The Palestine Chronology

Israel warns that it will not allow passage to a flotilla of 8 boats organized by the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) and a Turkish organization, Humanitarian Relief Fund (going by the acronym IHH), currently en route to Gaza in an effort to defy Israel’s siege and deliver 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid, saying it will send Israeli naval commandos to intercept the boats and escort them to Ashdod port, where the 100s of activists onboard would be deported. The U.S. urges restraint. (NYT, WP, WT 5/28)

IDF troops on the Gaza border nr. the former Nahal Oz crossing fire on armed Palestinians laying a roadside bomb nr. the border fence, injuring 7; the Palestinians respond with mortar fire, causing no injuries. The IDF also makes air strikes, directs tank fire at an area s. of Qarni crossing in response to mortar fire fr. the area; 2 Palestinian civilians, no Israelis are injured in the exchange. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a predawn raid on a Palestinian home in ‘Arab al-Ramadin village nr. Hebron, firing tear gas in the home (8 family mbrs. are evacuated to a medical center for treatment); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron (including arresting a 12-yr.-old boy, who is released on 5/28). (YA 5/28; PCHR 6/3; OCHA 6/4)

Israel charges 2 Israeli Palestinians, Ameer Makhoul (dir. of Ittijah, a union of Arab organizations in Israel) and Omar Said (also a pro-Arab advocate), with espionage for allegedly passing information on the location of IDF facilities to Hizballah, a charge the men deny. (WP, WT 5/28)

Overnight, the IDF carries out air strikes on smuggling tunnels on the Rafah border in retaliation for the PFLP’s 12/31 Grad strikes, lightly injuring 4 Palestinians. Later in the day, after the Popular Resistance Committees (PRCs) fire at least 2 mortars toward the Kerem Shalom crossing (the IDF records 2, while the PRCs claim 5; only 1 lands inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries), the IDF carries out air strikes on an open area e. of Jabaliya in n. Gaza and on a farm in al-Qarara in s. Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. Of note: Israel permanently closes the Nahal Oz crossing, meaning that with the exception of the grain belt operating at Qarni crossing, Kerem Shalom will be the sole transit point for goods coming in and out of Gaza; all fuel shipments will also henceforth go through Kerem Shalom. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades, tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinians and nonviolent international (and, in the case of Bil‘in, Israeli) activists taking part in protests against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 1 Palestinian) and Ni‘lin (injuring 2 Palestinians); prevents Palestinian and international activists fr. planting trees on Palestinian land declared a closed military zone by the IDF, confiscating the trees; patrols in al-‘Arub r.c. in the evening, stopping and questioning a group of Palestinian children, arresting 3 teenagers; conducts synchronized late-night house searches in 3 villages southwest of Jenin, making no arrests; later makes a raid on a 4th village in the same area, also making no arrests. Jewish settlers fr. Yakir nr. Salfit stone a Palestinian car driving on the road to Qalqilya, injuring 2 Palestinians. (YA 1/1; HA 1/2; OCHA, PCHR 1/6)

As Israel continues widespread air and naval bombardment of Gaza for a 3d day, Israeli DM Barak declares “all-out war” on Hamas. The IDF declares a 2-mi. buffer zone around the Strip a closed military zone and continues amassing tanks and troops there, indicating further preparations for a ground invasion. Israeli military officials speaking anonymously say they have expanded the IDF’s target list to include Hamas’s support network and symbols of Hamas power, stating that “there are many aspects of Hamas, and we are trying to hit the whole spectrum, because everything is connected and everything supports terrorists against Israel” and that “anything affiliated with Hamas is a legitimate target.”

Israeli actions: The IDF reports hitting 100 sites today, including more Islamic University buildings (including the engineering dept., library); homes and offices of Hamas leaders; PA government buildings (including the Interior Min., Finance Min., Foreign Min., Labor Min., Construction and Housing Min., and a PA presidential guest house); Bani Suhayla’s municipal building; the alZawiyya Mosque in Jabaliya r.c. and Omar Bin al-Khattab Mosque in al-Bureij r.c.; more civil and naval police stations; more tunnels along the Rafah border; the headquarters of Hamas’s al-Aqsa TV; Gaza’s port (for a 2d day); and 1 Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades training site. Target areas include Abasan, Bani Suhayla, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City (city center, al-Rimal, al-Sabra, Shaykh Ajlin, Tal al-Hawa), Jabaliya town and r.c., Khan Yunis, Nussayrat r.c., al-Qarara, Rafah, Shati’ r.c., Tal al-Za‘atar. Just before strikes on Rafah, Israeli Military Intelligence makes 10,000 automated calls to Rafah residents warning of pending air strikes, breaks into Palestinian radio broadcasts to urge residents across Gaza to move to city centers. Palestinian medical officials report at least 364 Palestinians dead, 1,500 wounded since 12/27.

Palestinian actions: Palestinians fire 66 rockets, 14 mortars into Israel (twice as many as in the previous 24 hrs.), killing 3 Israeli civilians (1 each in Nahal Oz, Ashdod, Ashqelon; 1 of them an Israeli Palestinian) and wounding 5 (3 of them Israeli Palestinians), with 2 rockets hitting 23 mi. north in Gan Yavne/Ashdod. A Palestinian mortar hits an IDF base in Netivot, s. and e. of the Nahal Oz crossing, killing 1 IDF soldier (a Druze), seriously wounding 1, lightly injuring 4. The Israeli toll stands at 4–5 dead, about 20 injured. Reports circulate (e.g., NYT 12/30) of Hamas gunmen executing at least 5 accused collaborators with Israel inside hospitals; the 5 had been jailed for collaboration and transferred to hospitals after being wounded in IDF air strikes on jails.

