The Palestine Chronology

In Gaza, the IDF conducts air strikes destroying the Jabaliya r.c. home of an Islamic Jihad mbr. accused of firing rockets into Israel (residents are warned in advance to evacuate, but 14 bystanders are injured, 11 nearby houses damaged), the Bayt Hanun home of a PRC mbr. thought to be holding a weapons cache (residents are warned in advance to evacuate, but 1 bystander is injured); shells a group of Palestinian civilians nr. Bayt Hanun attempting to cart away a disused rocket launcher to sell as scrap, killing 3 Palestinian civilians, wounding 3; conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Shuka;. Palestinians fire 4 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Araba and Fahma, both nr. Jenin, deliberately damaging 35 water tanks atop homes in Fahma; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya, nr. Jenin, in and around Hebron, Nablus; begins bulldozing 250 d. of agricultural land nr. Qalqilya for construction of the separation wall (see 8/10). Jewish settlers fr. Mitzvah Lakhish, Negohot settlements nr. Hebron (escorted by the IDF) bulldoze at least 100 d. of neighboring Palestinian land. Unidentified Palestinian gunmen (suspected PRC mbrs.) kidnap 2 Fox News journalists (1 American reporter, 1 cameraman fr. New Zealand) in Gaza City; no group takes responsibility or issues demands; Hamas condemns the action. (WP, WT 8/15; NYT, WP 8/16; PCHR 8/17; Roadmap Risk Assessment [Jerusalem] 8/19)

Overnight, the IDF continues air strikes on s. Beirut and in the Biqa‘ Valley, killing at least 7 Lebanese, while Hizballah fires rockets into n. Israel. Minutes before the 8:00 A.M. local (1:00 A.M. ET) truce deadline, violence quiets. During the day, 10,000s of Lebanese displaced by the fighting begin returning to their homes to assess damage, although IDF warnings on vehicular movement in s. Lebanon remain in place; 1,000s of Lebanese begin returning fr. Syria. In a televised address, Nasrallah promises Lebanese that Hizballah will provide funds to rebuild; on the ground Hizballah mbrs. in areas of s. Lebanon and s. Beirut take charge of clean-up and rescue efforts, with the help of Lebanese civil defense teams and army units. During the day, Hizballah holds its fire, whereas the IDF fires on groups of Hizballah mbrs. in 5 incidents, killing at least 5 Hizballah mbrs. it claims posed an immediate threat (permissible defensive action under UN Res. 1701); flies drones around s. Lebanon, monitoring the situation. At least 5 Lebanese civilians are killed by accidentally detonating unexploded IDF ordnance. (WP 8/14; NYT, WP, WT 8/15)

IDF troops inside Israel fire across the border into Gaza at Palestinian farmers working their fields nr. Bureij r.c., wounding a Palestinian woman and 12-yr.-old child. The IDF also shells residential areas of al-Shuka, destroying 1 Palestinian home. In the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into the industrial zone nr. Hebron, searches 20 industrial facilities, holding workers for several hrs.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Nablus and nr. Hebron, Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba attack Palestinian homes in Hebron for a 2d day. Nr. Jenin r.c., Palestinian gunmen fatally shoot a Palestinian whom they accuse of being a collaborator; no group takes responsibility. (PCHR 8/17)

The Israeli cabinet accepts (24–0, with 1 abstention) UN Res. 1701, but separately Israeli DM Peretz warns that “there is no situation in which Hizballah fires at [Israeli] forces that we will not retaliate,” and Israeli officials warn that the IDF will continue to destroy Hizballah assets in areas it controls until those areas are handed over to the Lebanese army or UNIFIL. In anticipation of the 8/14 truce, both Israel and Hizballah intensify attacks. The IDF escalates air and artillery strikes, particularly on s. Beirut (leveling an area of several 100 sq. yds., including 8 apartment buildings); also hits 50 villages and towns across s. Lebanon, focusing on areas around Tyre (targeting gas stations), Ali al-Nahri in the Biqa‘ Valley, Tiri in s. Lebanon; expands ground offensives in an attempt to take control of as much land as possible by the truce deadline, engaging in major clashes outside Tyre, in Aita alSha‘b, Bint Jubayl, and Rashaf in central s. Lebanon, and in Dayr Sirin, al-Ghanduriyya, Khiyam, Qantara further northwest; shoots down 2 Hizballah drones heading for Israel. At least 20 Lebanese civilians, 2 Lebanese soldiers, 5 IDF soldiers are killed, and 25 IDF soldiers are wounded. Hizballah fires 220–250 rockets into n. Israel, the most in 1 day to date, mostly targeting Haifa (killing 1 Israeli civilian) but also hitting Kiryat Shimona, Yaara. (IFM 8/13; NYT, WP, WT 8/14; NYT 8/15)

