The Palestine Chronology

Israel announces it has signed a prisoner swap agreement in Cairo with Hamas, which agreed to free IDF soldier Gilad Shalit (captured on the Gaza border in 6/2006). In return, Israel will release around 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in 2 stages: the 1st 450 Palestinians would be exchanged for Shalit within a wk.; the remaining 550 or so Palestinians would be freed within 2 mos. In Gaza, 1,000s pour into the streets to celebrate. (NYT, WP, WT 10/12; NYT, WP 10/13; NYT 10/17, 11/6)

Unidentified Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, IDF troops in Hebron violently beat a group of Palestinian children and teachers who refuse new IDF demands to submit to searches before crossing a permanent checkpoint in al-Shuhada Street to reach the Cordoba Elementary School, moderately injuring 7 children (ages 10–15). The IDF also demolishes a newly constructed mosque in Khirbat Yazra nr. Tubas; demolishes 2 Palestinian homes and an animal pen belonging to a bedouin family outside Qalqilya; conducts synchronized latenight patrols in 2 villages nr. Qalqilya. (YA 10/11; PCHR 10/13; OCHA 10/14)

The IDF makes a brief incursion into c. Gaza to level land in the al-Shuja‘iyya neighborhood of Gaza City; IDF tanks fire 7 shells nr. a secondary school in the area, causing damage to the school but no injuries. (OCHA, PCHR 10/8)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night raids, house searches nr. Hebron, arresting 2 Palestinians (including 1 teenager). Also nr. Hebron, 2 Jewish settlers beat a Palestinian child after stones were thrown at their vehicle. (PCHR 10/8)

Following clashes in Jerusalem on 10/4 and 10/5, Israeli security forces patrol the city in numbers. In the Wadi al-Juz neighborhood of East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces raid a sit-in tent set up 2 yrs. ago by the Islamic Movement and arrest Islamic Movement head Shaykh Raed Salah on charges of inciting violence. An Israeli court ruling authorizes Salah to be released but bars him fr. Jerusalem’s Old City for 1 mo. Israeli police break up Palestinian protests against the court decision, arresting 2 Palestinians. (WT 10/7; PCHR 10/8)

On the Rafah border, 3 Palestinians are killed when a smuggling tunnel collapses. Egyptian security forces discover and demolish 3 tunnels on the Rafah border, giving a warning in advance to allow anyone in the tunnels to leave. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fara‘a r.c., Ni‘lin. A new 585-mbr. PA security unit, part of which was trained under U.S. auspices in Jordan, takes up patrols in Hebron and immediately launches an expanded arrest campaign targeting Hamas; this is dubbed Operation Dawn of the Nation (see 9/14). (BBC, NYT 10/25; WT 10/26; OCHA 10/29; PCHR 10/30)

By this date, Palestinian factions have agreed to an Egyptian proposal to resume their national unity dialogue in Cairo on 11/9. Hamas and Fatah are considering a draft memorandum of understanding on national reconciliation proposed by Egypt that would be issued at the close of the Cairo summit (see Quarterly Update). (Electronic Intifada [online] 10/28; MNA 11/2; MNR 11/7; AFP 11/8; NYT, WT 11/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols, searches houses in al-Khadir, beats 3 Palestinians (ages 28, 37, and 63), claiming that Palestinians in the area had thrown stones at Israeli vehicles on a nearby settlersonly bypass road; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron. More than 100 Jewish settlers block roads and throw stones at Palestinian cars nr. Qalqilya to prevent Palestinians, accompanied by international and Israeli peace activists, fr. reaching their groves to harvest olives. Inside Israel, Israeli police arrest 6 Israeli Jews fr. Tel Aviv for taking part in recent arson attacks against Israeli Palestinian property in Acre. (BBC 10/20; OCHA, WT 10/22; PCHR, WJW 10/23)

In the first such cross-border incident in Gaza since 9/16, the IDF sends bulldozers and armored vehicles into areas n. of Bayt Hanun to level land along the border. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Furik nr. Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai beat a Palestinian family harvesting olives in Hebron, steal their olives. Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh attack Palestinains harvesting olives nr. Nablus. Under pressure to prevent further clashes like those that recently occurred in Acre, Israeli police arrest 3 Israeli Jews for assaulting Palestinians in Jerusalem and stoning Palestinian cars. Also in Israel, right-wing Jewish extremists vandalize buildings in Tel Aviv with graffiti threatening Peace Now secy. gen. Yariv Oppenheimer (cf. 9/24). (OCHA, WT 10/22; PCHR, WJW 10/23; AIC 11/9)

