21 / 15150 Results
  • February 22, 2005

    The IDF demolishes a 6-story residential building on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Yatta nr. Hebron. (...

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  • February 21, 2005

    Israel releases 500 Palestinian prisoners, all of whom must sign pledges that they “opposed terror” and will not undertake “any activity against the State of Israel”; the IDF bars journalists fr....

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  • February 20, 2005

    The IDF fatally shoots 2 Palestinians in Rafah whom it suspected of smuggling arms; opens the Rafah crossing to Palestinians aged 16–35; fires, shells on residential areas of Khan Yunis; conducts...

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  • February 14, 2005

    The IDF beats, fatally shoots a 16-yr.- old Palestinian allegedly wielding a knife in Hebron (Palestinian witnesses deny he was armed); conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah, Qalqilya...

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  • February 11, 2005

    The IDF expels Palestinian families fr. 2 Palestinian homes in Hebron allegedly to protect Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba who pass by the area. (PCHR 2/17)

    In the Galilee village of Mughar...

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  • February 8, 2005

    Abbas, Sharon hold their 1st talks in Sharm al-Shaykh, then each meets separately with Mubarak, King Abdallah of Jordan. Afterward, Abbas announces that “Palestinian will stop all acts of violence...

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  • February 2, 2005

    The IDF reopens the Rafah crossing to Palestinians traveling to Egypt for the 1st time since 12/12; conducts arrest raids in Nablus. PA police say they have discovered and destroyed a smugglers’...

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  • January 27, 2005

    The IDF fatally shoots a mentally handicapped Palestinian who strays onto a settlers-only bypass road nr. Gaza’s Netzarim settlement; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron and in ‘Ayn...

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  • January 24, 2005

    The IDF reports that Palestinian violence has diminished significantly in recent days, with no mortar fire since 1/19, no Qassam fire in more than a wk. The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian who...

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  • February 15, 2004

    The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin; issues confiscation orders for a 15-dunam plot of land adjacent to Negohot settlement nr. Hebron. Some 200 Palestinian journalists...

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  • February 13, 2004

    The IDF raids Qabatiyya in search of a suspected car bomber, opens fire on a car driving in the vicinity, killing an innocent Palestinian; fires on, wounds, detains 2 Palestinians who stray too...

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  • February 11, 2004

    The IDF stages a major raid on Gaza City (reportedly in response to recent attacks on nearby Jewish settlements that caused no injuries), sparking an intense exchange of gunfire with Hamas,...

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  • February 7, 2004

    The IDF assassinates an Islamic Jihad military cmdr. Aziz Shami, firing a missile at his car as he drives through Gaza City, also killing a 12-yr.-old Palestinian walking to school, wounding 2...

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  • February 5, 2003

    The IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Maghazi r.c., killing a 65-yr.-old Palestinian woman who refused orders to vacate; raids a PSF office in Qalqilya, fatally shooting 1 PSF officer, wounding...

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  • February 2, 2003

    The IDF fires tank shells at a group Palestinian farmers tilling a field nr. Kissufim crossing, killing 2, wounding 1, saying it thought the men were planting a roadside bomb; delays passage...

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  • January 30, 2003

    IDF undercover units assassinate AMB Tulkarm cmdr. Fayiz Jabber , also killing a 2d AMB mbr., wounding 8 bystanders. In Hebron, the IDF conducts arrest raids targeting the AMB, raiding and...

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  • January 29, 2003

    The IDF lifts the comprehensive curfew on the occupied territories imposed on 1/26; fatally shoots 1 Palestinian shepherd who leads his flock too near IDF bulldozers leveling 400 dunams of...

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  • January 27, 2003

    The IDF fatally shoots 2 Palestinians nr. Atzmona settlement; conducts arrest raids (targeting Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP) in Bethlehem, al-Fahs, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, al-Qarara, Ramallah, Tufah...

