2 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
Israeli-Palestinian violence continues to escalate, leaving 2
Palestinians, 1 Israeli civilian dead. Fatalities include a critically ill
Palestinian woman who dies at a checkpoint nr. Ramallah after being held
there for 2 hrs. and denied passage to a hospital, and an Israeli fatally
shot by a Palestinian in a West Bank market. The IDF begins work on a new settlement bypass road nr. Bethlehem;
bulldozes 100s of dunams of Palestinian land nr. Gush Etzion where a new
settlement enclave was set up 1 mo. ago; confiscates 5 dunams of Silwad land for
a helipad serving Ofra settlement; sets up a new checkpoint outside Jinin;
tightens roadblocks around Bethlehem, Qalqilya, Tulkarm. Jewish settlers
set fire to 5 Palestinian cars in Hebron; burn olive trees nr. Ramin. (HP, MM
7/2; NYT, PMC, WP, WT 7/3; MM 7/4; MEI 7/13)
The U.S. convenes a special mtg. of the trilateral security comm.;
reprimands the PA for not doing enough to rein in violence, Israel
for resuming "targeted killings." (AP 7/2; NYT, WP, WT 7/3; NYT 7/5)
The PFLP detonates 2
remote-controlled car bombs in Yehud, inside Israel; 4 Israelis are treated for
shock.
The IDF lifts curfews in many West Bank areas for
several hrs. to allow students to take yr.-end exams, then raids Palestine
Polytechnic University in Hebron, detaining 300 students for questioning.
The IDF raids a PA security post in Khan Yunis, arrests 6 PA border
policemen. (GS 7/2; NYT, WP, WT 7/3; AYM 7/3 in WNC 7/8)
Israeli security officials bar entry at Ben-Gurion airport
to PLO Negotiations Affairs Dept. legal adviser Michael Tarazi, a U.S.
citizen who lives in Ramallah.
Burns meets with other reps. of the Quartet (an ad
hoc diplomatic grouping of the EU, Russia, UN, U.S. used to present a united
international front on the peace process) in London to gauge their views of
Bush's 6/24 speech, the PA's 100-day plan. Burns announces the
formation of the International Task Force on Reform, a steering comm.
comprising the Quartet and donors that will oversee donor assistance for
PA reform efforts. (RMC 7/2 in WNC 7/3; MM 7/3; ITAR-TASS 7/3, al-Quds
7/4 in WNC 7/5; WP 7/4; NYT 7/9; USIS Washington File 7/12)
Israel releases 9 administrative detainees, all arrested during
the 6/24 sweep of Hebron, as a goodwill gesture to the PA. The IDF
redeploys to the outskirts of Bethlehem, turning security control over to the
PSF; the IDF will continue to patrol Bayt Jala, control the area around
Rachel’s Tomb (an especially high separation fence around the tomb
reportedly is planned), but otherwise vows not to enter the town unless the PA
is unable to prevent an imminent attack on Israelis fr. the city. The IDF
confiscates 283 dunams of land s. of Khan Yunis, for a new settler bypass road
for Morag; enters the offices of the Hebron Rehabilitation Comm. (HRC),
orders all HRC reconstruction projects to halt (see Vitullo article in this
issue); demolishes a Palestinian home in East Jerusalem; moves the Ganei
Tal settlement fence east, bringing 4 Palestinian homes within the settlement’s
zone of control. (HA, REU 7/2; MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 7/3; al-Quds 7/7
in WNC 7/10; PCHR 7/10; MEI 7/11; HA 7/17)
Palestinian gunmen fire on Israeli construction workers
building the separation wall nr. Tulkarm, lightly injuring 1 Israeli security
guard; fire on an IDF patrol in Nablus, causing no injuries. A
roadside bomb explodes along the separation wall nr. Qalqilya, causing no
damage or injuries.
4 Palestinians killed.
The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian standing in his doorway
during continuing operations in Bayt Hanun; fatally shoots a mentally
handicapped 60-yr.-old Palestinian who strays into a closed military
zone nr. Gaza’s Netzer Hazani settlement nr. Khan Yunis; fatally shoots a 3d
Palestinian who allegedly attempts to infiltrate a Jewish settlement nr.
