The Palestine Chronology

IDF troops on the Gaza border e. of Khan Yunis fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers nr. the border fence, causing no injuries. A Palestinian is moderately injured when he triggers Israeli unexploded ordnance nr. Rafah. In the West Bank, IDF troops violently disperse over 1,000 Palestinians, mostly women, demonstrating nr. Qalandia to mark International Women’s Day, moderately injuring 4. They also violently disperse Palestinian activists as they are removing a metal gate installed at the entrance to a village nr. Bethlehem and a group protesting land expropriation in a village nr. Hebron. Israeli soldiers accompanied by Israeli settlers violently disperse Palestinians nonviolently protesting s. of Hebron. The IDF conducts patrols and house searches in a village nr. Hebron, arresting 2 Palestinians. The PASF raids Balata r.c. nr. Nablus, sparking a brief firefight with the wanted Palestinian; 2 bystanders are injured. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces conduct house searches and raids nr. the Old City, arresting 8 Palestinians; disperse a group of Palestinian youth throwing stones at the Jerusalem Light Rail in Shu‘fat, arresting 2. Israeli settlers assault a Palestinian man in Silwan, moderately injuring him. (AP, JP, MNA, WAFA 3/7; MNA 3/8; PCHR 3/12)

In Cairo, Islamic Jihad’s delegation departs after 6 days of negotiations with the Egyptian authorities on opening the Rafah border crossing. According to sources close to the talks, the Egyptians have agreed in principle to completely open the crossing once the violence in the Sinai Peninsula subsides, the PA unity govt. has staffed the crossing, and Hamas commits to not to interfere in Egyptian affairs. Also, Egyptian officials announce that the Rafah crossing will open on 3/9–10. (AFP, MNA 3/7)

In Paris, French FM Laurent Fabius, U.S. Secy. of State Kerry, UK Foreign Secy. Philip Hammond, German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini meet to review recent progress in their negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. (TOI 3/6, 3/7; DPA 3/8)

Overnight, unidentified Palestinians fire 3 Qassam rockets and 1 manufactured Grad rocket fr. Gaza into Israel; the Qassams land harmlessly (1 inside Gaza, 2 in Israel), while the Grad strikes nr. a cattle farm, causing damage and injuring some livestock. In the afternoon, unidentified Palestinians fire 3 mortars into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Later in the afternoon, the Popular Resistance Comms. (PRCs; an umbrella group comprising all Gaza factions) fire another 4 mortars into Israel containing white phosphorous scavenged fr. unexploded IDF ordnance (UXO), causing no damage or injuries. Israel files an official complaint with the UN over the serious escalation and retaliates in the evening with 4 air strikes in and around Bani Suhayla village s. of Khan Yunis, targeting and destroying an Islamic Jihad training site, 1 Palestinian home, and an agricultural storehouse, causing heavy collateral damage to another 2d home, and injuring 6 Palestinian civilians (including children ages 2 and 14). Late at night, 2 more air strikes destroy a smuggling tunnel on the Rafah border. Meanwhile, in the morning, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction materials in the abandoned settlement sites nr. the border, wounding 1. Late at night, IDF troops make an incursion 1,500 m into al-Shuka in s. Gaza, firing on residential areas to keep Palestinians in their homes, monitoring the area, and withdrawing after 3 hrs.; IDF troops on the s. Gaza border open heavy fire on the demolished Dahaniyya airport site, causing no reported injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus. Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall, land confiscations, and settlement expansion in Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, Nabi Salih/Dayr Nizam nr. Ramallah. IDF soldiers fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters, leaving 5 Palestinians lightly injured (3 by tear gas canisters, 1 by a rubber-coated steel bullet) and 10s suffering tear gas inhalation. (JP, REU, YA 11/19; WP, YA 11/20; PCHR 11/25; OCHA 11/26)

Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishermen off the Bayt Lahiya coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF blockades, imposes a round-theclock curfew on Ni‘lin nr. Ramallah in what the army calls an “open-ended effort to curb protests” against the separation wall (see 5/27); conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm and in Jenin town and r.c. and Qabatya. Jewish settlers fr. Hebron attack, beat 4 Palestinian farmers; the IDF halts the attack only after international peace activists arrive. Jewish settlers fr. the unauthorized outpost of Asael nr. Hebron burn 15 d. of Palestinian crop land and kidnap, severely beat a Palestinian, tying him to a telephone pole inside the outpost; the IDF bars an ambulance fr. reaching him for over 2 hrs. In Nussayrat r.c., rival wings of Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigade exchange fire, causing no injuries; Hamas-affiliated police bring the situation under control, arresting several Islamic Jihad mbrs. In Rafah, 2 unidentified gunmen shoot, wound a fmr. PA police officer. A Palestinian teenager injured by IDF UXO nr. Shuka on 7/2 dies. (WP 7/6; OCHA 7/9; PCHR 7/10; Nation 7/19)

