The Palestine Chronology

No incidents of Israeli-Palestinian violence are reported. Despite the quiet on the Gaza front over the previous 2 wks., Israel takes no actions to ease its siege of and increase the flow of goods into Gaza. (OCHA 10/1; PCHR 10/9)

Israel imposes a general closure on the West Bank and on 2 checkpoints into Nablus through 10/1 for Rosh Hashanah. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Fawar r.c. nr. Hebron and nr. Jenin. (OCHA 10/1; PCHR 10/9)

In Tripoli, Lebanon, a remote-controlled car bomb explodes nr. an army bus, killing 4 Lebanese soldiers and 3 bystanders, injuring around 20, marking the 2d attack in Tripoli targeting the army in 6 wks. (NYT, WP 9/30; WT 10/2, 10/13; WP 10/22)

In the West Bank, the IDF sends troops into Kafr Qaddum village nr. Qalqilya, where they fire on residential areas and halt Palestinians for random ID checks, beating several, causing no serious injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, nr. Jenin. (OCHA 10/1; PCHR 10/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in Nablus. A Palestinian gunman shoots at a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Ariel settlement, wounding 1 settler. Dozens of Jewish settlers rampage through Kafr al-Dik nr. Salfit, fire on and stone Palestinian homes and vehicles; the IDF sends in troops when Palestinians rally to defend their homes, firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets to disperse the Palestinians, wounding a 13-yr.-old boy and hitting and injuring a Palestinian man with an IDF vehicle. Nr. Nablus, a Palestinian shepherd is killed when he triggers IDF UXO. (NYT 9/29; OCHA 10/1; PCHR 10/9; AIC 11/9)

In Syria, a suicide car bombing kills 17 people, wounds 13 in Damascus. No group claims responsibility, and the intended target is unclear. (NYT, WP 9/30)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in and Ni‘lin (wounding 2 in Bil‘in). (OCHA 10/1; PCHR 10/9)

For perhaps the 1st day since the start of the al-Aqsa intifada in 9/00, no incidents of Israeli-Palestinian violence are reported in the occupied territories. (OCHA 10/1; PCHR 10/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin and in Dahaysha r.c., Nablus, Ni‘lin Inside Israel, Hebrew University professor Ze’ev Sternhell, a prominent critic of Jewish settlements and the siege of Gaza, is lightly injured when suspected hardcore right-wing settlers throw a pipe bomb at him outside his Jerusalem home; police find posters in his neighborhood offering a reward of $320,000 to anyone who kills a member of Peace Now, an Israeli group that campaigns against settlements and of which Sternhell is a mbr. (BBC, PCHR, Peace Now press release 9/25; NYT, WP 9/26; HA 9/27; WP 9/29; OCHA 10/1; BBC, PCHR 10/9)

Egyptian border police blow up 2 smuggling tunnels under the Rafah border, killing 5 Palestinians, wounding 4. In the West Bank, the IDF fires tear gas, percussion grenades at a European Union delegation visiting the separation wall in Ni‘lin (seriously injuring their Palestinian guide), then firing rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists who gather at the scene to protest, injuring 4 Palestinians and a British journalist; steps up patrols around Hebron, randomly checking Palestinian IDs; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Dahaysha r.c. (firing live ammunition and percussion grenades inside a home, seriously injuring a Palestinian teenager and his father), nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarm. (NYT, OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25)

Israeli pres. Shimon Peres authorizes Livni to form a new government. Israeli law gives her 42 days to complete the task or step aside for the pres. either to authorize another party to form a coalition or to call early elections. Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams will continue to hold their regular mtgs., and Olmert and Abbas will continue to meet biweekly to discuss the teams’ progress, but no major agreements are expected until a new government is formed. (IFM 9/22; WT 9/23)

A 19-yr.-old Palestinian resident of Jabal Mukabir in East Jerusalem drives his car into a group of IDF soldiers in the Old City, injuring 19 before being shot dead; Israeli police believe the man acted intentionally and alone, though the family believes the incident was an accident. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Jenin town and r.c., causing no injuries; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and Tulkarm, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. A Palestinian woman (apparently the same who staged a similar attack on 9/8) sprays an acid-like substance on an IDF soldier checking IDs at Hawara checkpoint, blinding him and injuring 3 Palestinians nearby; she is captured, arrested. (JP, YA 9/22; NYT, WP 9/23; OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25)

