In retaliation for the injury to a settler baby on 6/5, 100s of armed
Jewish settlers torch several Palestinian homes in Luban al-Sharqiyya and
al-Sawiya nr. Nablus. When Palestinians confront the settlers, IDF troops
fire on them with rubber-coated steel bullets, seriously wounding several.
1,000s of settlers rally in Zion Square in Jerusalem to denounce Sharon,
to demand he declare war on the Palestinians. Settlers also attack
Palestinians, foreign journalists in Hebron; place 5 caravans on Khillat al-`Ayn
hill nr. al-Khadir to establish a new settlement. The IDF confiscates 200
dunams of Palestinian land nr. Ramallah, bulldozes 1,000 olive trees in
preparation for a new settler bypass road. Israel reopens the Egypt,
Jordan border crossings to Palestinians, but not to goods; allows 2,000
Palestinians to return to their jobs in the West Bank, Gaza industrial zones on
the borders with Israel. A Palestinian, last seen on 4/4 when he was
taken into PSF custody, is found at an IDF checkpoint nr.
Bethlehem, claiming to have escaped fr. the PA General Intelligence Service
fearing he would be killed. (PMC, REU 6/6; MENA 6/6 in WNC 6/7; HA, HP, NYT, WP
6/7; MENA 6/7 in WNC 6/8; AFP [Internet], MM 6/8)
CIA Dir. Tenet meets with Mubarak in Cairo, with King
Abdallah, Burns in Amman before heading to Israel and the PA areas to
meet with Israeli, the PA officials. (MM, WP, WT 6/6; MENA 6/6 in
WNC 6/7; WP 6/7)
2 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
The IDF continues its attack on the PA's Ramallah compound, flattening
6 buildings (including an intelligence office, jail) leaving 1 Force 17 mbr.,
1 PA intelligence officer dead. Troops reportedly are "poised and ready"
to capture or kill Arafat, but pull back and out of Ramallah before dawn,
after Sharon promises Bush he will not harm the PA leader. The
IDF pulls out of Jenin, Nablus in the evening; sends tanks into Beitunia,
arrests 6 Palestinians. (AP, MM, WT 6/6; MM, NYT, WP, WT 6/7;
al-Quds 6/7 in WNC 6/10)
Mubarak meets with U.S. VP Dick Cheney, Secy. of State Colin
Powell, mbrs. of Congress. (MENA 6/6 in WNC 6/7; MENA 6/6, 6/7 in WNC 6/10;
MM, WP 6/7)
Rep. Hilliard loses a tight run-off election to a candidate backed
with $1.4 m. fr. AIPAC. (AP 6/26; MEI 7/12) (see 6/5)
A Palestinian gunman fatally shoots a Jewish
settler driving nr. Shiloh settlement.
The IDF halts an ambulance nr. Bayt Iba, arrests a Palestinian being
transported; bulldozes 2 dunams of land, conducts arrest raids s. of Khan Yunis;
fires on stone-throwing Palestinians in Bayt Furik. 1,000s of Hamas
supporters rally against the road map after Friday prayers in Gaza City,
Rafah. (HA 6/6; YA 6/6 in WNC 6/10; WP 6/7; LAW, PCHR 6/12)
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command
(PFLP-GC) fires 3 mortars at a Jewish settlement, 1 mortar at an IDF
post in Gaza, causing no injuries.
2 Palestinians killed.
The IDF blocks all branch roads leading to the main Jerusalem–Ramallah
road; fires on stone-throwing Palestinians in Qalandia r.c., fatally shooting a
wheelchair-bound Palestinian; fatally shoots a Palestinian
in a cemetery nr. Gaza’s Neve Dekalim, suspecting he might attack; fires on
residential areas of Khan Yunis (seriously wounding a Palestinian woman inside
her home), Rafah r.c.; raids Balata r.c., firing on houses, stone-throwing
youths who confront troops, injuring 4; begins work on a new segment of the
separation wall around Jerusalem nr. Salfit; conducts arrest raids in Balata
r.c., Dayr Ghassana nr. Ramallah, Nablus, Tamun nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers in Hebron raze a 1.5 dunam
Palestinian garden nr. the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs. Jewish
settlers fr. Gil’ad nr. Qalqilya fire on a herd of Palestinian sheep,
killing several; the IDF arrests 2 Palestinians who confront the settlers
in protest. An Israeli court sentences Fatah’s Barghouti to 5 life
terms plus 40 yrs. for conspiracy and membership in a “terror” organization (see
5/20). (XIN 6/6; MENA, VOI, VOP 6/6 in WNC 6/8; NYT, WP, WT 6/7; MA, VOI, VOP
6/7 in WNC 6/9; HA 6/8; PR 6/9; PCHR 6/10; MEI 6/11)
Sharon’s cabinet endorses (14-7) his revised Gaza disengagement
plan to withdraw fr. all settlements in Gaza, 4 in the West Bank in 4 stages,
each requiring cabinet approval. (HA 6/6; al-Quds 6/6, ITAR-TASS 6/7 in
WNC 6/10; NYT, WP, WT 6/7; VOI 6/7 in WNC 6/9; PR 6/9; MM 6/10; Forward
6/11)
Palestinians
detonate a roadside bomb nr. an IDF patrol in central Gaza, causing no
damage or injuries.
