The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives in Burin, assaulting them at gun point and stealing tools, phones, and olive crops. Israeli settlers also raided Qarawat Bani Hassan, opening fire at Palestinians harvesting olives, forcing them to flee. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers uprooted 55 trees using a bulldozer in al-Twana. Israeli settlers also assaulted Palestinians in Khallet ad-Dabi, causing fractures and bruises on several of them. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian homes in Arab al-Milehat near Jericho. Israeli forces killed 7 Palestinians, including 2 children, during raids in Jenin refugee camp, Qalqilya, and Qalandia refugee camp; 5 of the Palestinians were killed in a drone strike on Jenin refugee camp. Israeli forces also shot and injured 28 Palestinians during raids in Jenin refugee camp and Qalandia refugee camp. Elsewhere, Israeli forces razed land and uprooted 25 trees near Beit Umar. 52 Palestinians were arrested during raids in and around Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Qalqilya, Salfit, Jenin, Tubas, Bayt Awa, and Beit Umar. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. Israeli settlers with a military escort also attacked Palestinians in al-Sawana, injuring 3, including 2 with baton rounds and 1 by assault. Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian home in Shaykh Jarrah, displacing 9. Israel also forced a Palestinian family to demolish their own home in Bayt Hanina. 20 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids. In Gaza, Israeli airstrikes killed 756 Palestinians, including the wife, son, daughter, and grandchild of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh in an airstrike that was said to be targeting him. Israeli airstrikes also destroyed a bakery in Dayr al-Balah shortly after it received a shipment of flour. Rockets were fired at Israel, causing damage and injuries. In Lebanon, Israeli attacks killed 2 members of Hezbollah, increasing the number of Hezbollah members killed to 40 since 10/7. In Syria, Israeli forces attacked Aleppo International Airport, rendering it out of service, and killed at least 8 and wounded 7 others in a different attack in southwestern Syria. (AJ 10/24; AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, HA, NYT, REU, REU, REU, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 10/25; AJ, AP, AP, AP, WAFA 10/26)

The Gaza Ministry of Health said as of 5 p.m. at least 6,547 Palestinians had been killed, including at least 4,000 women and children, and 17,439 had been injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since 10/7. It is estimated that 1,500 were trapped in rubble. In addition, Israeli media reported that 1,500 Palestinian militants have been killed near Gaza. 102 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7, including 29 children. More than 1,833 have been injured. Israeli officials recorded no new fatalities, leaving the Israeli death toll at around 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals; 5,431 have been injured since 10/7. The UN reported that over 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half the population in Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7 and that since 11 p.m. on 10/12 there has been a complete electricity blackout due to the Israeli blockade. At least 27,781 housing units have been destroyed and 150,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7. At least 45% of all housing units have been either destroyed or damaged in Israeli airstrikes. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 24 journalists have been killed since 10/7, including 20 Palestinians, 3 Israelis, and 1 Lebanese. The UN said the shortage of fuel was undermining its efforts to help Palestinians in Gaza. Israel told 40,000 Palestinians in Dayr al-Balah and Khan Yunis to evacuate to al-Mawasi. (AJ 10/24; HA, NYT, UNOCHA, WAFA 10/25; AP 10/26)

The Palestinian Federation of Trade Unions said between 9,000 and 9,500 Palestinians from Gaza, employed in Israel, were in Israel on 10/7. 5,000 of them made it to the West Bank, with some 2,000 of them subsequently being arrested by Israel while 1,000 are unaccounted for. A Palestinian worker told Haaretz after he was released from an Israeli detention camp that Palestinians were held in the sun for 2 days without food, while they were blindfolded and their hands were tied. He also said he was beaten and threatened with death during an interrogation. (AJ 10/24; HA 10/25; HA, WAFA 10/26; AJ 10/28)

Oxfam said Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war, saying only 2% of the food that circumstances would have entered Gaza under normal circumstances has been delivered since 10/7 and that 104 trucks of food are needed daily to cover the needs of the population. (AJ 10/25)

Hamas deputy political leader Saleh al-Arouri and Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ziad al-Nakhalah met with Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. (AJ 10/24; AJ, HA, REU 10/25; HA 10/26)

