The Palestine Chronology

Fourteen of 15 mbrs. of the UNSC make statements condemning Israel’s settlement construction plans, while the U.S. vows to veto any resolution on the issue. Four separate statements are made by the 8 council mbrs. from the Non-Aligned Movement, the 4 European mbrs., as well as Russia and China. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Comm. approves the creation of a new Jewish settlement, Givat Hamatos, in the s. of East Jerusalem, not far from Har Homa. In addition, Israel’s Defense Ministry advances plans to build 523 homes in Giva’ot settlement in the Gush Etzion bloc, though this plan is long-standing and unrelated to the recent high-profile construction announcements tied to the Palestinian bid at the UN. (REU, HA, JP 12/19)

The IDF announces that it will issue permits to around 500 Christian Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to visit Bethlehem for Christmas. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in Jenin, Nur Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm, 1 village each nr. Hebron and Jenin, and 2 villages nr. Nablus. (JP 12/19; PCHR 12/20)

Palestinian government employees begin a 2-day general strike to protest a delay in the payment of their wages due to Israel’s withholding of around $100 m. customs revenue. Around 50,000 workers take part in the strike. Meanwhile, Palestine Monetary Authority chief Jihad al-Wazir says that Palestinian banks will lend the PA $100 m., set to be repaid when the Arab League delivers its promised financial safety net. (REU 12/19; MNA 12/19)

Israel’s Central Elections Comm. votes to disqualify MK Haneen Zoabi, from Balad party, from running in the forthcoming elections, a decision based largely on her participation in the 2010 Gaza flotilla. (HA 12/19)

Palestinian pres. Mahmud Abbas offers to take in Palestinian refugees fleeing from fighting in Syria, and UN secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon calls on Israel to facilitate their entry. Meanwhile, the UN launches its biggest aid appeal to date for Syria, estimating that it needs $1.5 b. to cope with a ‘‘dramatically deteriorating humanitarian situation.’’ Meanwhile, the Security Council passes a U.S.-and-Russian-drafted resolution on extending the peacekeeping mission in the demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel. The resolution expresses concern at the presence of both government and rebel forces in the zone. (MNA 12/18; AP, Guardian, UN News Center 12/19)

Britain, Denmark, France, Spain, and Sweden summon the Israeli ambassadors to their countries to protest Israel’s settlement construction plans. An anonymous senior European diplomat tells the Israeli newspaper Ha’Aretz that Britain and France see E1 development as a ‘‘red line’’ and feel Israel is acting ungratefully after the support it received during Operation Pillar of Defense. Former U.S. amb. to Israel Dan Kurtzer tells Ha’Aretz that the Obama admin. is angry over an Israeli official’s suggestion in a recent briefing that Israel generated the E1 plan in anticipation that Obama would refuse to reaffirm Bush’s 2004 letter to Sharon (which Israel views as U.S. approval of Israeli settlement expansion in areas it intends to keep under final status; see the Quarterly Update in JPS 132), when he entered office in 1/2009, as indeed occurred. Meanwhile, a source in the Israeli PM’s Office says there will be no retraction of the E1 construction plan. (HA, NYT, YA 12/3)

The dep. mayor of Jerusalem reveals that the municipality is expected to give final approval to a new settlement in occupied East Jerusalem called Givat Hamatos, the 1st of its kind since Har Homa in 1997. Located between Talpiot and Bayt Safafa, the new settlement will be on the agenda of the planning comm. on 12/19. In addition, Jewish settlers occupy a 5-story building in the Har Homa/Jabal Mukabir neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem that had previously been sold to a settler organization. (HA, JP 12/3)

Twelve Fatah mbrs. return to the Gaza Strip after fleeing in the 2007 conflict with Hamas. Returning Fatah mbr. Mahmoud Musleh says that around 450 Fatah mbrs. who fled to countries across the region, as well as to the West Bank, will return once procedures are complete. (MNA 12/3)

PM Ismail Haniyeh appeals to Arab states to help pay for reconstruction of the Gaza Strip following damage inflicted during Operation Pillar of Defense, estimated at $250–545 m. (REU 12/3)