The donors’ Ad Hoc Liaison Comm. (AHLC) meets in New York to discuss the PA’s financial crisis and how to better target aid to PA security reform efforts. (IMF, “Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework for the West Bank and Gaza: Second Review of Progress,” 9/22; UNOSC, “UN Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committees,” 9/22; World Bank, “Palestinian Economic Prospects: Aid, Access and Reform,” 9/22; IFM 9/22, 9/23)

Olmert formally resigns as PM, automatically becoming caretaker PM until a new government is formed. (IFM 9/21; NYT, WP, WT 9/22; NYT 9/28)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Jala nr. Bethlehem. (OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25)

In the West Bank, IDF troops stationed nr. Yitzhar settlement fatally shoot a 14-yr.- old Palestinian boy who allegedly planned to throw a Molotov cocktail at them. The IDF also raids an apartment building in Abu Dis in search of wanted Palestinians, pushing a 56-yr.-old Palestinian woman down a flight of stairs, killing her; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Ni‘lin, nr. Bethlehem and Hebron (firing on residential areas of Ithna village, causing no injuries). Jewish settlers fr. Beit HaShalom throw garbage and rotten vegetables at local Palestinians; the IDF observes but does not intervene. (OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (several suffer fr. tear gas inhalation); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin (wounding 6). (OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25)

In the West Bank, the IDF issues 2 military orders confiscating 140 d. of Palestinian land in Bardala village in the Jordan Valley (reportedly for “settlement activities”) and 22 d. nr. Yatta outside Hebron (to build a wall near Miskadot Yehuda settlement); sends troops into Ramallah, where they occupy a previously abandoned observation post, withdrawing later in the afternoon; makes a rare daytime incursion into Dahaysha r.c. to arrest a Palestinian teenager; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Jenin. Jewish settlers attack 2 Palestinian homes in Hebron, claiming that Palestinians threw stones fr. the area; the IDF, accompanied by settlers, evacuates and searches the homes. Some 20 masked, armed Jewish settlers fr. Talmon and Harsha settlements nr. Ramallah attack a Palestinian home and car, causing heavy damage. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar stone Palestinian cars driving nr. the settlement, causing no reported injuries. Later in the day, the same settlers close the Nablus–Ramallah road to Palestinian traffic. (OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25) 

Israeli FM Tzipi Livni narrowly wins Kadima party elections to replace Ehud Olmert as party head. Olmert, Israel’s current PM, called for party elections on 6/11/08, after government investigators turned up serious new evidence of his financial impropriety (see Quarterly Update in JPS 149). He vowed to resign as PM formally once a new party head was elected. (NYT 9/17; HA, NYT, WP, WT 9/18)

Israel reopens Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing for limited imports of humanitarian goods and the Nahal Oz crossing for limited fuel (see 9/14). In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, injuring 6; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Azariyya nr. Jerusalem and al-Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah, and nr. Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar burn Palestinian olive trees nr. Nablus. (PCHR 9/18; OCHA 9/24; PCHR 9/25; AIC 11/9)

Overnight in Gaza City, Hamasaffiliated police raid a family compound belonging to the Daghmash clan in an attempt to break up the Daghmash-controlled Army of Islam. A heavy exchange of gunfire lasting for several hrs. leaves 1 policeman and 11 Daghmash dead (including a 1-yr.-old, 2 other children, 8 gunmen), and 45 wounded (including Army of Islam head Mumtaz Daghmash; at least 15 other Daghmash members, including 2 women; and 10 police); police confiscate 32 truckloads of weapons from the compound. During the day, 6 Palestinian fishing boats carrying FGM activists who sailed into Gaza on 8/22 attempt to outrun the Israeli naval blockade to get the activists back to Cyprus but are fired upon and forced back to shore by the navy, leaving 1 activist injured and 1 boat damaged (see 8/28). The IDF also sends tanks, bulldozers into c. Gaza to level land along the border fence, withdrawing by evening, marking the 1st cross-border incursion since 7/23. In the West Bank, the IDF makes an afternoon raid into Bayt Umar nr. Hebron, firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding an 11-year-old Palestinian boy; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Bethlehem and Jenin.Jewish settlers fr. Maskiyot in the Jordan Valley drive Palestinian shepherds off nearby land. (NYT, OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18; AIC 11/9)