U.S. president Joe Biden questioned the accuracy of the death toll reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health. Human Rights Watch said the data provided by the ministry is accurate, saying their own investigations are aligned with the ministry’s data. Biden also criticized Israeli settlers for “attacking Palestinians in places that they are entitled to be.” After a call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a readout of the conversation stated that they discussed a “pathway for a permanent peace.” Newly elected House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson’s first act as speaker was to bring a pro-Israel resolution to the floor, which passed 412-10, with 6 voting present. The U.S. said it will send 2 Iron Dome batteries and 300 interceptors to Israel. (AJ, REU 10/24; AJ, HA, HA, NYT, NYT 10/25; AJ, AP, AP, HA, HA, REU 10/26)

At the UN Security Council, the U.S. and UK vetoed a Russian resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. China, Gabon, Russia, and the UAE voted for the resolution while the 9 other members abstained. Russia and China vetoed a U.S. resolution calling for “humanitarian pauses.” The UAE also voted against it, while Albania, France, Ecuador, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Switzerland, and the UK voted in favor. Brazil and Mozambique abstained. (AJ 10/24; AJ, REU 10/25; AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AP, HA, WAFA 10/26)

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a speech that he will not visit Israel as planned and that relations between the 2 states will not improve, calling Israel’s attacks on Gaza “inhumane.” Erdoğan also said Hamas is a liberation group that protects its lands and people.  (AJ 10/24; AJ, HA, HA, NYT, REU 10/25; NYT 10/26)

French president Emmanuel Macron met with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who said the 2 discussed the “many, many civilian casualties” that could result from an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. Macron also met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman. Macron said France will deploy a navy ship to bring aid to Gaza hospitals via Egypt. (AJ 10/24; HA, REU, REU 10/25; AP 10/26)

Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf called UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer’s refusal to call for a ceasefire “infuriating.” (AJ 10/24)

The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. has asked Israel to hold off on its planned ground invasion of Gaza until the U.S. has bolstered its defenses in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, and the UAE. Haaretz reported that as of 10/22, 80 U.S. military planes have landed in Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus. (HA 10/24; HA, HA, NYT, REU 10/25)

Axios reported that U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken has asked Qatar to “tone down” Al Jazeera’s rhetoric on the Israeli attacks on Gaza. (AJ 10/24)

Fans of the Scottish soccer club Celtic waived 100s of Palestinian flags during a Champions League match against Atletico Madrid in Glasgow. (AJ 10/24; AJ 10/26)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces delivered a punitive demolition notice for a house in Silat al-Harithiya belonging to a family in which 2 are charged with the killing of 1 Israeli settler on 12/20/2021 near the Homesh settlement outpost. Israeli forces razed a tract of land in Jalud in preparation for expanding the nearby Ahiya settlement. 11 Palestinians were arrested during house raids in Qabatiya, Qalandia, al-Ram, ‘Azzun, Beit Fajjar, Biddu, and Beit ‘Anan. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire at agricultural lands east of Khuza‘a; no injuries were reported. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 1/20; MEMO 1/21; PCHR 1/27)

Palestinian Israeli Bedouins in several Naqab villages said they had been experiencing prolonged electricity blackouts for 2 weeks. The Israeli Electricity Corporation (IEC) blamed the blackouts on cold weather and illegal electricity hookups. In a recording of a conversation between an IEC representative and a resident, the representative is heard saying that the Israeli police is preventing them from conducting work to mend the situation, a claim the Israeli police denies. (HA 1/20)

The UN agencies UNWRA, UNICEF, and OHCHR called on Israel to release 1 Palestinian teenager held on administrative detention who is seriously ill due to an autoimmune disease and has been held without charges for more than 1 year. (MEMO, WAFA 1/20)

16 Palestinian Israeli Bedouins were indicted for alleged crimes committed during protests against a forestation program meant to displace Bedouins in the Naqab last week. A total of 155 protesters were arrested over several days of protesting. The protesters are accused of throwing stones and burning tires. (HA 1/20)

A PA court in Nablus sentenced 1 Palestinian journalist to 3 months in prison for defaming the PA. (MEMO 1/21)

