The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers open fire at Palestinian homes in Jalud. Israeli settlers also begin construction of a settler road on Palestinian-owned land in Battir. Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian child during a raid in Arrabah. Israeli forces also shoot and injure a 9-year-old Palestinian in Kobar. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shoot and injure a Palestinian during a raid in Dura. Israeli forces also raid a home in al-Minya, vandalizing it and seizing money and a vehicle. Meanwhile, Israeli forces issue stop-work orders for 3 agricultural structures in Khallet al-Farn in the Masafer Yatta area. In Gaza, mobile phone services are cut off again after they were partially restored on 1/19, internet services have been cut off since 1/12. Israeli forces bomb Khan Yunis, Jabalia refugee camp, al-Bureij refugee camp, Gaza City, and Rafah, killing at least 190 people, including more than 65 people in Khan Yunis. Israeli forces storm al-Khair Hospital in Khan Yunis, arresting medical staff. Israeli forces also surround the Red Crescent ambulance headquarters in Khan Yunis, preventing ambulances from rescuing wounded people. Meanwhile, Israeli forces exhume graves at a cemetery in Khan Yunis. Hamas says Israeli forces bombed their own tank after it is incapacitated by Hamas fighters, suggesting that Israeli soldiers were still in the tank when Israel bombed it. A water treatment plant in Gaza floods with sewage water after being hit by Israeli bombs. 21 Israeli soldiers placing mines in 10 homes near Maghazi are killed when Palestinian militants fire rocket-propelled grenades at a tank at the site, causing the mines to explode while the soldiers are in the building. 3 other Israeli soldiers are killed in combat. In Lebanon, Hezbollah fires rockets at Israeli troops in Even Manachem and Shebaa Farms. Israeli forces attack several places, including Taybeh, Marwahin, Chihine, Tayr Harfa, Kafr Kila, and al-Adisa. In Yemen, U.S. and UK forces attack 8 Houthi-linked sites. The Houthis say their forces attacked a U.S. military cargo ship; the U.S. denies the claim. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, REU, REU, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 1/22; AJ, AP, AP, AP, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, REU, UNOCHA 1/23; HA 1/24)

More than 25,295 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 10,600 children and 7,200 women, and around 63,000 have been injured since 10/7. At least 7,000 people are missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 363 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7, including 92 children. More than 4,310 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 219 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,232 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12 due to the Israeli blockade. At least 69,000 housing units have been destroyed and 290,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7, constituting over 60% of all housing units. 154 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza via the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings. The WHO delivers fuel to al-Shifa Hospital. (UNOCHA, UNOCHA 1/22; UNOCHA 1/23; UNOCHA 1/24)

PA prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh meets with UN humanitarian relief coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag, calling on her to pressure Israel to open all entry points to Gaza to get sufficient relief in. Shtayyeh also calls on the international community to impose sanctions on Israel during the weekly PA cabinet meeting. (AJ, WAFA, WAFA 1/22)

The Arab League holds an extraordinary meeting on the situation in Palestine, issuing a statement calling on Israel not to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza, allow more aid into Gaza, and discussing ways to end Israeli attacks. (WAFA 1/22)

20 relatives of Israeli captives held in Gaza storm a Knesset committee session, demanding that Israel does more to get their relatives back. The Israeli Labor Party brings forward a no confidence motion against the Israeli government which receives 18 out of 61 required votes in support. Coalition parties boycott the vote. (AJ, AJ, AP, AP, HA, NYT, REU 1/22; HA 1/23)

Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant tells French defense minister Sebastien Lacornu that Israel may continue striking Lebanon even if Hezbollah enters a unilateral ceasefire, saying Israel will secure a safe return of the northern Israeli communities. Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel must “dramatically increase the intensity of the war” on Gaza during a meeting of his Religious Zionist Party. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says at a meeting of his Jewish Power Party that if the government decides to stop the war on Gaza he will leave the coalition. (AJ, HA 1/22)