Egyptian border police blow up 10 smuggling tunnels along the Rafah border, causing no reported injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian teenager nr. Beit El settlement nr. Ramallah, claiming that he was preparing to throw a Molotov cocktail; bulldozes the Palestinian home in Hebron where PA security forces claimed to find a tunnel on 10/13. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’on nr. Hebron assault a group of Palestinian children near the settlement. (OCHA, WT 10/15; PCHR 10/16; see also ICG 9/11)

Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni, head of the IDF Central Command, warns the Israeli cabinet that Jewish settler violence is in danger of spinning out of control, stating, “an extreme incident could happen at any time. These people are conspiring against the Palestinians and against the [Israeli] security forces.” Shamni reports that in the past few wks. settlers have set a dog on an IDF reserve cmdr., broken the arm of a dep. battalion cmdr., slashed tires on IDF vehicles. In Hebron, he says settlers attacked an IDF officer who tried to stop settler children fr. throwing stones at Palestinians. (WP 10/15)

Israel imposes a general closure on the West Bank and on 2 checkpoints into Nablus through 10/1 for Rosh Hashanah. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron and nr. Jenin. (OCHA 10/1; PCHR 10/9)

In Tripoli, Lebanon, a remote-controlled car bomb explodes nr. an army bus, killing 4 Lebanese soldiers and 3 bystanders, injuring around 20, marking the 2d attack in Tripoli targeting the army in 6 wks. (NYT, WP 9/30; WT 10/2, 10/13; WP 10/22)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts predawn patrols in Tulkarm town and r.c.; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin; conducts late-night patrols in al-Fara‘a r.c. and Tammun village nr. Tubas. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha settlement nr. Nablus burn 7 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of Palestinian agricultural land. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim nr. Qalqilya stone Palestinian vehicles passing by the settlement, causing no injuries; the IDF removes them. In Hebron, a group of Jewish settlers beats 2 Palestinians. As the Palestinian school yr. begins, the Ramallah-based, Fatah-run Palestinian Teachers’ Union calls on Gaza’s 10,000 teachers and school administrators to strike to protest Hamas’s de facto rule, acknowledging that the strike is, in part, intended to disrupt life in Gaza and weaken the Hamas government; the PA pledges to continue to pay the teachers’ salaries as long as they observe the strike, which lasts through the end of the quarter; Hamas authorities quickly begin contracting 1,000s of substitute teachers to keep schools running. (OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28; WT 10/15)

To increase pressure on Hamas, Israel announces that it will begin curtailing fuel shipments to Gaza by up to 11% and that it has permanently closed the Sufa crossing (closed on 10/26 and 10/27 for the weekend), leaving Kerem Shalom (fully controlled by Israel) the sole crossing point for goods and humanitarian aid. (Officially the government calls the move “self-defense.”) Israel says that it will allow into Gaza “the minimum amount of food and medicines necessary to avoid a humanitarian crisis.” In Gaza, the IDF shoots, wounds a Palestinian fisherman laying nets on the Bayt Lahiya coast; sends troops into al-Shuka, where they exchange tank and heavy machine gun fire with armed Palestinians firing RPGs, leaving 1 Hamas mbr., 1 IDF soldier dead, 2 IDF soldiers wounded; conducts land-leveling operations inside the Gaza border nr. Dayr al-Balah, firing on residential areas, causing no reported injuries. Palestinians fire an RPG at an IDF jeep patrolling the Gaza border e. of al-Maghazi r.c., missing the target, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Itamar nr. Nablus harass Palestinians harvesting olives nearby; the IDF intervenes, forcing the settlers to leave. In Gaza City, some 300 PA workers stage a peaceful sit-in to protest nonpayment of their salaries. (NYT, WP, WT 10/29; OCHA 10/31; PCHR 11/1)

Israeli human rights groups petition the Israeli High Court to halt the government’s 10/24 plan to cut electricity to Gaza to pressure Hamas, arguing collective punishment, forcing the IDF to suspend implementation.Israelsays that it will continue to cut 1% of Gaza’s electricity for 15 mins. at a time as a “symbolic” response to Palestinian rocket fire until Israel’s atty. gen. rules otherwise. Overnight and into the afternoon, IDF troops conduct arrest raids, house searches in Khan Yunis, also bulldozing 30 d. of agricultural land. During the day, the IDF sends infantry units into the Bayt Lahiya area (to engage several armed Palestinians laying a roadside bomb, killing 1 Palestinian, arresting another), the border area e. of Jabaliya r.c. (where they clash with armed Palestinians, killing 1 Palestinian), and areas nr. Abasan (where they engage with armed Palestinians, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 4). Palestinians fire an RPG at an IDF jeep patrolling the Gaza border nr. al-Bureij r.c., missing the target, causing no damage or injuries. A Palestinian is injured in Dayr al-Balah when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets on Palestinian children holding 2 peaceful demonstrations in Hebron and nearby al-Arub r.c. in support of Palestinian prisoners, injuring 3 (ages 13, 16, 17) and arresting 1 (age 14); conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, and in Tulkarm (also firing on residential areas, causing damage but no injuries). In Ramallah, Palestinians demonstrate for the release of Hamas mbrs. held by the PA; PA security forces disperse the protesters. An ESF officer dies of injuries received in the 10/18 clash with the Fatah-affiliated Hillis clan in Gaza City. (NYT, WT 10/29; OCHA 10/31; PCHR 11/1)