Nablus; fires on stone-throwing youths in Balata r.c.; fires on residential
areas, bulldozes 100s of dunams in Khan Yunis. A
15-yr.-old Palestinian dies of injuries received during IDF operations in
Bayt Hanun on 7/1. (MM 7/2; VOI 7/2, VOP 7/3 in WNC 7/9; WP, WT 7/3; HA 7/4; PR
7/7; PCHR 7/8; MEI 7/9)
The AMB executes an
alleged collaborator and known child molester in a square in Qalqilya.
The IDF directs tank fire at Palestinian militants laying a roadside
bomb nr. Morag, critically wounding 1 Palestinian; fires on residential areas of
Dura, Rafah; occupies 3 Palestinian homes in Hebron, 1 in Yatta as observation
posts; patrols in Palestinian areas of Hebron; conducts house searches nr.
Tulkarm. Jewish settlers fr. Elkana attack, damage a Palestinian
home in nearby Masha nr. Salfit. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim close a
nearby road used by Palestinians, stone passing Palestinian cars. (HA, IMEMC
7/2; VOP 7/2 in WNC 7/3; OCHA 7/6; PCHR 7/7)
Some 40 armed AMB mbrs. raid, temporarily occupy a PA building
in Gaza City, demanding Abbas make good on promises to recruit them into the
security forces.
4 Palestinians killed.
Overnight, the IDF escalates its military operations in Gaza, making air
strikes on Haniyeh’s empty Gaza City offices (destroying them, but causing no
casualties), an Interior Min. office used by the ESF (killing 1 Hamas volunteer
with the ESF, wounding a 2d) in Jabaliya r.c., 2 ESF training sites in Gaza City
(no casualties), a Gaza City school (causing damage but no injuries); shells the
s. Gaza coast fr. the sea, causing no injuries; continues to shell open areas in
n. Gaza (setting fire to a Palestinian home), break the sound barrier over the
Strip. Egyptian security envoy Omar Sulayman cancels plans to visit Gaza as
Egyptian mediation efforts to free Cpl. Shalit will not result in a deal, though
lower-level efforts continue. During the day, the IDF reduces the rate of
shelling of n. Gaza; fatally shoots 3 armed Palestinians nr. the Dahaniyya
airport. Under international pressure, Olmert allows Qarni crossing to open for
5 hrs. for the import of basic goods, resumes fuel deliveries to Gaza through
Nahal Oz to ease the humanitarian situation. In the West Bank, the IDF raids a
Nablus hospital in a failed search for a wanted Palestinian, firing on the
surrounding neighborhood (wounding 1 Palestinian) and stone-throwing youths who
confront the troops (wounding 6); patrols in and around Nablus, bulldozing
several Palestinian vehicles, raiding and shutting down transmission of the
Nablus TV station; raids 4 Islamic charities and a clinic in ‘Askar r.c., 3
other charities in Bethlehem, nr. Qalqilya, and in Tulkarm, confiscating
computers, files; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, Salfit and
nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin; conducts house searches, fires percussion grenades
in al-Fawwar r.c., several villages around Hebron. (AFP, AP, HA, IFM, IMEMC,
NYT, WP, WT, YA 7/2; AFP 7/2 in WNC 7/2; NYT, WP 7/3; PCHR 7/6)
1 Palestinian killed.
In the West Bank, the IDF unleashes attack dogs on, then fatally shoots a 15-yr.-old Palestinian
boy during an arrest raid in Hebron; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and Nablus, in
Qabatya, and nr. Jenin, Qalqilya. A Jewish settler woman in Hebron beats a 14-yr.-old Palestinian boy who refuses
to give her his puppy; the IDF arrests the boy. In Gaza, the IDF bulldozes Palestinian land
in 2 areas along the n. Gaza border; shoots, wounds a Palestinian who strays
nr. the border fence e. of Bayt Hanun. Israel announces that Israeli police
and Shin Bet have arrested 11 senior Hamas mbrs. in Jerusalem for allegedly “recruit[ing] support for
Hamas and giv[ing] the organization a
foothold on the Temple Mount, in coordination with Sheikh Raed Salah's Islamic
Movement,” and have seized more than $95,000 in funds allegedly transferred
fr. Hamas’s Damascus-based leadership; the 11 are all East Jerusalem residents, and 10 have Israeli ID cards. (IFM 7/2;
HA, NYT, WP, WT 7/3; NYT, OCHA, WP 7/4; PCHR 7/5)
PA security forces
continue targeting Hamas mbrs. in the West Bank for arrest, detaining and quickly releasing Change and Reform PC mbr.