In the Gaza Strip, the IDF shoots a Palestinian child nr. al-Bureij r.c. close to the border fence, causing minor injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF kills a Palestinian civilian when a military jeep hits a car traveling on the Nablus– Ramallah road. The IDF patrols in 1 village nr. Ramallah in the morning, and in Jericho and 1 nearby village, 3 villages nr. Ramallah, and 2 villages nr. Jenin later in the day; conducts night-time house searches and arrest raids in 1 village each nr. Hebron and Tulkarm, and in Nablus and Balata r.c. (MNA 12/3; PCHR 12/6)

UN secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon accuses the Syrian government of serious violations of the 1974 agreement separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights. In a UNSC report, Ban expresses concern about recent incidents across the cease-fire line, and recommends a 6-mo. extension of the UN peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights. (AP 12/3)

The Israeli governmentt announces it will confiscate the VAT tax revenues it has collected for the PA during 11/2012, and use the NIS 460 m. of funds to offset the PA’s debt to Israel’s Electric Corporation. On 11/11, Israel’s fin. min. Yuval Steinitz had warned of such a measure in response to the UN bid. (HA 12/2)

The Israeli newspaper Ha’Aretz reports that 5 senior European ambassadors—from Britain, France, the EU, Germany, and Holland—have communicated strong opposition to Israel’s 11/30 plan to expand settlements and develop the E1 area outside of East Jerusalem. An anonymous British diplomat tells the paper that ‘‘London is furious with the decision over the E1 corridor.’’ UN secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon describes Israel’s plan as an ‘‘almost fatal blow’’ to prospects for peace. Israeli PM Netanyahu dismisses the international criticism at the weekly cabinet meeting, saying that Israel ‘‘will carry on building in Jerusalem and in all the places that are on the map of Israel’s strategic interests.’’ (AFP, HA, REU 12/2)

Addressing 1,000s of Palestinians in Ramallah on his return from the UN, Palestinian pres. Abbas says he will resume national reconciliation efforts soon. Jamal Ubeid, a mbr. of Fatah’s High Comm. in Gaza, announces that Hamas will allow 20 senior Fatah mbrs. who fled the Gaza Strip in 2007, when Hamas took over, to return. (AFP, MNA 12/2)

In the West Bank, Jewish settlers s. of Hebron set fire to a Palestinianowned car and vandalize a Palestinian house. The IDF patrols in Jenin, 2 villages nr. Qalqilya, and 1 village each nr. Jericho and Tulkarm at night; conducts house searches and arrest raids in Tulkarm in the afternoon, and in 1 village nr. Salfit at night. (PCHR 12/6)

Syrian rebels open fire on a Lebanese border patrol approaching the border, the 1st such clash between the 2 parties. There were no casualties. (REU 12/2)

The IDF strikes another 80 targets, including Gaza’s football stadium and smuggling tunnels on the Rafah border. Gaza’s Ministry of Health says that the Palestinian death toll surpasses 100, including over 30 women and children. The IDF puts the death toll at 95, and says 1/3 were civilians. Rescue workers continue to search for 2 missing persons in the rubble of the destroyed al-Dalou family home (see 11/18). Palestinian armed groups fire 42 rockets into Israel, bringing the total to 1,128 rockets since Israel’s operation began on 11/14; over 300 rockets have been intercepted by Iron Dome, and fewer than 40 have landed in populated areas. (AP, MNA, REU 11/19)

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffs a French-Qatari cease-fire initiative on the grounds that it could interfere with Egyptian mediation efforts (see 11/18). UN secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon arrives in Cairo to discuss the cease-fire talks. Hamas chief Mishal meets with Egyptian intelligence officials in Cairo, with the Egyptian side indicating that a cease-fire is close. Turkish PM Erdogan denounces Israel for conducting ‘‘terrorist attacks’’ in Gaza. A coalition of almost 40 international aid agencies issue an urgent call for a cease-fire; Amnesty International calls additionally for an arms embargo on Israel and Hamas. (Guardian, HA, WSJ 11/19)

