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  • December 4, 2017

    In the West Bank, Israeli settlers gather outside Qusra village near Nablus where a Palestinian farmer was shot dead by a settler on 11/30. Palestinians throw stones and roll burning tires toward...

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  • May 29, 2011

    The IDF bulldozes 8 wells in Kafr Dan village nr. Jenin; conducts morning patrols in 3 villages nr. Jericho, Ramallah, and Tulkarm; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Dahaysha r.c...

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  • July 9, 2008

    The IDF conducts additional late-night raids in Nablus, searching, sealing, and confiscating computers and documents fr. several organizations allegedly connected to the ICA, including Afaq TV...

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  • January 2, 2008

    Overnight, the IDF sends troops into Gaza City, clashing with local gunmen and calling in air strikes in support, killing 7 Palestinian gunmen (including 4 Hamas, 2 PRC mbrs.), wounding 4...

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  • September 29, 2007

    The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Fajjar nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Kafr Dan. Jewish settlers fr. Itamar nr. Nablus steal olives fr. Palestinian land in nearby Yanun. In Khan Yunis...

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  • September 28, 2007

    The IDF patrols in Kafr Dan nr. Jenin; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent...

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  • August 17, 2007

    In Gaza, Palestinians begin experiencing longer blackouts resulting fr. fuel shortages since Israel closed the Nahal Oz pipeline on 8/15. Hamas volunteers undertake a clean-up campaign in Khan...

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  • June 14, 2007

    Hamas presses its offensive in Gaza, taking over all PA ministry offices in Gaza City, securing control of Rafah, forcing PSF officers to surrender their Gaza City headquarters (after destroying...

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  • May 29, 2007

    The IDF makes an air strike on a Hamas training facility nr. Jabaliya r.c., killing 2 Hamas mbrs.; fires at least 4 missiles at another empty training facility in al-Mawasi, destroying it; sends...

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  • May 18, 2007

    In Gaza, the IDF assassinates IQB mbrs. Ra’ed Habib and Munir al-Jamal in an air strike on their car in Gaza City, wounding 6 bystanders; makes 5 other air strikes on Hamas and ESF targets in Bayt...

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  • March 26, 2007

    IDF troops on the Gaza border fire a tank shell at a Gaza municipality truck nr. Juhur al-Dik, injuring 4 municipal workers; send tanks, bulldozers into Gaza nr. Bureij r.c. to level land. The...

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  • December 5, 2006

    The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Kafr Dan nr. Jenin, Nablus. (OCHA 12/6; PCHR 12/7)

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  • October 26, 2006

    In Gaza, the IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian hunting birds when he strays near an IDF observation post nr. Jabaliya; fires on Palestinians working on a farm nr. al-Maghazi r.c., wounding 1; makes...

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  • September 6, 2006

    In Gaza, the IDF continues operations in Khuza‘a, wounding 8 Palestinians (including at least 4 civilians), bulldozing areas of agricultural land. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units...

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  • September 1, 2006

    The IDF sends undercover units into Tulkarm in a car with Palestinian license plates to arrest a wanted Palestinian; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Jenin town and r.c., as well as in...

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  • August 7, 2006

    In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Azun in a car with Palestinian license plates, surrounds a home, arrests 1 PSF mbr. who surrenders; conducts random ID checks in, fires on...

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  • May 24, 2006

    The IDF sends undercover units into Ramallah’s central shopping district, where they arrest Islamic Jihad’s Qalqilya military leader Muhammad Shubaki; when the unit is confronted by armed...

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  • May 23, 2006

    The IDF sends bulldozers 300 m into central Gaza to level land along the border; sends troops into Nablus, firing tear gas at Palestinian children on their way home fr. school; sends troops into...

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  • January 15, 2006

    The IDF reopens Gaza’s Erez crossing (closed on 12/16); fatally shoots an armed Palestinian in Nablus who reportedly was guarding his home after recent clashes with other Palestinians, also...

