The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers set fire to 1 Palestinian-owned car and wrote racist graffiti in Beit Iksa. Israeli forces shot and injured 4 Palestinians during a raid in Jenin. Israeli forces also demolished 3 agricultural structures in al-Khader. Elsewhere, Israeli forces raided Khadouri Technical University in al-Arroub refugee camp, injuring 1 Palestinian with live ammunition and others with tear gas. Israeli forces also raided Hebron University, causing tear-gas related injuries. 21 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, Jenin, Qabatiya, Bethlehem, and Ramallah; 1 Palestinian was injured by live ammunition during the raid in Aqabat Jaber refugee camp. In East Jerusalem, 4 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids. (HA, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 5/16; PCHR 5/18; UNOCHA 6/2)

The Hamas-affiliated Islamic Wafa bloc won 40 of 81 seats on the An-Najah National University student council, marking the first time since 2008 that the list has won at the university. (QDS 5/16; MEE 5/17)  

Hadash-Ta’al coalition leader Ayman Odeh announced that he will not seek reelection. (QDS 5/16; ALM 5/17)

Zohran Mamdani of the New York State Assembly and Jabari Brisport of the New York State Senate introduced the Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act to block New York charities from funding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. (MDW 5/17; MEE 5/18)

The European Commission’s trade department issued new guidelines, forcing importers to declare if products are made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights. The guidelines were made to ensure that settlement products are not tariff exempt in the EU the same way that Israeli products are. (HA 6/19)

IDF troops on the c. Gaza border fire a shell into Gaza City, injuring a Palestinian teenager; bulldoze land e. of Gaza City, firing on surrounding residential areas, causing no reported injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c. and Nablus, in Bethlehem and Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, and nr. Hebron. Hebron University suspends classes following unarmed clashes btwn. Fatah, Hamas student groups that leave 12 students injured; PA security forces surround the campus. (OCHA 3/16; PCHR 4/17)

In the West Bank, the IDF surrounds Hebron’s al-Ansar Mosque during evening prayers, photographing and checking the IDs of worshipers as they leave; conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a r.c., Jenin town and r.c., Nablus, Qabatya. The ESF raids, searches the homes of several Fatah mbrs., beating and injuring 8, detaining 14; 1 wanted Fatah mbr. evades arrest when neighbors stone ESF officers who come to detain him. PA security forces violently disperse a demonstration by students at the predominantly Hamas Hebron University protesting tuition increases, also beat and detain 2 journalists covering the event; in response, some 100 Hamas mbrs. burn tires, attack the local PA police station. (OCHA 9/12; PCHR 9/13)

The IDF fires on 3 Palestinians attempting to sneak into Israel fr. Jabaliya to find work, seriously wounding 1, lightly injuring 1, while 1 escapes; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Baqa‘ al-Sharqiyya. The IDF also imposes new restrictions on Palestinian movement nr. the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, erecting an iron gate 30 m away fr. the site, closing the main road leading to the site to Palestinians, checking all Palestinians before allowing them through the gate to the site. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’on attack 5 Palestinian shepherds grazing their animals nearby; the IDF intervenes, arrests the Palestinians, takes them to Kiryat Arba for interrogation, releases them later. Israel authorizes the construction of a “temporary wall” btwn. Jerusalem, the West Bank in areas where the legal disputes to the route of the separation wall are still underway; approves a new route for the separation wall around Jerusalem that would annex Ma’ale Adumim settlement, surround Shu‘fat r.c. with fences, isolate Palestinian neighborhoods and villages n. of the city, incorporate Bilal Bin Rabah mosque n. of Bethlehem into Jerusalem. At Hebron University, 100s of students supporting Fatah disrupt a Hamas student rally in advance of campus elections, leaving 9 Palestinians injured. (AP, IMEMC 3/13; WT 3/14; OCHA 3/16; PCHR 3/17)

The IDF expands Operation Days of Penitence, using some 200 tanks and APCs to seize control of a 3.5 mi2 of costal territory in n. Gaza. In Jabaliya r.c., IDF missile strikes kill 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and 2 Hamas mbrs., wound 4 bystanders; gunfire kills at least 3 Palestinians (possibly Islamic Jihad mbrs.); demolitions of Palestinian homes continue; the IDF uses loudspeakers to urge 10s of Palestinians to evacuate their homes. The IDF fatally shoots another 4 Palestinians trying to infiltrate Israel fr. n. Gaza. A Palestinian militant dies of injuries sustained in Jabaliya on 10/1. The IDF also opens fire on Palestinians in central Gaza protesting against Days of Penitence; shells residential areas of Rafah, killing a 62-yr.-old Palestinian; evacuates, demolishes 4 Palestinian homes in Rafah, shooting and seriously wounding a Palestinian woman (6-mos. pregnant) in the process; fires on several residential areas of Khan Yunis, bulldozing 14 d., damaging an elementary school and forcing students to evacuate; conducts arrest raids in al-Qarara. In the West Bank, the IDF imposes a 1-day curfew on Palestinian areas of Hebron, fires on stone-throwing youths; conducts arrest raids at Hebron University and in Abu Nujaym and Artas nr. Bethlehem, Bayt Umar nr. Hebron, Silwad, Tulkarm, Tura nr. Jenin. A 4-yr.-old Palestinian dies of injuries received on 7/30/04. (HA, NYT, XIN 10/2; AFP, JAZ, VOI, VOP 10/2, VOI 10/3 in WNC 10/5; NYT, WP, WT 10/3; PCHR 10/7)

An IDF helicopter fires missiles at a car driving outside Gaza City, assassinating 3 senior Hamas mbrs. Tarad Jamal (local military cmdr.), Ibrahim Dayri, Ammar Hassan; fatally shoots an AMB mbr. brandishing an assault rifle who approaches an IDF patrol in Tulkarm. The IDF also transfers a West Bank administrative detainee to Gaza; raids Hebron University, damages an exhibit on Palestinian culture; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis (seriously wounding a 6-yr.-old Palestinian inside his home), Rafah, Tulkarm r.c.; conducts arrest raids in Husan and al-Khadir nr. Bethlehem, Nablus, Tulkarm. Palestinians toss an explosive device at a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Hebron, lightly wounding 1 Jewish settler. A Palestinian dies of injuries received during the separation wall protest at Biddu on 2/26. (HA, PR 3/3; LBC, VOP 3/3 in WNC 3/5; MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 3/4; PCHR 3/11)