3 Palestinians killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes continue at a high level, leaving 3
Palestinians dead; 1 Palestinian dies of injuries received earlier.
IDF helicopters shell 5 PSF targets in Jinin, Tulkarm. The IDF
also directs shells, heavy machine gun fire at residential areas of al-Azza
refugee camp, Hebron, Jinin, Khan Yunis, Nablus, Rafah. (LAW 5/19; HP, NYT,
WT 5/20; NYT 5/21; PCHR 5/24; LAW 5/25)
The Arab League convenes an FMs mtg. to discuss Israel's sharp
escalation of violence against the Palestinians on 5/18, issues a
statement calling on Arab states to halt all political contacts with Israel as
long as Israeli violence, blockages continue. (AP 5/19; MENA 5/19, JT, MENA, RMC
5/20 in WNC 5/21; NYT, WT 5/20; JT, al-Quds 5/21 in WNC 5/22; MM 5/22;
WJW 5/24; MENA 5/28 in WNC 5/30) (see Peace Monitor)
Palestinians fire
4 mortars at Gadid settlement in Gaza, causing no injuries.
2 Israelis killed.
The IDF sends tanks, APCs into Ramallah after
shots are fired at a Jewish settler driving nearby; troops withdraw to
the outskirts of the city a short time later. The IDF also makes
incursions into several villages nr. Hebron, Tulkarm; partially demolishes 2
factories, bulldozes a strip of agricultural land, 7 greenhouses nr. Qarni
crossing in Gaza; lifts a week-long 24 hr. curfew on the al-Mawasi area of Gaza.
(AP, Palestine Media Center 5/19; AFP 5/19 in WNC 5/20; NYT, WP, WT 5/20;
Interfax 5/20 in WNC 5/21; WT 5/21; LAW 5/22; JPI 5/31)
Israel releases tenders for the construction of 957 housing units in
Jewish settlements. (HA 5/19; WT 5/21)
Around 90 Peruvian converts to Judaism are airlifted to Israel
to take up residence in Alon Shvut, Karmei Tzur settlements. The Ashkenazi chief
rabbinate sent a delegation of rabbis on a 2 wk. mission to impoverished rural
areas Peru in early 5/02 to convert anyone "who said they were willing to
immigrate to Israeli immediately." (HA 7/19; WT 7/24)
The European Union (EU) says that Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Portugal, Spain have agreed to take the 13 Palestinians deported to
Cyprus on 5/10 as part of the Israeli-PA deal to end the Church of the Nativity
stand-off. (AFP, CNA 5/19 in WNC 5/20; NYT 5/20) (see Quarterly Update in JPS
124)
A Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) suicide bomber
dressed as an IDF soldier detonates a device in a Netanya market, killing 2
Israelis, wounding 50. The PFLP says the attack is to protest the
PA's continued detention of the group's leader, Ahmad Saadat, under
U.S.-British supervision in connection with the 10/01 PFLP assassination of
Tourism M Rehavam Ze'evi.
1 Palestinian killed. 2 Israelis killed.
The IDF fatally shoots a 13-yr.-old Palestinian boy in Jabaliya
r.c.; continues bulldozing land in Bayt Hanun (nearly 800 dunams have been razed
since 5/15); demolishes 1 Palestinian home in Hebron, 1 in central Gaza;
fires on a high school in Bayt Furik, wounding 1 student; conducts arrest raids
in Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah. Israeli police arrest 8 East Jerusalem Palestinians
for membership in Hamas and plotting to hijack a bus, kidnap an IDF
soldier. (HA, MM 5/19; Interfax, MENA, VOI 5/19 in WNC 5/20; HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT
5/20; HP 5/21; QA 5/21 in WNC 5/22; LAW, PCHR 5/22; MEI, NYT 5/30)
A female suicide bomber, Hiba Daraghma, detonates a device in an Afula
mall, killing 2 Israeli Jews, 1 Israeli Arab, wounding 48; the
al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AMB) and Islamic Jihad each claim
responsibility, indicating they may have jointly planned the operation. In Gaza,
a 2d Palestinian suicide bomber on a bicycle detonates a device as he
passes an IDF jeep outside Kefar Darom, lightly injuring 3 IDF soldiers. Palestinians fire 2 Qassam
rockets (1 at Sederot, 1 at a Jewish settlement in Gaza), causing no damage
or injuries.
