3 Palestinians killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes continue for the 13th
straight day, leaving 3 Palestinians dead, 185 injured. The most severe
exchanges are outside Nablus, where a mosque is torched, allegedly by Jewish
settlers, and Palestinians throw stones a funeral procession for a
Jewish settler. IDF troops and helicopters escorting the funeral
procession respond with gunfire, call in extra attack helicopters, tanks. The
riot degenerates into a gunfight btwn. the PA police and IDF and
armed Jewish settlers. The IDF also deploys attack helicopters against
Palestinian gunmen nr. Bethlehem. In Hebron, 1 IDF soldier is shot, seriously
wounded. Israeli border police prevent an ambulance fr. taking 4
seriously wounded Palestinians into Jordan for treatment. (ADM, LAW, REU
10/11; CSM, MM, NYT, WP, WT 10/12; JT 10/12 in WNC 10/16; JT 11/9 in WNC 11/13)
Barak, Dep. DM Sneh present the Knesset Foreign
Affairs and Defense Comm. with a detailed "disengagement plan" to be implemented
if Israel determines that the peace process has totally collapsed. (MM, YA
10/12) (see Peace Monitor)
International mediation efforts continue. UN Sec.-Gen.
Annan extends his stay in Israel to meet again with Arafat, Barak.
British FM Robin Cook, Russian FM Ivanov, the EU's Solana,
Norwegian FM Thorbjoern Jagland also meet with Barak, Arafat. Solana then
holds talks with Mubarak in Cairo, King Abdallah in Amman. Russian
FM Ivanov goes to Damascus to meet with Syrian pres. Asad, FM
Shara`. Mubarak phones Arafat, King Abdallah; receives calls fr. Annan,
Turkish pres. Ahmet Necdet Sezer. (Interfax, ITAR-TASS, LPA, MENA 10/11 in
WNC 10/12; MENA 10/11, ATL, LPA, al-Safir 10/12 in WNC 10/13; WP, WT
10/12)
In Ramallah, 1,000s of Palestinians take part in a
candle-light vigil calling for a halt to the violence. In the U.S.,
rallies in solidarity with the Palestinians are held in Kalamazoo, New
York. (ADM, LAW, REU 10/11)
1 Palestinian killed.
Senior Hamas mbr. Mustafa Rawajba is found dead in the West Bank. The
IDF issues a statement that Rawajba was "killed . . . while trying to plant
an explosive charge," raising speculation that he was assassinated. The IDF
conducts arrests raids in Hizma. (NYT, WP, WT 10/12; LAW 10/17)
In a briefing on the strikes on Afghanistan, Bush reiterates his
support for creation of a Palestinian state, the boundaries of which
would be negotiated, as long as it would recognize the right of Israel to
exist; says he would meet with Arafat if he believed it would further the
peace process; says "the world ought to applaud" Arafat for cracking down on
"radical elements" as he did on 10/8. (NYT, WP, WT 10/12; MA 10/14 in WNC 10/15;
MENA 10/22 in WNC 10/23)
The PSF
releases the last Palestinians detained during Gaza protests on 10/8.
2 Palestinians killed.
1 Palestinian dies of injuries received on 9/30. The IDF fatally shoots
a Palestinian in her home in Nablus, shells residential areas of Bayt
Hanun. Israel bars access to al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers to
Palestinians under age 40. Jewish settlers retake the only
inhabited settler outpost removed by the IDF on 10/10; the IDF
says it has shut 17 of 24 unauthorized outposts it aims to close. (HA, MM 10/11;
NYT, WP 10/12; WT 10/13; MM 10/14; LAW, PCHR, PR 10/16)
Some 5,000 Christian evangelicals hold a rally in solidarity with
Israel on the sidelines of a Christian Coalition conference in Washington.
Addressing the rally, Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson states
that "Palestine has been occupied by Yasir Arafat and his thugs . . . [and] we
cannot turn it over to them." House majority whip Tom DeLay (R-TX)
declares that when he visited the Jewish state, "I didn't see any occupied
territory--what I saw was Israel." (WJW 10/17; JPI 10/25; Guardian10/28)
Senate passes (77-23) a concurrent res. approved by the House
(296-133) on 10/10 giving Bush the authority to strike Iraq
unilaterally, meaning he needs no further congressional approval to deploy
troops, order air strikes, wage a ground war with Iraq. The Pentagon
issues orders for the army's V Corps, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force to deploy
headquarters staffs, which would coordinate an attack on Iraq, to Kuwait,
marking the 1st official nonroutine dispatch of conventional ground forces to
the Gulf. (NYT, WP, WT 10/11; NYT 10/12)
Israeli security forces guarding the U.S. emb. in Tel Aviv capture
a Palestinian suicide bomber when he bolts fr. the entrance of a nearby
café after his explosives belt set off a metal detector; no one is injured.
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF continues Operation Root Canal in Rafah, killing 1 armed
Palestinian, wounding at least 5, demolishing at least 42 Palestinian
homes, uncovering a 3d tunnel; local Palestinians report that the IDF has
ordered those in the “front-line area” to evacuate their homes. The IDF
also destroys 3 wells in Bayt Hanun; the 4 wells demolished in the past 2 days
were among 8 previously destroyed by the IDF, reconstructed 2 mos. ago with
Israeli permission and USAID financing ($40,000/well); the U.S.
reportedly threatens to stop reconstruction work unless Israel guarantees not to
demolish its projects. (HA, NYT, WP, WT 10/12; PCHR 10/16;
Independent 11/5)
Palestinians fire 3 mortars at Gush Katif,
damaging 1 home, causing no injuries.