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  • December 7, 2005

    IDF air strikes target the head of the Popular Resistance Comm.’s (PRC) Salah al-Din Brigades Mahmud Arqan, assassinating him as he drives through a residential area of Rafah, wounding at least 5...

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  • May 27, 2003

    The IDF conducts a predawn raid on Jenin, placing the town under curfew, prompting an exchange of gunfire in which 1 IDF soldier is wounded; fires on a Swiss envoy’s diplomatic vehicle at Erez...

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In the West Bank, Israeli settlers gather outside Qusra village near Nablus where a Palestinian farmer was shot dead by a settler on 11/30. Palestinians throw stones and roll burning tires toward the settlers; IDF troops violently disperse them, critically injuring 1. Elsewhere, IDF troops conduct raids in Kafr Dan near Jenin, sparking clashes with stonethrowing Palestinians; there are no serious injuries. They also arrest 8 Palestinians during late-night raids near Nablus, Jenin, and Hebron; and patrol near Qalqilya. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 4 Islamic Waqf guards at Haram al-Sharif and 4 more Palestinians during raids in Biddu and Ras al-Amud. Off Gaza’s coast, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats near Bayt Lahiya and Jabaliya refugee camp, causing no damage or injuries. (HA, IMEMC, MNA, TOI, WAFA 12/4; PCHR 12/7)

The Trump administration announces that it has not yet reached a decision about relocating the U.S. embassy in Israel, despite the fact that today is the deadline for Trump to sign the presidential waiver delaying the move for 6 months. “We will share a decision on the waiver in the coming days,” a spokesperson says. Because Trump did not sign the waiver in time, U.S. law allows Congress to demand that he move the embassy and cut funding to the State Dept. It’s unlikely lawmakers will pursue either option. (HA, NYT, TOI, WAFA 12/4; HA, REU 12/5)

The IAF conducts air strikes on a Syrian government military research center near Damascus late at night, causing a disputed amount of damage. (HA, TOI 12/5)

The IDF bulldozes 8 wells in Kafr Dan village nr. Jenin; conducts morning patrols in 3 villages nr. Jericho, Ramallah, and Tulkarm; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem. (PCHR 6/2; OCHA 6/3)

The IDF conducts additional late-night raids in Nablus, searching, sealing, and confiscating computers and documents fr. several organizations allegedly connected to the ICA, including Afaq TV station, the Union of Palestinian Women Committees (confiscating food donations intended for needy Nablus families), a clinic, a kindergarten (taking 2 buses). The IDF sends undercover units driving a car with Palestinian license plates into Kafr Dan nr. Jenin, ambushing a Palestinian car and opening fire, assassinating Talal ‘Abid, a wanted mbr. of the Abu Ammar Brigades (a Fatah offshoot in Jenin), arresting a 2d Palestinian; sends troops, bulldozers into Hebron to demolish 2 Palestinian homes (18 residents) for allegedly harboring wanted individuals, also uprooting trees and heavily damaging a 3d home; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas a Palestinians demonstrating against the separation wall in Dayr al-Ghusun nr. Tulkarm, injuring several (including 2 journalists); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha fire 6 mortars at Burin village and 1 at Madama village, causing no damage or injuries (see 7/1, 7/3). Israel’s Interior Min. approves construction of 920 new settler housing units in Har Homa settlement in the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabal Abu Ghunaym in Jerusalem; it is not clear if this figure includes 121 units approved on 6/1. (JP 7/9; PCHR 7/10; WT 7/11; OCHA 7/16; PCHR 7/17; NYT 7/18; AHR 7/21)

