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  • June 4, 2014

    In the West Bank, IDF troops violently disperse a protest nr. Ofer detention center outside Ramallah in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and administrative detainees on hunger strike,...

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  • December 19, 2012

    Fourteen of 15 mbrs. of the UNSC make statements condemning Israel’s settlement construction plans, while the U.S. vows to veto any resolution on the issue. Four separate statements are made by...

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  • December 17, 2007

    Israel allows another 216 Gazans to leave Gaza through the Erez crossing for the Hajj (see 12/16); makes another “exceptional” opening of Sufa crossing to allow entry of livestock (85 truckloads...

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  • June 30, 2007

    The IDF makes 7 air strikes on Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, assassinating 3 senior Islamic Jihad cmdrs. (Raed Ghannam, Ziyad Ghannam, Muhammad al-Ra‘i) and wounding 7 bystanders in a...

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  • June 27, 2007

    Overnight, the IDF sends tanks and troops, backed by air support, into Gaza City and Khan Yunis in a major day-long ground offensive targeting primarily Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but also including...

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  • December 20, 2006

    IDF troops on the n. Gaza border nr. Bayt Lahiya fire on a group of Palestinian farmers who stray too nr. the border fence, wounding 1. The Israeli navy fire machine guns at Palestinian fishing...

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  • April 27, 2006

    The IDF closes Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing for 2 days; makes air strikes on 2 cars driving in central Gaza, missing 1 car carrying 5 Islamic Jihad mbrs. but hitting the 2d, assassinating Islamic...

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  • July 28, 2005

    Israel says it has begun construction of 2 additional fences around the Gaza Strip—1 of razor wire, 1 with electronic sensors and surveillance cameras—to ensure Israeli security after...

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  • February 14, 2005

    The IDF beats, fatally shoots a 16-yr.- old Palestinian allegedly wielding a knife in Hebron (Palestinian witnesses deny he was armed); conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah, Qalqilya...

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  • May 7, 2004

    Overnight, the IDF raids Nur al-Shams r.c. outside Tulkarm to arrest wanted Islamic Jihad mbrs.; Islamic Jihad mbrs. Sa‘id Musay’i, Wa’il ‘Khadir are fatally shot when they open fire on the troops...

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  • October 15, 2003

    Unidentified Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb outside Erez crossing as a U.S. emb. convoy (carrying the cultural attache, en route to interview Fulbright scholarship candidates) passes,...

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  • December 7, 2002

    The IDF assassinates Islamic Jihad mbr. ‘Abd al-Hadi Omar nr. Jenin, also wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 2 bystanders; conducts arrest raids in Jenin, al-Til; disarms, arrests a would-be suicide...

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  • November 15, 2002

    In retlatiation for the IDF assasination of its military head Sawalha on 11/9, Islamic Jihad gunmen ambush a detail of IDF soldiers, border police, Jewish settler security officials nr. the...

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  • July 4, 2002

    Senior AMB mbrs. Jihad al-Omarayn, Wa'il al-Nimrah are killed when a bomb in their car explodes in Gaza City in what is presumed to be an IDF assassination; Israel refuses to confirm or deny...

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In the West Bank, IDF troops violently disperse a protest nr. Ofer detention center outside Ramallah in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and administrative detainees on hunger strike, shooting rubber-coated metal bullets and wounding 3. The IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in 2 villages nr. Hebron and 1 village nr. Jenin at night; patrols in 3 villages nr. Jericho, and 1 village each nr. Hebron and Ramallah at night. Jewish settlers set fire to dozens of olive trees in 2 Palestinian villages nr. Nablus. (MNA 6/4; PCHR 6/5)

Secy. of State Kerry says that the U.S. will work with the new Palestinian unity govt. “as is appropriate” and will monitor it “very closely” to make sure it upholds its commitments to cooperate with Israel and the peace process. Meanwhile, Quartet Rep. Tony Blair calls PA PM Hamdallah to congratulate him on the formation of the govt. Pres. Abbas officially informs the head of the central elections commission to start preparing for presidential and legislative elections in 6 mos. Hamdallah urges the international community to pressure Israel to allow elections in East Jerusalem. (MNA, YA, WAFA 6/4)

