IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinians scavenging for construction materials at a demolished garbage collection center, wounding 1. IDF troops on the s. Gaza border shoot, wound an unarmed Palestinian who strays nr. the border fence e. of Abasan. In the West Bank, the IDF enters Tulkarm in the morning, patrolling streets and photographing the Palestinian Technical College; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm. In East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities demolish a Palestinian car wash, auto repair shop, and 2 other portable structures in Bayt Hanina. (OCHA reports that another 7 Palestinian structures were demolished in Issawiyya and al-Tur between 10/27 and 11/2.) Meanwhile, at a dedication ceremony in Dahiyat al-Barid (in East Jerusalem but on the Palestinian side of the separation wall), PA PM Fayyad announces that the PA has renovated 15 schools in East Jerusalem in defiance of Israel’s ban on PA activity in East Jerusalem, saying “we are translating steadfastness into facts on the ground.” Fayyad had planned to attend the inauguration of the new schools in Shaykh Jarrah and Shu‘fat as well, but decided not to after Netanyahu pointedly renewed (11/1) his ban on allowing Palestinian leaders to carry out official business in the city and ordered security services to halt the visit if Fayyad proceeded. The Court of First Instance in Gaza sentences a Palestinian man to death by hanging for kidnapping and killing a 9-yr.-old girl in 2004. (JTA, UNSCO 11/2; NYT 11/3; PCHR, WJW 11/4; OCHA 11/5; see also AFP, HA 11/1)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010