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  • June 28, 2013

    In the West Bank, IDF troops shoot and kill a Palestinian in Qalandia r.c. nr. Ramallah, during clashes sparked by an IDF arrest raid in the camp. The IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids...

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  • May 23, 2013

    U.S. Secy. of State John Kerry holds separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, on his 4th visit to the region in 4 mos. Kerry meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu, Justice Minister Tzipi...

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  • May 8, 2013

    Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni meets with U.S. Secy. of State John Kerry in Rome, following a meeting last week in Washington that discussed the possibility of reviving Israeli-Palestinian...

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  • February 20, 2009

    Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb nr. the Gaza border fence, sparking an exchange of gunfire with the IDF that leaves 2 armed Palestinians dead. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover...

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  • October 26, 2008

    A week ahead of her deadline to form a government, Kadima party head and acting Israeli FM Tzipi Livni, with powersharing deals with the Labor and Meretz parties already drafted, unexpectedly...

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  • September 22, 2008

    Israeli pres. Shimon Peres authorizes Livni to form a new government. Israeli law gives her 42 days to complete the task or step aside for the pres. either to authorize another party to form a...

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In the West Bank, IDF troops shoot and kill a Palestinian in Qalandia r.c. nr. Ramallah, during clashes sparked by an IDF arrest raid in the camp. The IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in 4 villages nr. Hebron at night; patrols in 1 village nr. Jenin in the morning, and in 1 village each nr. Hebron and Salfit at night. Israeli soldiers also attack regular demonstrations by Palestinians, Israelis, and international activists against Israel’s separation wall, settlements, and the occupation in 3 villages nr. Ramallah (Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, Nabi Salih), 1 village nr. Qalqilya (Kafr Qaddum) and 1 village nr. Bethlehem (al-Ma‘sara), causing no serious injuries except in Bil‘in (1 injury from tear gas canister) and Kafr Qaddum (2 injuries from rubber-coated metal bullets). (MNA 6/28; PCHR 7/4)

U.S. Secy. of State John Kerry conducts further shuttle diplomacy, holding talks in Amman with Palestinian pres. Mahmud Abbas followed by discussions in Jerusalem with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, which are also attended by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, National Security Adviser Ya’akov Amidror, and Special Envoy Yitzhak Molcho. Kerry meets separately with Israeli pres. Shimon Peres. Meanwhile, director of the Palestinians’ High Coordination Cmte. for Prisoners’ Release Amin Shuman says that Israelis and Palestinians have held secret talks about freeing prisoners detained before 1993. (AFP, HA, MNA, REU 6/28)

Three people are killed and hundreds injured as violent clashes take place between supporters and opponents of Egyptian pres. Mohamed Morsi, with the Muslim Brotherhood office ransacked in Alexandria. (NYT 6/28)

U.S. Secy. of State John Kerry holds separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, on his 4th visit to the region in 4 mos. Kerry meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and separately with Pres. Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, and then with Palestinian pres. Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah. Kerry praises Netanyahu for his “seriousness” in looking for ways to return to direct negotiations and expresses optimism but no concrete strategy for moving things forward. Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secy. Chuck Hagel appoints retired Gen. John Allen as special envoy on security issues in talks between Israel and the PA. Allen’s final post before retirement from the military was as commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. (AP, HA, JP, REU 5/23)

In the Gaza Strip, the IDF conducts an incursion nr. Khan Yunis, moving 300 meters past the border fence and raising land with bulldozers, a common occurrence justified by the military on security grounds. Israeli naval vessels also open fire on Palestinian fishermen off the coast nr. Bayt Lahiya, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in 1 village nr. Bethlehem at night; patrols in 2 villages nr. Salfit in the morning, 1 village nr. Salfit in the afternoon, and in 2 villages nr. Jenin, 1 village nr. Jericho and 1 village nr. Qalqilya at night. In East Jerusalem, 5 cars are vandalized with “price-tag” graffiti. (YA 5/23; PCHR 5/30)

Five are killed and more than 50 wounded in clashes in Tripoli between Lebanese gunmen from Sunni and Alawite communities. The death toll since the latest bout of fighting in the city began on 5/19 is now at least 18, with more than 170 wounded. The violence is linked to a Syrian govt. offensive that is being supported by Hizballah fighters. (AP, REU 5/23)

Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni meets with U.S. Secy. of State John Kerry in Rome, following a meeting last week in Washington that discussed the possibility of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. U.S. Pres. Barack Obama speaks with PM Benjamin Netanyahu by phone to discuss the peace process. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities approve construction of 296 new settlement housing units in Beit El settlement nr. Ramallah. (JP 5/8; JP, MNA 5/9)

In Jerusalem, Jewish settlers accompanied by Israeli security forces enter the al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the second consecutive day, preventing Muslim worshippers from freely accessing the site. Meanwhile, Israeli police detain Jerusalem Mufti Mohammed Hussein for a few hours over his role in clashes the previous day.

