The Palestine Chronology

Jewish settlers launch an organized campaign of civil disobedience to protest Netanyahu’s settlement freeze, blocking traffic at major intersections leading into Jerusalem. Israeli police quickly disperse them without violence, but settlers say they plan to keep up such actions randomly over the coming days to frustrate the government. Meanwhile, IDF undercover units stage a major late-night raid on a Nablus apartment building, arresting Palestinian Salah al-Bukhari, wanted since 2001. The IDF also stages late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and nr. Bethlehem, Nablus, Salfit, Tulkarm. Hamas-affiliated police manning the Gaza side of the Erez crossing block the exit of 37 Palestinian medical patients granted permission by Israel to leave the Strip, stating they have not obtained the proper exit visa from Gaza’s Interior Min. (see 12/6). (OCHA 12/9; WJW, PCHR 12/10)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on an open area nr. Bayt Hanun, causing no casualties. (PCHR 10/1)

Israel imposes a general closure on the West Bank for the 2-day Yom Kippur holiday. The IDF conducts late-night raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm, arresting 1 Palestinian. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba nr. Hebron attack Palestinians exiting the nearby al-Ras Mosque and throw stones, empty bottles at Palestinian vehicles; no serious injuries are reported. (PCHR 10/1)

Outraged by rumors that right-wing Jews plan to invade the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to mark Yom Kippur, Palestinians throw stones at French tourists visiting the mosque, mistaking them for Jewish activists. Israeli police disperse the crowd of approximately 150 Palestinians with stun grenades, leading to a number of disturbances throughout East Jerusalem. Palestinians also throw rocks, Molotov cocktails, and garbage at Israeli border police. As many as 38 Palestinians and 18 mbrs. of Israeli security forces are injured, and 11 Palestinians are arrested. (NYT 9/28; OCHA Humanitarian Monitor 9/09; WJW 10/1; OCHA 10/2; JPI, OCHA 10/8)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Tulkarm, Jenin, and in al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Tubas and Jalazun r.c. n. of Ramallah, arresting 7 Palestinians. (PCHR 9/10)

Israeli police extend the closure (imposed on 7/07 and extended every six mos. thereafter) of the Nidal Center for Community Development in East Jerusalem. Jewish settlers celebrate the groundbreaking of a new East Jerusalem settlement called Mafsirit Adumim. (PCHR 9/10)

Israeli DM Barak authorizes construction of 455 additional housing units in West Bank settlements, most nr. the 1967 border. (NYT, WP 9/8; WT 9/9; PCHR, WJW 9/10; JR 9/29)

In Gaza, Israeli naval vessels confiscate a Palestinian fishing boat off the Rafah coast, temporarily detaining 2 Palestinian fishermen (releasing them on 8/18). (OCHA 8/19; PCHR 8/20)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night raids, house searches nr. Salfit and Jenin, in and around Hebron, and in Ramallah, arresting 13 Palestinians (including 3 teenagers); raids the Tulkarm home of a Palestinian woman recently released fr. Israeli jail, confiscating a mobile phone and photos. (PCHR 8/20)

At least 30 Jewish settlers attack mbrs. of the Hanun and al-Ghawi families, who were evicted fr. their homes in the Shaykh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on 8/2 (see Quarterly Update in JPS 153), injuring 2 Palestinian girls and 1 international activist; Israeli security forces intervene, arresting several Palestinians and settlers, releasing all of them within a day. In Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli police change the lock on the al-Nazir Gate of the al-Aqsa Mosque, normally controlled by Waqf authorities. The police later claim to have replaced the locks by mistake, and Waqf officials restore the original lock. In a training exercise lasting 1 hr., Israeli security forces practice scaling the fences surrounding the al-Aqsa Mosque using ladders. (OCHR 8/19; PCHR 8/20)

The IDF makes a brief incursion into Gaza e. of Gaza City to level land nr. the border fence. The UN reports that 9 Palestinians were killed and 16 injured in tunnel collapses in the previous wk. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm. Jewish settlers evicted fr. Inbalim on 7/27 set up 3 new mobile homes in Givat Egoz outpost nr. Talmon settlement, also nr. Ramallah. An Israeli court reverses its 7/27 temporary injunction on construction at the Farhan-Hijazi properties in Shaykh Jarrah, ruling that Jewish settlers may keep building and living on the site until the next court session to discuss the case on 9/23/09. Meanwhile, Israeli police raid 2 other Palestinian homes in Shaykh Jarrah (the Ghawi and Hanun properties) where ownership is contested by Jewish groups, ordering residents to vacate the homes by 8/10/09 or face expulsion; settlers attempt to occupy the Hanun home but are fended off by the family; both families immediately file an appeal to the Israeli High Court. Timed with Mitchell’s visit (see 7/26), Jewish settlers, as a protest message to Obama, set up 11 new unauthorized settlement outposts, symbolizing the 11 settlements established by Zionists in the Negev in 1946 in defiance of British prohibition. The settlers hold a press conference inaugurating the new outposts in Neria settlement, established in 1991 to protest a visit by Secy. of State James Baker who was then pressuring Israel to halt settlement construction. (NYT 7/29; OCHA, PCHR 7/30; OCHA 8/18)

U.S. NSA Jones and his chief Middle East adviser Dennis Ross begin a 3-day trip to Israel, with talks focused on Iran. (WP 7/27; NYT 7/29)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Tulkarm r.c. and nr. Jenin. Israeli police raid the offices of a Palestinian folklore troupe in East Jerusalem, giving them an order banning upcoming performances scheduled to celebrate the Arab League’s declaration of Jerusalem as the Arab cultural capital of 2009 (see Quarterly Update in JPS 152), saying the show constitutes illegal Palestinian political activity in the city. (OCHA, PCHR 7/9)

The IDF imposes a general closure on the West Bank through 4/18 for the Passover holiday, barring all West Bank Palestinian access to East Jerusalem and Israel. Israeli police fatally shoot East Jerusalem Palestinian Iyad Awaysat when he allegedly attempts to run over 3 officers guarding workers partially demolishing the East Jerusalem home of a Palestinian who killed 3 Israelis with a bulldozer in West Jerusalem in 7/08; the shooting (protested by Palestinian witnesses who say Awaysat was only speeding) and demolition spark stone-throwing by some 50 Palestinians against Israeli border police who fire tear gas to disperse them, causing no serious injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in ‘Askar r.c., Balata r.c., al-Fara‘a r.c., and Nablus for a 2d night, as well as nr. Tulkarm. (NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 4/8; PCHR, WJW 4/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF continues to impose a curfew on Khirbat Safa and search for the Bet Ayn attacker; patrols in Tulkarm during the day, randomly checking Palestinian IDs, arresting 1 teenager. Jewish settlers escorted by Israeli police seize a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem’s alSa’diya quarter, evict the Palestinian family who has lived there for more than 20 yrs., and arrest the father, claiming the house belongs to a Jewish organization; the family files a claim with the Israeli High Court, which rules that settlers may occupy the home until the petition is heard. (OCHA 4/8; CHR 4/9)