In Gaza, the IDF closes the Nahal Oz pipeline, Qarni crossing for the day; makes an air strike on a group of PRC mbrs. n. of Gaza City, killing 2 PRC mbrs., a 3- yr.-old girl in a house nearby, wounding 2 PRC mbrs.; makes air strikes destroying the home of an Islamic Jihad mbr. in Bayt Hanun, a 2d home elsewhere in Gaza (warning residents to leave beforehand). A Palestinian is killed in Jabaliya r.c. when he accidentally detonates unexploded IDF ordnance. In the West Bank, the IDF also makes air strikes on a house in Jenin r.c., assassinating Islamic Jihad mbrs. Amjad al-‘Ajami, Muhammad Atik, wounding 12 bystanders (including 7 children); conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and Jenin, in Nablus, nr. Tulkarm (targeting PA security force mbrs.). (BBC, REU 8/9; PCHR 8/10; OCHA 8/16; PCHR 8/17)

The Israeli security cabinet approves plans to expand ground operations in s. Lebanon, speed IDF deployment to the Litani River. The IDF immediately begins reinforcing troops on the n. Israel border (anticipating a build-up of as many as 5,000 troops) and moves an additional 1,000 troops into s. Lebanon. The IDF continues air, naval, and artillery strikes across Lebanon, shelling ‘Ayn al-Hilwa r.c. (allegedly targeting the home of a Hizballah mbr., killing at least 2 persons, wounding 5), making an air strike on an apartment in Mashghara in the Biqa‘ Valley just n. of the Litani (killing a Hizballah official, 8 family mbrs.), hitting targets in s. Beirut. Ground operations also continue in s. Lebanon, with heavy clashes reported in Aita al-Sha‘b (4 IDF soldiers killed), Bint Jubayl, Dibil (9 IDF soldiers killed), Labuna, Jibbayn, al-Khiyam, Marja’uyun (1 IDF solider killed), Qantara, Taybeh, resulting in Israel’s highest daily toll to date, with 15 IDF soldiers dead and 38 wounded; the IDF claims to have killed 40 Hizballah mbrs. Hizballah fires some 170 rockets into n. Israel, hitting targets in Acre, Kiryat Shimona, Ma’alot, Safad. (BBC, HA, IFM, NYT, WP 8/9; NYT, WP, WT 8/10)

The IDF closes the Qarni crossing, Nahal Oz pipeline for the day; fires across the Israeli border at a group of children in a bedouin village nr. Bayt Lahiya, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Hebron, Jenin (firing on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 5); patrols in Tubas, firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding 3. (PCHR 8/10)

Israel announces that it will evacuate to s. Israel within 24 hrs. some 15,000 Israelis from the north who cannot afford to leave on their own, suggesting that the IDF intends a major escalation against Lebanon. In Lebanon, the IDF continues air and artillery strikes, hitting targets in s. Beirut, s. Lebanon (including killing 13 Lebanese in Ghaziyya s. of Sidon), the Biqa‘ Valley. Ground offensives also continue in s. Lebanon, with heavy clashes reported in Aytrun, Bint Jubayl (where the IDF claims to have killed 30 Hizballah mbrs.), Dibil (where 1 IDF soldier is killed), Labuna (where 2 IDF soldiers are killed); another 2 IDF soldiers are killed elsewhere and 23 wounded. Hizballah fires 160 rockets into n. Israel, hitting Acre, Fazouta, Ma’alot, Nahariya, Safad, Tiberias. The WHO warns that if within 5 days Israel does not provide safety guarantees for oil tankers bringing fuel shipments to Lebanon (see 8/1), 60% of hospitals in Lebanon will “simply cease to function.” (BBC, Marketplace 8/8; BBC, HA, NYT, WP, WT 8/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Azun in a car with Palestinian license plates, surrounds a home, arrests 1 PSF mbr. who surrenders; conducts random ID checks in, fires on residential areas of Kafr Dan nr. Jenin; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin and Nablus, in Dahaysha r.c., nr. Bethlehem, Hebron; burns 70 d. of agricultural land btwn. the separation wall and the Green Line nr. Tulkarm (see 8/5). In Ramallah, 7 Palestinians working in the PC building are taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties after opening a suspicious letter addressed to PM Haniyeh; the building is evacuated. The PA head of military intelligence for n. Gaza dies of injuries received in an ambush in Jabaliya r.c. on 8/6; no group claims responsibility. (AP 8/7; WP 8/8; OCHA 8/9; PCHR 8/10)

