1 Palestinian killed.
After the suicide bomb in Kiryat Motzkin, Israeli Jews attack, severely beat an Israeli-Arab family
in Haifa. Meanwhile, the IDF directs heavy machine gun fire at
residential areas of Hebron, fatally shooting a 7-yr.-old Palestinian girl
in her home, wounding 19 others; on hearing the news of the girl's death, the
child's grandmother has a fatal heart attack. The IDF also occupies the
Palestinian Telecommunications (Paltel) building in Abu Dis, which
handles Palestinian telephone service in the Jerusalem area; Israel says Paltel
may continue operations in coordination with IDF officers posted on site. The
IDF directs heavy machine gun fire at residential areas of Bethlehem;
demolishes a Palestinian home, bulldozes agricultural land in al-Qarara.
Jewish settlers uproot a Palestinian olive grove nr. Ma'ale Shomron
settlement. Demonstrations continue outside Orient House. Peace Now
sponsors a protest vigil outside the PM's office in Jerusalem. Israeli police
set up a new police post at Damascus Gate, new security cameras in several areas
in the Old City. (AFP [Internet], IDF press release 8/12; HP, NYT, WP, WT 8/13;
MENA, al-Ra'i 8/13 in WNC 8/14; NYT 8/14; MA 8/14 in WNC 8/15; MEZ 8/15;
Independent [Internet] 8/16)
Sharon authorizes Peres to open security talks with senior PA
officials but requires him seek special permission to meet with Arafat.
(FMin. press release 8/12; AP, HP, WT 8/13; AYM 8/13 in WNC 8/14; WT 8/14;
al-Ra'i 8/16 in WNC 8/17)
In Cairo, FM Maher, Mubarak's senior adviser Osama Baz meet
with Oslo architect and fmr. Israeli MK Yossi Beilin to discuss ways
achieving an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire, renewing negotiations. (MENA 8/13
in WNC 8/14)
In Kiryat Motzkin, nr. Haifa, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonates a
device outside a cafe, wounding 15 Israelis. Islamic Jihad takes
responsibility. (The bomber, Muhammad Nasr, was a fmr. PSF guard who quit
his job at the Jinin jail after Islamic Jihad leader Iyad Hardan, who had
befriended Nasr during his incarceration there, was assassinated on 4/5.)
1 Palestinian killed.
In an overnight raid, IDF commandos surround the home
of wanted AMB mbr. Ghazal Frayhat in Yamun nr. Jenin, evict 13 family
mbrs., take Frayhat into custody, fatally shoot him. The IDF fires on
residential areas of Jaba'. (HA 8/12; NYT, WP 8/13; PCHR 8/16)
An Israeli military court approves the expulsion to
Gaza of 3 relatives of Palestinian militants involved in fatal attacks on
Israelis. (HA 8/12; NYT, WT 8/13)
After wks. of secret mtgs. in Gaza, the National and
Islamic Higher Comm. for the Follow-up of the Intifada, comprising all
Palestinian factions, says it is close to finalizing a draft national unity
platform. (AP, BBC, MM, NYT, WT 8/13; AYM, SA 8/13 in WNC 8/14; NYT, WP 8/14; MM
8/15)
2 Israelis killed.
In retaliation to suicide bombings, Israel freezes the release of another
76 Palestinian prisoners who were to be freed today; seals Azun and Qalqilya
to conduct searches for Palestinians who may have aided the bombers, arresting
several persons; places a closure on Nablus; otherwise says it will not respond.
Abbas, in Qatar, cuts short his visit to the Gulf, heads to Amman, where
he condemns the bombings but also Israeli provocations. The IDF
demolishes a Palestinian home in the Jabal Mukabir area of East
Jerusalem. (BBC, HA, MM 8/12; Interfax, MENA, XIN 8/12 in WNC 8/14; HA, MM, NYT,
WP, WT 8/13; JP, MA, VOI, YA 8/13 in WNC 8/15; NYT, PCHR, WP 8/14)
An AMB suicide bomber fr. Nablus detonates a device in a supermarket
in Rosh Ha’ayn, just across the West Bank border, inside Israel, killing 1
Israeli, wounding 10; the area was already on alert after the PA
informed Israel of reports of a pending attack. Soon after, a Hamas
suicide bomber fr. Nablus, retaliating for the IDF killing of 2 Hamas mbrs.
on 8/8, detonates a device at a bus stop outside Ariel settlement, killing 1
Jewish settler, wounding 3.
