The Palestine Chronology

Three Israeli navy missile ships make first contact with 6 boats fr. the FGM-IHH flotilla late at night in international waters, warning them that they are approaching Israeli waters and must either turn around or divert to Ashdod port; the activists respond that they will continue on to Gaza, stating they are unarmed civilians. (The other 2 boats remain in Cyprus because of poor weather.) In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah. (NYT, WT 5/31; PCHR 6/3; OCHA 6/4)

Late at night, unidentified Palestinians fire 2 Qassam rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing damage but no injuries. The IDF retaliates with 5 air strikes on the Dahaniyya airport site (hitting previously destroyed buildings, causing no injuries) and on a suspected weapons factory in the al-Zaytun neighborhood of Gaza City (destroying it but causing no injuries). In the West Bank, the IDF partly opens Route 443 between Jerusalem and Ramallah to Palestinian traffic for the 1st time in 8 yrs., but Palestinians will still have to go through several checkpoints and will not be allowed to take the road all the way into Ramallah (see Quarterly Update in JPS 155 for background). Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall and land confiscations in Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, and Dayr Nizam/al-Nabi Salih. IDF soldiers fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters, leaving scores suffering tear gas inhalation, injuring at least 2 Palestinians, and arresting 4 Israelis. Jewish settlers fr. the unauthorized outpost of Beit Yonatan nr. Silwan retaliating for the 5/25 Jerusalem District Court decision harass a group of Palestinian women, sparking a stone throwing clash between the settlers and local Palestinians; the IDF intervenes, firing tear gas and beating back the Palestinians, including a pregnant Palestinian woman who miscarries as a result. Jewish settlers fr. Karnei Shomron nr. Qalqilya stone Palestinian vehicles on the Qalqilya–Nablus road, breaking the windows of 1 car, injuring 4 Palestinians. (YA 5/28; NYT, WP 5/29; JP 5/30; PCHR 6/3; OCHA 6/4)

Based on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s 5/20 meeting with Mitchell (see 5/19) and a meeting today between Israeli and PA security officials, Israel announces plans to relax some restrictions on West Bank movement and access over the next 2 wks. as a goodwill gesture to support proximity talks. The promised moves include: removing 60 roadblocks (around 10% of total) across the West Bank, various steps to improve Palestinian tourism and trade, and lifting some restrictions on Israeli Palestinians access to the West Bank. (IFM 5/23; JTA 5/24; OCHA, WJW 5/27)

In Gaza, around 20 armed Palestinians vandalize and set fire to an United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) beachside summer camp for refugee children under construction w. of Gaza City, binding the caretaker and leaving him with a letter threatening UNRWA senior staff; Hamas denounces the attack; no group takes responsibility, but previously Islamist extremists have condemned UNRWA for corrupting Gazan youths by introducing them to activities they deem at odds with Islam. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging construction materials fr. former settlement sites nr. Bayt Lahiya, wounding 1 Palestinian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids in and around Hebron and neighboring al-‘Arub refugee camp (r.c.), in Jenin and Qalqilya, nr. Jericho and Ramallah. (IFM 5/23; NYT 5/24; OCHA, PCHR 5/27; NYT 6/29)

Israel begins a 5-day nationwide civil defense exercise to test the preparedness of civilians, emergency services, local authorities in case of war. Netanyahu stresses that the drill does not mean Israel is expecting or planning a major security engagement. (NYT 5/24)

IDF troops on the s. Gaza border fatally shoot 2 armed Palestinian teenagers who infiltrate the border fence nr. Abasan; the IDF claims they are mbrs. of Hamas’s armed-wing, the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades (IQB). The IDF sends troops 800 m into Abasan to raze a Palestinian house under construction, a poultry farm, and 2 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of agricultural land planted with olive and palm trees to clear lines of site. Later, IDF troops and armed Palestinians exchange fire across the Gaza border, leaving 1 IDF soldier wounded. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah. Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall and land confiscations in Bil‘in and Ni‘lin nr. Ramallah, Dayr Nizam/al-Nabi Salih in the north central West Bank, and Bayt Jala and al-Ma‘sara nr. Bethlehem. IDF soldiers fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters, leaving scores suffering tear gas inhalation, injuring 5 Palestinians, and arresting 11 Israelis and internationals (including an Israeli journalist). (NYT 5/22; OCHA, PCHR 5/27)

