The Palestine Chronology

The IDF makes an air strike on Jabaliya r.c., assassinating 4 Islamic Jihad mbrs. as they leave a mosque after morning prayers; 5 bystanders are wounded. Later, Islamic Jihad fires rockets and mortars at the Kerem Shalom crossing in response, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF makes a 2d air strike on a Hamas-affiliated police post in s. Gaza, killing 2 Hamas mbrs. The IDF also levels land inside the Gaza border e. of al-Maghazi r.c. In Gaza City, 1,000s of Palestinians attend the funeral for Islamic Jihad mbrs. assassinated on 12/17. (AP, WT 12/18; NYT, OCHA, WT 12/19; PCHR 12/27)

As gestures to Abbas before the Annapolis summit, Israel allows 250 Palestinians students (out of more than 600) with valid foreign student visas to leave Gaza for Egypt via the Erez crossing to resume their studies abroad; makes an “exception” to the closure of the Sufa crossing to allow entry of gravel for an emergency sewage rehabilitation project in n. Gaza. Hamas mbrs. engage an IDF unit that moves into n. Gaza nr. Bayt Lahiya, causing no injuries; the IDF returns fire, killing 3 Hamas mbrs. Palestinians fire mortars fr. Gaza at an IDF base inside Israel, lightly wounding 4 soldiers; the IDF responds with tank fire, killing 1 armed Palestinian, wounding 3 armed Palestinians, 3 bystanders. Late in the evening, the IDF makes an air strike on a Hamas training camp nr. Dayr al-Balah, killing 3 Hamas mbrs. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on a Palestinian family picnicking nr. Ramallah, killing 1 Palestinian; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Bethlehem. (WT 12/3; OCHA 12/5; PAP, PCHR 12/6)

Israel announces a further reduction in fuel supplies to Gaza, where 70% of fuel stations reportedly are already closed. The IDF withdraws troops who have been stationed in the Erez industrial zone since 11/23 but sends tanks, troops into the Gaza airport site nr. Rafah to level land, withdrawing by evening. The IDF makes an air strike on a police post nr. Khan Yunis, killing 1 Hamas-affiliated policeman, wounding 5; fires on an unarmed Palestinian teenager who strays nr. the border fence e. of Rafah, wounding him; makes late-night air strikes on 2 Hamas border patrols nr. Khan Yunis, killing 4 Hamas mbrs., wounding 1. Palestinians fire at least 16 rockets and mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing light damage but no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. In Hebron, the PA security forces fire on and beat Palestinians taking part in the funeral procession for the Hizb al-Tahrir supporter killed in an anti-Annapolis demonstration on 11/27, claiming the funeral had turned into a pro-Islamist rally; at least 60 Palestinians are injured, including 24 requiring hospitalization. (JP, NYT, PCHR, WP 11/29; OCHA 12/5; PCHR 12/6)

IDF troops in the Erez industrial zone fatally shoot 2 armed Palestinians laying a roadside bomb nearby, wound and arrest a 3d; fire a shell at Palestinian resistance mbrs. e. of Jabaliya, killing 1 armed Palestinian, wounding another armed Palestinian, 2 bystanders. Hamas mbrs. fire 3 mortars and a rocket fr. n. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with an air strike on the launch site, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding 4. As the Annapolis mtgs. open, at least 15,000 right-wing Israeli demonstrators protest in Jerusalem against any possible concessions by Israeli PM Ehud Olmert to the Palestinians. In Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad host a conference on Palestine, attended by Hamas’s top leaders (including Ismail Haniyeh, Mahmud Zahar), vowing to “not relinquish a centimeter of Palestine” or recognize Israel’s right to exist. (NYT, WP, WT 11/27; OCHA 11/28; PCHR 11/29)

In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on a concrete factory nr. Jabaliya r.c., killing 3 Palestinian employees, wounding a passerby; fires surface-to-surface missiles at the same site an hr. later as onlookers gather to view the damage, killing a Palestinian child, seriously wounding a 2d bystander; fires a missile at a group of Islamic Jihad mbrs. nr. the Bayt Hanun border, killing 1 Islamic Jihad mbr.; fires on another Islamic Jihad mbr. who approaches the border fence nr. al-Bureij r.c., wounding him; fires on Palestinian farmers working their field e. of Dayr al-Balah, wounding 1; bulldozes land inside the Gaza border n. of Bayt Lahiya; finds, demolishes 7 smuggling tunnels on the Gaza-Egypt border. Palestinians fire at least 4 rockets, 4 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds with air strikes and surface-to-surface missile fire on the launch sites, causing no reported injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm r.c., nr. Qalqilya. (IFM 11/4; OCHA 11/7; PCHR 11/8)