Ahmad al-Hajj Ali. In Gaza, the ESF arrests Army of Islam spokesman Abu Khattab al-Makdisi, 2 other
Army of Islam mbrs. in effort to find kidnapped BBC correspondent Johnston; the
Army of Islam captures several Hamas-affiliated students in retaliation.
3 Israelis killed.
The IDF arrested 15 Palestinians in Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem. (Ma'an News Agency)
Defence for Children International - Palestine Section reported that a 10-year-old Palestinian boy had been subjected
to physical abuse amounting to torture for two and one half hours by Israeli soldiers who stormed his family's shop in
the village of Sanniriya, south-east of Qalqilya, on 11 June, seeking information on the location of a handgun. The boy
was repeatedly beaten, slapped and punched in the head and stomach, forced to hold a stress position for half an hour,
threatened and lost two teeth as a result of the assault, the group said. (www.dci-pal.org)
Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Komura, Israeli Minister of Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, PA
Minister of Planning Samir Abdullah and Jordanian Minister for Foreign Affairs Salaheddin Al-Bashir reaffirmed in a
joint statement following their meeting in Tokyo their political commitment to a Japan-proposed agro-industrial project
in the West Bank called "Corridor for peace and prosperity" initiated in July 2006. A feasibility study by the Japan
International Cooperation Agency was expected to be completed in November, and projects to develop basic infrastructure
would be implemented as early as possible in 2009, the statement said. When realized, the agro-industrial park would be
expected to create employment for as many as 6,000 Palestinians. In talks with Israeli Minister of Environment Ezra,
Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Komura emphasized the importance of implementing the Road Map, including the halt
of settlements and violence, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. (AP)
Egypt closed its border with the Gaza Strip after hundreds of Palestinians stormed the Rafah crossing. Angry crowds,
many of them waiting for hours to be allowed entry, forced their way past guards into Egypt, security officials said.
"Out of 1,500 Palestinian registered as medical cases, Egypt allowed only 25 to cross, along with 120 of the 6,000
Palestinians stranded at the border," said Ihab al-Ghussein, a spokesman for Hamas. (AP, AFP, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
(DPA), Ma'an News Agency, Reuters, Ynetnews, Xinhua)
Israel opened two commercial border crossings to Gaza. Israeli sources stated that fuel, wheat, animal feed and 200
tons of dry cement were among the products that entered Gaza. However, the chief of the Palestinian Federation of
Industries, Amr Hamad, said that the deliveries were insufficient to meet the demands for construction. (Ma'an News
Agency, Ynetnews, Xinhua)
World Health Organization (WHO) official Mahmoud Daher stated that the Israeli blockade of Gaza could result in serious
pollution of the drinking water. The lack of fuel, electricity and spare parts meant that treatment plants pumped 77
metric tons of partially treated or raw sewage into the Mediterranean Sea. Mr. Daher said that some of the waste could
be creeping back into Gaza's water supply, which was indicated by WHO tests showing that 30.8 per cent of the drinking
water in the Rafah area was contaminated with human and animal feces. (IPS)
A Palestinian construction worker from East Jerusalem rammed a bulldozer into a passenger bus on Jaffa Street shortly
after noon, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more. One of the dead was a woman who had been driving a
car at the scene of the attack. Police shot and killed the driver of the bulldozer, Hosam Dwayyat, 30, who held an
Israeli identification card. Minister of Public Security Avraham Dichter said that the attacker was not linked to any
Palestinian group. Police were trying to establish whether he acted alone. (AP, AFP, DA, Haaretz, Reuters, Ma'an News
Agency, Ynetnews, Xinhua)
