3 Palestinians killed. 2 Israelis killed.
Although the Arafat denounces the
bombing in Gaza, Barak blames Arafat and Fatah directly, convenes his
security cabinet, and orders IDF helicopter gunships, naval vessels to
shell at least 12 buildings in Gaza City (including Arafat's Fatah and
PA headquarters, PA Preventive Security Force offices, Force 17
offices, Voice of Palestine Radio, a Palestinian TV station),
killing 2 Palestinians, injuring 125, hitting 4 private homes, and
cutting power to areas of the city. Other helicopter gunships target areas nr.
Rafah. Nr. Kefar Darom and in Ramallah, the IDF razes 10s of dunams of
Palestinian orchards along the roads so Palestinians will have "no place to
hide." A 3d Palestinian is shot dead by the IDF in the West Bank.
Jewish settlers fire on Palestinians harvesting an olive grove nr. Salfit,
injuring several Palestinians; uproot an olive grove nr. Qalqilya; fire on
Palestinian cars nr. Jinin, injuring 1. (ADM, HA, LAW, MEZ, MM 11/20; RMC 11/20
in WNC 11/21; HA, MEZ, NYT, WP, WT 11/21; Interfax, MA, XIN 11/21 in WNC 11/22;
HJ 11/21, AYM 11/22 in WNC 11/24; NYT, WP 11/22; MEI, MM 11/24; AYM 11/24 in WNC
11/29; MENL 11/29)
The State Dept. for the 1st time since 9/28 states that "Israelis
also need to understand that the excessive use of force is not the right way to
go." Special envoy Ross postpones a visit to the region set to begin
today. (NYT, WP, WT 11/21; MM 11/22)
Following the Kefar Darom attack, Shas declares it will not renew
Barak's "safety net," which it agreed to provide until the end of 11/00.
With Shas's support, Barak has survived no-confidence motions since the Knesset
reconvened on 10/30. (AFP [Internet] 11/20) (see 11/13)
Israeli-Palestinian clashes intensify when Palestinians detonate a
large roadside bomb nr. Gaza's Kefar Darom settlement as an armored school bus
escorted by IDF troops passes. 2 Jewish settlers, both adults, are killed
and 9 are wounded, including children.
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF fatally shoots 1 Palestinian nr.
Nablus. The IDF demolishes 18 Palestinian homes in a Rafah refugee
camp, claiming they were used as cover for Palestinian gunmen. The IDF
also sends troops, bulldozers into PA-controlled areas nr. Netzarim, firing
shells and heavy machine guns at residential areas and leveling over 25 acres of
land. (AP, PMC 11/20; WP, WT 11/21)
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF opens fire on stone-throwing Palestinian youths in Tulkarm,
killing a 14-yr.-old Palestinian boy; destroys a 2d Palestinian home
in Hebron; bulldozes 11 dunams of land n. of Rafah. Late in the evening, the
IDF raids Abasan and Khuza, cuts electricity, demolishes 1 Palestinian
home, fires on 3 ambulances (wounding 2 paramedics), raids the offices of
Fatah and the Prisoners Rehabilitation Center (confiscating a computer, files),
raids the fmr. offices of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (DFLP), vandalizing the vacant building. (PCHR, PM 11/20; NYT, WP
11/21; PRCS press release 11/23; PCHR 11/27)
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian who strays too close to
Netzarim settlement; bulldozes 3 dunams of land in al-Mughraqa; demolishes a
Palestinian home nr. Hebron. (VOI, YA 11/20 in WNC 11/22; PCHR 12/4)
Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb
nr. an IDF vehicle, damaging it but causing no injuries; fire on an IDF
position outside the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza, causing no damage or injuries;
fire on a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Hebron, damaging it but causing no
injuries.
3 Palestinians killed.
The IDF shells residential areas, fires on stone-throwing youths in
Nablus, killing 2 15-yr.-old Palestinian boys; fatally shoots a
mentally handicapped Palestinian who strays too close to Gaza's Netzarim
settlement; fires on residential areas of Rafah; shells, bulldozes 18 d. of land
in Wadi al-Silqa. (VOI, VOP 11/20 in WNC 11/23; WT 11/21; PCHR 11/25)
Israel partially reopens the Erez crossing into Gaza (closed on
11/18), allowing 2,000 Palestinian workers, 1,000 businessmen, and some goods to
cross per day; conducts predawn arrest raids, house searches nr. Qalqilya and in
Jenin town and r.c., Nablus. (XIN 11/20; PCHR 11/24)
4 Palestinians killed.
In Gaza, the IDF makes an air strike on a car driving in Gaza City,
assassinating Hamas mbrs. ‘Abd al-Qadir Habib, Basil Obaid, wounding 5
bystanders, including a 2-yr.-old boy; sends bulldozers into areas nr. the Sufa
crossing to demolish 2 Palestinian homes, into Khan Yunis to demolish 3
greenhouses. In the West Bank, the IDF fatally shoots a Palestinian teenager who
approaches soldiers nr. Jericho carrying a toy gun; sends undercover units into
Bethlehem, arresting a wanted Islamic Jihad mbr.; conducts arrest raids, house
searches in and around Bethlehem (sealing the Orphan Care Society in Bethlehem)
and in Abu Dis nr. East Jerusalem, Qabatya nr. Jenin. A Palestinian dies of
injuries received in a 1/5 attack on Jabaliya. (NYT, WT 11/21; OCHA 11/22; PCHR
11/23)
In Gaza, IDF bulldozers, tanks level
land at al-Qarara nr. Khan Yunis. In the
West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Tulkarm and
nr. Hebron, Jenin, Qalqilya, Ramallah. (OCHA 11/21; PCHR 11/22)
Palestinians nr. al-Bureij r.c. fire 4
mortars toward Israel, but all fall inside the Gaza border. Palestinians
nr. Rafah fire 3 mortars toward Kerem Shalom crossing, causing no damage.
