The Palestine Chronology

As gestures to Abbas before the Annapolis summit, Israel allows 250 Palestinians students (out of more than 600) with valid foreign student visas to leave Gaza for Egypt via the Erez crossing to resume their studies abroad; makes an “exception” to the closure of the Sufa crossing to allow entry of gravel for an emergency sewage rehabilitation project in n. Gaza. Hamas mbrs. engage an IDF unit that moves into n. Gaza nr. Bayt Lahiya, causing no injuries; the IDF returns fire, killing 3 Hamas mbrs. Palestinians fire mortars fr. Gaza at an IDF base inside Israel, lightly wounding 4 soldiers; the IDF responds with tank fire, killing 1 armed Palestinian, wounding 3 armed Palestinians, 3 bystanders. Late in the evening, the IDF makes an air strike on a Hamas training camp nr. Dayr al-Balah, killing 3 Hamas mbrs. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on a Palestinian family picnicking nr. Ramallah, killing 1 Palestinian; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Bethlehem. (WT 12/3; OCHA 12/5; PAP, PCHR 12/6)

Israel announces a further reduction in fuel supplies to Gaza, where 70% of fuel stations reportedly are already closed. The IDF withdraws troops who have been stationed in the Erez industrial zone since 11/23 but sends tanks, troops into the Gaza airport site nr. Rafah to level land, withdrawing by evening. The IDF makes an air strike on a police post nr. Khan Yunis, killing 1 Hamas-affiliated policeman, wounding 5; fires on an unarmed Palestinian teenager who strays nr. the border fence e. of Rafah, wounding him; makes late-night air strikes on 2 Hamas border patrols nr. Khan Yunis, killing 4 Hamas mbrs., wounding 1. Palestinians fire at least 16 rockets and mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing light damage but no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. In Hebron, the PA security forces fire on and beat Palestinians taking part in the funeral procession for the Hizb al-Tahrir supporter killed in an anti-Annapolis demonstration on 11/27, claiming the funeral had turned into a pro-Islamist rally; at least 60 Palestinians are injured, including 24 requiring hospitalization. (JP, NYT, PCHR, WP 11/29; OCHA 12/5; PCHR 12/6)

IDF troops in the Erez industrial zone fatally shoot 2 armed Palestinians laying a roadside bomb nearby, wound and arrest a 3d; fire a shell at Palestinian resistance mbrs. e. of Jabaliya, killing 1 armed Palestinian, wounding another armed Palestinian, 2 bystanders. Hamas mbrs. fire 3 mortars and a rocket fr. n. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with an air strike on the launch site, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding 4. As the Annapolis mtgs. open, at least 15,000 right-wing Israeli demonstrators protest in Jerusalem against any possible concessions by Israeli PM Ehud Olmert to the Palestinians. In Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad host a conference on Palestine, attended by Hamas’s top leaders (including Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmud Zahar), vowing to “not relinquish a centimeter of Palestine” or recognize Israel’s right to exist. (NYT, WP, WT 11/27; OCHA 11/28; PCHR 11/29)

The IDF makes an air strike targeting armed Palestinians nr. Khan Yunis, causing no reported injuries; levels land inside the Gaza border nr. the Erez crossing. In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes a Palestinian road and barn in al-Walaja nr. the separation wall outside Bethlehem; raids, searches a secondary school in Azun nr. Qalqilya when staff is present but classes are not in session; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, in Abu Dis nr. Jerusalem, and nr. Bethlehem. During the day, the new PA policing unit in Nablus, deployed by Palestinian Authority (PA) PM Mahmud Abbas on 11/2 to enhance security in keeping with the road map, makes major arrest raids into ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c. (WT 11/19; OCHA 11/21; PCHR 11/22, 11/29)

The IDF makes an air strike on Gaza City, assassinating PRC leader and Interior Min. official Mubarak Hasanat; bulldozes at least 150 d. of Palestinian citrus groves nr. Bayt Hanun, also demolishing a storehouse and fuel tank. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Bayt Lahiya coast, forcing them to return to shore. Palestinians fire 8 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing damage but no injuries; the IDF responds by shelling launching sites, causing no reported injuries. An ailing 77- yr.-old Palestinian dies at the Erez crossing when the IDF denies him transit to an Israeli hospital despite having the proper Israeli permits. PA security forces raid the home of a Hamas mbr. in Hebron, confiscating a computer, personal belongings. A Palestinian prisoner dies of injuries sustained in the 10/22 riot in Israel’s Ketziot jail. (NYT, OCHA, WP 10/24; PCHR 10/25)

