The Palestine Chronology

U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Israel for a 2-day visit to press Israel and the PA for a joint statement on the peace process before the end of Pres. George W. Bush’s term. Hrs. before her arrival, Israel releases 198 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to Abbas, including 2 long-held prisoners given life sentences for murdering Israelis: Said al-Atba (a mbr. of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine [DFLP] convicted in 1977) and Muhammad Abu Ali (convicted in 1980; elected to the PA legislature representing Fatah while jailed); none of those released are fr. Hamas. In Gaza, Palestinians fire 2 rockets into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem, nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Susia in Hebron destroy a Palestinian olive crop nearby. (NYT 8/26; OCHA 8/27; PCHR 8/28)

Just before U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice arrives in Israel for 6/15–16 mtgs. to encourage Israeli-Palestinian negotiations (see Quarterly Update), the Israeli Housing Min. announces approval for construction of 1,300 new settlement housing units in Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya and nr. Salfit; 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 2); fires tear gas, percussion grenades at a similar protest al-Ma‘sara (injuring 5). Jewish settlers enter Nablus to pray at Joseph’s Tomb without prior coordination with the IDF; the IDF evacuates and arrests them. The IDF also sends tanks into Gaza e. of al-Maghazi r.c. to level land along the border fence. In Gaza’s al-Bureij r.c., Hamas-affiliated police attempt to arrest 2 wanted Fatah mbrs., but are attacked, forced to retreat by neighbors and Fatah supporters; no serious injuries are reported. (WT 6/15; MM 6/16; OCHA 6/18; PCHR 6/19)

IDF troops on the Gaza border fire a tank shell at a Gaza municipality truck nr. Juhur al-Dik, injuring 4 municipal workers; send tanks, bulldozers into Gaza nr. Bureij r.c. to level land. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF temporarily occupies several buildings in Nablus, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen, leaving 2 armed Palestinians dead; patrols in and around Jenin town and r.c.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Kafr Dan and Qabatya nr. Jenin, Tulkarm; issues military orders confiscating 10 d. of Palestinian land e. of Tulkarm for military training purposes. In tandem with a visit by U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice, 2,000 right-wing Jewish settlers and activists march to and reoccupy the Homesh settlement site in the n. West Bank, evacuated during disengagement in 2005, with plans to stay at the site for 2 days and eventually to rebuild the settlement; the main YESHA settlers group does not endorse the action; the IDF mobilizes 4 brigades to monitor marchers and take action should they or local Palestinians become violent, saying they will forcibly remove the settlers if they do not leave on 3/27 as planned. Fatah-Hamas clashes leave 5 Palestinians wounded in Rafah. Hamas mbrs. fire an antitank missile at, then occupy the Fatah-affiliated Bayt Hanun Sports Club; no injuries are reported. (WT 3/26; NYT, WT 3/27; OCHA 3/28; PCHR 3/29)

The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers in Hebron beat a 13-yr.-old Palestinian boy. The Fatah-aligned PA Government Employees Union (GEU; comprising some 80,000 members, about half of public workers, including 25,000 healthcare workers and 37,000 teachers) ends a strike that began on 9/2 to protest the Hamas-led PA’s failure to pay salaries (see Quarterly Update in JPS 142); the workers are to receive 1-mo.’s salary immediately, with the remaining back salaries paid in installments over the next 6 mos. In Jabaliya r.c., unidentified gunmen shoot, wound 2 PRC mbrs. (NYT 1/14; OCHA 1/17; PCHR 1/18)

U.S. Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice begins a 3-day tour of Israel, Ramallah, Egypt, Jordan to explore with Olmert, Abbas, Pres. Husni Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdallah of Jordan the possibilities of reviving road map implementation and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (IFM, NYT, State Dept. press release, WP, WT 1/14; IFM, MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/15 MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/16; MM 1/18)

The IDF conducts house searches, arrest raids in Hebron, Jenin; bulldozes 14 dunams of land in al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis; conducts arrest raids in villages around Hebron, Qalqilya. Unidentified gunmen believed to be Palestinian fire on the car of Nablus mayor and PC mbr. Ghassan al-Shak’a (Fatah) in an apparent attempt to assassinate him, leaving him unharmed but killing his brother. (al-Jazeera 11/25; PR 12/3; PCHR 12/4; PR 12/10; MEI 1/9)

In a mtg. in Washington with U.S. National Security Adviser (NSA) Condoleezza Rice, Sharon’s chief of staff Dov Weisglass reportedly lays out a 2- stage plan drafted by Sharon for U.S. Pres. George W. Bush’s approval that ultimately forsees the fall of PA PM Ahmad Qurai‘’s government, the end of the road map, and Israel’s unilateral declaration of borders, taking 60% of the West Bank. (MM 11/28, 12/1, 12/5)