The Palestine Chronology

The IDF sends tanks into the Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, Jabaliya r.c. in what it says will be a “limited operation,” shelling residential areas, wounding at least 17 Palestinians (including 13 children). The IDF also conducts arrest raids, fires on residential areas in Khan Yunis. In Hebron, the IDF surrounds, evacuates the home of a wanted Palestinian; fires 3 shells at the house when he does not emerge, wounding him; arrests him, demolishes the house. The IDF demolishes a 2d Palestinian home in Salfit. IDF undercover units storm a Jericho caf´e, assassinate senior Amari r.c. AMB mbr. ‘Amr A‘idiyya, wounding 3 Palestinian bystanders, arresting 19. Palestinians retaliate by firing 5 Qassam rockets toward Sederot (damaging a car but causing no injuries), firing 5 mortars at Neve Dekalim (damaging a house). The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches, bulldozes 15 d. in al-Qarara; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Aida r.c., Bethlehem, Dahaysha r.c., Hebron and neighboring Bani Na‘im, Nablus, Thinnaba, Tubas; seals an iron gate in the separation wall southeast of Jerusalem, cutting off access to the West Bank fr. Abu Dis, Azariyya, Sawahara. Israeli police reportedly enter 7 Palestinian voter registration offices in East Jerusalem; order 3 registration workers to report for questioning, photograph voter roles to deter Palestinians from registering. (HA, MM, WP, WT 9/8; VOI, VOP 9/8 in WNC 9/10; PCHR 9/9; BBC 9/21)

The IDF demolishes 5 Palestinian homes, bulldozes 45 d. in al-Mughraqa nr. Gaza City; blows up 1 Palestinian home nr. Nablus; fires tear gas at Palestinians waiting to cross the al-Mawasi checkpoint; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Abu Dis, Askar r.c., Bayt Laqia nr. Ramallah, Bayt Jala and neighboring Bethlehem, al-Fara’ r.c., Ramallah, Tubas nr. Jenin, Yatta nr. Hebron. The IDF also captures 6 Egyptian students armed with a toy gun, knives, binoculars, radios in the Negev, 6 mi inside Israel. Unidentified gunmen fire on the car of PA General Intelligence Service dep. chief Tariq Abu Rajab as he drives along the coastal road in Gaza, seriously wounding him, killing 2 bodyguards, wounding 2 others; no group claims responsibility. (BBC, HA, PR 8/25; NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 8/26; AYM 8/26 in WNC 8/31; JAZ 8/30 in WNC 9/1; QA 8/31 in WNC 9/3; PR 9/1; PCHR 9/2; PR 9/15; MA 9/15 in WNC 9/21)

In the predawn hrs., the IDF sends troops, military vehicles, helicopters into Gaza City, occupies and searches several buildings, sparking heavy clashes with Palestinians, killing 1 armed Palestinian, 1 bystander; withdraws later in the morning. In ongoing operations in Bayt Hanun, the IDF raids, severely damages a school, bulldozes additional land. The IDF also fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, severely injuring a Palestinian inspecting the remains of his demolished home; bulldozes 7 Palestinian homes in Khan Yunis, 1 in Tulkarm; fires on residential areas of Tulkarm r.c.; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah and in Nablus, Tubas. The Israeli Agriculture Min. orders the planting of 72,000 olive trees around West Bank Jewish settlements so that “ownership of the trees will be in Jewish hands only and would prevent transfer of lands to Palestinian hands in the future.” (PM 7/27; NYT, PR, YA 7/28; PCHR 7/29)

Qurai‘ rescinds his 7/17 resignation after Arafat orders the PC to refer corruption cases to the PA general prosecutor for possible legal action and promises (without a timetable) to permanently consolidate security forces into 3 bodies, give the PM more authority over PA police. (SA, VOP 7/27 in WNC 7/29; MM, NYT, PR, WP, WT 7/28; DUS 7/28, AYM 7/29 in WNC 8/3; WJW 7/29; AYM 8/6 in WNC 8/10)

The IDF fatally shoots a 16-yr.-old Palestinian standing on the roof of his home in Bayt Hanun; sends troops into Nablus, sparking stone-throwing, then firing on demonstrators, wounding 1; fires on Palestinian residential areas of Hebron; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Dahaysha r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Tubas, Yatta. In Gaza, unidentified armed Palestinians raid, set fire to a PA police station in Gaza City, causing serious damage; 20 armed AMB mbrs. take over the Local Government Min. offices in Khan Yunis, demanding the reinstatement of at least 11 AMB mbrs. fired fr. their security jobs and the dismissal of Musa Arafat, leaving after the PA pledges to look into reinstating those fired. In Ramallah, Palestinians rally in support of Arafat. In his 1st appearance since intra-Palestinian violence in Gaza began on 7/16, Arafat denies he is facing a crisis, dismisses Qurai‘’s attempt to resign, pledges to carry out reforms. (NYT, WP, WT 7/25; PCHR 7/29)

