The Palestine Chronology

IDF troops on the c. Gaza border e. of al-Bureij r.c. open fire across the border for 15 mins., causing no reported damage or injuries. Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore; they detain and confiscate 2 boats and arrest 2 fishermen. In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes 8 tents (housing 83 Bedouin, including 48 children) and 8 sheep pens and fodder storehouses in Khirbet al-Rahwa s. of Hebron, nr. Tene Oranim settlement; demolishes 7 tents (housing 33 Bedouin, including 10 children) and 6 animal pens in Khirbet Tana and Khirbat Tuwayil in the Jordan Valley; conducts synchronized evening patrols in 2 villages nr. Qalqilya; conducts late-night arrest raids and house searches in Qalqilya, including rearresting 2 Palestinians released in the recent prisoner swap that freed IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Palestinians (including families of prisoners held in Israel) organized by Birzeit students stage a 2d nonviolent march to Ofer prison (see 2/11/12) to show solidarity with hunger-striking Islamic Jihad prisoner Khader Adnan, where the IDF again fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades to disperse them; 2 Palestinians are lightly injured. In East Jerusalem, Israeli municipal workers escorted by police and border police bulldoze a Palestinian playground, recreational center, and 2 other structures in Silwan; demolish a Palestinian home in al-Siwana. (PCHR 2/16)

Israel accuses Iran of staging 2 bombing attempts today against Israeli diplomatic targets in New Delhi, India, and Tbilisi, Georgia. In New Delhi, an unidentified motorist slaps a magnetic bomb on an Israeli emb. car in traffic; the bomb detonates, wounding the wife of an Israeli diplomat, her driver, and 2 bystanders. In Tbilisi, an unidentified assailant straps a grenade to a parked Israeli emb. vehicle, but it is discovered and disarmed. The attacks come a month after the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist and on the 4th anniversary of the assassination of Hizballah military commander Imad Mughniyah, both thought to have been carried out by Israel’s Mossad. No group claims responsibility; Iran denies responsibility. Indian authorities allow Israeli experts to join their investigation. (NYT, WP, WT 2/14; WP 2/15)

In the West Bank, the IDF raids and searches Palestinian villages around Itamar settlement, particularly in Awarta village, in search for the killers of 5 settlers found murdered on 3/11, detaining at least 20 young men for questioning. At least 27 attacks on Palestinians and their property by armed Jewish settlers retaliating for the Itamar murders are reported in Nablus (10), Hebron (9), Qalqilya (6), and Ramallah (2). Incidents involved: rampaging through Palestinian areas (6 cases, including an attempt to kidnap 2 children); vandalizing homes, businesses, and community buildings (11, including an attempt to set fire to a mosque); stoning and vandalizing cars (10); and cutting down olive trees (1). Meanwhile, a statement released to the press claims responsibility in the name of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade of Imad Mughniyah; AMB officials deny any connection to the purported offshoot group. Netanyahu makes a televised address calling on settlers not to take matters into their own hands and to allow the IDF to search for the assailants, also calling on the PA to halt the incitement that encourages such attacks. Abbas issues a statement denouncing the killings. The IDF also conducts late-night patrols in Qalqilya and 3 nearby villages. (HA, JP 3/12; al-Hayat, JP, JTA, NYT, WP 3/13; PCHR 3/17; OCHA 3/18)

The Arab League calls on the UN to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and recognizes the rebels’ provisional govt., steps that NATO had requested as a precondition for Western intervention in Libya, where extremely heavy fighting continues. (NYT, WP, WT 3/13)

After Yemen’s opposition rejected (3/10) as insufficient a proposal by Pres. Saleh to discuss constitutional reform and again demanded he immediately step down, Saleh deploys troops to crush growing antigovernment protests, authorizing them to use water cannons, tear gas, live ammunition, and sniper fire. Over the next few days, injuries quickly rise into the 100s but demonstrations only grow, now involving 10,000s of protesters. (NYT, WP 3/13; WT 3/14; NYT 3/15, 3/16; NYT, WP, WT 3/17; WP 3/18; see also NYT, WP, WT 3/11)

In the West Bank, an unidentified assailant with an ax kills a 13-yr.-old Jewish settler boy and wounds a 7-yr.-old inside Bet Ayn settlement in the Gush Etzion bloc nr. Bethlehem; several Palestinian groups (including the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Imad Mughniyah Group [see 3/15], and Islamic Jihad) take responsibility; the IDF undertakes a manhunt (imposing a curfew on neighboring Khirbat Safa, searching homes, interrogating 10s of Palestinians), believing the attacker, suspected to be a Palestinian who worked in the settlement, may have acted alone; Jewish settlers blame the Israeli government for easing restrictions on Palestinian movement. The IDF conducts late-night house searches nr. Ramallah, but no arrests are reported. Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino settlement in Hebron blow the doors off 4 locked Palestinian shops nearby the settlement and occupy them. (NYT, WP, WT 4/3; OCHA 4/8; PCHR, WJW 4/9; JPI 4/17)

The IDF opens a main checkpoint at Bayt Ibia nr. Nablus for the 1st time in 8 yrs., as a 1st step toward permanently relocating it (see 3/30 below). Unidentified gunmen fatally shoot 2 Israeli border policemen driving nr. Massu’a settlement in the Jordan Valley n. of Jericho, marking the 1st Israeli death in the West Bank since 4/25/08; Israel blames Palestinians, and individuals identifying themselves as mbrs. of the Imad Mughniyah Group, after the Hizballah military cmdr. assassinated in Damascus by unknown assailants in 2/08, later (3/16) claim responsibility. Jewish settler groups in the n. West Bank say Israel’s reckless removal of Palestinian checkpoints is to blame for the policemen’s deaths; the Israeli government denies any connection. The IDF conducts rare daytime arrest raids, house searches in Jalazun r.c.; patrols in Bayt Rima nr. Ramallah in the afternoon, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 4; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm, and nr. Jenin, Ramallah. Palestinians in Umm Lasfa village southeast of Hebron report that in the past few days, the IDF has leveled 500 d. of village land to build 2 km of a new settler bypass road to Carmiel settlement; once completed, the IDF is expected to confiscate 1,000 d. of Palestinian land and displace 13 Palestinian families. (IFM 3/15; AFP, HA, NYT, WP 3/16; OCHA 3/17, 3/18; PCHR, WJW 3/19)

Overnight, the IDF sends 20 armored vehicles with helicopter support into Gaza City, clashing with local gunmen, wounding 7 Palestinians (including at least 2 bystanders). In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units in a car with Palestinian license plates into Kafr Qaddum nr. Qalqilya to raid a store, arrest a wanted Palestinian; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Azun and Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. (OCHA, WT 2/13; PCHR 2/14)

A car bomb explodes in Damascus, assassinating Hizballah intelligence and external operations head Imad Mughniyah, injuring 2 others. No group takes responsibility. Hizballah blames Israel, which hails his death and distances itself from the attack but does not explicitly deny involvement. (WP 2/13; NYT, WP, WT 2/14)