The Palestine Chronology

David Makovsky, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, leaks details of the significant inducements currently offered by the White House to Israel if it would extend its partial settlement freeze for 60 days (to avoid a crisis before U.S. midterm elections). The U.S. goal would be to reach an agreement on borders within the 60-day time period. (NYT, WP 10/1; al-Sharq al-Awsat 10/4; JAZ, NYT 10/7; WT 10/13; JPI 10/22)

Mitchell returns to the region for meetings with Abbas and Netanyahu. (NYT, WP 10/1)

For the 2d day in a row, IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction materials in evacuated settlement sites nr. the border, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF raids several Palestinian homes in the bedouin community of al-Hadidiyya in the Jordan Valley after complaints by local Jewish settlers that the bedouin were stealing water from Ro’i settlement. (PCHR 9/30; OCHA 10/1; PCHR 10/7; OCHA 10/8)

The IDF makes an air strike on a car nr. Jabaliya r.c. carrying Islamic Jihad mbrs. who had fired rockets toward Israel (causing no damage), missing the vehicle and causing no damage; within the hr., the IDF makes a 2d air strike on a car in the same area, killing 1 Palestinian with no known resistance connections. Citing 9 killings in 2 days, Hamas’s Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades declares an end to its observance of the 11/26/06 cease-fire, though PM Haniyeh says that the PA still has every intention of making it work. During the day, Palestinians fire 5 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF fires on stone-throwing Palestinians in Ramallah, killing a 15-yr.-old Palestinian boy; evicts some 80 Palestinians fr. Hadidiyya in the n. Jordan Valley (the Israeli High Court ruled on 1/3 that they posed a security threat to Jewish settlers in nearby Ro’i settlement; see Quarterly Update in JPS 143); confiscates 169 d. of Palestinian land nr. Tulkarm for construction of the separation wall; imposes a curfew on Hawara nr. Nablus; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Nablus. A Palestinian gunmanfires on a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Hizma checkpoint into Jerusalem, injuring a settler and a Palestinian bystander. In Jabaliya r.c., PRC mbrs. abduct 5 Palestinians, including 2 ESF mbrs., exchanging fire with the ESF that leaves 1 of the abductees dead and sparks local demonstrations. In Gaza City, armed mbrs. of a local clan attack an ESF base, injuring 1 ESF mbr., kidnapping another (who is released later in the day after the PA intervenes). In Khan Yunis, a PA security officer is carjacked, wounded by unidentified assailants. (WP 4/23; BBC, MM, WT 4/24; OCHA 4/25; PCHR 4/26)

IDF soldiers on the n. Gaza border fire on a group of Palestinians scavenging in the fmr. Dugit settlement site n. of Bayt Lahiya, wounding 1. IDF soldiers on the central Gaza border fire on Palestinian shepherds who stray nr. the border fence nr. Bureij r.c., causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Kahil, Tubas, and nr. Bethlehem, Tulkarm (targeting Islamic Jihad); issues a military order confiscating 200 d. of Palestinian land nr. Tulkarm to build a fence around Avnei Hefetz settlement. The Israeli High Court rules that Palestinian residents of al-Hadidiyya (pop. 80) in the Jordan Valley pose a security threat to Jewish settlers in Ro’i settlement and must vacate the village by 2/10 or face eviction. In Bayt Lahiya, suspected Hamas gunmen fatally shoot an AMB mbr.; suspected Fatah mbrs. ambush an ESF patrol, wounding 2 ESF mbrs.; suspected Hamas mbrs. then kidnap 4 Fatah mbrs. In Khan Yunis, PSF and ESF forces clash, leaving 3 PSF officers dead (each side claims the other fired first); suspected Hamas mbrs. kidnap a PSF officer. In Jabaliya r.c, Fatah, Hamas mbrs. exchange gunfire, killing 1 Palestinian bystander, wounding 9 Palestinians. In Tulkarm, unidentified gunmen fire on the Religious Affairs Min., causing no injuries. (REU 1/3; MM, NYT, WP, WT 1/4; OCHA 1/10; PCHR 1/11; OCHA 1/31)