The Palestine Chronology

Members of the Knesset vote to dissolve the parliament, officially paving the way for early elections, expected in 1/2013. (HA 10/15)

U.S. amb. to the UN Susan Rice says that the Palestinian bid for non-member state observer status would ‘‘jeopardize’’ the peace process and complicate efforts to resume negotiations. Rice also emphasizes the illegitimacy of Israeli settlement activity. (REU 10/15; JP 10/16)

PA pres. Mahmud Abbas holds a meeting in Ramallah with an Israeli delegation involved with the Geneva Initiative, including 6 Knesset mbrs. (IMEMC 10/16)

Hamas reports that 10 of its mbrs. were arrested by PA security forces in the West Bank over the previous 24 hrs., with an additional 3 summoned for questioning. (MNA 10/15)

In the West Bank, the IDF raids a school nr. Yalla village in the south Hebron Hills area, detaining students, teachers, and international activists. The IDF also raids Bayt Umar village nr. Hebron in the afternoon, firing tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinians; at night, the IDF raids and imposes a curfew on Azun village nr. Qalqilya that lasts until the next day, and conducts house searches and arrest raids in 2 villages nr. Nablus and Balata r.c. The UK newspaper the Guardian cites reports by the UN and a coalition of Israeli human rights groups on settler violence during the olive harvest that notes that 850 trees were vandalized in the harvest’s 1st week. (Guardian 10/15; AIC 10/16; PCHR 10/18)