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  • February 4, 1999

    King Hussein returns to Jordan in critical condition, with no further hope for treatment. (AFP, JTV, RJ 2/4 in WNC 2/5; MM, NYT, WP, WT 2/5; NYT 2/6)

    Pres. Clinton, Arafat meet on sidelines...

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  • February 17, 1998

    Saying that "force can never be the first answer, but sometimes it's the only answer," U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton warns Iraq that he is prepared to order a campaign of airstrikes to "...

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  • February 11, 1998

    EU Pres. Santer arrives in Damascus for 2 days of talks on the peace process, meets with Syrian pres. Asad. (SANA 2/11 in WNC 2/12; SATN 2/11 in WNC 2/15)

    IDF demolishes 2 Palestinian homes...

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The IDF demolishes a 6-story residential building on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Yatta nr. Hebron. (OCHA 2/23; PCHR 2/24)

In Geneva, the World Council of Churches, the main global body of non-Catholic Christians, urges all 342 mbr. churches to divest fr. companies that profit fr. Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. (HA 2/22; AP, PR 2/23)

Israel releases 500 Palestinian prisoners, all of whom must sign pledges that they “opposed terror” and will not undertake “any activity against the State of Israel”; the IDF bars journalists fr. filming prisoners released at Tarqumiyya crossing nr. Hebron, detaining 3 journalists for 1 hr. The IDF imposes a curfew, closure on Nahalin village after local Palestinian youths throw stones at Beitar Ilit settlement, lightly injuring a 2-yr.-old child; raids Nablus to arrest a senior Hamas mbr. who allegedly was plotting a car bombing against an IDF target; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Umar nr. Hebron; fires on Palestinians demonstrating against the separation wall nr. Bil‘in outside Ramallah, wounding 10. Jewish settlers place 5 mobile homes on Palestinian land in al-Rashayda nr. Bethlehem, establishing an unauthorized outpost. (HA, MM 2/211; NYT, WP, WT 2/22; NYT, PR 2/23; PCHR 2/24; MEI 3/4)

The IDF fatally shoots 2 Palestinians in Rafah whom it suspected of smuggling arms; opens the Rafah crossing to Palestinians aged 16–35; fires, shells on residential areas of Khan Yunis; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Askar refugee camp (r.c.), Balata r.c., al-Mawasi, Nablus; begins construction of a new separation wallsegment e. of Jerusalem nr. al-Ram. 5 armed Jewish settlers fr. Mitzpe Lakhish nr. Hebron severely beat a 17-yr.-old Palestinian grazing animals on his family property nearby. 10s of Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba rampage through Palestinian areas of Hebron, throwing stones at houses, beating 8 Palestinians. In Rafah, 1 PA security officer is killed, 1 is wounded trying to demolish a smugglers’ tunnel. A Palestinian dies of injuries received in Nablus on 10/27/04. (IMEMC, JP, MENA, VOP 2/20; HA, NYT 2/21; PR 2/23; PCHR 2/24; MM 2/25)

The IDF beats, fatally shoots a 16-yr.- old Palestinian allegedly wielding a knife in Hebron (Palestinian witnesses deny he was armed); conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah, Qalqilya, and in Dura, Nablus, Yatta; demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in Bayt Hanina; orders 3 Palestinian families to leave their Yatta homes and property or be expelled; begins construction of a new segment of the separation wall in Hazma, Anata villages northeast of Jerusalem. A Jewish settler fr. Keddumim verbally abuses, attempts to attack several Palestinians waiting to be allowed to cross an IDF gate into nearby Kafr Qadim; Palestinians fend him off, the IDF does not intervene. Unidentified gunmen fire on the Gaza City home of Fatah Revolutionary Council mbr. Sakhr Bseiso, causing damage but no injuries; Bseiso is head of the Fatah comm. charged with investigating corruption. (WP 2/15; NYT, OCHA, PR 2/16; PCHR, PM 2/17)