1 Palestinian killed.
A 17-year-old Palestinian girl was killed and 11 others wounded in the Gaza Strip when a shell fired by an Israeli tank exploded in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. (The Jerusalem Post, Reuters, Ynetnews)
Israeli soldiers arrested the head of the Workers Union in Salfit, Yasser Taha, causing damage to his home during a violent search. (IMEMC)
Contrary to their announcement that they would stay out of four cities in the West Bank, Israeli troops launched raids in and arrested at least six Palestinians from Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem and Qalqilya. Troops also invaded Jenin in the northern West Bank. (IMEMC, Ma’an News Agency, Palestine Press News Agency)
Israeli crossings authorities were to allow 111 truckloads of goods and a limited amount of industrial fuel and cooking gas into the Gaza Strip. (IMEMC, Ma’an News Agency)
It was announced that the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt would be opened on a regular basis, three days a month. A World Health Organization (WHO) health officer said that some 800 to 1,000 people needed to travel from Gaza to receive medical care. (IRIN, Ma’an News Agency)
Amnesty International published its first in-depth report entitled “Operation ‘Cast Lead’: 22 days of death and destruction” about the hostilities in Gaza in which it accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes. The report accused the IDF of killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians and destroying thousands of homes during Operation Cast Lead which amounted to war crimes. The report said that Israel used high-precision weapons to kill hundreds of civilians, including women and children, many of whom were shot at close range while posing no threat to the lives of Israeli troops. Amnesty also criticized Israel for not establishing an independent and impartial investigation into the conduct of its soldiers. The 117-page report also deplored Israel's alleged use of less-precise artillery shells and highly incendiary white phosphorous in densely populated areas, which is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. It also accused the IDF of using Palestinians as human shields and frequently blocking civilians from receiving medical care and humanitarian aid. The report also denounced Hamas’ firing of rockets into civilian areas of southern Israel. “Five months on, neither side has shown any inclination to change its practices and abide by international humanitarian law, raising the prospect that civilians will again bear the brunt if fighting resumes,” concluded Donatella Rovera who headed Amnesty's field research mission. Both Israel and Hamas rejected the findings of the report. Hamas said that the report was “treating the victim and the perpetrator equally”. (AFP, Haaretz, IMEMC, The Jerusalem Post, Ma’an News Agency, Palestine Press News Agency, Reuters, WAFA)
Two members of The Free Gaza Movement, both Arab citizens of Israel, were released on 1 June from Ashdod prison in Israel following interrogation without charges. One of them stated that they were placed in a warehouse where they had to sleep on a cockroach-infested cement floor, as armed soldiers monitored them. Irish Nobel Prize winner Maired Corrigan Maguire and US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney were still in jail awaiting deportation. (IMEMC, Ma’an News Agency, Reuters)
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Richard Falk, denounced in a statement what he described as “the unlawful naval seizure” by an Israeli gunboat of a ship carrying medicine and reconstruction material for the people of Gaza, saying the Israeli action “implements its cruel blockade of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza.” He said it also violated Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibited any form of collective punishment directed at an occupied people. The statement said that Israeli authorities were informed, in response to their demands, that the boat had been inspected for weapons before departure from in Cyprus. (www.unhchr.ch)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag, “I think it is now important to get commitments from all sides and that includes the issue of settlement building”, thereby aligning Germany with the positions of the European Union and the United States. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the world had blown the settlements issue entirely out of proportion. He said that “the situation in the West Bank and the cessation of settlement construction shouldn’t stop the international community’s agenda”. (AP, Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, Ma’an News Agency, Reuters, WAFA)
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a donation of $50,000 from the Mexican International Cooperation Fund for Development to support WFP Operation Lifeline Gaza. The contribution will help to provide food assistance to 365,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including 50,000 schoolchildren. WFP is also planning to start a food voucher operation in Gaza. (MENA)
PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad concluded in Washington a series of meetings with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones as well as with Congressional leaders in an effort to push the American Administration to act on its request that Israel halt settlement construction. (Ma’an News Agency)
The Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD), an American-funded Middle East-based research centre, carried out an opinion poll of 1,200 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip between 12 and 14 June 2009. The results showed that the majority of the respondents said that US President Obama’s positions represented “no change” or a “regression” from previous American positions on the issue of Palestinian statehood. Some 65 per cent believed that his visit to the region would lead to a tightening of the closure on Gaza while another 62 per cent believed that it would lead to a reinforcement of the occupation. Only 14 per cent strongly believed that his visit would lead to a halt in Israeli settlement activities. (Ma’an News Agency)