1 Palestinian killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes
continue at a lower level, leaving 1 Palestinian dead. (AFP [Internet]
4/26; LAW 5/4)
The
Israeli daily Ha'Aretz reports that last wk., Israel issued 2,000
eviction notices to bedouins living in unrecognized villages in
the Negev, saying their homes are located in a closed military area. (HA 4/26)
1,000s
of Israeli Arabs
take part in right of return marches to their destroyed villages to protest
Israel's "independence" day celebrations. (al-Awda news group 4/27)
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF raids Qalqilya, killing (possibly assassinating) local PFLP
leader Ra'id Nazil, detaining 16 Palestinians. The IDF also conducts arrest
raids into Jenin and Nablus, arresting 26 Palestinians. In Bethlehem, IDF
snipers again fire on the Church of the Nativity, seriously injuring
2 Palestinians, who are evacuated for treatment; 4 PSF officers surrender to the
IDF. The IDF detains without explanation
Agence France-Presse's (AFP) Palestinian photographer Hossam Abu Alan.
(AFP, HA, MM, REU 4/26; NYT, WP, WT 4/27; al-Quds 4/27 in WNC 4/29; WP
5/4)
In Ramallah, 100s of Palestinians demonstrate outside the PA compound
against Arafat's confinement, clash with the IDF, leaving 11 injured. In Gaza,
15,000 Palestinians attend a Hamas rally calling fo the
continuation of the armed intifada.
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF opens fire on stone-throwing Palestinians outside Balata r.c.,
wounding 5; bulldozes 40 dunams of land in Abasan, 32 dunams in Khuza, 29 dunams
in al-Qarara; blows up 1 Palestinian home in Qalqilya; conducts arrest
raids in Khan Yunis. A Palestinian dies of injuries received on 4/19.
International aid workers in Gaza report that the IDF is requiring them to
undergo additional security checks on entering and leaving Gaza, causing new
delays. (HA 4/26; LAW, PCHR 5/1; AIDA 5/12)
5 Palestinians killed.
The IDF fatally shoots a mentally handicapped girl who strays
too close to a Jewish settlement in Gaza; fires on a group of Palestinian
children who pass too near an IDF position outside Nisanit settlement, killing a
15-yr.-old Palestinian boy; shells residential areas of Khan Yunis;
conducts house searches in Shaykh Ajlin nr. Gaza City. In Maghazi r.c., 3
Palestinians die when a rocket they are preparing explodes prematurely. Late
in the evening, the IDF raids Tulkarm r.c., sparking an armed exchange
with local AMB mbrs. that leaves 2 AMB mbrs. dead, 4 bystanders and 1 AMB
mbr. wounded. A 14-yr.-old Palestinian dies of injuries received in a
3/18 IDF raid nr. Ramallah. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’on burn 35 dunams of
Palestinian crops and a tractor in Yatta; bar fire trucks fr. reaching the
scene. Jewish settlers fr. Metaniel also burn 15 dunams of olive and
almond groves in Sammu` village outside Hebron. (VOP 4/26 in WNC 4/28; MM, WT
4/27; PR 4/28; PCHR 4/29)
The IDF closes for 48 hrs. the 2 main checkpoints on the primary
north–south Gaza road; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Araba, Hebron.
Jewish settlers severely beat 3
Palestinians in Hebron. (MA, VOP 4/27 in WNC 4/28; PCHR 4/28, 5/5)
Syria reports that its last troops, intelligence forces have
withdraw fr. Lebanon. (MM, NYT, WP 4/26; MM, NYT, WP, WT 4/27; see also
NYT, WP 4/25; MEI 4/29)
Palestinians fire 2 Qassam rockets at Sederot and the Negev,
causing no damage or injuries.
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF closes the Qarni crossing; conducts arrest raids, house searches in
and around Nablus and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin (fatally shooting a
Palestinian gunman), Ramallah (searching the home of Change and Reform PC mbr.
