The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, 1 Palestinian shot by Israeli forces on 5/15 in Ramallah succumbed to his injuries. Israeli forces razed 4 dunams (1 acre) of land, uprooting olive trees and destroying a well near Husan. Israeli forces also demolished 1 car wash near Hizma. Elsewhere, Israeli forces delivered stop-work orders for 2 residential structures, 2 tents, 2 toilets, and 1 agricultural structure near Yatta. 14 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids in and around Bethlehem, Hebron, Dayr Sharaf, Tulkarm, and Bayt Fajjar. In East Jerusalem, 3 Palestinians were arrested in al-Tur and Silwan. In Gaza, Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian farmers east of al-Shuka; no injuries were reported. Israeli forces also made incursions and leveled land east of al-Fukhari. 2 Palestinians were killed by an unexploded Israeli missile in Dayr al-Balah, raising the comprehensive death toll since 5/10 from 261 to 263, including 67 children and 3 pregnant women. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/2; PCHR 6/3)

In an interview with Vice News, the Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar said that Hamas was ready for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire hours after firing the 1st rocket during the escalation of violence last month and that Hamas had communicated this to the Egyptian, Qatari, and UN mediators every day of the assault on Gaza. Sinwar reiterated that the Hamas rockets fired at Israel on 5/10 were intended to be a message to Israel that Hamas will not allow Israel’s aggression at al-Aqsa Mosque and in Shaykh Jarrah, and about Israel’s violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories in general. (YouTube 6/2)

Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid (There Is a Future) told Israeli president Reuven Rivlin that he had formed a government coalition 30 minutes before his mandate to do so ran out. The coalition consisted of an extremely diverse group of parties and people, including Naftali Bennett of Yamina (Rightwards) who will be prime minister for the 1st 2 years. The other party leaders were Mansour Abbas of Ra’am (United Arab List), Gideon Sa’ar of Tikva Hadasha (New Hope), Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home), Nitan Horowitz of Meretz (Vigor), Merav Michaeli of Labor, and current deputy and defense minister Benny Gantz of Kahol Lavan (Blue and White). The only factor binding these parties, which range from far-right to left, was the desire to unseat prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the government agreement, after the 1st 2 years with Bennett as prime minister, Lapid will become prime minister in a rotation deal similar to the 1 made between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Deputy Prime Minister Gantz, which never materialized. The Knesset also elected Isaac Herzog as the new Israeli president. President-elect Herzog was most recently the chairman of the Jewish Agency and before that, the leader of Labor. (HA 6/1; AJ, AJ, AJ, ALM, ALM, AP, AP, AX, HA, HILL, REU, REU 6/2; AJ, AJ, ALM, ALM, ALM, ALM, AP, AP, CNN, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, JP, NYT, REU, REU, REU 6/3; GDN, HA, HA 6/4)

The largest Iranian naval ship caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman; it was unclear what caused the fire. Similarly, a mysterious fire broke out at an oil refinery near Tehran. (AJ, AP, AP, REU 6/2; AP 6/3; AP 6/4)

145 democrats in the house of representatives co-signed a letter by Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to Senator James Risch of the senate committee of foreign affairs, requesting that he stop holding up $75 million in aid earmarked for Palestinians in Gaza in his committee, stressing the urgency of the situation. Senator Risch has said he wants to make sure that the NGOs administering the aid do not work with Hamas. (TOI 5/27; HA, Rep. Raskin 6/2)

UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said, during a visit to East Jerusalem, that Israeli-planned evictions of Palestinians in Shaykh Jarrah violate international law. (AJ, WAFA 6/2)

Germany pledged $18.2 million in aid to Palestinians via the UN. (WAFA 6/2)

In the West Bank, Israeli authorities announced that it would seize 193 dunams (47.7 acres) of Palestinian-owned land near Dayr Dibwan for settlement expansion. 17 Palestinians were arrested during raids in and around Hebron, Tulkarm, Rujeib, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Rummana, Sawahara al-Sharqiyya, Aida refugee camp, Nablus, and Qusra. In East Jerusalem, 2 Palestinian was arrested during late-night raids in Issawiyya. (WAFA, WAFA 2/25; PCHR 3/4)

Israel imposed a general closure for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, closing all checkpoints for the Jewish Purim holiday. The closure was scheduled to be in effect from midnight on 2/25 to the night of 2/28. (HA 2/25)

The board of the Jewish National Fund voted to allocate $11.6 million to purchase land in the West Bank. (HA 2/25)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s prime minister Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa spoke on the phone about the U.S. plan to reengage diplomatically with Iran about its nuclear program. (AP, HA 2/25)

