The Palestine Chronology

IDF troops on the n. Gaza border nr. Bayt Hanun shoot, wound 2 Palestinians who stray nr. the border fence while trapping birds. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya, nr. Jenin; begins construction of a new fence around Karmi’el, Ma’on settlements nr. Hebron that will confiscate around 1,000 d. of Palestinian land to create territorial unity btwn. the 2 settlements. In Gaza City, Hamas-Fatah violence continues for a 6th day, leaving an ESF officer, 3 Hamas mbrs. dead, and 8 ESF mbrs. injured; among the incidents, a bomb explodes outside the home of a Dahlan bodyguard (causing no injuries), Hamas mbrs. fire mortars and antitank rounds at the Fatah-controlled PA police headquarters. Other clashes are reported in and around Khan Yunis, nr. Jabaliya, and in Bayt Hanun. Several Palestinians are also kidnapped during the day in Hamas-Fatah rivalries: Fatah’s Brig. Gen. Sayyid Shaban, head of the PA National Security Forces in central Gaza (quickly released); senior Hamas cmdr. Ashraf Firwana; 2 teenage children of a Fatah col.; a senior Fatah official; a Fatah municipal official. A Fatah mbr. dies of injuries received in the latest round of intra-Palestinian fighting. Fighting also spreads to Nablus, where Fatah mbrs. kidnap, quickly release several Hamas mbrs. In Jabaliya r.c., PFLP mbrs., Islamist parties hold a sit-in to protest the ongoing Palestinian violence. In Ramallah, AMB mbrs. kidnap, kill an alleged Palestinian collaborator with Israel. (MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/29; OCHA 1/31; PCHR 2/1; AIC 2/13)