The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles near Burqa. Israeli settlers also stole 10 sheep in Yasuf. Israeli forces raided Burqa leading to tear-gas related injuries. Israeli forces also raided Silat al-Harithiya, leading to tear-gas related injuries. Elsewhere, Israeli forces issued stop-work orders for 2 roads and 3 houses in Qarawat Bani Hassan. Israeli forces also issued a demolition notice for a primary school in Badia Yatta. PA forces assaulted and arrested 1 Palestinian student who was a candidate for president of Birzeit University’s student council In East Jerusalem. Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. In Gaza, 2 Palestinians were arrested by the Gaza fence. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/18; PCHR 6/19; PCHR 6/22; UNOCHA 7/8)

The Israeli cabinet approved changes to the settlement construction permit process, reducing the influence of the Civil Administration and the Ministry of Defense to significantly shorten the permit process. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was given authority to approve 1 of the permit stages. As a result of the changes, the Higher Planning Council will be approving 4,650 new settlement units in the West Bank. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the U.S. “is deeply troubled by the Israeli government’s reported decision to advance planning for over 4,000 settlement units in the West Bank. We are similarly concerned by reports of changes to Israel’s system of settlement administration that expedite the planning and approvals of settlements.” Miller further called on Israel to “fulfill the commitments it made in Aqaba, Jordan and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt” earlier this year. PLO secretary-general Hussein al-Sheikh said that the PA would boycott the Joint Economic Committee meeting on 6/19 is response to the cabinet decision. UN secretary-general António Guterres urged Israel to reverse its decisions. (AJ, AX, HA, MEE, NYT, PCN, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/18; AP, HA, HA, MEE, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/19; AJ, MEE, WAFA 6/20; MDW, MDW 6/21)

Israeli sources told Al-Monitor that Morocco had canceled the planned Negev Forum of the normalizing countries, Israel and the U.S., in the country due to the settlement decisions described above. (ALM, HA, MEMO 6/21)

Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ziyad al-Nakhalah met with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. (ALM 6/19)

A Hamas delegation led by its political leader Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Tehran for meetings with Iranian officials. (AJ, ALM, QDS, QDS 6/19; MEMO 6/20)

Israel preliminarily approved the development of the Gaza Marine gas field, saying it would require security coordination with the PA and Egypt. A PA official told Reuters that the PA is awaiting to see exactly what Israel has agreed to before it will comment. (AN, HA, JP, REU, TOI 6/18; ALM 6/19; MEMO 6/20)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces raided Ramallah to punitively demolish the family home of a Palestinian accused of planting 2 bombs in Jerusalem in November 2022; 35 Palestinians were injured, including 20 by live ammunition and others with baton rounds, including 2 clearly marked press photographers who were hospitalized with baton round injuries to their head and stomach. Israeli forces also raided Zweidin in the Masafer Yatta area, firing tear gas at Palestinians and seizing 1 bulldozer. Elsewhere, Israeli forces issued stop-work orders for 5 residential structures in al-Burj. Israeli forces also issued notifications to residents of al-Zawiya that Israel will seize 96 dunams (23.7 acres) of Palestinian-owned land. 27 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in Beita, Arrabah, Yatta, Beit Umar, and Biddu. (REU 6/7; AJ, ALM, AP, HA, MDW, MEE, MEMO, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/8; NA, WAFA 6/9; AJ 6/10; PCHR 6/15; UNOCHA 6/18)

A delegation of EU diplomats visited the Ghaith-Sub Laban family in the Old City of Jerusalem to show their support as the family is threatened by expulsion from their home this month. (QDS, WAFA 6/9)

Haaretz reported that Lehava chairperson Bentzi Gopstein was advising National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and others in the Israeli police. Gopstein is facing charges for inciting racism and terrorism against Palestinians and has been barred by the High Court of Justice from running for a seat in the Knesset. (HA, JP, TOI 6/8)

Saudi foreign minister Faisal bin Farhan told reporters that Saudi-Israeli normalization would have “limited benefits” without agreement on a “pathway to peace for the Palestinian people,” after a meeting with U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken. Farhan also said that Saudi Arabia is developing its own nuclear program and would prefer U.S. help in its development but had other bidders too. (AP, AX, REU, REU 6/8)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Secretary of State Blinken that Israel does not consider itself bound by any agreement made between Iran and the U.S. during a phone call. It has been reported that Iran and the U.S. are close to getting back on track on Iran deal renegotiations after secret meetings in Oman last month. According to a State Department spokesperson, Blinken also said that Israel needs to uphold commitments made during the summits in Aqaba and Sharm El Sheikh in the spring. (AX, HA, MEE 6/8)

The UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry said in its annual report that Israel is seeking to silence Palestinian civil society by labeling rights groups as terrorists. The report also said that Israel violates Palestinian human rights to ensure its permanent occupation. The commission also criticized Hamas and the PA for limiting expression of freedom. (AP, REU 6/8)

