The Palestine Chronology

In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian man in al-Tur after he drives his car into a crowd, injuring 2 border police guards. Israeli forces demolish a 3-story building in Ras al-Amud claiming it was built without a license. In the West Bank, Israeli forces close the entrance to a village nr. Nablus after a Palestinian throws a Molotov cocktail at a settler’s car. The IDF also conducts late-night raids in and around Hebron, Jenin, and Nablus, and in Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, arresting 14 Palestinians; patrols in 1 village nr. Ramallah during the day. (HA, JP, MNA, WAFA, YA 5/20; MNA, PCHR, WAFA 5/21; PCHR 5/28)

Following public criticism and consultation with DM Moshe Ya’alon, Israeli PM Netanyahu orders the suspension of the new 3-mo. pilot project restricting Palestinian travel, initiated on 5/19. Ya’alon says he will continue his efforts to reduce the number of Palestinians entering Israel illegally. (HA, MNA, NYT, TOI, YA 5/20) 

EU foreign policy chief Mogherini meets with Netanyahu in Israel, who says he is still committed to the 2-state solution and he proposes a new round of peace negotiations with the Palestinians with the specific goal of establishing borders for Israel’s West Bank settlement blocs (the news of his proposal will not break until 5/26). Also, Mogherini reportedly tells Netanyahu that the European campaign calling for labeling of products from Israeli settlements is unstoppable. The PM’s office will deny that they discussed the labeling campaign when the news breaks on 6/2. Mogherini also meets with PA pres. Abbas and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat in Ramallah. (HA, JP, YA 5/20; WAFA 5/21; HA, REU, TOI 5/26; HA 6/2)

Norwegian FM Børge Brende meets with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and tells him that international pressure on Israel regarding its treatment of the Palestinians will likely resume after the P5+1 (the 5 permanent mbrs. of the UN Security Council plus Germany) reach a comprehensive agreement with Iran by their 6/30 deadline. (LF 5/19; EI, HA, 5/20; HA, YA 5/21)

In n. Gaza, a mbr. of Hamas’s armed wing, Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades (IQB), dies in a tunnel collapse nr. Bayt Lahiya. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and raids in and around Hebron, al-‘Arub r.c., 2 villages nr. Jenin, 1 nr. Bethlehem, and al-Fara‘a r. c. near Tubas, arresting 15 Palestinians and issuing an arrest summons to 1. Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian agricultural lands nr. Hebron, destroying 250 olive trees. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority security forces (PASF) conduct raids in and around Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem, and Tubas, arresting 4 Palestinians affiliated with Hamas and issuing arrest summons to 3 others. In East Jerusalem, an Israeli police officer assaults a Palestinian tour guide after an argument at Haram al-Sharif. Late at night, Israeli forces demolish 3 Palestinian-owned stores and a home under construction in Silwan. (MNA 5/18; JP 5/19; PCHR 5/21)

The Israeli PM’s office confirms that Dep. PM Silvan Shalom has been appointed to oversee any resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians. Former justice min. Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) filled this role in the previous govt. (AFP, HA, JP, TOI 5/18; AFP 5/19)

PA pres. Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesperson calls PM Netanyahu’s 5/17 remarks about Jerusalem a clear violation of UN res. and states that there will be no peace in the Middle East unless the Palestinians have a capital in East Jerusalem. (HA, TOI 5/18)

After a meeting of the European Union (EU) FMs in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says that the EU is “ready and willing” to play a major role in a new round of peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. Mogherini will be traveling to the region to meet with Netanyahu and Abbas on 5/20–21. (JP, REU 5/18; TOI 5/19; HA 6/7)