14 Palestinians killed.
IDF expands operations in Rafah to Brazil r.c. and al-Salam
neighborhood. IDF helicopters fire 4 missiles at some 3,000 Palestinians,
mostly school children, staging a peaceful march fr. neighboring Shabura to
Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in protest against the incursion, killing at
least 8 Palestinians, wounding more than 60; Israel apologizes for the
deaths, saying “warning shots” went astray, but says Operation Rainbow will
continue. Also in Rafah, the IDF fires a missile at 5 Palestinian
gunmen, killing them all; fatally shoots a 13-yr.-old Palestinian boy
who leaves his home under curfew to get water for his family; continues
house-to-house searches; orders all Palestinian males between ages 16 and 50 to
gather in a local school, transfers them to bases at nearby Jewish settlements
for interrogation, releases most by sunset; demolishes at least 5 Palestinian
homes. In the West Bank, the IDF shells an apartment building in
Askar r.c. nr. Nablus, claiming that wanted Palestinians were hiding inside but
finding none. (HA, MM, YA 5/19; HA, MM, NYT, PCHR, REU, WP, WT 5/20; HJ,
Interfax, XIN 5/20 in WNC 5/22; CSM, MM, NYT 5/21; WP 5/25; PR 5/26; PCHR 5/27)
The IDF sends troops into `Ayn Bani Salim nr. Hebron to search 35
Palestinian homes, take a census of and photograph the families; conducts arrest
raids in Askar r.c., Balata r.c. (also firing on residential areas), Hebron,
Tulkarm. Jewish settlers
fr. Ramat Yishai severely beat a 75-yr.-old Palestinian woman in Hebron.
Jewish settlers fr. Efrat nr. Bethlehem continue to bulldoze Palestinian
land in nearby al-Khadir (see 5/18). (IMEMC, NYT, WP 5/20; PCHR 5/26)
Palestinians fire 10s of mortars, 3 rockets at
IDF, Jewish settler targets in Gaza for a 2d day and also toward Sederot,
causing light damage to an IDF base just outside Gaza and to the Qarni crossing,
but no injuries; Israel threatens sharp retaliation.
The IDF conducts major arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus
(searching a mosque, firing on residential areas, seriously wounding 1
Palestinian); also conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Ramallah.
(IMEMC, MM, WP, XIN 5/19; HA, JAZ, NYT, WP, WT 5/20; PCHR 5/25)
In
Gaza City, PA police, Fatah mbrs. exchange fire with ESF forces, leaving 2
police officers, 1 Fatah mbr., 1 Hamas mbr. wounded. Palestinian customs
officials detain Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri as he enters Gaza at the Rafah
crossing after EU monitors discover he is trying to smuggle in $815,000 in
Euros, confiscate the money; anyone entering Gaza must declare sums over $2,000.
7 Palestinians killed.
The IDF makes 7 air
strikes on Gaza, targeting 2 Hamas rocket-launching sites in n. Gaza, killing 3 Palestinian shepherds,
1 Palestinian child; hitting a car driving in
Gaza City, assassinating Hamas Muhiy al-Din al-Sirhi, also killing 2 civilians traveling with him;
destroying the Gaza City home of Hamas
mbr. Imad Dallul in an apparent assassination attempt, wounding him and 3 other
Hamas mbrs.; destroying 4 alleged weapons factories in Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya, and Nussayrat r.c., damaging nearby
homes. The IDF also shells residential
areas in Bayt Hanun, injuring a Palestinian woman, 4 children. In Gaza City, 3 Palestinians are injured by IDF
UXO; 3 Hamas mbrs. are injured when
explosives they are handling detonate prematurely. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in, fires on residential areas of Nablus. Jewish
settlers fr. Tel Rumeida in Hebron beat 2 international peace activists escorting Palestinian children nr. Beit
Hadasah
settlement. Jewish settlers fr. Itamar nr. Nablus burn Palestinian olive
trees in nearby Bayt Furik. (NYT, WP 5/20; PCHR 5/21; OCHA 5/23; PCHR 5/24)
Hamas fires an RPG at
an IDF bulldozer leveling land along the Gaza border fence, injuring 2 IDF soldiers; fires 5 rockets fr. Gaza
into Israel, starting a brush fire
but causing no injuries.
