The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked a bus carrying Palestinians south of Nablus, causing damage to the bus. Israeli forces delivered demolition notices for 15 Palestinian homes in Yatma. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian family demolished their own barns in Silwan to avoid exorbitant Israeli demolition fees. 6 Palestinian minors were arrested during raids in Shu‘fat and al-Tur. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian famers east of Gaza City; no injuries were reported. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/14; PCHR 2/18)

Israeli authorities released a 39-year-old terminally ill Palestinian prisoner serving the last year of a 20-year sentence. (WAFA 2/15)

The Sharia Judicial Council in Gaza ruled that unmarried women in Gaza must obtain permission from a male guardian to be able to travel. (AP, GDN, TOI 2/15; PCHR 2/16)

The Qatari envoy to Gaza Mohammad al-Emadi said Qatar had brokered a deal between the PA and the Israeli gas company Delek to deliver natural gas to Gaza and to install a gas pipe to the Gaza power station from an offshore rig. According to the deal, European countries will fund the maritime parts of the gas pipe within Gaza’s maritime borders and Qatar will fund the extension to the gas rig. Envoy al-Emadi said it will take 2 years to construct the gas pipe. (HA 2/14; REU 2/23; HA, WAFA 2/24; AP, REU 2/25)

The Jewish National Fund’s (JNF) leadership approved a change in policy that will allow the JNF to purchase land in the West Bank for Israeli settlement expansion. The JNF’s board of directors still needs to approve the new policy and is said to decide after the 3/23 Israeli elections. The JNF leadership also approved allocating $11.7 million for buying land in the West Bank, a decision that also needs the board of director’s final approval. Several Zionist organizations expressed criticism of the JNF’s decision. (HA, HA 2/14; HA 2/15)

Syrian state media said Israel fired missiles at Damascus from the Golan Heights but did not report any casualties. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 6 people were killed in the attack. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA 2/15)

In the West Bank, an Israeli man from Beersheba goes missing nr. Hebron. IDF troops conduct a number of searches in surrounding villages and set up numerous mobile checkpoints in an effort to find the man and his alleged kidnappers. The man is found alive 10 hours later nr. Hebron, having staged the kidnapping for “romantic purposes.” Nr. Salfit, Israeli forces demolish 120 olive trees. The IDF conducts house searches and raids in 2 villages nr. Jenin, arresting 1; patrols in 6 villages nr. Hebron, 2 nr. Ramallah, and 1 nr. Qalqilya. They also arrest Palestine Legislative Council (PLC) member and PFLP activist Khalida Jarrar in al-Bireh nr. Ramallah for allegedly violating restrictions on her movement. (She will be ordered to serve 6 mos. administrative detention on 4/5) A Palestinian man stabs an Israeli soldier nr. Nablus after IDF troops detain him and 5 other Palestinians attempting to cross over the separation wall. Israeli settlers throw stones at 2 Palestinian houses in a village nr. Nablus, then Israeli troops arrive and arrest the 2 homeowners. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 4/2; JP, MNA 4/3; EI, MNA 4/5; HA 4/6; PCHR 4/9)

On a visit to Hebron, PA PM Hamdallah says that Israel has still not transferred the recently unfrozen tax revenues to the PA as the Israeli PM’s office announced it would on 3/27. PA Pres. Abbas threatens to lodge a complaint with the ICC if the Israeli govt. does not transfer the funds. (MNA 4/2; TOI 4/3)

Israel’s Supreme Court rules in favor of Palestinian petitioners hoping to avert an Israeli plan to extend the separation wall through their land nr. Jerusalem. The plan, which has been contested since the IDF ordered it in 2006, would have expropriated of 3,000 dunams of private Palestinian and Vaticanowned land. (AP, MNA, TOI, YA 4/2)

Israeli PM Netanyahu and Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom authorize a $500 m. deal between the Delek Group and Noble Energy (energy companies in control of Israel’s offshore Tamar natural gas field) and 2 Jordanian companies that would ship 1.87 b. m3 of natural gas to Jordan over the next 15 years. (TOI 4/3)

In Lausanne, Switzerland, reps. of the P5+1 and Iran extend their 3/31 deadline, then agree on “key parameters” for a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in their negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. They will continue to negotiate on technical details ahead of their 6/30 deadline for a JCPOA. Pres. Obama says he will begin talks with congressional leaders to find a way for Congress to play a constructive oversight role in the implementation of the agreement. (AFP, BB, GDN, HA, NYT, POL 4/2; HA, TOI, YA 4/3)

