March 26, 2005

An IDF patrol enters Sabastia nr. Nablus, chases a taxi, causing it to crash; denies an ambulance permission to take the injured driver to the hospital, arresting him instead. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Nablus and Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Gush Katif bar Palestinians fr. traveling the coastal road btwn. Rafah and Khan Yunis, beat 4 Palestinian youths (ages 9–15) on their way to school in al-Mawasi. Some 20,000 Hamas supporters attend a rally in Nablus marking the anniversary of Shaykh Ahmad Yasin’s assassination, launching Hamas’s campaign for upcoming legislative council elections. (VOI, VOP 3/27 in WNC 3/28; PR 3/30; JP 3/30 in WNC 3/31; PCHR 3/31)