EU high commissioner for foreign affairs Josep Borell calls on Israel to tell the world what it envisions if it does not want a 2-state solution, saying “[w]hich are the other solution they have in mind? To make all the Palestinians leave? To kill off them?” A discussion paper sent to EU countries ahead of a meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shows that the EU is planning to call for a “preparatory peace conference” to be organized by the EU, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Arab League. Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz shows EU foreign ministers a video of an envisioned artificial island off the coast of Gaza he suggests can be a place for Palestinians to live. Borell says Katz evaded talking about the pertinent issues and suggests he could use his time spent with EU foreign ministers better. EU foreign ministers also meet with PA foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, discussing the situation in Gaza. A spokesperson for UK prime minister Rishi Sunak calls Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of a 2-state solution “disappointing.” (HA 1/21; AJ, AP, HA, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 1/22; WAFA 1/23)

Axios reports that Israel has suggested a 2-month ceasefire that would see 130 Hamas-held captives released in exchange for the release of a number of Palestinian prisoners. During the ceasefire period, Israeli forces would leave major population areas allowing some Palestinians to return to Gaza City and further north. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says negotiations on a ceasefire deal are ongoing as National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk arrives in Egypt for the talks. (AJ, AX, HA, REU, REU 1/22; AJ, AJ, AP, HA, REU 1/23)

The American pro-Israel lobby group J Street says “time has come for diplomacy” to end the war on Gaza. The U.S. labor union Service Employees International Union calls for a ceasefire. (AJ 1/22)

Columbia University bars several people from its campus who are alleged to have sprayed skunk water on pro-Palestine demonstrators on 1/19, calling the act a possible hate crime. (AJ 1/23)

Data collected by Morning Consult shows that out of 43 countries surveyed, 42 countries view Israel less favorable now than before 10/7/2023. According to the data, the net favorability globally dropped 18.5% between September and December 2023. (HA 1/22)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers set fire to olive trees in Burin. Israeli forces shot and injured 4 Palestinians with live ammunition and injured 9 others with shrapnel during a raid in Nur Shams refugee camp, Israeli bulldozers also razed streets and damaged electricity and sewage networks during the raid. Israeli forces also shot and injured 2 Palestinians, including a medic, during a raid in ‘Askar refugee camp. Elsewhere, Israeli forces demolished a house in Khirbet Humsa and a mobile home in Battir. 14 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in Beita, Nablus, Bethlehem, al-Mughayyir, Beit Kahil, Beit Umar, Nur Shams refugee camp, Qatanna, and Shu’fat. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces arrested 4 Palestinian fishermen and seized their boat around 3 nautical miles northwest of Gaza City. In Gaza, Israeli forces made incursions and leveled land east of Khan Yunis (HA, PCHR, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 7/24; PCHR 7/27; UNOCHA 7/29)

The Israeli Be’er Sheva Magistrate Court ruled that 500 Palestinians living in Ras Jrabah must demolish and leave their homes by March 2024 to make way for expansion of Dimona. The Palestinians will also have to pay $31,700 in legal fees. The residents of Ras Jrabah had requested that they remain in the area they have lived in since before the Nakba by being absorbed into Dimona, a request the court denied. (Adalah 7/27; HA, MEE 7/28; WAFA 7/29; WAFA 7/30)

PA foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki submitted a written statement to the ICJ regarding the Israeli occupation. (QDS, WAFA 7/24)

The Knesset passed the third and final reading of the bill that overturns the reasonableness standard, which has allowed the Israeli High Court of Justice to void government decisions that it deems unreasonable. The bill is a component of the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul plans. Israeli police used water cannons to disperse Israeli protesters outside of the Knesset and 1 Israeli man rammed 3 protesters with his car in Kfar Sava. More than 11,000 Israeli reserve soldiers said on 7/21 and 7/22 that they would not report for voluntary reserve duty if the law passed. The EU expressed concern about the passage of the bill and the U.S. called it “unfortunate.” (+972, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, ALM, ALM, AX, AX, AX, F24, HA, HA, HA, HA, MDW, MEE, MEE, NYT, NYT, NYT, TOI, WAFA 7/24; +972, AJ, ALM, ALM, BBC, HA, HA, MEE, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, REU, REU 7/25; AJ, ALM, HA, HA, HA, MEE, NA, NYT, REU, REU 7/26; REU 7/27)

