The Palestine Chronology

The IDF seals the Gaza Strip following the 1/13 Qarni attack; fatally shoots an unarmed Palestinian in Khan Yunis; conducts helicopter strikes on an Islamic charity in Dayr al-Balah; conducts arrest raids in Tulkarm. A Palestinian dies fr. injuries received during the IDF’s Operation Days of Penitence in Bayt Lahiya in 10/04. (HA 1/14; OCHA 1/19; PCHR 1/27)

Israel suspends all contact with the PA, saying it is not moving quickly enough to stop Palestinian violence; says it will not reopen contacts until the PA carries out a complete investigation into the 1/13 Qarni attack, arrests the perpetrators, takes “real steps to stop terrorism.” (HA 1/14; NYT, WP, WT 1/15; JAZ, VOI, YA 1/15 in WNC 1/20; MM 1/17; PR 1/20; MEI 1/21, 2/4)

The IDF further expands Operation Days of Penitence into Bayt Lahiya, sending in another 45 tanks, 20 armored bulldozers to level 30 d.; shells Bayt Lahiya and Jabaliya from land and sea, killing 1 Hamas mbr. and wounding 2 in the Bayt Lahiya cemetery; directs heavy machine gunfire at residential areas of Jabaliya. The IDF also fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, seriously injuring a 10-yr.-old Palestinian girl in an UNRWA classroom. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 1 Palestinian home in Jalbun nr. Jenin, 1 in Hebron; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and surrounding camps, and in and around Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah. Unidentified assailants attempt to assassinate the PA’s Gaza public security head Musa Arafat, remote detonating a car bomb outside his Gaza City office; no one is injured. Unidentified gunmen break into the Fatah headquarters in al-Bureij r.c., fatally shoot senior Fatah figure Muhammad Issa; Fatah, Hamas mbrs. take to the streets to in protest. (HA 10/12; AFP, VOI, VOP 10/12 in WNC 10/14; MEZ, NYT, PR, WP, WT 10/13; al-Quds 10/13 in WNC 10/19; NYT, PCHR, WP 10/14; JPI, MEI 10/22; PR 10/27)

The IDF expands Operation Days of Penitence, using some 200 tanks and APCs to seize control of a 3.5 mi2 of costal territory in n. Gaza. In Jabaliya r.c., IDF missile strikes kill 3 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and 2 Hamas mbrs., wound 4 bystanders; gunfire kills at least 3 Palestinians (possibly Islamic Jihad mbrs.); demolitions of Palestinian homes continue; the IDF uses loudspeakers to urge 10s of Palestinians to evacuate their homes. The IDF fatally shoots another 4 Palestinians trying to infiltrate Israel fr. n. Gaza. A Palestinian militant dies of injuries sustained in Jabaliya on 10/1. The IDF also opens fire on Palestinians in central Gaza protesting against Days of Penitence; shells residential areas of Rafah, killing a 62-yr.-old Palestinian; evacuates, demolishes 4 Palestinian homes in Rafah, shooting and seriously wounding a Palestinian woman (6-mos. pregnant) in the process; fires on several residential areas of Khan Yunis, bulldozing 14 d., damaging an elementary school and forcing students to evacuate; conducts arrest raids in al-Qarara. In the West Bank, the IDF imposes a 1-day curfew on Palestinian areas of Hebron, fires on stone-throwing youths; conducts arrest raids at Hebron University and in Abu Nujaym and Artas nr. Bethlehem, Bayt Umar nr. Hebron, Silwad, Tulkarm, Tura nr. Jenin. A 4-yr.-old Palestinian dies of injuries received on 7/30/04. (HA, NYT, XIN 10/2; AFP, JAZ, VOI, VOP 10/2, VOI 10/3 in WNC 10/5; NYT, WP, WT 10/3; PCHR 10/7)