Fmr. Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri is assassinated in a major car bombing in Beirut; 7 bodyguards, 6 passers-by are also killed, more than 100 are wounded (3 of whom later die). A previously unknown group called Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria claims responsibility. (BBC, al-Hayat, JAZ, MM 2/14; MM, NYT, WP, WT 2/15; Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, al-Quds, VOI, XIN 2/15, JAZ, QA 2/16, AFP, Le Monde 2/17 in WNC 2/18; MEI 2/18)

The IDF expels Palestinian families fr. 2 Palestinian homes in Hebron allegedly to protect Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba who pass by the area. (PCHR 2/17)

In the Galilee village of Mughar, Druze residents demonstrate, loot Christian-owned stores, destroy several cars; Israeli police do not intervene. (PR 2/16)

Abbas, Sharon hold their 1st talks in Sharm al-Shaykh, then each meets separately with Mubarak, King Abdallah of Jordan. Afterward, Abbas announces that “Palestinian will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere,” Sharon vows to “cease all military activity against all Palestinians anywhere,” including assassinations, to the extent that the Palestinians halt violence. Sharon announces a package of gestures to be implemented if quiet is maintained, including Israel’s turnover of security control for 5 West Bank cities, a prisoner release, easing restriction on Palestinian movement. Hamas, Islamic Jihad say that they will not officially sign onto the cease-fire, but will not abrogate it. (BBC, HA, MM, NYT, REU, WP, WT 2/8; AFP, ATL, AYM, HJ, ITAR-TASS, JAZ, MENA, QA, VOI, VOP 2/8, XIN 2/9 in WNC 2/9; CSM, MM, NYT, WP, WT 2/9; al-Quds 2/12 in WNC 2/13; PR 2/16; MEI 2/18)

The IDF reopens Qarni commercial crossing after a 4-wk. closure, allowing only about one-third of normal traffic through, limiting imports to basic goods and exports to flowers, tomatoes; raids, searches a secondary school in al-Khadir; conducts arrest raids in al-Mawasi; confiscates a strip of land 2 d. long and 350 m. wide to create a corridor linking Hebron’s Tal Rumayda settlement with Shuhada Street. Late in the evening, after the Sharm al-Shaykh summit, AMB gunmen fire on a Jewish settler vehicle in the West Bank, throw Molotov cocktails at IDF jeeps that arrive on the scene, causing no injuries. PA security forces find, seal 2 smugglers’ tunnels in Rafah. The NIHC protests the PA security forces’ arrest of 3 DFLP central comm. mbrs. on 2/5; demands the immediate release of Issam Abu Duqqah, who is still in custody. (HJ, VOI, YA 2/8 in WNC 2/9; WT 2/9; PCHR 2/10; PR 2/16)

The IDF reopens the Rafah crossing to Palestinians traveling to Egypt for the 1st time since 12/12; conducts arrest raids in Nablus. PA police say they have discovered and destroyed a smugglers’ tunnel btwn. Gaza and Egypt, filling it will sand and water. The IDF fires tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international demonstrators protesting construction of a settler bypass road nr. Hebron; 1 soldier beats a Canadian protester. (PR 2/2; NYT, PCHR 2/3; PCHR 2/10)

The IDF fatally shoots a mentally handicapped Palestinian who strays onto a settlers-only bypass road nr. Gaza’s Netzarim settlement; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron and in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c. nr. Nablus, Husan, al-Mawasi. A Palestinian farmer working his land nr. Jenin is killed when he accidentally detonates an unexploded piece of IDF ordnance. A 13-yr.-old Palestinian dies of injuries caused by unexploded IDF ordnance on 1/25/05. (IMEMC 1/27; NYT 1/28; PR 2/2; PCHR 2/3)

Israeli atty. gen. Mazuz rules that the Jewish National Fund, which owns 10,000s of acres of land in Israel, may not restrict land sales to Jews, must also allow Arabs and non-Jews to buy property. (HA 1/27; NYT 1/28; HA 1/31; Forward 2/4)