Overnight, the IDF sends troops into Gaza City, clashing with local gunmen and calling in air strikes in support, killing 7 Palestinian gunmen (including 4 Hamas, 2 PRC mbrs.), wounding 4 bystanders. In an apparent assassination attempt, the IDF fires a missile at a car nr. Nussayrat r.c. driven by a senior PRC mbr., leaving him unharmed but injuring 3 PRC mbrs. traveling with him. Citing humanitarian concerns, Egypt allows 2,152 Palestinian pilgrims, including at least 1 senior Hamas official, to return to Gaza via the Rafah crossing, angering Israel; 1,000s of Hamas supporters rally at the crossing to welcome the pilgrims home. In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes 7 bedouin tents nr. Mikhmas outside Ramallah, displacing 60 Palestinians; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and nr. Bethlehem, Ramallah; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Jenin town and r.c.; occupies a vacant Palestinian home in Kafr Dan nr. Jenin as an observation post; patrols in Tulkarm, firing live ammunition at stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1 teenager. Jewish settlers fr. Matityahu settlement attempt to set up 2 trailers on Palestinian land in Bil‘in; the IDF removes the settlers. (NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 1/3; OCHA 2/9; PCHR 1/10)

The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Fajjar nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Kafr Dan. Jewish settlers fr. Itamar nr. Nablus steal olives fr. Palestinian land in nearby Yanun. In Khan Yunis, Fatah mbrs. protest at the Omar Bin al-Khattab Mosque over Hamas’s removal of the pro-Fatah imam; ESF officers fire on, beat demonstrators to disperse them, wounding 21 (5 with live ammunition, 16 with batons). (OCHA 10/3; PCHR 10/4)

The IDF patrols in Kafr Dan nr. Jenin; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 5. An Army of Islam mbr. dies of injuries received in an 9/26 IDF air strike on Gaza City. (OCHA 10/3; PCHR 10/4)

After nearly a wk. of talks with Quartet reps. and officials from Israel, the PA, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the UAE on the sidelines of UN mtgs. in New York, the Bush admin. formally announces that a Palestinian-Israeli peace summit has been planned for 11/15 in Annapolis, MD. (WT 9/29; see also NYT, WP, WT 9/24)

In Gaza, Palestinians begin experiencing longer blackouts resulting fr. fuel shortages since Israel closed the Nahal Oz pipeline on 8/15. Hamas volunteers undertake a clean-up campaign in Khan Yunis, where municipal sanitation workers have been on strike over salary issues. The IDF makes an air strike on an Islamic Jihad rocketlaunching site nr. Bayt Lahiya in n. Gaza, causing no injuries. A 10-yr.-old Palestinian boy is injured when a Palestinian rocket fired fr. Gaza toward Israel hits a Palestinian home nr. Bayt Hanun, nr. the n. Gaza border. In the West Bank, the IDF kills 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. in an exchange of fire nr. Jenin; sends troops into Kafr Dan nr. Jenin to patrol, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, killing a 14-yr.-old Palestinian boy, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Palestinian resistance mbrs. that leaves 1 armed Palestinian dead, 7 Palestinians wounded; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (firing on residential areas, wounding a Palestinian woman in her home), in Qalqilya, nr. Hebron; 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, injuring 5. (BBC 8/17; NYT 8/19; OCHA 8/22; PCHR 8/23)