In both cases, the IDF responds with heavy machine gun fire, causing no reported
damage or injuries. Palestinians detonate a roadside bomb nr. an IDF
patrol inside the Israeli border nr. Kissufim base, causing no injuries.
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF said that it had prevented a Palestinian from stabbing a female IDF soldier at the Beit Eiba checkpoint near Nablus. Another Palestinian carrying a knife was arrested at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus. Israeli military forces also arrested two Palestinians from the town of Tammun in the West Bank. (Haaretz, IMEMC, Ynetnews)
Israeli soldiers ransacked a municipal agricultural assistance office in the village of Tuqu, south of Bethlehem, and confiscated farmers' documents. (Ma'an News Agency)
Among the issues discussed during a telephone conversation between Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was an appeal to ease the Gaza Strip blockade. Israeli Government officials said that Ms. Livni made it clear that the sanctions would not stop until Palestinian militants brought to a halt their attacks on Israeli border communities. Ms. Livni demanded that the world stop ignoring attacks on Israel by Gaza militants. Her office said in a statement that she demanded that the international community stop applying a policy of ignoring acts of terror aimed at hurting innocent people. (AP, AFP)
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire said that the UN should suspend or revoke Israel's membership for ignoring a series of United Nations resolutions over the years. She told a news conference that it was time for the international community to take action against Israel. (Haaretz)
Israel reinstituted its blockade of the Gaza Strip after a brief respite to let humanitarian aid pass through. No fuel, humanitarian supplies or commercial commodities were allowed into Gaza anymore. The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, described the situation as "desperate" and "unacceptable." He said that the closure was seen as collective punishment. UNRWA announced that starting the same day, it would have to suspend cash assistance to some 98,000 of the poorest Gazans due to the lack of New Israeli Shekel banknotes in Gaza banks. (AFP, Ma'an News Agency, WAFA, Xinhua)
It was reported that the leaders of some of the world's largest media organizations – AFP, AP, Reuters, The New York Times, ABC News, BBC, CNN, CTV (Canada) and ZDF (Germany) – had filed a protest with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, criticizing the Government's decision to ban journalists from entering the Gaza Strip for the last two weeks. They stated that they were "gravely concerned about the prolonged and unprecedented denial of access to the Gaza Strip for the international media," adding that they "would welcome an assurance that access to Gaza for international journalists would be restored immediately in the spirit of Israel's long-standing commitment to a free press." Mr. Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, said that there was "no policy to prevent the media from entering Gaza, and the minute the security situation allows for the normal functioning of the crossings, journalists, like all of the others who have been inconvenienced, will be able to return to using the crossings." (Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post)
The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem released footage showing a mob of settlers clashing with Israeli security forces in Hebron. Some settlers started to attack Palestinian residents while others injured an IDF soldier by pouring turpentine on him when he tried to stop them from throwing stones at Palestinians. Settlers also scribbled blasphemous graffiti on the walls of a Mosque, broke windows and vandalized a cemetery. (BBC, Haaretz, Times Online)
PA President Abbas met with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Red Sea port of Aqaba after the King invited him for talks as part of stepped up diplomacy to avert wider bloodshed in the Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
The PLO began an unprecedented campaign to explain the Arab peace initiative to the Israeli public by placing full-page advertisements in Hebrew in four major Israeli newspapers. The advertisements described the Arab plan. "Fifty-seven Arab and Islamic countries will establish diplomatic ties and normal relations with Israel in return for a full peace agreement and an end to the occupation," the text read, under Palestinian and Israeli flags set side by side. (Reuters)
Hospital staff and witnesses stated that an explosion in the Gaza Strip had killed a member of Hamas. It was not immediately clear whether he was killed by an IDF strike or an accidental explosion. The IDF had no immediate comment. Meanwhile the IDF arrested 31 "suspected militants" south of Bethlehem. (Haaretz)
Palestinian militants fired a rocket into the western Negev as residents of Ashkelon demonstrated against the upsurge in cross-border attacks from Gaza. The rocket, which struck an open area, caused neither casualties nor property damage. (Haaretz)
The armed wing of Hamas announced that one of its fighters had been killed by Israeli tank shrapnel in the vicinity of the Nahal Oz fuel terminal east of Gaza City. (IMEMC)
The head of the Al Shifa medical centre in the Gaza Strip stated that the main facilities at the centre had stopped functioning due to a lack of fundamental equipment and tools. He said that the main power generator was not running for lack of fuel. (IMEMC)