Adalah issued a position paper titled The Acceleration of the Annexation of the West Bank under the 37th Israeli Government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, outlining the ways the Israeli government is accelerating policies to annex the West Bank. The paper mentions transferring management of settlements to Ministry of the Negev, the Galilee, and National Resilience, the appointment of Bezalel Smotrich as a minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of settlements, legalizing 10 settlement outposts, building over 7,000 new settlement units, re-establishing evacuated settlements, and introducing legislation that applies to the occupied territories. (Adalah, Adalah 6/8) 

In the West Bank, Israeli forces shot and injured 1 Palestinian minor in Aida refugee camp. In East Jerusalem, tens of thousands of Israelis marched through the Old City, including the Muslim Quarter for the so-called Flag March, attacking Palestinians and Palestinian property and yelling genocidal and racist slogans such as “Death to Arabs,” “May your village burn down,” and profanities against the Prophet Muhammad. 3 journalists and 3 Palestinians were assaulted by the marchers. Israeli police also assaulted several journalists, including CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman. The U.S. condemned the behavior at the march as “outrageous and unacceptable.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took part in the march. Thousands of Israeli settlers, including Negev and Galilee development minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf and MKs Dan Illouz, Amit Halevi, and Ariel Kallner toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. Later Israeli forces also prevented the call to prayer before the sunset prayer from al-Aqsa Mosque. In Gaza, Israeli forces violently dispersed Palestinians protesting against the Flag March along the Gaza fence, injuring 5 with baton rounds and causing tear-gas related injuries. (HA 5/16; AJ, AP, MEE, WAFA 5/17; AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, ALM, AP, HA, HA, MEE, MEE, MEE, NYT, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 5/18; HA, MDW, MDW, WAFA, WAFA 5/19; WAFA 5/20; MDW 5/22; PCHR 5/25; UNOCHA 6/2)

The Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant ordered Israeli Central Command chief Yehuda Funch to authorize entry of Israeli settlers to the Homesh settlement outpost and to grant the Shomron Regional Council a plot of land to create a Yeshiva on. The move was made to prevent Palestinian landowners from successfully appealing to the Israeli High Court of Justice to have the settlers cleared from Homesh and for them to regain access to their land. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the U.S. was “deeply troubled” by the Israeli decision, noting that the order contravened promises made by then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2004 to the Bush administration and by the Netanyahu government to the Biden administration. The French foreign ministry also condemned the move, saying it contravened commitments made by Israel at the Aqaba and Sharm El Sheikh summits in February and March. According to Axios, Israeli officials had told the Biden administration that Israel does not intend to turn Homesh into a new settlement. (WAFA 5/18; HA 5/21; AJ, ALM, HA, MEE, REU, WAFA, WAFA 5/22; AX, HA, TOI 5/23; HA, WAFA 5/24)

Haaretz reported that Israeli finance minister and de facto governor of the West Bank, Bezalel Smotrich, has stressed at closer door meetings that it is Israeli policy to improve infrastructure in Israeli settlements and outposts to prepare for an additional 500,000 Israeli settlers moving to the West Bank. Smotrich also instructed government officials to draw up plans for more checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank for settlers. The U.S. responded to the reporting saying that “we view the expansion of settlement as an obstacle to peace.” The Israeli government later said that Smotrich’s statements did not represent the policies of the Netanyahu-led government. (HA 5/18; HA 5/23)

6 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives held a press conference outside of the Capitol building criticizing the Biden administration and their colleagues for not holding Israel accountable for the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last year and for human rights violations against Palestinians in general. The 6 members, Andre Carson (D-IN), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN), and Cori Bush (D-MO), spoke alongside members of Abu Akleh’s family. (AJ, HA 5/18)

In the West Bank, 1 Israeli settler was shot and injured while driving in Huwwara, Israeli forces then shot, injured, and arrested a Palestinian man alleging that he was the perpetrator and closed a number of checkpoints in the area. Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles traveling near Baytin, causing damage. Israeli forces forced Palestinian farmers to leave their land in al-Khader. In East Jerusalem, 2 Israeli settlers broke into the Church of Gethsemane in the Old City and attempted to vandalize church property before being confronted by a Palestinian. Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. 2 Palestinian minors were arrested during a raid in Silwan. (AJ, HA, MEMO, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/19; ALM 3/20; MDW 3/22; PCHR 3/23; UNOCHA 3/31)

In Syria, 1 member of Islamic Jihad was shot and killed by unknown perpetrators using a weapon equipped with a silencer outside of his home near Damascus. Islamic Jihad said that he was “assassinated by gunfire that carries the fingerprint of the Zionist enemy.” (AP, HA 3/19; ALM, AP 3/20)