Humanitarian notes: Israel allows 40 truckloads of humanitarian aid into Gaza; Egypt allows 23 truckloads of emergency goods in, some wounded out through Rafah. International aid groups (including Amnesty International, the UN) say aid transfers are insufficient, warn that the death toll is rising in part because of lack of medicines and medical supplies, food, and fuel.

Of note: One Israeli air strike heavily damages the UN Special Coordinator’s Office (UNSCO) headquarters in Gaza City, prompting the UN to issue a formal complaint. Egyptian TV reports that captured IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit has been wounded in an Israeli air strike in recent days; Hamas does not comment. (BBC, CNN, HA, Houston Chronicle, IFM, REU, White House press briefing, YA 12/29; BBC, IDF, Independent, NYT, WP, WT 12/30; IDF, UNOSAT 12/31; JP, PCHR, WJW 1/1; ITV 1/2; IDF 1/3; NYT, WP 1/4; WT, UNOSAT 1/5; IFM 1/8; Committee to Protect Journalists 1/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against OCL in Issawiyya, Shu‘fat r.c., al-Tur neighborhood in East Jerusalem, causing no serious injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in East Tura village nr. Jenin, Hebron. (PCHR 1/1)

IDF troops along the s. Gaza border e. of Khan Yunis fire on a group of armed Palestinians inside Gaza, causing no injuries; troops then cross into Gaza, exchange fire with armed Palestinians, wounding 4. PRC mbrs. then fire 11 mortars fr. Gaza toward the IDF military post at Nahal Oz crossing; 3 mortars hit the base, wounding 6 IDF soldiers, 1 critically. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts an evening raid on an Internet cafe nr. Jenin, checking IDs and searching ´ the premises but making no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Jerusalem, Qalqilya, Tulkarm; conducts synchronized, late-night house searches in Tubas and neighboring al-Fara‘ r.c., and in 8 villages s. of Jenin, making no arrests; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 1 Japanese activist), Jayyus nr. Qalqilya (injuring 2 Palestinians), and Ni‘lin (injuring 2 Danish activists, 1 Palestinian teenager). Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba and Beit Shalom attack Palestinians, vandalize property in nearby Palestinian areas, seriously injuring 4 Palestinians, including a 6-yr.-old boy. Later, IDF troops close the area, take up positions on surrounding rooftops, escort 5 busloads of settlers from other parts of the West Bank into the area to “defend” the illegal Beit Shalom outpost. In the evening, the settlers rampage through Palestinian areas, burning cars, slashing tires, breaking windows of cars and homes, destroying water tanks; the IDF does not intervene. (NYT 11/29; OCHA 12/3; PCHR 12/4)

Israeli FM Tzipi Livni narrowly wins Kadima party elections to replace Ehud Olmert as party head. Olmert, Israel’s current PM, called for party elections on 6/11/08, after government investigators turned up serious new evidence of his financial impropriety (see Quarterly Update in JPS 149). He vowed to resign as PM formally once a new party head was elected. (NYT 9/17; HA, NYT, WP, WT 9/18)

Israel reopens Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing for limited imports of humanitarian goods and the Nahal Oz crossing for limited fuel (see 9/14). In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, injuring 6; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Azariyya nr. Jerusalem and al-Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, and nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar burn Palestinian olive trees nr. Nablus. (PCHR 9/18; OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25; AIC 11/9)

In Gaza, Palestinians begin experiencing longer blackouts resulting fr. fuel shortages since Israel closed the Nahal Oz pipeline on 8/15. Hamas volunteers undertake a clean-up campaign in Khan Yunis, where municipal sanitation workers have been on strike over salary issues. The IDF makes an air strike on an Islamic Jihad rocketlaunching site nr. Bayt Lahiya in n. Gaza, causing no injuries. A 10-yr.-old Palestinian boy is injured when a Palestinian rocket fired fr. Gaza toward Israel hits a Palestinian home nr. Bayt Hanun, nr. the n. Gaza border. In the West Bank, the IDF kills 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. in an exchange of fire nr. Jenin; sends troops into Kafr Dan nr. Jenin to patrol, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, killing a 14-yr.-old Palestinian boy, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Palestinian resistance mbrs. that leaves 1 armed Palestinian dead, 7 Palestinians wounded; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (firing on residential areas, wounding a Palestinian woman in her home), in Qalqilya, nr. Hebron; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 5. (BBC 8/17; NYT 8/19; OCHA 8/22; PCHR 8/23)

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border cross into Gaza, arrest 3 Palestinian farmers working their fields nr. the border fence n. of Bayt Lahiya; also sends bulldozers, tanks into Gaza nr. Nahal Oz to level land. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Silat al-Harithiyya nr. Jenin, seeking Palestinian gunmen who exchanged fire with troops gunmen earlier in the day, causing no injuries; they ambush a car, killing Islamic Jihad mbrs. Mahdi Abu al-Khayr, Khalid Ashur and a civilian bystander. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarm; fires tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades at Palestinians, Israeli and international peace activists conducting their weekly nonviolent protest against the separation wall nr. Bil‘in, wounding 3. (WT 5/6; NYT 5/7; OCHA 5/9; PCHR 5/10)