3 Palestinians killed.
Overnight, the IDF sends tanks and bulldozers into Gaza to
reoccupy a mile-wide strip of PA-controlled territory in the northeastern corner
of Gaza, marking the 1st reoccupation of territory ceded to Palestinian rule
under the 1993 Oslo accords. The IDF demolishes PA security sites
targeted on 4/16, builds ramparts, sandbags positions around new tank outposts.
IDF officials pledge to hold the land "as long as it takes--days, weeks,
months"--to ensure Israeli security. Secy. of State Powell publicly
rebukes Israel for taking "excessive and disproportionate" action, calls
on Israel to withdraw immediately. Bush calls Sharon to urge
restraint. Hrs. later, Israel announces that the IDF has completed its
mission and is pulling out of area. (AP, LAW, MM, REU 4/17; JP [Internet], NYT,
WP, WT 4/18; HJ 4/18, AYM, MENA, al-Quds, SA 4/19 in WNC 4/24; MM, WJW
4/19; JP, MEI, MM, NYT, WP 4/20; NYT 4/22; AYM 4/27 in WNC 4/30) (see Peace
Monitor)
Israeli-Palestinian clashes
continue elsewhere in Gaza and the West Bank, leaving 3 Palestinians
dead. The IDF cuts a deep trench in the main north+nsouth road in Gaza,
rendering it impassable; shells residential areas of Aida and al-Aza refugee
camps, Bayt Jala, Hebron, Rafah; bulldozes 30 dunams of Palestinian land nr.
Qalqilya. (WT 4/18; JT 4/18 in WNC 4/19; WP 4/19; LAW 4/20)
2 Palestinians killed.
Before dawn, the IDF sends tanks into the Jerusalem suburbs of Abu
Dis, Azariyya, and Sawahira al-Sharqiyya, declaring a curfew. In Azariyya,
troops conduct building-to-building searches, sometimes forcing families to
evacuate, blowing doors of homes, vandalizing cars and other property. A
Palestinian is fatally shot by the IDF while driving nr. Karma; an
ill Palestinian baby dies after 10 days without medication. The IDF
withdraws some tanks fr. Jenin r.c. Palestinians begin to reenter the camp,
excavate bulldozed areas; 5 intact bodies are recovered before troops reenter,
reimpose the curfew. In Bethlehem, an IDF sniper shoots, wounds 1
Palestinian in the Church of the Nativity who moved past an open door.
(WP 4/17; NYT, WP 4/18; al-Quds 4/18 in WNC 4/22)
Powell holds a final mtg. with Arafat, stating afterward, "We are
disappointed with Chmn. Arafat's performance. We believed all along that he
could have done more." He also says CIA Dir. George Tenet may come to the
region soon to discuss ways for reforming the PA security forces. (AFP,
AP, HA 4/17; MENA, XIN 4/17 in WNC 4/18; NYT, WP, WT 4/18)
3 Palestinians killed.
The IDF opens fire on stone-throwing Palestinian youths in Rafah
(killing 1 Palestinian), Tulkarm ( killing a 2d Palestinian);
fires on residential areas of Jenin town and r.c., Rafah. The IDF also
reportedly surrounds a hospital in Tulkarm, demanding a wanted man was inside;
troops withdraw by noon, apparently deciding he is not inside. A 3d
Palestinian dies of injuries received on 4/8. (VOI, YA 4/17 in WNC 4/18;
NYT, WP 4/18; LAW, PCHR 4/24)
5 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
The IDF assassinates Hamas leader Rantisi, firing 2 missiles at
his car as he drives through Gaza City, also killing his bodyguards Akram
Nassar and Ahmad Ghurra, wounding 4 bystanders. 10,000s of Palestinians
throughout the West Bank, Gaza take to the streets to protest. Hamas vows
retaliation, says it has appointed Rantisi’s replacement but will not identify
him for security reasons. (Senior spokesman Mahmud Zahar, senior political
leader Ismail Haniyeh are considered the likely successors.) The IDF strike
comes hrs. after a Palestinian suicide bomber detonates a device inside
the Erez Industrial Zone in Gaza, killing an Israeli border policeman,
injuring 3; the AMB, Hamas claim joint responsibility. IDF
undercover units raid Hebron and capture, beat, arrest an Arab Bank
employee. The IDF also seals all West Bank and Gaza crossings except the