PA foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki criticized the U.S. Biden administration for not working to reverse the Trump administration’s one-sided policies against Palestinians during a meeting at the UN security council. Foreign Minister al-Maliki also called on the U.S. to pressure Israel into reversing its rejection of a 2-state solution. Al-Maliki also said that the EU, UN, and Russia had agreed to a ministerial meeting about the Palestinian-Israeli situation but that the U.S. had not. Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan accused al-Maliki of ignoring “terror attacks” by Palestinians, holding up a stone that allegedly had been thrown at Israeli forces. (AP, HA, WAFA 1/20)

PA prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, during a meeting with UN humanitarian coordinator in Palestine Lynn Hastings, urged the international community to pressure Israel to release tax funds withheld from the PA. (WAFA 1/20)

Former Israeli soldiers acknowledged that there is a mass grave of Palestinians killed during the Nakba in 1948 on a beach in the depopulated village of Tantura, where Israeli forces and militants massacred Palestinian prisoners of war. The Israeli government has denied the existence of the mass grave despite it being published in a thesis in 2000. The mass grave site is now a parking lot for the Dor beach built on the depopulated village. The PA foreign ministry called for an international investigation into the massacre aimed at punishing Israeli officials and institutions covering crimes committed by Israel. (HA 1/20; WAFA 1/21; AJ, JDF, WAFA 1/22)

Israel and Germany signed a deal for Israel to buy 3 submarines from the Germany company ThyssenKrupp. Germany agreed in 2017 to cover $680 million of the price Israel will have to pay. ThyssenKrupp recently raised the price of the submarines from $2 billion to $3.4 billion. (ALM, AP, HA, MEMO, REU 1/20)

Israeli Channel 13 aired a program showing NSO Group employees training Ghanaian officials in using NSO’s Pegasus software. Ghana’s government bought the Pegasus software in 2016 to use against political opponents ahead of the 2017 elections. (HA 1/20)

The IDF sends tanks, troops back into n. Gaza before dawn, firing missiles at and exchanging gunfire with Palestinian militants, killing at least 3 Hamas mbrs., 2 PRC mbrs., wounding at least 30 persons (including 1 Japanese and 1 Palestinian journalist, 2 paramedics) nr. Bayt Hanun and conducting arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Hanun; continues to shell n. Gaza, areas nr. Rafah (killing a 59-yr.-old Palestinian woman); makes a predawn air strike on PA FMin. offices in Gaza City, wounding 3 Palestinians; makes a 2d air strike on the FMin. complex late in the evening, destroying it, wounding 12 bystanders, damaging several nearby homes; fires missiles fr. helicopters at the ESF compound in Jabaliya, damaging it. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem and in and around Hebron (also searching and confiscating documents fr. the Islamic Society for Orphans), Nablus; begins work on a new segment of the separation wall southwest of Hebron. The IDF also detains for several hrs. al-Jazeera satellite TV’s Jerusalem bureau chief for questioning regarding violating Israeli military censorship rules. Jewish settlers fr. Tal Rumayda attack Palestinians, international peace activists in Hebron. Unidentified gunmen fatally shoot a PA security officer in Gaza. (AP, IMEMC, NYT 7/16; AP, NYT, WP, WT 7/17; OCHA, PCHR 7/18; OCHA 7/19; PCHR 7/20)

Overnight, the IDF launches heavy missile barrages and air strikes on s. Beirut suburbs (leveling wide swaths around the Hizballah headquarters) and s. Lebanon, hitting a major power station. In response, Hizballah fires some 20 rockets on Haifa, killing 8 Israelis and wounding 7 at a rail yard, hitting the city’s main oil refinery and gas depot, and a busy downtown street at rush hour; the IDF says that 4 of the rockets fired were Iranian made Fajr missiles (which, if confirmed, would mark Hizballah’s 1st use of the weapons), but Hizballah says it fired only Raad-2 and Raad-3 missiles. The IDF strikes back during the day, ordering Lebanese to evacuate 7 villages in s. Lebanon; hitting at least 80 targets across Lebanon, killing at least 45 Lebanese and wounding more than 100, including killing 20 in an air strike on a government civil defense building in Tyre (also wounding 50) and 8 dual Canadian citizens in a strike on a minibus in s. Lebanon; also killing a Ghanaian UNIFIL soldier and his family in an air strike on his house; leveling an apartment building in s. Beirut, knocking out electricity in many areas of the capital. (AP, HA, IFM 7/16; NYT, WP, WT 7/17)

