The Palestine Chronology

Citing retaliation for the death of an Israeli woman on 7/14, the IDF launches overnight missile strikes on 4 sites in Gaza: a Hamas cultural center in n. Gaza, 2 sites Palestinians have used to launch rockets in s. Gaza, and a metal workshop (alleged weapons factory) in central Gaza; at least 2 Palestinians are injured. Later in the day, an IDF drone fires a missile at a car driving in Gaza City, assassinating 4 Hamas mbrs. (Sabir Abu Assi, ‘Assim Abu Ras, Amjad Arafat, ‘Adil Haniyeh), wounding more than 12 bystanders; an IDF helicopter and ground troops fire 3 missiles at a car driving in Salfit, assassinating 3 wanted Hamas mbrs. (Muhammad Ayyash, Samir Dawahqa, Muhammad Mar’ai); an IDF helicopter fires at 3 Palestinians firing mortars at Gush Katif, injuring them. In clashes in Salfit after the assassinations, the IDF fatally shoots a stone-throwing Palestinian teenager. The Israeli strikes mark the definitive end of the 2/8 cease-fire; Hamas announces that it is considering massive retaliation. Israel blames Abbas for failing to crack down on militant groups. The IDF also continues operations in and around Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus. Overnight, PA police searching for Hamas gunmen clash again with Hamas mbrs., this time in Gaza City, leaving 2 Palestinian children dead; during the clash, Hamas mbrs. destroy a PA armored personnel carrier with rocket-propelled grenades, burn a police station and a PA office building; Hamas, Fatah quickly convene an emergency mtg. to defuse tensions. Palestinians fire a barrage of at least 19 rockets and 10s of mortars at Neve Dekalim, lightly injuring 2 settlers, damaging 5 houses; 1 shell hits an industrial zone in the Negev, sparking a fire. A Jewish settler seriously injures a Palestinian teenager in a hit-and-run incident in Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai throw stones, bottles at Palestinian homes in Hebron and at a Palestinian teenager, lightly injuring him. An Israeli court sentences an East Jerusalem Palestinian to 5 mos. in jail for joining Force 17 in 2000, calling it a “severe crime”; says at least 80 “Jerusalem Arabs” have been indicted on similar charges since 9/00. (IMEMC, JTA, NYT, UNIS, WP, YA 7/15; VOI 7/15 in WNC 7/15; Interfax, ITARTASS, JP, MENA, VOI, VOP, XIN 7/15 in WNC 7/16; HA, IMEMC, NYT, PRCS, REU, WP, WT, YA 7/16; VOP 7/16 in WNC 7/17; HA 7/17; OCHA, PR 7/20; PCHR 7/21)

After mos. of IDF operations in which an Islamic Jihad leader was assassinated on 3/10, another leader survived an attempted assassination on 7/10, and more than 300 cadres were arrested following the 2/25 suicide bombing carried out by a renegade Islamic Jihad mbr., an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber fr. al-Til outside Tulkarm detonates a device outside a mall in Netanya, killing 3 Israelis, wounding up to 48, marking the 1st suicide bombing since 2/25/05 (1st inside Israel since 11/1/04); Islamic Jihad at first denies, then confirms responsibility. Israel suspends all contacts with the PA regarding disengagement, seals the West Bank and Gaza, vows to respond harshly against the group. Abbas states, “We condemn this terrorist attack. It’s a crime against the Palestinian people. Those traitors are working against the Palestinian interest. . . . They did a stupid thing that they should be punished for,” though he notes Islamic Jihad’s denial. At almost the same time as the bombing, a stolen car breaks through the fence of Shavei Shomron settlement in the West Bank and explodes, injuring the driver but causing no other casualties; the IDF says the driver was an Islamic Jihad mbr. who had been working as an informant for Israel; he had been handcuffed to the wheel of the car and the bomb he was carrying was detonated by cell phone, suggesting an attempt to assassinate him for collaboration. The IDF demolishes 2 Palestinian homes built without permits in Issawiyya and Silwan, East Jerusalem, where Israel intends to construct a park; conducts house searches, detains Palestinians for interrogation in Bayt Fajjar nr. Bethlehem. Palestinians detonate aroadside bomb under an IDF jeep outside Netzer Hazani settlement in s. Gaza, injuring 2 soldiers. Masked Palestinian gunmen fire on senior PA Interior Min. Ibrahim Salama as he drives in Ramallah, force his car to stop, severely beat him; no group takes responsibility. (AP, BBC, HA, IMEMC, XIN 7/12; VOI, VOP 7/12 in WNC 7/13; NYT, OCHA, PR, WP, WT, YA 7/13; HA, Interfax, ITAR-TASS, JP, MA, XIN, YA 7/13 in WNC 7/14; PCHR 7/14; al-Safir 7/16 in WNC 7/17; PR 7/20; XIN 7/21)