Nr. the Rafah border in Egypt, Egyptian border police find a major smuggling tunnel stocked with 95 televisions, 7 washing machines, computer equipment, and large quantities of clothes for import to Gaza. In the West Bank, the IDF imposes a curfew on Nahalin village nr. Bethlehem, raids and searches several homes, but makes no arrests; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., nr. Bethlehem. In Gaza City, an Army of Islam mbr. fatally shoots a Hamas-affiliated police officer while resisting arrest. (NYT, OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18)

In Gaza, Palestinians fire 1 rocket into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In response, Israel closes all Gaza crossing through 9/16. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in al-Til, al-Bireh, several villages around Jenin, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. (OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18)

At a regular top-level Israeli-PA security coordination meeting near Ramallah, the PA reportedly asks Israel “to join them in preparing a field plan and train their forces and supply them with weapons” to confront Hamas, anticipating clashes in 1/09, when Abbas’s term as president officially expires. The PA team also asks for IDF permission to deploy a new PA security contingent in Hebron district to confront Hamas forces there. (YA 9/19)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian sneaks into the unauthorized settlement outpost of Shalhevet (next to Yitzhar settlement, s. of Nablus), sets fire to a vacant building, then stabs and lightly wounds a 9-yr.-old Jewish settler boy who saw him and raised an alarm. In retaliation, armed Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar raid and open fire on the nearby Palestinian village of ‘Asira al-Qibliyya in an assault that lasts for several hrs., causing property damage and wounding 4 Palestinians; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Nr. Bethlehem, Palestinians stone a bus with Israeli license plates, lightly injuring 2 American tourists. In response, the IDF sends troops into the nearby village of Tuqu‘ to search for the assailants; the troops fire live ammunition at stone-throwing youths who confront them, killing a 16-yr.-old Palestinian boy, seriously wounding another teenager. The IDF also conducts latenight patrols in Husan and Nahalin villages nr. Bethlehem, firing on residential areas, causing no injuries; conducts separate latenight arrest raids, house searches in Nahalin and Tuqu‘, as well as nr. Hebron and Jenin. (NYT, WT 9/14; OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18; NYT 9/26; AIC 11/9)

In the 1st such incident since 6/13/08 (before the cease-fire began), IDF troops on the s. Gaza border fire across the border on residential areas of al-Shuka, seriously wounding 1 Palestinian. The IDF also makes an afternoon raid into Hebron, surrounding a PA security force unit on patrol, arresting 2 PA security officers; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, percussion grenades at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, wounding 2 Palestinians and an Israeli journalist; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin (10s suffer tear gas inhalation); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. A Jewish settler seriously injures a 6-yr.-old Palestinian boy in an accidental hit-and-run in Hebron; the IDF evacuates the child to a Jerusalem hospital. (OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18; AIC 11/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, injuring 5; makes a late-night incursion into ‘Anabta nr. Tulkarm, patrolling streets, firing on houses and shops, then firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Tubas, and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin. (OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes an early-evening raid into Nablus, occupying several buildings in Ras al-‘Ayn neighborhood as observation posts, raiding an apartment building to capture 2 wanted AMB mbrs., wounding 1 wanted man and fatally shooting 1 Palestinian bystander in the process. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm, in Ni‘lin (those arrested include 2 boys ages 11 and 14), and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Tubas. Some 20 Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus throws stones at residents of ‘Asira al-Qibliyya, who throw stones back, prompting the IDF to fire in the air and at the legs of the Palestinians “to try to restore order”; no serious injuries are reported. Jewish settlers attack an IDF contingent that enters an unauthorized settlement outpost nr. Ramallah to confiscate construction equipment being used to expand the outpost; no serious injuries are reported; late in the evening, Jewish settlers from another nearby outpost enter an IDF base w. of Ramallah, damage the water supply. (PCHR 9/11; NYT 9/12; NYT 9/14; OCHA 9/17; PCHR 9/18; AIC 11/9)