With Abbas and Olmert making little headway on a joint statement for the Annapolis summit, Rice returns to the region for a 3-day visit to press the parties to begin implementing their outstanding road map obligations to build mutual confidence and momentum for the upcoming summit. The U.S. has still not issued formal invitations, and the admin. is widely expected to push the meeting off until later in 11/07. (IFM 11/4; NYT, WP 11/5; NYT 11/6)

For the 1st time since 6/07, Abbas meets with 4 West Bank Hamas officials in an effort to encourage them to split fr. their Gaza counterparts. In Nablus, the PA deploys a new 308-mbr. policing unit trained by Western advisers at a multimillion dollar training facility in Jericho; they will form part of a new National Security Force unit set up to “operate in coordination with Israeli forces to fight crime and terrorism” as part of Abbas’s new security effort “to restore law and order” in the West Bank, in keeping with road map requirements; the unit will patrol during the day only, while the IDF will continue night operations. In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on an ESF post nr. Rafah, killing 1 ESF officer, wounding 3. Nr. Bayt Hanun, 2 Palestinians are injured when a mortar they are preparing misfires. A Palestinian is injured when a smuggling tunnel under the Rafah border collapses. In the West Bank, the IDF lifts the round-the-clock curfew on ‘Azun imposed on 10/31; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Tulkarm town, r.c. and nr. Qalqilya; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent demonstration against the separation wall in Bil‘in (injuring 1 demonstrator, 1 journalist). Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba and Harsina in Hebron attack, vandalize nearby Palestinian homes, also beating 1 Palestinian. (NYT, WT 11/3; NYT 11/6; OCHA 11/7; PCHR 11/8; NYT 11/14)

The IDF makes an air strike on an ESF post in Abasan in s. Gaza, killing 4 ESF officers; makes a 2d air strike on a suspected rocket-launching site in Jabaliya r.c., hitting a home, wounding 6 Palestinian civilians (ages 1, 3, 29, 30, 75, 82). Palestinians fire 2 rockets, 5 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing damage but no injuries; the IDF shells the launching site, causing no reported injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF sends troops into Dayr al-Balah, conducting arrest raids and house searches, occupying a home as an observation post, leveling land to improve lines of site; launches a similar operation in al-Shuka (Palestinian militants fire on the troops, detonate a roadside bomb, causing no injuries). In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes the farming community of Khirbat Qussa, located btwn. the separation wall and the Green Line nr. Hebron, demolishing the 15 homes, 12 cave dwellings, and 27 sheep pens comprising the village, evicting the 267 residents to the “Palestinian” side of the separation wall. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Nablus, Salfit; raids a number of stores and a bank in Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Brakha nr. Nablus prevent Palestinians fr. reaching their olive groves; the IDF intervenes, forcing the settlers to leave. The IDF also intervenes to prevent Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh nr. Nablus fr. blocking Palestinians access to their olive groves nearby. Inside Israel, some 100 Israeli police officers make an overnight raid on the Galilee Druze village of Pekiin to arrest men suspected of vandalizing a cell phone antenna, firing live ammunition at stonethrowing residents who protest the predawn incursion, wounding 10s. An AMB mbr. wounded by the IDF in Nablus on 10/16 dies. (NYT, OCHA, PAP, WP 10/31; PCHR, WT 11/1)

In Gaza, the IDF ends its 2-day incursion into Bayt Hanun, withdrawing troops into Israel before dawn; makes an air strike on n. Gaza later in the day, killing 1 Islamic Jihad mbr. Palestinians fire at least 3 rockets, 5 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in ‘Ayn Bayt al-Ma’a r.c. Jewish settlers fr. Alfe Menashe cut down, burn 90 Palestinian olive trees nr. Qalqilya. Unidentified gunmen fire on a PA security forces car nr. Hebron, causing no injuries. In Rafah, 2 Hamas mbrs. are injured when unknown assailants throw an explosive device at them; relatives of the wounded, most of whom are Fatah supporters, attempt to visit the men at the hospital but are blocked by ESF officers, sparking an exchange of fire that leaves 8 Palestinians wounded. (PCHR 9/27; NYT, WP 9/28; OCHA 10/3; PCHR 10/4)

