The Palestine Chronology

In the Gaza Strip, the IDF continues its assault, launching air strikes on approximately 47 targets, killing 38 Palestinians and injuring dozens. Among the 38 are 3 high-ranking commanders in al-Qassam Brigades, who are killed overnight by Israeli fighter jets in Rafah. Five Palestinian civilians are also killed in the strike and at least 40 are injured. The armed Palestinian groups fire 109 rockets and mortars into Israel, with 7 landing in built-up areas and 13 intercepted by Iron Dome batteries. One Israeli man is injured with mortar shrapnel nr. Eshkol. Meanwhile, Hamas executes 3 alleged collaborators with Israel, and arrests 7 others. In the West Bank, IDF troops level land nr. Salfit to clear space for an Israeli settlement to expand. Also, the IDF conducts house searches and raids in 4 villages nr. Hebron, Dayr Istya, ‘Askar r.c., al-Bireh, and Bayt Liqya, arresting 9 and issuing summons to 2. Clashes break out with Palestinians in Bayt Liqya, and the Israeli soldiers open fire with live ammunition, tear gas canisters, and sound bombs. Separately, the IDF conducts 4 separate incursions into Hebron and 3 villages n. of Jericho. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces and municipal officials enter Silwan to hand demolition notices to the owners of 2 apartment buildings where 19 Palestinians live. (MNA 8/21; HA 8/22; PCHR 8/28)

There is no major diplomatic progress as disagreements that led to the breakdown of talks on 8/19 remain between the Palestinian factions and the Israeli negotiators. Mishal says in an interview with Turkish Anadolu News Agency that Hamas will keep fighting until Israel meets its terms for a permanent truce, while Israel’s Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai says that Israel will not hold cease-fire negotiations as long as rocket fire from Gaza continues. PA Pres. Abbas travels again to Doha where he will meet with Qatari emir Bin Hamad al-Thani and Hamas leader Mishal to discuss the continued Israeli assault and possible future cease-fire negotiations. Also present are head of the Palestinian delegation in Cairo Azzam al-Ahmad, PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erakat, and PA intelligence chief Majid Faraj. (AA, HA 8/21; MEMO, MNA 8/22)

The IDF patrols in Tulkarm, 2 villages nr. Ramallah, 1 nr. Qalqilya, 1 nr. Tulkarm during the day; conducts late-night patrols in Jericho, Tulkarm, and Bayt Liqya nr. Ramallah (where stone-throwing Palestinians confront IDF troops, who respond with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and percussion grenades, causing no serious injuries). (PCHR 10/27; OCHA 10/28)

Libyan leader Mu‘ammar Qaddafi is captured and killed by rebels in Sirte, after a NATO attack in which U.S. drones and French warplanes bomb his convoy. Qaddafi’s son Mutassim and his army chief of staff are also killed. Rebels secure Sirte by the end of the day. (JAZ 10/20; NYT, WP, WT 10/21) 

Unidentified assailants armed with heavy weapons and explosives enter s. Israel fr. the Egyptian Sinai and stage coordinated attacks on a bus, several cars, and an IDF patrol, killing 7 Israelis (1 IDF soldier, 6 civilians) and wounding up to 40, marking the deadliest attack on Israel since 3/2008. The attacks begin at midday with gunfire on a bus nr. Elat carrying mostly soldiers fr. a nearby army base; when an IDF unit arrives on the scene, it is quickly ambushed and hit with explosive devices. Within the hour, at least 3 reports of mortar fire fr. Egypt and attacks on civilian vehicles with antitank weapons are reported in the Elat area. Israeli security forces engage in firefights with the infiltrators over the next several hours, killing at least 7 attackers, noting that 3 of the bodies were booby trapped. At one point, IDF troops pursue the attackers into Egypt and clash with Egyptian border guards, killing an Egyptian military officer and 2 Egyptian border police and injuring 2 others. Israel accuses Hamas of sending terrorists fr. Gaza through the Rafah smuggling tunnels into Egypt and then on to Israel, and criticizes Egypt’s inability to secure its borders. The IDF quickly launches 12 air strikes on s. Gaza in retaliation, primarily targeting the Popular Resistance Committees (PRCs)—an umbrella group comprising mbrs. of all Gaza factions, including Fatah and Hamas. In total, 7 Palestinians (including 2 children) are killed and at least 23 Palestinians (including 7 children, 6 women) are wounded. Among the dead are 5 senior PRC members who were targeted for assassination, including PRC leader Kamal Abu Abed al-Nairab, PRC chief military cmdr. Imad Hamad, and a PRC rocket expert. Later in the evening, gunfire erupts again in Elat, killing 1 Israeli border policeman and critically injuring another. The PRCs fire 4 rockets (including at least 1 manufactured Grad rocket) fr. Gaza into Israel, where at least 3 are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system; no damage or injuries are reported. By late evening, the Israeli DMin. reports no further fire, but says assailants may still be on the loose. Hamas and the PRCs deny any part in the attacks. Egyptian and American analysts (e.g., NYT, WT 8/19) say that “it is not a remote possibility for [Egypt’s radical militant elements] to cross the border and launch attacks against Israeli targets. It makes a lot of sense” given Egypt’s recent crackdown on al-Qa‘ida-inspired Islamist militants in the n. Sinai (see 8/13). (AHR, AP, HA, IFM, JP, JTA, MNA, REU, WAFA, YA 8/18; NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 8/19; al-Masri al-Yawm 8/20; JAZ 8/21; PCHR 8/25; OCHA 8/26)