Rafah checkpoint; tightens restrictions on Palestinian movement throughout the
territories; fatally shoots a mentally handicapped Palestinian who strays
too close to a Jewish settlement nr. Gaza City; denies passage to a
Palestinian who suffers a heart attack at a Nablus checkpoint, allowing him
to die; shells residential areas of Khan Yunis, cutting some electricity,
seriously injuring a 9-yr.-old girl inside her home and 6 others elsewhere;
fires on, shells residential areas of Dayr al-Balah, Tulkarm (seriously injuring
a 5-yr.-old girl); fires on residential areas nr. Rafah; conducts arrest raids,
house searches in Dayr al-Balah, Jenin; bulldozes 6 dunams of land in Bayt
Hanun. (HA, MA, REU 4/17; AFP, MENA, MNR, PSCT, VOP 4/17, AFP, ATL, HA, IRNA,
JP, LBC, MENA, MNR, al-Quds, VOP, YA 4/18 in WNC 4/20; NYT, WP, WT 4/18;
CSM, MM 4/19; ITAR-TASS 4/19 in WNC 4/21; DUS, al-Ra’i 4/19, JT 4/20 in
WNC 4/22; AYM 4/19, al-Quds, SA 4/21 in WNC 4/23; MM, PR 4/21; PCHR 4/22;
WP 4/25; MEI 4/30)
Israel announces that it has arrested 3 PFLP mbrs. for
allegedly plotting to assassinate Shas party leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
The IDF orders 27 bedouin to evacuate 3 sites nr. Tubas. Israel
also opens bidding on 50 plots of land in Elkana settlement nr. Nablus for
construction of new homes. The IDF issues military orders for the
demolition of 3 Palestinian homes, 10 wells, 6 sewage systems outside Yatta for
expansion of Carmiel settlement; resumes construction on a segment of the
separation wall n. of Jerusalem; starts construction of a settler bypass
road linking Neve Yaqub settlement to others around Jerusalem; raids Dayr
al-Balah for a 2d day, arrests 3 Palestinians who allegedly attempted to sneak
into Israel to find work; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Askar r.c.
nr. Nablus, Silwad nr. Ramallah. Jewish settlers set up 2 new
unauthorized outposts nr. Elon Moreh settlement nr. Nablus, nr. Hebron. A
Jewish settler injures a 12-yr.-old Palestinian child in a hit-and-run nr.
Bethlehem. (NYT 4/18; MM 4/19; OCHA, PR 4/20; PCHR 4/21)
Palestinians fire on IDF soldiers outside Neve Dekalim
settlement, lightly wounding 1. In Jenin, 10s of AMB mbrs. take over a
main intersection, close down a government building, demanding that the PA
provide jobs to unemployed militants, fmr. prisoners, relatives of Palestinians
killed by the IDF. Palestinian teachers open a 2-day strike to protest
PC inactivity in amending the civil service law to increase teacher salaries
(see 4/6).
1 Palestinian killed. 9 Israelis killed.
The IDF continues to shell the n. Gaza
no-go zone (killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 2) and the s. Gaza coast from land
and sea; makes an air strike on a building in Gaza City allegedly used as a
factory to make rockets, causing no injuries; reopens the Sufa and Qarni
crossings (closed on 4/13 and 4/15); sends troops into Nablus, where they fire
on Palestinian stone throwers and on residential areas, wounding at least 16
Palestinians and damaging a clearly marked AP press vehicle; conducts arrest
raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c. (arresting the father of the 4/17
suicide bomber), in Tulkarm town and r.c., and nr. Hebron, Qalqilya. Jewish
settlers fr. Elon Moreh fire on Palestinian shepherds, steal some sheep nr.
Nablus. (HA, NYT, YA 4/17; MM, NYT, WP, WT 4/18; HA, MM 4/19; PCHR 4/20; OCHA
4/23)
An Islamic Jihad suicide bomber detonates a device in a Tel Aviv deli,
killing 9 Israelis, wounding 59. Abbas condemns the attack, the deadliest since
an 8/31/04 bombing killed 16 Israelis in Beersheba and since the 2/05 cease-fire
was declared, whereas a Hamas spokesman in Gaza calls the bombing “a natural
result of the continued Israeli crimes against our people”; the U.S. says that
“the burden of responsibility for preventing terrorist attacks such as this one
rests with the Palestinian Authority.”
