The Palestine Chronology

In the morning, Israeli drones make an air strike on a car driving w. of Gaza City, assassinating Army of Islam (AOI) senior mbr. Muhammad al-Nemnem, wounding 2 bystanders; Israel later accuses Nemnem of involvement in “attacks against Israeli and U.S. targets in the Sinai Peninsula.” The IDF makes a brief incursion into c. Gaza e. of al-Bureij r.c. to level land and clear lines of sight; an Israeli tank fires a shell at the surrounding area, but no damage or injuries are reported. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols without incident in al-Yamun village in the afternoon; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and in Nabi Salih. In East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces conduct early morning arrest raids, house searches in Silwan, detaining 5 Palestinians (including 4 children ages 13–16). Of note: Israel prevents fmr. PA PM and negotiations adviser Ahmed Qurai‘ from crossing into Jordan via the Allenby crossing, citing a previously unannounced decision by the government that from now on only Pres. Abbas and PM Fayyad would receive special treatment; Israeli security officials say the decision had to do with Qurai‘’s recent statements denouncing Israel’s settlement policy. The PASF for the 1st time arrests a Palestinian for selling goods made in a Jewish settlement, enforcing the PA’s 4/2010 law prohibiting the sale of settlement-produced products (see Quarterly Updates in JPS 156–57); the defendant is jailed in Bethlehem pending trial. (MNA, YA 11/3; NYT, PCHR, UNSCO 11/4; OCHA 11/5; OCHA, PCHR 11/11)

Overnight in Gaza City, Hamasaffiliated police raid a family compound belonging to the Daghmash clan in an attempt to break up the Daghmash-controlled Army of Islam. A heavy exchange of gunfire lasting for several hrs. leaves 1 policeman and 11 Daghmash dead (including a 1-yr.-old, 2 other children, 8 gunmen), and 45 wounded (including Army of Islam head Mumtaz Daghmash; at least 15 other Daghmash members, including 2 women; and 10 police); police confiscate 32 truckloads of weapons from the compound. During the day, 6 Palestinian fishing boats carrying FGM activists who sailed into Gaza on 8/22 attempt to outrun the Israeli naval blockade to get the activists back to Cyprus but are fired upon and forced back to shore by the navy, leaving 1 activist injured and 1 boat damaged (see 8/28). The IDF also sends tanks, bulldozers into c. Gaza to level land along the border fence, withdrawing by evening, marking the 1st cross-border incursion since 7/23. In the West Bank, the IDF makes an afternoon raid into Bayt Umar nr. Hebron, firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding an 11-year-old Palestinian boy; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin.Jewish settlers fr. Maskiyot in the Jordan Valley drive Palestinian shepherds off nearby land. (NYT, OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18; AIC 11/9)

Hamas and Israel agree “in principle” on phased a cease-fire deal for Gaza to begin at 6:00 A.M. local time on 6/19 (11:00 P.M. 6/18 EST) and last for 6 mos. Meanwhile, in Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on a car in Dayr al-Balah carrying 3 mbrs. of the Army of Islam (essentially the militia of the local Daghmash clan) in an apparent assassination attempt, initially missing the car and wounding 3 bystanders, firing a 2d missile that kills targeted Army of Islam mbr. Salah Salluha, wounding 2. Later the IDF makes an air strike on a car nr. Khan Yunis assassinating 5 Army of Islam mbrs. (including Mu‘ataz Daghmash, a senior mbr. and brother of the group’s leader). Later, Palestinians fire up to 10 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, nr. Hebron and Ramallah (MA, HA, YA 6/17; MM, NYT, OCHA; WP 6/18; PCHR 6/19; HA, MM 6/20; NYT 6/22; AYM, al-Hayat al-Jadida [Ramallah] 6/23)