Syria’s parliament speaker Jihad Lahan announces that Pres. al-Asad won 88.7% of the vote, winning him another 7-year term. Al-Nouri and Hajjar won 4.3% and 3.2%, respectively. Voter turnout was recorded at 73.42%. (AP, REU 6/4)

In a statement, the White House urges Egyptian pres.-elect al-Sisi to adopt democratic reforms and expresses concern about the “restrictive political environment.” (AP 6/4)

Fourteen of 15 mbrs. of the UNSC make statements condemning Israel’s settlement construction plans, while the U.S. vows to veto any resolution on the issue. Four separate statements are made by the 8 council mbrs. from the Non-Aligned Movement, the 4 European mbrs., as well as Russia and China. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Comm. approves the creation of a new Jewish settlement, Givat Hamatos, in the s. of East Jerusalem, not far from Har Homa. In addition, Israel’s Defense Ministry advances plans to build 523 homes in Giva’ot settlement in the Gush Etzion bloc, though this plan is long-standing and unrelated to the recent high-profile construction announcements tied to the Palestinian bid at the UN. (REU, HA, JP 12/19)

The IDF announces that it will issue permits to around 500 Christian Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to visit Bethlehem for Christmas. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in Jenin, Nur Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm, 1 village each nr. Hebron and Jenin, and 2 villages nr. Nablus. (JP 12/19; PCHR 12/20)

Palestinian government employees begin a 2-day general strike to protest a delay in the payment of their wages due to Israel’s withholding of around $100 m. customs revenue. Around 50,000 workers take part in the strike. Meanwhile, Palestine Monetary Authority chief Jihad al-Wazir says that Palestinian banks will lend the PA $100 m., set to be repaid when the Arab League delivers its promised financial safety net. (REU 12/19; MNA 12/19)

Israel’s Central Elections Comm. votes to disqualify MK Haneen Zoabi, from Balad party, from running in the forthcoming elections, a decision based largely on her participation in the 2010 Gaza flotilla. (HA 12/19)

Palestinian pres. Mahmud Abbas offers to take in Palestinian refugees fleeing from fighting in Syria, and UN secy.-gen. Ban Ki-moon calls on Israel to facilitate their entry. Meanwhile, the UN launches its biggest aid appeal to date for Syria, estimating that it needs $1.5 b. to cope with a ‘‘dramatically deteriorating humanitarian situation.’’ Meanwhile, the Security Council passes a U.S.-and-Russian-drafted resolution on extending the peacekeeping mission in the demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel. The resolution expresses concern at the presence of both government and rebel forces in the zone. (MNA 12/18; AP, Guardian, UN News Center 12/19)

Israel allows another 216 Gazans to leave Gaza through the Erez crossing for the Hajj (see 12/16); makes another “exceptional” opening of Sufa crossing to allow entry of livestock (85 truckloads of livestock have been allowed in since 12/16). The IDF makes air strikes on 2 cars in Gaza City, assassinating 6 Islamic Jihad mbrs. including senior cmdr. and master rocket maker Majid Harazin (who had been on Israel’s wanted list for 9 yrs. and targeted for assassination 3 times previously), his senior lieutenant Jihad Dhahir in the 1st strike and another senior rocket designer, Karim Dadu, in the 2d strike; 5 children are wounded in the 1st strike. In the West Bank, the IDF arrests senior Reform and Change employee Murad Badir Shahin, raids his Hebron home. (NYT 12/17; WP 12/18; NYT, OCHA 12/19; PCHR 12/27)

The IDF makes 7 air strikes on Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, assassinating 3 senior Islamic Jihad cmdrs. (Raed Ghannam, Ziyad Ghannam, Muhammad al-Ra‘i) and wounding 7 bystanders in a strike on a car in Khan Yunis, killing another 4 Palestinians and wounding 2 in a strike on an alleged weapons depot in al-Maghazi r.c., and striking the same site later in the day, heavily damaging 6 nearby homes, wounding 1 bystander. Palestinians fire several rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli, damaging 1 home and 2 other buildings. In Bureij r.c., a Hamas mbr. is injured when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. (NYT, WP, WT 7/1; OCHA 7/4; PCHR 7/5)

