2 Palestinians killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes continue, leaving 2 Palestinians dead.
Palestinians fire mortars at a Jewish settlement in Gaza; in response,
the IDF sends 5 tanks into nearby PA-controlled territory. The IDF also
shells residential areas of Bayt Jala, Bethlehem; bulldozes 30 dunams of
Palestinian land nr. Gaza City. (REU 5/24; WP 5/25; PCHR 6/4)
On the anniversary of the IDF pullout fr. s. Lebanon, Israel shoots
down a civilian light aircraft that crosses the border fr. Lebanon,
killing the pilot. Israel sends jets into Lebanese airspace to break the sound
barrier. (HA, MM 5/24; RL 5/24 in WNC 5/29; NYT, WP, WT 5/25; MEI 6/1)
Palestinians fire mortars at a Jewish settlement in Gaza; in response,
the IDF sends 5 tanks into nearby PA-controlled territory.
1 Israeli killed.
The IDF makes an incursion in to
Gaza City, demolishes 3 alleged bomb-making factories. The IDF sends
troops into Nur al-Shams r.c., Tulkarm r.c. and town. The IDF fires tank shells, machine guns at the r.c., wounding 8 Palestinians.
(GS, MM, NYT, WP 5/24; NYT, WP 5/25; MA 5/26 in WNC 5/28; LAW 5/29; PCHR 5/30)
An AMB mbr. attempts to ram a car loaded with homemade pipe bombs
into a Tel Aviv dance club but is fatally shot by a security guard. The car
blows up, injuring 3 Israelis. Palestinians ambush
an IDF convoy in Tulkarm r.c., killing 1 IDF soldier, injuring 2.
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF launches a major operation on Tulkarm city and refugee camp
(r.c.), sending in 10s of tanks before dawn, imposing a closure, conducting
house-to-house searches, arresting 3 International Solidarity Movement (ISM)
activists, 2 AMB mbrs. The IDF also fatally shoots an armed
Palestinian attempting to sneak into Israel nr. Bayt Hanun; places curfews
on Bayt Rima and Dayr Ghassana, begins demolishing caves there; bulldozes 5
Palestinian homes, 56 dunams of land nr. Khan Yunis; demolishes 2
Palestinian homes in Rafah; fires on residential areas of Balata r.c. Citing
“security reasons,” Israel announces plans to banish to Gaza indefinitely
3 West Bank Fatah mbrs. being held in administrative detention. (HA 5/24;
WT 5/25; HP 5/26; PR 5/28; LAW, PCHR 5/29)
1 Palestinian killed.
During the day, the IDF continues operations in Rafah, demolishing 5
Palestinian houses completely, redeploying tanks surrounding Tal
al-Sultan away fr. the area (bulldozing 120 dunams of agricultural land before
leaving), moving tanks and bulldozers into Brazil r.c., firing on residential
areas. The IDF withdraws fr. Rafah after sundown, effectively ending
Operation Rainbow, saying that since 5/17 it found 3 tunnels and demolished
56 “structures” that allegedly had provided cover for Palestinian gunmen, that
it will regroup and resume operations soon. After the pullback, the IDF
fires on a funeral in Rafah, seriously injuring several Palestinians. The IDF
also raids Balata r.c., fires on stone-throwing youths, killing 1 Palestinian.
(JTA, MM, NYT, PM, REU 5/24; MENA, VOI 5/24 in WNC 5/26; AP, NYT, WP, WT 5/25;
MM, PR 5/26; PCHR 5/27; JPI 6/4)
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Sulayman meets separately with
Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, Palestinian Authority (PA) head Yasir Arafat
to present them with a list of conditions that Egypt would require to be in
place before it would agree to retrain Palestinian security forces to assume
security control in Gaza under Sharon’s disengagement plan. (MM 5/24; MENA, VOI,
YA 5/24 in WNC 5/26; AP, MM, NYT, REU, WT 5/25; MENA, VOP 5/25 in WNC 5/27; WP
5/26; AYM 5/26, AYM, VOP 5/27 in WNC 6/1; NYT, WP 5/28; VOP 5/31 in WNC 6/2)
The IDF demolishes a Palestinian home and 2 animal farms nr.
Hebron for construction of the separation wall. (PCHR 5/26)
4 Palestinians killed.
The IDF sends undercover units into Ramallah’s central shopping district,
where they arrest Islamic Jihad’s Qalqilya military leader Muhammad Shubaki;
when the unit is confronted by armed militants and stone-throwing protesters,
the IDF sends in uniformed reinforcements that clash with the Palestinians,
leaving 1 PA General Intelligence officer, 3 bystanders dead, at least 35
Palestinians and 1 IDF soldier wounded. The IDF also sends bulldozers, tanks,
jeeps 200 m inside the Gaza border nr. Bureij r.c. to level land for ongoing
construction of a cement wall along the n. Gaza border; raids the municipal
offices in Maithalun nr. Jenin, removes the Palestinian flag fr. the building,
fires tear gas; patrols in Farkha nr. Nablus (firing on residential areas), Kafr
Dan; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Bethlehem,
and nr. Hebron, Jenin. (AFP, Guardian, HA, NYT, PCHR, Palestine Monitor
[Internet], WP 5/25; OCHA, PCHR 6/1)
In central Gaza, PSF chief for central Gaza Nabil Hudud
dies when a bomb rigged to his car explodes; no group claims responsibility;
Fatah and Hamas gunmen, however, exchange fire outside Gaza’s Shifa Hospital
after Hudud’s body is brought in. In Khan Yunis, unidentified gunmen kidnap,
shoot 3 Hamas mbrs., killing 1; no group claims responsibility; Hamas accuses
the PA security forces.