Hamas presses its offensive in Gaza, taking over all PA ministry offices in Gaza City, securing control of Rafah, forcing PSF officers to surrender their Gaza City headquarters (after destroying all equipment, computers, archives; eye-witness reports say Hamas mbrs. summarily execute at least 7 PSF mbrs.) and other main security compounds; capturing and executing Fatah’s n. Gaza cmdr. Samih al-Madhun. At least 27 Palestinians are killed (14 of them in the fight for the PSF headquarters), 70 wounded in fighting during the day. Nearly 100 senior Fatah security and admin. officials flee Gaza for Egypt by boat (Egypt has already returned the 40 PA presidential guards who fled on 6/13). At the same time, the IDF occupies hills outside Bayt Lahiya to prevent rocket fire into Israel. With Gaza under almost complete Hamas control, Abbas declares a state of emergency, fires Haniyeh, and dissolves the national unity government. He also for the first time orders PA/Fatah forces to take offensive action against Hamas. Late in the evening, Hamas gains control of Abbas’s Gaza City offices, the only remaining Gaza institution still in the hands of Fatah/the PA. In the West Bank, PA forces under Abbas’s control begin rounding up 10s of Hamas mbrs. In and around Nablus and in Jenin, Tulkarm, masked AMB mbrs. raid offices affiliated with Hamas, Change and Reform, looting and sometimes setting fire to them, exchanging fire with Hamas mbrs., leaving at least 13 Palestinians injured. The AMB also abducts 5 Hamas mbrs. in Jenin. Meanwhile, Abbas’s national security adviser Muhammad Dahlan (the U.S. and Israel’s hope for restoring order to Gaza) returns from an extended stay in Egypt, where he underwent minor surgery, going to Ramallah instead of Gaza to confer with Abbas. Meanwhile, the IDF sends an undercover unit into Saida nr. Tulkarm, driving a car with Palestinian license plates, assassinating wanted AMB mbr. Muhammad Twair in a driveby shooting, also wounding 2 bystanders; sends patrols in Ithna nr. Hebron, Kafr Dan and Kafr Ra’i nr. Jenin, firing on residential areas and on stone-throwing youths who confront them, seriously wounding 1 Palestinian. Jewish settlers burn 10s of olive trees nr. Tulkarm; the IDF bars firefighters fr. reaching the scene. In Gaza, 5 Palestinian children (ages 10–15) are killed and 4 (ages 9–16) are wounded by IDF UXO nr. Shuka while collecting scrap metal; the 8 children are from 3 families: 2 Mansour boys are killed, 2 Hessi boys are killed, and 1 Barbakh boy is killed and 4 are wounded. (AFP, Jerusalem Post, MENA, MNA 6/14 in WNC 6/15; AP, BBC, NYT, WP, WT 6/15; WP 6/18; PCHR 6/21)

The IDF makes an air strike on a Hamas training facility nr. Jabaliya r.c., killing 2 Hamas mbrs.; fires at least 4 missiles at another empty training facility in al-Mawasi, destroying it; sends ground troops into areas nr. Jabaliya, shooting and wounding 1 Palestinian. In Nussayrat r.c., 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs. are killed when a bomb they are making explodes prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Ramallah to ambush, assassinate AMB mbr. Omar ‘Abd al-Halim, wounding 5 bystanders; sends undercover units into Kafr Dan nr. Jenin to ambush, assassinate Islamic Jihad mbr. ‘Id Hisham Khalil; makes arrest raids in and around Jenin town and r.c. (fatally shooting Muhammad Marai‘, who announced a wk. ago the formation of a new Fatah splinter group, the Martyr Abu Ammar Brigades, in what may be an assassination) and in Nablus (detaining Fatah PC mbr. and PA General Intelligence Nablus head Jamal Tirawi, 3 others), Tulkarm r.c. (al-Haq press release, NYT, OCHA 5/30; NYT, PCHR, WP 5/31)

In Gaza, the IDF assassinates IQB mbrs. Ra’ed Habib and Munir al-Jamal in an air strike on their car in Gaza City, wounding 6 bystanders; makes 5 other air strikes on Hamas and ESF targets in Bayt Lahiya, Dayr al-Balah, and Gaza City, wounding 10 bystanders, destroying 2 alleged weapons factories, damaging several homes. In retaliation, Hamas fires 17 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, injuring 2 Israelis in Sederot. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza City coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Kafr Dan nr. Jenin, wounding 3 Palestinians; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c.; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists holding a weekly nonviolent protest against the separation wall in Bil‘in nr. Ramallah, injuring 2. Jewish settlers scuffle with Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists demonstrating against the wall in Bani Na‘im nr. Hebron; the IDF intervenes, detaining 5 activists. Meanwhile, Fatah-Hamas fighting in Gaza continues, leaving 4 Palestinians dead and more than a dozen wounded. Incidents include Abbas’s presidential guard firing RPGs and mortars at the predominantly Hamas Islamic University in Gaza City. A 7-yr.-old Palestinian boy dies of injuries received in the 5/17 Fatah attack on a funeral in Rafah. (AP, WP 5/18; NYT, WP, WT 5/19; PCHR 5/21; OCHA 5/23; PCHR 5/24)

