The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, 1 Israeli settler killed 1 Palestinian after ramming him with his vehicle near Kafr Haris. Israeli forces punitively demolished 1 house by explosion in Tura belonging to the family of 1 Palestinian accused of killing 1 Israeli settler on 12/21/2020, displacing a family of 6, including 4 children; clashes erupted during the demolition, leading to the hospitalization of 1 elderly Palestinian who suffered tear gas inhalation and damage from the explosion was reported at 4 other houses in the vicinity. Israeli forces also delivered stop-work notices for 11 houses and 1 playground in Yasuf. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shot and injured 1 Palestinian trying to enter Israel for work by the separation barrier near Barta‘a. Israeli forces also seized 1 residential tent in Khirbet al-Rakiz, 1 tent near Susiya, and 1 tent used as a health care unit east of Yatta. The Palestinian mayor of Hebron said he had received death threats from several people including 1 Israeli settler mayor and Israeli MK Moshe Abutbul. 29 Palestinians were arrested during raids in and around ‘Ayn Yabrud, Ramallah, Baytin, al-Izzariya, al-Khadir, Sa‘ir, al-‘Arub refugee camp, Qabatiya, Jenin, Nablus, and Balata refugee camp. In East Jerusalem, 1 Palestinian was arrested during a raid in Issawiyya. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire at agricultural lands east of Abasan; no injuries were reported. Israeli forces also made incursions and leveled land east of al-Fukhari. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/10; PCHR, PCHR, WAFA, WAFA 2/11)

PA prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh met with UN special coordinator on Middle East peace Tor Wennesland in Ramallah. (WAFA 2/10)

The Israeli health ministry said that Palestinians from the West Bank who work in Israel legally or illegally will not receive the COVID-19 vaccine from Israel. (HA 2/18)

Axios reported that diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, Germany, and France met with Israeli and PA officials separately, proposing a plan to restart peace negotiations including confidence measures such as Israel freezing settlement expansion and releasing bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and the PA reforming payments made to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. (AX 2/10)

The IDF maintains, for a 3d day, the closure of Qabatiya. Israeli forces shut down the major road to the village with bulldozers, sparking intermittent clashes with stonethrowers wherein 9 Palestinians are injured. They also arrest 5 Palestinians on raids in the village and return the bodies of the 3 Palestinians suspected of perpetrating the 2/3 shooting in the Old City (a joint funeral is held in the evening). (PCHR 2/11)

Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers shoot and kill a Palestinian youth and arrest a 2d in a village nr. Hebron. The IDF says they were planning to throw Molotov cocktails at passing vehicles. Throughout the day, IDF troops violently disperse Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists at Friday demonstrations against the Israeli occupation and recent violence against Palestinians in 6 areas nr. Ramallah (Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, Nabi Salih, Silwan, ‘Ayn Yabrud, and Jalazun r.c.), 1 village each nr. Qalqilya and Nablus, as well as in 2 areas along Gaza’s border; 10 Palestinians are injured. The IDF also conducts raids and house searches in 3 villages nr. Jenin and 1 nr. Nablus, arresting 3 Palestinians and issuing arrest summons to 2; patrols 2 villages nr. Jericho and 3 nr. Hebron. Also along Gaza’s e. border, IDF troops open fire on agricultural lands, causing damage. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 1 Palestinian on a late-night raid in Ras al-Amud. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI 2/5; TOI 2/7; PCHR 2/11)

The Israeli authorities extend the closure of part of Hebron’s Old City through 3/1. It was 1st closed on 11/1/2015, and Palestinians and internationals have been banned from entering since. (MNA 2/5)

Israeli-Palestinian clashes increase slightly. A faction of Fatah claims responsibility for the drive-by shooting deaths of 2 Jewish settlers in the West Bank. In response, the IDF reimposes the blockade on Silat al-Dahir, Tulkarm. Palestinians fire mortars at Israeli targets in Gaza, causing no damage. In Haifa, the IDF disables 4 pipe bombs discovered hidden in a motor bike. The IDF dismantles roadblocks, eases restrictions on Halhul and Qalqilya, but sets up barriers on the Betin-`Ayn Yabrud road, tightens the closure on Hebron, confiscates 10s of dunams of Palestinian land nr. Ofra settlement, conducts an arrest sweep in Aqraba. Most secondary routes in the West Bank remain sealed. Jewish settlers burn 10s of dunams of Palestinian fields in Luban al-Gharbiyya, raze agricultural land in al-Zawiya, assault 3 Palestinian children (ages 8, 11, 13) in Hebron. (PMC 6/18; MM, NYT, WP, WT 6/19; NYT, WJW 6/21; MEI 6/29)

28 survivors of the 1982 Sabra-Shatila massacre in Lebanon bring a war crimes case against Sharon before a Belgian court. Earlier this mo., 2 other survivors submitted a similar case to the same court. (REU 6/18; Guardian, HA, Independent, WP 6/19; MM 6/20; WJW 6/21; AFP [Internet] 6/26; WJW 6/28; MM 7/11; MEI 7/13, 7/27)