The Palestine Chronology

The IDF conducts more raids in Yatta, targeting the homes of the Palestinians who allegedly attacked Israelis on 6/8. Israeli forces demolish 2 homes, an agricultural structure, a barn, and an outdoor kitchen in a village nr. Yatta, sparking clashes with Palestinians and international solidarity activists; 4 Palestinians are injured. Elsewhere in the West Bank, IDF troops conduct raids and house searches in ‘Arura village nr. Ramallah, arresting 1 Palestinian. Israeli forces close down a main road into Zatara village nr. Nablus. Meanwhile, a Palestinian from Hebron succumbs to injuries sustained in clashes with the IDF on 5/4. Along Gaza’s border, IDF troops open fire on a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) site nr. Khan Yunis, causing no injuries. Off the coast nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. (MNA 6/19; MNA 6/20; PCHR 6/23)

The head of Gaza’s fishing union says that the Israeli authorities have decided to temporarily extend the fishing zone off Gaza’s s. coast to 9 naut. mi. through 6/26. They had briefly extended the fishing zone off Gaza’s s. coast to 9 naut. mi. on 4/3 before reducing it to 6 on 6/6. (MNA 6/20)

Israel’s cabinet approves a NIS 72 m. (approx. $19 m.) increase in the budget for settlements in the West Bank because of their “unique daily security situation.” The increase comes on top of NIS 340 m. (approx. $88 m.) for the settlements, which is to be administered by multiple depts. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 6/19; HA, MNA, WAFA 6/20)

In the Gaza Strip, Egyptian authorities open the Rafah border crossing for the 2d day in a row. Off the coast nr. Rafah, Israeli naval forces open fire on a Palestinian fishing boat, causing no injuries or damage. In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers shoot and critically injure a Palestinian woman after she fights with an Israeli settler nr. Gush Etzion settlement, and they later raid the woman’s home in Bayt Fajjar and arrest her father. Nr. the Jabara checkpoint s. of Tulkarm, IDF troops open fire on several Palestinians attempting to climb the security fence and enter Israel. A Palestinian hits and critically injures an Israeli settler with his car nr. Nablus. The IDF closes the nearby Hawara and Zatara checkpoints while they search for the driver. The IDF later conducts house searches and arrest raids nr. Hebron, Nablus, and Bethlehem. Late at night, PA security forces clash with residents in al-Am‘ari r.c. nr. Ramallah. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish a home under construction in Issawiyya. In West Jerusalem, a Jewish Israeli man attacks a Palestinian taxi driver with pepper spray, lightly injuring him. (HA, MNA, WAFA 12/1; IMEMC, MEMO, MNA 12/2; PCHR 12/4; MNA 12/16)

Israeli PM Netanyahu presents fin. min. and leader of the Yesh Atid party Lapid with 5 conditions to meet to stay in the ruling coalition, which include supporting Netanyahu’s “nation-state” bill and continued construction in Jerusalem. Lapid rejects the terms. Earlier in the day, Netanyahu had warned if harmony within his ruling coalition was not preserved, he would hold new elections, 2 years ahead of schedule. (JP, TOI 12/1; HA, REU 12/2)

In the West Bank, IDF troops set up an ambush along a bypass road skirting the Zatara checkpoint s. of Nablus, firing on 4 Palestinian teenagers (ages 15–18) who attempt to evade the checkpoint by way of the road; all 4 are wounded, 2 are evacuated to an Israeli hospital with serious injuries. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., and in Hebron. (PCHR 7/2; OCHA, PCHR 7/9

Israeli naval vessels approach within 500 m of Rafah beach, arrest 2 fishermen on 1 of 12 small boats in the area. The UN reports that in the previous wk. an 8-yr.- old Palestinian boy in Gaza was injured by unexploded IDF ordnance (UXO); 7 Palestinians were killed in tunnel-related incidents (6 in collapses, 1 electrocuted); and unidentified Palestinians fired “several” rockets and mortars into Israel causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night patrols in 4 villages nr. Jenin; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., Balata r.c., in Nablus, and nr. Bethlehem and Hebron. A Jewish settler violently beats a Palestinian woman waiting for a taxi nr. Zatara checkpoint outside Nablus; IDF soldiers manning the checkpoint observe the beating for 15 min. before intervening and ordering the settler to leave the area. (OCHA, PCHR 5/28)

