The Palestine Chronology

Israeli police detain a car carrying 10 Palestinian laborers and explosives btwn. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, stopping what the Israeli DMin. says is a major bombing attempt meant to disrupt Israel’s 3/28 elections; 1 of the laborers from Yamun, where the IDF killed a 8-yr.-old girl during an arrest raid on 3/17, reportedly has ties to Islamic Jihad. Israel allows the Qarni crossing to reopen for the importation of basic goods (see 3/20); Jordan sends 200 truckloads of food aid. The IDF patrols in Askar r.c., firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops, wounding 1; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. In the 2d such incident in 2 days, unidentified gunmen fire on, seriously damage the car of Qalqilya Mayor Hashim al-Masri, parked outside his home.(AFP, IMEMC, REU 3/21; MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/22; JP, Jordan Times 3/22 in WNC 3/23; OCHA, PCHR 3/23)

Overnight, the IDF arrests 52 Islamic Jihad mbrs. in the largest raids against the group in the West Bank since 3/05; half of the mbrs. are arrested in Hebron, others in Jenin, Qalqilya, Ramallah. Minutes before Sharon and Abbas hold their 1st mtg. since the 2/8 Sharm al-Shaykh summit to coordinate disengagement, IDF aircraft fires 2 missiles at a group of Islamic Jihad mbrs. in Bayt Lahiya in what Israeli officials say is a failed attempt to assassinate a wanted Islamic Jihad mbr. The Israel FMin. says that “the message was very clear—that Israel cannot accept the fact that Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the alAqsa Brigades have weapons.” The PA urges Islamic Jihad, the AMB to abide by the cease-fire. Palestinians fire a mortar at a Jewish settlement in s. Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, Qalqilya and around Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarm. (AFP, HA, JAZ 6/21; VOP 6/21 in WNC 6/21; Daily Star, HA, NYT, PR, WP, WT 6/22; PCHR, WP, WT 6/23; VOI 6/23 in WNC 6/24; QA 6/27 in WNC 6/28; Jordan Times 7/1)

The Knesset Interior Comm. discusses the civilian aspects of the Or Commission’s 9/1/03 report into the 10/00 riots during which 13 Israeli Palestinians were killed by police (see Peace Monitor in JPS 118; Chronology in JPS 130). Fmr. High Court Justice Theodore Or says that the government has done nothing to implement his comm.’s recommendations (particularly for achieving equal rights for Israeli Palestinians), address the issues raised in the report. (YA 6/21)