After PRC members fire more than 20 rockets into Israel (causing no damage or injuries) to protest the 10/23 assassination of PRC head Hasanat, Israeli DM Barak authorizes the IDF to cut electricity for several hrs. to parts of Gaza fr. which rockets were fired.; Dep. DM Matan Vilnai says that targeted power cuts will increasingly be used to punish the Palestinians as long as rocket fire continues and that he expects electricity to be cut by two-thirds in the coming weeks. In the evening, IDF fires a surface-to-surface missile at a suspected rocket-launching site e. of Gaza City, killing 2 Palestinian boys (ages 14, 17), wounding 2 other Palestinians; sends troops into Abasan, where they clash with armed Palestinians, wounding 2. A Hamas mbr. is killed when a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border collapses. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem and Hebron, and in Jenin r.c. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus prevent local Palestinians fr. harvesting their olive groves. Armed Palestinians fire on a bus stop outside Ariel settlement, wounding 3 Jewish settlers. ESF officers storm and occupy a Fatah office in central Gaza; no injuries or arrests are reported. Some 5,000 Hamas supporters stage marches in n. Gaza camps in support of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. (PCHR, WT 10/25; OCHA 10/31; PCHR 11/1)

The IDF fires a surface-to-surface missile at central Bayt Lahiya in an attempt to assassinate 3 Hamas mbrs., missing them but injuring 3 bystanders, damaging 2 homes and a car. The Israeli navy fires on 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. in a boat off the Gaza coast, killing them. The IDF also withdraws troops from a strip of land northeast of Bayt Lahiya occupied on 10/19. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah; raids and searches homes, checks IDs of residents in Bayt Jala nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers fr. Shavei Shomron nr. Nablus, escorted by IDF troops, attack Palestinians harvesting olives nearby. Jewish settlers fr. Beitar Ilit nr. Bethlehem beat a Palestinian passing by the settlement. Jewish settlers fr. Karnei Shomron steal a harvest of olives fr. a Palestinian farmer nr. Qalqilya. In Gaza City, mbrs. of a Fatah-affiliated clan fire on a car of Hamas mbrs., sparking clashes that leave 3 Palestinians dead (1 clan member, 2 bystanders), 35 wounded. In Rafah, ESF officers attempt to confiscate a vehicle fr. armed Islamic Jihad mbrs., sparking an exchange of fire that leaves 1 Palestinian bystander dead and 16 Palestinians (including bystanders) injured. (WP, WT 10/21; OCHA 10/24; PCHR 10/25)

IDF troops on the Gaza border fire a shell into Gaza City, wounding a Palestinian teenager. The IDF also sends troops into Gaza Valley village to conduct arrest raids, house searches. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron. Suspected Hamas mbrs. kidnap and beat a Fatah activist in Khan Yunis. In Gaza City, some 200 Palestinians stage a sit-in outside the PC headquarters to protest the PA’s refusal to issue passports and travel documents for Gazans (see Quarterly Update in JPS 145). (OCHA 10/17; PCHR 10/18)

Rice opens 4 days of shuttle diplomacy in the region in an effort to encourage Israel and the PA to bridge gaps on a joint statement to be released at the proposed 11/15 Annapolis summit and to build regional support for the conference. (IFM 10/14; NYT, WP, WT 10/15)