2 Palestinians killed.
In n. Gaza, the IDF shells residential areas of Jabaliya; expands its
incursion into Bayt Lahiya, killing 1 armed Palestinian in an air strike,
directing heavy machine gun fire at residential areas, occupying several
Palestinian homes. Elsewhere in Gaza, the IDF makes a 3d attempt (see
8/26) to assassinate Islamic Jihad military cmdr. Muhammad Khalil, firing
a missile at his home in Rafah, wounding 4 bystanders; exchanges gunfire with
armed Palestinians in Dayr al-Balah, killing 1 Palestinian; fires on
residential areas in Khan Yunis. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a
Palestinian home, conducts arrest raids, fires on stone-throwing youths
in Nablus. Armed Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar attack Palestinians
harvesting their olive groves in Asira, shooting and wounding 1 Palestinian,
scuffling with others until the IDF separates the sides. (HA, MEZ, XIN
10/11; VOI, VOP 10/11 in WNC 10/13; NYT 10/12; PR 10/13; PCHR 10/14)
The IDF allows the PA to open the Rafah crossing for 48 hrs. to
allow Palestinians making the hajj to leave for Saudi Arabia. (AFP, XIN 10/11; PCHR 10/13; OCHA 10/31)
AMB mbrs.
working in the PA security forces in Tulkarm quit their security jobs in protest
over the PA's decision to suspend paying some of them without
explanation.
1 Palestinian killed.
In an air strike, the IDF destroys the Gaza City home of PC mbr. Mariam
Farhat (Change and Reform), warning residents in advance to evacuate, claiming
the home was used to store weapons; in a late-night air strike, the IDF destroys
3 Palestinian homes in Jabaliya r.c. after warning residents to leave; makes an
air strike destroying a PA security office nr. Jabaliya after warning occupants
to leave; fatally shoots a Palestinian who sneaks across the Gaza border into
Israel, claims he was wearing an explosive belt. In the West Bank, the IDF makes
a predawn raid on Nablus, fatally shooting wanted Palestinian Abdallah Mansur in
what may be an assassination; sends undercover units into Jenin r.c., in a car
with Palestinian license plates, surrounding a home, interrogating the
residents, firing live ammunition at stone-throwing youths who confront them
(wounding 2), making no arrests; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr.
Bethlehem, Hebron, Qalqilya. Jewish settlers march through
Hebron, stone Palestinian homes. A Palestinian dies of injuries sustained in
Hamas-Fatah clashes in Khan Yunis in 8/06. (REU 10/11; NYT, PCHR 10/12; OCHA
10/18; PCHR 10/19)
In Nablus, a previously unknown group calling
itself Ansar al-Sunna (the same name as a group that operates in Iraq, though
there is no known connection) kidnaps, holds for several hrs. an American
English teacher working for a pro-Palestinian charity, demanding the immediate
release of Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons, saying it
aims to confront the U.S. war on Islam; releases him unharmed and
unconditionally after local officials intervene.
2 Palestinians killed.
Overnight in Gaza, the IDF sends
troops into Dayr al-Balah and al-Maghazi r.c., conducting arrest raids and
house searches, bulldozing at least 55 d. of olive and citrus groves, firing on residential areas, killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 3, withdrawing by evening.
During the day, the IDF bulldozes 150 d. of citrus and olive groves, 2 greenhouses, 270 beehives e. of Bayt Hanun. In Bureij r.c., 2 Hamas mbrs. are injured
when explosives they are handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into Jenin in a vehicle with Palestinian
license plates to ambush and assassinate AMB mbr. Muhammad Abu Sorour, also shooting, wounding, and arresting AMB mbr. Hilal al-Sa`di, who is traveling with him; conducts
arrest raids, house searches in al-Bireh, nr. Bethlehem and Nablus; demolishes
the single shanty-like structure comprising the Netzer unauthorized settlement
outpost nr. Bethlehem (which has been removed by the IDF and rebuilt by
settlers several times since its 1st incarnation in 2005). In `Azun nr.
Qalqilya, the IDF deliberately fires on the main electricity transformer, cutting power to the village; bulldozes 7 d. of Palestinian crops; issues military orders confiscating
390 d. of Palestinian land for construction of the separation wall. A Jewish
settler fr. Kiryat Arba injures a 2-yr.-old Palestinian girl in a
deliberate hit-and-run. (NYT 10/12; OCHA 10/17; PCHR 10/18)
Some 700 Fatah mbrs. in al-Maghazi r.c. hold a
rally commemorating local Palestinians killed in the 6/07 clashes with Hamas.
Israeli forces shot and wounded two Palestinians and arrested six in Hebron. (WAFA)
Palestinian farmers said that they were attacked by Israeli settlers while trying to pick olives near the "Yitzhar" settlement. Ali Eid, mayor of the nearby village of Burin near "Yitzhar," said that the two sides had fought with sticks and stones and two farmers and one settler had been lightly hurt. (AP)