The IDF continues operations in Jenin for a 3d day, firing on stone-throwing youths, conducting arrest raids and house searches; demolishes 7 Palestinian homes in Rafah; confiscates 308 d. of Palestinian land in Shufa nr. Tulkarm for military purposes; bulldozes 31 d., 3 wells nr. Rafah; conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’, al-‘Aza, al-Khadir. Armed Jewish settlers fr. Shvut Rachel chase Palestinian olive harvesters away fr. their groves; the IDF intervenes, allowing Palestinians to continue the harvest. (HA, PM 10/29; VOI 10/29 in WNC 10/30; PRCS 10/30; PCHR 11/4)

Arafat arrives at a military hospital in Paris. Before leaving Ramallah, he authorizes Abbas, who is secy. gen. of the PLO Exec. Comm. and the dep. secy. of the Fatah Central Comm., to assume responsibility for day-to-day affairs of the PLO and Fatah in the territories. (Technically, Faruq Qaddumi, as secy. of the Fatah Central Comm., automatically becomes Fatah chmn. in Arafat’s absence, but since he based in Tunis, Abbas, as dep. secy., assumes his duties in the territories.) (BBC, HA, MM, WT 10/29; AFP, HJ, Interfax, ITAR-TASS, JAZ, al-Quds, PSCT, VOI, VOP 10/29 in WNC 10/30; NYT, WP, WT 10/30; MM 11/1; WJW 11/4; MEI 11/5)

The IDF assassinates Hamas leader Rantisi, firing 2 missiles at his car as he drives through Gaza City, also killing his bodyguards Akram Nassar and Ahmad Ghurra, wounding 4 bystanders. 10,000s of Palestinians throughout the West Bank, Gaza take to the streets to protest. Hamas vows retaliation, says it has appointed Rantisi’s replacement but will not identify him for security reasons. (Senior spokesman Mahmud Zahar, senior political leader Ismail Haniyeh are considered the likely successors.) The IDF strike comes hrs. after a Palestinian suicide bomber detonates a device inside the Erez Industrial Zone in Gaza, killing an Israeli border policeman, injuring 3; the AMB, Hamas claim joint responsibility. IDF undercover units raid Hebron and capture, beat, arrest an Arab Bank employee. The IDF also seals all West Bank and Gaza crossings except the Rafah checkpoint; tightens restrictions on Palestinian movement throughout the territories; fatally shoots a mentally handicapped Palestinian who strays too close to a Jewish settlement nr. Gaza City; denies passage to a Palestinian who suffers a heart attack at a Nablus checkpoint, allowing him to die; shells residential areas of Khan Yunis, cutting some electricity, seriously injuring a 9-yr.-old girl inside her home and 6 others elsewhere; fires on, shells residential areas of Dayr al-Balah, Tulkarm (seriously injuring a 5-yr.-old girl); fires on residential areas nr. Rafah; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Dayr al-Balah, Jenin; bulldozes 6 dunams of land in Bayt Hanun. (HA, MA, REU 4/17; AFP, MENA, MNR, PSCT, VOP 4/17, AFP, ATL, HA, IRNA, JP, LBC, MENA, MNR, al-Quds, VOP, YA 4/18 in WNC 4/20; NYT, WP, WT 4/18; CSM, MM 4/19; ITAR-TASS 4/19 in WNC 4/21; DUS, al-Ra’i 4/19, JT 4/20 in WNC 4/22; AYM 4/19, al-Quds, SA 4/21 in WNC 4/23; MM, PR 4/21; PCHR 4/22; WP 4/25; MEI 4/30)

