The Palestine Chronology

The IDF pulls troops out of Nablus, lifts the 24-hr. curfew after a wk. of operations, during which 10s of Palestinians were detained; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, hitting an 8-yr.-old Palestinian in the chest with live ammunition; conducts arrest raids in and around Hebron, in Rafah. Israeli authorities demolish 7 Israeli Arab homes, a mosque in unrecognized villages in the Negev. Young Fatah mbrs. in Rafah waylay, essentially kidnap Arafat aide Ramzi Khoury, Gaza governor Muhammad al-Kidwa at the border crossing as they return fr. Cairo; take them on a forced 4 hr. tour of the recent IDF destruction in Rafah, protesting the PA’s failure to provide for 1,000s of homeless Palestinians. Jewish settlers attack Palestinians, Palestinian houses in Hebron. (WT 12/30; PCHR 1/1; MEI 1/9; HA 1/13)

The IDF assassinates a senior Islamic Jihad military leader, Muklid Humayid, firing a missile at his car as he drives in Gaza City, also killing another Islamic Jihad mbr. traveling with him, 3 Palestinian bystanders, wounding 15. Soon after, a PFLP suicide bomber detonates a device at a bus stop in Tel Aviv, killing 4 IDF soldiers, 1 Israeli civilian, wounding 15 Israelis; the PFLP says the attack is in retaliation for the IDF assassination of 2 PFLP mbrs. on 12/18. The IDF also sends troops back into Nablus, imposing a 24-hr. curfew; bars all vehicular traffic btwn. the occupied territories and Israel; conducts arrest raids in Jenin, Wadi al-Silqa; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis; bulldozes 1 Palestinian home and 3 dunams of land in Dayr al-Balah, 4 dunams of land in Khan Yunis. (NYT, WP, WT 12/26; HA 12/28; PCHR 1/1; MEI, PCHR 1/9)

The IDF continues operations in Rafah, fatally shooting 8 Palestinians (including 2–3 armed Palestinians), wounding up to 41, destroying 23 Palestinian homes (leaving 765 Palestinians homeless), heavily damaging 16 homes and 2 UNRWA centers, occupying several tall buildings as observation posts, uncovering and demolishing 1 smugglers’ tunnel. The IDF also intensifies operations in Balata r.c. (ongoing for 8 days), expands crackdown to all of Nablus, imposing a 24-hr. curfew, demolishing 1 Palestinian home, dividing the city in half with roadblocks. Palestinians fire 2 Qassam rockets at Nisanit settlement, lightly injuring 2 settlers, damaging a building; 1 at Sederot inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries. (AFP, BBC, HA, NYT, PCHR, PRCS 12/23; VOP 12/23 in WNC 12/25; NYT, PR, WP, WT 12/24; PCHR, WT 12/25; PR 1/7)

Overnight, the IDF conducts arrest raids in Hebron; raids Jenin, searching homes, firing on residential areas. During the day, the IDF delays a Palestinian woman in labor at a Nablus checkpoint for over 1 hr., causing the death of her twins; imposes a curfew on parts of Hebron; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, Nablus; fires on Palestinians waiting to cross the Abu Huli checkpoint nr. Dayr al-Balah, wounding 5; fires on UNRWA workers repairing waterlines nr. Khan Yunis, wounding 3; conducts arrest raids nr. Ramallah, bringing to 22 the number of alleged Hamas mbrs. arrested in the area over the past wk. In the evening, 2 AMB gunmen ambush, fatally shoot 2 IDF soldiers nr. Dayr al-Balah before being shot dead; 5 Palestinian bystanders are wounded by the IDF return fire. Shortly afterward, the IDF demolishes 7 Palestinian homes, bulldozes 37 dunams of land in nearby Wadi al-Silqa; sends tanks, troops into Rafah to search for smugglers’ tunnels, clashing with residents, leaving 2 Palestinians dead. Palestinian gunmen also ambush 2 Jewish settler vehicles traveling fr. Kiryat Arba settlement to Cave of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, wounding an Israel border patrol officer escorting the settlers, escape unharmed. A Palestinian dies of injuries received last wk. (PM 12/22; HA, VOI, VOP 12/22 in WNC 12/24; BBC, HA, NYT, WP, WT 12/23; VOP 12/23 in WNC 12/25; WP 12/24; PCHR 12/25; HA 1/8)

Israel says it will bar Arafat fr. attending Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem for the 3d straight yr. The IDF imposes a curfew on, raids Balata r.c., firing on stonethrowing youths who confront the troops, killing a nearby Palestinian child, wounding at least 10; sends troops into Halhul nr. Hebron as school lets out, firing on stone-throwing Palestinian children, wounding 1, arresting 1, damaging a clearly marked press vehicle driven by an AP cameraman, who says soldiers deliberately opened fire on him with live ammunition; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, in Tulkarm; demolishes a PSF post in Dayr al-Balah.  (NYT, PR., WP 12/17; PCHR 12/18; WP 12/22)

After the U.S. capture of Iraqi pres. Saddam Hussein on 12/14, Israel acknowledges that in 1992 it aborted a plan to assassinate Hussein after 5 IDF soldiers were killed on 11/5/92 in a training exercise practicing the operation. (MM 12/16; WT 12/17) 

The IDF removes sand barriers blocking the main road linking Hebron to Bethlehem that have been in place since the start of the intifada in 9/00, replacing them with a single iron gate and observation tower to control Palestinian traffic; fires on residential areas of Jenin (where a curfew is still in place), Wadi Gaza (on the e. border of the Strip). A group of Jewish settlers attempts to visit Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus but comes under fire fr. AMB, Islamic Jihad gunmen, who wound 7; the IDF arrests another 8 settlers for illegally entering a Palestinian area without its knowledge. Jewish settlers also fence off 1,750 dunams of Palestinian land outside Ramallah, belonging to Turmus ‘Ayya village, fire guns at Palestinians who attempt to reach their olive groves on the land. (AP, HA, BBC 12/12; VOI, YA 12/12 in WNC 12/16; PR 12/17; PCHR 12/18)

Bush signs the Syria Accountability Act, which recommends immediate sanctions on Syria. (WT 12/13; SANA, Syrian Arab Television Network 12/13, THWR 12/14 in WNC 1/16; JT, MENA 12/14 in WNC 12/16; al-Dustur 12/14 in WNC 12/17; THRW 12/14 in WNC 1/17; MM 12/16)

The IDF sends 20 tanks, troops into Rafah to arrest senior Islamic Jihad mbr. Khalid Qadi, sparking a gun battle that leaves 6 Palestinians dead (including 2 Hamas mbrs., 3 bystanders, 1 medic evacuating the wounded), 20 injured; the IDF captures Qadi, demolishes his plus 8 other Palestinian homes. The IDF also issues orders barring Israeli citizens fr. entering Palestinian villages in area B (technically, parts of the West Bank under PA civil and Israeli security control) as of 12/21; demolishes another Palestinian home nr. Hebron; places a curfew on Jenin, fires on residential areas. (MM, NYT, WP 12/11; VOP 12/11 in WNC 12/13; PRCS 12/12; VOP, YA 12/12 in WNC 12/16; PR 12/17; PCHR 12/18; MEI 12/19)