In the West Bank, the IDF kills 2 Palestinians in separate incidents, as Palestinians continue to protest the attack on Gaza: 1 Palestinian from alNabi Salih dies of wounds he sustained on 11/17 when the IDF opened live fire on demonstrators, and the 2d Palestinian is shot dead by IDF troops in Hebron, who claimed they felt that their lives were in danger. At night, the IDF also conducts house searches and arrest raids in 1 village nr. Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Tubas and 1 nearby village, 1 village nr. Nablus, al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, and 1 village nr. Hebron. A Jewish settler injures a Palestinian man in a deliberate hit-and-run nr. Ofra settlement, after a Palestinian demonstration against Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense. (MNA 11/19; PCHR 11/22; OCHA 11/27)

The IDF assassinates Hamas commander Ahmad Jabari and his bodyguard and separately kills 7 other Palestinians in a number of air strikes on military and civilian targets across the Gaza Strip, leaving around 90 wounded. The dead include 2 children and an elderly man. Code-named Operation Pillar of Cloud in Hebrew (a Torah reference) and renamed Operation Pillar of Defense for foreign audiences, the Israeli military attacks are described as the ‘‘beginning’’ of an effort to increase deterrence and remove Hamas’s rocketlaunching capabilities. The IQB warns that Israel has ‘‘opened the gates of hell’’ with Jabari’s assassination, and fires dozens of rockets and mortars into Israel. They are joined by the DFLP, Islamic Jihad, PFLP, and PRCs, all of whom claim responsibility for rocket and mortar fire. In total, over 90 projectiles hit Israel from the Gaza Strip, causing 4 injuries. The Iron Dome rocket-defense system intercepts 30 rockets. Overnight, the IDF undertakes air strikes on around 100 sites across the Gaza Strip. U.S. pres. Obama calls Israel PM Netanyahu to express his support for Israel’s military operation and the country’s right to selfdefense. Obama also calls Egyptian pres. Mohamed Morsi to stress the importance of de-escalation and to pledge to stay in close touch. Egypt strongly condemns Israel’s military assault, and UN secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon calls for a cease-fire. The UNSC holds an emergency meeting but takes no action. (Guardian, REU 11/14; JP, MNA 11/15)

Unidentified assailants fire 4 rockets from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula into Israel, landing nr. an agricultural community and causing no injuries. (HA 11/14)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 1 village nr. Jericho in the morning, in 1 village nr. Salfit in the afternoon, and in 2 villages nr. Jericho and 1 village nr. Ramallah at night; conducts house searches and arrest raids in Balata r.c. and 1 village nr. Hebron at night. Palestinians across the West Bank demonstrate to mark the day before the 24th anniversary of the PLO’s declaration of independence, blocking roads nr. Bethlehem, Jericho, and Ramallah, and clashing with soldiers at checkpoints in Atara (nr. Ramallah) and Bethlehem. (AFP, PCHR 11/14)

Israeli DM Barak says that almost all the villages nr. the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights are now controlled by the Syrian opposition. (AP 11/14)

On a 2d day of violent protests in Jordan against price hikes and in general opposition to King Abdullah’s regime, unidentified gunmen attack 2 police stations, and ensuing clashes leave 1 protester dead—the 1st fatality in Jordanian demonstrations in 2012. (AP 11/15)

Israel transfers tax revenues to the PA 2 weeks ahead of schedule in recognition of the economic crisis. The PA fin. min. announces it will pay partial salaries to workers. (MNA 10/18, 10/20)

Israel grants final approval to a plan for 800 new homes in East Jerusalem, meaning an expansion of Gilo settlement. (AFP 10/18)

Bedouin citizens of Israel hold a protest outside government offices in Beersheba to call for an end to the pending demolition orders in Bir Hadaj village in the Negev. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities demolish the Bedouin village al-Araqib for the 43rd time. (JP 10/18; MNA 10/19)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 1 village nr. Qalqilya, 3 villages nr. Ramallah, and 2 villages nr. Jenin in the morning; in 2 villages nr. Jericho and 2 villages nr. Hebron in the afternoon; and in al-Bireh, 2 villages nr. Jericho, 1 village nr. Jenin, and 2 villages nr. Hebron (in 1 of which the IDF uses tear gas against stone-throwing Palestinians) at night. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli naval vessels open fire at Palestinian fishermen, causing no injuries. (PCHR 10/24)

In a report submitted to the UN Security Council (UNSC), UN secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon calls the Hizballah drone sent into Israeli airspace a ‘‘reckless provocation,’’ and criticizes Israel’s use of drones and fighter jets in Lebanese airspace as a violation of sovereignty. (AP 10/18)

