The Palestine Chronology

International diplomacy to end OCL clicks into gear with France proposing that Israel and Hamas impose a 48-hr. humanitarian truce to try to defuse the violence and restore the Gaza cease-fire, with humanitarian groups, Egypt, the EU, the Quartet, and the U.S. opening mediation channels (see Quarterly Update). Israel’s security cabinet meets to discuss the French proposal but does not formally respond.

Israeli actions: The IDF conducts 70 air strikes on Gaza, while the Israeli navy continues shelling from the sea, killing at least 10 Palestinians and wounding 40, bringing the death toll to about 370. The IDF reports hitting 110 individual sites, with primary targets being tunnels on the Rafah border, suspected weapons factories and rocket-launching sites, civil and naval police stations, and groups of resistance mbrs. In Gaza City, at least 20 air strikes hit Haniyeh’s offices, PA Interior Min., and main PA government complex in Gaza City, all of which had been targeted previously; 1 air strike hits an ambulance, killing 1 paramedic, seriously wounding a doctor and the driver. Part of Gaza’s main power grid is also hit, cutting all power to Gaza City. A fuel depot in Rafah is destroyed. In al-Bureij r.c., a mosque and health clinic are hit. In Khan Yunis, a money exchange is destroyed. At least 7 homes across the Strip are targeted. Target locations include Abasan, Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, al-Bureij r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City, Jabaliya town and r.c., Khan Yunis, al-Maghazi (c. Gaza), al-Mughraqa, al-Qarara, Rafah. The IDF launches a YouTube channel to broadcast declassified videos of its operations in Gaza, “other footage of interest to the international community” (JPI 1/8) and begins regular briefings for Internet bloggers worldwide.

Palestinian actions: Palestinians fire 41 rockets, 10 mortars into Israel, damaging 1 home in Sederot and causing several light injuries (excluding shock); 1 rocket lands in Beersheba, 25 mi. fr. the Gaza border, marking the farthest strike to date; 2 other long-range rockets land in Ashdod. Humanitarian notes: Israel allows 93 trucks into Gaza (50 carrying medical supplies and food donated by aid groups; 43 carrying commercial goods), but Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital says it is out of 150 kinds of medicine and 230 other medical supplies, including gloves, scissors, sterilization equipment, nitrogen for anesthesia. Fuel shipments are still cut off; Gaza’s power plant shuts down for lack of fuel. (BBC, HA, Independent 12/30; IDF, IFM, NYT, REU, UNOSAT, WP, WT 12/31; JP, PCHR 1/1; ITV 1/2; IDF 1/3; WP 1/4; IFM 1/8; NYT 1/13)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian worker in Mod’in Ilit settlement, angry over Israel’s war on Gaza, stabs, wounds 4 Jewish settlers before being shot and wounded by a paramedic who arrives on the scene. The IDF fires live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinians demonstrating against OCL in al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron, wounding 3 (including teenagers ages 13, 14); makes simultaneous afternoon incursions into Beita and Hawara villages nr. Nablus, imposing curfews through 12/31; conducts simultaneous late-night raids, house searches on 4 villages nr. Jenin, firing on residential areas in all cases, causing no injuries and arresting only 1 teenager; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Abu Dis and Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm. (PCHR, WJW 1/1)

On the 1st day of the cease-fire in Gaza, no Israeli-Palestinian violence is reported inside the Strip. Israeli naval vessels, however, fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Rafah, forcing them to return to shore. Hamas removes armed mbrs. fr. posts along the border with Israel. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Qalqilya; raids several Palestinian homes in Hebron, detains and photographs 30 residents for no apparent reason; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus and in Jenin town and r.c., Qabatya. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus block a road, stone Palestinian cars driving in the area, burn 800 d. of Palestinian olive groves, stone local Palestinians who attempt to reach the area to put out the fires; the IDF observes but only intervenes to detain Palestinians who arrive to extinguish the fire. Jewish settlers fr. Tapuach settlement nr. Salfit burn 48 d. of nearby Palestinian crops. A Jewish settler seriously injures a 70-yr.-old Palestinian man in a deliberate hit-and-run along the Qalqilya-Nablus road outside Qalqilya; the IDF evacuates him to an Israeli hospital. In Gaza City, unidentified gunmen fire on the offices of a Hamas-affiliated newspaper, causing damage but no injuries. In al-Bureij r.c., Hamas-affiliated police raid, fire in the air to disperse a wedding party, claiming attendees were playing pro-Fatah songs; no injuries are reported. (MM 6/19; AHR, NYT, WP 6/20; OCHA 6/25; PCHR 6/26)