IDF troops on the Gaza border fire a tank shell at a Gaza municipality truck nr. Juhur al-Dik, injuring 4 municipal workers; send tanks, bulldozers into Gaza nr. Bureij r.c. to level land. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF temporarily occupies several buildings in Nablus, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen, leaving 2 armed Palestinians dead; patrols in and around Jenin town and r.c.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Kafr Dan and Qabatya nr. Jenin, Tulkarm; issues military orders confiscating 10 d. of Palestinian land e. of Tulkarm for military training purposes. In tandem with a visit by U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice, 2,000 right-wing Jewish settlers and activists march to and reoccupy the Homesh settlement site in the n. West Bank, evacuated during disengagement in 2005, with plans to stay at the site for 2 days and eventually to rebuild the settlement; the main YESHA settlers group does not endorse the action; the IDF mobilizes 4 brigades to monitor marchers and take action should they or local Palestinians become violent, saying they will forcibly remove the settlers if they do not leave on 3/27 as planned. Fatah-Hamas clashes leave 5 Palestinians wounded in Rafah. Hamas mbrs. fire an antitank missile at, then occupy the Fatah-affiliated Bayt Hanun Sports Club; no injuries are reported. (WT 3/26; NYT, WT 3/27; OCHA 3/28; PCHR 3/29)

The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Kafr Dan nr. Jenin, Nablus. (OCHA 12/6; PCHR 12/7)

In Gaza, the IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian hunting birds when he strays near an IDF observation post nr. Jabaliya; fires on Palestinians working on a farm nr. al-Maghazi r.c., wounding 1; makes an air strike destroying the home of a Hamas mbr., a neighboring home in Jabaliya r.c. after warning residents to leave. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in cars with Palestinian license plates into al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Jenin in search of wanted Islamic Jihad mbrs., fires on residential areas, exchanges fire with Palestinian gunmen, killing 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., wounding and arresting 1; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c. (fatally shooting 1 Palestinian who goes to his roof to see what is going on), in Hebron and Qalqilya, nr. Bethlehem; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Kafr Dan nr. Jenin. (OCHA 11/1; PCHR 11/2)

In Gaza, the IDF continues operations in Khuza‘a, wounding 8 Palestinians (including at least 4 civilians), bulldozing areas of agricultural land. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in a car with Palestinian license plates into Jenin to assassinate Islamic Jihad cmdr. Mujahid alSabi‘, also firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1; raids Kafr Dan, firing on residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Askar r.c. and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, Tulkarm. (PCHR, WP 9/7; PCHR 9/14)

Israel announces that, in a deal brokered by the UN, it will remove its air and naval blockade on Lebanon as of 6:00 P.M. local time on 9/7 as British, French, German, Greek, Italian forces take over naval patrols and assist the Lebanese army in border patrol, but says it will reserve the right to attack any smugglers it detects crossing the Syrian border. (IFM 9/6; NYT, WP, WT 9/7)

The IDF sends undercover units into Tulkarm in a car with Palestinian license plates to arrest a wanted Palestinian; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Jenin town and r.c., as well as in Kafr Dan and Kafr Ra’i nr. Jenin; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. (PCHR 9/7)

In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Azun in a car with Palestinian license plates, surrounds a home, arrests 1 PSF mbr. who surrenders; conducts random ID checks in, fires on residential areas of Kafr Dan nr. Jenin; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, in Dahaysha r.c., nr. Bethlehem, Hebron; burns 70 d. of agricultural land btwn. the separation wall and the Green Line nr. Tulkarm (see 8/5). In Ramallah, 7 Palestinians working in the PC building are taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties after opening a suspicious letter addressed to PM Haniyeh; the building is evacuated. The PA head of military intelligence for n. Gaza dies of injuries received in an ambush in Jabaliya r.c. on 8/6; no group claims responsibility. (AP 8/7; WP 8/8; OCHA 8/9; PCHR 8/10)