In an op-ed in the New York Times, former lead Israeli peace negotiator Gilead Sher, former Israeli Security Agency head Ami Ayalon, and Israeli entrepreneur Orni Petruschka (organizers of a new group called Blue White Future) argue that since serious Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are unlikely to resume soon, Israel should adopt a “radically new unilateral approach” (which they term “constructive unilateralism”): openly “strive . . . to establish facts on the ground” that would impose a 2-state solution based on 1967 borders with Israel’s desired land swaps “regardless of whether Palestinians leaders have agreed.” The proposed borders would be based on Israel’s separation wall. At the same time, Israel would cease settlement expansion in areas that it does not intend to keep and prepare a plan to relocate settlers (they estimate 100,000) from settlements that would fall under permanent Palestinian control. Relocation would not take place, and the IDF would remain deployed in the West Bank, until the Palestinians signed a formal final-status agreement recognizing Israel’s fait accomplis. They argue that the plan meshes well with the Palestinians’ own constructive unilateralism of late (i.e., Abbas’s mission to gain UN recognition of Palestinian statehood), since it would be easier for Israel to negotiate with the Palestinians state to state. (NYT 4/24)

Netanyahu’s special ministerial panel examining the future of 3 unauthorized West Bank settlement outposts legalizes the outposts of Bruchin (pop. 350) and Rachelim (pop. 240) in the north, and Sansanna (pop. 240) in the south, stating that “these communities were founded in the 1990s based on the decisions of a past government.” The panel also calls on the Israeli High Court to put off the 5/1/12 deadline to evacuate 30 homes in Ulpana outpost (constructed on private Palestinian land), which the government describes as a “neighborhood of Beit El” settlement. UN. Secy.-Gen. Ban Ki-Moon calls the decision “illegal under international.” U.S. State Dept. spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says: “We don’t think this is helpful to the [peace] process, and we don’t accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity.” (Forward, HA, JTA 4/24; NYT, WP 4/25; WP 4/28)

Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. They surround and confiscate 1 boat, detaining 2 fishermen. In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes a Palestinian barnyard nr. Bethlehem; conducts morning patrols in 4 villages nr. Ramallah (2 synchronized) and 1 nr. Jericho; afternoon patrols in 3 villages nr. Jenin, Jericho, and Qalqilya; and late-night patrols in al-Bireh, 2 villages each nr. Qalqilya and Ramallah, and 1 nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers, escorted by IDF troops, enter Balata village nr. Nablus in the morning to pray at Joseph’s Tomb. (PCHR 4/26)

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators hold a 5th round of talks in Amman. Molcho verbally outlines Israel’s guiding principles on borders and security, offering nothing new and putting nothing in writing. Afterward, Abbas meets with King Abdallah and issues a statement saying the exploratory talks with Israel have ended without progress; the Palestinians will weigh their next steps in consultation with the Arab League at a meeting in Cairo on 2/4 (later moved to 2/12). He says: “If we demarcate the borders, we can return to negotiations, but the Israelis do not want demarcation of borders.” Israel sticks by its position that Israel technically has until 4/3 to produce position papers (since teams began meeting on 1/3) and that if the Palestinians refuse to continue talks until 4/3, it is they who are walking away fr. negotiations. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, already in the region, meets separately with PA Pres. Abbas and Israeli PM Netanyahu to urge them to keep the talks going, especially pressing Israel to make some kind of confidence-building gesture (she recommends transferring more authority to the PA). Late at night, after these meetings, the Israeli team gives the Palestinians a document (not released) that puts the guiding principles in writing (reportedly including Israeli control over Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and almost all settlements); no maps are included. UN Secy.-Gen. Ban Ki-Moon says he will make his own visit to the region in the next week to encourage the sides to continue talks. (WAFA 1/25; HA, NYT, WP, WT 1/26; REU, WP 1/27; NYT 1/28; Asia Times 1/31)

The IDF demolishes a Palestinian home adjacent to Carmiel settlement nr. Hebron. A Palestinian is killed when he is accidentally buried by a supply of construction gravel being transported through a smuggling tunnel. (PCHR 1/26; OCHA 2/3)