In Jerusalem, Israeli police inform 4 PC mbrs. fr. the Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform party—Khalid Abu ‘Arafa, Muhammad Abu Tir, Ahmad Atwan, and Muhammad Totah (all arrested in 6/06 as part of Israel’s round-up of Hamas-affiliated PC mbrs. and recently released after completing their sentences)— that Israel’s High Court has upheld a 9/09 ruling revoking their permanent Jerusalem residency status because their participation in 1/06 Palestinian elections constituted disloyalty to the state, warning that they will be deported to Gaza if they do not leave Jerusalem voluntarily (Abu Tir by 6/19, the others by 7/3). (NYT 5/22; PCHR 5/27; PCHR 6/7)

Ansar al-Sunna, a Salafist militant group opposed to Hamas, fires a Qassam rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF responds with air strikes on 2 open areas along the s. Gaza border and on a Hamas training site in central Bayt Hanun in n. Gaza; no casualties are reported, but significant damage to surrounding civilian buildings is noted in Bayt Hanun. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around East Jerusalem and nr. Bethlehem, Ramallah. (JP 5/19; PCHR 5/20; AFP, JP 5/21; OCHA, PCHR 5/27)

U.S. special envoy George Mitchell arrives in the region for 2 days of indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks, marking the first full round of “proximity talks” since their launch on 5/9. The sides continue to differ on the agenda for talks and which issues should be negotiated first. (CSM, IFM, WP 5/20; WSJ 5/21) 

IDF troops make a brief incursion into the 350-m-deep no-go area inside the s. Gaza border e. of Khan Yunis leveling land to clear lines of sight. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus, Ramallah. Israeli border officials bar renowned American scholar and political activist Noam Chomsky fr. entering the West Bank via Jordan to give a lecture at Birzeit University, citing security concerns. (NYT 5/18; OCHA, PCHR 5/20; Znet 7/30)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Ramallah. A Jewish settler driving on the Ramallah– Nablus road stops his car and opens fire with a semiautomatic gun on 4 Palestinian teenagers who threw stones at his car, firing 14–17 rounds, killing a 16- yr.-old Palestinian boy. (OCHA, PCHR 5/20)

After 5 days of talks with U.S. envoy Mitchell, Israel and the PLO Exec. Comm. formally agree to launch 4 mos. of proximity talks, marking the first peace talks since 12/08. (WT 5/3)

Unidentified Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, international activists taking part in a nonviolent march to confiscated Palestinian land outside Brakha settlement to protest Israeli settlement activity around Nablus, injuring 1 Palestinian; conducts synchronized late-night patrols in 2 villages n. of Ramallah, making no arrests; conducts other late-night house searches nr. Tubas, making no arrests. In Hebron, Jewish settlers spray wastewater at Palestinians holding a nonviolent demonstration calling for the reopening of al-Shuhada Street to Palestinian civilians; the IDF observes but does not intervene. (YA 5/8; IDF 5/10; OCHA, PCHR 5/13)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires stun grenades, tear gas and beats several Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists taking part in a nonviolent march to the separation wall outside al-Walajah village nr. Bethlehem, injuring 11 demonstrators and arresting 4 (3 Palestinians, 1 international; all are released on bail by evening); conducts synchronized late-night house searches in 2 villages northwest of Ramallah, making no arrests. Jewish settlers in Shaykh Jarrah in East Jerusalem beat 2 Palestinian children (ages 8 and 12); Israeli security forces observe but do not intervene. In a separate incident, a Jewish settler in East Jerusalem beats 2 Palestinian women, fleeing when other Palestinians intervene. Jewish settlers burn tires on the Nablus–Ramallah road to deter Palestinian traffic. (OCHA, PCHR 5/13)

In the West Bank, the IDF raids, searches a Palestinian home in Jiftlik village nr. Jericho early in the morning, making no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches northwest of Jerusalem and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah. (PCHR 5/6; OCHA, PCHR 5/13)

Arab League FMs meeting in Cairo at Palestinian request re-endorse plans to begin proximity talks but stress that the Palestinians should not move to direct negotiations until Israel stops all settlement construction beyond the 1967 borders. (NYT 5/2; WT 5/3)

The IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, international activists staging a nonviolent march protesting Israel’s separation wall and settlement activity in Hebron (no serious injuries reported); conducts synchronized late-night house searches in 5 villages northeast and 1 village southwest of Jenin, making no arrests; conducts other latenight arrest raids, house searches in Tubas, nr. Ramallah. (OCHA, PCHR 5/6)