The Palestine Chronology

The IDF officially ends operations in the Nablus area, but reenters Balata r.c. and Nablus late in the evening, patrolling streets and firing on residential areas; fatally shoots 2 Palestinians laying roadside bombs along the Gaza border nr. Dayr al-Balah; makes an air strike on 3 AMB mbrs. driving in Bayt Lahiya, missing the vehicle, injuring 2 bystanders in an apparent assassination attempt; shells uninhabited areas nr. Rafah, causing no damage or injuries; fires on 3 unarmed Palestinians attempting to sneak into Israel fr. Gaza nr. Dayr al-Balah to find jobs, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 2; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron (occupying 1 house as an observation post), in Silwad nr. Ramallah; patrols in Askar r.c. nr. Nablus; fires on stone-throwing Palestinians in Bayt Umar nr. Hebron. Elsewhere in Gaza, a Hamas mbr. dies in a mysterious explosion, possibly while preparing explosives. A Jewish settler fr. a settlement nr. Jericho shoots, wounds a Palestinian farmer working his nearby land. (REU, XIN 2/24; NYT 2/25; PCHR 3/2)

The IDF fires 3 missiles at a car in Dayr al-Balah, but the targets of the apparent assassination escape unharmed; fires live ammunition at stone-throwing Palestinians nr. Qalqilya, wounding 4; fires on residential areas nr. Hebron, wounding 2 Palestinian boys (ages 14 and 15); conducts arrest raids, house searches in Dura (occupying 1 Palestinian home as an observation post) and Nablus, in and around Jenin (seriously wounding a local Islamic Jihad cmdr.). Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai vandalize Palestinian homes, attack Palestinians in Hebron. A Palestinian is killed, 1 is wounded in a tunnel under the Rafah border apparently when Egypt takes measures to collapse it. Egyptian military attache Hussam al-Musali (kidnapped on 2/9) is released in Gaza City; a previously unknown group named Brigades of the Free (thought to be connected to the AMB) claims responsibility. (HA, IMEMC, WP, WT XN 2/11; NYT 2/12; Middle East News Agency 2/12 in WNC 12/13; PCHR 2/16)