The UN admits that it has misled Israel about the existence of
a video tape filmed by UNIFIL 1 day after the 10/7/00 abduction of 3 IDF
soldiers in Shaba` Farms, which might provide clues to where the soldiers are
being held; says it will give Israel the tape but will blur the faces of
Hizballah mbrs., since its mandate bars it fr. providing either side with
military intelligence. Israel, Lebanon, Hizballah all protest. (WP, WT 7/7; WT
7/8; MM 7/9; MA 7/9 in WNC 7/10; MEI 7/13, 7/27) (see Peace monitor)
3 Palestinians killed.
IDF soldiers fire on a taxi nr. Netzarim Junction,
killing a Palestinian woman, child; the IDF says soldiers fired at
"suspicious silhouettes" in the car. In Ramallah, the IDF fires tear gas
at Palestinians who mistakenly believe the curfew has been lifted; an elderly
Palestinian, overcome by tear gas, dies. The IDF positions tanks,
snipers around Jenin hospital. The IDF bulldozes 4 bedouin homes
in the Negev. (GS, UPI, UPMRC 7/6; WP 7/7; DUS 7/7 in WNC 7/8; NYT 7/8; LAW,
PCHR 7/10; MEI 7/12)
Israel approves the entry to Israel of 1,500
Palestinian workers, 1,500 Palestinian merchants fr. the Bethlehem area. The
Israeli cabinet votes (13-9, with 1 abstention) to release some 300
Palestinian prisoners in the coming days; most will be administrative
detainees who are children under age 18 or women over 60; none will be mbrs. of
Hamas, Islamic Jihad; each prisoner’s case will be reviewed by a
monitoring comm. The PA says that the release would be too small to
generate support for Abbas. Meanwhile, the IDF halts, searches an ambulance
at a checkpoint nr. Qalqilya, arrests a seriously ill Palestinian patient
being transported to the hospital for emergency surgery. (MM, NYT 7/7; VOI 7/7,
HJ 7/9 in WNC 7/11; NYT 7/8; AYM 7/8 in WNC 7/10; PR 7/9; PCHR, WJW 7/10; MEI,
PRCS 7/11; JPI 7/18)
Mofaz holds what he describes as “very
positive” talks with Dahlan regarding further transfers of cities to PA
control. Dahlan warns that if Israel blanketly excludes all prisoners fr.
Palestinian opposition groups fr. release, it would undermine Abbas.
Mofaz reportedly says that Israel agrees in principle to the PA rebuilding,
reopening Gaza airport.
In Gaza City, PA workers begin whitewashing graffiti praising
Palestinian militants as part of the road map’s requirements to halt incitement.
The PA announces that as of 7/7 it will ban the firing of guns at wedding
celebrations, confiscating guns of violators; will begin inspecting cars for
licenses and ownership, reportedly in an effort to confiscate and return
vehicles stolen fr. Israel.
5 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
In continuing operations in Nablus, the IDF makes a predawn raid on a
residential building, orders residents to evacuate, and immediately shoots the
1st 2 Palestinians who emerge—a Nablus University professor and his
16-yr.-old son—in an apparent botched assassination attempt. Later during the
same maneuver, the IDF fatally shoots PFLP West Bank military cmdr.
Yamun Faraj, senior PFLP cmdr. Amjad Hanani in an exchange of
gunfire, in which an IDF officer is also killed, 3 IDF soldiers are
wounded. In nearby Balata r.c., wanted Palestinian Wail Araysha is killed
in a mysterious explosion in his car. In Bayt Hanun, the IDF
bulldozes at least 400 dunams of citrus trees, 1 Palestinian home, part
of a cement factory; fires on stone-throwing youths; conducts arrest raids. The
IDF also demolishes 4 Palestinian homes and a shop in Brazil r.c.,
1 home in Wadi al-Silqa; conducts arrest raids in and around Bethlehem, Hebron,
Ramallah; fires on residential areas of Rafah. (HA, PCHR, WT 7/6; VOI, VOP 7/6,
7/7 in WNC 7/9; NYT, PR, WP 7/7; PCHR 7/8; MEI 7/9; HA 7/23; PR 8/4)
In Gaza, 2 armed Palestinians open
fire on, throw grenades at an IDF jeep, wounding 2 IDF soldiers; the
soldiers return fire, killing both Palestinians.