Meanwhile, at least 6 Palestinians are wounded in
factional fighting in Gaza that includes a gun fight btwn. ESF and NSF mbrs. in Gaza City, a Hamas
attack on a PSF base in Rafah, and Fatah’s kidnapping and malicious wounding of 2 Hamas mbrs. in Gaza
City. NSF officers manning several checkpoints reportedly harass observant Muslims, ordering women to remove
their head coverings and arresting bearded men on suspicion of being
Hamas mbrs., raising public outrage against Fatah. Another Egyptian-brokered cease-fire
(involving 3 phone conversations btwn. Abbas, Damascus-based Hamas
leader Khalid Mishal) that was to go into effect at 3:00 p.m. local
time is ignored by Hamas and Fatah.
1 Palestinian killed.
Israeli forces arrested 25 Palestinians in Ramallah, Jenin, Qalqilya and a village near Nablus, PA security sources said. (Xinhua)
The IDF announced that they had killed an armed Palestinian man at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus, who they said was pacing back and forth at the checkpoint and who had an object that appeared to be an explosives belt strapped to his body. When he lowered his hands suddenly toward the explosives, the IDF troops fired at him. A taxi driver who witnessed the scene stated that the troops had asked him to lift his shirt and raise his arms and they then shot him. It was reported that an IDF investigation revealed that the youth had been carrying three pipe bombs which were later detonated by the army. A Palestinian security source indicated that the person in question was 16-year-old Fahmi Dardouk from Nablus. (Haaretz, Ma'an News Agency, The Jerusalem Post)
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak will discuss the Gaza Strip ceasefire with Egyptian President Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh, and is set to tell him and Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman that Israel is prepared to stop its military activities in Gaza if Hamas stopped firing rockets at Israel. Israel will also try to get Egypt to step up efforts to stop weapons smuggling. Mr. Barak is also expected to say that Israel would lift the blockade only if progress is made on talks aimed at releasing captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Israel had eased criteria for the release of prisoners with "blood on their hands," Israeli security sources said, and the gap on the prisoner swap was slightly smaller than it had been a few months ago. (AP, Haaretz)
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni suggested, during talks with the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, that Israel and the Palestinians were not likely to reach an agreement on the core issues in 2008. Ms. Livni said, "The time frame in which an agreement will be reached is important, but its contents are even more important. Strict timetables may create expectations, disappointment and violence. As a lesson from the past, we must give the sides the room and the time to reach an agreement. We also know that agreements that lack in clarity only perpetuate the conflict, not bring it to an end." (Haaretz)
Israel's Vice Premier Haim Ramon told a Kadima faction meeting: "We are conducting negotiations with Hamas in contrast to the Government's decision, which has determined that it will only be possible to deal with Hamas after it accepts the conditions of the Quartet." (The Jerusalem Post)
Israeli authorities allowed a small shipment of fuel into the Gaza Strip, according to Ahmad Ali, the head of the Palestinian Oil Corporation Gaza. "The Israelis shipped two truckloads of cooking gas and two others of industrial diesel for running the power generating station. No benzene [gasoline] or ordinary diesel was shipped," he said. He explained that the power plant consumed between 500,000 and 600,000 litres of diesel fuel per day, and Israel was allowing just two million per week. (Ma'an News Agency)
France had had informal contacts with Hamas, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said, confirming a report in the daily Le Figaro that quoted a retired French diplomat as saying he had met with Hamas leaders Mahmoud Al-Zahhar and Ismail Haniyeh a month ago. "These are not relations, they are contacts. We must be able to talk if we want to play a role," the Minister said, adding that Hamas was "more flexible than before" but for the moment did not recognize the State of Israel. Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip Sami Abu Zuhri confirmed the contacts with France, adding that other European countries had also spoken to Hamas. (AP, Ynetnews)
Two Palestinians were injured when IDF soldiers fired at them in Hebron, causing moderate injuries, Palestinian security sources said. Meanwhile, Israeli troops arrested nine Palestinians in different cities of the West Bank including Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah. (WAFA)
