July 15, 2007

In a bid to help Abbas, Israel removes 178 AMB mbrs. fr. its wanted list (75% of AMB mbrs. wanted, including AMB Jenin leader Zakariya Zubaydi) after they sign pledges to cease all actions against Israel and hand over their weapons to the PA. In Gaza, Palestinians fire 2 RPGs at an IDF unit patrolling the border fence nr. al-Bureij, missing the target, causing no damage or injuries; fire 4 mortars at IDF troops e. of Bayt Hanun, causing no damage or injuries. Around 50 Palestinian merchants hold a sit-in at the Erez crossing to protest Israel’s continued closure. In the West Bank, Israeli intelligence summons, arrests 2 Palestinians in Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Otniel continue work to set up a new outpost on land seized on 7/14. PA employees recently cut from the PA salary rolls by Abbas begin an open-ended sitin strike in Gaza City’s Unknown Soldier’s Park. On the intra-Palestinian front, the ESF raids the Gaza City homes of at least a dozen Army of Islam mbrs., arresting 12, all connected to the powerful Daghmash clan. A Palestinian man dies in a Gaza City hospital after being interrogated by the IQB. (HA, NYT, WT 7/16; OCHA 7/18; PCHR 7/19; NYT 7/22; OCHA 7/25)