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Bayt Liqya nr. Ramallah during the day and in Jenin, Jericho, and 2 villages nr. Ramallah and Salfit. Jewish settlers fr. Beit El nr. Ramallah enter nearby Dawar al-Qare’ village and set fire to 2 cars. (PCHR 8/25)

During the day, the IDF fires tear gas, stun grenades to disperse Palestinians holding a nonviolent demonstration in Iraq Burin to protest Israeli land confiscations, causing no reported injuries; soldiers then erect a checkpoint at the village entrance and declare the area a closed military zone. Jewish settlers fr. Halamish settlement nr. Ramallah barricade the entrance to Nabi Salih village and stone Palestinian vehicles; the IDF removes the settlers. In the evening, the IDF patrols in Bayt Liqya (firing rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them) and in 1 village nr. Jericho (without incident). (PCHR 7/28; OCHA 7/29)

Across Israel, as many as 30,000 Israelis inspired by the Arab Spring march to protest housing prices. (WP 7/24; NYT, WP 7/27)

Unidentified Palestinians fire 4 Qassam rockets fr. Gaza into Israel during the day (1 early in the morning and 3 late at night), causing no damage or injuries. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. A Palestinian is fatally electrocuted in a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF fires tear gas and stun grenades to disperse Palestinians staging a nonviolent march in Iraq Burin to protest confiscation of their lands for the expansion of local Jewish settlements, causing no serious injuries; conducts daytime patrols in Jericho and 1 village nr. Qalqilya; conducts latenight patrols in Bayt Liqya; and conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. (YA 7/16; AFP, JP, JTA, YA 7/17; PCHR 7/20; OCHA 7/22)

Today 10s of international activists predominantly from Europe begin flying into Ben-Gurion Airport, taking part in a nonviolent protest action called for by around 40 Palestinian civil society groups and termed the “Welcome to Palestine air flotilla”; Israel fears that as many as 700 pro-Palestinian activists may try to flood the airport in hopes of being deported and creating an international media spectacle to embarrass Israel. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in ‘Ayn al-Sultan r.c. nr. Jericho and 2 villages nr. Ramallah without incident and in Bayt Liqya (firing rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at stonethrowing Palestinians who confront them, causing no serious injuries). Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall, land confiscations, and settlement expansion in al-Ma‘sara nr. Bethlehem, Ni‘lin, and Nabi Salih. IDF soldiers beat the protesters and fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at them, lightly injuring several. (AP 7/8; WP 7/9; PCHR 7/14; JPI, OCHA 7/15)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Jericho, 3 villages nr. Qalqilya, and 2 villages nr. Ramallah during the day; in 1 instance (in Bayt Liqya nr. Ramallah), troops fire live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas at stonethrowing Palestinian youths who confront them, causing no serious injuries. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar settlement nr. Nablus beat a Palestinian shepherd grazing his flock nr. the settlement, severely injuring him. (PCHR 6/2; OCHA 6/3)

The IDF patrols in Bayt Liqya, al-Bireh, Jericho, 5 villages nr. Tulkarm (randomly stopping vehicles and checking IDs in 1 instance), and 1 nr. Ramallah. During another late-night patrol in Kafr Qaddum nr. Qalqilya, the IDF temporarily detains 2 PASF officers conducting their own patrol but releases them after intervention fr. the local District Coordination Office. (OCHA, PCHR 5/12)

In Syria, troops escalate the crackdown nationwide: massive arrest sweeps rounding up men age 18–50 are reported in Baniyas, Homs, the suburbs of Damascus, and elsewhere, with govt. forces reportedly using soccer stadiums, schools, and govt. buildings as makeshift detention centers. As of this date more than 700 Syrians are believed to have been killed and 10,000 arrested since clashes began. (NYT, WP, WT 5/10; NYT 5/13)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction materials in the fmr. settlement sites, wounding 1. In the West Bank the IDF conducts evening patrols without incident in 3 villages nr. Jenin, Jericho, and Tulkarm; makes a late-night incursion into Bayt Liqya nr. Ramallah, firing rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no serious injuries. (PCHR 10/21; OCHA 10/22)

In the afternoon, the IDF makes an air strike on a car crossing a bridge btwn. c. Gaza’s Nussayrat r.c., and al-Mughraqa village in an attempt to assassinate local Fatah cmdr. ‘Abd al-Ra’uf Ahmad Safadi, striking in front of the car, injuring Safadi, a passenger in his car, and 2 children nearby (ages 2 and 10). In addition, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction materials in the fmr. settlement sites, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a predawn raid on Bardala village in the Jordan Valley, raiding and searching several homes and summoning 2 Palestinians for questioning; patrols without incident in Fasayil village nr. Jericho in the morning and in al-‘Auja village nr. Jericho and Bayt Liqya village nr. Ramallah in the afternoon; conducts late-night house searches nr. Tulkarm, making no arrests. (PCHR 10/14; OCHA 10/15)