The IDF reports that Palestinian violence has diminished significantly in recent days, with no mortar fire since 1/19, no Qassam fire in more than a wk. The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian who approaches Qarni crossing; sends troops into Askar r.c., fires on residential areas, then fires on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 2 boys (ages 10 and 12); imposes a 24-hr. curfew on Saida (in place until at least 2/2); conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Abud nr. Ramallah, Nablus, Sa’ir nr. Hebron, Silat al-Dahir nr. Jenin, Tulkarm. Israeli police arrest a 19-yr.-old Palestinian girl who attempts to stab an Israeli policeman outside al-Aqsa Mosque. In a move apparently targeting PA corruption, PA security forces begin bulldozing wooden waterfront structures housing unlicensed shops along the beach in Gaza City; the shops sprang up after the Oslo agmt. and are rumored to be “protected by prominent personalities with influence inside the PA.” Several Jewish settlers in Hebron throw stones at local Palestinians, vandalize several Palestinian homes. A Palestinian dies of injuries received on 12/27/04. (VOI 1/24 in WNC 1/25; JAZ, WP, WT 1/25; OCHA 1/26; PCHR 1/27; VOP 1/30 in WNC 1/31; PR 2/2)

Palestinian militant groups agree to an informal 1-mo. truce while Abbas appeals to Israel to stop targeting their mbrs. If Israel agrees, the groups say they are prepared to enter a formal cease-fire agmt. (VOI 1/24 in WNC 1/24; WP, WT 1/25)

The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin; issues confiscation orders for a 15-dunam plot of land adjacent to Negohot settlement nr. Hebron. Some 200 Palestinian journalists temporarily occupy the PC building in Gaza to protest several recent mysterious attacks on reporters (e.g., 1/8, 2/2, 2/13). (VOP 2/15 in WNC 2/18; WP 2/16; PR 2/18; PCHR, WJW 2/19)

The IDF raids Qabatiyya in search of a suspected car bomber, opens fire on a car driving in the vicinity, killing an innocent Palestinian; fires on, wounds, detains 2 Palestinians who stray too close to the Green Line southwest of Hebron; fires on residential areas of Tubas; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Nablus. Unidentified assailants believed to be Palestinian set fire to the car of the Palestinian newspaper al-Hayat al-Jadida’s Gaza bureau chief. (VOP 2/13 in WNC 2/18; NYT 2/14; PR 2/18; PCHR 2/19)

The IDF stages a major raid on Gaza City (reportedly in response to recent attacks on nearby Jewish settlements that caused no injuries), sparking an intense exchange of gunfire with Hamas, Islamic Jihad gunmen, leaving 12 Palestinians (5 Hamas mbrs., 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 2 PSF officers, 3 bystanders) dead and 60 (33 of them children) wounded; no IDF soldiers are injured. In an apparent assassination during the raid, the IDF surrounds the home of wanted Hamas mbr. Ashraf Abu Hassanain; orders his family to evacuate; shoots into the home, killing Abu Hassanain and 2 other Hamas mbrs.; blows up the home atop their bodies. In response, Palestinians fire 2 mortars at Karnei settlement, 2 Qassam rockets toward Sederot, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF also stages a major incursion into Rafah, fatally shooting 3 Palestinians, wounding 17 (including 10 children), demolishing 24 Palestinian homes and 3 schools; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, seriously wounding a 9- yr.-old Palestinian inside his home; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Sahur, in Tulkarm, nr. Nablus; demolishes a Palestinian home in Wadi al-Silqa. Later in the day, 1,000s of Palestinians attend the funeral for 1 of the Hamas mbrs. killed today, senior military cmdr. Hani Abu Shukayla, who had survived 2 previous Israeli assassination attempts. An IDF warplane malfunctions, crashes outside Hebron, causing no damage or injuries; the pilot ejects safely. (BBC, HA, MM, PR 2/11; IDF Radio, VOI, VOP, YA 2/11 in WNC 2/13; MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 2/12; al-Hayat al-Jadida, al-Quds 2/12 in WNC 2/18; PR 2/18; PCHR 2/19; MEI 2/20)