Just before U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice arrives in Israel for 6/15–16 mtgs. to encourage Israeli-Palestinian negotiations (see Quarterly Update), the Israeli Housing Min. announces approval for construction of 1,300 new settlement housing units in Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya and nr. Salfit; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 2); fires tear gas, percussion grenades at a similar protest al-Ma‘sara (injuring 5). Jewish settlers enter Nablus to pray at Joseph’s Tomb without prior coordination with the IDF; the IDF evacuates and arrests them. The IDF also sends tanks into Gaza e. of al-Maghazi r.c. to level land along the border fence. In Gaza’s al-Bureij r.c., Hamas-affiliated police attempt to arrest 2 wanted Fatah mbrs., but are attacked, forced to retreat by neighbors and Fatah supporters; no serious injuries are reported. (WT 6/15; MM 6/16; OCHA 6/18; PCHR 6/19)

In Gaza, Hamas mbrs. fire 5 mortars at an IDF unit that enters Gaza nr. al-Bureij r.c., forcing the soldiers to retreat. Palestinians fire 4 mortars at the Nahal Oz crossing, seriously injuring a Palestinian worker. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols, sets up checkpoints in Tulkarm during the day; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarm, nr. Hebron (also raiding, sealing for 3 yrs. an Islamic Charity Society office and kindergarten). The PA opens 3 police stations manned by a total of 105 policemen in 3 villages surrounding Jenin (see 6/3). (IFM, WT 6/4; NYT, PCHR, WP 6/5; al-Akhbar [Cairo] 6/6; OCHA 6/11; PCHR 6/12)

The IDF reopens the Erez crossing (closed since a 5/22 bombing) for limited VIP and medical travel; sends troops, bulldozers into al-Bureij r.c. in c. Gaza to level 70 d. of agricultural land. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, and in and around Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. Jewish settlers attempt to occupy a plot of Palestinian land nr. Bil‘in to establish a new unauthorized outpost; the IDF removes the settlers. (OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on an empty car in Jabaliya r.c. owned by a member of Hamas’s Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) in an apparent assassination attempt, destroying the car, damaging surrounding homes, causing no reported injuries; sends tanks, troops into areas southeast of Gaza City to bulldozes 200 d. of olive groves. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border shell an alleged rocket-launching site w. of Bayt Lahiya in n. Gaza, injuring 2 Palestinian children (ages 4, 17) and damaging a house. IDF troops on the s. Gaza border direct heavy machine gun fire towards residential areas of Abasan, wounding 1 Palestinian inside his home. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, causing no reported injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF raids, searches a store in Yatta nr. Hebron, arresting the owner and confiscating a computer; chases and detains 17 Palestinian children who throw stones at an IDF post outside al-Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, questioning and releasing 12, arresting 5; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin. The IDF also demolishes a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem, displacing a family of 7. Jewish settlers fr. Itamar nr. Nablus seize an area of Palestinian land and begin leveling work for construction of a new settler-only bypass road. Jewish settlers angry over the removal of an IDF roadblock nr. Hebron demonstrate, block Palestinian traffic. Israel’s Housing min. issues tenders for construction of 286 new settlement housing units in Beitar Ilit nr. Bethlehem. A Palestinian teenager injured during the IDF’s 4/11/08 raid on al-Bureij r.c. dies (see Chronology in JPS 148). (PCHR 5/22; OCHA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

Israeli police hold a press conference to announce serious new corruption and financial impropriety allegations against Israeli PM Ehud Olmert (see Quarterly Update for details). (NYT, WP, WT 5/22; NYT 5/23; MM 6/12; NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 5/28)

Israel, Syria, Turkey announce that Israel and Syria have been holding “serious and continuous” indirect peace talks through Turkish mediators since 2/07; high-level Israeli and Syrian negotiating teams are in Istanbul taking part in a preliminary round of indirect negotiations. (IFM 5/21; NYT, WP, WT 5/22; NYT 5/23; MM 6/12)

Lebanese political figures holding national unity talks in Doha formally announce that they have reached a comprehensive agmt. ending their 18-mo. political standoff and paving the way for Gen. Michel Suleiman’s election as pres, including agmts. on redistricting Beirut, an electoral law, and allotment of cabinet seats that will give Hizballah veto power over major decisions. (MM, NYT, WP 5/21; MM, NYT, WP, WT 5/22)