At a summit in Sharm El Sheikh, attended by officials from the PA, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and the U.S., Israel said it would halt discussions for new settlements for 4 months and halt authorization of settlement outposts for 6 months. The parties also agreed to de-escalate tensions, create a political horizon, and let the PA police Area A. The PA’s participation was criticized and condemned by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian parties. (MEMO 3/17; WAFA 3/18; AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, MEE, NYT, REU, REU, WAFA 3/19; ALM, MEMO, WAFA 3/20)

Speaking in Paris, Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich told the audience at a memorial ceremony that “there is no such thing as Palestinians because there is no such thing as a Palestinian people,” calling the term an invention. Smotrich then said that he and his family are the real Palestinians. The French government had announced that no officials would meet Smotrich during his trip to the country. U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel called Smotrich’s statement “dangerous.” (AJ, ALM, AP, GDN, HA, MDW, MEE, TOI, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/20; AJ, AJ, HA, HA, REU 3/21; MEE 3/22; HA 3/23)

U.S. president Joe Biden spoke with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to find a compromise on the Israeli government’s plans to weaken the judicial branch of government. (AP, AX, HA, MEE, REU 3/19)

In the West Bank, 2 Israeli settlers were shot and killed while driving through Huwwara. Around 400 Israeli settlers then raided Huwwara and the surrounding villages ‘Asira al-Qibliya, Za’atara, Yasuf, Odala, and Burin in what was described as a pogrom, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding more than 200, and damaging 75 houses, including 35 that were burned, and 265 cars over a 5-hour period. 6 Israeli settlers were reportedly arrested, 4 of whom were released on restrictive conditions. The mayor of Huwwara estimated that around $5 million worth of property was damaged. Israeli soldiers were criticized for being present without preventing the attacks. Israeli forces shot and injured 1 Palestinian during a raid in Tuqu’. Israeli forces also seized 1 vehicle and 2 tractors in Khirbet Humsa and leveled land in Birin. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. In Gaza, Israeli forces made incursions and leveled land northeast of Beit Hanun. (AJ, ALM, BBC, F24, HA, HA, MEE, MEE, NYT, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/26; AJ, AJ, ALM, AP, AP, AX, GDN, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, MEE, MEE, MEE, NYT, PCHR, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/27; AJ, ALM, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, MEE, WAFA 2/28; GDN, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, MEE, REU, WAFA 3/1; HA, HA, PCHR 3/2; WAFA 3/3; HA, UNOCHA 3/4; HA, HA, HA 3/5; HA 3/6; HA 3/14)

In response to the events in Huwwara, PA president Mahmoud Abbas called the raid terrorism and said he held the Israeli government responsible. Palestinian MK and leader of the Ta‘al party Ahmad Tibi compared the settler raid to Kristallnacht. MK for the Otzma Yehudit Party Zvika Fogel expressed support for the settler raid, saying it was a useful deterrence against attacks on Israeli settlers. Opposition leader Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid responded by saying “MK Fogel must go to jail for inciting terror.” Israel’s chief of the central command Yehuda Fuchs called the settler attacks a pogrom. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the U.S. condemns “today’s violence in the West Bank, including the terrorist attack that killed two Israelis and settler violence, which resulted in the killing of one Palestinian, injuries to over 100 others, and the destruction of extensive property.” Price later said that the U.S. expects Israel to hold the perpetrators accountable and compensate lost homes and property. The UK ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan said that “Israel should tackle settler violence, with those responsible brought to justice.” (HA, WAFA 2/26; AJ, ALM, AX, HA, HA, HA, MEE, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/27; HA, HA, MEE, MEE, WAFA 2/28; REU 3/1)

The Knesset’s ministerial committee for legislation approved a bill that will legalize the death penalty for Palestinians charged with terrorism against Israelis. (HA, JP, TOI, WAFA, WAFA 2/26)

Officials from the PA, Israel, the U.S., Egypt, and Jordan attended a summit in Aqaba, Jordan, to discuss the deterioration of security in the West Bank. A joint communique stated that Israel and the PA “confirmed their joint readiness . . .  to end unilateral measures for a period of 3-6 months. This includes an Israeli commitment to stop discussions of any new settlement units for 4 months and to stop authorization of any outposts for 6 months.” The parties agreed to meet again in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt next month. Israel’s national security advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said Israel would not roll back the decision to legalize nine settlement outposts and to advance 9,500 settlement housing units. The new head of the Israeli Civil Administration, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, said on Twitter “there will be no settlement freeze. Not even for one day,” and that the Israeli military would continue to conduct raids in all areas of the West Bank. Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu also later said that “[t]here will not be any freeze.” Hamas condemned the PA for partaking in the summit. (MEE 2/25; AJ, AJ, ALM, BBC, DOS, F24, HA, HA, HA, MEE, NYT, REU, REU, REU, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/26; AJ, HA, MEE, MEMO, MEMO, REU 2/27; MEE 2/28; HA 3/1)