Overnight, the IDF destroys the last remaining bridge over the Litani River linking n. and s. Lebanon; this cuts off access to Tyre. The IDF announces a 10:00 P.M. curfew on Tyre, saying that any movement there after dark and any vehicular traffic s. of the Litani River at any time will henceforth be considered Hizballah activity and a legitimate target. As UN mbrs. narrow differences on a cease-fire res., Olmert’s security cabinet discusses speeding up the IDF’s advance to the Litani River, escalating attacks on Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure. During the day, the IDF continues heavy air, artillery strikes on some 150 targets across Lebanon, hitting s. Beirut (including 47 killed, 70 wounded in the Christian-Shi‘i suburb of al-Shiyah, where Shi‘a are pro-Amal), the Biqa‘ Valley (including Baalbek, Masnaa), in and around Nabatiyya (including 7 civilians killed in air strikes on cars traveling in Qasmiyya; 15 killed, 20 wounded in an air strike on an apartment building in Ghaziyya), and across s. Lebanon (including demolishing a 4-building apartment complex in Tyre), killing at least 69 Lebanese civilians; continues ground operations across s. Lebanon that leave 3 IDF soldiers dead, 7 wounded in Bint Jubayl and include heavy fighting in Hula (the IDF claims to kill at least 15 Hizballah mbrs.); downs an unmanned Hizballah drone off the s. Lebanon coast. Hizballah fires 130 rockets into n. Israel, injuring 10 Israelis, hitting targets in Acre, Carmiel, Kiryat Shimona (70 rockets), Ma’alot, Nahariya, Safad. The ICRC says that the IDF has barred humanitarian aid missions to the south for 3 days. (BBC, NYT, WP 8/7; BBC, NYT, WP, WT 8/8; WP, WT 8/9; WP 8/10)

Overnight, the IDF pulls troops out of Rafah and al-Shuka and back into the Dahaniyya airport, ending a 3-day offensive; troops go back into al-Shuka briefly during the day to surround, evacuate, blow up a Palestinian home, also bulldozing 20 d. of surrounding agricultural land. Late in the evening, the IDF makes an air strike destroying a Palestinian home nr. Bayt Lahiya, damaging 2 others after warning residents by phone to evacuate. In the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Silat al-Harithiyya nr. Jenin, occupies a house as a sniper post, shoots and assassinates wanted Islamic Jihad mbr. Sami al-‘Imari; arrests, searches the Ramallah home of Change and Reform PC mbr. Fadl Hamdan; conducts arrest raids, house searches and fires on residential areas of Shayukh nr. Hebron in a raid targeting the AMB; searches vehicles, an Internet caf´e in Hebron; issues military orders confiscating 10s of d. of agricultural land southwest of Hebron for construction of the separation wall. Jewish settlers driving nr. Nablus open fire at a Palestinian truck driving ahead of them, killing a 48-yr.-old Palestinian, wounding his son. Unidentified gunmen ambush the car of the PA military intelligence head for n. Gaza as it drives through Jabaliya, wounding him, 2 passengers. (OCHA 8/9; PCHR 8/10)

