Thursday, April 21, 2011

The IDF enters Gaza through the Qarni crossing and bulldozes 8 storehouses containing construction material belonging to the Palestine Development and Investment Company (PADICO). IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinian farmers working their land nr. the border, moderately wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF raids a secondary school in Hebron in the morning, pointing guns at students and firing percussion grenades, looking for students who stoned a passing IDF patrol earlier in the morning and arresting 1 student; patrols in al-Bireh. (PCHR 4/28; OCHA 4/29)

The GCC offers Yemen’s Pres. Saleh a deal under which he could hand over power to a successor of his choice and he and his family would be immune fr. prosecution provided he steps down within 30 days. Saleh and the opposition both eventually agree to the offer on 4/26, but Saleh backs out on 4/30, leaving the issue unresolved. Protests, now regularly as large as 100,000, continue through the end of the quarter and are occasionally violent. (WP 4/22; NYT 4/23; NYT, WP 4/24–4/28; NYT 4/29; NYT, WP 4/30–5/1; NYT, WT 5/4; NYT, WP, WT 5/10; NYT, WP 5/12, 5/14)