The Palestine Chronology

In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian sniper shoots and kills an Israeli Ministry of Defense contractor working on the border fence nr. kibbutz Nahal Oz, an attack claimed by the Popular Resistance Cmtes. In response, the Israeli military launches attacks on 6 separate sites across the Gaza Strip, killing 1 child in al-Maghazi r.c. and wounding a total of 10. Separately, Israeli forces open fire on Palestinians collecting scrap metal close to the border fence nr. Bayt Lahiya, wounding 1 with live ammunition. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 2 villages and al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron at night. The IDF also demolishes 15 houses in Ras Karkar and Dayr Ammar villages nr. Ramallah, as well as properties in Fasayil village in the n. Jordan Valley. Meanwhile, Palestinians throw stones at a bus carrying Israelis nr. Qalqilya, wounding 1. (HA, MNA, REU 12/24; YA 12/25; PCHR 12/26)

In an attack on a police headquarters in Egypt’s Nile Delta, a bomb kills 15 people and wounds more than 100. Authorities blame the Muslim Brotherhood, which for their part condemn the attack and deny any connection to it. The attack is subsequently claimed by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. Following the attack, Dep. PM Hossam Eissa reads a govt. statement declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. In response to developments, the U.S. State Dept. condemns the bombing but also urges Egypt to have an “inclusive political process,” noting the Brotherhood’s condemnation of the attack. (AP, REU 12/24; AP, REU 12/25)

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)

Overnight, the IDF sends troops back into Shuka (see 5/27) to bulldoze 200 d. of agricultural land, demolish 4Palestinian homes, and arrest 12 Palestinians; IDF aircraft supporting the ground troops fire missiles at 2 groups of armed Palestinians who approach the area, killing 2 Palestinian gunmen, wounding 1 civilian. During the day, IDF troops stationed at Gaza’s Nahal Oz crossing fire on Palestinian children collecting scrap metal nearby, wounding 3. Israeli naval vessels fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya, Gaza City, and Rafah coasts, forcing them to return to shore. Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb along the Gaza border e. of Dayr al-Balah as an IDF jeep patrolling inside Israel passes, causing no damage or injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF sends bulldozers, troops into Bayt Hanun in n. Gaza, conducting house searches, bulldozing 50 d. of agricultural land, detaining several Palestinians for questioning, releasing them, and withdrawing around midnight. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Bethlehem to arrest a wanted Palestinian teenager; conducts evening arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus; conducts similar late-night operations in Nur al-Shams r.c. nr. Tulkarm, and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah. A Palestinian civilian injured in an IDF air strike in al-Fukhari on 5/27 dies. In Gaza City, unidentified assailants detonate a bomb outside a store previously criticized for “immoral behavior,” causing no injuries. (PCHR 5/29; OCHA 6/4; PCHR 6/5)

Four Palestinian gunmen representing Islamic Jihad, the PRCs, and the Mujahiddin Brigades (an AMB offshoot) raid the Nahal Oz fuel depot on the Gaza-Israel border under cover of mortar fire, killing 2 Israeli civilian workers; IDF soldiers on site return fire, killing 2 gunmen; 2 escape back into Gaza. The IDF retaliates with air strikes and artillery fire, killing a 3d Palestinian gunman, 4 Palestinian civilians, wounding 2 armed Palestinians, 6 civilians (including 2 children), demolishing a Palestinian home. Israel also closes Nahal Oz until it reviews security procedures (Gaza’s electricity plant has enough fuel to last until 4/13). In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Bayt Hanina in East Jerusalem, displacing 7 Palestinians (including 5 children); patrols in Bayt Rima nr. Ramallah, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and Nablus, in Qalqilya and Tubas, and nr. Ramallah and Tulkarm, nr. Salfit. Jewish settlers stone a Palestinian family nr. Ramallah, injuring 2 women. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha nr. Nablus uproot Palestinian olive trees, vandalize a Palestinian home nearby. (AP, BBC, HA, IFM, Ma’ariv [Tel Aviv], REU, YA 4/9; NYT, WP, WT 4/10; WP 4/11; OCHA 3/16; PCHR 4/17)

Overnight, the IDF launches a major raid into eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City to look for “terrorist infrastructure,” sending in troops, tanks, bulldozers, accompanied by helicopters; making an air strike on a clearly marked Reuters TV truck covering the incursion, saying it was “acting suspiciously,” seriously wounding 2 Reuters journalists; during the day, the IDF fires on residential areas, warns residents to leave, exchanges fire with and conducts air strikes on Palestinian gunmen (killing 3 Palestinian gunmen, 1 Palestinian civilian; wounding 2 Palestinian militants, 10 civilians), occupies houses as observation posts. Also in Gaza, the IDF closes the Rafah crossing, Nahal Oz pipeline. In the West Bank, the IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian guard outside a school in Jenin, claiming he was acting suspiciously; raids, searches the Ramallah home of Hamas-affiliated PC mbr. Mahmud Muslih, arresting him; patrols in Jenin town and r.c., Nablus (firing on residential areas in both cases, causing no injuries); conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqilya. Jewish settlers in Hebron break into the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs, violating agreements that this day is reserved for Muslims to pray there. After 13 days, the Holy Jihad Brigade releases unharmed 2 Fox News Journalists; the PA says that none of the group’s 8/23 demands were met, the group is not linked to al-Qa‘ida but is a group of “young men who carried out the action out of private beliefs.” (AFP, HA 8/27; NYT, WP, WT 8/28; PCHR 8/31; PMG 9/1)