The IDF intensifies air strikes across Lebanon, hitting targets in s. Beirut, Ansar, al-Jibbayn, Nabatiyya, Naqura, Qana, Tyre (striking within 40 yards of a UN humanitarian aid convoy traveling with prior coordination with the IDF, hitting a car traveling in the opposite direction), killing 10s of Lebanese civilians, several Lebanese soldiers, 1 PFLP-GC mbr. Ground operations continue across s. Lebanon, with Hizballah claiming to disable 4 tanks (in Adassiyya, Ras al-Biyada, Wadi Hunin), acknowledging the death of 3 Hizballah mbrs. The IDF says that it has taken prisoner 22-yr.-old Hizballah mbr. Hasan Ali Sulayman, who has allegedly admitted under interrogation to involvement in the 7/12 capture of 2 IDF soldiers. Hizballah fires around 160 rockets into n. Israel, killing 3 Israeli civilians (1 an Israeli Palestinian) in Haifa, and killing 12 IDF reservists, wounding 5 in Kfar Giladi on the border with Lebanon. (REU 8/6; NYT, WP, WT 8/7; IFM 8/8; PCHR 8/10)

The IDF continues operations in Rafah and al-Shuka, firing on and shelling residential areas, conducting house-to-house searches, forcing some 400 Palestinian families to flee their homes, killing 1 Palestinian civilian, wounding at least 13 civilians. The IDF also shells areas around Bayt Hanun, wounding at least 2 Palestinians; fires across the border fr. Israel at Palestinian farmers working their land nr. al-Maghazi r.c., wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF arrests PA parliament speaker ‘Aziz Dwayk (Change and Reform) in his Ramallah home on charges of being a mbr. of a terrorist organization (Hamas); conducts random ID checks in Dahaysha r.c. (firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding 2), Tubas; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, Jenin town and r.c., Nablus; burns 30 d. of agricultural land btwn. the separation wall and the Green Line nr. Tulkarm, barring fire engines fr. reaching the scene. A Palestinian dies of injuries received in the 7/16 IDF air strike on the PA FMin. offices in Gaza City. (NYT, PCHR 8/5; NYT, WP, WT 8/6; NYT 8/7; PCHR 8/10)

Overnight, the IDF makes air strikes outside a Palestinian r.c. s. of Tyre, wounding 1 person, lands 2 naval commando units (reportedly wearing Lebanese army uniforms) nearby, raids an apartment building housing Hizballah mbrs. allegedly involved in long-range rocket attacks on Israel, clashing with Hizballah mbrs. for 3 hrs., killing 4 suspected Hizballah mbrs., 1 Lebanese soldier at a nearby checkpoint, 2 bystanders before withdrawing. During the day, the IDF continues air strikes, hitting 170 targets in s. Beirut, and n. of Hermel; drops leaflets over Sidon, warning residents to leave prior to imminent strikes there; continues ground operations in some 20 villages in s. Lebanon, leaving 2 IDF soldiers dead, at least 9 wounded in clashes in Aita al-Sha‘b, Taybeh. Hizballah fires 160 rockets into n. Israel (140 of them in a 90 min. period in the evening), killing 3 Israeli Palestinians in Arab al-Aramshe, also hitting targets in Haifa, Kiryat Shimona, Ma’alot, Nahariya, Safad, Shlomi, Tiberias, wounding a total of 54 Israelis. (NYT 8/5; NYT, WP, WT 8/6)

In Gaza, the IDF sends troops back into s. Gaza to search for a reported tunnel on the Gaza-Egypt border, cuts power to Rafah, makes an air strike on a building in Gaza City that allegedly holds a weapons cache; makes air strikes destroying 2 Palestinian homes in n. Gaza after phoning residents (at least 1 of them an AMB mbr.) to warn them to evacuate, also destroying 1 home nearby; shells residential areas of n. Gaza without warning (hitting 4 Palestinian homes, injuring 3 Palestinians), al-Shuka (wounding 2 Palestinians); temporarily occupies the Erez industrial zone, withdrawing after nightfall; sends bulldozers into southeastern Khan Yunis to raze 100 d. of agricultural land. UNRWA reports that it is housing in its schools some 1,200 Palestinians who have fled n. Gaza to escape IDF shelling. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Nablus to assassinate local Islamic Jihad military cmdr. Hani Uwayjan, a Palestinian civilian with him; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, Qalqilya; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Jenin, wounding 1 Palestinian. A Palestinian civilian wounded by IDF fire in Gaza City on 7/27 dies. (NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 7/30; PCHR 8/3)