The IDF imposes a general closure on the West Bank and Gaza until 10/2 for the Sukkoth holidays. During the day in Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on a car nr. Gaza City, assassinating 5 Army of Islam mbrs. (Hussein Ahil, Fawzi al-Ashram, Ayman Dalul, Osama al-Rifi, Sami al-Za‘im), wounding at least 1; makes 2 air strikes on suspected rocket-launching sites in n. Gaza and 3 on similar sites nr. Jabaliya r.c., causing no injuries; launches a major incursion into Bayt Hanun, with 50 tanks and bulldozers, cutting electricity to n. Gaza and firing a tank shell at a PRC gunman who fires on the troops (killing the gunman and hitting a home, killing 3 Palestinians inside), wounding 30 Palestinians in armed exchanges. Late in the evening, the IDF makes an air strike on a rocket-launching site nr. Bayt Hanun, killing 2 Hamas mbrs., wounding 3 Palestinians. Islamic Jihad fires some 10 rockets, 20 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the PA security forces, demonstrating their security cooperation with Israel, report turning over to the IDF 2 Qassam rockets they discovered in Bethlehem, giving no information on from whom they were seized; the IDF acknowledges receiving 2 pipelike “objects” that possibly could be used as rocket launchers. The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in al-Bireh. Meanwhile, PA security forces raid 3 Islamic charities in Tubas, confiscating computers, files. In Gaza’s Dayr al-Balah, unidentified gunmen fire on an ESF post; ESF officers return fire; no injuries are reported. (NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 9/27; OCHA 10/3; PCHR 10/4)

The IDF makes an air strike on a car in Gaza City suspected to be carrying wanted Palestinians, missing the target and hitting a nearby home, causing heavy damage but no injuries. Islamic Jihad fires 10 mortars at the IDF base at Kissufim crossing, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron, and in Bethlehem, Qalqilya, nr. Hebron and Nablus; raids the offices of a children’s charity in Jenin, confiscating documents. For a 2d day in Jerusalem, Israeli police escort a group of Jewish settlers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to mark the Tisha B’Av holiday. A Jewish settler fr. Kiryat Arba seriously injures a 10-yr.-old Palestinian boy in a deliberate hit-and-run in Hebron. Jewish settlers severely beat a Palestinian teenager nr. Nablus. In Ramallah, PA presidential guardsmen halt a car carrying the son and daughter of jailed Fatah tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti (seen as a potential challenger to Abbas), harass them both, detain and beat the son at the PA headquarters. Pro-Fatah students at al-Najah University in Nablus attack, beat pro-Hamas students protesting Abbas’s ouster of the Haniyeh government, leading to police intervention and an exchange of fire that leaves 3 students wounded, 1 critically. In Gaza City, 10,000 Hamas supporters stage a nonviolent march to PC headquarters to protest PA attacks on Hamas activists and institutions in the West Bank. (OCHA, WP 7/25; PCHR 7/26)

As daily clashes continue at Nahr al-Barid r.c., FI kills 3 Lebanese soldiers—2 by a mortar, 1 by a booby-trapped device. The estimated death toll to date is 120 soldiers, 81 FI members, 41 civilians. (WT 7/25)

