The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, IDF troops shoot and injure a Palestinian at a gas station near Jerusalem after she allegedly attempts to stab an Israeli border police officer with scissors. They also arrest 7 Palestinians during late-night raids near Jenin, Tulkarm, and Ramallah; and patrol near Jenin, Nablus, and Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian residential building in Silwan and 2 Palestinian homes in Bayt Hanina. (JP, MNA, MNA, TOI, WAFA, WAFA 11/6; PCHR 11/8)

PLO Executive Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad denies the 11/4 report that the Fatah leadership has agreed to support the recent Egyptian proposal of a “calm” between Israel and Hamas. He also denies that PA president Abbas discussed the issue with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in their meeting on 11/3. (WAFA 11/6)

Qatar’s Gaza Reconstruction Committee announces that it plans to provide temporary support 50,000 Gazans families. Each family is set to receive approximately $100 in the “next few days,” according to a statement from the committee. Separately, Hamas announces a series of large infrastructure projects in Gaza, including 1 set to create 10,000 jobs for university graduates. The official announcing the projects offers no details about who is funding them, what type of work they will require, and how long they may last. (AFP, TOI, YA 11/7)

The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee approves a plan to expand East Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo settlement with 640 new housing units, some of which are set to be built on Palestinian-owned land. “It’s very disappointing that the district committee relied on formalistic reasons to approve a step that violates the property rights of Palestinian landowners through and through,” says a researcher with the anti-settlement group Ir Amim. “This decision is additional proof that Israeli control in East Jerusalem means a regime based on serious discrimination.” (HA 11/7)

Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad says that the Syrian government has a plan for the “return” of Palestinian refugees to the Yarmouk refugee camp now that government forces have retaken control of the area. Yarmouk was home to approximately 160,000 Palestinian refugees prior to the Syrian civil war in 2011. Very few are still living there today. (AFP, TOI 11/7; EI 11/10)

Off the coast of Gaza nr. al-Sudaniyya, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, Israeli forces confiscate a bulldozer in e. Nablus that Palestinians were using to open a road in the area. Elsewhere, IDF troops injure a Palestinian child and confiscate several solar panels in a raid in a bedouin village nr. Abu Dis. The IDF conducts house searches and raids in 1 village nr. Ramallah, ‘Askar r.c. nr. Nablus, and al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas, arresting 8 Palestinians and sparking clashes in which 2 more are injured; patrols in 3 villages nr. Hebron during the day. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces conduct a raid in the Old City, arresting 1 Palestinian. (MNA, WAFA 4/1; MNA, PCHR 4/2; PCHR 4/9)

In The Hague, Palestinian FM Riyad al-Maliki attends an induction ceremony at the ICC, marking the Palestine’s official membership at the court. Meanwhile, a German delegation is in Gaza to meet with reps. of Hamas and to discuss the possibility of a long-term cease-fire with Israel. (AFP, HA, JP, MNA, NYT, WAFA 4/1; ALM 4/14)

PA Finance Min. Shukri Bishara announces that PA employees earning more than NIS 2,000 ($515) per mo. will only receive 60% of their salaries for 3/2015 on 4/2, despite the Israeli govt.’s 3/27 pledge to unfreeze the transfers of tax revenues collected on behalf of the PA. This will be the 4th mo. in a row that PA employees have received reduced salaries. (REU, WAFA 4/1)

In Syria, fighters affiliated with ISIS conduct an assault on Yarmouk r.c. outside Damascus. During a day of intense fighting, they take control of large areas of the camp, casting further uncertainty over the fate of the approximately 18,000 Palestinian refugees and other civilian residents. (AFP, MNA 4/1; WAFA 4/2)

Egypt’s cabinet approves a new res. designed to crack down on smuggling tunnels from Gaza into Egypt, which would make tunnel digging, or knowledge of tunnel digging, punishable by life imprisonment and home confiscation. The res. will be passed by presidential decree on 4/12. (HA, MNA 4/3; EN 4/12; TOI 4/13)

In a letter to U.S. Pres. Obama, 79 Democratic mbrs. of Congress encourage the continued pursuit of a 2-state solution despite Israeli PM Netanyahu’s controversial campaign rhetoric. (AFP, JTA, TOI 4/1; POL 4/2)