The American Anthropological Association voted to adopt a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, citing discrimination against Palestinians. 71% of the votes cast between 6/15 and 7/14 were in favor of the pro-BDS vote. (MDW, MEE 7/24; WAFA 7/26)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers fenced off a tract of Palestinian-owned land in Umm al-Ubur in the Jordan Valley. Israeli settlers also vandalized 25 olive trees and grapevines and erected tents at a water spring in Ein al-Beida. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers set fire to crops outside of Qusra. Israeli settlers also destroyed 2 tombstones at a graveyard in Burqa. Israeli forces shot and injured a 2-year-old Palestinian and his father outside of their home in Nabi Salih, claiming to be returning fire at Palestinian militants. The 2-year-old was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Israel for treatment and later succumbed to his succumbed to his wounds on 6/5. The Israeli military claimed that the incident would be investigated. Neither the family of the 2-year-old nor others in Nabi Salih had heard any other gun shots than those fired by the Israeli forces. Israeli forces also shot and injured 1 Palestinian at a checkpoint in Deir Sharaf. Elsewhere, Israeli forces issued a notice to a Palestinian family that they will seize 5 dunams (1.25 acres) of land in al-Mughayyir for construction of a military watchtower. Israeli forces also raided several towns in the Tulkarm area, violently dispersing Palestinians protesting the incursions; tear-gas related injuries were reported. 38 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in Tuqu, Beit Umar, Fawwar refugee camp, Ramallah, Nablus, Qabatiya, and Kafl Haris. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen; no injuries were reported. (TOI, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/1; AA, AJ, AP, HA, JP, MEE 6/2; HA, WAFA 6/5; HA, HA 6/6; PCHR 6/8; UNOCHA 6/18)

The main entrances to al-Mughayyir were closed off by Israel for the 20th consecutive day. (WAFA 6/1)

The PA called on UNESCO to help prevent Israel from passing a law that would stifle speech on Palestine by Palestinian teachers in Israel. The law, which has passed 1 reading in the Knesset, would require security checks for Palestinian teachers in schools in Israel. (WAFA 6/1)

Officials from Hamas and Islamic Jihad met with officials from the Egyptian intelligence services. The meetings followed meetings between PA prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamal on 5/30. (HA 6/2)

Senior Israeli officials, including Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi, and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met with U.S. officials, including CIA director William Burns, in Washington D.C. The 2 sides discussed growing instability in the West Bank and the PA’s diminishing standing among Palestinians. (AX 6/1; ALM, HA 6/2)

The BDS movement said that the security company G4S will sell its 25% stake in the Israeli company Policity to G1 following years of campaigning against the complicity of G4S in Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians. (WAFA 6/1)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces raze an area of Palestinian farmland near Nablus. IDF troops arrest 6 Palestinians during late-night raids near Hebron and Ramallah; and patrol near Nablus and Hebron. Israeli settlers assault and injure several Palestinian farmers working their lands near Hebron. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 3 Palestinians during late-night raids in Hizma and Issawiyya. Along Gaza’s border, IDF troops open fire on Palestinian shepherds working near Dayr al-Balah, causing no injuries. Israeli forces also conduct a limited incursion to level land near al-Bureij refugee camp. (MNA, MNA, WAFA 12/19; PCHR 12/20)

The undersecretary of the PA’s Agriculture Ministry, Abdallah Lahlouh, says that the PA has not been officially informed of any new Israeli policy to ban imports of fruits and vegetables from the West Bank, but that the PA will respond in kind if the recent reports of a ban continue. Although it was not publically announced at the time, Israel’s Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel ordered such a ban on 12/17 after the PA barred Palestinian meat-sellers from buying lamb from Israel on 12/2. (TOI, TOI, WAFA 12/19)