Israel confirms that it is building a 10-mi. Palestinian-only road around Ma’ale Adumim settlement, linking Jericho and Bethlehem and bypassing Jerusalem, to create “transportational contiguity” btwn. Palestinian communities that would otherwise be cut off by the separation wall; critics note that 56 acres of privately owned Palestinian land and 352 acres of “state land” have been appropriated for the construction, which will also allow for the expansion and linkage of Ma’ale Adumim, Mishor Adumim, and Kedar settlements. In Gaza, the IDF raids and searches homes in al-Shuka, occupying several houses as observation posts (troops are still in the village at the end of the day); sends troops into al-Fakhari nr. Khan Yunis, raiding several homes, leveling lands, firing on residential areas, causing no reported injuries; sends troops into Bayt Hanun, bulldozing at least 100 d. of citrus trees and fences around a college and cemetery, withdrawing in the evening. The ESF creates 2 new openings in the Rafah border fence nr. Rafah’s Bloc J and al-Barahma, but no passage through the openings is reported. Egypt allows 30 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and Palestinian civilians stranded in Egypt since Israel sealed the Gaza borders on 6/12 to return to Gaza through the Rafah crossing (see 9/30). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem (arresting a mbr. of the Bethlehem municipal council), nr. Hebron, and in al-Bireh, Ramallah, Qalqilya (occupying homes as observation posts, firing on Palestinian children as they leave school, wounding 2, ages 11 and 13). (NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 10/10; PCHR 10/11; OCHA 10/17)

Overnight, the IDF makes a major incursion into ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a r.c. to arrest Hamas and PFLP mbrs., imposing a roundthe-clock curfew, firing on residential areas, occupying several homes as military outposts, moving from building to building by breaking through walls (50 homes and 2 shops are damaged by the time the operation ends on 9/21), clashing with local gunmen, leaving 1 armed Palestinian, 1 IDF soldier dead. At dawn, Palestinians fr. neighboring Nablus obey calls from local mosques to march to the camp to force a lifting of the siege; when some throw stones at troops, the IDF responds with live fire, mortally wounding a 17-yr.-old Palestinian, barring ambulances from reaching the scene, allowing him to bleed to death; 4 other Palestinians are wounded. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, nr. Hebron; issues a military order confiscating 523 d. of Palestinian land in al-Khadir and Artas nr. Bethlehem for expansion of Efrat settlement. Haniyeh meets with Islamic Jihad leaders in Gaza to ask them to halt rocket fire into Israel during Ramadan, which ends ca. 10/13, but no agmt. is reached; Damascus-based Hamas leader Khalid Mishal intends to hold similar talks with Islamic Jihad leaders in Syria in the next few days. In Gaza City, Hamas and Islamic Jihad mbrs. armed with sticks and axes clash when Hamas mbrs. reportedly attempt to take over the Islamic Jihad–run Asqalan Mosque; 3 Palestinians are injured. (NYT, OCHA 9/19; NYT, PCHR 9/20)

US. Secy. of State Condoleeza Rice begins the 1st of 3 visits to the region this quarter for talks with Olmert, Abbas in preparation for Bush’s proposed fall peace conference, now tentatively set for 11/15 in Washington. She returns to Washington on 9/20. (WP 9/18; WT 9/19; see also IFM, WT 10/17)

In an apparent assassination attempt in Gaza, suspected Fatah gunmen fire on Haniyeh’s 10-car convoy, set fire to 1 PA security vehicle, causing no injuries. In Gaza, the IDF sends troops into Bayt Hanun, seals the town, demolishes a workshop, a coffee shop before withdrawing; sends troops into Khan Yunis, fatally shooting 1 Palestinian, demolishing 2 Palestinian homes, bulldozing 6 d. agricultural land. A 15-yr.-old Palestinian is injured when he accidentally detonates unexploded IDF ordnance nr. Dayr al-Balah. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron. On the last Friday of Ramadan, Israel allows 180,000 West Bank Palestinians into Jerusalem to worship at al-Aqsa Mosque. 100s of Palestinians denied entry scuffle with IDF soldiers and border police nr. Bethlehem, who fire tear gas, stun grenades. Fatah, Hamas mbrs. exchange fire in Bayt Hanun, wounding 3 Palestinians. In Khan Yunis, a Fatah mbr. is kidnapped, shot, wounded by unidentified gunmen. (NYT, WP, WT 10/21; OCHA 11/1; PCHR 11/2)

In response to Palestinian rocket fire on 10/13, Israeli DM Amir Peretz approves an escalation in IDF border operations in Gaza. Overnight, the IDF pulls out of Abasan but sends tanks, troops into n. Gaza nr. Jabaliya r.c., exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen, conducting air strikes on a house, engaging in armed clashes nearby, killing at least 4 Hamas mbrs., 2 bystanders, wounding 15 before withdrawing; launches air strike on Rafah, which destroys a Palestinian house (warning the residents in advance to evacuate, damaging several nearby houses); bulldozes a Palestinian home in Bayt Hanun. The IDF also sets up a new Palestinian detention center inside Israel nr. the Gaza border. In the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Tubas nr. Jenin, firing on downtown areas, wounding 3 Palestinian children; conducts arrest raids, house searches, random ID checks in and around Hebron. IDF soldiers, Jewish settlers wall off 50 d. of Palestinian land around an IDF base outside Kiryat Arba. (NYT 10/14; NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 10/15; PCHR 10/19)