Overnight, the IDF sends tanks and troops, backed by air support, into Gaza City and Khan Yunis in a major day-long ground offensive targeting primarily Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but also including the AMB, arresting 10s of Palestinians, bulldozing 1 Palestinian home and 70 dunams of land, and leaving at least 13 Palestinians (including at least 4 gunmen and 6 civilians, including a 10-yr.-old boy) dead, more than 50 Palestinians and at least 2 IDF soldiers wounded; Fatah and Hamas gunmen fight side-by-side against the IDF, using small arms and antitank weapons. The IDF also makes an air strike on a car in Gaza City, assassinating Islamic Jihad senior cmdr. Raed Fanuna; bulldozes Palestinian land on the Gaza side of the Qarni crossing and industrial zone, along the border southeast of Khuza’a in s. Gaza. For a 2d day, the Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza City coast, forcing them back to shore. Islamic Jihad fires 4 rockets, 5 mortars fr. Gaza toward the Erez crossing; 2 mortars land on the Gaza side, injuring a Palestinian child; those landing on the Israeli side cause no damage or injuries. In Khan Yunis, a Palestinian is killed when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF launches a major arrest campaign in the Old City of Nablus, imposing a curfew, searching homes (occupying at least 7 as sniper posts), taking over local radio stations, searching hospitals; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Bethlehem, nr. Jenin. In Ramallah, unidentified gunmen fire on the home of senior Fatah official Hani al-Hassan, causing no injuries. In Hebron, unidentified gunmen fire on the home of the local PA General Intelligence head, causing no injuries. Islamic Jihad mbr. Zakariyya al-Tartar dies of injuries received in a 6/24 IDF air strike on his vehicle in Gaza City. (PCHR, WP, WT 6/28; OCHA 7/4; PCHR 7/5)

The IDF makes 2 air strikes on Palestinians allegedly planting a roadside bomb nr. troops operating in n. Gaza, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding another. Hamas fires 3 mortars at the IDF post at Erez crossing in response, causing no injuries. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis.IDFUXO injures an 11-yr.-old Palestinian boy in Bayt Lahiya, 4 Palestinian children in Gaza City. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a predawn raid on an apartment building in Hebron searching for 2 Palestinian men who had thrown objects at their patrol, fatally shooting an innocent 75-yr.-old Palestinian man, wounding his 66-yr.-old wife and 6 other relatives; the 2 wanted men were later arrested elsewhere. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in and around Nablus, and in ‘Aida r.c. nr. Bethlehem, Halhul nr. Hebron, Jenin, Qabatya, Tulkarm. (al-Jazeera 6/6; NYT, PCHR, WT 6/7; OCHA 6/13; PCHR 6/14)

In overnight raids, the IDF, Shin Bet arrest 33 senior Hamas or Hamas-affiliated political figures across the West Bank (Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Salfit, Tulkarm), including PA Education M Nasir al-Sha‘ir, PA State M Wasfi Kabaha, at least 3 PC mbrs., 5 mayors, a number of heads of educational and charitable associations. The IDF also makes at least 7 air strikes on Gaza, targeting at least 3 ESF positions in Gaza City, Khan Yunis, Rafah, injuring at least 2 ESF mbrs. and 13 bystanders; a guard house outside Haniyeh’s Shati‘ r.c. home, causing no casualties; the home of a PRC mbr. in Jabaliya r.c., hitting an adjacent home instead, wounding 2 Palestinians; an alleged weapons factory in Rafah, wounding 5 bystanders; a Hamas post in Dayr al-Balah, causing no injuries; and a money exchange in Gaza City. The IDF also fires on a group of Palestinians on the Bayt Lahiya shore, wounding 1 Palestinian fisherman. Palestinians fire 2 mortars at the IDF post at Erez (causing no injuries, but light damage that will slow processing of trucks going through the crossing) and at least 12 rockets fr. Gaza toward Israel (only 5 land inside Israel, causing light damage but no injuries). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Jenin (also searching the offices of the PA Waqf Min., confiscating documents) and nr. Qalqilya, Tulkarm. A Palestinian woman dies of injuries received in a 5/17 IDF air strike on Gaza City. A Hamas mbr. dies of wounds received in clashes with Fatah on 5/13. (BBC, IFM, WP 5/24; NYT, WT 5/25; NYT 5/27; OCHA 5/30; PCHR 5/31)