Israeli warplanes bombed a Hamas security outpost and tunnels by the Gaza border with Egypt, after a rocket fired from Gaza damaged a home in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, causing no injury. Palestinian medics said a woman in Gaza had suffered moderate wounds from one of several air strikes against tunnels. Another raid targeted a Hamas outpost near a border fence with Israel, a Hamas source said. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the air raids, saying Israel had targeted four border tunnels and two sites in Gaza where weapons were produced, in response to rocket and mortar fire aimed at Israel from Gaza. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers shot and injured two Palestinians in the village of Al-Ramadin who were attempting to cross into Israel to go to work. Israeli troops also seized five Palestinians during overnight raids in the Hebron area. (Ma’an News Agency)
After Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu met with members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Committee’s Chairman, Senator John Kerry, told reporters: “I re-emphasized to the Prime Minister the importance of Israel moving forward especially in respect to the settlements issue. … We also emphasized that this is not a one way street and the burden is not only on Israel to take all the steps.” (AFP)
During a meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said that there would be no chance of engaging in a peace process while Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip, adding that the group had maintained quiet in Gaza in order to rebuild its strength. He also said that Egypt was making significant efforts and progress in order to thwart smuggling from Sinai to the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz)
Israeli settlers from the “Gilad” outpost set fire to large areas of wheat fields and olive groves in the villages of Jit and Far’ata east of Qalqilya before fire fighters arrived and extinguished the blaze. Local residents said Israeli soldiers also attacked farmers, leaving many of them bruised. IDF soldiers also seized 15-year-old Murad Yamin. (Ma’an News Agency)
Dani Dayan, chairman of the settlers' umbrella organisation Yesha shrugged off US President Obama's call for Israel to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank, saying Palestinians needed to "halt terror first". He said, "The Israeli electorate set a clear line for this Government ... we have strong support in the new Knesset and the things we hear among politicians certainly encourage us that if Netanyahu [halts settlement building] the Knesset will stand at our side. (Reuters)
The official spokesman of the PA Presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said, "We are encouraged by the statements and the attitude of US President Obama and by his commitment to a Palestinian State." Hamas' spokesperson in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, said that his group was disappointed in US President Obama’s position during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House. "The goal of [President] Obama’s stance during the meeting with Netanyahu is to mislead global public opinion and to ensure the continuation of Israel's existence as a racist State,” Mr. Barhoum was quoted as saying by Israel’s Army Radio. (Haaretz)
PA President Abbas swore in a new Government comprised mainly of members of Fatah without representation of Hamas. Salam Fayyad would retain his position as Prime Minister. In Gaza, Hamas official Mushir al-Masri rejected the new Cabinet, saying, “This Government is illegal, unconstitutional.” Mr. Abbas has said the new Government would step down if a power-sharing deal was reached. (AP, Ma’an News Agency)
PA Intelligence Chief Majed Faraj said Hamas had rejected an Egyptian proposal for a joint Gaza security force with Fatah during recent talks. Mr. Faraj also said Hamas refused to accept the return of PA officials to Gaza who had fled the Hamas takeover in June 2007. He said that Hamas wanted to enter the West Bank but rejected any role for Fatah in ruling the Gaza Strip. He explained that there was also a disagreement on electoral reform, where Fatah suggested that 85 per cent of the Palestinian Legislative Council would be elected through proportional representation and 15 per cent by individual constituencies, while Hamas wanted a 60/40 and Egypt a 75/25 percentage ratio. (Ma’an News Agency)
At its meeting, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People unanimously adopted a statement on the situation in Occupied East Jerusalem, expressing its utmost concern about “illegal and provocative Israeli policies” and other measures in the city, including destruction of Palestinian homes and imposition of restrictions on movement. In the statement, the Committee reiterated that Israel must refrain from any activities that changed the legal, demographic and cultural character and status of the city, “the capital of a future Palestinian State.” Further in the statement, the Committee said the question of Jerusalem was a key aspect of the question of Palestine and one of the six core issues for the permanent status negotiations. While calling on Israel to refrain from its illegal activities, the Committee said Israel must “scrupulously abide by its obligations as an occupying Power, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.” Stressing its strong belief that actions purporting to change or alter East Jerusalem’s status or character were provocative and predetermine the outcome of permanent status negotiations, the Committee called on the Security Council to live up to its Charter obligations by upholding its own resolutions that continued to go unimplemented. (UN News Centre, UN press release GA/PAL/1125)