The IDF assassinates an Islamic Jihad military cmdr. Aziz Shami, firing a missile at his car as he drives through Gaza City, also killing a 12-yr.-old Palestinian walking to school, wounding 2 passengers in Shami’s car, 7 bystanders on the street. The IDF also fires on a group of Palestinians allegedly attempting to infiltrate Israel fr. Gaza nr. Bureij r.c., mortally wounding a Palestinian teenager, allowing him to bleed to death. Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb nr. an IDF convoy in Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. Hebron Jewish settlers attack local Palestinians with iron bars (seriously injuring 1), break the windows of 4 Palestinian homes to deter them fr. using a road linking al-Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs and Kiryat Arba settlement. (PCHR 2/7; VOP 2/7, MENA, VOP 2/8 in WNC 2/10; HA, NYT, WP, WT 2/8; PR 2/11; PCHR 2/12)

The PA hastily convenes a military tribunal to arraign 4 Palestinians in connection with the 10/15/03 Erez roadside bombing that killed 4 American security officers, charging them with possessing explosives and weapons, planting mines nr. the area of the bombing, but not charging them with the specific bombing that led to those deaths. (JP 2/7; HA, NYT, WP, WT 2/8; al-Quds 2/11 in WNC 2/13)

More than 350 Fatah mbrs. resign to protest corruption, mismanagement, lack of political direction within the movement. (REU 2/7; NYT, WP, WT 2/8; VOP 2/8 in WNC 2/10; MM 2/9, 2/10; NYT, WJW 2/12; SA 2/13 in WNC 2/18)

The IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Maghazi r.c., killing a 65-yr.-old Palestinian woman who refused orders to vacate; raids a PSF office in Qalqilya, fatally shooting 1 PSF officer, wounding another; fires on stone-throwing Palestinians in Nablus, killing a 17-yr.-old Palestinian, and in Tamun, seriously injuring a 13-yr.-old Palestinian; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, wounding 13 Palestinians; conducts arrest raids, demolishes stalls in the vegetable market in Hebron; conducts arrest raids in Bayt Awla, Bethlehem, Dayr Dibwan, Ramallah. Late in the evening, IDF helicopters open fire on a retirement home attached to a hospital in Gaza City, killing 2 Palestinian medical workers. Palestinians fire 10 mortars at Gush Katif settlement, causing no damage or injuries. (AP, HA, LAW, PCHR, REU 2/5; XIN 2/5 in WNC 2/7; LAW, NYT, WP, WT 2/6; NYT, PM, WP 2/7; DUS 2/7 in WNC 2/10)

Israeli Interior Min. inspectors demolish a mosque in Til al-Malah, an unrecognized bedouin village in the Negev. (HA 2/5)

Under “intense pressure from the American administration,” Sharon holds secret talks with PC speaker and senior PA negotiator Ahmad Qurai`, presents him with a plan for a gradual cease-fire and resumption of security coordination. (HA 2/8; WT 2/9; MM, NYT, WT 2/10; JT, QA, al-Quds, SA 2/10 in WNC 2/11; MM 2/11; AYM 2/11 in WNC 2/13; PR 2/12; MEI 2/21)

The IDF fires tank shells at a group Palestinian farmers tilling a field nr. Kissufim crossing, killing 2, wounding 1, saying it thought the men were planting a roadside bomb; delays passage through a checkpoint to a hospital to a Palestinian heart patient, allowing him to die; demolishes 22 Palestinian homes in Hebron; fires on residential areas of Dahaysha r.c.; conducts arrest raids in Bethlehem. An Israeli court authorizes Israel to seize $12 m. fr. the PA’s frozen funds to pay Israel’s electric company for power supplied to Gaza districts. (HA, REU 2/2; MM 2/4; LAW, PCHR, PR 2/5; TJT 2/6; MEI 2/7)