During the day in Gaza, the IDF fires on Jabaliya r.c., seriously wounding a Palestinian woman inside her home. In the evening, Olmert convenes his security cabinet, which authorized the IDF to step up attacks on Hamas, Islamic Jihad. Soon after, the IDF makes an air strike targeting IQB cmdr. Samih Farwanah in Gaza City, who is at the home of Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform Palestinian Council (PC) mbr. Khalil al-Haya, assassinating Farwanah, killing 7 of Haya’s relatives, wounding more than 12; fires a missile at Hamas mbr. Nasser Hammuda, biking through Gaza City, wounding him in an apparent assassination attempt; makes an air strike on an alleged Hamas weapons factory in Gaza City, killing 1 Palestinian security guard, wounding 3 bystanders; makes an air strike on the home of an Islamic Jihad mbr., destroying it and a neighboring meeting hall, causing no injuries; shells residential areas of Bayt Lahiya, heavily damaging 2 homes, wounding 6 Palestinians. Palestinians fire at least 12 rockets, 2 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, damaging 2 trucks on the Israeli side of the Qarni crossing but causing no injuries. In Rafah, an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AMB) mbr. is injured when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Arub r.c nr. Hebron and in and around Bethlehem, Jenin town and r.c.; raids 4 TV and radio stations in Nablus seizing computers and broadcasting equipment; begins bulldozing 130 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of apricot and date orchards nr. Artas nr. Bethlehem to make way for the separation wall. Under IDF escort, Jewish settlers fr. Efrat nr. Bethlehem uproot Palestinian trees nr. the settlement. Jewish settlers fr. Karme Tzur nr. Hebron unleash an attack dog on a Palestinian farmer working his land nr. the settlement, injuring him. Meanwhile, Hamas, Fatah observe a ceasefire during the day; stores begin to reopen and residents venture out for the 1st time in a wk. (HA, IFM, NYT, PCHR, WP 5/20; HA, NYT, OCHA, PCHR, WP, WT 5/21; OCHA 5/23; PCHR 5/24)

Overnight, Lebanese police and soldiers raid several homes in Tripoli in an attempt to capture a group connected to the tiny militant group, Fatah al-Islam (FI), that was suspected of carrying out a bank robbery on 5/19. The raids spark gun battles that quickly spread throughout the city and to the outskirts of Nahr al-Barid r.c. (pop. 40,000), where FI is based. When FI forces leave the camp to ambush and capture nearby army positions, the Lebanese army fires tank shells, mortars into the camp, quickly precipitating massive clashes (including RPG, heavy weapons fire by FI) that continue throughout the day. In total, at least 27 Lebanese soldiers, 20 FI mbrs., and 9 Palestinian civilians inside the camp are killed and scores are wounded during the day. By nightfall, the army regains control of areas surrounding the camp, seals the camp to prevent militants fr. escaping; cuts water and electricity to the camp to urge a surrender. Syria closes several border crossings n. and w. of Tripoli in reaction. Separately, a car bomb explodes nr. a shopping mall in the Christian neighborhood of Achrifiyya in Beirut, killing 1 Lebanese woman, wounding 12; no group claims responsibility. (AP, NYT, REU, WP, WT 5/21; WT 5/24; NYT 6/20, 7/7)

In Gaza, the IDF assassinates IQB mbrs. Ra’ed Habib and Munir al-Jamal in an air strike on their car in Gaza City, wounding 6 bystanders; makes 5 other air strikes on Hamas and ESF targets in Bayt Lahiya, Dayr al-Balah, and Gaza City, wounding 10 bystanders, destroying 2 alleged weapons factories, damaging several homes. In retaliation, Hamas fires 17 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, injuring 2 Israelis in Sederot. The Israeli navy fires on Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza City coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Kafr Dan nr. Jenin, wounding 3 Palestinians; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c.; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists holding a weekly nonviolent protest against the separation wall in Bil‘in nr. Ramallah, injuring 2. Jewish settlers scuffle with Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists demonstrating against the wall in Bani Na‘im nr. Hebron; the IDF intervenes, detaining 5 activists. Meanwhile, Fatah-Hamas fighting in Gaza continues, leaving 4 Palestinians dead and more than a dozen wounded. Incidents include Abbas’s presidential guard firing RPGs and mortars at the predominantly Hamas Islamic University in Gaza City. A 7-yr.-old Palestinian boy dies of injuries received in the 5/17 Fatah attack on a funeral in Rafah. (AP, WP 5/18; NYT, WP, WT 5/19; PCHR 5/21; OCHA 5/23; PCHR 5/24)