Overnight, the IDF sends tanks and troops, backed by air support, into Gaza City and Khan Yunis in a major day-long ground offensive targeting primarily Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but also including the AMB, arresting 10s of Palestinians, bulldozing 1 Palestinian home and 70 dunams of land, and leaving at least 13 Palestinians (including at least 4 gunmen and 6 civilians, including a 10-yr.-old boy) dead, more than 50 Palestinians and at least 2 IDF soldiers wounded; Fatah and Hamas gunmen fight side-by-side against the IDF, using small arms and antitank weapons. The IDF also makes an air strike on a car in Gaza City, assassinating Islamic Jihad senior cmdr. Raed Fanuna; bulldozes Palestinian land on the Gaza side of the Qarni crossing and industrial zone, along the border southeast of Khuza’a in s. Gaza. For a 2d day, the Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza City coast, forcing them back to shore. Islamic Jihad fires 4 rockets, 5 mortars fr. Gaza toward the Erez crossing; 2 mortars land on the Gaza side, injuring a Palestinian child; those landing on the Israeli side cause no damage or injuries. In Khan Yunis, a Palestinian is killed when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF launches a major arrest campaign in the Old City of Nablus, imposing a curfew, searching homes (occupying at least 7 as sniper posts), taking over local radio stations, searching hospitals; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, nr. Jenin. In Ramallah, unidentified gunmen fire on the home of senior Fatah official Hani al-Hassan, causing no injuries. In Hebron, unidentified gunmen fire on the home of the local PA General Intelligence head, causing no injuries. Islamic Jihad mbr. Zakariyya al-Tartar dies of injuries received in a 6/24 IDF air strike on his vehicle in Gaza City. (PCHR, WP, WT 6/28; OCHA 7/4; PCHR 7/5)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border nr. Bayt Lahiya fire on a group of Palestinian farmers who stray too nr. the border fence, wounding 1. The Israeli navy fire machine guns at Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, damaging several but causing no injuries. Palestinians fire 9 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF makes an overnight arrest raid on Silat al-Harithiyya, exchanging fire with and fatally shooting 2 wanted Islamic Jihad mbrs.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Sahur (raiding the offices of the Islamic Association), Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem. The Fatah-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza generally holds, though just after it is announced, PA Preventive Security Force (PSF) mbrs. controlled by Abbas fire on a group of Hamas mbrs. in Gaza City, sparking an exchange that leaves 2 PSF mbrs. dead. During a funeral process for the men in Gaza City later in the day, Fatah mbrs. fire in the air, set cars on fire, but cause no injuries. (IFM, NYT, PCHR 12/21; OCHA 12/27; PCHR 12/28)

The IDF closes Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing for 2 days; makes air strikes on 2 cars driving in central Gaza, missing 1 car carrying 5 Islamic Jihad mbrs. but hitting the 2d, assassinating Islamic Jihad mbrs. Ahmad Abu Nijim and Wa’il al-Qaran, wounding a 3d mbr. and 3 bystanders; arrests Change and Reform PC mbr. Ahmad Mubarak in his home in Jalazun r.c., giving no reason; sends troops back into Nablus and Askar r.c., conducting arrest raids, house searches and firing on stonethrowing Palestinians who confront them; also conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin. (AFP, IMEMC, MM 4/27; NYT, WP 4/28; OCHA 5/3; PCHR 5/4)