Palestinian gunmen in n. Gaza shoot across the border at an Israeli government delegation leading a Canadian group on a tour of Sederot, seriously wounding an aide to Israel’s Public Security M Avi Dichter; the IDF returns fire, causing no reported injuries; several Palestinian groups claim responsibility including the AMB, Hamas, and 2 little-known Islamist groups: the Army of the Nation, and Protectors of the Homeland (which claims to be inspired by al-Qa‘ida). Separately, the IDF sends troops into al-Bureij r.c., where they clash with local gunmen (wounding a Palestinian girl inside her home), shell a Palestinian home (causing extensive damage but no injuries), arrest 1 Palestinian, temporarily detain 2 children (ages 12, 17); bulldozes 40 d. of citrus trees inside the Gaza border e. of Bayt Hanun. In al-Qarara, 2 Palestinians are injured when explosives they are handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (10s suffer tear gas inhalation), beat Palestinian demonstrators at a similar demonstration in al-Masa’ra nr. Bethlehem (injuring 2 children, ages 6 and 7). In Nablus, 12 AMB mbrs. who had agreed to remain in PA custody overnight as part of a 7/07 amnesty deal with Israel flee Jnaid prison, claiming they were severely beaten by PA security forces; they refuse to return to the jail but pledge to respect the cease-fire. (HA 4/4; NYT, WP, WT 4/5; OCHA, PCHR 4/9)

In Gaza, IDF troops enter al-Qarara, bulldoze 4 Palestinian homes, animal pens, 93 d. of agricultural land; also bulldoze areas along the separation wall e. of alBureij, al-Maghazi. Palestinians fire at least 1 rocket fr. Gaza toward Israel that lands inside Gaza, hitting a home, seriously injuring 1 Palestinian. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Bethlehem and Tulkarm, in Hebron, Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. Unidentified gunmen shoot, wound a Hamas-affiliated police officer in Dayr al-Balah. In Gaza City, 5,000 NGO reps. and citizens rally to call on the factions to implement a national unity government. (PCHR 3/27; OCHA 4/2; PCHR 4/3)

The IDF makes an air strike on Bayt Lahiya in a failed attempt to assassinate Islamic Jihad mbrs. Ihab Abu Jarad, Nidal Shaqqura, and Muhammad alZa’nin as they walk in a crowded residential area, wounding the 3, as well as 6 bystanders, including 2 children and a mentally disabled person; bulldozes land on the Palestinian side of the Qarni industrial zone (for a 2d day), nr. the border fence e. of Dayr al-Balah. Late at night, the IDF sends troops into Bayt Hanun, raiding a home and arresting 7 mbrs. of a Palestinian family. An IDF special forces unit attempts an incursion into al-Bureij r.c. but is forced to retreat by Palestinian gunmen firing machine guns and mortars; no injuries are reported. Egyptian border police find separate caches of 40 landmines, 500 kg of explosives nr. the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Bethlehem and Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Hebron, Tubas, Tulkarm. (OCHA, PCHR 3/19; PCHR 3/27)

In the morning, the IDF makes an air strike on a minivan nr. Khan Yunis, assassinating 5 Hamas mbrs. and wounding 1 allegedly responsible for the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades’ rocket program; makes air strikes on a 2d Hamas vehicle, missing it, allowing the targets to escape. Also in the morning, IDF troops on the Gaza border nr. al-Bureij r.c. fire on a group of Palestinian children who stray nr. the border fence, wounding 1. In response to the air strikes, Hamas fires 25 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, killing 1 Israeli, wounding 2, and damaging a home and factory in Sederot. The IDF responds with air and artillery strikes on suspected rocket-launching sites nr. Jabaliya r.c. and Gaza City, killing 1 Islamic Jihad mbr., 3 Palestinian civilians (including boys ages 12, 13), wounding 12 (including 5 children ages 8–14); fires across the border, wounding a Palestinian in al-Shuka. In response, Palestinians fire another 15 rockets, causing no damage or injuries. In the evening, IDF warplanes drop 3 guided missiles on Gaza’s Interior Min. building (empty at the time), destroying it, killing a 6- mo.-old Palestinian baby, wounding more than 25 Palestinians; also launch air strikes on at least 4 other sites in Gaza City and Khan Yunis suspected of manufacturing rockets, causing no reported injuries. An Islamic Jihad mbr. dies when a roadside bomb he is laying nr. the border fence e. of al-Bureij r.c. explodes prematurely. Gaza municipal authorities warn all Gazans to boil their water to prevent disease, reporting that waterworks still receiving electricity have run out of chlorine to treat sewage; Israel last allowed the import of chlorine on 1/21. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Nablus, where they ambush and fatally shoot wanted al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AMB) mbr. Ibrahim Masimi in an apparent assassination, wounding and arresting 4 AMB mbrs. and a construction worker nearby; Masimi and 2 of the wounded AMB mbrs. were among those granted amnesty by Israel in 7/07. The IDF also patrols in, fires on residential areas of Balata r.c., exchanging fire with local gunmen, killing 2 armed Palestinians, wounding 2; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, and nr. Jenin, Ramallah, Tulkarm. (BBC 2/27; NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 2/28; PCHR 3/6; WP 4/10)