The IDF seals the West Bank and Gaza and tightens restrictions on Palestinian movements (including reimposing all Gaza checkpoints removed after the Palestinian ceasefire declaration on 6/29), expecting retaliation for its 9/6 attempt to assassinate Shaykh Yasin. In Khan Yunis, the IDF fires 4 missiles at the home of Hamas mbr. ‘Abd al-Salam Abu Musa, claiming it is a Hamas arsenal; Abu Musa escapes moments before the attack, which injures 15 bystanders, damages 9 surrounding homes. The IDF alsoarrests PA official Akram Tubasi on charges of smuggling weapons fr. Egypt to Gaza; demolishes a Palestinian home in Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids in Jaba’, Khan Yunis, Qalqilya, Ramallah; fires on residential areas of Rafah. Hamas mbrs. detonate a roadside bomb nr. an IDF patrol in Gaza, lightly wounding 3 soldiers. (Israel National News 9/7; NYT, WP, WT 9/8; PCHR 9/11)

Arafat nominates PC speaker and Oslo architect Ahmad Qurai‘ to replace Abbas as PM. Qurai‘ says he would accept the nomination, provided he receives assurances of cooperation fr. the EU, Israel, U.S. (AP, BBC, HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT 9/8; HA, NYT, WP, WT 9/9; AYM, ITAR-TASS 9/9 in WNC 9/11; MM 9/10)

The IDF attempts to assassinate, wounds Hamas political leader and chief spokesman ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Rantisi, firing missiles at his car as he drives through Shati‘ r.c., killing a bodyguard and a Palestinian woman walking nearby, wounding 27. In a rare acknowledgment, Israel confirms it targeted Rantisi, saying it took the decision after Rantisi called off Hamas cease-fire talks with the PA. Later in the day, IDF helicopters fire missiles at a 2d car in Jabaliya, allegedly targeting 2 Palestinians who fired 5 Qassam rockets at Sederot earlier, causing no damage or injuries; 3 Palestinian bystanders are killed, 30 (including the 2 targets) are wounded. Abbas condemns the Rantisi attack as a “terrorist attack in the full meaning of the word,” saying it was aimed at sabotaging the road map; Hamas says it is a “declaration of war,” vows to “commit operations that will shake Israel.” The IDF also fatally shoots wanted Palestinian Issam Ibrahim in Jenin in what may be an assassination; fatally shoots 2 Palestinians in s. Gaza; fires on, wounds a Palestinian nr. Morag settlement; fires on residential areas of Hebron, Khan Yunis; bulldozes 5 dunams of land in Jabaliya; conducts arrest raids in Battir, Bayt Iba, Dura, Haris, Hebron, Jericho, Nablus (targeting Hamas), Qatanna, Tulkarm, al-Walaja, Yatta; dismantles another 5 unauthorized settlement outposts, all of them uninhabited. The Israeli High Court blocks the removal of 1 occupied outpost, Havat Gilad, which Israel attempted to dismantle in fall 2002. Jewish settlers rebuild 1 outpost taken down on 6/9. (BBC, HA, LAW, MM 6/10; ITAR-TASS, VOI, MENA 6/10 in WNC 6/12; MM, NYT, PR, WP, WT 6/11; AFP, AKH, DUS, HA, IDF Radio, JP, JT, MA, MENA, NHR, QA, al-Quds, VOI, YA, XIN 6/11 in WNC 6/13; JPI, LAW, PCHR, WP 6/12; AYM, JP 6/12 in WNC 6/14; PR 6/18, 6/25; MEI 6/27; MEI 7/11)

The IDF launches a predawn raid on Balata r.c. and Hebron, placing the area under curfew, sparking clashes that leave 30 Palestinians wounded. The IDF also fires on a PSF post outside Bayt Hanun, killing a PSF officer; imposes a closure on Nablus; lifts the closure on Ramallah; demolishes a Palestinian home in Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids in Jaba, Kafr Haris. 2 Palestinians die of injuries received earlier. Israel releases some 100 Palestinian detainees, including Ahmad Jubara, the longest-serving detainee, jailed in 1975 for staging a bombing that killed 14 Israelis. Kach activists set up 4 new unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank. (HA, MM 6/3; NYT, PR, WP, WT 6/4; MA 6/4 in WNC 6/8; PCHR 6/5)

In Sharm al-Shaykh, Bush meets with Abbas and the leaders of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia for talks on “issues of common interest,” including the peace process, Iraq, international efforts to combat terrorism, economic cooperation. (BBC, MM, WP 6/3; DUS, ITAR-TASS, MENA, XIN 6/3 in WNC 6/4; SARR, THWR 6/3 in WNC 7/10; MM, NYT, PR, WP, WT 6/4; QA, al-Quds 6/4 in WNC 6/7; DUS 6/6 in WNC 7/10; THWR 6/6, THWR, TSHR 6/7 in WNC 7/11; MM 6/10)