In a bid to help Abbas, Israel removes 178 AMB mbrs. fr. its wanted list (75% of AMB mbrs. wanted, including AMB Jenin leader Zakariya Zubaydi) after they sign pledges to cease all actions against Israel and hand over their weapons to the PA. In Gaza, Palestinians fire 2 RPGs at an IDF unit patrolling the border fence nr. al-Bureij, missing the target, causing no damage or injuries; fire 4 mortars at IDF troops e. of Bayt Hanun, causing no damage or injuries. Around 50 Palestinian merchants hold a sit-in at the Erez crossing to protest Israel’s continued closure. In the West Bank, Israeli intelligence summons, arrests 2 Palestinians in Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Otniel continue work to set up a new outpost on land seized on 7/14. PA employees recently cut from the PA salary rolls by Abbas begin an open-ended sitin strike in Gaza City’s Unknown Soldier’s Park. On the intra-Palestinian front, the ESF raids the Gaza City homes of at least a dozen Army of Islam mbrs., arresting 12, all connected to the powerful Daghmash clan. A Palestinian man dies in a Gaza City hospital after being interrogated by the IQB. (HA, NYT, WT 7/16; OCHA 7/18; PCHR 7/19; NYT 7/22; OCHA 7/25)

Overnight, Hamas secures the release of BBC reporter Johnston fr. the Army of Islam, which kidnapped him on 3/12; Haniyeh holds a press conference with Johnston at his Gaza City home, facilitates his transfer to the British Consulate in Jerusalem; British FM David Miliband “fully acknowledge[s] the crucial role” played by Hamas and Haniyeh in securing his release. Meanwhile, the IDF bulldozes Palestinian land in n. Gaza, reinforces troops inside the border nr. Bayt Hanun (conducting arrest raids, house searches, occupying a Palestinian home, bulldozing land), expanding the IDF’s n. Gaza buffer zone. Islamic Jihad fires an RPG at an IDF jeep on the Israeli side of the border fence nr. Dayr al-Balah; the missile lands inside Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarm. A Palestinian teenager dies of wounds received during a 2004 IDF raid on Hebron. (BBC, HA, NYT, WP 7/4; PCHR, WP 7/5; Jewish Telegraphic Agency 7/6; WP 7/8; OCHA 7/11; PCHR 7/12)

In the West Bank, the IDF imposes restrictions barring Palestinians ages 16–25 from traveling southward through 8 major northern checkpoints (Anabta-Kifriyat tunnel, al-Ras in Tulkarm; Awarta, Hawara, Yitzhar in Nablus; Jit in Qalqilya; Dayr Ballut, Za‘atara in Salfit); fatally shoots a Palestinian teenager in Hebron, mistaking his toy gun for a real one; raids 3 mosques and a rehabilitation center in Hebron, confiscating documents, books; raids, searches the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions offices in Ramallah; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron and in Balata r.c., Nablus, Tulkarm town and r.c. A Palestinian dies nr. Um Salamuna when he is run over by a Jewish settler bus. In Gaza, the ESF deploys heavily in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood, where Hamas believes BBC reporter Johnston is being held; detains a number of mbrs. of the Daghmash clan thought to be behind the Army of Islam; exchanges fire with Daghmash family mbrs. who refuse to stop at an ESF checkpoint, wounding 1 Palestinian bystander. (The ESF says that since 7/2, it has detained 20 Daghmash mbrs.; that the Daghmash clan has kidnapped 10 Hamas mbrs. in retaliation.) Palestinians fire 3 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. (HA 7/3; OCHA, WP 7/4; PCHR 7/5)