During the day, the IDF makes at least 1 air strike on a rocket-launching site in Gaza, seriously injuring 1 Palestinian. Islamic Jihad fires about 20 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, seriously injuring 2 Israeli brothers (ages 8, 19). Late in the evening, the IDF makes 4 air strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza: in al-Bureij r.c., assassinating Hamas cmdr. Muhammad Abu Mtair; nr. Khan Yunis, destroying a security post and damaging several nearby houses but causing no injuries; in Rafah, destroying 2 factories (alleged weapons depots) and 1 house, damaging 10 other homes, injuring 10 bystanders; in Gaza City, destroying 2 workshops (alleged weapons factories), injuring 13 bystanders (including 7 women, 3 children), damaging several nearby homes and a car. In the West Bank, the IDF lifts the curfew on, withdraws fr. Azun; patrols in Tubas; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, firing on residential areas, causing no reported injuries. (IFM, WP 2/10; NYT, WP 2/11; OCHA 2/13; PCHR 2/14)

The IDF makes an air strike on Gaza City, targeting a car carrying PRC mbrs., hitting another car instead, killing 3 Palestinian civilians (including a 5-yr.-old boy), wounding other bystanders; makes an air strike on a car nr. al-Bureij r.c., assassinating PRC mbrs. Wa’il Ahil and Muhammad Safadi, wounding 1 bystander; fires a missile across the border at PRC mbrs. nr. Jabaliya r.c., seriously wounding 2; for unknown reasons makes an air strike on a tract of agricultural land (exact location not reported), wounding a 65-yr.-old Palestinian man. Palestinians fire 50 rockets and mortars fr. Gaza toward Israel; 19 land inside Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF evicts 5 bedouin families (30 Palestinians) living nr. Jerusalem; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, in Silwad nr. Ramallah, nr. Tulkarm; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Nablus; evacuates 2 unauthorized settlement outposts, removing 20 settlers; fires rubber-coated steel bullets at demonstrators in Hebron protesting IDF attacks on Gaza, wounding 4. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim stone Palestinian vehicles traveling on Road 55 nr. Qalqilya, damaging 2. (PCHR, WP 1/17; PCHR 1/19; OCHA 1/23; PCHR 1/24)

The IDF patrols in Aqaba e. of Tubas; raids, searches a home in ‘Aqraba nr. Nablus; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 1). Unidentified assailants detonate a bomb nr. a police patrol in al-Bureij r.c., wounding 2 Hamas-affiliated policemen. (OCHA 1/16; PCHR 1/17)

In Gaza, the IDF sends tanks and bulldozers, supported by air craft, into al-Bureij r.c., clashing with local gunmen, killing 4 Palestinians (including at least 3 civilians), wounding at least 40 (including at least 3 women, 15 children, 15 gunmen), detaining 60 for questioning, demolishing 1 Palestinian home, seriously damaging 10 others, bulldozing 90 d. of olive groves and 20 beehives before withdrawing in the afternoon; 5 IDF soldiers are wounded by an antitank missile fired at their vehicle. Palestinians fire 17 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Hebron. A Palestinian shepherd is killed when he accidentally triggers an IDF landmine in the Jordan Valley. (WP, WT 1/7; OCHA 2/9; PCHR 1/10)

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of al-Bureij r.c. fire on Hamas mbrs. along the border fence, killing 1 Hamas mbr., then fire on Palestinians who attempt to evacuate his body, wounding 2 civilians; fatally shoot an unarmed Palestinian who strays nr. the border fence nr. Bayt Hanun. The IDF also sends tanks, armored vehicles, bulldozers into the Erez industrial zone and into Gaza nr. the Kerem Shalom crossing to level land. In the West Bank, the IDF raids, searches a school in Hebron, making no arrests; conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Arub r.c. and nr. Hebron, Tulkarm. Israel’s Internal Security Min. bans the East Jerusalem–based National Commission Against Social Problems fr. holding its annual mtg. on the grounds that it is affiliated with the PA, which is barred fr. conducting official business in the city. Jewish settlers fr. Efrat and El Azara set fire to a 700-yr.-old mosque in nearby al-Khadir. Jewish settlers place 2 mobile homes on Palestinian land in Bil‘in that the Israeli High Court ruled on 9/4/07 should be returned to the village, attack local Palestinians who attempt to stage a sit-in to block them; Israeli police remove the settlers. In Gaza, Fatah-Hamas clashes continue overnight, leaving at least another 3 Palestinians dead and 30 injured. In Nablus, unidentified gunmen fire on the car of a Hamas-affiliated municipal official, wounding his wife. (REU 1/1; NYT, OCHA, WT 1/2; PCHR 1/3)