The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli forces defuse a piece of unexploded ordnance in a village nr. Jenin; patrol in 2 villages nr. Ramallah and 1 nr. Jericho. Overnight, Israeli forces uproot 150 olive tree seedlings outside Ramallah. (WAFA 7/18; PCHR 7/30)

Israel allows 2,631 Palestinians to transit through the Rafah crossing (880 going into Egypt, 1,751 returning to Gaza). The UN reports that in the preceding wk., 2 Gazan boys (ages 8, 10) in al-Bureij r.c. were injured by UXO fr. OCL; 4 Palestinians were killed, 5 injured in tunnel collapses along the Rafah border. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night house searches in villages s. of Jenin, making no arrests; stages late-night arrest raids, house searches in Fasayil village n. of Jericho. A Hamas-affiliated PA prisoner dies in a Jordanian hospital, where he was transferred by the PASF on 6/30 with severe injuries apparently resulting fr. torture. (OCHA, PCHR 8/6, 8/13)

In Bethlehem, 2,325 delegates fr. the West Bank and 80 countries around the world open Fatah’s 6th General Conference in Bethlehem to vote on a new party platform and hold elections for party institutions for the 1st time in 20 yrs. (MM, alSharq al-Awsat 8/4; al-Ayyam, MM, MNA, NYT, WP 8/5; MNA 8/8; JPI 8/14)

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)

During the day, Palestinians fire 9 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, lightly injuring 1 Israeli. Late in the evening, the IDF makes air strikes on 3 Hamas targets, damaging at least 20 Palestinian homes and a mosque but causing no reported injuries; conducting arrest raids and temporarily occupying 2 Palestinian homes in Khan Yunis, exchanging fire with armed Palestinians, leaving 2 Hamas mbrs. dead, 1 bystander seriously wounded. In Bayt Lahiya, 3 Palestinian children are injured by IDF UXO. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in the Old City of Jerusalem, 2 houses just s. of Jerusalem, 2 houses nr. Hebron (for the expansion of Harsina settlement); conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jericho (exchanging fire with wanted AMB mbrs., wounding 1 and arresting 2), in and around Nablus and Ramallah (arresting senior AMB mbr. Khalid Shawish), and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Qalqilya. Fatah, ESF mbrs. exchange fire in Gaza City, set up rival road blocks and checkpoints to mark off areas of control; no injuries are reported. (NYT 5/29, 5/30; OCHA 5/30; PCHR 5/31)