A group of Israelis celebrating Jerusalem Day, marking the 1967
occupation of East Jerusalem, visit the al-Aqsa Mosque compound under Israeli
police escort; outraged Palestinians at the site throw stones at
Israeli police, Jewish worshipers at the Wailing Wall; the some 3,000 police,
deployed to prevent violence on the anniversary, respond with stun grenades; no
injuries are reported. The IDF
conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bayt Hanina nr. Jerusalem, Jenin;
bulldozes at least 8 d. of agricultural land n. of Qalqilya for construction of
the separation wall. (JAZ 6/6; HA 6/7; NYT, WP 6/8; PCHR 6/9)
In response to the al-Aqsa incident, Hamas fires 4
Qassam rockets at the Negev, causing light damage or injuries.
The IDF sends bulldozers, tanks 200 m into Gaza nr. Bureij r.c. for a 2d day to
level land; steps up mock air raids over Gaza; makes an air strike on a PRC
training site outside Gaza City and 5 uninhabited sites in n. Gaza, causing no
damage or injuries; patrols in Tubas, firing on stone-throwing youths who
confront the troops, wounding 2; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and
around Jenin, nr. Hebron. (MM 6/6; MM,
OCHA, WP 6/7; PCHR 6/8)
Palestinians fire 6 rockets fr. Gaza into Sederot, hitting 1 house, lightly
wounding 1 Israeli; the IDF shells n. Gaza in response, causing no injuries. A mortar attack by suspected Hamas mbrs. on the PSF
headquarters in Gaza City wounds 4 PSF officers and 2 janitors.
2 Palestinians killed.
The IDF makes 2 air
strikes on Palestinians allegedly planting a roadside bomb nr. troops operating
in n. Gaza, killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding another. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in al-Qarara nr. Khan
Yunis. IDF UXO injures an 11-yr.-old Palestinian boy in Bayt Lahiya, 4
Palestinian children in Gaza City. In the West Bank, the IDF makes a
predawn raid on an apartment building in Hebron searching for 2 Palestinian men
who had thrown objects at their patrol, fatally shooting an innocent 75-yr.-old
Palestinian man, wounding his 66-yr.-old wife and 6 other relatives; the 2 wanted
men were later arrested elsewhere. The IDF also conducts arrest raids in
and around Nablus, and in `Aida r.c. nr. Bethlehem, Halhul nr. Hebron, Jenin, Qabatya, Tulkarm. (al-Jazeera 6/6; NYT,
PCHR, WT 6/7; OCHA 6/13; PCHR 6/14)
Hamas fires 3
mortars at the IDF post at Erez crossing in response, causing no
injuries.
Presumptive US Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama did not rule out Palestinian sovereignty over parts of
Jerusalem when he told AIPAC that Jerusalem should remain undivided, his campaign told The Jerusalem Post, clarifying
that Mr. Obama felt Jerusalem should not be "divided by barbed wire and checkpoints as it was in 1948-1967". Mr. Obama
told CNN: "Obviously it is going to be the parties to negotiate a range of these issues, and Jerusalem is part of those
negotiations … I think it is smart for us to work through a system in which everybody has access to the extraordinary
religious sites in old Jerusalem … Israel has a legitimate claim on that city." Mr. Obama added: "We have to have a
contiguous and cohesive Palestinian State that functions effectively." (AFP, The Jerusalem Post, Reuters)
The Christian Peacemaker Teams reported that the IDF had blocked the main road between Tuwani and Yatta, in the
southern West Bank. (Ma'an News Agency)
Four Qassam rockets and five mortar shells struck the western Negev. No injuries were reported, but some buildings and
cars were damaged. An Israeli soldier was wounded and a Palestinian militant killed in clashes east of Gaza City, an
IDF spokesperson said. (Haaretz)