IDF undercover units assassinate AMB Tulkarm cmdr. Fayiz Jabber , also killing a 2d AMB mbr., wounding 8 bystanders. In Hebron, the IDF conducts arrest raids targeting the AMB, raiding and searching 3 police stations, several homes and offices (including the Hebron governate, al-Quds university, Islamic charities), closing radio and TV stations, bulldozing stalls in the Hebron market, blocking roads with earthen barriers. The IDF also fatally shoots 3 Palestinians allegedly attempting to fire a Qassam missile into Israel; demolishes 5 Palestinian homes, a sports center, 2 wells serving 1,000s of Palestinians in Rafah, damaging 27 homes; demolishes a Palestinian home in Tamun, sparking clashes with local Palestinians, injuring 17; bulldozes 31 dunams of land in Dayr al-Balah; fires on residential areas of Jabaliya, Khan Yunis; conducts arrest raids in Dayr al-Balah. An Israeli court sentences 2 Israeli Arabs fr. Nazareth to 5 yrs. in prison for plotting to smuggle arms, stage a suicide bombing in Afula. (HA 1/30; HA 1/31; LAW, PCHR, PR 2/5)

The IDF lifts the comprehensive curfew on the occupied territories imposed on 1/26; fatally shoots 1 Palestinian shepherd who leads his flock too near IDF bulldozers leveling 400 dunams of Palestinian crops nr. Jabaliya r.c.; bulldozes land around, fires on residential areas of Tal al-Sultan, wounding 18 Palestinians; reportedly finds, disables 2 bombs planted nr. a Jewish settlements in Gaza, inside a PSF station in Hebron. A Palestinian gunman fires at a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Beit El settlement, wounding 2 Jewish settlers. A 2d Palestinian gunman shoots, lightly injures an IDF soldier outside a Jewish settlement in Gaza; soldiers fire on residential areas nearby in response, wounding 19 Palestinians. A Palestinian dies of injuries received during the IDF’s 1/25 attack on Gaza City. Jewish settlers attack 2 international peace activists who approach Itamar settlement to investigate Palestinian claims that settlers had taken over Palestinian farmland. Settlers beat the activists: steal their phone, camera; take their jackets, shoes, socks, wallets, passports; forcibly take them to Itamar. The IDF arrests the activists for trespassing on settler property. An Israeli court authorizes Israel’s seizure of over $9 m. fr. the PA’s frozen funds to pay the Ayalon insurance company to cover claims for cars stolen btwn. 1996 and 2000, allegedly with the PA’s knowledge and cooperation. (HA, International Solidarity Movement press release, LAW, PCHR 1/29; HA, NYT 1/30; PR 2/5)

Arafat calls on Sharon to immediately resume peace talks in light of his election victory, but Sharon says he will not deal with Palestinians “involved in terror.” (HA 1/29; NYT 1/30)

Bush phones Sharon to congratulate him on his election victory. Also calling to congratulate Sharon are Egyptian Pres. Husni Mubarak, who invites him to reopen peace talks with the Palestinians in Cairo after his new government is formed, and European Union (EU) pres. Romano Prodi who urges him to take action on the road map quickly, now that elections are over. (HA, MM 1/30, 1/31; MM 2/5; MEI 2/21)

The IDF fatally shoots 2 Palestinians nr. Atzmona settlement; conducts arrest raids (targeting Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP) in Bethlehem, al-Fahs, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, al-Qarara, Ramallah, Tufah; demolishes a Palestinian home in Ras al-Amud, 1 in `Aqbat Tafuh. Late in the evening, IDF helicopters fire missiles at the Gaza City home of senior Hamas mbr. Muhammad Atil, killing his 2 teenage children, wounding 11. The IDF reports that it has removed fr. his post an intelligence officer who “disrupted” a planned air strike in retaliation to the 1/5 Tel Aviv bombing in order to “prevent harm to innocent Palestinians”; the officer was in possession of, refused to share intelligence information critical to the mission. The IDF begins work on a 45 km stretch of the separation fence btwn. Kafr Salim and Beit She’an, nr. Jenin. (HA, REU 1/27; HA, NYT, WT 1/28; MA 1/28 in WNC 1/29; LAW, PCHR, PR 1/29; PR 2/5)

