The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, the IDF fires on Palestinian youths who allegedly try to throw Molotov cocktails at the gate of Beit El settlement nr. Ramallah, killing 1 Palestinian teenager and wounding another; opens fire on Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists taking part in weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil‘in, killing 1 Palestinian (hitting him in the chest with a high-velocity tear gas round at a distance of 20 yds.); sets up a military checkpoint outside the entrance to Sebastia nr. Nablus and checks Palestinian ID cards, withdrawing late in the evening. Beit Haggai settlement guards fatally shoot a Palestinian teenager in disputed circumstances: settlers say the teen, whose family house and property abut the settlement, crossed a fence into the settlement and tried to stab them; local Palestinians believe settlers shot the boy, unarmed and in his yard, and carried his body into the settlement. The IDF also vacates the house in Tura al-Gharbiyya occupied on 4/16. (NYT 4/18; OCHA 4/22; PCHR 4/23)

The IDF demolishes 11 long-abandoned bungalows along the s. Gaza shore outside Shirat Hayam settlement being used by some 100 West Bank Jewish settlers who recently came to Gaza to block disengagement; the settlers scuffle with soldiers, break into a nearby Palestinian clinic, damage 12 d. of Palestinian crops and an irrigation network nearby; 1 IDF soldier is arrested, ordered jailed for 56 days for refusing to follow orders to carry out the demolition. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in, fires on residential areas of ‘Azun nr. Qalqilya; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis; imposes a curfew on Saffa nr. Ramallah; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron, Bethlehem, Tulkarm; begins construction of a new separation wall segment northeast of Jerusalem nr. ‘Anata. In Rafah, 4 Palestinian children are injured when they trigger either a roadside bomb or unexploded IDF ordnance. A Palestinian stabs, wounds an IDF soldier in East Jerusalem, is arrested. A Jewish settler beats, injures a Palestinian man in Hebron; the IDF intervenes, arrests the settler. Another group of Jewish settlers fr. Beit Haggai beat 2 Palestinian employees of the Hebron Reconstruction Comm. doing work on local Palestinian homes. Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino in Hebron burn down a Palestinian shop, vandalize several others. A Jewish settler wounded in the 6/24 shooting outside Hebron dies. (HA, IMEMC, XIN 6/26; VOI 6/26 in WNC 6/27; NYT, WP, WT 6/27; PCHR 6/28; OCHA, PR, WP, WT, XIN 6/29; PHRC 6/30)

The IDF conducts arrest raids in Dahaysha r.c., nr. Bethlehem and Hebron, targeting Islamic Jihad mbrs., detaining at least 14; Islamic Jihad leaders reiterate the group’s commitment to maintain calm despite Israeli attempts to provoke it. The IDF also withdraws fr. 3 Palestinian schools in Hebron that it has occupied as observation posts for 4 yrs. Jewish settlers fr. Beit Haggai nr. Hebron put caravans on a new unauthorized outpost nearby, throw a grenade at a Palestinian home in Hebron, injuring a 13-yr.-old Palestinian girl. PA police cordon off areas of Jenin searching for, exchanging gunfire with, ultimately arresting 10 Palestinians wanted in connection with the attack on PC mbr. Hindi’s car on 6/23; no injuries are reported. (BBC, HA, JAZ, REU 6/25; VOI, VOP 6/25 in WNC 6/26; VOP 6/26 in WNC 6/27; QA 6/27 in WNC 6/28; OCHA 6/29; PHRC 6/30)

The IDF imposes a closure on Palestinian sections of Hebron and surrounding areas (still in place as of 7/6), conducts arrest raids, house searches targeting Islamic Jihad; also conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah. Palestinian gunmen fire on a group of Jewish settlers at a hitchhiking post outside Beit Haggai settlement nr. Hebron, killing 1 Jewish settler, wounding 3. Despite the PA’s attempt to ban the gatherings, 100s ofIslamic Jihad mbrs. rally in Ramallah and nearly 1,000 rally in n. Gaza, protesting the IDF’s recent crackdown on its mbrs. and stating that it has no intention of abandoning the unofficial cease-fire. In Gaza, Islamic Jihad fires mortars at several Jewish settlements, causing damage but no injuries. (AFP, IMEMC, JTA 6/24; NYT, WP 6/25; HA, XIN 6/26; PRCS 6/27; JP 6/27 in WNC 6/28; OCHA, PR 6/29; PHRC 6/30)

In Nottingham, England, the Anglican Consultative Council, the global policymaking arm of the 77 million–mbr. Anglican Church, unanimously approves a statement urging the church’s 38 “provinces” to consider divestment fr. companies that bolster the Israeli occupation, as well as “investment strategies that support the infrastructure of a future Palestinian state.” (Religion News Service 6/24; NYT, WT 6/25; JP 6/26 in WNC 6/27; PR 6/29)

Outside Beit Haggai settlement s. of Hebron, 4 AMB gunmen fatally shoot 3 IDF soldiers.. The IDF fatally shoots a mentally disabled Palestinian in al-Maghazi r.c.; fires on residential areas n. of Ramallah; destroys a 5-story apartment building in Gaza City; bulldozes 5 Palestinian homes in Brazil r.c., 2 homes and 5 shacks in al-Sayafa, “a number of homes” in Bethlehem, 1 home in Rafah, a PSF outpost nr. Netzarim settlement; uproots 500 olive trees nr. Qalqilya; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin, Khan Yunis, Qalqilya, Tulkarm. (REU 1/23; NYT, WP, WT 1/24; LAW, PCHR, PR 1/29)

An Islamic Jihad suicide bomber detonates a device outside Shluhot Kibbutz in n. Israel, killing 1 Israeli. In Hebron, where the IDF remains in area A, soldiers fatally shoot 1 Palestinian, wound 3. The PSF detains 2 more Islamic Jihad mbrs., says it is holding 6 Palestinians on Israel's wanted list. Jewish settlers set up a new enclave nr. Keddumim settlement, announce plans for a 2d enclave nr. Beit Hagai. (HP, WT 10/7; MENA 10/7 in WNC 10/9; JP [Internet] 10/8; MEI 10/12; LAW 10/13)

The U.S., with the assistance of commando units fr. Britain and France, begins air strikes on al-Qa`ida, Taliban positions in Afghanistan aimed at disabling their air defense capability. The U.S. says this initial stage of the sustained "antiterror campaign" should last several days. Bin Laden releases a statement vowing that "America will not live in peace until peace reigns in Palestine" and "not before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad." The PA denounces Bin Laden's statement. (MM, NYT, WP, WT 10/8; NYT, WP 10/9; AYM, JT, Milliyet, al-Ra'i 10/9 in WNC 10/10; MM 10/10; al-Quds 10/10 in WNC 10/12; JP, MEI 10/12; XIN 10/12 in WNC 10/15)