Israeli government rejects Pres. Clinton's 12/16 comments on settlements; says they are unhelpful, especially during an impasse in the PA-Israeli talks; vows to strengthen settlements. (MM 12/17; RE 12/17, IDF Radio, QY 12/18 in WNC 12/19; MM, WP, WT 12/18; WT 12/20)

UNGA appoints Ghana's Annan as Butros-Ghali's successor. He will become UN secy. gen. 1/1. In his last speech, Butros-Ghali criticizes the U.S., among others, for failing to pay its debts to the UN. (NYT, WT 12/18) (see 12/13)

Jordanian Information M Mu`asher meets with PM Netanyahu. (JT, RJ 12/13 in WNC 12/16)

Israeli cabinet reinstates large subsidies (incl. tax brakes, business grants) for West Bank settlers. The U.S. says the move is "troubling," "clearly complicates the peace process." (MM 12/13; MA 12/13 in WNC 12/16; IGPO 12/13, ITV 12/16 in WNC 12/17; LAWE, NYT, WP, WT 12/14; IGPO, WP 12/15; CSM, MM, WT 12/16; MEI, PR 12/20; JP 12/21)

In Gaza, 15,000 Palestinians attend antisettlement rally called by Hamas and approved by the PA. Hamas spokesman Mahmud Zahhar announces that Hamas soon will open political offices in Gaza (with PA permission) as a transitional step for "greater participation in public life"; West Bank offices are planned. (NYT 12/14; CSM 12/16; ITV 12/17 in WNC 12/19; MEI, PR 12/20; al-Quds 12/20 in WNC 12/26; JP 12/21)

After France drops its threat to veto him, UNSC chooses Ghana's Annan, current undersecy. gen. for peacekeeping operations, for secy. gen. The full UN General Assembly (UNGA) is expected to officially elect him 12/17. (NYT, WP, WT 12/14; CSM 12/16; MEI 12/20) (see 12/6)

Katayusha rockets are fired fr. s. Lebanon into n. Israel, in the first crossborder attack since the wide-scale Israeli-Lebanese fighting in 4/96. No one is injured, but a cow is killed. Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Hizballah, PFLP, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) deny responsibility. (RL 12/13, RL, RMC 12/14, RL 12/15 in WNC 12/17; NYT, WP 12/14; RMC 12/15 in WNC 12/16; RL 12/15 in WNC 12/17; RL 12/16 in WNC 12/18; JP 12/21)

PA negotiators say 3-way summit btwn. Egypt, Israel, PA to clinch a deal on Hebron may occur 12/7, though no date has been set. Arafat, Netanyahu say they are willing to meet. (WT 12/7; JP 12/14)

In Damascus, EU special envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos delivers Pres. Asad a message fr. PM Netanyahu, saying that Israel is interested in resuming negotiations, easing tensions. (MM 12/6; SATN 12/6 in WNC 12/10; MEI 1/24)

In Karak, Jordanian PM Kabariti issues an unprecedented public apology to Iraq for accusing Iraq of instigating the 8/16-18 bread riots. (MEI 12/20)

4 Africans are officially nominated to succeed UN Secy. Gen. Butros-Ghali: Mauritania's Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, Niger's Hamid Algabid, Ghana's Kofi Annan, Ivory Coast's Amara Essy. (NYT, WT 12/7)

IDF lifts ban prohibiting Israelis fr. entering the PA self-rule area of Bethlehem. The ban has been in place since the 9/24-28 clashes. (JP 12/14)

PA military court sentences Palestinian guard Assam Jalaita, who shot to death prisoner Fityani 12/3, to life in prison with hard labor. (NYT 12/7; JP 12/14)

