The Palestine Chronology

Al-Jazeera and Britain’s Guardian newspaper release a set of documents written by Palestinian officials (the “Palestine Papers”) that they claim constitutes “the confidential record of 10 years of efforts to seek a peace agreement with Israel.” The more than 1,600 pages of documents dating from 1999 to 2010 are mostly from the PLO Negotiation Affairs Dept. (PLONAD) and its successor body, the Negotiations Support Unit (NSU), headed by chief negotiator Saeb Erakat, and include memos, emails, maps, minutes from private meetings, accounts of high-level exchanges, strategy papers, and Power Point presentations. The papers apparently were leaked to al-Jazeera by several PLONAD/NSU staff. Timed with the release, al-Jazeera begins a 4-night series (1/23–26) of hour-long programs to discuss the contents of the leaked material thematically: Jerusalem and settlements, refugees and right of return, PA security coordination with Israel, and the negotiations process. (AP, Globe and Mail, Guardian, JAZ, NYT, REU 1/23; BBC, Guardian, HA, MM, NYT, WP 1/24; MM, NYT, WP 1/25; MM 1/26)

In the West Bank, the IDF opens fire at a car driving quickly toward a checkpoint nr. Hebron, wounding 2 unarmed Palestinians; conducts daytime incursions into 2 villages nr. Qalqilya searching shops and questioning Palestinians; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem and Qalqilya. Israeli border police for unknown reasons enter Haris village nr. Salfit, beating several Palestinians and firing on 1 man who attempts to flee, wounding a bystander. Jewish settlers fr. Carmiel settlement nr. Hebron attack Palestinian shepherds grazing sheep nearby and 2 Italian human rights activists protecting them; the IDF intervenes to arrest the 2 Italians. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’on settlement nr. Hebron attack a Palestinian family living nr. the settlement, shooting dead a sheep and a dog, attacking cattle, and threatening to shoot 2 children. (PCHR 1/27; OCHA 1/28)

The IDF withdraws fr. Nablus, officially suspending (but not ending) Operation Hot Winter, which has left 1 Palestinian dead, 5 wanted men (and 10s of other Palestinians) arrested. The IDF also detains an Italian film crew in Hebron making a documentary on Palestinian children in the city; conducts arrest raids in and around Hebron, in Jenin, and nr. Bethlehem, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tulkarm. IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Rafah fire on farmers who stray nr. the border fence, causing no injuries. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza coast nr. Rafah, forcing them to return to shore, causing no damage or injuries. Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire 6 rockets fr. al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis toward the IDF post at the Kissufim crossing; 2 rockets land inside Gaza, damaging 2 Palestinian homes, killing some sheep; no damage is reported at Kissufim. (NYT, OCHA, WP 2/28; HA, PCHR 3/1)

The IDF launches an air strike on a PA municipal building nr. Khan Yunis, causing heavy damage; conducts mock air raids over Gaza; patrols in al-Khadir, firing on stonethrowing youths who confront the troops; conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Arub r.c., nr. Bethlehem and Jenin; dismantles an unauthorized settlement outpost nr. Hebron. The AMB, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PRCs confirm that their unilateral truce is over. Palestinians fire 3 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF also announces that around 3 wks. ago, the AMB fired a crude rocket fr. the n. West Bank towards, but not into, Israel, causing no damage or injuries, marking the 1st confirmed rocket fire fr. the West Bank. Jewish settlers attempt to bar Palestinian farmers fr. working their land nr. Qalqilya, but the IDF intervenes. In Khan Yunis, armed AMB mbrs. ambush a minibus of EU diplomats, kidnap 1 Italian official; PA security forces quickly identify and raid the kidnappers’ hideout, free the diplomat in an exchange of fire; no injuries are reported. Armed Palestinians storm a UN social club in Gaza (the last public bar in Gaza, open only to foreigners) after closing, throwing 2 explosives, injuring a security guard. (HA, XIN, YA 1/1; HA, IMEMC, NYT, WP, WT 1/2; PCHR 1/5; NYT 1/31)

The IDF raids al-Quds Open University campus in Hebron, holds 52 students and staff for interrogation for 3 hrs. until the Temporary International Presence in Hebron intervenes; raids, searches Palestinian homes nr. Nablus, Ramallah; conducts late night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem. Also in Gaza, 1 Italian, 1 French journalist are kidnapped, quickly released by unidentified gunmen who say they wanted to pressure the PA to address employment issues in the Strip. In Bayt Lahiya, suspected militant Fatah mbrs. shoot, wound PA military intelligence official Bassam Azzam (who was close to assassinated military intelligence cmdr. Musa Arafat). Later, suspected Hamas mbrs. kidnap, shoot, then dump seriously wounded senior Fatah official Samir al-Juz in Bayt Lahiya. Soon after, a previously unknown group calling itself the Omar Bin al-Khattab Brigades (OBKB; suspected to be made up of disaffected PA General Intelligence officers angry over the 10/2 clashes) kidnaps senior Hamas mbrs. (Bassam Obeido, Hassan Safi, Ra’id Raz) in Bethlehem, Hebron, and Tulkarm, stating that “this is a response to Hamas’s violations and disregard for law and order and their attacks on security institutions and Palestinian leaders.... This is our first response”; Hamas blames elements of Fatah; the AMB says it is not involved. (HA, IMEMC, JAZ 10/6; Irish Examiner 10/7; AFP, NYT 10/8; MEI 10/12; PCHR 10/13)

The IDF conducts arrest raids in Bethlehem, Hebron; bulldozes 34 dunams of land in Abasan. The IDF also detains an ISM activist, an Italian journalist for photographing soldiers detaining Palestinian women, children in Nur al-Shams r.c.—the 1st implementation of a new policy, aimed at ISM in particular, to bar pro-Palestinian activists fr. entering Israel and the territories, deport those already there. (HA 4/23; GS, LAW, PCHR 4/24)

Italian PM Massimo D'Alema, in Bethlehem to attend PA Christmas celebrations, meets with Arafat, announces that direct flights btwn. Gaza and Rome will begin this spring. (ANSA 12/26 in WNC 12/27; al-Quds 12/27 in WNC 12/29)

In Amman, PA, Jordanian trade Ms hold talks on transportation, agricultural cooperation; prepare for planned 3-way trade mtg. with Israel. (JT 12/27 in WNC 12/28)

A Hizballah mbr. is killed, an SLA mbr. is wounded in clashes in s. Lebanon. (RL 12/25 in WNC 12/27; WP 12/26)