The Palestine Chronology

Israeli forces return the body of a Palestinian killed outside the Old City on 3/9 to his family. In the West Bank, Israeli forces demolish 2 agricultural structures and part of a stone wall nr. Nablus, patrol nr. Ramallah and Hebron during the day, and arrest 8 Palestinians during late-night raids nr. Hebron and Jenin. In Israel, hundreds of Palestinian citizens demonstrate outside a police station in Ramla to protest the 7/28 killing of Palestinian a during a drug raid in Tel Aviv. (MNA, TOI, WAFA 8/17; JP, MNA, PCHR 8/18; PCHR 8/25)

Israeli DM Avigdor Lieberman outlines his new “carrot-and-stick” policy for administering the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), saying he favors more arrests, restrictions on construction, and collective punishment of Palestinian villages whose residents resist the occupation, while granting permits for “civilian projects” to villages whose residents are more docile. In that vein, Lieberman recently approved the construction of a hospital in Beit Sahour. The DM has reportedly divided the West Bank into problem areas that he plans to punish, and calmer areas, which will be rewarded with infrastructure projects like the one in Beit Sahour. (HA, JP, TOI 8/17)

The IDF launches dozens of air strikes across the Gaza Strip, killing 28 Palestinians and wounding approximately 550. There are fatal strikes in Gaza City, Rafah, Dayr al-Balah, Jabaliya, Khan Yunis, and Bayt Lahiya, among others. Palestinians fire dozens of projectiles into Israel, with 1 rocket hitting a house in Ashdod, causing damage. Other targeted towns include Beersheba, Ashqelon, and Sdot Negev in the s., and Rehovot, Yavne, Lod, Ramle, and Gadera in the c. Iron Dome batteries intercept 2 rockets fired at the Jerusalem area and 2 others fall in open areas. A mortar shell injures 2 Israeli soldiers close to the border. (AFP, AP, HA, JP, MNA, REU 7/10; PCHR 7/11)

Israeli PM Netanyahu says that attacks will continue to “expand and continue until the fire on our communities is over and the quiet returns.” The PM also tells mbrs. of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Comms. that a cease-fire with Hamas is not on the agenda. Islamic Jihad spokesperson Abu Ahmad says the “factions in Gaza are not going to surrender.” At an emergency meeting of the UNSC in New York, UN Secy.-Gen. Ban says that “it is now more urgent than ever to try to find common ground for a return to calm and a cease-fire understanding,” and that he has been in contact with Israel, the PA, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the Arab League, the U.S., and the EU. Palestinian UN amb. Riyad Mansour tells the meeting that the international community is obliged to ensure protection of Palestinian civilians, and accuses Israel of violating its responsibility as an occupying power. Israeli UN amb. Ron Prosor says Hamas is “committing a double war crime: targeting Israeli civilians while hiding behind Palestinian civilians.” Pres. Obama telephones PM Netanyahu and tells him that the U.S. is willing to help negotiate a cease-fire. State Dept. spokesperson Psaki says that Kerry has been “reaching out to countries in the region” including Qatar and Egypt, which “can play a role in bringing an end to the rocket fire from Hamas.” (AFP, AP, HA, JP, MNA, REU 7/10)