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Khan Yunis fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers nr. the border fence, causing some damage but no injuries. Off the coast nr. al-Sudaniyya, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boasts, causing no injuries. Also off the coast, IAF jets fire flash bombs nr. Palestinian fishing boats. In the West Bank, Israeli forces demolish a home nr. Ramallah. IDF troops clash with stone-throwing Palestinians in c. Hebron and nr. Nablus, causing a number to suffer from tear gas inhalation. The IDF also conducts raids in a village nr. Hebron, arresting 9 Palestinians; patrols in and around Tulkarm, as well as 1 village each nr. Hebron and Qalqilya. An Israeli settler rams his car into a Palestinian child s. of Hebron, injuring him. Also, Israeli settlers damage water pipes leading to Palestinian homes in c. Hebron, causing minor flooding. In East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities ban 4 Palestinians from entering Haram al-Sharif for varying amounts of time after 3 are arrested in the sanctuary. In Tel Aviv, thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel gather in Rabin Square to protest the housing shortage and home demolitions in their communities. Also, Palestinians across Israel conduct a general strike, responding to a call from the Arab High Follow-Up Comm. (AFP, HA, JP, MNA, WAFA 4/28; HA, MNA, PCHR 4/29; HA 4/30; PCHR 5/7)

Fired from Syria, 2 mortar shells land in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, causing no injuries. The IDF describes them as “spillover” from the Syrian conflict. (HA, MNA, YA 4/28)

In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Mogherini, 59 mbrs. of the European parliament call for the release of PLC mbr. Jarrar, who was placed in administrative detention by the IDF on 4/2. (WAFA 4/29)

IDF troops on the Gaza border arrest 2 Palestinians attempting to cross into Israel nr. Khan Yunis. In the West Bank, Israeli forces detain Nablus gov. Akram Rajoub briefly at a checkpoint nr. the city; confiscate 2 cranes from a construction site s. of Nablus. IDF troops violently disperse Palestinians protesting outside Ofer Prison nr. Ramallah ahead of Prisoners’ Day on 4/17, injuring 1. The IDF also conducts house searches and raids in 1 village each nr. Jenin and Hebron, arresting 2 Palestinians; patrols in 2 villages nr. Hebron and 1 nr. Jericho. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces shoot out the eye of a Palestinian with a sponge-tipped bullet during clashes sparked by a raid in Issawiyya. The man will lose his eye. (JP, MNA, WAFA 4/16; PCHR 4/23)

Israel’s Supreme Court upholds the 1950 Absentee Property Law, which allows the Israeli govt. to seize property in East Jerusalem if its owners live in the West Bank or Gaza. (HA 4/16; IMEMC 4/17; MNA 4/18)

FMs from 16 of the 28 EU mbr. states sign onto a letter to EU foreign policy chief Mogherini calling for goods produced in the Israeli settlements to be labeled as such in stores across Europe, reiterating public calls by the EU Council in 5/2012, 12/2012, and 11/2014 as well as a similar letter to the previous EU foreign affairs chief in 4/2013. (HA, TOI, YA 4/16; AFP 4/17)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts a house search and raid in Jericho, arresting 2 Palestinians; patrols in Nablus, al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, and 1 village nr. Jenin. Israeli settlers park a group of mobile homes on Palestinian land nr. Nablus, establishing a new settlement outpost. Elsewhere, Palestinians in a village nr. Ramallah say that the Israeli authorities have informed them that they are planning on opening a major road e. of the city, having kept it closed since 2001 (Israeli forces will open the road on 5/25). Israeli authorities also inform farmers nr. Salfit that they plan to demolish 20 olive trees in the area. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces and settlers surround and attempt to evacuate a Palestinian-rented home in the Old City, but the tenants’ lawyer secures a stay on a 3/15 eviction order until 5/2015; small clashes break out. Separately, Israeli forces conduct house searches and raids in Issawiyya and Ras al-Amud, arresting 7 Palestinians. (HA, MNA, WAFA 3/16; PCHR 3/19; EI 3/25)

Israeli PM Netanyahu says that if he is chosen to serve a 3d consecutive term as PM, there will be no Palestinian state, responding to the confusion on 3/8 when his office refuted a Likud Party statement that said he was disavowing his 2009 Bar Ilan speech, in which he 1st came out in favor of the 2-state solution. (AFP, HA, MNA, TOI, YA 3/16)

