The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, settlers with military protection toured Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, leading to a confrontation with Palestinians protesting the incursion; 3 Israelis were shot and injured by Palestinian gunmen, including 1 soldier, and Israeli forces shot and injured 1 Palestinian using live ammunition, 16 others with baton rounds, and 40 were injured with tear gas. Israeli settlers also set fire to Palestinian-owned land planted with grapes and olives in Husan and uprooted some 200 cucumber saplings in Halhul. Israeli forces rammed a motorcycle carrying 2 Palestinians with their car in al-Khader, injuring both. Israeli forces also delivered stop-work notices for 2 houses and 1 agricultural structure in Ma‘in in the Masafer Yatta area. 12 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in Ni‘lin, al-Am‘ari refugee camp, Qarawat Bani Hassan, Anabta, Arrabah, Aida refugee camp, and al-Arroub refugee camp. In East Jerusalem, 2 Waqf guards were arrested at the Haram al-Sharif compound; 1 of them was later barred from entering the compound for 1 week. 2 others were arrested at the Bab al-Rahma area of the Haram al-Sharif compound and in Silwan. (AP, HA, JP, MEE, REU, TOI, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/30; WAFA 7/1; PCHR 7/7; UNOCHA 7/22)

PA president Mahmoud Abbas spoke to U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken in a phone call. According to a statement by the PA, the 2 spoke about preparations for president Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to Palestine and Israel later this month. Secretary Blinken also spoke to the soon-to-be Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid, congratulating him on his appointment (see below). (HA, REU, WAFA 6/30; REU 7/1)

The members of the Knesset voted to dissolve the parliament, leading to a new round of Israeli elections on 11/1. Foreign minister Yair Lapid will be prime minister beginning at midnight until a new prime minister is elected. (HA 6/29; AJ, AJ, AP, AX, HA 6/30)

The EU sent a letter to Al Haq and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), informing the Palestinian rights organizations that it will reinstate EU funding that was cut after Israel alleged that Al Haq had financial ties to the PFLP. The EU anti-fraud agency OLAF did not find any indication that the Israeli allegations were true. The EU suspended funding to Al Haq and PCHR in May 2021. (AJ, HA 6/30; WAFA 7/2; MDW 7/5)

In the West Bank, Israeli forces seized a forklift during a raid in ‘Ayn al-Bayda in the Jordan Valley. In Bayt Umar, Israeli forces and Palestinians clashed after Israeli forces raided the town, leading to tear-gas related injuries. Separately, 2 Palestinians were arrested during a late-night raid in Bayt Umar. In East Jerusalem, 7 Palestinians were arrested, including 1 in Bab al-Rahma at the Haram al-Sharif compound; 1 in his car east of the Old City; and 5 during a raids in Issawiyya and Ras al-Amud. Approximately 80 Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian agricultural lands east of al-Bureij; no injuries were reported. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces opened fire at a Palestinian fishing boat, causing damage to several of the boat’s searchlights; no injuries were reported. (WAFA, WAFA 12/22; PCHR 12/26)

Further escalating tension in East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities confiscate an area of land in the historic Bab al-Rahma Islamic cemetery outside the Old City. Palestinian youths then raze the barbed wire fence erected around the confiscated area. IDF troops shoot and injure 3 Palestinian youths in Aida r.c. during clashes that erupt amid late-night raids. The IDF also conducts late-night raids nr. Ramallah and in al-Am‘ari r.c., arresting 3 Palestinians and issuing arrest summons to 3 others. Israeli settlers damage an electricity transmission tower in Kafr Qaddum, causing a blackout in the village. Separately, an Israeli settler rams his car into a Palestinian shepherd, lightly injuring the man and killing 7 of his sheep. Cross-border gunfire from a Hamas military site in n. Gaza strikes 3 houses in an Israeli kibbutz, causing minor damage. Off Gaza’s n. coast, Israeli naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. (MNA, TOI, WAFA 9/2; MNA 9/3; PCHR 9/10)

The Israeli Knesset passes, 45–14, the 1st reading of a so-called counterterrorism bill that would, inter alia, allow persons convicted of expressing public support for designated terrorist groups to be sentenced to 3 years in prison and allow any charity affiliated with Hamas to be designated a terrorist organization. The bill, supported by right-wing parties and Zionist Union, must pass a review in comm. and 2 more readings before becoming law. (NYT, YA 9/2; HA, YA 9/3)

The IDF fires on Palestinian residential areas of Khan Yunis, wounding a 13-yr.-old Palestinian boy; fires on stone-throwing youths in Hebron, wounding 1 in the buttocks with live ammunition; shells a newly completed, uninhabited Palestinian home nr. Hebron, causing serious damage; conducts house searches in and around Hebron, interrogates residents aged 13–25 in Hebron’s Bab al-Zawiyya neighborhood. (IMEMC 5/25; PCHR 5/26; OCHA 6/1; PCHR 6/2)

IDF troops in Hebron beat, temporarily detain 7 unarmed PA traffic policemen in the Bab al-Zawiyya district in the Palestinian sector of the city, claiming they were in a prohibited area (see 3/29), beat 3 of the policemen; fire live ammunition, tear gas at Palestinians who attempt to intervene, causing no injuries; fire on residential areas. The IDF also raids, searches a house in East Jerusalem, arresting 1 Palestinian; patrols inside Tamun nr. Jenin, randomly checking Palestinian IDs; uproots 100 olive trees in Bil‘in for construction of the separation wall. For the 2d day, a Jewish settler fr. Kiryat Arba shoots, wounds a Palestinian farmer working his nearby field. A Palestinian Resistance Comm. (PRC) gunman shoots, seriously wounds a Jewish settler working in a greenhouse in Morag settlement, claiming the act is in retaliation for recent Israeli violations of the unofficial truce. Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb nr. an IDF patrol in Rafah, causing no damage or injuries. Hamas complains that the PA has recently fired a number of teachers working in PA schools who are Hamas supporters. (AFP, IMEMC, YA 4/5; HA, NYT, OCHA, WT 4/6; PCHR 4/7)