E. of Beirut, Druze politician Shaykh Sali Aridi of the pro-Syrian Lebanese Democratic Party is assassinated by a bomb placed under his car. No group claims responsibility. (WP 9/11)

In the West Bank, the IDF makes a morning incursion into Ni‘lin, surrounding and firing tear gas into a girls school for no apparent reason while classes are in session (10s of students suffer tear gas inhalation), then fires on 10s of stone-throwing Palestinian youths who confront them, wounding 7; destroys an unlicensed fruit and vegetable stand nr. the Qalandia checkpoint that provides the only source income for 6 Palestinian families; demolishes 32 bedouin structures in Mu’arrajat nr. Ramallah, displacing 60 bedouin (including 36 children); seizes Palestinian land in Hebron to erect a new electricity network to serve local Jewish settlements; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Dahaysha r.c. and Nablus, and in al-‘Askra village nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba stone Palestinian elementary school students on their way home fr. school, occupy the yards of 2 Palestinian homes and hold prayers (the IDF removes them). (OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11; AIC 11/9)

The Pentagon announces a $77-m. deal to sell Israel 1,000 GBU-39 bunker-buster munitions. Israeli military experts say the bombs would not be suitable for an attack on Iran but “could provide a powerful new weapon” against Gaza. (AP 9/15)

Israel releases 165 Fatah-affiliated prisoners as a goodwill gesture to mark Ramadan (see 9/4); none are fr. Gaza. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, injuring 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Jenin town and r.c. A Palestinian woman sprays an acid-like substance on 2 IDF soldiers checking IDs at Hawara checkpoint nr. Nablus, lightly injuring them; the soldiers open fire, causing no injuries, but the woman escapes. (MNA, OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, and Tulkarm. (OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in several villages surrounding Jenin. (OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11)

An Israeli security official confirms that Israel allowed 900 assault weapons and ammunition to be transferred to PA security forces in late 8/08 to build the capacity of forces loyal to Abbas; the arms came via Jordan, but the source is not noted. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, skunk spray at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in, wounding 1; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a similar nonviolent demonstration in Ni‘lin, injuring 2; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, neighboring ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’ r.c., and al-Til, and nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Beit HaShalom attack Palestinians, vandalize nearby homes. The IDF declares the Joseph’s Tomb area nr. Nablus a closed military zone, escorts Jewish settlers to the site to pray. (NYT 9/6; OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11; AIC 11/9)

Israel releases 4 Fatah-affiliated political prisoners as a goodwill gesture to Abbas, marking the start of Ramadan; none are fr. Gaza. In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international peace activists taking part in a nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin, injuring 1; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c., nr. Hebron and Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba stone a Palestinian teenager, vandalize several homes nearby. (OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11; AIC 11/9)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., in Hebron, and nr. Bethlehem, Nablus, Qalqilya, Ramallah, and Tulkarm. (PCHR 9/4; OCHA 9/10; PCHR 9/11)

In a rare Israeli prosecution of Israeli security forces for their actions in the West Bank, 2 Israeli border policemen are convicted of manslaughter for kidnapping a 17-yr.-old Palestinian and throwing him from a moving vehicle in Hebron in 2002; they face up to 20 yrs. in jail. (WP 9/4)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town and r.c., and in Nablus. The IDF bars a group of Jewish settlers fr. entering the Palestinian village of Bayt Safafa in East Jerusalem, but makes no arrests. Jewish settlers stone, lightly injure a Palestinian Council (PC) mbr. nr. the evacuated settlement of Homesh s. of Jenin. (OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4)

The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Gaza City, wounding 2 fishermen, forcing the boats to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF eases age restrictions on Palestinians entering Jerusalem to attend al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, extending opening hours for checkpoints into Jerusalem; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem and in villages and camps around Hebron. The PA central pharmacy in Ramallah takes over the coordination of pharmaceutical deliveries to Gaza from the World Health Organization (WHO). (OCHA 9/3; PCHR 9/4; OCHA 10/15; see also IFM 8/31)