After a 1-day extension to their 3/31 political framework agreement deadline, reps. of the P5 +1 and Iran agree to another extension until 4/2. (HA, REU, TOI, YA 4/1; HA, REU 4/2)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian man from al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas succumbs to injuries sustained during an IDF raid of his home in 2008. Israeli forces demolish 5 residences and a sheep barn in a village nr. Hebron; continue leveling land in a village nr. Bethlehem to eventually expand a nearby Israeli industrial zone. IDF troops clash with residents of a village n. of Jerusalem and 1 nr. Ramallah, injuring 9 with rubber-coated metal bullets and arresting 4; violently disperse Palestinian students demonstrating outside Ofer Prison in Ramallah, injuring 7 with rubber-coated metal bullets and arresting 1; 2 Israeli soldiers are lightly injured in the ensuing clashes. The IDF also conducts house searches and raids in 1 village each nr. Jenin, Hebron, and Qalqilya, as well as in Nablus, arresting 4 Palestinians and issuing arrest summons to 1; patrols in and around Tulkarm, and 1 village nr. Jenin; arrests 2 Palestinians while they are working in an Israeli settlement nr. Bethlehem. Israeli settlers erect 8 mobile homes on Palestinian land s. of Nablus, establishing a settlement outpost; throw stones at a Palestinian’s car nr. Nablus, causing minor damage. Nr. Nablus, armed Palestinians set fire to tires e. of Balata r.c. in protest of the recent PASF crackdown in the area. IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Khan Yunis fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers working nr. the border fence, causing no injuries. Israeli forces also conduct a limited incursion e. of Dayr al-Balah to level land. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces level land in a closed military zone nr. Qalandia, sparking clashes with residents; 9 Palestinians are injured with live ammunition and dozens are lightly injured with rubber-coated metal bullets. Israeli forces also level land on the e. outskirts of Issawiyya, clearing the area for construction of an Israeli national park; demolish temporary bedouin shelters that were funded by the EU. (MNA 3/9; AFP, HA, MNA, WAFA 3/10; AFP, MNA, WAFA 3/11; PCHR 3/12)

A group of Palestinians in Israeli prisons cancels its plans, announced on 3/9, to begin a series of demonstrations on 3/10 in protest of the poor conditions. According to Al Jazeera, the move comes after the group makes a preliminary deal with the Israel Prison Service (IPS), allowing for more frequent family visits, but an IPS official will refute the report on 3/11. (AJ 3/10; JP 3/11; PNN 3/12)

In the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, an IDF officeris lightly injured from gunfire emanating from Syria nr. Qunaytra. Meanwhile, senior United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) official Pierre Krähenbühl accompanies a convoy of aid into Yarmouk r.c. in Syria, the 1st shipment of assistance to the camp’s 18,000 occupants in 3 mos. (HA, JP, TOI, YA 3/10; MNA 3/11)

In Gaza, the chair of Qatar’s Comm. to Rebuild Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi announces a series of new projects to build 1,000 housing units in Gaza, and that the 1st shipment of materials—4 truckloads of cement—arrived from Israel today. They will be funded through disbursals of the $1 b. Qatar pledged at the 10/12/2014 Gaza reconstruction conference in Cairo. (AFP, NYT 3/10; MEMO, REU 3/11; IMEMC 3/12; YA 3/13)

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: In Herut Executive mtg., FM Shamir says Reagan plan no longer exists.

Arab World: To avoid Arab criticism that they are upgrading relations with Israel, Lebanese cabinet proposes direct talks with UN-sponsored Lebanese-Israeli Mixed Armistice Commission framework; Israel refuses. Popular Palestinian Committees of al-Yarmouk camp (Damascus) cable Syrian gov't. to protest arrest campaign of camp residents in past week. Morocco refuses entry to 2 Israelis invited to attend World Conference on Poetry in Marrakesh.

Other Countries: French chrmn. of World Jewish Congress named by France to its UN delegation.

Military Action

Arab World: 3 guerrillas reported killed, 1 captured by IDF near Bater al-Chouf, Lebanon.