The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli forces seized agricultural equipment belonging to a Palestinian farmer in Khirbat Jabara near Tulkarm. In Nablus, Israeli forces fired at Palestinian security forces in what Israeli forces called a mistake; 1 Palestinian police officer was injured. 12 Twelve Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces during late-night raids in and around Tulkarm, Nablus, Ramallah, and Hebron. In East Jerusalem, 3 Palestinians were arrested during late-night raids. Meanwhile, a Palestinian was handed a demolition order for his house. In Gaza, a Palestinian medic who was shot during the Great March of Return protests in May succumbed to his wounds. This brings the death toll stemming from the Great March of Return to 222. (HA, WAFA 6/10; HA, MEMO, MEMO, MEMO, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 6/11)

The Israeli supreme court ruled in favor of the settlement group Ateret Cohanim’s acquisition of 3 buildings in the Christian quarter of the Old City in East Jerusalem belonging to the Greek Orthodox church. The ruling ended a 14-year-long legal battle that started when church officials sold the buildings without the knowledge of the larger body of church officials, leading to the ousting of the then patriarch. (HA 6/11)

The International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said that Iran had increased its uranium enrichment. Iran had previously announced that it would start increasing its uranium enrichment if Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signatories did not uphold their commitments to the agreement. (HA 6/10)

In the Gaza Strip, IDF troopsstationed along the border arrest 2 Palestinians attempting to enter Israel. In the West Bank, IDF troops enter e. Nablus on a raid and clash with Palestinians, injuring 3 with live ammunition and tear gas. IDF troops enter an area e. of Yatta nr. Hebron and seize a tractor and 4 water tanks; demolish several mobile homes in a village e. of Ramallah; deliver stop-work notes to several construction sites nr. Jericho and demolition notices for 6 wells in Qusra village in the n. West Bank, where Israeli settlers later attack Palestinian property; 2 of the settlers are detained. Separately, around 100 settlers from Adi Ad gather nr. al-Mughir village, but IDF troops intervene before they can attack the residents. In East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces enter Jabal Mukabir to deliver demolition orders to the homes of the Palestinians who attacked a synagogue and were killed on 11/18, then raid a mourning tent set up for them; 5 Palestinians are injured in the ensuing clashes. There are further clashes in Abu Dis, and 37 Palestinians are injured. In Sur al-Bahir, Silwan, and al-Tur, undercover Israeli military officers raid multiple homes, sparking more clashes; approximately 35 Palestinians suffer effects of tear gas inhalation and 12 are injured with rubber-coated metal bullets. Israeli security forces also conduct arrest raids on several homes in the Old City. Late at night, 4 Israeli girls from Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank attack a Palestinian taxi driver with pepper spray. (IMEMC, MNA, WAFA 11/20; MNA 11/21; PCHR 11/27)

Israel’s FM announces that it will return its amb. to Sweden on 11/29, after Amb. Isaac Bachman was recalled in the wake of Sweden’s recognition of Palestine as a state on 10/30. (JP, YA 11/20)

After meeting with UK Foreign Secy. Philip Hammond in London, U.S. Secy. of State Kerry travels to Paris for meetings with French FM Laurent Fabius and Saudi FM Saud al-Faisal, then to Vienna to join the P5+1 negotiating team ahead of the 11/24 deadline. Meanwhile, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, calls on Iran to increase its cooperation with the agency, saying that the govt. has not been transparent about some aspects of its research. (AP, NYT, REU, TOI 11/20)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian teenager dies on her way to hospital after being delayed by a closed Israeli checkpoint en route to Bethlehem. Separately, Palestinians and Israeli soldiers clash at the entrance to Aida r.c. in Bethlehem, with 3 Palestinians injured, including 1 by live ammunition. An Israeli toddleris injured when unknown attackers stone the car she was traveling in, nr. Sur al-Bahir. Meanwhile, around 150 Jewish settlers throw stones at Palestinian vehicles nr. Bethlehem, causing damage but no injuries. The IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in 1 village each nr. Jenin and Ramallah at night; patrols in Hebron and nearby al-‘Arub r.c. and 2 villages (clashes in all of the above), and 1 village nr. Jenin in the afternoon, and in 1 village each nr. Hebron, Jenin and Tulkarm at night. (HA, MNA 11/28; PCHR 12/5)

Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics publishes data revealing that the number of West Bank settler housing starts grew by 132% in the 1st 9 mos. of 2013, compared with the same time period in 2012. (JP 11/28)

Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says that Iran has invited the agency to inspect the Arak heavy-water production plan on 12/8, as part of the new 6-mo. interim deal. Amano also says that the IAEA will need more money to verify the implementation of the deal. (AP, REU 11/28)

In the West Bank, the IDF fires rubbercoated metal bullets and tear gas at Palestinians during routine patrols in Hebron and al-‘Arub r.c. nr. Hebron, after residents throw stones at soldiers. In Hebron, 1 child is injured by a tear gas canister to the head. The IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in 2 villages nr. Bethlehem, 1 village each nr. Qalqilya and Ramallah and in Nablus at night; patrols in 1 village each nr. Salfit and Hebron, and in Qalqilya in the afternoon, and in Hebron and 2 nearby villages and al-Fawar r.c. at night. (PCHR 11/14)

Avigdor Lieberman is officially sworn in as FM at the Knesset, days after his acquittal in a Jerusalem court on charges of corruption, following a 62–17 vote in favor of his reinstatement. (JP 11/11)

U.S. Secy. of State Kerry says in a news conference during a visit to the United Arab Emirates that he hopes an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program will be signed within mos. Separately, Iran and the IAEA sign a deal to allow nuclear inspectors “managed access” to 2 sites within 3 mos., following talks by the agency’s chief Yukiya Amano in Tehran. Meanwhile, Britain announces the appointment of a nonresident chargé d’affaires to Iran, 2 years after the embassy in Tehran was ransacked by protesters. (AP, REU 11/11)

The Egyptian military kills 2 and arrests 5 in fighting in Sinai. (JP 11/11)

In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in Hebron and in 1 village each nr. Jenin, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Tulkarm at night; patrols in 3 villages nr. Jenin and in Hebron in the morning, in Jenin in the afternoon, and in 2 villages nr. Jenin, 2 villages nr. Tulkarm, 1 village nr. Bethlehem, and 1 village nr. Ramallah at night. Jewish settlers set fire to over 50 acres of Palestinian-owned fields nr. Madama and Burin in the n. West Bank. In East Jerusalem, Israeli officials deliver a demolition order to a building in the Abu Dis neighborhood, sparking clashes with residents. (MNA 6/3; PCHR 6/5)

The Obama administration approves further sanctions targeting Tehran, this time in respect to financial institutions involved in significant transactions in the Iranian rial, as well as the Iranian auto industry. The sanctions will go into effect on 7/1. Meanwhile, IAEA head Yukiya Amano tells the agency’s 35-nation board that talks with Iran “have been going around in circles.” (AP, REU 6/3)

Five people die and at least 19 are wounded in clashes between gunmen of rival neighborhoods Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsein in Tripoli. (DS, REU 6/3)

Israeli naval vessels fire warning shots at Palestinian fishing boats off the c. Gaza coast, forcing them to return to shore. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Tulkarm and 2 villages in Ramallah in the morning; in 1 village each nr. Jericho and Ramallah in the afternoon; and in Jericho and 1 village nr. Jenin late at night. The IDF also conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in Jenin, Nablus, Salfit, Tulkarm, and 1 village each nr. Hebron and Qalqilya. Jewish settlers fr. Tekoa settlement nr. Bethlehem vandalize Palestinian homes in nearby Taqqua’ village; IDF troops observe but do not intervene. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that in the previous week: (1) Israeli authorities demolished a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem’s al-Tur neighborhood (marking the 1st residence demolished in East Jerusalem for 2 mos.) and ordered a Palestinian family to demolish an addition to their home; (2) the IDF removed a major roadblock on the main north–south road to Hebron, significantly reducing travel times between Hebron and 4 villages to the east; and (3) 2 Palestinians died and 4 (including a teenager) were injured in 4 smuggling tunnel accidents on the Rafah border. (PCHR 5/23; OCHA 5/25)

At the close of 2 days of talks in Tehran with Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, IAEA head Yukiya Amano announces that Iran has agreed in principle to provide the IAEA with access to Iran’s nuclear scientists and facilities, but it has not yet signed a formal statement to this effect. P5+1 nations (the 5 permanent UNSC members plus Germany) call the deal ‘‘a step in the right direction,’’ but say they will judge Iran by its actions. Israeli DM Ehud Barak comments: ‘‘It looks like the Iranians are trying to reach a technical agreement that will create a deception of progress in talks in order to reduce the pressure ahead of talks tomorrow in Baghdad and postpone harshening of sanctions.’’ (WP 5/23)