In the West Bank, IDF forces demolish 3 Palestinian homes in al-Auja village nr. Jericho. IDF undercover units conduct a raid nr. Jenin, arresting PA Preventive Security officer Mohammed Ahmed Zakarna, who received an amnesty a few years ago for his participation in the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. The IDF patrols in 1 village nr. Hebron in the morning, and in 1 village nr. Tulkarm at night. IDF troops conducts house searches and arrest raids in Hebron and 1 village nr. Hebron in the afternoon, and in 1 village nr. Hebron, 1 village nr. Jenin and in Tulkarm at night. IDF forces make 2 brief incursions into Gaza to level land and clear lines of sight along the border nr. Jabaliya and Bayt Hanun. (AFP, MNA 5/8; PCHR 5/9)

Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem publishes a report that says Israel killed 87 Palestinian civilians in Operation Pillar of Defense in 11/2012, 80% of whom died in the second half of the operation. (JP 5/9)

Egyptian theologian and prominent Islamist cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi enters the Gaza Strip on a high-profile official visit to the Hamas government, welcomed and hosted by PM Ismail Haniyeh (AFP 5/8)

Jordan’s parliament votes in favor of petitioning the government to expel Israeli amb. Daniel Nevo and recalling Jordan’s amb. to Israel to protest recent unrest involving Jewish settlers entering the al-Aqsa Mosque compound (see 5/7) Ultimately, Jordan’s Interior Min. Hussein al-Majali only summons Nevo to convey an official protest. (AFP 5/8)

Professor Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University pulls out of a conference in Israel in 6/2013 hosted by Pres. Shimon Peres, citing the Palestinian boycott call. Israeli FM spokesman Yigal Palmor says that ‘‘never has a scientist of this stature boycotted Israel.’’ (NYT 5/8)

The UN relocates peacekeepers from an observation post in the al-Jamla area of the Golan Heights cease-fire zone, following the most recent abduction of Filipino troops on 5/7. (AFP 5/8)

Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb nr. the Gaza border fence, sparking an exchange of gunfire with the IDF that leaves 2 armed Palestinians dead. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in a car with Palestinian license plates into Qabatya nr. Jenin to arrest a Palestinian; enters Bayt Umar village nr. Hebron to chase several stone-throwing youths, raiding 2 homes and a store, occupying rooftops, and firing on residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian, arresting 2; fires live ammunition, rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (injuring 9); fires live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists, some of whom throw stones at IDF troops, taking part in a demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); uproots 70 olive seedlings on a Palestinian plot nr. Efrat settlement nr. Bethlehem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. (OCHA 2/24, 2/25; PCHR 2/26)

After nearly 2 wks. of consultations with top 2/10/08 election vote-getters Tzipi Livni (Kadima) and Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), Israeli pres. Shimon Peres taps Netanyahu to form a government. Netanyahu quickly opens coalition talks with various parties. (IFM 2/20; NYT, WP 2/21; WP 2/23; NYT 2/24)

A week ahead of her deadline to form a government, Kadima party head and acting Israeli FM Tzipi Livni, with powersharing deals with the Labor and Meretz parties already drafted, unexpectedly informs Israeli pres. Shimon Peres that she cannot form a coalition. She blames other Israeli parties for making unreasonable political and economic demands, stating that she was unwilling to compromise her priciples to form a government (see Quarterly Update). (NYT, WP 10/26; WP 10/27)

Overnight, the IDF, Israeli police, and border police evacuate Jewish settlers fr. the unauthorized settlement outpost of Federman Farm in Hebron, sparking violent clashes with the settlers in which 1 policeman is seriously injured, 2 settler girls attempt to burn police vehicles, and settlers rampage through Palestinian areas, slashing the tires of 22 cars and vandalizing a Muslim cemetery. In interviews with the press afterward, Jewish settlers call for retributive attacks on the Israeli security forces. During the day, Jewish settlers fr. Harsina settlement in Hebron attack, vandalize, attempt to occupy a Palestinian home and land adjacent to the settlement; Jewish settlers vandalize Palestinian cars in Hizma village nr. Jerusalem; and 10 masked settlers attack IDF soldiers guarding Palestinians harvesting olives nr. Otniel settlement nr. Hebron, injuring 1 soldier. At the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting, Olmert warns that the government “will show no tolerance toward such expressions and actions,” while Shin Bet security chief Yuval Diskin states that he is “very concerned” that right-wing settler groups might try to assassinate pro-peace politicians. Meanwhile, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and nr. Bethlehem. (IFM 10/26; NYT 10/27; OCHA 10/29; PCHR, WJW 10/30; WP 11/2)

Israeli pres. Shimon Peres authorizes Livni to form a new government. Israeli law gives her 42 days to complete the task or step aside for the pres. either to authorize another party to form a coalition or to call early elections. Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams will continue to hold their regular mtgs., and Olmert and Abbas will continue to meet biweekly to discuss the teams’ progress, but no major agreements are expected until a new government is formed. (IFM 9/22; WT 9/23)

A 19-yr.-old Palestinian resident of Jabal Mukabir in East Jerusalem drives his car into a group of IDF soldiers in the Old City, injuring 19 before being shot dead; Israeli police believe the man acted intentionally and alone, though the family believes the incident was an accident. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Jenin town and r.c., causing no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and Tulkarm, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. A Palestinian woman (apparently the same who staged a similar attack on 9/8) sprays an acid-like substance on an IDF soldier checking IDs at Hawara checkpoint, blinding him and injuring 3 Palestinians nearby; she is captured, arrested. (JP, YA 9/22; NYT, WP 9/23; OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25)

The donors’ Ad Hoc Liaison Comm. (AHLC) meets in New York to discuss the PA’s financial crisis and how to better target aid to PA security reform efforts. (IMF, “Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework for the West Bank and Gaza: Second Review of Progress,” 9/22; UNOSC, “UN Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committees,” 9/22; World Bank, “Palestinian Economic Prospects: Aid, Access and Reform,” 9/22; IFM 9/22, 9/23)