The Palestine Chronology

An Israeli security guard shoots and kills a Palestinian minor after he stabs and lightly injures another guard at the entrance to Karme Tzur settlement near Hebron. After the incident, IDF troops raid the alleged attacker’s home in Halhul village, sparking clashes with stone-throwing residents; there are no serious injuries. Elsewhere in the West Bank, IDF troops clash with Palestinians in Jericho; 21 Palestinians are injured. They also arrest 9 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Jenin, Nablus, and Ramallah; and patrol near Hebron and Nablus. Israeli settlers throw stones at Palestinian vehicles near Salfit, lightly injuring 1 driver and damaging 1 car. In East Jerusalem, Palestinian minors throw stones at a fence surrounding an Israeli settlement near Kafr ‘Aqab, sparking minor clashes with Israeli forces; 1 Palestinian is injured. Israeli forces also demolish a Palestinian home in Silwan. Off Gaza’s coast, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats near Jabaliya refugee camp, causing no damage or injuries. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA 2/7; MNA, PCHR, WAFA 2/8; PCHR 2/15)

The Egyptian authorities open the Rafah border crossing in both directions for the first of 3 days. (WAFA 2/7; OCHA 2/15)

The IAF conducts air strikes on a military “research center” near Damascus, according to the Syrian army. Israeli forces have reportedly targeted the site 3 times in the past 3 months. (DPA, HA, REU 2/7)

In East Jerusalem, IDF troops shoot and kill a Palestinian teenager during an arrest raid in Qalandia r.c. Later, thousands of Palestinians march in a funeral procession for the teenager in Qalandia; Israeli forces stationed in the area clash with a number of stone-throwing mourners; 14 Palestinians and 3 Israeli troops are injured. Israeli forces also arrest 11 Palestinians during raids in Issawiyya; arrest and assault a Palestinian in the Old City. Israeli settlers assault a Palestinian bus driver with pepper spray in Shaykh Jarrah. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts raids and house searches in 2 villages nr. Hebron, 3 nr. Ramallah, 1 each nr. Jenin, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm, as well as Bethlehem and a nearby area, arresting 16 Palestinians, issuing an arrest summons to 1, and confiscating a tractor; patrols in 1 village nr. Hebron, and Salfit and a nearby village. Meanwhile, hundreds of Israeli settlers set up a tent camp in and around the Beit El settlement to protest the Israeli High Court’s 7/26 injunction against building in the settlement and its order for 2 residential buildings to be demolished by 7/30. Minor clashes break out when Israeli forces attempt to disperse the settlers; around 50 settlers are arrested. (DPA, HA, MNA, NYT, WAFA, YA 7/27; HA, MNA, YA 7/28; EI 7/29; PCHR 7/30)

ICC prosecutor Bensouda files an appeal challenging the 7/16 ruling issued by a special panel ordering her to reconsider her 11/2014 decision not to investigate Israel’s deadly raid on the Mavi Marmara in 5/2010. (HA 7/27)

Cypriot pres. Anastasiades discusses a new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative with PA pres. Abbas, according to PA sources, which reportedly includes invitations for Abbas and Israeli PM Netanyahu to address EU leaders at a future summit in Brussels. They say it is not intended to replace the French initiative. The Cypriot pres. will discuss the initiative with Netanyahu on 7/28. (JP, MNA, REU, TOI 7/28)

The IDF conducts a major late-night operation targeting Islamic Jihad in and around Jenin, raiding and searching the homes of at least a dozen local Islamic Jihad figures (arresting all but 1) and raiding, searching, and confiscating the files of 2 charities affiliated with Islamic Jihad. The Jenin offices of the Palestine People’s Party are also searched. During the day, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian construction company building in Jinsafut nr. Qalqilya; sends undercover units in a civilian vehicle with Palestinian license plates into al-Bireh to raid and search a restaurant, arresting 4 Palestinians and seizing surveillance tapes; conducts early morning patrols in Silat alDahir nr. Jenin (photographing old houses and alleys), Iraq Burin nr. Nablus (firing rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades, tear gas at stone-throwing youths who confront them, seriously wounding 1), and Tulkarm; conducts afternoon and evening patrols in ‘Azun nr. Qalqilya (without incident) and in Bayt Liqya and Nabi Salih (in both cases firing live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at stonethrowing youths who confront them, causing no serious injuries); conducts late-night patrols in Alar nr. Tulkarm and late-night arrest raids, house searches in ‘Azun. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar set fire to Palestinian crops s. of Nablus; the IDF hinders Palestinian fire crews from reaching the scene. The IDF escorts 1,600 Jewish worshipers to visit Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus; some 200 Israelis who did not have authorization for the visit sneak in with the group, refuse to leave, and are forcibly removed by soldiers. (MNA 5/30; PCHR, WJW 6/2; OCHA 6/3)

At a massive rally in Istanbul commemorating the 1st anniversary of Israel’s 5/2010 attack on the aid flotilla to Gaza that killed 9 Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara, the flotilla organizers, the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement (FGM), and the Turkish charity Humanitarian Relief Foundation (known by its Turkish acronym IHH), announce plans for at least 1,500 activists and 10 boats to set sale in late 6/2011 as part of the “Freedom Flotilla II” to break the Gaza siege. Israel denounces the effort as supporting “a designated terrorist group” (Hamas) and warns it will use force if necessary to halt the flotilla. (DPA, REU 5/30)

Overnight, the IDF launches major arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, clashing with armed Palestinians, killing local AMB leader Basim Abu Saria and a 71-yr.-old Palestinian man, wounding 8 Palestinians (2 gunmen, 1 cameraman for the German press agency, and 5 bystanders, including a woman and a child); during the operation, the IDF blows up an apartment in a 4-story complex, damaging 2 other apartments, 10 nearby buildings, 4 cars, 7 electricity relays, 3 water pipes, displacing 3 Palestinian families (20 persons). Also in the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Anabta nr. Tulkarm, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron and in al-Bireh, Jenin town and r.c., Ramallah. In 2 separate incidents nr. Nablus, Jewish settlers attack Palestinians harvesting olives; the Palestinian DCO contacts its IDF counterpart, which removes the settlers; 1 Palestinian is injured. In Gaza, the IDF bulldozes 3 d. of Palestinian olive groves nr. Qarni crossing; Palestinians fire 3 mortars at the troops, who respond with heavy machine gun fire; no injuries are reported. (NYT, OCHA 10/17; PCHR 10/18)