The IDF resumes air strikes on rocketlaunching sites in Gaza, citing the need to respond to 15 rockets, 10 mortars fired by Islamic Jihad fr. Gaza into Israel (causing light damage but no injuries) since the IDF assassinations on 3/12. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts daytime arrest raids, house searches in and around Qalqilya and in Tulkarm and neighboring Nur al-Shams r.c.; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin. In Bethlehem, 1,000s of Palestinians from all factions observe a general strike and attend the funeral for 4 Islamic Jihad and AMB mbrs. assassinated on 3/12 in a massive show of unity and protest against Israel’s ongoing attacks since the 11/07 Annapolis conference. A Palestinian shepherd is critically injured when he accidentally triggers IDF UXO nr. Jericho. Jewish settlers fr. Beit Hadasah in Hebron attack a Palestinian elementary school, demolishing a wall and several structures for the ongoing expansion of the school, attempt to occupy the school, beat a Palestinian security guard; the IDF removes the settlers. Israel’s Jerusalem Planning Comm. gives preliminary approval for construction of 2,200 Jewish settler housing units in Givat Hamatos in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Bayt Safafa. In al-Bureij r.c., unidentified assailants kidnap an Islamic Jihad mbr. (BBC 3/13; NYT 3/14; OCHA, PCHR 3/19)

Overnight, the IDF escalates operations in Gaza allegedly targeting rocket-launching sites, sending tanks, bulldozers, undercover units into areas of central Gaza, demolishing 14 Palestinian homes, leveling 90 d. of olive groves, killing 4 Palestinians (1 armed man and 2 civilians, including 1 teenager who is hit by shrapnel from a tank, then run over by an IDF bulldozer), arresting 20. The IDF continues operations in al-Shuka, arresting 20 Palestinians, partially demolishing 3 Palestinian homes, and bulldozing 11 d. of agricultural land before withdrawing in the evening. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, forcing them back to shore. In Nussayrat r.c., IDF UXO explodes, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF continues operations in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a r.c., demolishing 2 Palestinian homes and 1 other building, firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding 12; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya, nr. Nablus. Meanwhile, in Gaza, Haniyeh meets again (see 9/18) with Islamic Jihad and other faction leaders to urge a halt to rocket fire on Israel; no agmt. is reached. (NYT, WP 9/21; OCHA 9/26; PCHR 9/27)

In n. Gaza, the IDF makes 2 air strikes targeting a car carrying 4 Islamic Jihad mbrs. allegedly en route to fire rockets into Israel, missing the car initially, allowing the men to escape with minor injuries; exchanges fire with Hamas mbrs. across the border e. of al-Maghazi r.c., causing no reported injuries. The Hamas government in Gaza calls on militant groups to stop firing at border crossings with Israel to ensure the continued flow of humanitarian aid. A 14-yr.-old Palestinian is seriously injured by IDF UXO nr. Bayt Lahiya. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c., nr. Hebron. (NYT 9/14; OCHA 9/19; PCHR 9/20)

The IDF makes air strikes on a suspected Islamic Jihad rocket launch site nr. Rafah airport, sends in troops to occupy and search the area, causing damage but no injuries; fatally shoots an Islamic Jihad mbr. laying a roadside bomb nr. an IDF observation tower at the Nahal Oz crossing. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Qalqilya and in Jenin town and r.c.; seals 8 Palestinian shops in the Old City of Hebron nr. Beit Romano settlement, declaring the area a closed military zone. A 15-yr.-old Palestinian is injured by IDF UXO nr. Jenin. The Hamas-led admin. in Gaza fires Exec. Dir. Hazza’ Abed, Public Relations Dir. Juma‘ al-Saqqa of Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital, charging them with financial improprieties and corruption, and arresting Saqqa; Fatah claims that the men were removed for political reasons. In Gaza City, unidentified assailants detonate an explosive device outside the Fatal al-Yasir offices, causing damage but no injuries. (NYT 8/10; OCHA 8/15; PCHR 8/16)