In Gaza, the IDF continues operations in Abasan, directing tank fire at residential areas, killing 1 Palestinian woman inside her home, wounding a man, bulldozing 120 d. of agricultural land; makes an air strike on a car driving in Bayt Lahiya, killing 3 Hamas mbrs. (‘Adil al-Maqusi, Muhammad al-Taluli, Rasim Zhahir) allegedly en route to fire rockets into Israel, wounding 1 bystander; makes an air strike on a car in Gaza City, assassinating Fatah Mujahiddin Brigades mbr. Raja’i al-Labban, wounding a 2d Fatah mbr.; makes a late-night air strike on Rafah destroying a Palestinian home (after warning residents to leave), severely damaging 5 others, cutting power to some areas; conducts arrest raids in Wadi al-Silqa. Late in the evening, Palestinians fire 3 rockets fr. Gaza into Sederot, lightly injuring 3 Israelis. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts searches in Qabatya, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen, firing on residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian militant; conducts house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Nablus (firing on residential areas, wounding 2 civilians). 100s of angry Palestinians barred by Israel fr. attending Ramadan Friday prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque use makeshift ladders to scale the separation wall and 4 checkpoints around Jerusalem and 1 checkpoint nr. Nablus, fighting with IDF soldiers who disperse them using tear gas, water cannons, stun grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai stone a Palestinian home in Hebron. Jewish settlers nr. Ramallah prevent Palestinians fr. reaching their olive groves; Israeli border police intervene to disperse the settlers. Overnight and throughout the day, Hamas mbrs. angered over the assassination of a local leader on 10/12 engage in fierce clashes with Fatah mbrs. in Bayt Lahiya, leaving a 14-yr.-old Palestinian dead, around 50 Palestinians injured. A Palestinian wounded by IDF fire in Gaza on 10/12 dies. (AP, NYT, REU 10/13; NYT, WT 10/14; PCHR 10/15, 10/19)

Overnight, the IDF raids Abasan nr. Khan Yunis to search for tunnels, exchanging fire with armed Palestinians and firing on residential areas (wounding around 12), making an air strike on Hamas mbrs. (killing 3 Hamas mbrs. and 2 bystanders, including a 13-yr.-old boy; wounding 5 bystanders, 2 Hamas mbrs.), searching and occupying Palestinian homes as operational bases; makes air strikes destroying 2 Palestinian homes in Jabaliya and Gaza City, a metal workshop in Gaza City, warning occupants prior to the attacks; expands operations during the day, firing on residential areas (killing 1 Palestinian civilian), rounding up male residents ages 15–40 for interrogation. The IDF also fires on Palestinian fishing boats off s. Gaza, damaging several but causing no injuries; makes an air strike late in the evening destroying a house in Gaza City in an attempt to assassinate Hamas cmdr Ashraf Farwana, instead killing his brother, 2 bystanders (including a 2-yr.-old girl), wounding 10 bystanders; makes air strikes destroying 2 auto shops in Gaza City. For the 1st time in over 1 mo., Hamas fires 6 rockets into Israel in response, damaging a power line to Sederot. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm, firing on residential areas. Also in Gaza, suspected Hamas gunmen fatally shoot a PA General Intelligence Services officer. Late in the evening, suspected Fatah gunmen fatally shoot a local Hamas leader in Bayt Lahiya. In Bayt ‘Umar nr. Hebron, unidentified gunmen shoot, wound a Hamas mbr. Jewish settlers in Hebron prevent local Palestinians fr. harvesting olives. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba stone Palestinian homes in Hebron. (NYT, REU, WP, WT 10/13; OCHA 10/18; PCHR 10/19)

In Gaza, the IDF withdraws troops fr. Bayt Lahiya after 3 days of operations; fires missiles fr. a drone at a car moving btwn. Gaza City and Bayt Hanun, wounding 3 AMB mbrs. (Ahmad Abu al-Kas, Ayman al-Dar‘awi, Haytham Abu Hassanain), 7 bystanders in a failed assassination attempt; makes an air strike destroying the home of a Hamas mbr. in Abasan (warning residents in advance to leave), damaging 6 nearby homes and a kindergarten. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qalqilya, nr. Jenin (firing on residential areas). Jewish settlers in Hebron throw stones at Palestinians. The AMB threatens to kill 3 senior Hamas leaders (including Damascus-based leader Khalid Mishal, Interior M Siyam) whom they accuse of sedition, “so these filthy people can be made an example.” Scattered Fatah-Hamas violence is reported during the day, with at least 1 Palestinian wounded in Rafah. (NYT, WT 10/4; PCHR 10/5; OCHA 10/11)