1 Palestinian killed.
In overnight raids, the IDF, Shin Bet arrest 33 senior Hamas or Hamas-affiliated
political
figures across the West Bank (Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Salfit, Tulkarm), including PA Education M Nasir al-
Sha`ir, PA State M Wasfi Kabaha, at least 3 PC mbrs., 5 mayors, a number of heads of educational and
charitable associations. The
IDF also makes at least 7 air strikes on Gaza, targeting at least 3 ESF positions in Gaza City, Khan
Yunis, Rafah, injuring at least 2 ESF mbrs. and 13
bystanders; a guard house outside Haniyeh’s Shati’ r.c. home, causing no casualties; the home of a PRC mbr. in
Jabaliya r.c., hitting an adjacent home
instead, wounding 2 Palestinians; an alleged weapons factory in Rafah, wounding 5 bystanders; a Hamas post in Dayr al-
Balah, causing no injuries; and a money
exchange in Gaza City. The IDF also fires on a group of Palestinians on
the Bayt Lahiya shore, wounding 1 Palestinian fisherman. In the West
Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Jenin (also searching the offices of the PA
Waqf Min., confiscating documents) and nr. Qalqilya, Tulkarm. A Palestinian woman dies of injuries
received in a 5/17 IDF air strike on Gaza City. A Hamas mbr. dies of
wounds received in clashes with Fatah on 5/13. (BBC, IFM, WP 5/24; NYT, WT 5/25; NYT 5/27; OCHA 5/30; PCHR 5/31)
Palestinians
fire 2 mortars at the IDF post at Erez (causing no injuries, but light damage that will slow processing of trucks
going through the crossing) and at least
12 rockets fr. Gaza toward Israel (only 5 land inside Israel, causing light damage but no injuries).
In the Gaza Strip, the Jihad Jibril Brigades, a group linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command, launched four projectiles from the Gaza Strip into the Israeli town of Netivot. Separately, a group called the Al-Asifa Brigades of the Martyr Dalal Al Maghrebi claimed responsibility for launching two homemade projectiles at the Sufa military installation. (Ma'an News Agency)
The Saraya Al-Quds Brigades (armed wing of Islamic Jihad) claimed responsibility for launching two projectiles at Miftahim, an Israeli town to the east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The Brigades said in statement that the operation was in response to the ongoing attacks against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. (Ma'an News Agency)
A Palestinian youth was shot and wounded in the head by a rubber-coated bullet fired by the Israeli army near a military roadblock at the eastern entrance to the Tammoun village near Tubas in the West Bank. The army said that the youth had thrown stones at the soldiers manning the roadblock. (IMEMC)
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman ruled out a withdrawal to 1967 borders at a meeting of the Israeli Cabinet. “A return to the borders of 1967 today, as we are being pressured to do, would not end the conflict, would not guarantee peace or security. It would simply move the conflict to within the 1967 borders.” (www.albawaba.com)
The Israeli Cabinet voted in favour of a draft law to ban yearly Al-Nakba commemorations. Since 1948, Palestinians have been marking the establishment of the State of Israel as Nakba (catastrophe). According to the draft law, anyone participating in the commemoration of 15 May 1948 could face a three-year prison sentence. The proposal was submitted by the right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party led by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. (www.albawaba.com, The National)
It was reported that following heavy pressure from the United States to permanently open the crossings to the Gaza Strip for food, medications and other goods, the Israel security cabinet would convene the following day to discuss the issue. On 18 May, US President Obama had prodded Israel to ease restrictions on allowing construction materials into Gaza, to enable rebuilding there after Israel’s offensive in December and January. (Haaretz)
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected US calls to impose a freeze on all settlement activity in the West Bank. “We do not intend to build any new settlements, but it wouldn’t be fair to ban construction to meet the needs of natural growth or for there to be an outright construction ban”, he told his Cabinet. Mr. Netanyahu’s spokesman, Mark Regev, said that the fate of existing settlements should be decided in negotiations with the Palestinians. “In the interim period, we have to allow normal life in those communities to continue.” It was indicated that Mr. Netanhayu will seek to extend an informal agreement reached between his predecessor and former US President Bush on the issue of West Bank settlement construction and use it as the basis for negotiations with the Obama Government in Washington. (AP, BBC, Haaretz)
During a Cabinet meeting, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman stated that the dismantling of outposts should come in the framework of Road Map, adding that the plan may have to be re-examined. He said that “removing outposts should be part of an overall policy and cannot be patchwork. The correct outline is the Road Map, which we might have to re-adopt on all its stages. And if it is necessary within the framework of the Road Map to remove outposts, we will do so.” It was reported that most of the ministers criticized the idea of dismantling any settlements, including outposts. (www.albawaba.com)
A State Department spokesman said that “Jerusalem is a final status issue. Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resolve its status during negotiations. We will support their efforts to reach agreements on all final status issues.” (Haaretz)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus while attending a Foreign Ministers meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. He said that talks with Hamas were “needed” to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East. Mr. Lavrov said that the meeting “was the first very important step on the way to overcoming the present stagnation in the negotiations process”. The following day, Mr. Lavrov stated that Hamas was following a more realistic path after Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, adding that “we noticed a more realistic evaluation of the situation, the responsibility that Hamas feels not just for what happens in Gaza but for the fate of the entire Palestinian people”. He had urged Hamas to agree to a formal truce with Israel, noting that since the end of the war in mid-January, there has been less rocket and mortar fire from Gaza into Israel. (Al-Jazeera, Haaretz)