Israel’s Knesset passes a first reading of a bill that would allow the IDF to order the expulsion of the families of Palestinian assailants from their homes, despite objections from Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and senior IDF officers. The Knesset also passes a first reading of the so-called Young Settlement Bill, which would allow for the temporary retroactive authorization of certain settlement outposts in the West Bank and which the Israeli cabinet unanimously approved on 12/16. (HA 12/19; HA 12/20)

At a UN Security Council meeting on alleged violations of Resolution 1701, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon presents new information that he claims shows the extent of Hezbollah’s tunneling operations along the Israel-Lebanon border. He also says that Israel “gave UNIFIL precise information about the location of [1 of the tunnels],” but that compromised Lebanese army officers leaked the information to Hezbollah, allowing the group to conceal certain offensive operations. “Lebanese army officials are working for Hezbollah, while UNIFIL is not working to fulfill its mandate in the region in the necessary manner,” Danon alleges. While several UNSC members condemn Hezbollah’s tunneling activities, the UNSC takes no action at today’s meeting. (HA, HA, TOI, YA 12/19; TOI 12/20)

UN World Food Programme (WFP) country director Stephen Kearney announces that funding shortfalls have forced “drastic” cuts to food aid initiatives planned in the West Bank and Gaza in 2019. Starting on 1/1/19, the WFP plans to suspend food assistance to 27,000 people in the West Bank and reduce by 20% the food aid delivered to 166,000 additional recipients across the occupied Palestinian territories. “The major donor that we have had in the past years has been the U.S.,” Kearney says. “They have cut funding, not just to UNRWA, who work with the refugees in Gaza, but also to the rest of the humanitarian community, including WFP.” A WFP spokesperson says that an additional $57 million would be needed to maintain the current level of food aid in 2019. (AFP, AJ, REU, TOI 12/19; MEE 12/20)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announces that it has filed a legal challenge to an anti-BDS law in Texas on behalf of 4 Texans who either lost their jobs or lost the opportunity to be hired after they refused to renounce their support for boycotts against Israel or its settlements in the West Bank. “Whatever you may think about boycotts of Israel, the bottom line is that political boycotts are a legitimate form of nonviolent protest,” says an ACLU lawyer. “The state cannot use the contracting process as an ideological litmus test or to tell people what kind of causes they may or may not support.” Texas’s anti-BDS law, which requires all state contractors to certify that they do not support or participate in any boycotts of Israel or its West Bank settlements, has been on the books since 5/2/17. (HA, TOI 12/19)

Dozens of Muslim worshippers gather in the streets outside Haram al-Sharif for predawn prayers and to protest the new Israeli security measures at the sanctuary. They refuse to pass through the new metal detectors installed on 7/16, honoring the Islamic Waqf’s 7/16 call for a boycott. Later, Israeli forces violently disperse Muslims gathering outside the sanctuary for evening prayers, lightly injuring at least 15, including Palestinian National Initiative chair Mustafa Barghouti. Elsewhere in East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian home in al-Za’ayem. They also conduct a raid in Silwan, sparking clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian youths; 1 Palestinian is injured. Late at night, Israeli forces raid al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital, attempting to arrest the Palestinian injured in Silwan earlier in the day. In the West Bank, IDF troops arrest 4 Palestinians and issue 3 arrest summons during late-night raids nr. Tubas, Hebron, Nablus, and Salfit; and patrol nr. Hebron during the day. (HA, MNA, TOI, WAFA 7/17; MNA, WAFA, YA 7/18; PCHR 7/20)

The Israeli authorities seize 70 dunams (approx. 17 acres) of Palestinian land nr. Bethlehem for “military purposes,” according to a local anti-settlement activist. (WAFA 7/17; MNA 7/18)

Israel’s Knesset passes the 1st reading of a bill that would add the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, which oversees efforts to counter the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, on the list of bodies exempt from Israel’s Freedom of Information Law that permits citizens to obtain information from the govt. Should the bill pass, the ministry’s ability to keep its anti-BDS activities and methods secret from the public would be ensured. (KNE, MNA 7/18; MDW 7/19)

