The Palestine Chronology

IDF troops on the s. Gaza border e. of Khan Yunis fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers who stray too near the border fence, forcing them to flee. Late at night, IDF troops on the c. Gaza border e. of al-Maghazi r.c. fatally shoot a lone armed Palestinian digging nr. the border fence. In addition, 4 Palestinians scavenging for scrap metal nr. Rafah are injured when the accidentally trigger unexploded IDF ordnance. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in 1 village nr. Ramallah in the morning; in Tulkarm and 2 nearby villages, 2 villages nr. Qalqilya, 2 villages nr. Ramallah, and an open area nr. Jenin (firing in the air, causing no damage or injuries) in the evening; and in 4 villages nr. Qalqilya and 1 nr. Hebron late at night. Jewish settlers wielding iron bars attack 4 Palestinians traveling nr. Ramallah, moderately injuring them. Masked Jewish settlers fr. Bat Ayin settlement nr. Hebron attack and beat a Palestinian farmer and his family working their land nearby. OCHA, (PCHR 4/5)

In the morning, the IDF makes 2 brief incursions into Gaza to level land along the border fence in s. Gaza to clear lines of sight. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction materials in the fmr. settlement sites, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 8 tents (home to 40 Bedouin) and 2 wells nr. Suissa settlement outside Hebron; sends some 40 undercover troops into Salim nr. Nablus, where they raid an apartment building and arrest a wanted Palestinian; patrols in and around Tulkarm, in Qalqilya, and in villages nr. Jenin in the morning, summoning 4 Palestinians to appear for questioning; conducts late-night patrols in al-Bireh, Qalqilya, and 2 village nr. Ramallah and Tulkarm. Jewish settlers fr. Bat Ayin nr. Hebron uproot at least 250 olive trees in nearby Jab’a village. (WT 2/23; PCHR 2/24; OCHA 2/25)

After a televised speech in which Libya’s Col. Qaddafi vows to hunt down and kill protesters “house by house,” 1,000s of his supporters take to the streets of Tripoli brandishing machetes and join trucks heading to outlying areas to conduct neighborhood searches. With most residents bunkered in their homes and media outlets cut off, the extent of the violence in the Tripoli area is unclear. Rights groups estimate that 519 Libyans have been killed, 3,980 have been wounded, and at least 1,500 have gone missing since violence erupted a wk. ago. Hereafter, fighting quickly devolves into bitter civil war. (NYT, WP, WT 2/23; NYT, WP, WT 2/2; NYT, WP, WT 2/25; NYT, WP, WT 2/26–3/1)

In Bahrain, more than 100,000 protesters (a fifth of the population, mostly Shi‘a) turn out for the largest prodemocracy rally to date in Pearl Square calling for the govt. and the monarchy to step down. (NYT, WP, WT 2/23)