The Palestine Chronology

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on an agricultural storehouse in al-Qarara, missing the target, damaging a house, causing no injuries. The IDF also sends tanks, bulldozers into s. Gaza to level land nr. Khuza. Several 1,000 Hamas supporters take part in a nonviolent march fr. Rafah to the Sufa crossing to protest the ongoing siege; IDF troops at the crossing fire on them, wounding 6. Israeli naval vessels fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah and Bayt Lahiya coasts, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 3); fires tear gas, percussion grenades at a similar protest al-Ma‘sara (no injuries reported). Jewish settlers fr. several settlements around Hebron attempt to occupy a disused IDF base e. of Bayt Sahur, but are removed by the IDF. In Dayr al-Balah, Islamic Jihad mbrs. kidnap, severely beat a mbr. of a rival Islamic Jihad faction. (OCHA 6/4; PCHR 6/5)

The IDF continues operations in n. Gaza, exchanging fire with Palestinians (who fire at least 1 RPG, causing no injuries), killing 1 DFLP mbr. and 1 Islamic Jihad mbr., wounding 3 Palestinians, bulldozing land; fires a missile fr. a drone at a group of Islamic Jihad mbrs. n. of Bayt Hanun suspected of having fired a rocket, causing no injuries; sends tanks, bulldozers into areas nr. Khan Yunis to level land. In the West Bank, the IDF raids a school, an Islamic organization, a house, a factory in Bayt Sahur nr. Bethlehem, conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and Jenin town and r.c., in Balata r.c. and Nablus, and nr. Nablus, Ramallah, Salfit. The IDF also dismantles a low wall (not part of the separation wall) running 25 mi. along roads s. of Hebron, in keeping with a 2/06 Israeli High Court decision that it impeded daily life for Palestinians in 21 rural communities. Jewish settlers in Jerusalem attack a Palestinian family in Bayt Safafa, injuring 5 Palestinians, vandalizing their home. In Gaza City, several Fatah mbrs. take refuge in the home of an Islamic Jihad mbr. while trying to evade arrest by the ESF for firing in the air at a wedding; the ESF surrounds the home leading to a clash btwn. ESF officers and Islamic Jihad mbrs. that leaves 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 1 ESF mbr. dead and 8 Palestinians wounded; PRC mbrs. intervene to stop the fighting and secure the surrender of the Fatah and Islamic Jihad gunmen. (NYT, PCHR, WP 8/2; NYT 8/3; OCHA 8/8; PCHR 8/9)

The IDF holds PA presidential candidate Mustafa Barghouthi at gunpoint at a Hebron checkpoint, denies him passage to a campaign stop in nearby Tal al-Armida village; imposes a daylong curfew on al-Khadir; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, seriously injuring a 5-yr.-old Palestinian boy on the roof of his home; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Sahur, Hebron and neighboring Bayt Kahil and Ithna, al-Khadir, Nablus, Taqu‘a nr. Bethlehem. (PM 12/8; PCHR 12/9)

In Damascus, Abbas, PA PM Ahmad Qurai‘ hold reconciliation talks with Syrian pres. Bashar al-Asad, agree to resume high-level contacts, suspended by Syria in 1993 over the signing of the Oslo Accord. Abbas, Qurai‘ also hold talks with Hamas leader Khalid Mishal and the leadership of Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine–General Command to press them to support or take part in Palestinian presidential election, to keep a lid on violence in the run-up to elections in order to bolster national unity. (WT 12/6; MM 12/7; VOP, XIN 12/7 in WNC 12/9; MM, PR 12/8; VOP 12/9 in WNC 12/11; MM 12/10; WT 12/12)