2 Palestinians killed.
The IDF fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, wounding an
8-yr.-old Palestinian; demolishes 5 Palestinian homes outside Nablus that
were built without permits; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around
Hebron. IDF soldiers escorting Jewish settlers to Joseph's Tomb
nr. Balata r.c. exchange gunfire with local Palestinians, leaving 1 AMB mbr.
dead, 1 AMB mbr. and 1 bystander wounded. In Gaza, a Jewish settler injures 3 Palestinians in a
hit-and-run incident outside of Kefar Darom, local Palestinians race to the
scene and IDF soldiers, other Kefar Darom settlers race to the driver's defense,
sparking clashes that leave 9 Palestinians injured, 2 seriously. In a separate
incident in Gaza, a Jewish settler fr. Gadid injures a 57-yr.-old
Palestinian farmer in a hit-and-run incident outside Khan Yunis. (XIN 7/6; VOP
7/6 in WNC 7/7; AFP, IMEMC, PCHR, PRCS 7/7; VOI 7/7 in WNC 7/8; ISM 7/12; OCHA
7/13; PCHR 7/14)
In Gaza, 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs.
attempt to infiltrate Morag settlement, 1 is fatally shot by the IDF, 1 is
wounded.
26 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
Overnight and during the day, the IDF continues to expand its presence in n.
Gaza, entering populated areas for the 1st time since disengagement, meeting
strong resistance fr. Palestinians, who use RPGs, rifles, roadside bombs and
fire 8 rockets toward Israel (only 4 land inside Israel, causing no damage or
injuries). The IDF uses air strikes, artillery, tanks, and gunfire as well as
bulldozes fields, roads, and open areas to widen the n. Gaza buffer zone; the
clashes, mostly concentrated in Bayt Lahiya but also in s. Gaza, leave at least
24 Palestinians (many reportedly Hamas mbrs., but also including at least 2
children), 1 IDF soldier (hit by friendly fire) dead and wound some 80
Palestinians (nearly a third of them children), 1 IDF soldier. The IDF also
bulldozes areas around Khan Yunis, demolishing 3 Palestinian homes; opens Erez
and Qarni crossings for several hrs. for the movement of international aid
workers, humanitarian goods. Palestinian gunmen also fire on an al-Jazeera TV
car in Bayt Ha- nun, believing it to be an IDF undercover unit, wounding the
driver, 1 journalist. In the West Bank, the IDF sends undercover units into a
memorial service in Jenin r.c. for an AMB mbr. killed on 7/5, attempts to
assassinate the AMB’s n. West Bank cmdr. Zakariya Zubaydi and local Islamic
Jihad leader Mahmud al-Sadi, fatally shooting 2 Palestinian teenagers, wounding
18; Sadi, Zubaydi escape. The IDF also raids an Islamic charity nr. Hebron;
demolishes a Palestinian home nr. Jerusalem; patrols in ‘Anabta nr. Tulkarm;
conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus, nr. Hebron and Qalqilya; issues
military orders confiscating 45 d. of land along settler bypass road 60 nr.
Hebron for construction of a military base nr. the separation wall. Jewish
settlers fr. Suissa set fire to a Palestinian home; the IDF prevents
firefighters fr. reaching the area. Israeli police arrest 5 senior Hamas mbrs.
in East Jerusalem for illegally helping Change and Reform PC mbrs. conduct Hamas
affairs in the city. (IMEMC, OCHA, NYT, WT, YA 7/6; NYT, PCHR, WP, WT, YA 7/7;
HA, NYT, WP 7/8; PCHR 7/13)
IDF troops operating in
n. Gaza nr. Bayt Hanun capture 8 rocket launchers and rockets. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids,
house searches in Balata r.c., Jenin town and r.c., Nablus; fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear
gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists holding weekly nonviolent
demonstrations against the separation wall in Bil`in, injuring 3. (NYT 7/7; OCHA 7/11; PCHR 7/12)
In Gaza City, ESF, Islamic Jihad
mbrs. exchange fire, causing no injuries.
