The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, IDF troops open fire with live ammunition on a group of young Palestinians throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli settlers’ cars nr. Nablus, killing 1 and lightly injuring another. Later, Israeli settlers gather between Nablus and Ramallah to throw rocks at Palestinians’ cars. Also, IDF troops deploy heavily in the area, arresting 1 Palestinian at a mobile checkpoint and a relative of the deceased Palestinian on a raid in Burin village. The IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in Hebron and nr. Salfit; patrols nr. Ramallah, Jericho, Qalqilya, and Jenin. Israeli settlers cut down a number of olive and almond trees outside Yatta nr. Hebron. PA security forces conduct house searches and raids in Nablus and nearby Balata r.c. In the Gaza Strip, IDF troops e. of Khan Yunis open fire on agricultural land nr. the border fence, causing damage. Off the coast nr. Bayt Lahiya, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. In East Jerusalem, Israeli police arrest 1 Palestinian youth for allegedly shooting fireworks at them while they patrol in al-Tur and, later, 2 other Palestinians on arrest raids in the neighborhood. (HA, JP, MNA, TOI, WAFA 1/31; PCHR 2/5)

A Hamas delegation meets with senior Hizballah officials in Beirut to discuss the recent tension on the Lebanon-Israel border and possible avenues for cooperation. (JP 2/1)

Egypt’s Court of Urgent Matters designates Hamas’s armed wing, Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, as a terrorist organization. The court’s ruling cites the armed wing’s role in the 10/24 attack on Egyptian security forces in Sinai that was claimed by the group now known as the Sinai Province of the Islamic State. (AHR, MEE, REU, TOI 1/31)

Israeli DM Ehud Barak signs an order banning 36 foreign nonprofits that have given money to charities run by the Islamic Charitable Association (ICA), which Israel alleges is connected to Hamas (see Quarterly Update in JPS 148), initiating what it vows will be an “unprecedented” military campaign to seal “scores” of offices that had received money from the 36 groups, viewing the action as “essential for the disruption of Hamas operations” in the West Bank. Late at night, the IDF raids and seals the first 7 ICA charities in Nablus. During the day, the IDF detains 1 Palestinian at a demonstration against the separation wall in Ni‘lin (see 7/5); a Palestinian girl videotapes soldiers handcuffing, blindfolding, beating the Palestinian, then shooting him at close range with a rubber-coated steel bullet, injuring him; he is treated by a IDF medic and released. Nr. Salfit, an armed Palestinian shoots, wounds a Jewish settler fr. nearby Yaqir settlement, is shot dead by an IDF soldier; the IDF later (7/20) alleges that the gunman, Mahmud ‘Azi fr. Qarawat Bani Hasan, was the head of the ICA. Late in the evening, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in al-Bireh, nr. Bethlehem and Hebron. Meanwhile, Palestinians fire 2 mortars from Gaza toward Israel; both land inside the Strip, causing no damage or injuries. (BBC 7/7; IFM, OCHA 7/9; BBC, IFM, PCHR 7/10; AHR 7/20; PCHR 7/24)

On the 1st day of the cease-fire in Gaza, no Israeli-Palestinian violence is reported inside the Strip. Israeli naval vessels, however, fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Rafah, forcing them to return to shore. Hamas removes armed mbrs. fr. posts along the border with Israel. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Qalqilya; raids several Palestinian homes in Hebron, detains and photographs 30 residents for no apparent reason; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches nr. Nablus and in Jenin town and r.c., Qabatya. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar nr. Nablus block a road, stone Palestinian cars driving in the area, burn 800 d. of Palestinian olive groves, stone local Palestinians who attempt to reach the area to put out the fires; the IDF observes but only intervenes to detain Palestinians who arrive to extinguish the fire. Jewish settlers fr. Tapuach settlement nr. Salfit burn 48 d. of nearby Palestinian crops. A Jewish settler seriously injures a 70-yr.-old Palestinian man in a deliberate hit-and-run along the Qalqilya-Nablus road outside Qalqilya; the IDF evacuates him to an Israeli hospital. In Gaza City, unidentified gunmen fire on the offices of a Hamas-affiliated newspaper, causing damage but no injuries. In al-Bureij r.c., Hamas-affiliated police raid, fire in the air to disperse a wedding party, claiming attendees were playing pro-Fatah songs; no injuries are reported. (MM 6/19; AHR, NYT, WP 6/20; OCHA 6/25; PCHR 6/26)