PA security forces continue targeting Hamas mbrs. in the West Bank for arrest, detaining and quickly releasing Change and Reform PC mbr. Ahmad al-Hajj Ali. In Gaza, the ESF arrests Army of Islam spokesman Abu Khattab al-Makdisi, 2 other Army of Islam mbrs. in effort to find kidnapped BBC correspondent Johnston; the Army of Islam captures several Hamasaffiliated students in retaliation. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF unleashes attack dogs on, then fatally shoots a 15-yr.-old Palestinian boy during an arrest raid in Hebron; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and Nablus, in Qabatya, and nr. Jenin, Qalqilya. A Jewish settler woman in Hebron beats a 14-yr.- old Palestinian boy who refuses to give her his puppy; the IDF arrests the boy. In Gaza, the IDF bulldozes Palestinian land in 2 areas along the n. Gaza border; shoots, wounds a Palestinian who strays nr. the border fence e. of Bayt Hanun. Israel announces that Israeli police and Shin Bet have arrested 11 senior Hamas mbrs. in Jerusalem for allegedly “recruit[ing] support for Hamas and giv[ing] the organization a foothold on the Temple Mount, in coordination with Shaykh Raed Salah’s Islamic Movement,” and have seized more than $95,000 in funds allegedly transferred fr. Hamas’s Damascus-based leadership; the 11 are all East Jerusalem residents, and 10 have Israeli ID cards. (IFM 7/2; HA, NYT, WP, WT 7/3; NYT, OCHA, WP 7/4; PCHR 7/5)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Nablus and in Balata r.c., Tubas. The Palestinian groups holding IDF soldier Gilad Shalit release a video of him to mark the anniversary of his capture in a raid 1 yr. ago in which he urges the Israeli government to agree to a swap of Hamas prisoners for his release. The Army of Islam issues a new video of kidnapped BBC correspondent Johnston warning that he would be killed if an attempt were made to free him by force. AMB mbrs. stage marches in Bayt Ula and Tarqumiyya nr. Hebron in support of Abbas’s emergency government. (NYT, WP 6/26; OCHA 6/27; PCHR 6/28)

Abbas swears in a 12-mbr. emergency cabinet; issues a presidential decree suspending article 79 of the Basic Law allowing the PC to vote out the government by a no-confidence vote and requiring PC approval for all ministerial appointments. The cabinet comprises mostly independent technocrats, except for veteran Fatah mbr. ‘Abd al-Raziq Yahiya, named interior minister to control the PA security branches. Hamas rejects Abbas’s actions as illegal. Both Hamas and Abbas stress, however, that Gaza and the West Bank must continue to be considered a single administrative and political unit as laid out in the 1993 Oslo Accord, rejecting Israel’s appeal to the U.S. that they officially be “delinked.” In Gaza, some 1,000 Fatah loyalists encamp at the Erez crossing, requesting transit to the West Bank, afraid to leave the corridor for fear of reprisals. In Khan Yunis, residents report Hamas mbrs. going door to door collecting unauthorized weapons. The Army of Islam releases a video rejecting Hamas demands to release BBC reporter Johnston, threatening to kill him if Hamas goes after the group. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah. (AYM, MNA, QA 6/17 in WNC 6/18; NYT, WP, WT 6/18; OCS 6/18 in WNC 6/19; NYT, PCHR 6/21)

IDF troops in the n. Gaza buffer zone fatally shoot 2 Palestinian boys (ages 12, 13), wound a 3d (age 16) who stray nr. their position. The IDF also makes an air strike on Khan Yunis, assassinating Islamic Jihad mbr. Fadi Abu Mustafa; sends troops into Gaza e. of al-Maghazi to conduct arrest raids and house searches, detaining 2 NSF mbrs. Islamic Jihad mbrs. fire 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Fawwar r.c. nr. Hebron, Nablus (firing on residential areas and blowing up cement blocks in the Old City, injuring 1 Palestinian, damaging 86 homes, 69 stores, 1 factory, 1 mosque, 1 church, electricity and water installations; the municipality estimates $75,000 in property damage); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists conducting their weekly nonviolent protest against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 4; beats and forcibly disperses 10s of Palestinians and several international peace activists who stage a nonviolent protest in Bani Na‘im nr. Hebron against the IDF’s declaration of a closed military zone on 1,500 d. of Palestinian land adjacent to Bnei Hefer settlement. In Khan Yunis, Hamas mbrs. fire an RPG at a Fatah training base, causing no injuries. In Ramallah, unidentified gunmen fire on a PA police station, causing no injuries. The Army of Islam releases an undated video tape of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, kidnapped on 3/12, showing him in good condition. (NYT, WP, WT 6/2; PCHR 6/3; OCHA 6/6; PCHR 6/7)