The IDF keeps up intensive air and artillery strikes across Lebanon, targeting the Beirut–Damascus highway (closing the Syrian border crossing for the 1st time since 7/12; though the road is used primarily by civilians trying to flee the country and aid workers bringing in humanitarian assistance, Israel claims it targeted the road to prevent arms smuggling), killing at least 6 Lebanese civilians, wounding 2 UNIFIL monitors. During the day, the IDF withdraws troops fr. Bint Jubayl, claiming to have destroyed Hizballah’s elaborate network of tunnels and storage areas, but continues air and artillery strikes and keeps troops in the area, saying they could be sent back in at any time. Hizballah fires at least 90 rockets into Israel. Israel allows military planes delivering aid fr. Egypt, Jordan, the UAE to land at Beirut airport; a warship fr. Turkey brings medical supplies into Beirut port; a U.S. naval catamaran brings blankets, tarps, medical kits; aid workers in Lebanon complain that it is still too dangerous to transport aid supplies, that the IDF still requires convoy-by-convoy approval to move the aid to hard-hit areas. (NYT, WP, WT 7/30)

In Gaza, the IDF closes the Nahal Oz pipeline; shells areas nr. Gaza City, killing at least 1 Palestinian militant, 1 Palestinian farmer working in her field; shells areas nr. Bayt Hanun (killing 1 Palestinian child outside his home, wounding 5 Palestinians), in al-Shuka; makes air strikes destroying 3 houses nr. Bayt Lahiya (killing 1 Palestinian bystander), in Bayt Hanun, Khan Yunis (also destroying 2 adjacent homes). In Jerusalem, a Palestinian gunman fires on Israeli police, wounding 2 before being shot dead. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Jenin r.c. in cars with Palestinian license plates, surrounds a home, opens fire (wounding a Palestinian bystander in an apartment building nearby), occupying several surrounding houses as sniper positions, evacuates and checks IDs of residents, arrests 1 Palestinian, fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops, wounding 8 Palestinians (including 2 journalists covering the incident for al-Jazeera, Reuters); patrols in al-Bireh; begins construction of a new segment of the separation wall in Bayt Jala that will cut Palestinians off fr. 5,000 d. of agricultural land and cut off the access of Battir and Husan Nahalin villages to Bethlehem. The body of a Jewish settler fr. Yakir missing since early in the morning is found in a burnt-out vehicle nr. a West Bank Palestinian village; the AMB takes responsibility for kidnapping, killing him. In Israel, Israeli police free dual Israeli-Canadian citizen Falah after a Haifa District Court orders the police and/or Shin Bet to file formal charges against him or let him go (see 7/26). A Palestinian wounded during the 7/26 IDF raid on Kafr Qadim dies. A 2d Palestinian dies of injuries received during IDF operations in Nablus on 7/19. (OCHA 7/27; NYT 7/28; NYT 7/29; PCHR 8/3)

Israel’s security cabinet approves call-ups for up to 3 divisions of reservists (15,000–30,000 reserves) for the war on Lebanon. The IDF makes some 180 air and artillery strikes on targets across Lebanon, including hitting radio and TV relays in Amshit n. of Beirut, 3 trucks in the Biqa‘ Valley carrying emergency food supplies to Beirut. Ground clashes continue in Bint Jubayl, 2 residential apartment buildings nr. an Amal headquarters in Tyre; a Lebanese army base in n. Lebanon; roads, buildings in s. Lebanon and the Biqa‘ Valley, including al-Khiyam, Kafr, Nabatiyya, Sidon, Tuffah, Riyaq, Zahleh. The IDF broadcasts radio warnings to s. Lebanon residents that their villages would be “totally destroyed” if rockets are fired fr. them. Hizballah fires some 110 rockets into n. Israel, wounding 7 Israelis and hitting an empty factory in Haifa, also hitting sites in Carmiel, Nahariya Safad, Tiberias. (IFM 7/27; NYT, WP, WT 7/28)