Overnight, the IDF destroys the last remaining bridge over the Litani River linking n. and s. Lebanon; this cuts off access to Tyre. The IDF announces a 10:00 P.M. curfew on Tyre, saying that any movement there after dark and any vehicular traffic s. of the Litani River at any time will henceforth be considered Hizballah activity and a legitimate target. As UN mbrs. narrow differences on a cease-fire res., Olmert’s security cabinet discusses speeding up the IDF’s advance to the Litani River, escalating attacks on Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure. During the day, the IDF continues heavy air, artillery strikes on some 150 targets across Lebanon, hitting s. Beirut (including 47 killed, 70 wounded in the Christian-Shi‘i suburb of al-Shiyah, where Shi‘a are pro-Amal), the Biqa‘ Valley (including Baalbek, Masnaa), in and around Nabatiyya (including 7 civilians killed in air strikes on cars traveling in Qasmiyya; 15 killed, 20 wounded in an air strike on an apartment building in Ghaziyya), and across s. Lebanon (including demolishing a 4-building apartment complex in Tyre), killing at least 69 Lebanese civilians; continues ground operations across s. Lebanon that leave 3 IDF soldiers dead, 7 wounded in Bint Jubayl and include heavy fighting in Hula (the IDF claims to kill at least 15 Hizballah mbrs.); downs an unmanned Hizballah drone off the s. Lebanon coast. Hizballah fires 130 rockets into n. Israel, injuring 10 Israelis, hitting targets in Acre, Carmiel, Kiryat Shimona (70 rockets), Ma’alot, Nahariya, Safad. The ICRC says that the IDF has barred humanitarian aid missions to the south for 3 days. (BBC, NYT, WP 8/7; BBC, NYT, WP, WT 8/8; WP, WT 8/9; WP 8/10)

The IDF sends undercover units into Ramallah’s central shopping district, where they arrest Islamic Jihad’s Qalqilya military leader Muhammad Shubaki; when the unit is confronted by armed militants and stone-throwing protesters, the IDF sends in uniformed reinforcements that clash with the Palestinians, leaving 1 PA General Intelligence officer, 3 bystanders dead, at least 35 Palestinians and 1 IDF soldier wounded. The IDF also sends bulldozers, tanks, jeeps 200 m inside the Gaza border nr. Bureij r.c. to level land for ongoing construction of a cement wall along the n. Gaza border; raids the municipal offices in Maithalun nr. Jenin, removes the Palestinian flag fr. the building, fires tear gas; patrols in Farkha nr. Nablus (firing on residential areas), Kafr Dan; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Bethlehem, and nr. Hebron, Jenin. In central Gaza, PSF chief for central Gaza Nabil Hudud dies when a bomb rigged to his car explodes; no group claims responsibility; Fatah and Hamas gunmen, however, exchange fire outside Gaza’s Shifa Hospital after Hudud’s body is brought in. In Khan Yunis, unidentified gunmen kidnap, shoot 3 Hamas mbrs., killing 1; no group claims responsibility; Hamas accuses the PA security forces. (AFP, Guardian, HA, NYT, PCHR, Palestine Monitor [Internet], WP 5/25; OCHA, PCHR 6/1)

The IDF sends bulldozers 300 m into central Gaza to level land along the border; sends troops into Nablus, firing tear gas at Palestinian children on their way home fr. school; sends troops into Tulkarm to search a car, confiscate a computer; patrols in Kafr Dan nr. Jenin; conducts arrest raids in and around Hebron and Ramallah (capturing Izzeddine al-Qassam Brigades West Bank head Ibrahim Hamid), in Jericho, and nr. Qalqilya. An Israeli court rejects an appeal by East Jerusalem Palestinians challenging the route of the separation wall around Ma’ale Adumim, determining that the DMin. has given “adequate consideration of the barrier’s impact on residents while balancing the security needs of Israeli citizens.” (AFP, MM 5/23; NYT, WP, WT 5/24; PCHR 5/25)