As part of an ongoing crackdown on Hamas in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) makes an air strike on a Rafah building controlled by the Executive Support Force (ESF)—a branch of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Interior Min. loyal to Hamasaffiliated PM Ismail Haniyeh—killing 3 ESF mbrs. and wounding at least 21 ESF mbrs., 3 mbrs. of the Fatah-affiliated PA Preventive Security Force (PSF) in a PSF office nearby, 3 bystanders (including 2 journalists). Hamas mbrs. fire 12 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, hitting a home in Sederot, moderately injuring 1 Israeli, and hitting a transformer, cutting electricity to 24,000 residents. The IDF responds with an air strike on a house nr. Jabaliya refugee camp (r.c.), killing 2 Hamas mbrs., wounding 3. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert convenes his security cabinet which authorizes the IDF to carry out “severe and harsh” attacks on Gaza, including assassinations of resistance leaders, to prevent further rocket fire, effectively ending the 11/26/06 Gaza cease-fire, frequently violated by both sides. Meanwhile in Gaza, factional fighting btwn. Fatah, Hamas (ongoing since PA Pres. Mahmud Abbas [Fatah] deployed 1,000s of PA security forces under his control without coordinating with either independent Interior M Hani al-Qawasmi, who resigned in protest, or ESF cmdrs. on the ground) escalates sharply, particularly in Gaza City, leaving at least 20 Palestinians dead, 10s wounded, and a number of Fatah and Hamas mbrs. kidnapped. Among the incidents: an Egyptian official is fatally shot by Fatah mbrs. while walking the streets of Rafah with Fatah and Change and Reform legislators to test the intra-Palestinian cease-fire declared on 5/15; Hamas mbrs. ambush a PSF vehicle not knowing that it is transporting Hamas detainees, killing 5 Hamas mbrs., 2 PSF mbrs.; Fatah makes a retaliatory strike on an ESF post outside the Interior Min.’s offices in Gaza City, firing rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), killing 4 ESF mbrs.; some 200 Hamas mbrs. attack and occupy the home of PA internal security head Rashid Abu Shibak (who is not home at the time), killing at least 4 bodyguards; Hamas mbrs. fire mortars at Abbas’s Gaza residence, causing no injuries; Hamas mbrs. fire antitank rockets at the PA General Intelligence base nr. Shati‘ r.c. (After Fatah’s attacks today, the ESF, which has largely remained in its barracks, deploys “to respond with all our power” to further attacks.) Among the wounded are 8 Palestinian civilians among 200 who turned out in Gaza City to protest the interfactional violence and who placed themselves btwn. Fatah and Hamas gunmen to prevent further clashes. Palestinians in Ramallah observe a 1-day general strike to protest the factional violence. Midday, Hamas announces a unilateral cease-fire to begin at 8:00 P.M. local time, and Abbas calls on Fatah mbrs. to follow suit, but gun battles resume within hrs., leaving 2 Fatah mbrs. dead, 10 Palestinians wounded (included in totals above). Israeli Vice PM Shimon Peres says that Israel would respond favorably if Abbas asked for assistance in quelling the violence. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids in al-Til nr. Tulkarm (deliberately setting fire to a Palestinian home, damaging 5 others), neighboring Allar, and in and around Balata r.c. and Nablus. Jewish settlers fire on Palestinian homes in Bayt Furik nr. Nablus, causing no injuries; the IDF intervenes, removes the settlers. (BBC, HA, REU 5/16; IFM, NYT, WP, WT 5/17; PCHR 5/21; OCHA 5/23; PCHR 5/24)

On the day Israel marks independence day and Palestinians commemorate the Nakba, Hamas’s Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades fires 6 rockets and 8 mortars into Israel, causing no injuries, reiterating that it will no longer abide by the 11/26/06 cease-fire; the IDF responds with helicopter air strikes on n. Gaza and fires on an open area e. of Rafah; no damage or injuries are reported on either side. (Also in Gaza, a Palestinian is injured in Jabaliya r.c. while trying to dismantle an unexploded IDF shell.) Meanwhile, moderates in Hamas’s political wing say they are working to preserve the cease-fire. In the West Bank, the IDF occupies a Palestinian home in Saffa nr. Ramallah as an observation post; patrols, fires on residential areas of Nablus; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in Hebron. Nr. Jenin, 2 Palestinian children (ages 4, 7) are injured when they accidentally trigger unexploded IDF ordnance. Thousands of Jewish settlers march to the evacuated Homesh settlement site to protest the 2005 disengagement despite the IDF’s declaration of the area as a closed military zone; 2 IDF soldiers are injured trying to keep settlers from the site. Jewish settlers escorted by IDF troops bar Palestinians fr. using a road s. of Jenin for several hrs. (BBC, MM 4/24; IFM, MM, NYT, OCHA, WP 4/25; PCHR 4/26)