The Palestine Chronology

The IDF sends troops back into s. Gaza nr. Dahaniyya airport allegedly to look for tunnels; makes air strikes on, shells n. Gaza, killing a 16-yr.-old Palestinian boy, a 24-yr.-old Palestinian woman, wounding 4 other bystanders in Bayt Hanun; makes an air strike destroying the al-Bureij home of a Hamas mbr. (warned by cell phone in advance to evacuate), also damaging 4 nearby homes; shells the Gaza harbor fr. the sea, hitting 2 boats, an office, a car, and a cabin owned by alleged arms smuggler Abbas Bakr, causing no injuries. Palestinians fire 6 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, damaging a home but causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron. A 13-yr.-old Palestinian girl dies of injuries received in the 7/26 IDF shelling nr. Gaza City. (BBC 8/1; NYT, WP 8/2; PCHR 8/3)

The IDF intensifies ground operations in Lebanon, sending up to 7,000 troops (6 combat brigades) into villages in a zone of the south stretching fr. Aita al-Sha‘b (where 3 IDF soldiers are killed and at least 25 wounded; more than 20 Hizballah mbrs. are reported killed) nr. the center of the southern border, to Bint Jubayl and Maroun al-Ras to the east, and to Taybeh and Kafr Kila to the north where the Litani approaches the Israeli border. The IDF makes a bungled assault on Baalbek in the Biqa‘ Valley, bombing the area, landing troops by helicopter, raiding a hospital (where intelligence reports state Hizballah leader Nasrallah is hiding), clashing with Hizballah mbrs., undertaking house-to-house searches, killing 10 Hizballah mbrs., 24 Lebanese civilians and arresting 5 alleged Hizballah mbrs. (including a local store owner named Hasan Nasrallah), flying them back to Israel; Israel releases the 5 on 8/22. The IDF says it has left intact 2 bridges across the Litani (nr. Tyre in the west, Hasabiyya in the east) so civilians can escape to the north; denies passage to 10 convoys of humanitarian aid, but authorizes at least 2 oil tankers to deliver fuel to Beirut, though without providing guarantees of their safety (without which the ships say they cannot proceed to port). Rescue workers report finding another 39 bodies in villages across s. Lebanon. Hizballah fires 8 rockets, 4 mortars into Nahariya. (BBC 8/1; NYT, WP, WT 8/2; Counterpunch 8/3; NYT 8/23)

The IDF continues to shell n. Gaza, wounding at least 1 Palestinian civilian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem. A Palestinian militant wounded during the 7/19–20 IDF raid on al-Maghazi r.c. dies of his injuries. (PCHR 7/27)

The IDF continues its troop build-up on the n. Israel border, artillery strikes and heavy air raids across Lebanon, incursions by small special forces units into the south. In its 1st major ground operation, the IDF sends some 2,000 soldiers, a tank brigade, armor into Maroun al-Ras (a Hizballah stronghold, reportedly largely depopulated since fighting began) on the central s. Lebanese border, stating later that after heavy, close combat, it has taken control of the town and several surrounding villages; at least 3 Hizballah mbrs., as many as 7 IDF soldiers may have been killed, several tanks disabled. Meanwhile, the IDF continues to warn s. Lebanon residents to move northward; Sidon reports some 35,000 displaced Lebanese arriving in the city today; Tyre, the largest s. Lebanese town, reports that only around 5,000 of its 175,000 residents remain. Among the targets hit in IDF air strikes are TV and cell phone transmission towers n. of Beirut (killing at least 1 Lebanese); 2 ICRC ambulances nr. Qana, killing 1 patient and injuring 6 medics, 2 patients; Hizballah targets in Baalbek, s. Beirut, Hermel, Sidon, Tyre. At least 8 Lebanese are killed during the day. Hizballah fires some 130 rockets into n. Israel, wounding 10–20 Israelis (3 seriously); targets include Carmiel, Haifa, Kiryat Shimona, Nahariya, Safad. Israel allows some ships bearing humanitarian aid to enter Lebanese ports. (AFP 7/22; NYT, WP, WT 7/23; NYT 7/24; WP 7/25)