The Palestine Chronology

Stabbing and other small-scale violent incidents continue in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) and Israel. In Tel Aviv, 2 Palestinians armed with knives attack a group of Israelis at an office building, killing 2 and injuring 2. Israeli police arrest 1 of the attackers and the other flees. Later, IDF troops raid the Hebron-area home of 1 of the suspects, delivering punitive demolition orders and arresting 3. Nr. Bethlehem, a Palestinian driver opens fire in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, injuring 10 settlers and killing 3 others, including a U.S. citizen. Israeli forces shoot at the driver, causing him to crash his car and killing 1 Palestinian bystander in the crossfire; they arrest the driver at the scene. In c. Hebron, Israeli forces fire tear gas and skunk water, blocking a number of Palestinian children from accessing their school, after a Palestinian allegedly throws a tear gas canister at an Israeli checkpoint and injures a soldier. Also, a Palestinian succumbs to injuries sustained in clashes with the IDF on 11/11. (HA, MNA, NYT, WAFA, YA 11/19; PCHR 11/26)

Elsewhere, a number of Palestinian municipalities in Israel, including Nazareth, Rahat, and Sakhnin, go on strike in protest of the 11/16 outlawing of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement. In the West Bank, IDF troops and stone-throwers clash during raids in Dahaysha r.c. and patrols nr. Jenin, injuring 4 Palestinians and arresting 1, respectively. Israeli forces continue their string of late-night house searches and raids in the Hebron, Ramallah, Jalazun r.c., and Dahaysha r.c. areas, arresting 12 Palestinians and issuing arrest summons to 4; patrol during the day nr. Jenin, Tulkarm, Salfit, Hebron, and Qalqilya. Israeli settlers leave racist graffiti and throw stones at Palestinian homes in a village nr. Ramallah late at night, causing minor damage. Israeli forces begin demolishing a synagogue in the Givat Ze’ev settlement nr. Jerusalem, pursuant to the Israeli govt.’s 11/16 compromise with settler leaders (the demolition will be completed by 12/10). In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces clash with and violently disperse Palestinians at a checkpoint in Abu Dis, seriously injuring 1 Palestinian; arrest 4 Palestinians on raids in Issawiyya and Jabal Mukabir; assault a Palestinian youth in Ras al-Amud. (EI, HA, MNA, NYT, WAFA, YA 11/19; MNA, TOI 11/20; PCHR 11/26)

Israel’s Coordinator of Govt. Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Unit cmdr. Yoav Mordechai signs an agreement with the PA Minister of Civil Affairs Hassan al-Shaykh to grant Palestinian mobile phone users in the West Bank access to 3G high-speed data services. The new services are expected to be in place by mid-2016. (AP, HA 11/19)

In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers shoot and kill a Palestinian man with live ammunition at a checkpoint in the n. Jordan Valley after the man opens fire on Israeli forces; no Israeli soldiers are injured. IDF troops violently disperse Palestinian, Israeli, and international protesters at weekly demonstrations against the Israeli occupation in 6 areas nr. Ramallah (Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, Nabi Salih, Silwad, Jalazun r.c., and outside Ofer Prison), and Kafr Qaddum nr. Qalqilya; no Palestinians are seriously injured. The IDF conducts late-night house searches and raids in 1 village nr. Jericho, including the home of the Palestinian killed this morning, arresting 2 Palestinians; patrols in 3 villages nr. Hebron and 1 nr. Ramallah. (HA, MNA, NYT, YA 6/26; PCHR 7/2)

Hamas authorities order Gaza’s only mobile phone company, Jawwal, to shut down, accusing it of dodging taxes. (AFP 6/26; HA 6/29)

The Vatican signs a treaty officially recognizing the State of Palestine. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s equivalent to a FM, says that he hopes the treaty might “in some way be a stimulus to bringing a definitive end to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” (The Vatican will deny Israel’s requests to review the treaty.) (AFP, MNA, NYT, REU 6/26; HA 7/7)