The IDF retakes Bethlehem, which had had only a small troop presence since the IDF turned the security of city over to the PSF on 8/19/02; imposes a curfew; surrounds the Church of the Nativity to...
A Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) suicide bomber dressed as an IDF soldier detonates a device in a Netanya market, killing 2 Israelis, wounding 50. The PFLP says...
With Passover past and 20,000 reserves fully mobilized, the IDF reoccupies Bethlehem, setting up a cordon 500 yards fr. the Church of the Nativity, surrounding the PSF West Bank headquarters,...
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The IDF retakes Bethlehem, which had had only a small troop presence since the IDF turned the security of city over to the PSF on 8/19/02; imposes a curfew; surrounds the Church of the Nativity to prevent armed Palestinians fr. seeking refuge there; conducts arrest raids, detaining 20 Palestinians; blows up the house rented by the family of the 11/21 bomber; encircles nearby Dahaysha r.c.; occupies 15 buildings, including a hospital, orphanage, 2 houses, 6 police stations, the local PSF headquarters; occupies as many as 30 Palestinian homes in al-Khadir nr. Bethlehem, expelling the families; raids the home of Israeli UNRWA worker Allegra Pacheco, holding her at gunpoint for 2 hrs., arresting her husband. Senior Irish UNRWA official Iain Hook is fatally shot inside the UNRWA’s Jenin r.c. compound by an IDF soldier who mistook his cell phone for a grenade as an IDF operation unfolded nearby to capture wanted Islamic Jihad mbr. Abdallah Wahash, who is arrested; an 11-yr.-old Palestinian throwing stones at the troops is also shot dead. The IDF also raids, shells residential areas of, demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in al-Qarara; bulldozes 8 dunams of land in al-Qarara, 28 dunams s. of Dayr al-Balah; conducts house searches, arrest raids in Satar al-Sharqiyya (targeting Hamas mbrs.), Tulkarm. A Hamas sniper fatally shoots an IDF soldier on patrol nr. Gush Katif settlement. Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb nr. the Rafah-Egypt border, injuring 2 IDF soldiers. Late this evening, 2 Islamic Jihad suicide bombers detonate their explosives-packed boat next to an Israeli naval patrol boat off the coast of Gaza, injuring 4 IDF soldiers. (HA, MM, NYT, PM, WP, WT 11/22; AFP 11/22 in WNC 11/25; AP, HA, NYT, WP, WT 11/23; NYT, WP 11/24; HA 11/25; NYT, WT 11/26; HA, LAW, PCHR 11/27; CSM, JP, WJW 11/28; HA 12/2; NYT 1/4)
Christian Coalition leaders end a wk. long solidarity visit to Israel, saying they will use their “fact-finding mission” to help galvanize support for Israel in the U.S. (WT 11/27)
A Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) suicide bomber dressed as an IDF soldier detonates a device in a Netanya market, killing 2 Israelis, wounding 50. The PFLP says the attack is to protest the PA's continued detention of the group's leader, Ahmad Saadat, under U.S.-British supervision in connection with the 10/01 PFLP assassination of Tourism M Rehavam Ze'evi. The IDF sends tanks, APCs into Ramallah after shots are fired at a Jewish settler driving nearby; troops withdraw to the outskirts of the city a short time later. The IDF also makes incursions into several villages nr. Hebron, Tulkarm; partially demolishes 2 factories, bulldozes a strip of agricultural land, 7 greenhouses nr. Qarni crossing in Gaza; lifts a week-long 24 hr. curfew on the al-Mawasi area of Gaza. (AP, Palestine Media Center 5/19; AFP 5/19 in WNC 5/20; NYT, WP, WT 5/20; Interfax 5/20 in WNC 5/21; WT 5/21; LAW 5/22; JPI 5/31)
Israel releases tenders for the construction of 957 housing units in Jewish settlements. (HA 5/19; WT 5/21)
The European Union (EU) says that Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain have agreed to take the 13 Palestinians deported to Cyprus on 5/10 as part of the Israeli-PA deal to end the Church of the Nativity stand-off. (AFP, CNA 5/19 in WNC 5/20; NYT 5/20)
Around 90 Peruvian converts to Judaism are airlifted to Israel to take up residence in Alon Shvut, Karmei Tzur settlements. The Ashkenazi chief rabbinate sent a delegation of rabbis on a 2 wk. mission to impoverished rural areas Peru in early 5/02 to convert anyone "who said they were willing to immigrate to Israeli immediately." (HA 7/19; WT 7/24)
With Passover past and 20,000 reserves fully mobilized, the IDF reoccupies Bethlehem, setting up a cordon 500 yards fr. the Church of the Nativity, surrounding the PSF West Bank headquarters, declaring a 24-hr. curfew, firing warning shots at a BBC camera crew. The IDF also sends troops into Aida, Dahaysha, Tulkarm; reinforces troops in Qalqilya, beginning house-to-house searches. In Ramallah, the IDF continues rounding up Palestinian men, saying since 3/29, it has detained 700 (10 of them "wanted" men) and seized 19 rifles, 4 pipe bombs, 2 mortars, a "small number of assorted ordnance"; raids, vandalizes, confiscates files fr. more public, private offices; ejects a 6-person CBS news team fr. the city; fires on a clearly marked NBC TV vehicle. The PRCS says that the IDF has halted coordination efforts that guarantee the safe movement of ambulances, medical workers. In Bayt Jala, 100 Palestinians and foreign peace activists hold a nonviolent march to an IDF checkpoint, where troops open fire in front of them with live ammunition fr. tank-mounted machine guns, wounding 7 foreigners, 1 Palestinian TV cameraman. In total, 13 Palestinians are killed during the day, including an 11-yr.-old boy shot by the IDF in Gaza. A Palestinian sniper kills 1 Jewish settler in Har Homa. A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates a car bomb at a checkpoint btwn. East and West Jerusalem, killing 1 Israeli police officer. Palestinian gunmen kill 11 Palestinian collaborators, taking most of them fr. PA jails. Palestinians across the territories hold solidarity rallies to protest Israeli actions. (JP [Internet], NYT, PRCS press release, WP 4/1; al-Quds 4/1, AFP 4/2 in WNC 4/3; AFP, AN, ATL, IRNA, MENA, SA 4/1 in WNC 4/1; MM, NYT, WP, WT 4/2; MEI 4/5)
