-Samu, injuring students and staff. Separately, Israeli forces seized money from a money exchange shop in al-Bireh and detained the manager. Palestinians forcefully removed Israeli settlers occupying a Palestinian-owned home in al-Dilba near Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. (AJ, HA, HA, HA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 10/5; AP, AP 10/6)

The Israeli military court at Ofer Prison rejected an appeal to release Palestinian prisoner Kayed al-Fasfous, who has been hunger striking for 64 days in protest against his administrative detention. (WAFA 10/5)

Israel said it had begun demolishing a concrete structure set up near the Blue Line near Shtula on what it claims to be its territory in coordination with UNFIL. The Lebanese army later removed the structure. (HA 10/5)

Unidentified perpetrators killed at least 80 Syrian soldiers and civilians attending the graduation ceremony for military officers in Homs in a drone attack; 240 were reportedly injured. Syria’s military blamed insurgents “backed by known international forces.” (AJ, AJ, AP, HA 10/5; WAFA, WAFA 10/6)

A group of 15 European media outlets published a global investigation, "The Predator Files,” into the Israeli spyware company Intellexa, revealing that it sold spyware to Egypt that has been used to spy on critics of the Egyptian regime. The company pitched their spyware packages to several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Germany, Malaysia, Cameroon, Mauritius, and Sierra Leone, in some cases with help from former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. Intellexa has been blacklisted by the U.S. since July. (HA, HA 10/5)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers uprooted 45 olive tree saplings in al-Khader. Israeli settlers also vandalized Palestinian agricultural structures and crops near Shufa. Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinians during a raid in Beit Umar, injuring 1 with a baton round. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces raided al-Aqsa Mosque, forcing worshipers to leave the mosque, to clear the compound for Israeli settler tours. In Haifa, Israeli police violently dispersed Palestinians protesting the killing of 1 Palestinian man in the Old City on 4/1, injuring 1 woman, confiscating Palestinian flags, and arresting 4. (HA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 4/2; HA, MEE, MEMO 4/3; PCHR 4/6; UNOCHA 4/20)

Several Palestinian majority towns and cities in Israel went on a strike called for by the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel in response to the Israeli police killing of a Palestinian citizen of Israel in the Old City of East Jerusalem on 4/1. (WAFA 4/1; AN, MEE, WAFA 4/2)

U.S. ambassador to Israel Tom Nides announced that the Allenby Bridge crossing to Jordan now would be open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. (ALM 4/3)

The Israeli cabinet approved the establishment of a committee in preparation for the creation of a law enforcement force under the direct control of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. The establishment of the force was Ben-Gvir’s condition for accepting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to pause the judicial overhaul legislation on 3/27. The Israeli police, the Shin Bet, and the attorney general warned against establishing the force. (AJ, AP, GDN, HA, HA, MEE, REU 4/2; HA 4/3)

Israel’s military said it had shot down a drone that had entered Israeli airspace from Syria, saying they believe it was operated by Iran or an Iranian proxy. Israel didn’t say whether the drone was armed. (ALM, AP, REU 4/2; HA 4/3)

In Syria, Israeli forces conducted airstrikes in Homs, injuring 5 Syrian soldiers. (AJ, F24, GDN, HA, WAFA 4/2; AJ 4/10)

In the West Bank, some 20 Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian shepherds in Dahariya, bruising 1 Palestinian who was taken to a hospital for treatment. Israeli settlers also uprooted dozens of olive trees in Taybeh. Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinians protesting an Israeli raid in Biddu, causing tear-gas related injuries. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinians during a protest in Beita, injuring 2 with rubber-coated bullets and 34 with tear gas. Elsewhere, Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Kafr Qaddum, injuring 3 with rubber-coated bullets. 3 Palestinians were arrested, including 2 during late-night raids in Qabatiya and Bayt Jala, and 1 was arrested at a checkpoint north of Ramallah. In East Jerusalem, 5 Palestinians were arrested at the Haram al-Sharif compound, including 4 minors. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen within 3 nautical miles west of Gaza; no injuries were reported. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 10/8; PCHR 10/14)

The Israeli Jerusalem district court overturned a ruling by the Jerusalem magistrate’s court from 10/6, which had ruled to allow Jewish worshippers to pray in silence at the Haram al-Sharif compound. Israeli public security minister Omer Bar-Lev supported the district court’s decision, saying that a change to the status quo could ignite a new wave of confrontations. (HA 10/7; AJ, HA 10/8; MEMO 10/9)

In Syria, 2 people were killed and 6 injured in air strikes at the T-4 military base near Homs. Several media outlets reported that Israel had conducted the strikes. (AP, HA 10/8)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for an independent investigation into Facebook’s censorship of Palestinians and their supporters on its platforms, including Instagram. HRW said that Facebook’s acknowledgement of the censorship was insufficient, and that Facebook needs to be more transparent about its decisions to censor people and groups on its platforms. (HRW, WAFA 10/8)

IDF troops violently disperse Palestinians marching through Bethlehem to mark the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. There are no serious injuries in the ensuing clashes. Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli settlers steal the olives harvested from 280 trees in Palestinian orchards near Nablus. IDF troops arrest 5 Palestinians during raids in Dahaysha refugee camp near Bethlehem overnight, sparking minor clashes; 1 Palestinian is injured. They arrest 11 more Palestinians during latenight raids in and around Tubas, Hebron, and Bethlehem, and patrol near Nablus, Qalqilya, and Hebron. (MNA, WAFA 11/1; PCHR 11/2; PCHR 11/9)

At a ceremony at the Rafah border crossing, Hamas formally hands over control of Gaza’s border crossings to the PA, implementing a key provision of their 10/12 reconciliation agreement. A senior PA official calls the moment an “important step on the path toward reconciliation.” The PA is set to take full control of Gaza on 12/1. (MNA, NYT, REU, TOI, WAFA 11/1)

Haaretz reports that the Israeli police have formed a special unit to oversee security and public order at Haram al-Sharif, following the upsurge in tensions at the site in 7/2017 (see JPS 47 [1]). The unit is expected to comprise about 200 officers when it begins operations in 2018. (HA 11/1)

PA pres. Abbas writes an op-ed for The Guardian lamenting the Balfour Declaration on its 100-year anniversary. “This British policy, to support Jewish immigration into Palestine while negating the Arab-Palestinian right to self-determination, created severe tensions between European Jewish immigrants and the native Palestinian population,” he writes. Meanwhile, Israeli PM Netanyahu flies to the UK to participate in the 100th anniversary celebrations. (GDN, TOI 11/1)

The IDF orders some 300 Palestinian Bedouins to leave their homes in the northern Jordan Valley ahead of the planned demolition of their village. Similar orders have been issued for Bedouin villages near Jerusalem in the past, but none have been enforced yet. (HA 11/17)

Israeli jets launch air strikes on an alleged Syrian government weapons depot in an industrial zone near Homs along the Lebanon-Syria border. The site reportedly hosted joint Iranian-Syrian activities. (HA 11/1; YA 11/2)