In response to the demolitions in Qalanswa on 1/10, the Higher Follow-Up Comm. for Arab Citizens of Israel organizes a general strike today. Both the private and public sectors in Palestinian municipalities participate. In the West Bank, Israeli forces demolish a road leading to al-Buwayb village southeast of Hebron. The IDF arrests 3 Palestinians and confiscates personal property during raids nr. Qalqilya and in Hebron and Nablus, and patrols nr. Hebron and Nablus during the day. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish 13 Palestinian structures in Jabal Mukabir, the neighborhood of the Palestinian who drove a truck into a group of Israelis on 1/8. (MNA, TOI, WAFA, YA 1/11; PCHR 1/12; PCHR 1/19)

The Knesset’s Internal Affairs and Environment Comm. approves its 2d and 3d readings of a bill authorizing the govt. to bar supporters of a boycott against Israel or representatives of NGOs endorsing a boycott from entering the country. The bill is cleared for a 2d and 3d reading in the full plenum. Meanwhile, the Knesset passes a first reading of a bill that would bar Breaking the Silence and other left-wing NGOs from speaking at Israeli schools. (HA, JP, MNA 1/11; JP, TOI 1/12)

UNLU issues call no. 54, "call of martyrs" [BVP 3/27 in FBIS 3/27].

Israeli Knesset adopts resolution saying united Jerusalem is under Israeli sovereignty and there will be no negotiations on its unity and status; vote is 45-4 [JDS 3/28 in FBIS 3/28; TASS 3/29].

Israeli forces in S. Lebanon are seeking to change the border markers between Israel's "security zone" and Lebanon, enlarging the zone [BDS 3/27 in FBIS 3/ 27].

Jimmy Carter says that Syrian Pres. Asad is ready to acknowledge Israel's existence and to engage in peace negotiations with Jerusalem [LAT 3/28].

Hungarian airline Malev suspends flights to Beirut in retaliation for threats to attack planes carrying Soviet Jews to Israel; threats that originated in Lebanon [MET 4/10-16].

American lay missionary William Robinson is shot, killed by intruders in his home in Rachaiya el Foukhar, Lebanon, just inside Israel's "security zone." (cf. 3/28) [NYT, WP, LAT 3/29; MET 4/ 10-16].

Israeli gov't. lifts ban on amateur radio operators' contracts with Arab counterparts; previously Israeli radio operators could only speak with Egyptians [JPD 3/ 28 in FBIS 3/29].

Israeli army lifts ban on Palestine Press Service, Jerusalem organization that was ordered closed 2 years ago [NYT 3/29].

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Gush Emunim squatters establish settlements Nachliel and Givat Helevona (a.k.a. Eli) north of Ramallah. Jewish squatters add 4 caravans to settlement at Tel Rumaida in al-Khalil (Hebron). In exchange for Progressive List for Peace (PLP) votes to support Shlomo Hillel as Knesset speaker, Labor agrees on 3 issues: to legislate against apartheid practices toward Palestinians, to approve proposed change in Umm al-Fahm's status to full township, and to consider favorably establishment of an Arab university in Israel. Canadian and British delegates meet with Palestinian mayors and community leaders in Jerusalem on eve of Int'l. Liberals Congress in Tel Aviv (9/13-16).

Arab World: Chrmn. Arafat returns to Tunis, meets Soviet delegation there. Nabih Berri & Walid Junblatt boycott weekly Lebanese cabinet meeting to press gov't. to discuss political reforms and conditions in S. Lebanon.

Other Countries: In US, representatives of 11 relief and community service organizations meet State Dept. officials to protest Israeli policy toward Palestinian universities.

Military Action

Arab World: Beirut Radio reports 4 IDF troops killed in 2 S. Lebanon bomb attacks; IDF soldier injured by land mine in S. Lebanon (9/10) dies of injuries.