The IDF expands Operation Summer Rains overnight, sending 50 tanks, troops back into n. Gaza in and around Gaza City, engaging in intense clashes with and conducting air strikes on Palestinian gunmen, leaving at least 7 Hamas mbrs., 5 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 9 civilians dead, at least 57 Palestinians wounded, bulldozing wide tracts of land. In at least 3 incidents in Jabaliya r.c., the IDF phones Hamas mbrs. warning them to evacuate their houses, then conducts air strikes destroying the homes. The IDF also closes the Qarni crossing. Palestinians fire 13 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli in Sederot. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in a car with Palestinian license plates into Kafr Qadim nr. Qalqilya, surrounds a home, evacuates and checks residents, demolishes the home, arrests 1 Palestinian, injures 1; bars a Palestinian heart attack victim fr. crossing a checkpoint to reach a Qalqilya hospital, allowing him to die; patrols, searches cars in Yatta nr. Hebron; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, and in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Jenin, Nablus. In Rafah, a Palestinian is killed in an exchange of fire btwn. PA security forces, armed Palestinians. Israeli security sources reveal that Israeli-Canadian citizen Falah, arrested on 7/8 and held without access to a lawyer, was detained for photographing a military antenna nr. Ras al-Naqura, alleging that he was sent “to photograph and report where rockets have landed in Israel,” noting that he visited Beirut, Tehran within the last 2 yrs.; Falah, who was arrested before Hizballah’s 7/12 cross-border raid and the firing of rockets into Israel, said the photos were for academic purposes, he did not know the antenna was military, and his trips to Lebanon, Iran were public knowledge. (REU, NYT, WP 7/26; NYT, WP, WT 7/26; PCHR 7/27; OCHA 8/2; PCHR 8/3)

The IDF faces intense fighting in s. Lebanon, where some 100 Hizballah mbrs. ambush an elite IDF Golani Brigade unit in Bint Jubayl, pinning them down for 1 hr. under a heavy barrage of mortars, antitank rounds, RPGs, and small-arms fire before they could return fire, killing 8 IDF soldiers, wounding at least 22; the IDF estimates that it killed around 20 Hizballah mbrs. A 9th IDF soldier is killed, 5 are wounded by antitank fire in clashes nr. Maroun al-Ras. Meanwhile, the IDF continues air strikes nr. Beirut and in s. Lebanon, including hitting an Amal command center and the Hizballah headquarters in Tyre. In Anjar nr. the Syrian border, a truck carrying emergency food, medical supplies donated by the UAE (see 7/18) is hit, killing the Syrian driver. Hizballah fires around 150 rockets into Israel, striking Carmiel, Haifa, Jish, Safad, Tiberias. Israel allows 2 Jordanian military transports carrying humanitarian aid to land at Beirut airport, though it still will not provide safety guarantees for trucks transporting the supplies southward on the coastal highway or across the border fr. Syria, where relief goods for 20,000 people have been stockpiled. The UN moves 5 convoys of supplies (containing wheat, soap, diapers, water purification tablets, medical kits) to the south on 5 routes approved for one-time use by the IDF. (NYT, WP, WT 7/27)

The IDF conducts air strikes on the home of a Hamas mbr. in Gaza City, causing severe damage; the IDF phoned the target’s cell phone and local PA police before the strike to warn them to evacuate the house. The IDF also sends troops, bulldozers into the Erez industrial zone, firing on residential areas inside Gaza, wounding at least 1 Palestinian civilian. Palestinians fire around 12 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; also fire on an IDF post at Erez crossing, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin. Just after dawn, 3 armed Jewish settlers break into a Palestinian home in Haris nr. Salfit, threaten residents; the IDF intervenes, stating that the Palestinians had “threatened the security of settlers.” The PA makes payments of $330 to each of 165,000 civil servants who have not received salaries since 3/06. (NYT, WP, WT 7/24; OCHA, PCHR 7/27)

The IDF continues air strikes across Lebanon, hitting Hizballah leadership posts in Beirut, targets in Sidon and the eastern Biqa‘ Valley, road traffic in s. Lebanon (including convoys of civilians heading north); ground troops in Maroun al-Ras move 2 mi deeper into Lebanon, engaging Hizballah mbrs. in Bint Jubayl. At least 8 Lebanese (including a press photographer) are killed and 45 wounded during the day. Hizballah fires nearly 100 rockets on n. Israel, hitting Haifa (killing 1 Israeli, 1 Israeli Palestinian; wounding 18). Israel says it has fired more than 20,000 artillery shells into Lebanon since 7/12. (NYT 7/23; NYT, WP, WT 7/24)