In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Qabatya village nr. Jenin at midday in a car with Palestinian license plates to raid a cafe and arrest a wanted ´ Palestinian; demolishes 4 Palestinian homes in Azariyya nr. Jerusalem, in the E1 area marked for expansion of Ma’ale Adumim settlement, displacing 42 Palestinians. Late in the evening, the IDF conducts synchronized late-night incursions into Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, and Zatara village nr. Bethlehem to raid and search the homes of 8 senior figures affiliated with Hamas (fmr. PA Dep. PM and Education M Nasser al-Din al-Sha‘ir in Nablus; Reform and Change Palestinian Council legislators Nizar ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Ramadan and ‘Assam Nu‘man Salhab in Hebron; Ayman Husayn Darghma in Ramallah; Khalid Tafish Thwayb in Zatara; Reform and Change office director for Ramallah and al-Bireh Mazin al-Rimawi in Ramallah; senior Hamas leader Adnan Ahed Asfur and al-Najah University prof. Issam Rashid al-Ashqar in Nablus), arresting them for their “ongoing efforts to restore the administrative branch of the Hamas terror organization in the [West Bank].” The moves come as an Israeli Justice Min. comm. debates limiting the privileges (e.g., visitation, phone calls, study groups) of Hamas prisoners in Israel. Some 40 Hamas-affiliated legislators have been arrested since Shalit’s capture in 6/06, most of whom remain in detention. Hamas views the moves as Israel’s attempts to pressure it to make concessions in the ongoing Cairo prisoner exchange talks. The IDF conducts additional late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, and Tulkarm. Mbrs. of Kiryat Arba settlement’s private security service detain a Canadian journalist and a fieldworker for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem as they pass nr. the settlement, holding them until the IDF arrives to question them; they are released 4 hrs. later. (OCHA 3/18; PCHR 3/19; NYT, WP, WT 3/20; OCHA 3/24, 3/25; PCHR 3/26; JPI 4/3)

As the quarter opens, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue Operation Southern Arrow, with heavy shelling and air strikes on Gaza in response to Palestinian rocket fire (at a rate of 10 Israeli strikes per 1 Palestinian rocket attack) and tight restrictions on Gaza’s crossings (see Quarterly Update for details). The IDF also continues to separate the n. and s. West Bank by closing (since 4/21) the Zatara checkpoint s. of Nablus and to restrict movement into and out of the n. Jordan Valley. Meanwhile, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza continue to suffer severe economic shortages due to the U.S.- and Israeli-led economic sanctions on the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority (PA) that have prevented the PA from paying government workers’ salaries for 2 mos. Today, the IDF patrols in ‘Araba nr. Jenin, firing on residential areas; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Nablus. Islamic Jihad fires its 2d Grad rocket fr. Gaza toward Ashqelon, damaging a poultry farm but causing no injuries (see 3/28, 4/21). A Hamas mbr. is killed in a driveby shooting in Gaza City; no group claims responsibility. (MM 5/16; NYT, PCHR 5/18)

The IDF closes the Zatara checkpoint linking the n. and s. West Bank (closed almost continually through the end of the quarter); patrols in, fires on residential areas of Bethlehem (seriously wounding 1 Palestinian stone-thrower), Nablus (wounding 3 Palestinians); conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin (targeting the AMB) and nr. Hebron, Qalqilya. Islamic Jihad claims to fire a 2d Grad rocket fr. Gaza towards Ashkelon (see 3/28), but the IDF reports no rocket fire. A Palestinian stabs, lightly wounds an Israeli border policeman at alRam checkpoint into Jerusalem, is arrested. Some 15 Jewish settlers fr. Tal Rumayda attack a group of Palestinian girls on their way to school and 5 international peace activists escorting them, causing minor injuries. (HA 4/23; PCHR 4/27)

Abbas vetoes Siyam’s 4/20 appointment of Abu Samhadana as Interior Min. inspector gen. and vows to block his plan to set up a new security force (the ESF). In Damascus, Hamas head Khalid Mishal accuses Abbas and Fatah of seeking to form a parallel government, conspiring against Haniyeh’s new government, committing treason, surrendering to Israel. Haniyeh denounces Mishal’s statements. (NYT, WP, WT 4/22; HA 4/23; MM 4/24–26; HA 4/30)

Nr. Rafah, IDF troops open fire on stone-throwing Palestinians, killing a 11-yr.-old Palestinian boy. 2 IDF soldiers are injured by a roadside bomb nr. Nablus. The IDF directs shells, heavy machine gun fire at residential areas of Bayt Lahia, Rafah, al-Sudaniyya; fire heavy machine guns at an PSF post in Bayt Sahur; open fire on Palestinians at al-Mintar crossing and in al-Bireh, Hebron, Khan Yunis, Tulkarm; occupy a Palestinian home in al-Khadir as a military outpost; seal an entrance to Tulkarm. Jewish settlers ambush a Palestinian taxi nr. Ramallah, shooting and wounding 4 Palestinians; set fire to 5 Palestinian cars, vandalize several homes in Hebron; vandalize homes on the Zatara-Nablus road; fire at Palestinians in Tulkarm; severely beat 3 Palestinians in Jinin. Arafat instructs the PSF to place a number of Palestinians wanted by Israel in "protective custody." (PMC 7/7; NYT 7/8; NYT, WT 7/9 NYT 7/11; HA 7/11; WJW 7/12)