Israel said that an Israeli-owned ship was attacked by 1 or 2 missiles in the Gulf of Oman. Other reports said that the damage done to the ship was caused by a blast, to which the cause had not been determined. Israeli defense officials claimed that the missiles were fired by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. No injuries were reported, and the ship was able to continue to the UAE to repair the damage. Iran denied attacking the ship. (AJ, AP, HA, REU 2/26; REU 2/27; AJ, AP, HA, HA, REU 2/28; AJ, AP, HA, HA, REU 3/1)

Haaretz reported that 2 U.S. senators, Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) were circulating a letter to U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken calling on him to take a more forceful stance on the ICC’s investigation of Israel and Hamas, in order to shield Israel. The pro-Israel group J Street said it was circulating their own letter, calling Cardin and Portman’s letter an “unnecessary act of political posturing,” saying the U.S. state department already rejected the ICC’s decision. J Street also criticized the Cardin and Portman letter for using “distributed territories” instead of “occupied territories” to describe the West Bank. (HA 2/25)

The U.S. attacked what the Pentagon said were Iranian-backed militia groups in eastern Syria, killing 17 people. The Pentagon said the strikes were in retaliation for 1 missile fired at a U.S. facility in Irbil, Iraq, which killed 1 U.S. national and injured 6 others on 2/15. (REU 2/25; AP, BBC, CNN, HA, REU 2/26)

Japan donated $39.7 million to UNRWA, $30.2 million for UNRWA core programming, and $9.5 million for expanding school services in Gaza. (WAFA 2/25)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers slashed the tires of 2 Palestinian-owned vehicles and sprayed racist graffiti on the walls of a mosque, a clinic, and residential structures in ‘Ayn Bus near Nablus. It was reported that the settlers were from the Yitzhar settlement. Israeli forces razed 1.2 acres of Palestinian-owned land in Asira near Nablus to expand an Israeli military camp. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrested 3 employees from the Islamic Waqf in the Old City of Jerusalem. In Gaza, for the 2d day in a row, a rocket exchange unfolded in Gaza after Israeli forces said that a rocket from Gaza had hit a building in Sderot, causing damage but no injuries. Israeli forces then bombed targets on a beach near Gaza City and in Khan Yunis, causing damage but no injuries. (HA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/13; AJ, HA, WAFA 6/14)

Hamas prisoners in Israeli prisons threatened a hunger strike because the Israeli Prison Service breached an agreement made with prisoners in April. The prisoners claim that the prison service reinstalled cellphone-jamming devices in a wing of Ramon Prison. (HA 6/13)

At an Israeli Jerusalem municipality event attended by the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a large screen displayed the Jerusalem skyline but with the Dome of the Rock removed from the Haram al-Sharif compound. (HA 6/14)

U.S. officials blamed Iran for explosions, damaging 2 oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Iran denied responsibility for the explosions. (AJ 6/13; HA 6/14)

A senior adviser to the EU Court of Justice said that EU law requires products from Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to be labeled as such, rather than from Israel. (CURIA, F24 6/13)

Iraqi soldiers storm the French, Canadian, and Belgian diplomatic quarters in Kuwait, briefly detaining U.S. consul and other diplomats; Pres. Bush declares action "outrageous," hints at possible U.S. response [LAT, NYT, WP 9/15; LAT 9/16; MET 9/25].

In what would be the largest military sale in U.S. history (previous largest: 1981 $9 billion AWACS deal), officials report Bush admin. is planning to sell Saudi Arabia about $20 billion in sophisticated weaponry to help bolster that nation against future Gulf unrest [LAT, NYT, WP 9/15; MEM 9/17; JPI 9/22].

In sharp departure after weeks of Iraqi cooperation, Iraqi tanker in Gulf of Oman ignores U.S. demands to stop and submit to search; U.S. and Australian ships fire across taker's bow, forcibly board it, then allow it to continue after search [LAT, NYT, WP 9/15].

In 4-hour Damascus meeting, Sec. Baker and Pres. Asad discuss Gulf situation, future regional security structure, terrorism; agree that Arab world must take the lead in confronting Iraq's occupation of Kuwait, and that American troops must be withdrawn from the region as soon as crisis ends [DDS 9/14 in FBIS 9/14; MEM 9/14, 9/17; NYT, LAT, WP 9/15].

Signaling shift in Soviet policy, Pres. Gorbachev meets 2 senior Israeli cabinet members in Moscow in first such meeting since 1967 [LAT 9/15; JPI 9/22; MET 9/25].

Bonn, Tokyo, and London announce details of each nation's further contributions to multinational force in Middle East [WP 9/14; NYT 9/15].