The IDF makes at least 6 air strikes on Gaza, killing 9 Palestinians, wounding 10s. Air strikes target an ESF barracks outside the Interior Min. (killing 1 ESF mbr., wounding at least 21 Palestinians, including at least 10 bystanders); a civilian car (apparently mistaken for a Hamas vehicle) driving nr. Rafah, killing 2 Palestinian children, wounding their father, 2 siblings; a trailer used to house ESF mbrs. guarding Interior Min. spokesman Khalid Abu Hilal’s home, killing 1 ESF mbr., wounding 4; a Hamas base e. of Gaza City nr. Qarni, killing 4 Hamas mbrs., 1 bystander and wounding 4 Hamas mbrs., 2 bystanders; a car in Gaza City, in an apparent attempt to assassinate Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades (IQB) cmdr. Imad Shabanah and a 2d senior Hamas mbr., wounding them, 4 bystanders. The IDF reoccupies an area of prime Palestinian agricultural land northeast of Bayt Hanun and northwest of Bayt Lahiya to expand its n. Gaza buffer zone, declaring the area off limits to Palestinians farmers, leveling land; deploys an artillery battery on the n. Gaza border, shelling areas nr. Bayt Lahiya and in Jabaliya r.c. (targeting Islamic Jihad mbrs.), causing no injuries; sends tanks into n. Gaza to conduct “limited ground operations” to halt Palestinian rocket fire, occupying buildings in Bayt Lahiya, and later Bayt Hanun and Jabaliya r.c. (The U.S. supports Israel’s “right to defend itself.”) A Palestinian teenager is injured in Jabaliya r.c. when he accidentally triggers unexploded IDF ordnance (IDF UXO). Palestinians fire at least 17 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, wounding several Israelis and damaging a synagogue, high school, and industrial building. (The Israeli DMin. evacuates 900 residents fr. Sederot, where most rockets have hit, taking them for a “weekend respite” at a recreation center in Netanya; about half of the town’s 24,000 residents have left.) In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Salfit, Tulkarm (firing on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, wounding 2) and in Hebron (also raiding a wedding in Hebron, interrogating celebrants and arresting 3), Nablus; sends troops to patrol in Bayt Fajjar nr. Bethlehem, firing on residential areas and stonethrowing youths who confront the troops, killing 1 Palestinian teenager, wounding a 2d. Meanwhile, a new Hamas-Fatah ceasefire significantly reduces violence in Gaza, though at least 6 Palestinians are killed in clashes during the day. The dead include a Hamas mbr. kidnapped, executed by Fatah; a Hamas mbr. killed by a Fatah sniper; 4 Hamas supporters killed, 14 wounded when Fatah forces ambush a funeral for 2 ESF mbrs. killed on 5/16. Hamas mbrs. also attack PA national security forces (NSF) and PSF headquarters in n. Gaza. With the PA security forces unable to guarantee his security, Abbas delays plans to go to Gaza today to discuss the interfactional fighting. (AP, HA, REU 5/17; IFM, NYT, WP, WT 5/18; PCHR 5/21; OCHA 5/23; PCHR 5/24)

In Gaza, the IDF fatally shoots a deaf Palestinian working a field nr. the Gaza border e. of al-Bureij r.c.; shells residential areas of Bayt Hanun; conducts air strikes on a workshop in Gaza City, destroying it, damaging 2 nearby homes, wounding 2 bystanders. In the West Bank, the IDF issues military orders confiscating 10s of dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of Palestinian land s. of Tulkarm. Late in the evening in the West Bank, the IDF closes all crossings to Jerusalem; raids al-Ubidiyya nr. Bethlehem, fatally shoots wanted Islamic Jihad mbrs. ‘Uqla Shanayta,Khalid Shanayta in an apparent assassination; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Askar r.c., neighboring Nablus, Yatta nr. Hebron. (PCHR 8/24)

Early in the morning, the IDF begins withdrawing fr. areas of s. Lebanon, giving UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) control. (The IDF does not confirm how many troops are in Lebanon, though at the peak, observers estimated there were as many as 30,000.) Soon after, the Lebanese army begins deploying troops s. of the Litani. In Naqura, 2 Lebanese children are killed when they accidentally detonate unexploded bomblets fr. an Israeli cluster bomb; UN deminers say they have identified 10 locations in s. Lebanon where the IDF used cluster bombs and may pose similar hazards for civilians, saying the 10 sites could be the “tip of the iceberg.” Beirut airport received its 1st commercial flight since it was bombed on 7/13; hopes to be able to resume normal service within a wk. (NYT, WP, WT 8/17; NYT, WP, WT 8/18)