Ahmad ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Malik). (IMEMC, REU 4/26; NYT, PCHR, WP 4/27; IFM,
XIN 5/1; OCHA 5/3; PCHR 5/4)
PA security forces at Gaza’s Qarni crossing prevent
2 Palestinian vehicles of PRC mbrs. carrying explosives that attempt to crash
through the PA security barrier to attack the main transit building; 3 PA
policemen, 2 gunmen are wounded in the exchange, and 3 gunmen are arrested;
Israel claims that the PRCs were acting under the direction of Hamas, which
denies the charge; PA Interior M Siyam says that attacking border crossings is
against the national interest and should not be done. Meanwhile, mbrs. of the
Yasir Arafat Brigades (considered an offshoot of the AMB)say that in response to
Siyam’s plans to create the ESF, they are planning to form a new militia “to
protect Fatah men against the Israeli enemy and against any attempt by any party
inside the homeland to target them.”
1 Palestinian killed.
In the West Bank, IDF troops posted outside Psagot settlement, believing
themselves to be under fire, fire on a PA presidential guard unit conducting a
policing operation in adjacent al-Bireh, killing 1 PA presidential guardsman,
wounding 2. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in Aida r.c.,
Nablus, and nr. Hebron, Qalqilya; issues military orders confiscating 239 d. of
agricultural land in Bardala in the n. Jordan Valley, 60 d. nr. Jenin for
construction of the separation wall. Jewish settlers fr. Kefar Tapuach
settlement nr. Nablus beat a Palestinian teenager grazing sheep nearby.
Palestinians stone a Jewish settler vehicle in Azariyya, lightly injuring 1
settler. (OCHA 5/2; PCHR 5/3)
1 Palestinian killed.
In Gaza, the IDF continues the
incursion into Bayt Hanun begun on 4/25, demolishing the home of the
Hamas mbr. targeted on 4/25, leveling surrounding land before withdrawing in
the early morning. The IDF also sends troops into Bayt Lahiya, to seize
and take to Israel local Hamas leader Hassan Marouf, trading heavy
gunfire with local Palestinians and firing on Marouf’s home, killing his 14-yr.-old
daughter. In the West Bank, the IDF raids an orphanage for girls, a
2d sewing factory in Hebron owned by the ICA (see 4/11), reiterating its
2/26 decision to evict residents and seal the sites for 3 yrs. if they are not
vacated and turned over to the IDF within 24 hrs. (the ICA ignores the orders);
conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, Qalqilya.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police barricade gates into the Old City, forcibly
bar Orthodox Palestinian worshipers fr. reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
and the St. Jacob Cathedral to perform Holy Saturday services to mark Orthodox
Easter (cf. 4/22), beating and arresting several worshipers, while allowing
Jewish worshipers to enter the Old City for Pesach celebrations. (Arab Orthodox
Institute in East Jerusalem press release, al-Quds, WP 4/27; OCHA, PCHR
4/30)
Israeli authorities said they had caught on 14 April a Palestinian man who had killed a 13-year old Israeli boy and wounded a 7-year-old in the “Bat Ayin” settlement earlier this month. Authorities said Moussa Tayet, 26, had confessed to the killing and handed over the knife used in the attack. (AP)
Israeli soldiers shot a 26-year-old Palestinian, Mustapha Hosheh, in the shoulder during a raid on the village of Rantis, north-west of Ramallah. Medics said his condition was serious. (Ma’an News Agency)
The Israeli military said it had detained six Palestinians during an overnight raid in a village south-east of Qalqilya. (Ma’an News Agency)
Israeli Army Radio reported that an Israeli Interior Ministry committee had recommended expanding the “Ma’aleh Adumim” settlement. In its report, the committee said that the small settlement of “Kedar” should be integrated into “Ma’aleh Adumim” along with the lands between the two. The move would expand “Ma’aleh Adumim” by another 1,200 hectares and add another 800 people to its current 34,500 residents. To be implemented, the committee’s recommendations have to be approved by Interior Minister Eli Yishai. (AFP)
PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki visited Venezuela as part of a move to open a diplomatic mission in Caracas, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said. Mr. Malki and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduros Moros were set to sign the following day a joint communiqué establishing diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the PA, paving the way for a diplomatic mission. (AFP)