The IDF sends troops, tanks, bulldozers into n. Gaza to occupy border areas nr. Bayt Hanun (the Shurrab Farm area), Bayt Lahiya to deter Palestinian rocket fire. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Tubas. In Gaza City, Fatah-led protests demanding that the Hamas-led government pay back salaries owed civil servants escalate dramatically, with some 3,000 Fatah-affiliated security forces attacking members of the predominantly Hamas ESF, sparking clashes that leave 6 Palestinians dead (3 bystanders, 1 Force 17 officer, 1 PSF officer, 1 ESF officer), around 61 wounded; the ESF reportedly uses grenades, antitank weapons, rifles to break up the demonstration and arrests 25 protesters. During the day, demonstrations spread to Khan Yunis (where Fatah-affiliated security officers clash with the ESF, leaving 26 wounded), al-Bureij r.c. (where Fatah, Hamas mbrs. exchange fire, killing 2 Palestinians), Ramallah (where AMB mbrs. demonstrate for the removal of the Hamasled government and vandalize, partially burn the empty PC building and adjacent building, vandalizing a Hamas newspaper office, temporarily occupying the PA Education Min.), as well as in Askar r.c. (where Fatah, Hamas mbrs. trade fire, wounding 1 Palestinian), Balata r.c. (where protesters attack a women’s center, a youth center), Hebron (where Fatah protesters ransack, set fire to offices of Hamas-affiliated PC mbrs.), Nablus (where Fatah mbrs. ransack, torch offices of Hamas-affiliated PC mbrs.; vandalize 2 Islamic private schools, wounding 2 Palestinians; fire on the home of an al-Jazeera TV reporter), and Salfit (where protesters attack the al-Nahda association offices). Late in the evening in Gaza City, suspected Hamas mbrs. throw grenades at a group of PSF protesters, killing 1 PSF mbr., wounding 30. Late in the evening, PA Interior M Siyam orders the ESF to return to barracks to reduce tensions. Abbas, Haniyeh appeal for calm. (AP, NYT, WP, WT 10/2; PCHR 10/5)

The IDF completes its withdrawal fr. Lebanon at 2:30 A.M. local time (8:30 P.M. 9/30 ET) but vows to continue surveillance overflights of Lebanon until UN Res. 1701 is implemented in full, including the release of 2 captured IDF soldiers and disarmament of Hizballah. The UN says that the overflights constitute violations of the cease-fire. (NYT, WP 10/1; NYT 10/2; see also NYT 9/27) (see 9/8, 9/19)

In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in al-Fara‘a r.c., firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding 2 (ages 11, 14); conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, Nablus and in ‘Aqabat Jabir r.c. nr. Jericho, Qabatya (exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen, wounding 1), Tubas. As the PA begins paying civil servants another $350 portion of their overdue wages (with aid received fr. Qatar, Saudi Arabia), 100s of Fatah-affiliated PA police demonstrate in Gaza City against the Hamas-led government’s failure to pay their salaries, burning tires, overturning trash bins, blocking roads; the Hamas-led government accuses Abbas of holding back international aid run through his office that could be used to pay more back salaries owed in order to undermine Haniyeh (civil servants have received payments equivalent to 2 mos. salary over the past 7 mos.). A Palestinian dies of injuries received during clashes btwn. Fatah, the ESF on 9/22. (NYT 9/29; WT 10/1; NYT 10/2; OCHA 10/4; PCHR 10/5)

