In the West Bank, Israeli...
February 28, 1983
Casualties:
54 Palestinian middle class families from northeast Sidon, 15 families from central Sidon, 73 families of orchard workers in Adloun, 8 families from village of Kaddousieh have...
February 22, 1983
Military Action:
Syria permits US helicopters to enter Syrian-held territory to aid in rescue of blizzard victims, with deaths now numbering 47.
Political Response:
Israel/...
In the West Bank, Israeli settlers shot and killed 2 Palestinians during a funeral procession for 4 Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers in Qusra on 10/11. Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinians and Palestinian property in Nabi Salih, Huwwara, Abu Kabash, Khirbet Zanuta, Jaba’, and al-Twana, injuring at least 2. Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian minor in Jayyus. Israeli forces also shot and killed a Palestinian who allegedly shot and injured an Israeli soldier near Ibziq. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian woman traveling in a car with her son, who was injured, in Ein Yabrud. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protesters, injuring 7 with live ammunition in Nabi Ilyas, Sinjil, Bethlehem, and Beit Umar. Meanwhile, Israeli forces assaulted 2 Palestinians, including a 9-year-old, demolished a gate to a school, and seized a Palestinian flag in Khirbet Zanuta. Israeli forces also demolished 2 Palestinian homes in al-Janiya. Separately, Israeli forces sealed a pizzeria in Huwwara that had used a picture of one of the Israeli captives for an online ad; Israeli settlers had earlier tried to attack the pizzeria. 60 Palestinians were arrested during raids in and around Jenin, Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, Qalandia, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said Israel has arrested more than 200 people in the West Bank since 10/7. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian after he allegedly shot and injured 2 Israeli police officers in near Bab al-Zahra. The PFLP said that the man was of a member of its organization. In Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 45 people in Jabalia refugee camp. Further airstrikes killed hundreds of Palestinians and destroyed at least 8 high-rise residential towers, with the most severely hit areas being Gaza City, Rafah Nuseirat, and Dayr al-Balah. The UN said that while rockets were still fired from Gaza they had dissipated in intensity. Rockets from Gaza killed 2 Israelis and wounded several others. In the Naqab, Israeli police shot and injured 2 Palestinian citizens of Israel in Rahat, claiming they were from Gaza. In Lebanon, militants killed an Israeli soldier using an anti-tank missile. A drone from Lebanon was shot down over Israel. In Syria, Israeli forces attacked the international airports in Damascus and Aleppo, damaging the runways. (AP 10/7; AJ 10/11; AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AP, AP, AP, HA, HA, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 10/12; AJ, AJ, HA, WAFA 10/13; HA 10/14)
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor confirmed earlier reports that Israel had used white phosphorus munitions to attack Gaza and Lebanon. The Israeli military said that it was “currently not aware of the use” of white phosphorous munitions in Gaza. The Gaza Ministry of Health said at as of 2 p.m. least 1,417 Palestinians had been killed and 6,268 had been injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since 10/7. In addition, Israeli media reported that 1,500 Palestinian militants have been killed near Gaza. 34 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7, including 6 children. More than 500 Palestinians had been injured, including at least 175 with live ammunition. Israeli media reported that around 1,300 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 3,391 injured in Israel since 10/7. The UN reported that 423,000 Palestinians have been displaced since 10/7 and that since 2 p.m. on 10/11 there has been a complete electricity blackout due to the Israeli blockade. At least 4,626 housing units have been destroyed in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said hospitals in Gaza were turning to graveyards as medical equipment has stopped working due to the lack of power and that 3 out of 5 water plants in Gaza, serving 1.1 million people, were out of service due to the Israeli bombing and blockade. The ICRC also said it was in contact with Hamas and Israel about the captives held in Gaza. The Israeli Air Force bragged on X that Israel had dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza since 10/7. (AJ 10/11; AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AP, HA, HRW, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 10/12; AJ, AJ, AJ, HA, REU, WAFA 10/13)
Israeli energy minister Yisrael Katz said Israel would continue preventing energy, water, and fuel from entering Gaza until the Israeli captives are released. (AJ 10/11; AJ, REU 10/12)
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said that Israel must allow fuel, food, and water into Gaza. (AJ 10/11)
Jordan said it will send a military plane with humanitarian aid for Gaza to Egypt. (AJ 10/11; HA 10/12)
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Palestinians must “stay steadfast and remain on their land” as Egypt feared that allowing Palestinians to flee to Egypt would mean their permanent displacement from Gaza. Egypt also said planes carrying international aid to Gaza should use the al-Arish Airport 28 miles from the Gaza border. (AJ 10/11; REU 10/12; REU 10/14)
The UK said it had deployed 2 naval ships and a surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel. (AJ 10/11; HA 10/12)
The Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs said that, starting on 10/11, Israel cut off water and electricity to Palestinian prisoners in the Naqab Prison. (WAFA 10/12)
Hamas military spokesperson Abu Obeida said Hamas began preparing for Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in 2022 and managed to recruit 4,500 fighters for the operation. He added that Hamas is prepared for an Israeli ground invasion. Hamas deputy political leader Salah al-Arouri called the operation a “preemptive strike” based on intelligence that Israel was planning to attack after the Sukkot holidays. Al-Aruri also said it initially only took soldiers as captives but that the entry of armed civilians resulted in chaos and that many of the Israeli deaths were the result of Israeli actions, citing the Hannibal Directive that allows Israeli forces to kill Israelis rather than allow enemies to hold them captive. Hamas also released a video produced last month of its training exercise “Strong Pillar” preparing militants for Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. (AJ 10/11; AP, HA 10/12)
PA president Mahmoud Abbas met with Jordanian king Abdullah II in Amman, saying that he rejects the killing of civilians by Israel and Hamas. (AJ 10/11; HA, REU, REU, WAFA 10/12)
The Knesset approved the new war cabinet and swore-in National Unity Party members Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot, Gideon Sa’ar, Chili Tropper, and Yifat Shasha-Biton as ministers without portfolio. (HA 10/12)
U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken landed in Israel for meetings with Israeli leaders. In a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken invoked the Holocaust and said he was in Israel to support the country “as the United States Secretary of State, but also as a Jew.” Blinken and Netanyahu compared Hamas to ISIS, with Blinken saying the Israeli government had showed him pictures and videos of infants shot, soldiers beheaded, and people burned alive. Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed that a guide by ISIS and al-Qaeda on producing IEDs was left behind by militants near Gaza. Blinken is expected to meet with PA president Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan in Amman on 10/13 and later travel to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Qatar. The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. is in contact with Egyptian and Israeli officials to help evacuate around 500-600 U.S. citizens living in Gaza via the Rafah crossing. 17 members of Congress, led by Sara Jacobs (D-CA), signed a letter to the State Department urging it to evacuate Palestinian Americans from Gaza and the West Bank. (AJ 10/11; AJ, HA, HA, HA, REU, REU, REU 10/12; REU 10/13)
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant spoke to NATO defense ministers, claiming Israeli women were raped and dragged to Gaza and that the Hamas operation was the worst for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. These widely circulated rape claims have not been verified. (HA, HA 10/12)
Lebanese caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati urged all Lebanese groups not to get pulled into “Israel’s plans,” and condemned the Israeli attacks. (AJ 10/11)
The OIC condemned Israel’s attacks on Gaza. (WAFA 10/12)
South Africa offered to help mediate a “conflict resolution,” calling for the immediate and unconditional opening of “humanitarian corridors.” (AJ 10/11; HA 10/12)
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on Israeli president Isaac Herzog to establish a humanitarian corridor to Egypt and to end the total blockade of Gaza, allowing electricity, water, and medicine in hospitals. (AJ 10/13)
German chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized PA president Mahmoud Abbas for not speaking out against the Hamas operation on 10/7 and said Germany will suspend all development aid to Palestine until Germany has completed a review of its aid. Scholz also said Germany would ban the organization Samidoun because it handed out pastries at a pro-Palestinian protest on 10/7. (AP, HA 10/12; HA 10/16)
The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee said it had received multiple calls about Palestinians being detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or receiving visits from the FBI, and that the FBI visited several mosques in the U.S. (AJ 10/11; REU 10/13)
France banned pro-Palestinian protests, claiming they would “generate disturbances to public order.” When protesters took to the street in Paris in defiance of the ban, French police assaulted them using water cannons and tear gas. More than 1,000 Tunisians also protested in Tunis. (AJ 10/11; AJ, AP, HA 10/12; REU 10/13)
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan spoke for the first time since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, saying the ICC does have jurisdiction over potential war crimes carried out by either Israel or Palestinian militants in the current war. (REU 10/12; AJ 10/18)
Former U.S. president and current Republican front-runner for the next presidential election, Donald Trump, said that he will “never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down,” and called Defense Minister Gallant “a jerk.” Trump complained that Netanyahu tried to take credit for killing Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020, saying that “did not make me feel too good.” Rolling Stone reported that Trump had told allies that he wants Netanyahu impeached. (HA, HA, HA 10/12; REU 10/13)
Casualties:
54 Palestinian middle class families from northeast Sidon, 15 families from central Sidon, 73 families of orchard workers in Adloun, 8 families from village of Kaddousieh have fled to Ain el-Hilweh camp in past week in response to Phalangist campaign of intimidation.