Israel says it has begun construction of 2 additional fences around the Gaza Strip—1 of razor wire, 1 with electronic sensors and surveillance cameras—to ensure Israeli security after disengagement; both fences will be inside Israel. IDF undercover units make a major incursion into Tulkarm, raid the home of wanted Islamic Jihad mbr. Mu’ayyad Musa, fatally shoot him in an apparent assassination. The IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Husan w. of Bethlehem for construction of the separation wall; fires on residential areas of Budrus nr. Ramallah, Rafah; raids the Abu Huli neighborhood of Dayr al-Balah, searches homes, rounds up residents for interrogation, arrests 2; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bayt Khalil nr. Hebron, Burqin, Nablus, Qabatya, Yatta. Palestinians fire 3 rockets at Sederot and the Negev, a mortar at the Gaza security fence, causing no damage or injuries.Armed mbrs. of the Jenin Martyrs Brigades (a Bureij cell of the PRCs affiliated with Fatah) kidnap PA military intelligence officer Jihad ‘Abid (fmr. aide to fmr. military intelligence head Musa Arafat) as he returns to Gaza through the Rafah crossing. (AFP, HA, XIN, 7/28; NYT 7/29; PR 8/3; PCHR 8/4; HA 8/8)

The IDF beats, fatally shoots a 16-yr.- old Palestinian allegedly wielding a knife in Hebron (Palestinian witnesses deny he was armed); conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah, Qalqilya, and in Dura, Nablus, Yatta; demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in Bayt Hanina; orders 3 Palestinian families to leave their Yatta homes and property or be expelled; begins construction of a new segment of the separation wall in Hazma, Anata villages northeast of Jerusalem. A Jewish settler fr. Keddumim verbally abuses, attempts to attack several Palestinians waiting to be allowed to cross an IDF gate into nearby Kafr Qadim; Palestinians fend him off, the IDF does not intervene. Unidentified gunmen fire on the Gaza City home of Fatah Revolutionary Council mbr. Sakhr Bseiso, causing damage but no injuries; Bseiso is head of the Fatah comm. charged with investigating corruption. (WP 2/15; NYT, OCHA, PR 2/16; PCHR, PM 2/17)

Fmr. Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri is assassinated in a major car bombing in Beirut; 7 bodyguards, 6 passers-by are also killed, more than 100 are wounded (3 of whom later die). A previously unknown group called Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria claims responsibility. (BBC, al-Hayat, JAZ, MM 2/14; MM, NYT, WP, WT 2/15; Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, al-Quds, VOI, XIN 2/15, JAZ, QA 2/16, AFP, Le Monde 2/17 in WNC 2/18; MEI 2/18)

Overnight, the IDF raids Nur al-Shams r.c. outside Tulkarm to arrest wanted Islamic Jihad mbrs.; Islamic Jihad mbrs. Sa‘id Musay’i, Wa’il ‘Khadir are fatally shot when they open fire on the troops, a 3d mbr. surrenders. The IDF also fatally shoots a Palestinian on a Nablus rooftop who allegedly is armed; fires on stone-throwing Palestinians in Beita; blows up a car in Nablus allegedly rigged as a car bomb; blocks the entrances to Kafr Dik village nr. Qalqilya; demolishes 2 Palestinian homes nr. Rafah, 1 nr. Khan Yunis; bulldozes 17 dunams of land nr. Khan Yunis; erects a new IDF post in Khan Yunis; conducts arrest raids nr. Jenin. The PSF fortifies Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah, placing wrecked cars and concrete-filled barrels around the entrance to impede the IDF in the event of a raid. (AFP 5/7; MA, VOI, VOP, YA 5/7 in WNC 5/11; NYT 5/8; PCHR 5/13)

