The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers set up tents on land near Deir Sharaf. Israeli settlers also threw stones at Palestinian vehicles traveling near Duma, injuring 2 Palestinians and damaging a car. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinians with pepper spray near Jamma’in, injuring 1. Israeli forces uprooted 70 olive trees in Khallet al-Qutun near Tuqu’. Israeli forces also leveled land near Qaryut in preparation for settlement expansion. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces raided the home of 16 Palestinians who had previously been imprisoned by Israel, seizing cash, several vehicles, and jewelry, claiming that the Palestinians had received payments from the PA. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/26; PCHR 7/6; UNOCHA 7/8)

The Israeli military alleged that a rocket was launched from the Jenin area at Israel before exploding within the West Bank, causing neither damage nor injuries. (HA, JP, TOI 6/26)

An Israeli parole board denied an early release petition for Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa, who the Israeli prison service acknowledge is terminally ill with cancer. Daqqa, who has been imprisoned by Israel for 39 years, has already completed his original sentence but was sentenced to an additional 2 years for allegedly helping smuggling cellphones into prison. (WAFA 6/26; HA 6/27)

In Lebanon, 1 Israeli drone was shot down by Hezbollah militants near Zibqin. (AJ, ALM, AP, HA, REU 6/26)

The Israeli Higher Planning Council approved 5,700 settlement housing units and retroactively approved the Palegi Maim, HaYovel, and Nof Harim settlement outposts. 818 housing units received final validation including 359 in Elkana, 381 in Revava, 29 in Givat Ze’ev, 42 in Carmiel, and 7 in Hermesh. 4,915 housing units were approved for deposit, including 1,563 in Eli, 98 in Ariel, 714 in Givat Ze’ev, 340 in Ma ‘ale Adumim, 312 in Beitar Ilit, 310 in Adora, 264 in Etz Efraim, 152 in Ma ‘ale Amos, 78 in Asfar, and 754 in the 3 settlement outposts. Peace Now reported that more than 13,000 housing units had been approved in the first half of 2023. The French foreign ministry and the UN issued a statement condemning the settlement approval and the recent Israeli settler violence. The U.S. said it was “deeply troubled by Israel’s decision.” (HA 6/25; AJ, ALM, ALM, AP, BBC, HA, HA, PCN, REU, WAFA, WAFA 6/26; WAFA 6/27; UN 6/28; NYT 6/29)

The Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza announced that it had filed a complaint against Israel with the ICC over the Israeli blockade of Gaza. (MDW 6/29)

Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told a Knesset committee that his government is ready to help the PA financially to prevent it from collapsing but that the Palestinian “ambitions for the establishment of a state must be eliminated.” (NA, QDS 6/26; MEMO 6/27; QDS 6/29)

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs counted 570 Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian property between 1 January and 26 June, raising the number of attacks counted by the UN from 71 in 2022 to 95 incidents in the first half of 2023. (HA 7/1)

The Taub Center for Israel Studies at New York University made available documents from the Israeli archives showing that the Israeli military poisoned Palestinian land around Aqraba in 1972 to ensure that Palestinians could not cultivate the land as Israel established the Gitit settlement on land confiscated from the town’s residents. The Israeli military estimated that they had caused property loss from the spraying of the land amounting to $25,000. (HA 6/23)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers tried to steal sheep in Qarawat Bani Hassan before being chased away by Palestinians. Israeli forces delivered stop-work notices for 1 house, 1 water well, and 1 outhouse in al-Twana. 6 Palestinians, including 2 11-year-old boys, were arrested during late-night raids in Hebron, Husan, and al-Zawiya. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian minor was arrested during a late-night raid in Silwan. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen within 3 nautical miles west of Gaza; no injuries were reported. (PCHR 10/28; HA 11/26; BTselem 11/28)

Israel advanced 1,355 Israeli settlement units in the West Bank by inviting bids for construction, the last step before they are constructed. It was the 1st time that Israel promoted new settlement units since U.S. president Joe Biden took office in 1/2021. Of the 1,355 units, 729 are for the Ariel settlement, 324 are for the Beit El settlement, 102 are for the Elkana settlement, and some are for the Geva Binyamin, Immanuel, Karnei Shomron, and Betar Illit settlements. The Israeli construction and housing ministry said it is working toward doubling the settler population in the Jordan Valley by 2026. The UN envoy to the Middle East Tor Wennesland said that the UN is “deeply concerned” about the settlement expansion. The U.S. state department spokesperson Ned Price said, after being asked, that the U.S. is “concerned” and asked both Israel and the PA not to take steps to undermine a 2-state solution. The EU called on Israel to reverse its decision to publish the tenders for the construction. (AJ, DW, HA, HILL, JP, MEE, WAFA, WAFA 10/24; HA, MEMO, MEMO, MEMO, WAFA, WAFA 10/25; WAFA 10/26)

Israel’s Knesset passed a bill to connect homes built without a permit before 2018 to the electricity grid inside of Israel. The bill, pushed by the United Arab List, will provide electricity to many Palestinian Israelis living in the Negev desert. (HA 10/24)

Israeli Labor leader Merav Michaeli and Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz, both part of the Israeli government coalition, demanded in a cabinet meeting that prime minister Naftali Bennett put a hold on the 10/22 labeling of 6 Palestinian rights organizations as terrorist organizations and further settlement expansion. The leaders of all government coalition parties are scheduled to meet on 10/29 to discuss their disagreements on several issues. (TOI 10/24; HA 10/25; ALM 10/26)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces arrested 8 Palestinians, including 7 during late-night raids in and around Qalqilya, Ramallah, Halhul, and Salfit, and 1 at a flying checkpoint in Hebron; among the arrested at a late-night raid in Ramallah was 1 Palestinian instructor from Birzeit University in Ramallah. Israeli forces also conducted house raids in Zabbuba near Jenin; no arrests were reported. Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian-owned vehicles travelling on a road northeast of Ramallah, causing damage. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian was arrested during a late-night raid in Issawiyya. 1 Palestinian demolished his store in Silwan after receiving a demolition order by Israeli authorities. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 9/1; PCHR 9/5)

After more than 340 Palestinians had been arrested in Issawiyya in East Jerusalem during the summer, it was reported that the Israeli police, the Jerusalem Municipality, and residents of Issawiyya had come to an agreement on limiting Israeli operations in Issawiyya. The agreement includes that residents of Issawiyya cancel a school strike on 9/2, the 1st day of the school year. (HA 9/1)

According to the Palestinian Energy Authority, Qatar will be cutting the amount of fuel it funds for Gaza by 50 percent, causing the hours of electricity available in Gaza to drop from 8 hours per day to 5 or 6. (HA 9/1)

At a visit to the Israeli settlement of Elkana, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that that he aspires to apply Israeli sovereignty to all Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Netanyahu’s announcement comes 2 weeks before the Israeli general election. (AJ, HA, WAFA, WAFA 9/1)

The al-Kasom Regional Council in the Negev, which presides over a large Bedouin community, announced that 17,000 students would not start the school year as planned on 9/2 as the Israeli education ministry had not given it enough money to begin the school year as planned. (HA 9/1)

Israeli forces and Hezbollah operatives exchanged missiles near the border of Israel and Lebanon. According to Hezbollah, it fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli military vehicles. The Israeli military and Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that it had hit the Hezbollah cell that fired the anti-tank missiles with “100 shells, aerial fire and various measures.” (HA 9/1; AJ, AJ, HA 9/2; HA 9/4)