Political Responses:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Sharon files IS 10m ($270,000) libel suit in Jerusalem against Time Inc. for magazine's February 21 allegation that he had urged Gemayel family to take revenge for murder of Bashir; Israeli forces fire tear gas at Nablus crowds protesting shooting of 4 year old girl in Hebron, one secondary school closed for a month, and curfew imposed; police find and release 14 year old brother of wounded girl after he is detained by Kiryat Arba resident for alleged stone throwing; police arrest three Kiryat Arba settlers on suspicion they fired shots at Arab vehicle; bomb explodes near bus carrying Arabs in Hebron; Kiryat Arba residents stone passing Arab vehicles after their bus is hit by stone near Dheisheh camp; Kiryat Arba local councillor says in TV interview that the shooting attack in Hebron was child's play and vows that more severe action will be taken; two settlers injured by stones thrown at bus traveling to settlements of Ofra and Bet-El; special police squad formed to investigate settler harassment of Palestinians, after Hebron's Acting Mayor Natshe sends telegram to Defense Minister Arens demanding and end to the attacks; ousted chairman of Hebron Village League charges that Israeli Civil Administration provided his replacement with bank account and IS 1 m to buy support in the Hebron area.
Arab Governments: Foreign Minister Khaddam says Syria will repulse any Israeli pre-emptive strike against SA-5 missiles, King Hussein will face internal difficulties if he tries to cooperate with the Reagan plan, Syrian troops won't leave Lebanon if Israel achieves even one of its present conditions for withdrawal.
US and Other Countries: Prior to his departure from Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Arens and Defense Secretary Weinberger reportedly agreed in principle to work out arrangement to share Israeli battlefield intelligence from Lebanon war; Weinberger rejects charge he is pro-Arab, Arens telephones Weinberger to deny reports he described Weinberger as being pro-Arab; Asst. Secretary of State Veliotes confirms House Foreign Affairs sub-committee formulation that Israel is currently undertaking de facto annexation process by its settlements on West Bank; Weinberger cails presence of SA-5 missiles (with 150 mile striking range) under command of Soviet personnel in Syria very serious and shows Syria is just another outpost of the Soviet empire; Shultz says US has warned Soviet Union that its military activity in Syria is dangerous to peace; New York Mayor Koch, on one week visit to Israel, meets Begin, says Israel's position on Lebanon makes eminent sense.
Military Action:
Syria permits US helicopters to enter Syrian-held territory to aid in rescue of blizzard victims, with deaths now numbering 47.
Political Response:
Israel/ Occupied Territories: Begin tells visiting American Jews no Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon without adequate security arrangements, no halt to settlements, no deviation from Camp David, no independent Palestinian state; Foreign Minister Shamir says Reagan offer to guarantee security of northern border cannot replace a direct agreement between Israel and Lebanon, calls PNC meeting a deception and a fraud, repeats Israel's willingness to conduct negotiations with King Hussein only in framework of Camp David agreement, not in order to return Jerusalem to the PLO; one man remanded in custody by Jerusalem court in connectin with threats to life of Peace Now demonstrator; 500 Jews assemble near Dahariya village on West Bank to mourn death of woman hit by stones thrown at car, Rabbi Levinger of Kiryat Arba says there comes a moment for vengeance and the moment is now; Defense Minister Arens says Israel might resort to pre-emptive strike against Soviet SA-5 missiles based in Syria if build up continues and Israelis conclude they are faced with a mortal threat.
Palestinians/ Lebanese: PNC re-elects Arafat as Chairman of PLO Executive Committee, approves Political Committee recommendations, modifying one on Reagan plan to state that PNC refuses to consider it as sound basis for a just and lasting soution to the Palestine problem, authorizes Executive Committee to pursue contacts with Jewish progressive and democratic forces; Abu Iyad tells press conference that PLO would step aside and let West Bank mayors negotiate with US or Israel if Reagan recognized Palestinian right to self-determination and creation of a state; 17th session of Lebanese-Israeli-US talks takes place at Netanya.
Arab Governments: Syria says it will withdraw all its 30,000 troops from Lebanon after all 30,000 Israeli troops have left.
US and Other Countries: Reagan says King Hussein should be supported in efforts to set up a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to negotiate future of West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, and that US is prepared to take all necessary measures to guarantee the security of Israel's northern borders in the aftermath of the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army; Weinberger tells House Foreign Affairs Committee agreement near on transfer of Israeli military and intelligence data from Lebanon war to US, says delay in shipment of 75 F-16s to Israel due to examination of whether Israel had used US supplied weapons strictly in self-defense, says Israel does not need to develop the Lavi jet except to promote exports.