Overnight, the IDF deploys an artillery battery outside the s. Gaza Strip (since Operation First Rain, artillery has been positioned in Nahal Oz, outside the n. Gaza); begins massing troops in the Gaza border in case the Israeli cabinet calls for ground operations; conducts arrest raids, house searches in the n. West Bank targeting mostly Islamic Jihad mbrs. During the day, the IDF begins erecting a massive new checkpoint (the Zaatara checkpoint) s. of Nablus at Tapuach Junction that will sever the Nablus and Jenin districts from the rest of the West Bank, creating a northern West Bank canton; the crossing, which is similar to the Qalandia checkpoint that Israel has said will be treated as an international crossing, was approved by the IDF Central Command 9 mos. ago and should begin operation in 2 mos. An IDF drone fires on a car in n. Gaza that launched rockets toward Sederot (causing no damage), killing AMB mbr. Majid Nattat. Soon after, Palestinians fire another 2 rockets and a mortar toward Sederot, and the IDF carries out 2 air strikes on 2 roads leading to Bayt Lahiya; no injuries are reported in the exchange. Later, the IDF carries out another 3 air strikes on n. Gaza, causing no reported injuries; fires stun grenades to disperse Palestinians hoping to cross the al-Ram checkpoint into Jerusalem to mark the final Friday of Ramadan at al-Aqsa mosque. Late in the evening, the IDF launches F-16 air strikes on uninhabited areas of n. Gaza; patrols, shoots out street lights in Nablus; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron. Palestinians then fire an antitank rocket at the Erez crossing, causing no damage or injuries. Meanwhile, 10,000s of Palestinians attend the Gaza funerals of the 7 Palestinians killed in the 10/28 Muhanna assassination; AMB, Hamas, Islamic Jihad hold massive armed marches, firing automatic weapons in the air in violation of their agmt. with the PA not to carry or use weapons in public. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba, escorted by IDF soldiers, severely beat 2 Palestinians in Hebron. Separately, Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba vandalize several Palestinian homes in Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai violently beat 2 Palestinian teenagers in Hebron; the IDF intervenes and detains 1 Palestinian. Mofaz orders the eviction of 15 Jewish settler families living in the unauthorized enclave of Amona in Hebron. (AP, CSM, HA, IDF Radio, IMEMC, REU, YA 10/28; NYT, WP, WT 10/29; HA, IMEMC 10/30; OCHA 10/31; PCHR 11/10)

By morning, the IDF imposes a general curfew across the West Bank, sealing all Palestinian-controlled areas (including the northern villages of Alar, Qabatya, Sa‘ida, al-Til, Yabad, which are considered Islamic Jihad strongholds), cutting off the n. West Bank from the rest of the West Bank, barring all Palestinian private vehicles in the n. West Bank; recommends that Palestinians leave the n. Gaza border area nr. Bayt Hanun; reshuts the Erez, Qarni crossings (opened 10/26). Overnight IDF air strikes on suspected rocket launching sites in n. Gaza damage a bridge but cause no injuries. During the day, the IDF continues mock air raids, sonic booms over Gaza; sends 35 jeeps, Apache helicopters into Jenin to arrest local Islamic Jihad leader ‘Abd al-Halim Izzeddin (a leading moderate in the group), 3 other Islamic Jihad mbrs.; also arrests the father of the 10/26 bomber, 13 suspected Islamic Jihad mbrs. in raids across the n. West Bank in connection with the Hadera bombing; 3 Hamas mbrs. are also arrested. In addition, the IDF clashes with more than 150 radical settler youths while evacuating 5 unauthorized settlement outposts nr. Efrat, Elon Moreh, Keddumim, Kiryat Arba, Worshippers Way in Hebron, leaving 1 IDF soldier hospitalized. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba harass Palestinians in Hebron. In the evening, the IDF assassinates Islamic Jihad n. Gaza cmdr. Shadi Muhanna, Muhanna deputy Muhammad Qandil, 5 others (including at least 3 bystanders), wounding 19 in an air strike on Muhanna’s car as he drives in Jabaliya r.c. just as evening prayers let out; also conducts several F-16 air strikes on open areas in n. Gaza (in 1 instance possibly targeting Abu Rish Brigades and Hamas positions in the area, but causing no injuries); conducts patrols, arrest raids, house searches in Dura, Jenin town and r.c., and nearby Kefar Rai. (AP, HA, YA 10/27; CSM, HA, JT, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 10/28; NYT 10/29; PCHR 11/10)

Overnight, the IDF raids, imposes a curfew on Nur al-Shams r.c. and Tulkarm, fatally shoots Islamic Jihad West Bank military cmdr. Luay Saadi, Islamic Jihad mbr. Majid Askar in an apparent assassination; hrs. later, Islamic Jihad fires 5 rockets fr. Gaza into s. Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF responds with air and artillery strikes on open areas used for rocket launches in n. Gaza, causing no injuries; shelling fr. naval vessels at PA security forces sites in n. Gaza, causing no damage or injuries; ongoing mock air raids over Gaza, breaking the sound barrier to harass the population; closure of the Erez, Qarni crossings. During the day, the IDF also demolishes 2 stores nr. Jenin, claiming that they “could be used” to manufacture explosives; conducts arrest raids, house searches around Hebron for a 3d night, as well as nr. Jenin. A Palestinian gunman fires on an IDF post nr. Halamish settlement nr. Ramallah, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF returns heavy fire, killing a Palestinian bystander standing outside his home in neighboring Nabi Salih. (NYT, WP, WT 10/25; HA 10/25; PCHR 10/27)