The IDF makes a predawn raid on Rafah, shelling residential areas,
demolishing 10 Palestinian homes and a carpentry workshop; during the
operation, 1 IDF soldier is wounded by a Palestinian sniper. Later in the day in
Rafah, the IDF deliberately fires on a PRCS ambulance, 5
uniformed doctors, 2 uniformed nurses, a clearly identified driver
distributing first aid kits (donated by Germany) to Palestinians made
homeless by IDF demolitions in an attempt to scare them away, causing no
injuries. In Nablus, the IDF detains 3 BBC journalists, a
Palestinian doctor who attempt to enter an apartment for a prescheduled
interview with a resident, not realizing that the building had been occupied as
an IDF observation post; the IDF releases them with an apology after 3 hrs. of
questioning. The IDF also bulldozes 100 dunams of land in Mughraqa nr.
Netzarim settlement, destroying 5 wells and related irrigation works; conducts
arrest raids in Balata r.c., Tulkarm; raids the Islamic Charitable
Association of Hebron, confiscating computers and office equipment, sealing
the offices; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis; conducts house searches,
arrest raids in Tulkarm and villages nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. Late in the evening,
the IDF raids Gaza City’s Zaytun neighborhood, searching homes, shelling
and firing on residential areas. (AFP, HA, PM, XIN 7/12; HA 8/13; PR 8/18; PCHR
8/19)
The IDF fires live ammunition at Palestinian protesters marching to
their lands outside Qalqilya that have been cut off by the separation wall,
seriously wounding 1; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron
and in al-Mawasi, Nablus, Tamun. In separate incidents in Karmil and Yatta, 5
Palestinians are injured when they accidentally trigger unexploded IDF
ordnance. Jewish settlers protesting Israel's planned evacuation of
Homesh settlement in the West Bank march fr. nr. Tulkarm toward Nablus, throwing
stones, bottles at Palestinian homes along the way; when Palestinian youths
respond by throwing stones at the settlers, the IDF intervenes, fires
percussion grenades and rubber bullets, injuring 2 Palestinian teenagers, 1
journalist covering the incident. (IMEMC 8/12; PCHR 8/18; PR 8/25)
In Gaza, IDF troops occupy the Dahaniyya airport, seal the Rafah crossing
(reopened on 8/10), raze large areas of agricultural land, destroy several
greenhouses and sites used by the PA security forces, blow up what it says is a
smuggler’s tunnel. In the West Bank, the IDF raids 2 hospitals in Hebron,
conducts random ID checks on the streets in search of wanted Palestinians, but
makes no arrests; patrols in, fires on residential areas of Azun, Jenin;
conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., nr. Bethlehem. Jewish
settlers fr. Kiryat Arba attack Palestinian homes in Hebron. (OCHA 8/16; PCHR
8/17)
Hizballah, the Lebanese government endorse UN Res. 1701, Hizballah says it
will maintain its “natural right to resist” in keeping with international law as
long as IDF troops “are practicing an occupation and acts of aggression” inside
Lebanon. Meanwhile, the IDF continues heavy air and artillery strikes across
Lebanon, mostly targeting infrastructure and roads, including destroying
electricity plants nr. Sidon, a Lebanese army base in the Biqa‘ Valley, 2 homes
nr. Bint Jubayl (killing at least 15 Lebanese civilians); air strikes are
concentrated around Sidon and Tyre (cutting electricity to Tyre), in the north
btwn. Akkar and Arida, and in central s. Lebanon nr. Bint Jubayl. The IDF also
rapidly expands ground offensives in the south, sending in additional troops and
artillery, with heavy clashes reported in the Bint Jubayl area, in Ghanduriyya
and Dayr Sirin s. and w. of Marja’uyun, and s. of Tyre. Hizballah continues to
fire rockets into n. Israel (hitting targets in Kiryat Shimona, Ma’alot, Safad
and nearby Amirim) and downs an IDF helicopter, killing 5 IDF soldiers
(including Israel’s 1st female combat fatality). The casualty toll during the
day includes 24 IDF soldiers dead (2 when an IDF tank rolls over them) and 70
wounded, and at least 26 Lebanese civilians, 1 Lebanese soldier killed; the IDF
claims to have killed 50 Hizballah mbrs. in the previous 24 hrs. (al-Manar TV
8/12; NYT, WP, WT 8/13)
Unidentified gunmen
shoot, wound a PA General Intelligence officer in Gaza City.