Palestinian amb. to Iraq Ahmad Aqil says that the Iraqi Higher Judicial Council has issued a res. applying equal status as Iraqi citizens to Palestinian refugees in Iraq—except for full Iraqi nationality. While it is consistent with existing law protecting the rights of Palestinian refugees that passed under Saddam Hussein, those laws were not thoroughly enforced after his overthrow and around 22,000 Palestinians left Iraq. (MNA 3/16)

Iranian FM Zarif and U.S. Secy. of State Kerry, along with other reps. of Iran and the U.S., meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, for a week of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. Zarif travels to Brussels to meet with envoys from several EU mbr. states as well as EU foreign policy chief Mogherini. (AFP, JP, TOI 3/16)

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Khan Yunis fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers nr. the border fence, causing no injuries. A Palestinian is moderately injured when he triggers Israeli unexploded ordnance nr. Rafah. In the West Bank, IDF troops violently disperse over 1,000 Palestinians, mostly women, demonstrating nr. Qalandia to mark International Women’s Day, moderately injuring 4. They also violently disperse Palestinian activists as they are removing a metal gate installed at the entrance to a village nr. Bethlehem and a group protesting land expropriation in a village nr. Hebron. Israeli soldiers accompanied by Israeli settlers violently disperse Palestinians nonviolently protesting s. of Hebron. The IDF conducts patrols and house searches in a village nr. Hebron, arresting 2 Palestinians. The PASF raids Balata r.c. nr. Nablus, sparking a brief firefight with the wanted Palestinian; 2 bystanders are injured. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces conduct house searches and raids nr. the Old City, arresting 8 Palestinians; disperse a group of Palestinian youth throwing stones at the Jerusalem Light Rail in Shu‘fat, arresting 2. Israeli settlers assault a Palestinian man in Silwan, moderately injuring him. (AP, JP, MNA, WAFA 3/7; MNA 3/8; PCHR 3/12)

In Cairo, Islamic Jihad’s delegation departs after 6 days of negotiations with the Egyptian authorities on opening the Rafah border crossing. According to sources close to the talks, the Egyptians have agreed in principle to completely open the crossing once the violence in the Sinai Peninsula subsides, the PA unity govt. has staffed the crossing, and Hamas commits to not to interfere in Egyptian affairs. Also, Egyptian officials announce that the Rafah crossing will open on 3/9–10. (AFP, MNA 3/7)

In Paris, French FM Laurent Fabius, U.S. Secy. of State Kerry, UK Foreign Secy. Philip Hammond, German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini meet to review recent progress in their negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. (TOI 3/6, 3/7; DPA 3/8)

In the Gaza Strip, IDF troops e. of Khan Yunis detain 3 Palestinians as they attempt to cross the border fence into Israel. In the West Bank, Israeli forces conduct house searches and arrest raids nr. Ramallah and Jenin; patrol nr. Hebron and Salfit; demolish 30 dunams (around 7.4 acres) of wheat fields nr. Bethlehem; and deliver eviction orders to several Palestinian bedouin families in a village nr. Jericho. Israeli settlers level land so they can establish a road leading to an outpost s. of Bethlehem. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces fire sound bombs and tear gas at Palestinian students as they exit their elementary school in al-Tur, then arrest 1 of their parents. (MNA, WAFA 1/15; PCHR 1/22; OCHA 1/23)

In Cairo, the Arab League agrees to make the “necessary communications and consultations” with international partners to submit a new proposal on behalf of the Palestinians to the UNSC. Diplomats from 5 Arab countries will form a joint comm. to organize the resubmission, and PA Pres. Abbas agrees to respect the comm.’s decisions regarding timing. (AP, HA, JP, MNA, WAFA 1/15; TOI 1/17)

After meeting with the U.S. Consul Gen. to Israel and Palestine Michael Ratney in Ramallah, PA PM Hamdallah calls on the international community to pressure Israel into unfreezing its tax revenue transfers to the PA. (AJ, REU, WAFA, YA 1/15) 

Iranian FM Zarif meets with German FM Steinmeier in Berlin, then with EU foreign affairs chief Mogherini, to discuss the ongoing negotiations over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. In Geneva, reps. of Iran and the U.S. discuss the negotiations. (AFP 1/16; MNA 1/17)