U.S. Court of Appeals rules (8-2) that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) misapplied the federal campaign finance law in a 1992 decision that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) did not fall under the FEC's jurisdiction, suggesting that AIPAC should register as a political action comm. (PAC) rather than a lobby. The FEC has 90 days to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, find another reason why AIPAC should not be registered as a PAC, or declare AIPAC a PAC. (WJW 12/12, 12/19)

Palestinian negotiators continue meetings with PLO leaders in Tunis in efforto end rift over negotiating positions and delegation's authority. (NYT 8/10)

Lebanese army deploys approximately 500 troops in Qana, Dirghaya, Jouaya, and Bir al-Salassel, near Tyre in the Fijian and Ghanaian sectors of the UNIFIL zone. Deployments, first in south since 1982, are within 9 miles of IDF and SIA positions. (MM 8/9; NYT, WT 8/10)

Lebanese PM al-Hariri holds talks with Syrian Pres. al-Asad and other Syrian leaders in Damascus. (MM 8/10)

Social/Economic/Political

Other Countries: Abu Musa faction member Nasir Hasan al-'Ali is arrested after planting bomb at El Al desk at Madrid airport [NYT 6/29; BG 6/28]. Yasir Arafat concludes 9-day tour of 5 African states, including Ghana, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, during which he reportedly discussed opening new PLO offices to bring the total in Africa to 36 [FJ 7/4]. U.S. Asst. Sec. of State Murphy arrives in Stockholm for talks on the M.E. with his Soviet counterpart, Vladimir Polyakov [WP 6/26].

Military Action:

Druze-Phalange militia gunbattles in Maarufiye-Bsada region, near Baabda; Lebanese internal security forces deployed in areas of Tripoli to monitor cease-fire.

Casualties:

Government offices, banks, shops and many schools reopen in Tripoli.

Political Responses:

Israel/ Occupied Territories: Israeli officials say Government is prepared to allow UNIFIL a 2 month extension, to operate around Palestinian refugee camps above 25 mile security zone, do not want UNIFIL within security zone; MK Yitzhak Rabin says war in Lebanon was illegal use of IDF for far-reaching political goals; Defense Ministry informs Umm al-Fahm residents that 15,000 dunums of their land is declared a military zone and cultivation must cease; troops raid Najah University, remove Palestinian posters and flags; military authorities close Kadri Tukan high school after border police injured by stones following celebration of 18th anniversary of Fateh in Nablus; all Nablus and neighboring Balata camp under undeclared curfew; Israeli traffic stoned in Ramallah and Bethlehem, with total of 5 settlers injured during week; Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs spokesman Avraham Hoffmann says $150,000 promotion campaign will encourage Israelis to settle in West Bank, and provide clearing house for information on available housing, World Zionist Organization goal is 100,000 settlers by 1985, current number is 25,000.

Palestinians/ Lebanese: Arafat meets with Jordanian Prime Minister Mudar Badran, holds press conference in Amman in which he praises the Reagan plan for calling for a settlement freeze, and criticizes plan for denying Palestinian right to independent state; Abu lyad says meeting of Fateh Central Committee in Kuwait on 6 January rejected the Reagan plan; Lebanese-Israeli-US talks held in Khalde deadlocked over agenda as US compromise proposals are unacceptable, but new proposals submitted.

US and Other Countries: US State Department confirms several encounters between IDF and Marines in Beirut; Special Envoy Habib confers with Reagan, Shultz and Bush before leaving for Middle East, amid growing Administration frustration that delay in Israeli and Syrian troop withdrawals impede Jordan's involvement in peace negotiations as proposed in Reagan Plan; B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League releases report that anti-Semitic violence in US decreased by 15% in 1982, to 829 incidents, mostly in New York, California, New Jersey and Massachusetts; New York City Mayor Koch presents key to city to President Navon, pledges support of Israel, Navon tells Yeshiva University students to settle in Israel; Italian Defense Minister Lelio Lagorio, in Beirut, announces Italy considering sending another battalion to Lebanon, bringing total troops to 4,000.

UN: Senegal, Fiji, Norway, Ireland, Holland, Ghana, Finland, France, Sweden and Italy will keep troops in UNIFIL; Nigeria will remove troops from UNIFIL.