Israel completed a series of tests in the short-range missile defence system it is currently developing as part of the
project code-named "Iron Dome." Defence sources estimate that by the end of 2008 "Iron Dome" would be ready to undergo
a major test that will evaluate the system's ability to intercept a Qassam rocket. (Haaretz)
An Israeli court sentenced to two life sentences and an additional eight-year sentence Gaza Strip resident Sharif
Ziyada, who was convicted of attempting to bring Qassam rocket manufacturing to the West Bank. (Ynetnews)
Israel reopened the crossings into the Gaza Strip, except the Karni crossing, which Israel said was undergoing
renovations. (AP)
"Israel would be playing with fire in case it carries out any military action against Gaza," said Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas
spokesman in Gaza, adding, "The occupation should think carefully before carrying out such an action." (Xinhua)
Medical sources said that 13 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the village of Bi'lin. The sources added
that confrontations had erupted between the IDF and demonstrators protesting against the construction of the separation
wall on their lands. Local sources said the troops also arrested three Palestinians in the village. (WAFA)
PA President Abbas discussed Arab efforts to help end the rift between Hamas and Fatah, as well as the peace process
and Syria-Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who stressed "the
need to exert every effort to achieve unity among Palestinian ranks as the sole means to recover their rights, notably
the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with Jerusalem as capital." The Secretary-General of the
Executive Committee of the PLO, Yasser Abed Rabbo, told Reuters, "President Abbas will not meet Hamas Political Bureau
Chief [Khaled] Mashaal in Damascus or anywhere else before Hamas commits to end its coup in Gaza." (AFP, Ma'an News
Agency, Reuters, SANA, WAFA)
The Israeli Government had been using a system of grants and tax incentives to encourage Israelis to live in the settlements. First-time home buyers could receive a bigger mortgage if they moved to settlements such as “Itamar” and “Elion Moreh” than if they moved to the Israeli town of Ashkelon, according to the Israeli Construction and Housing Ministry. (The Jerusalem Post)
A number of Israeli settlers burnt more than 10 dunums of Palestinian land south of Nablus, including olive crops. (Ma’an News Agency)
In a press release the European Commission said that Israel’s expropriation of fertile land for settlements, roads for settlers and checkpoints contributed to strangling the Palestinian economy and made the Palestinian Government more dependent on foreign aid. “It is the European taxpayers who pay most of the price of this dependence,” the statement said. (www.ec.europa.eu)
The American Muslims for Palestine said in a statement that Israel had allowed a former US congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney, to return home days after detaining her and other activists on 30 June on board a ship carrying relief supplies for Gaza. (Reuters)
Israeli forces deported six British nationals from the Free Gaza Movement detained for attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. The humanitarian workers were expected to hold a press conference. (AP)
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on the first leg of a regional tour in Israel that an Israeli refusal to halt settlement building would hobble fresh hopes for the Middle East peace process. Mr. Steinmeier said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that a new US initiative to press for a two-State solution presented a unique opportunity the region could not afford to squander. “Everyone knows, without a stop to settlement building there will be no decisive progress in the peace process,” he told reporters. He also met with President Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, as well as senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat. (AFP, www.auswaertiges-amt.de)
During a meeting with US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell in London, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said, “Israel is committed to evacuating the 23 illegal outposts within weeks or months.” Mr. Barak’s entourage said progress had been made during the meeting on several issues, including clarifying the status of construction in existing settlements and Israel’s willingness to enter negotiations with the Palestinians and other Arab nations in exchange for a normalization of relations. “I think there is progress. There’s still a way to go,” Mr. Barak said, adding that he expected no imminent announcement on settlement building. (Ynetnews)
In Geneva, the Human Rights Council-mandated Independent Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict had resumed its hearings. It heard the accounts of the Israeli victims of Qassam rocket fire. In addition, Noam Shalit, father of captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit appeared before the panel. He blamed Hamas for the “violent abduction” and “continued detention” of his son and said that Gilad's capture was “a violation of international law.” (AP, The Jerusalem Post)