Overnight, the IDF sends tanks and troops, backed by air support, into Gaza City and Khan Yunis in a major day-long ground offensive targeting primarily Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but also including the AMB, arresting 10s of Palestinians, bulldozing 1 Palestinian home and 70 dunams of land, and leaving at least 13 Palestinians (including at least 4 gunmen and 6 civilians, including a 10-yr.-old boy) dead, more than 50 Palestinians and at least 2 IDF soldiers wounded; Fatah and Hamas gunmen fight side-by-side against the IDF, using small arms and antitank weapons. The IDF also makes an air strike on a car in Gaza City, assassinating Islamic Jihad senior cmdr. Raed Fanuna; bulldozes Palestinian land on the Gaza side of the Qarni crossing and industrial zone, along the border southeast of Khuza’a in s. Gaza. For a 2d day, the Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza City coast, forcing them back to shore. Islamic Jihad fires 4 rockets, 5 mortars fr. Gaza toward the Erez crossing; 2 mortars land on the Gaza side, injuring a Palestinian child; those landing on the Israeli side cause no damage or injuries. In Khan Yunis, a Palestinian is killed when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF launches a major arrest campaign in the Old City of Nablus, imposing a curfew, searching homes (occupying at least 7 as sniper posts), taking over local radio stations, searching hospitals; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, nr. Jenin. In Ramallah, unidentified gunmen fire on the home of senior Fatah official Hani al-Hassan, causing no injuries. In Hebron, unidentified gunmen fire on the home of the local PA General Intelligence head, causing no injuries. Islamic Jihad mbr. Zakariyya al-Tartar dies of injuries received in a 6/24 IDF air strike on his vehicle in Gaza City. (PCHR, WP, WT 6/28; OCHA 7/4; PCHR 7/5)

The IDF makes 2 air strikes on Palestinians allegedly planting a roadside bomb nr. troops operating in n. Gaza, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding another. Hamas fires 3 mortars at the IDF post at Erez crossing in response, causing no injuries. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis.IDFUXO injures an 11-yr.-old Palestinian boy in Bayt Lahiya, 4 Palestinian children in Gaza City. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a predawn raid on an apartment building in Hebron searching for 2 Palestinian men who had thrown objects at their patrol, fatally shooting an innocent 75-yr.-old Palestinian man, wounding his 66-yr.-old wife and 6 other relatives; the 2 wanted men were later arrested elsewhere. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in and around Nablus, and in ‘Aida r.c. nr. Bethlehem, Halhul nr. Hebron, Jenin, Qabatya, Tulkarm. (al-Jazeera 6/6; NYT, PCHR, WT 6/7; OCHA 6/13; PCHR 6/14)

In overnight raids, the IDF, Shin Bet arrest 33 senior Hamas or Hamas-affiliated political figures across the West Bank (Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Salfit, Tulkarm), including PA Education M Nasir al-Sha‘ir, PA State M Wasfi Kabaha, at least 3 PC mbrs., 5 mayors, a number of heads of educational and charitable associations. The IDF also makes at least 7 air strikes on Gaza, targeting at least 3 ESF positions in Gaza City, Khan Yunis, Rafah, injuring at least 2 ESF mbrs. and 13 bystanders; a guard house outside Haniyeh’s Shati‘ r.c. home, causing no casualties; the home of a PRC mbr. in Jabaliya r.c., hitting an adjacent home instead, wounding 2 Palestinians; an alleged weapons factory in Rafah, wounding 5 bystanders; a Hamas post in Dayr al-Balah, causing no injuries; and a money exchange in Gaza City. The IDF also fires on a group of Palestinians on the Bayt Lahiya shore, wounding 1 Palestinian fisherman. Palestinians fire 2 mortars at the IDF post at Erez (causing no injuries, but light damage that will slow processing of trucks going through the crossing) and at least 12 rockets fr. Gaza toward Israel (only 5 land inside Israel, causing light damage but no injuries). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Jenin (also searching the offices of the PA Waqf Min., confiscating documents) and nr. Qalqilya, Tulkarm. A Palestinian woman dies of injuries received in a 5/17 IDF air strike on Gaza City. A Hamas mbr. dies of wounds received in clashes with Fatah on 5/13. (BBC, IFM, WP 5/24; NYT, WT 5/25; NYT 5/27; OCHA 5/30; PCHR 5/31)