A day after the Lebanese government voted to give the military carte blanche to take action against FI, the Lebanese army tightens its cordon on Nahr al-Barid r.c., directs heavy artillery barrages on FI sniper posts and 3 positions on the outskirts of the camp, seizing them, and moves into the camp for the 1st time, taking control of limited areas inside the camp. The clashes leave at least 3 Lebanese soldiers, 2 FI mbrs., 14 others inside the r.c. (FI or civilians) dead and 60 civilians, 18 soldiers wounded. At least 8,000 civilians are still inside the camp. (DS, NYT, WP, WT 6/2)

Palestinians fire some 7 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, hitting a gas station in Sederot, lightly injuring 2 Israelis. An Islamic Jihad mbr. is injured when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Jenin town and r.c., firing on residential areas and stonethrowing youths who confront the troops, wounding 5 Palestinians; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and in al-Khadir. Jewish settlers fr. Karme Tzur and Kiryat Arba set up a tent on a hill northeast of Halhul, later leave but vow to establish a new settlement on the site; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Jewish settlers fr. Einav nr. Tulkarm set fire to 80 d. of Palestinian olive, almond trees nearby. Nr. Ramallah, Palestinian gunmen fire on a convoy delivering gas to a Jewish settlement, wounding an Israeli security guard. Some 70 Palestinian protesters thought to be aligned with the Army of Islam throw stones, possibly fire at Fatah lawmaker Majid Abu Shamalah as he leaves an end-of-the-school-year celebration at a Rafah UNRWA school, prompting his bodyguards to open fire, killing 1 of their own and leaving 2 teachers, 2 protesters, and 2 schoolchildren (ages 9, 14) wounded; the attack on the school comes days after the Army of Islam warned the school against holding the celebration, which they condemned for involving “the mixing of adolescent boys and girls, which is forbidden in Islam.” Unidentified gunmen fire on a Fatah base in Bureij r.c., causing no injuries. A Palestinian possibly affiliated with the Army of Islam orders UNRWA employees off an agency minibus in Rafah before tossing a hand grenade inside, damaging it. (Jerusalem Post 5/6; NYT 5/7; OCHA 5/9; PCHR 5/10; AHR 5/15)

Before dawn, 8 Palestinian gunmen dressed in IDF uniforms sneak across the s. Gaza border into Israel using a tunnel, attack an IDF border post nr. Kerem Shalom with grenades, rifles, antitank rockets, killing 2 IDF soldiers, wounding 4, capturing 1 (IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, apparently wounded in the exchange) in what they call Operation Dispel Illusion; 2 Palestinian gunmen are killed by retaliatory fire; the IDF sends tanks, bulldozers a half-mile inside Gaza to search for the captured soldier, the tunnel; several groups including Hamas’s Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the PRCs, and a previously unknown group, the Army of Islam, jointly claim the attack as retaliation for the IDF’s 6/8 Abu Samhadana assassination; Abbas, some Hamas political leaders call for the captured IDF soldier’s immediate release. In response, Israel shuts all crossings into Gaza (including forcing the closing of the Rafah crossing by barring EU monitors fr. entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom, leaving as many as 3,000 Palestinians stranded on the border inside Egypt, and some 400 medical patients awaiting treatment abroad stranded on the Gaza side); shuts off fuel supplies to Gaza; bars Palestinian fishermen fr. going out to sea; tightens restrictions on Palestinian movement at checkpoints and roadblocks across the West Bank. During the day, the IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (firing on a clearly marked al-Jazeera TV vehicle, causing damage but no injuries), and nr. Hebron, Jenin (firing on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 2), Qalqilya. (AFP, HA, IFM, YA 6/25; MENA, OSC, VOI 6/25 in WNC 6/26; AFP, AP, CSM, JP, MM, NYT, WP, WT, YA 6/26; WT 6/27; NYT, OCHA 6/28; PCHR 6/29; NYT 7/8)