The Palestine Chronology

For unclear reasons, IDF soldiers at the Erez crossing fire on 700 Palestinians returning from the Hajj in coordination with Israel and the PA, killing 1 Palestinian woman, wounding at least 1. Meanwhile, Palestinian pilgrims who left Gaza under a deal brokered by Hamas (see 12/5) begin to return via Egypt, where Egypt, under pressure fr. Israel, bars their passage through the Rafah crossing, saying they must go via the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing; the pilgrims refuse, believing they would be arrested for their Hamas connections. Meanwhile, the IDF fires on Hamas mbrs. laying a roadside bomb nr. the s. Gaza border fence, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding a bystander. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, forcing them to return to shore. Hamas mbrs. fire 3 mortars fr. Rafah toward the IDF post at Kerem Shalom; the IDF responds with heavy gunfire; no injuries are reported. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron (including arresting a 10-yr.-old boy, heavily damaging 1 home), nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers throw stones, bottles at Palestinian cars traveling a main road linking Hebron and Bethlehem, damaging 1 car; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Hamas-affiliated police raid an area of Bayt Hanun to arrest a wanted Fatah mbr., fire in the air to disperse angry residents who confront them, wounding 2 (see 12/28). A similar confrontation takes place in Khan Yunis, with heavy fire but no injuries reported. Suspected Fatah mbrs. fire on a police patrol in Rafah, causing no injuries. (NYT 12/31; OCHA 1/2; PCHR 1/3)

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)

The last of the 6,374 Palestinians stranded in Egypt during the Fatah-Hamas fighting and permitted reentry to Gaza cross through Erez. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Hebron, Salfit. Palestinians throw stones at a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Hebron, lightly injuring 2 settlers. After Fatah announces plans for a major “freedom of expression” rally in Gaza City on 8/13 to protest recent Hamas arrests of Fatah mbrs. at weddings (e.g., 8/1, 8/10), Hamas bans “all demonstrations and public gatherings” that do not have official permission. Gaza medical unions begin a 3-day strike to protest Hamas’s firing of 2 al-Shifa Hospital officials on 8/9. (NYT 8/13; NYT, WP 8/14; OCHA 8/15; PCHR 8/16)

In retaliation for the deaths in Jenin late on 6/19, the AMB, Islamic Jihad fire at least 6 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel during the day, lightly injuring 1 Israeli; the IDF responds with helicopter air strikes on 2 launching sites nr. Bayt Hanun, 1 nr. Erez crossing, causing no reported injuries. Islamic Jihad mbrs. also fire 4 RPGs at IDF soldiers nr. Dayr al-Balah and detonate a roadside bomb, causing no injuries. The IDF makes a major raid on al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis, killing 5 Palestinians (at least 4 of them armed, including at least 2 Hamas mbrs.); 1 IDF soldier is injured. After the UN and Israeli human rights groups warn of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza within a mo. if borders are not opened to trade, Israel allows shipments of wheat flour into Gaza through Kerem Shalom; also temporarily opens the Erez crossing to allow some 200 foreign nationals, a handful of special medical cases to leave Gaza. Meanwhile, Egypt withdraws its security delegation fr. Gaza, orders its amb. to move residence fr. Gaza to Ramallah in what is seen as a political move backing Abbas and breaking ties with Hamas. ESF mbrs. kidnap, fatally shoot a Fatah mbr. in Gaza City. Unidentified gunmen fire on an ESF patrol nr. Nussayrat r.c., causing no injuries. AMB mbrs. stage a march in Hebron in support of Abbas. (NYT 6/20; Interfax, MNA, OCS, XIN 6/20 in WNC 6/21; NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 6/21; OCHA 6/27; PCHR 6/28)

The U.S. and EU end their boycott on aid to and diplomatic contacts with Abbas’s PA, pledging to work with and support the emergency government. In Gaza, Hamas mbrs. on the Gaza side of the Erez crossing exchange fire with IDF soldiers on the Israeli side, trapping in the crossfire some 400 Palestinians hoping to leave Gaza, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 11. Israel has allowed around 200 Fatah mbrs. to flee Gaza for the West Bank via Erez. Egypt reports that 344 Fatah security mbrs. have fled Gaza for Egypt; all will be repatriated to the West Bank. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Jenin; demolishes a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem. (AFP, MENA 6/18 in WNC 6/19; NYT, WP, WT 6/19; PCHR 6/21)

Clashes at Nahr al-Barid r.c. btwn. the Lebanese army, FI continue, with the army resuming shelling of the camp; at least 3 soldiers are reported killed. In ‘Ayn al-Hilwa r.c., 2 Jund al-Sham mbrs. are killed, 3 are injured when explosives they are handling detonate prematurely. (DS 6/19 in WNC 6/20; NYT, WP, WT 6/19)

Firmly in control of Gaza, Hamas declares amnesty for Fatah leaders, except National Security Advisor (NSA) Dahlan, with the aim of quelling violence, releasing several of the 10 senior Fatah political security officials captured earlier in the day; orders all mbrs. of the PA security forces in Gaza to continue to report for duty to provide law and order, albeit under Hamas cmdrs. Hamas also calls for the immediate release of kidnapped BBC correspondent Johnston. With fighting suspended, Palestinian crowds loot abandoned Fatah buildings, targeting in particular Dahlan’s home and Abbas’s presidential compound; Hamas mbrs. surround and prevent looting at Abbas’s Gaza residence. Some violence persists, with a Fatah mbr. thrown to his death from a high building by the family of a man he killed earlier; a Fatah security official commits suicide after learning that he was on a Hamas wanted list. Meanwhile, Egypt reinforces its forces on the border with Gaza with riot police, APCs, and water cannons, fearing that Palestinians will attempt to flee Gaza for Egypt en masse at the first opportunity. Israel temporarily opens the Erez crossing to allow Fatah officials to escape Gaza for Ramallah. In the West Bank, Abbas names Finance M Salam al-Fayyad as his new PM, charging him with forming a government; issues a presidential decree suspending articles of the Basic Law (the interim Palestinian constitution) requiring the new government to receive a vote of confidence from the PC (currently controlled by the Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform party). Fatah-Hamas tensions remain high in the West Bank, where heavily armed Fatah mbrs. patrol in Ramallah in a show of force; Fatah mbrs. ransack Change and Reform offices, Hamas-run charity organizations in several cities; kidnap at least 9 Hamas mbrs. AMB mbrs. fatally shoot a Hamas mbr. in Nablus. Inside Israel, the Israel Prisons Service separates Fatah, Hamas detainees to prevent rioting. Meanwhile, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches, patrols in villages around Jenin, firing on residential areas, causing no injuries. In Gaza, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Dayr al-Balah; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists attending weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in, injuring 2. (AP, HA, WP, QA 6/15; NYT, WP, WT 6/16; Interfax 6/16 in WNC 6/17; PCHR 6/21; NYT 7/9)