The last of the 6,374
Palestinians stranded in Egypt during the Fatah-Hamas fighting and
permitted reentry to Gaza cross through Erez. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Jenin town
and r.c., and nr. Hebron, Salfit. Palestinians throw stones at a Jewish
settler vehicle nr. Hebron, lightly injuring 2 settlers. (NYT
8/13; NYT, WP 8/14; OCHA 8/15; PCHR 8/16)
After Fatah
announces plans for a major “freedom of expression” rally in Gaza City on 8/13 to protest recent Hamas arrests of Fatah mbrs. at weddings (e.g., 8/1, 8/10),
Hamas bans “all demonstrations and public gatherings” that do not have
official permission. Gaza medical unions begin a 3-day strike to
protest Hamas’s firing of 2 al-Shifa Hospital officials on 8/9.
The IDF detained 16 Palestinians in a number of military operations in the West Bank. (Ma'an News Agency, www.idf.il)
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the Gaza borders, including, Sufa, Nahal Oz, and Karni, closed. (Ma'an News Agency)
Israel's Brig-Gen. Avihai Mendelblit of the Israel Defence Forces informed Reuters that the Israeli tank crew who had killed a Reuters cameraman, Fadel Shana, and eight bystanders in the Gaza Strip four months ago, acted properly and would not face legal action. He said that troops could not see whether Fadel Shana was operating a camera or a weapon but were nonetheless justified in firing a shell packed with darts that killed him and eight other Palestinians aged between 12 and 20. (Reuters)
Israel agreed to open the Beituniya checkpoint in the central West Bank in order to allow Palestinian Israelis to travel to Ramallah for the funeral of the poet Mahmoud Darwish, at the request of Knesset member Muhammad Baraka. (Ma'an News Agency)
Israeli authorities said that they had managed to significantly curb illegal trash dumping in the West Bank by Israeli companies. (IRIN)
The Israeli Defence Ministry proposed the construction of a new settlement near East Jerusalem to entice settlers to move away from the unauthorized settlement outpost of "Migron." (Reuters)
PA President Abbas rejected Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's proposal for a permanent peace agreement. Mr. Olmert's peace plan was to hand over 92.7 per cent of the West Bank and all of Gaza to the Palestinians. In exchange for the land in the West Bank, the proposal sought a 5.5 per cent land swap, giving the Palestinians desert territory next to the Gaza Strip. The land to be annexed by Israel would include the large settlement blocks, and the border would be similar to the present route of the separation wall. Furthermore, the proposal stipulated that Israel was free to expand settlements in the annexed land, while all other settlements were to be evacuated. The question of Jerusalem was not part of the proposal, but was to be resolved at a later stage. In terms of security, the proposal included a demand that the Palestinian State was to be demilitarized and not allowed to have an army. The proposal also rejected the right of return to Israel, other than in exceptional cases of family reunification. A spokesman for President Abbas said that the proposal showed a "lack of seriousness" and that the Palestinian side would "only accept a Palestinian State with territorial continuity, with holy Jerusalem as its capital, without settlements, and on the 4 June 1967 boundaries". (AFP, AP, BBC, Haaretz, Ma'an News Agency, Reuters, Ynetnews, WAFA, Xinhua)
Palestinian and Israeli security officials met in Jenin for the first time in years. The two sides discussed the issues of roadblocks, checkpoints and the possibility of deploying Palestinian security forces in Jenin to stop IDF operations in the city. The possibility of an amnesty for Palestinian militants, in exchange for them giving up their weapons and ceasing their militant activities, was also raised. (Ma'an News Agency, Xinhua)
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahhar accused the people that fired rockets against Sderot of "collaborating" with Israel. Mr. al-Zahhar said that there was "a consensus among Palestinian groups to respect the truce" and therefore the persons responsible "provided Israel a pretext to exert pressure on the Palestinian people". (AFP)
A high ranking Egyptian source said that Egypt would start inviting all Palestinian factions to meetings as of next week to resume intra-Palestinian dialogue. Egyptian mediators would hold bilateral talks first with Palestinian groups to reach a unified stance on the current crisis, MENA News Agency quoted the source on condition of anonymity. PA President Abbas welcomed Egypt's invitation to the dialogue, said the source, adding that he had given top priority to ending the intra-Palestinian division. (WAFA)
The World Bank said that Kuwait had donated $80 million to a trust fund in support of the Palestinian Reform and Development Program, becoming the first Arab State to do so. That contribution brings to $275 million the amount of funds available from the trust fund and the linked World Bank funds, of which $148 million had already been disbursed. The financial resources would provide "support for education, health care and other vital social services for the Palestinian people and for the economic reforms currently underway," the Bank said. The other contributors to date were Australia, Britain, Canada, Finland, France, Norway and Poland. (AFP, The World Bank)