The Palestine Chronology

In response to an Islamic Jihad ambush of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and settler security officers in Hebron on 11/15, the IDF sends tanks into Hebron, bulldozes 5 Palestinian homes and a 50-dunam olive grove btwn. Kiryat Arba and the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs, imposes a curfew, conducts arrest raids, detaining 40 Palestinians. Right-wing MK Benny Elon holds a prayer rally of Jewish settlers at the site of the ambush; afterward Jewish settlers briefly rampage through Palestinian areas (vandalizing homes with spray-painted messages such as “vengeance” and “every Arab killed —for me it’s a holiday”) until IDF soldiers stop them. The IDF also fatally shoots a Palestinian in Hebron; fires on Palestinians in Jenin, killing 1 Palestinian; shells, fires on residential areas of Nablus, killing 1 Palestinian; bulldozes 2 dunams (4 dunams = 1 acre) of Palestinian land, an electricity generator in al-Mughraqa; shells a workshop in Khan Yunis, destroying it; detains, searches a Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance for 5 hrs., holding the driver for failure to pay a parking ticket. (PM 11/16; NYT, WP, WT 11/17; MM 11/18; AN 11/18 in WNC 11/19; PCHR 11/20; MEI 11/22; PRCS press release 11/23)

In Ramallah, the IDF continues demolition work at the PA compound, setting fire to storehouses, bulldozing the Ramallah governate building; says it now seeks the extradition of 50 Palestinians inside Arafat's offices; warns those inside the remaining building to evacuate or risk being harmed when the IDF blows it up, prompting 1,000s of Palestinians to take to the street in protest, despite the curfew. The IDF fires stun grenades, live ammunition at the crowds, killing 2 Palestinians (including a journalist with Voice of Palestine). (After al-Jazeera TV broadcasts news of the spontaneous Ramallah demonstrations, 1,000s of Palestinians violate the curfews Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm and rally in Gaza to protest; the IDF kills 1 Palestinian protester in Nablus, a 2d Palestinian in Tulkarm and demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in Qabatya, Qalqilya.) None of the Palestinians in the Ramallah compound evacuates, the IDF does not blow up the building; unnamed Israeli officials suggest the threat was "psychological combat" aimed at making living conditions so unbearable for Arafat that he seeks refuge abroad. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in al-Fara' r.c., Jenin, Rafah; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, Rafah; fires on an ambulance in Nablus, damaging it, wounding 1 Palestinian bystander. (PM 9/21; MENA 9/21, ITAR-TASS, XIN 9/22 in WNC 9/23; NYT, PM, WP, WT 9/22; HA 9/23; al-Quds 9/23 in WNC 9/24; MM 9/24; LAW, PCHR, PR 9/25; MEI, MM 9/27; PRCS press release 9/27)

The IDF raids Qalqilya, killing (possibly assassinating) local PFLP leader Ra'id Nazil, detaining 16 Palestinians. The IDF also conducts arrest raids into Jenin and Nablus, arresting 26 Palestinians. In Bethlehem, IDF snipers again fire on the Church of the Nativity, seriously injuring 2 Palestinians, who are evacuated for treatment; 4 PSF officers surrender to the IDF. In Ramallah, 100s of Palestinians demonstrate outside the PA compound against Arafat's confinement, clash with the IDF, leaving 11 injured. In Gaza, 15,000 Palestinians attend a Hamas rally calling fo the continuation of the armed intifada. The IDF detains without explanation Agence France-Presse's (AFP) Palestinian photographer Hossam Abu Alan. (AFP, HA, MM, REU 4/26; NYT, WP, WT 4/27; al-Quds 4/27 in WNC 4/29; WP 5/4)

Palestinians fire mortars at an IDF checkpoint, detonate a bomb outside Kefar Darom settlement in Gaza, causing no damage. In response, the IDF shells the PA naval police headquarters in Dayr al-Balah, residential areas of Khan Yunis; sends tanks, troops into Khan Yunis for 3 hrs. to conduct extensive searches. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in Abu Dis, Azariyya. Some 2,000 Palestinians in Gaza City and 15,000 Palestinians in Nablus rally in support of Arafat. The PFLP announces it is suspending its membership in PLO in protest over the PSF's continued detention of Saadat. (WP 2/2; AFP 2/2 in WNC 2/4; NYT, WT 2/3; SA 2/3 in WNC 2/4; PCHR 2/4; LAW 2/6)