The IDF stages a major raid on Gaza City (reportedly in response to recent attacks on nearby Jewish settlements that caused no injuries), sparking an intense exchange of gunfire with Hamas, Islamic Jihad gunmen, leaving 12 Palestinians (5 Hamas mbrs., 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 2 PSF officers, 3 bystanders) dead and 60 (33 of them children) wounded; no IDF soldiers are injured. In an apparent assassination during the raid, the IDF surrounds the home of wanted Hamas mbr. Ashraf Abu Hassanain; orders his family to evacuate; shoots into the home, killing Abu Hassanain and 2 other Hamas mbrs.; blows up the home atop their bodies. In response, Palestinians fire 2 mortars at Karnei settlement, 2 Qassam rockets toward Sederot, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF also stages a major incursion into Rafah, fatally shooting 3 Palestinians, wounding 17 (including 10 children), demolishing 24 Palestinian homes and 3 schools; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, seriously wounding a 9- yr.-old Palestinian inside his home; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Sahur, in Tulkarm, nr. Nablus; demolishes a Palestinian home in Wadi al-Silqa. Later in the day, 1,000s of Palestinians attend the funeral for 1 of the Hamas mbrs. killed today, senior military cmdr. Hani Abu Shukayla, who had survived 2 previous Israeli assassination attempts. An IDF warplane malfunctions, crashes outside Hebron, causing no damage or injuries; the pilot ejects safely. (BBC, HA, MM, PR 2/11; IDF Radio, VOI, VOP, YA 2/11 in WNC 2/13; MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 2/12; al-Hayat al-Jadida, al-Quds 2/12 in WNC 2/18; PR 2/18; PCHR 2/19; MEI 2/20)

Before dawn, IDF tanks, troops take over Bayt Jala, Beitunia (surrounding the offices of PSF West Bank head Jibril Rajub). The IDF shells buildings in the PA compound; later, restores electricity to Arafat's offices and allows the PRCS to bring Arafat and around 100 of his men food, bottled water, cell phone batteries. Most other areas of Ramallah remain without water, electricity. In Tel Aviv, an AMB suicide bomber detonates a device in a restaurant, injuring more than 30 Israelis. IDF soldiers fatally shoot 2 AMB mbrs. reportedly armed with explosives, trying to enter Israel. The IDF raids numerous buildings in Ramallah, in 1 instance wounding, then executing 5 PSF officers, raising the confirmed toll in Ramallah for the past 2 days to 12 Palestinians. The IDF detains 10s of Palestinians in Ramallah, including, DFLP dep. secy. gen. Qays Abu Layla, PSF dir. of operations Yunis Alass, Fatah Central Comm. mbr. Sakhir Habash, and around 12 paramedics and nurses, confiscating 3 ambulances; searches a Ramallah hospital for weapons, wounded fighters; orders all Palestinian men in al-Bireh, Ramallah age 15-45 to surrender; takes over al-Watan TV, airs pornographic material (reports confirmed by U.S. Consulate). In Tulkarm, the IDF assassinates senior Islamic Jihad mbr. Ahad Ajaj, his cousin. In East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities search the home of Mufti Ikrima Sabri, detain him for questioning; arrest senior Fatah mbr. Salah Zhikiyya; fire on Palestinians protesting outside al-Aqsa Mosque, injuring 5. More than 15,000 Palestinians demonstrate in Gaza City; other protests are held in Bayt Jala, Bayt Sahur. (LAW, Mezan, REU 3/30; AFP, ANSA, ATL, IRNA, ITAR-TASS, MENA, XIN 3/30 in WNC 4/1; NYT, Observer, WP, WT 3/31; HA 4/2; MEI 4/5)

The UNSC approves (14-0, with Syria abstaining) Res. 1402, demanding that Israel withdraw fr. Ramallah, but (at U.S. insistence) without giving a deadline. In his 1st statement on Israel's new campaign, Bush says that the U.S. supports Israel's right to "defend itself," that Arafat "can do a lot more" to prevent attacks on Israelis. (MENA, XIN 3/30, JT, MENA 3/31 in WNC 4/1; HA, Independent, NYT, WP, WT 3/31; AN, AFP 3/31 in WNC 4/1; XIN 4/1 in WNC 4/2; AKH 4/1 in WNC 4/3; SA 4/1 in WNC 4/4; MEI 4/5)