The IDF reopens Gaza’s Erez crossing (closed on 12/16); fatally shoots an armed Palestinian in Nablus who reportedly was guarding his home after recent clashes with other Palestinians, also killing 1 Palestinian inside the home and wounding 5; detains 3 of Hamas’s Change and Reform candidates in East Jerusalem; bars several candidates running in the Hebron district fr. entering al-Ramadin village to campaign; raids offices in East Jerusalem allegedly linked to Change and Reform campaigning; sends troops into Kafr Dan west of Jenin, fires on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 3; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Alar, Jalazun r.c., Qalqilya, al-Til.Israeli police break up a Change and Reform campaign rally in East Jerusalem, detaining 3 candidates, 3 other Palestinians. Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino set fire to 6 Palestinian shops in the Hebron cloth market. (IMEMC, JP, PCHR 1/15; NYT, WP, WT 1/16; PCHR 1/19; PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. press release 1/23)

IDF air strikes target the head of the Popular Resistance Comm.’s (PRC) Salah al-Din Brigades Mahmud Arqan, assassinating him as he drives through a residential area of Rafah, wounding at least 5 bystanders. In retaliation, Palestinians fire several rockets and 1 mortar fr. n. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; IDF artillery fires 10s of shells on roads and uninhabited areas in n. Gaza, causing no reported casualties. The IDF also conducts arrest raids nr. Ramallah and in Balata r.c., Hebron, Tulkarm; raids Waqf offices, 2 charitable societies in Jenin, confiscating computers and files, sealing the buildings; conducts arrest raids in Bani Na‘im nr. Hebron, Bayt Laqia, Bethlehem, Kafr Dan nr. Jenin, al-Khadi, Tulkarm r.c. Late in the evening, the IDF raids the Muslim Youth Association in Hebron, confiscates computers, copiers, documents and vandalizes and seals the building. A Palestinian woman (a bystander) is killed, several Palestinians are wounded in a clash btwn. rival clans in Bayt Hanun in continuation of the fatal violence of 12/3. (Israeli FMin. press release, JAZ, JP, YA 12/7; HA, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT, XIN 12/8; HA 12/9; PCHR 12/15)

The IDF conducts a predawn raid on Jenin, placing the town under curfew, prompting an exchange of gunfire in which 1 IDF soldier is wounded; fires on a Swiss envoy’s diplomatic vehicle at Erez crossing for no apparent reason, causing damage but no injuries (Switzerland files a formal protest.); fires on stone-throwing youths in Tulkarm, killing 1 Palestinian; demolishes 1 Palestinian home in Bayt Furik, 1 outside Hebron, 1 in al-Til; confiscates 7 dunams of land in Habla, nr. Qalqilya; fires on residential areas of Bayt Furik, Khan Yunis, Tulkarm r.c.; conducts arrest raids in Abu Dis, Balata r.c., Bethlehem, Kafr Dan, Qalqilya, Tubas, Yamun; tightens roadblocks around Ramallah. In Hebron, 5 Palestinian children are injured when they trigger unexploded munitions while playing. Palestinians fire 2 Qassam rockets at Sederot, causing no damage or injuries; detonate a roadside bomb underneath an IDF vehicle in Gaza, causing damage but no injuries. Extremist rightwing Jewish settlers affiliated with the “hilltop youth” and the outlawed Kach movement announce plans to launch a “personal incitement campaign” against Sharon in light of his approval of the road map. (HA 5/27; AFP 5/27 in WNC 5/28; NYT, WT 5/28; MA 5/28 in WNC 5/29; LAW, PCHR 5/29)