In Gaza, IDF troops e. of Khan Yunis fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers nr. the border fence, causing no injuries or damage. Off the coast nr. al-Sudaniyya, Israeli naval forces fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, thousands of Palestinians attend the funeral of the Palestinian who was killed in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem on 2/23. Nr. Hebron, Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian’s home under construction; bar Palestinian shepherds from grazing their livestock outside another village. Also nr. Hebron, the IDF conducts house searches in 1 village, arresting 1 Palestinian; patrols in 2 villages. Nearby, an Israeli settler hits a Palestinian with his car, moderately injuring him. Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque nr. Bethlehem late at night, leaving racist “pricetag” graffiti. In s. Israel, Israeli forces demolish 4 homes belonging to a bedouin Palestinian family. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces conduct house searches and raids in Issawiyya and the Old City, arresting 4 Palestinians; they detain 5 Palestinian women as they exit Haram al-Sharif. (MNA, WAFA 2/24; HA, MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 2/25; PCHR 2/26)

PA Dep. PM and National Economy Min. Mustafa Mohammed Mustafa announces that PA ministers have agreed to nullify the preliminary agreement signed by the private firm Palestine Power Generation Company (PPGC) on 1/5/2014 to import $1.2 b. worth of natural gas from Israel over 20 years. A PPGC source tells news site al-Araby al-Jadeed that the deal was suspended last summer due to disagreements over certain terms with the consortium formed by Noble Energy and the Delek Group. Mustafa adds that the PA will instead focus efforts on developing natural gas fields off the coast of the Gaza Strip. (AJD 2/25; MEE 2/27; EI 3/8)

The boycott of 6 Israeli consumer products companies in the West Bank goes into effect, with enforcement teams visiting shops in Ramallah. Senior Fatah official and chair of the National Comm. against Israeli Punitive Measures Mahmoud al-Aloul says that any seized products will be destroyed on 2/25. Al-Aloul announced the boycott on 2/9. It is not sanctioned by the PA. (WAFA 2/25; HA 3/9)

In the Gaza Strip, the Gaza power plant resumes operation of 1 of its 4 turbines, having received new shipments of fuel after shutting down completely on 12/28. However, scheduled power outages stay at up to 18 hours per day. Off the coast nr. Gaza City, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. Also, the IDF begins pulling troops stationed nr. Gaza, as announced 12/28. In the West Bank, 1 Palestinian is injured during a clash in Hebron between stone-throwing Palestinians and private Israeli settlement security guards. IDF troops rebuild mounds of earth outside a village nr. Salfit, closing the main entrance. The village’s residents cleared the mounds on 12/31 during demonstrations marking Fatah’s 50th anniversary. In East Jerusalem, an Israeli court bars 5 Palestinian women (arrested on 1/1) from entering Haram al-Sharif for 21 days. Israeli forces detain another Palestinian woman as she exits the sanctuary. (HA, MNA, TOI, WAFA 1/4; OCHA 1/15)

A senior Israeli FM official says that Israel is not planning any new settlement construction in response to the Palestinians’ accession to the ICC. Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu and DM Ya’alon agree to use NIS 70 m. (around $17.8 m.) from the Defense Ministry’s budget to strengthen infrastructure in the Beit El settlement and relocate an IDF base to make room for 300 new residences. Then-Fin. Min. Lapid blocked their prior attempt on 11/25. Separately, the Israeli High Court of Justice freezes construction on the separation wall in the Battir Valley of the West Bank, responding to complaints from the Palestinian residents and UNESCO’s 6/20 decision to place Battir’s terraces on its list of World Heritage sites. (JP, HA, MNA, TOI 1/4)

Egyptian authorities prepare for the demolitions and evictions required to expand the buffer zone along the Gaza border to 1 km. The 2,044 families that live in the 1,200 homes set to be demolished will receive 1,500 Egyptian pounds (approximately $209) to pay for 3 mos. of housing, and 700–1,200 Egyptian pounds per sq. m of their house that is demolished. (JP, MNA 1/4)

Jordan suspends talks with Israel regarding the 9/2014 memorandum of understanding set to govern their $15 b. joint gas deal with U.S. company Noble Energy. Israel’s Antitrust Authority revoked its approval of the Delek Group-Noble Energy alignment on 12/23. (JP, JTA, TOI 1/4)