Palestinian gunmen (1 Islamic Jihad mbr., 1 PRC mbr.) ambush a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Gush Katif, killing a Jewish settler woman, her 4 children, wounding 2 IDF soldiers in a car escorting them; the soldiers return fire, killing the 2 gunmen. The IDF retaliates by assassinating the senior Nablus AMB military cmdrs. Nadir Abu Layl and Hashim Abu Hamdan, firing a missile at their car as they drive through Nablus, also killing 2 AMB mbrs. traveling with them, injuring 3 bystanders. The IDF then rockets a building in Gaza City that houses a Hamas radio station (possibly attempting to assassinate a senior Hamas mbr. who reportedly was being interviewed at the time), the offices of al-Ayyam and al-Quds newspapers, a Fatah radio station; no one is injured. The IDF also raids Wadi al-Silqa nr. the site of the ambush, orders all Palestinian residents to leave their homes, searches homes, arrests 1 Palestinian, bulldozes 15 Palestinian homes. The IDF also bulldozes 4 Palestinian homes and 6 dunams of land nr. Morag settlement, 2 Palestinian homes in Rafah; fires on a funeral procession in Khan Yunis, wounding 2 Palestinians; fires on residential areas of Tubas, sparking protests, then opening fire on stone-throwing youths; conducts arrest raids in and around Jenin. Late in the evening, 4 Jewish settler families, escorted by IDF soldiers and 100s of mbrs. of the radical Ateret Cohanim settler group, expel 2 Palestinians families fr. their homes in Abu Dis, occupy the buildings, surround them with a fence, claming they stand on part of an 80-dunam plot they purchased in 1927. (VOP 5/2 in WNC 5/4; BBC, HA, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 5/3; YA 5/3 in WNC 5/5; MM 5/4; PR 5/5; PCHR 5/6; PR 5/12; MEI 5/14)

Likud mbrs. reject Sharon’s unilateral disengagement plan, with nearly 60% opposed. Sharon says he will draft a revised plan in consultation with his party, but meanwhile will move forward with planning a withdrawal. (XIN 5/2 in WNC 5/4; NYT, WP, WT 5/3; AYM 5/3 in WNC 5/5; MM, NYT, WP 5/4; al-Quds 5/4 in WNC 5/6; AYM, DUS 5/4 in WNC 5/7; JTA 5/5; JPI, MEI 5/14)

The IDF catches a 16-yr.-old Palestinian boy wearing a suicide bomb at a checkpoint s. of Nablus, defuses the bomb, detains the boy; the Balata r.c. AMB takes responsibility, angering many Palestinians. The IDF also sends 25 tanks, bulldozers into Khan Yunis to raze 5 farms, 7 Palestinian homes that allegedly “provided cover” for Palestinian gunmen, also demolishing a main road and effectively dividing the town in half; fires on stone-throwing Palestinians in Hebron (wounding 8), residential areas nr. Qalqilya; conducts arrest raids in Aida r.c., ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a r.c., Balata r.c., Dahaysha r.c., Jayyus, Nablus, Tubas nr. Jenin; temporarily occupies a Palestinian home nr. Nablus as an observation post. Palestinian gunmen fire on an IDF patrol outside Gaza’s Gadid settlement, lightly injuring 1 soldier; also fire on IDF soldiers nr. Ramallah, nr. Netzarim settlement, causing no damage or injuries. A Palestinian dies of injuries received on 2/11. (BBC, HA, REU, WT 3/24; VOP 3/24 in WNC 3/26; MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 3/25; AYM 3/26 in WNC 3/30; PR 3/31; PCHR 4/1; MEI 4/2; PR 4/7)

In Washington, Weisglass, Eiland present U.S. officials (including Rice) Sharon’s “preferred plan” for unilateral disengagement fr. Gaza plus 6 settlements in the West Bank (Ganim, Hermesh, Homesh, Mevo Dotan, Qadim, Sa-Nur). (MM 3/24; MM 3/26; HA 3/28)

The IDF raids Qabatiyya in search of a suspected car bomber, opens fire on a car driving in the vicinity, killing an innocent Palestinian; fires on, wounds, detains 2 Palestinians who stray too close to the Green Line southwest of Hebron; fires on residential areas of Tubas; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Nablus. Unidentified assailants believed to be Palestinian set fire to the car of the Palestinian newspaper al-Hayat al-Jadida’s Gaza bureau chief. (VOP 2/13 in WNC 2/18; NYT 2/14; PR 2/18; PCHR 2/19)

The IDF sends troops into Jenin r.c. and town just days after redeploying fr. both, conducting arrest raids (targeting the AMB, Islamic Jihad), clashing with Palestinians; troops pull out by the end of the day. The IDF also fires on residential areas of Rafah, wounding a 14-yr.-old Palestinian in her home; conducts house searches, arrest raids in Wadi al-Silqa, Nablus, Qabatya. Israel reportedly approves changes to the route of the separation wall, so that it will run w. of Azun, Baqa‘ al-Sharqiyya, Khirbat Jabar, and several homes in Tulkarm, all of which were previously slated to be cut off fr. the east; begins work on stretches of the wall outside Hebron and in the Jordan Valley nr. Tubas. (AP, HA 1/9; VOI, VOP 1/9 in WNC 1/13; PCHR 1/15)