The Palestine Chronology

In West Bank, Israeli settlers burned Palestinian crops outside of Turmus ‘Ayya. Israeli settlers also sprayed racist graffiti on agricultural structures in Shufa and stole 1 donkey. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers assaulted 1 Palestinian in al-Zawiya. Israeli forces arrested 3 Palestinian minors during a raid in Nablus. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. (MEE, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/25; PCHR 7/6; UNOCHA 7/8)

1 Palestinian was sentenced to death by hanging by the Military Permanent Court in Gaza for the killing of a police officer on 6/10. (PCHR 6/25)

The Biden administration informed Israel that it will no longer fund research institutes and scientific and technological projects in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, reversing a policy made by the Trump administration. Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen voiced his disapproval with the decision, saying “[i]n similar cases, in the past, the Israeli government has always made sure to give full damages to those hurt by these decisions.” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller later clarified that the U.S. had not reversed the Trump administration’s interpretation that settlements are “not per se inconsistent with international law.” (AX, HA, TOI, TOI 6/25; MEE 6/26; HA, WAFA 6/27)

Under U.S. pressure, Abbas meets with Olmert for the 1st time since he suspended final status talks on 3/2 to protest Operation Hot Winter; pledges to continue negotiations “without interruption.” The last Abbas-Olmert mtg. was on 2/19. (NYT 4/8)

In Gaza, the IDF bulldozes 17 d. of Palestinian agricultural land inside the Gaza border e. of Bayt Hanun. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Hebron. A Jewish settler fr. Elon Moreh driving a bus nr. Nablus deliberately runs down a 15-yr.-old Palestinian shepherd, killing the boy, his donkey, 8 sheep. Citing Abbas’s failure to achieve any gains to date for the Palestinians, AMB Jenin cmdr. Zakariya Zubaydi and several other AMB mbrs. say they will no longer agree to stay in PA custody overnight as they agreed in 7/07 to receive amnesty from Israel; Zubaydi does not threaten to resume resistance operations. (HA, WT 4/8; OCHA, PCHR 4/9)