The IDF tightens restrictions on Palestinian movement around Jerusalem, in Hebron citing the Sukkoth holiday; continues arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, as well as in Jaba’ nr. Jenin; fires on stonethrowing Palestinians along the Jerusalem– Bethlehem road nr. Kefar Etzion, killing 1 Palestinian. The IDF also ends escorts of Palestinian children in s. Hebron, citing concerns that troops could be drawn into clashes with angry Jewish settlers targeting Palestinians for retribution following the 10/16 drive-by shootings; the IDF began escorts about 1 yr. ago to protect the children fr. repeated attacks by Jewish settlers fr. Ma’on. Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh cut down 30 olive trees, burn another 200 in Salim in revenge for the drive-by shootings on 10/16. (HA 10/20; HA, Independent 10/21; PCHR 10/27)

Abbas, Bush meet in Washington but do not announce any new initiatives. In a pessimistic statement, Bush cautions that a Palestinian state might not be established by the time he leaves office in 2009. (AFP, REU 10/20; AFP, HA, JTA, NYT, WP, WT 10/21; WT 10/22; YA 10/23; JTA 10/24; DS 10/25)

Israel says it is weighing a plan to bar private Palestinian vehicles fr. using all main roads in the West Bank “to protect Israeli motorists from roadside shootings,” drastically to expand the system of settler-only bypass roads and bridges to completely separate Palestinian and Israeli transportation networks within 2 yrs., and to bar all Palestinian workers’ entry into Israel within 3 yrs. The IDF sends troops backed by tanks, armored personnel carriers into Jenin town and r.c. to conduct arrest raids, house searches; also conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’on vandalizes Palestinian homes in Yatta. (AFP, HA, IMEMC, REU 10/19; HA, NYT, PCHR, WT 10/20; HA 10/24; PCHR 10/27)

The IDF seriously injures a Palestinian woman in a hit-and-run nr. Bayt Fajjar; bulldozes 24 d. of agricultural land, including 150 olive trees, in ‘Azun ‘Atma; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Aida r.c., Dahaysha r.c., Dura, Kharsa nr. Hebron; moves into and fires on residential areas of Bayt ’Awa nr. Hebron, then fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops, seriously wounding a 13-yr.-old boy, moderately wounding a 12-yr.-old boy; conducts late-night patrols in Jenin, firing on residential areas. Palestinians throw a pipe bomb at an Israeli border police patrol s. of Jerusalem, lightly injuring 3 officers. Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh set fire to 300 d. of Palestinian olive groves in nearby Salim. A previously unknown group calling itself Knights of the Storm (thought to be a Fatah offshoot) claims to have kidnapped 2 Palestinian collaborators in Gaza City, saying they took action when the PA security forces failed to do so. (HA, IMEMC, PM, REU 10/18; WP, WT 10/19; PCHR 10/20)

What the IDF describes as an Israeli “special police unit” operating outside Jenin ambushes, assassinates wanted Islamic Jihad military cmdr. Nahid Abu Ghanim, seriously wounds a bystander. Hrs. later, the AMB kills 3 Jewish settlers, wounds at least 5 in drive-by shootings outside Gush Etzion settlement nr. Bethlehem and Eli nr. Nablus; the IDF seals Bethlehem and Hebron, bars Palestinian traffic in those areas, says arrest raids will increase; YESHA settlers council calls on Sharon to close all West Bank roads to Palestinian traffic. During the day, the IDF also handcuffs and severely beats a Palestinian shepherd nr. Tulkarm for no apparent reason; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Kafr Qalil nr. Nablus. Late in the evening, the IDF launches arrest raids that continue overnight in villages around Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah, Tulkarm. An unnamed IDF spokesman confirms that the IDF has sent undercover officers who can pass as Arabs into the weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil`in to encourage Palestinians to throw stones; troops then use force to disperse crowds. Jewish settlers cut down 30 Palestinian olive trees in Salim. (HA, PCHR 10/16; NYT, PM, WP, WT 10/17; CSM, HA 10/18; PCHR 10/20)

The IDF closes the Qarni crossing (reopened on 10/9); begins construction of a 6-m.-high concrete wall 15 m inside the n. Gaza border (see 9/18); conducts arrest raids in and around Hebron (targeting Hamas), Nablus, Yatta. Jewish settlers fr. Elkana beat, chase off a Palestinian family harvesting their olive trees nr. Salfit. AMB mbrs. briefly kidnap an American journalists, British photographer in Khan Yunis, giving no reason; Fatah secures their quick release unharmed. (AFP, IMEMC 10/12; IMEMC, NYT, WP, WT 10/13; PCHR 10/20; OCHA 10/31)