1 Palestinian killed.
In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Jenin, where they
ambush a car driven by AMB mbr. Ashraf Hanaysha, assassinating him, arresting 3
Palestinians traveling with him. In apparent retaliation, AMB gunmen injure 4
Jewish settlers fr. Mod’in Ilit nr. Ramallah in a drive-by shooting. The IDF
also conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Ramallah, and in ‘Aida
r.c., ‘Arub r.c., ‘Askar r.c., Balata r.c., Nablus. Jewish settlers fr. Eli fire
on Palestinian shepherds nearby to prevent them fr. grazing nr. the settlement.
A Jewish settler fr. the Bethlehem area fires on a group of Palestinian children
working in an almond grove, seriously injuring a 13-yr.-old boy with a gunshot
to the head. Jewish settlers occupying a Palestinian building in Hebron since
3/19 harass local Palestinians. (MM 4/17; NYT, OCHA 4/18; PCHR 4/19)
2 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
The IDF fires on PRC mbrs.
nr. the Gaza border nr. Jabaliya r.c., killing 1 PRC mbr. Later, the IDF
closes the Kerem Shalom crossing after fatally shooting an armed Palestinian
who approached the area; closes the Nahal Oz crossing after Palestinian snipers
fire on IDF troops there, causing no injuries. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids,
house searches in Jenin town and r.c., and nr. Bethlehem, Nablus. (OCHA 4/17; NYT,
WP 4/18; OCHA 4/23; PCHR 4/24)
In Gaza City, 1,000s of
Palestinians attend the funeral for Reuters cameraman Shana’a, killed on 4/16.
In Rafah, 1 Islamic Jihad mbr. accidentally triggers explosives kept in
his home, injuring himself, 2 bystanders. Two Hamas mbrs. die of
injuries sustained on 4/13 when explosives they were handling detonated
prematurely.
2 Palestinians killed.
A Palestinian protestor was shot dead by Israeli forces during a demonstration in Bil’in against Israel's separation wall, a military spokeswoman said. She said the army ordered "that a joint Israeli-Palestinian investigation be conducted into the circumstances of this death." Dozens of protestors were injured. (AFP, IMEMC)
A knife-wielding Palestinian infiltrated the “Beit Haggai” settlement south of Hebron and was shot dead by a settler, the Israeli military said. A military spokeswoman said the settler had been lightly injured by the knife. (DPA)
Israeli forces opened fire on members of an international solidarity NGO called Local Initiative helping farmers in the northern Gaza Strip. No one was injured. (Ma’an News Agency)
"This conflict has gone on for far too long. The people of this region should no longer have to wait for the just peace," US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell told a news conference in Ramallah after meeting PA President Abbas. "We want the Arab Peace Initiative to be a part of the effort to reach this goal… A two-State solution is the only solution," he said. Saeb Erakat, Head of the Negotiations Affairs Department of the PLO, said ahead of the talks: "The international Quartet ... demanded from us to accept a two-State solution and agreements signed, and we did, and I think the same standards should be applied to Israel," adding that failure to do so would weaken moderates and push the region further into the hands of extremists. (AP, DPA)
A Qassam rocket fired from Gaza hit an open area in southern Israel. (Haaretz)
"We cannot, we will not, and we will never recognize the enemy in any way, shape or form," senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, said in a mosque sermon broadcast on the radio, referring to Israel. (Reuters)
Palestinian Prisoners Day was marked by marches, calls to action and moments of silence in Gaza City, Bethlehem, Ramallah and other Palestinian cities as communities took to the streets to remember and honour the Palestinians in Israeli prisons. (Ma’an News Agency)
Twenty-three international NGOs accused the international community of “standing by” as “Gazans sift through the rubble,” noting that thousands “are still homeless and without basic services such as piped drinking water three months after the 18 January ceasefire.” More than “lip service to the needs of the people of Gaza” is required, the statement signed by CARE, Oxfam, Defence for Children International and others said. “If the EU does not put the brakes on the process to strengthen ties with Israel, it will be sending a dangerous signal to the world that maintaining a destructive policy of closure is acceptable,” said Martha Myers, country director of CARE West Bank and Gaza. (Ma’an News Agency)