The Palestine Chronology

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)

The IDF continues operations al-Shuka, making air and artillery strikes on buildings allegedly housing Hamas and Islamic Jihad weapons caches, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen, conducting house-tohouse searches, prompting residents to flee, leaving 2 Palestinian civilians, 1 Palestinian militant dead, at least 1 Palestinian wounded. Late in the evening, the IDF expands operations deeper into Rafah, making air strikes on militant targets in heavily residential areas, killing 1 Islamic Jihad mbr., 2 other armed Palestinians, a Palestinian woman and her 2 children, wounding at least 3 Palestinians; also destroys the remaining parts of a PA security barracks. Also in Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike destroying a home in Shatti r.c. nr. Gaza City after warning residents to evacuate. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids in Tulkarm town; patrols in Tulkarm r.c.; conducts random ID checks in Hebron. The IDF also bars Palestinians under age 45 fr. attending Friday prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque. (NYT 8/4; WP 8/5; PCHR 8/10)

The IDF calls up more reservists (no details reported), moves additional artillery to the border with Lebanon; escalates air strikes on s. Beirut (killing at least 1 Lebanese soldier, wounding 2 soldiers, 4 civilians), hitting bridges and roads in Christian areas n. of the capital along the coast for the 1st time (killing a least 5 Lebanese civilians, wounding 19; hitting an 8-truck UN convoy, preventing the movement of other aid convoys south); also strikes targets in s. Lebanon (flattening 2 houses, leaving 50 Lebanese missing) as well as in Baalbek, Hermel, Qana (killing at least 28 farm workers, mostly Syrian Kurds) in the Biqa‘ Valley. Ground operations in s. Lebanon continue, with especially intense fighting in Aita al-Sha‘b, Markaba (where at least 3 IDF soldiers are killed and 1 tank is destroyed), Taybeh. Hizballah fires 195 rockets into n. Israel, hitting Buaineh, Carmiel, Hadera (50 mi. fr. the border, the deepest strike to date), Kiryat Shimona (hit by 60 missiles), Ma’alot, Migdal Hamek, Nahariya, Qunaytra, Safad, Shar Yishuv; killing 4 Israelis (including 3 Druze; 1 in Maghir, 2 in Majd al-Krum) wounding 8. (AP, NYT 8/4; NYT, WP, WT 8/5)

Overnight, the IDF launches ground operations in al-Shuka, using helicopters, drones, and some 50 tanks, armored vehicles, bulldozers; seals off Dahaniyya airport, the eastern entrance to Rafah, the main north–south Gaza highway; makes heavy air and artillery strikes on residential areas throughout the day, with Palestinian militants retaliating with antitank and light weapons fire, leaving 2 Hamas mbrs., 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 1 PA security officer, 5 bystanders dead and more than 30 Palestinians wounded (including at least 8 militants, 18 civilians). Palestinians fire 4 rockets toward Israel, but all land inside Gaza, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Qalqilya and in ‘Ayn alSultan r.c. nr Jericho, Balata r.c., Hebron, Nablus. (NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 8/3; NYT, WP 8/4; PCHR 8/10)

The IDF operates in 20 villages in s. Lebanon, most of them less than 2 mi. inside the border, engaging in intense clashes with Hizballah (particularly in Bint Jubayl, Maroun al-Ras, Marwahin, Rajmin), with Hizballah killing 4 IDF soldiers, wounding 4, destroying at least 4 APCs in Aita al-Sha‘b and Taybeh. The IDF also continues air strikes across Lebanon, including in s. Beirut (hitting houses of senior Hizballah and Hamas mbrs.), Blat, Nabatiyya, Rashaya, Taybeh, in the Biqa‘ Valley, and in the far n. nr. the border with Syria. Hizballah fires around 180 rockets into n. Israel, killing 5 Israeli civilians in Acre and 3 bedouin in Tarshiha nr. Ma’alot (all 8 killed during a 1- hr. barrage of 40 rockets), also hitting Kiryat Shimona (in another barrage of 30 rockets). (BBC, JAZ, NYT 8/3; AP, NYT, WP, WT 8/4)

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)

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 sends tanks, troops back into n. Gaza before dawn, firing missiles at and exchanging gunfire with Palestinian militants, killing at least 3 Hamas mbrs., 2 PRC mbrs., wounding at least 30 persons (including 1 Japanese and 1 Palestinian journalist, 2 paramedics) nr. Bayt Hanun and conducting arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Hanun; continues to shell n. Gaza, areas nr. Rafah (killing a 59-yr.-old Palestinian woman); makes a predawn air strike on PA FMin. offices in Gaza City, wounding 3 Palestinians; makes a 2d air strike on the FMin. complex late in the evening, destroying it, wounding 12 bystanders, damaging several nearby homes; fires missiles fr. helicopters at the ESF compound in Jabaliya, damaging it. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem and in and around Hebron (also searching and confiscating documents fr. the Islamic Society for Orphans), Nablus; begins work on a new segment of the separation wall southwest of Hebron. The IDF also detains for several hrs. al-Jazeera satellite TV’s Jerusalem bureau chief for questioning regarding violating Israeli military censorship rules. Jewish settlers fr. Tal Rumayda attack Palestinians, international peace activists in Hebron. Unidentified gunmen fatally shoot a PA security officer in Gaza. (AP, IMEMC, NYT 7/16; AP, NYT, WP, WT 7/17; OCHA, PCHR 7/18; OCHA 7/19; PCHR 7/20)

Overnight, the IDF launches heavy missile barrages and air strikes on s. Beirut suburbs (leveling wide swaths around the Hizballah headquarters) and s. Lebanon, hitting a major power station. In response, Hizballah fires some 20 rockets on Haifa, killing 8 Israelis and wounding 7 at a rail yard, hitting the city’s main oil refinery and gas depot, and a busy downtown street at rush hour; the IDF says that 4 of the rockets fired were Iranian made Fajr missiles (which, if confirmed, would mark Hizballah’s 1st use of the weapons), but Hizballah says it fired only Raad-2 and Raad-3 missiles. The IDF strikes back during the day, ordering Lebanese to evacuate 7 villages in s. Lebanon; hitting at least 80 targets across Lebanon, killing at least 45 Lebanese and wounding more than 100, including killing 20 in an air strike on a government civil defense building in Tyre (also wounding 50) and 8 dual Canadian citizens in a strike on a minibus in s. Lebanon; also killing a Ghanaian UNIFIL soldier and his family in an air strike on his house; leveling an apartment building in s. Beirut, knocking out electricity in many areas of the capital. (AP, HA, IFM 7/16; NYT, WP, WT 7/17)