The Palestine Chronology

The Knesset passes (65-33, with 22 absent) a law that would require the government to hold a national referendum before ceding Israeli territory, potentially hindering the government’s ability to reach peace deals with Syria and the Palestinians; West Bank lands, which were never annexed by Israel, would not fall under the new requirement. (NYT 11/23)

The IDF troops make a brief incursion into c. Gaza to level lands along the border fence east of Bureij refugee camp (r.c.), firing on residential areas to keep Palestinians indoors, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Tulkarm in the morning without incident; conducts afternoon arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, in Jenin, and nr. Bethlehem and Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo settlement nr. Ramallah, escorted by IDF soldiers, expel Palestinian farmers fr. a plot of land adjacent to the settlement. (PCHR 11/25; OCHA 11/26)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction material in the fmr. settlement sites, wounding 1. Hamas’s acting FM Mahmud Zahhar warns that Gazans who fire rockets at Israel violate an agreement among Palestinian factions not to initiate strikes on Israeli targets and face possible arrest. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 2 villages nr. Jericho and Jenin in the morning, making no arrests; makes a late-night raid into Mazra‘a village nr. Ramallah, patrolling streets and firing rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas, stun grenades at stone-throwing youths who confront them, causing no serious injuries; makes a late-night raid on a Palestinian apartment building in Ya‘bad village nr. Jenin, photographing it and questioning the owner; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Askar r.c. and nearby Nablus, in Hebron, and nr. Salfit. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo settlement throw stones at Palestinians driving on the nearby Nablus– Ramallah road, causing no injuries. In East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces raid and search a Palestinian home in the alBustan area of Silwan early in the morning, arresting 2 Palestinians. (al-Hayat 10/31; PCHR 11/4; OCHA 11/5)

Direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are formally relaunched at a ceremony at the State Dept. in Washington, with Abbas and Netanyahu pledging to meet again on 9/13–14 in Egypt and then every 2 weeks thereafter to “keep momentum going.” Clinton, Abbas, Netanyahu, and U.S. special envoy George Mitchell meet, after which Abbas and Netanyahu meet privately for 90 mins. Mitchell then announces that the leaders have decided to work toward a “framework agreement” within a year that would outline “the compromises each side must be ready to make” to achieve peace as a 1st step before attempting to iron out a comprehensive peace treaty. (NYT, WP, WT 9/3)

For a 3d day in a row, IQB gunmen fire on a Jewish settler vehicle driving in West Bank area C, causing no injuries. Asked if Hamas’s political leadership approved the recent string of shootings, West Bank IQB spokesman Abu Ubaidah says the operations are “in harmony with the attitude of the political wing.” The PASF says that since the 1st shooting on 8/31, they have detained 300 Hamas mbrs. Late in the evening, the IDF patrol in villages nr. Jericho, Nablus, Qalqilya, and Salfit, making no arrests; conducts arrest raids in Hebron (shooting and wounding 1 Palestinian, releasing him to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society) and neighboring al-‘Arub r.c. Jewish settlers fr. Halamish settlement nr. Ramallah stone Palestinian vehicles driving by the settlement. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo settlement nr. Ramallah stone Palestinian cars on the Ramallah–Nablus road. Unidentified Jewish settlers stone Palestinian vehicles driving nr. Nablus. PCHR reports that Israel’s Gihon Water Company recently sent letters to churches and nunneries in the Old City of Jerusalem warning that their water service will be cut off if they do not immediately pay water consumption fees accumulated since 1967; historically, religious establishments in Jerusalem have been exempt from such fees. (PCHR 9/2; WP 9/4; PCHR 9/8; OCHA 9/17)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires tear gas, stun grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists taking part in a nonviolent march in ‘Ayn al-Bayda nr. Hebron to protest the separation wall and settlement activities, arresting 6 Palestinians (including a journalist) and 5 internationals (all released on bail by 4/12); conducts synchronized late-night arrest raids, house searches in Aida, al-Azza, and Dahaysha refugee camps nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo nr. Ramallah attack, damage a Palestinian car driving nearby, causing no injuries. (OCHA, PCHR 4/15)

In Gaza, IDF troops on the s. Gaza border e. of al-Qarara exchange cross-border fire with armed Palestinians, causing no reported injuries; Israeli naval vessels then shell the area, injuring 3 armed Palestinians, damaging a mosque. IDF troops in observation towers on the Gaza border e. of Jabaliya fire on Palestinian farmers working land 400 m fr. the border (outside Israel’s no-go zone), forcing them to leave. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. Late in the evening, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire at Palestinian homes in Bayt Hanun for 40 mins., causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF opens fire on a Palestinian vehicle driving nr. Husan village w. of Bethlehem, wounding 3 Palestinians (ages 17–21), claiming they fired on an IDF patrol; fires tear gas, stun grenades at Palestinians attempting to reach their agricultural land inside a closed military zone nr. Hebron, injuring an 8-yr.-old Palestinian boy; raids and seals (until 2/28) 2 Palestinian organizations in Sur Bahir nr. Jerusalem; imposes a late-night curfew on, conducts house searches in al-Zubaydat village nr. Jericho. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron throw stones and bottles at Palestinian houses in nearby Wadi Husayn, injuring a 7-yr.-old Palestinian boy. Jewish settlers fr. Shilo settlement n. of Ramallah seize 10 d. of Palestinian agricultural land to expand their settlement. (PCHR 2/24; OCHA 2/25)