Unidentified Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb outside Erez crossing as a U.S. emb. convoy (carrying the cultural attache, en route to interview Fulbright scholarship candidates) passes, destroying 1 of 4 armored cars, killing 3 U.S. security officers, wounding 1 U.S. diplomat; the convoy passes along a route and at a time a CIA detail involved in monitoring road map progress usually passes through the area, despite mos. of warnings fr. the PA of the dangers of routine movements, conspicuous bodyguards. AMB, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Comms. (PRC) deny responsibility, though a phone call to the press claims the attack on the PRCs’ behalf. After this 1st successful targeted attack against Americans by Palestinians, the U.S. for the 1st time discloses that in 6/03 a roadside bomb went off nr. a CIA vehicle in Gaza, causing damage but no injuries. Palestinians also detonate a smaller roadside bomb nr. an IDF convoy in Gaza, injuring 3 IDF soldiers. The IDF sends troops back into Brazil r.c., fatally shooting 1 Palestinian, searching and occupying homes, bulldozing land, demolishing a number of houses, shelling residential areas; arrests a Palestinian woman who attempts to stab a soldier at a Tulkarm checkpoint; conducts arrest raids in Bethlehem; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, Tulkarm; imposes a curfew on Nablus, escorts 100s of ultra-Orthodox Jews on a pilgrimage to Joseph’s Tomb. Israel orders another 3 West Bank Palestinian administrative detainees expelled to Gaza (see 10/14). An Israeli Arab dies of injuries received in the 10/4 Haifa bombing, bringing that toll to 21. (BBC, HA, MM, PR, PRCS 10/15; XIN 10/15, al-Ra’i 10/16 in WNC 10/18; AP, HA, MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 10/16; MM, WP 10/17; AYM 10/18 in WNC 10/25; PR 10/22; WJW 10/23; JPI, MEI 10/24; JPI 10/31)

The IDF assassinates Islamic Jihad mbr. ‘Abd al-Hadi Omar nr. Jenin, also wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 2 bystanders; conducts arrest raids in Jenin, al-Til; disarms, arrests a would-be suicide bomber, wearing a 33 lb. explosives belt nr. Tulkarm; finds, safely defuses a 110 lb. bomb planted by the Gush Katif security fence. (HA, NYT 12/8; LAW, PCHR 12/11)

A day before the UN deadline, Iraq turns over a 12,000-page declaration on its biological, chemical, nuclear weapons programs, asserting that it has no weapons of mass destruction. (WP 12/7; NYT, WP, WT 12/8; MM 12/11)

 

In retlatiation for the IDF assasination of its military head Sawalha on 11/9, Islamic Jihad gunmen ambush a detail of IDF soldiers, border police, Jewish settler security officials nr. the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, killing 4 IDF soldiers, 5 border police, 3 settler guards, injuring 15 soldiers, police, guards in what the IDF terms a “well planned ambush” that included positioning snipers on nearby hilltops; during the 3 hr. exchange of gunfire at least 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs. are also killed. The IDF, Israeli government initially claim that all of those killed and injured were civilian worshipers en route fr. Sabbath prayers at the holy site; later admit that the group targetted was all military or paramilitary, that Islamic Jihad mbrs. allowed the group of Jewish worshipers to pass without incident mins. before the ambush. The attack comes barely 5 wks. after the Shin Bet warned (10/7) that tensions were high around the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs, that a cell of 15+n20 Jewish settlers might be preparing an attack on Palestinians similar to the 1994 Baruch Goldstein shooting at the site; among those warning of a new Goldstein was IDF Hebron cmdr. Col. Dror Weinberg, killed in today’s attack. IDF undercover units assassinate senior Hamas mbr. Mahmud Obeid, arrest a 2d Hamas mbr. in Tulkarm; fire rockets at a workshop in Gaza City, destroying it; demolishes 3 Palestinian homes in Bayt Lahia; conduct arrest raids in Dayr al-Balah. During the 3d day of sweeps in Nablus, the IDF arrests another 14 suspected Hamas mbrs., fires on a group of stone-throwing youths, killing 1 Palestinian. (HA 11/15; HA, NYT, WP, WT 11/16; JP, NYT, WP 11/17; HA, PCHR 11/20; MEI 11/22; see also HA 10/7)

Senior AMB mbrs. Jihad al-Omarayn, Wa'il al-Nimrah are killed when a bomb in their car explodes in Gaza City in what is presumed to be an IDF assassination; Israel refuses to confirm or deny allegations. The IDF bulldozes agricultural land nr. Khan Yunis, also demolishing a PSF post. The IDF says it has arrested a Palestinian truck driver for smuggling guns across the Jordan border with a shipment of vegetables. (NYT, WP 7/5; al-Quds 7/7 in WNC 7/9; LAW, PCHR 7/10)