Palestinian factions close 4-days of talks in Egypt without reaching an agmt. on a cease-fire and national unity platform. (HA, MM 1/27; MENA 1/27 in WNC 1/28; MENA, SA, XIN 1/28 in WNC 1/29; PCHR, PR 1/29; MM 1/30; MEI 2/21)

International Atomic Energy Agency, UN inspectors report that Iraq has generally cooperated with inspections but has not been proactive; they have found no evidence of biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons but say some questions remain. (MM 1/27; MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/28; MM 1/31)

King Hussein returns to Jordan in critical condition, with no further hope for treatment. (AFP, JTV, RJ 2/4 in WNC 2/5; MM, NYT, WP, WT 2/5; NYT 2/6)

Pres. Clinton, Arafat meet on sidelines of Washington prayer breakfast despite protests fr. the Christian Right, boycott of breakfast by some congressmen, Christian groups. Clinton warns Arafat against declaring a state in 5/99, urges him to do more to ease Israeli safety concerns. (MM, NYT, WP, WT 2/5; JP, PR 2/12)

PA arrests 40 Palestinians on charges of planning attacks against Jewish settlers in Gaza for Hamas's military wing. (NYT, WT 2/5; JP 2/12)

IDF demolishes 2 Palestinian homes nr. Hebron. (Christian Peace Team press release 2/6)

UNSCOM head Butler says that he will not seek another term as chmn. when his contract expires in 6/99 but refuses to resign. (NYT, WP, WT 2/5) (see 1/6)

Saying that "force can never be the first answer, but sometimes it's the only answer," U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton warns Iraq that he is prepared to order a campaign of airstrikes to "seriously diminish" Iraqi military capability if it does not submit to unfettered UN arms inspections. (NYT, WP, WT 2/18)

Israeli Infrastructures M Ariel Sharon discusses further redeployment (FRD) proposals with Arafat advisers Ahmad Qurai`, Mahmud Abbas. (YA 2/18 in WNC 2/21; IGPO 2/19; MA 2/24 in WNC 2/26; PR 3/6) (see 2/16)

In Bethlehem, 100s of Palestinians hold pro-Iraq, anti-U.S. march. PA police prevent them fr. reaching an IDF roadblock. (WP 2/18)

Settlers at Kiryat Arba nr. Hebron stone Palestinian car passing by the settlement, injuring the driver. (PR 2/27)

Nr. Me'a Sherim settlement in the West Bank, a Palestinian youth is stabbed, lightly wounded by unidentified assailant. (PR 2/27)

Lebanese civilian is injured during IDF shelling of Hizballah positions. (RL 2/17 in WNC 2/21; al-Safir 2/20 in WNC 2/24)

EU Pres. Santer arrives in Damascus for 2 days of talks on the peace process, meets with Syrian pres. Asad. (SANA 2/11 in WNC 2/12; SATN 2/11 in WNC 2/15)

IDF demolishes 2 Palestinian homes nr. Hebron to make way for expansion of Israeli quarries. (LAW 2/17)

Ultraorthodox Jew is stabbed to death in East Jerusalem. Israel suspects Palestinian militants. (NYT, WP 2/12, PR 2/20)

In Amman, Jordanian police arrest youth attempting to throw molotov cocktail at British embassy to protest potential military strike on Iraq. (RJ 2/11 in WNC 2/12; MM 2/12; JT, SA 2/12 in WNC 2/15)

Iraq offers U.S. a Russia-brokered compromises for inspections at 8 presidential palaces over 2-mo. period. U.S. rejects plan, saying it is not up to Iraq to set conditions for inspections, Iraq must agree to inspections of all sites for indefinite period. (MM 2/11; WP 2/12; JTV 2/12 in WNC 2/17)

In Kuwait, GCC states hold emergency mtg. on Iraq crisis, say they prefer diplomatic to military solution. (U.S. Defense Secy. Cohen, who is in Bahrain today, says that all 6 states have agreed that Saddam Hussein should bear all responsibility for an attack if he does not fully comply with UN requirements.) (MM 2/11, 2/12)