2 Palestinians killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes continue, leaving 1
Palestinian dead, 150 injured. A 2d Palestinian dies of wounds
received earlier. Jewish settlers block roads, attack Palestinians,
damage property in Hebron and nr. Nablus, Rafah, Tulkarm. The IDF shells areas of Bayt Jala in response to
Palestinian sniping at Gilo settlement. IDF chief of staff Mofaz says the
IDF is preparing contingencies for the evacuation of all 7,000 Jewish
settlers in Gaza. Barak allows the Gaza airport, closed since
10/22, to reopen. (ADM, LAW 11/7; al-Quds 11/7 in WNC 11/9; NYT, WP 11/8)
In keeping with the 10/17 Sharm agmts., the White House
names fmr. senator George Mitchell (D-ME) to lead an inquiry into the
causes of the Israeli-Palestinian clashes. Also named to the panel are
fmr. Turkish pres. Suleyman Demirel, Norwegian FM Thorbjoern Jagland,
fmr. senator Warren B. Rudman (R-NH), EU foreign policy dir. Solana.
(MM, NYT, WP, WT 11/8; AYM 11/9 in WNC 11/13; MEI 11/24)
Off Gaza, a fishing
boat laden with explosives detonates nr. an Israeli patrol ship, killing the
suicide bomber.
3 Palestinians killed.
The IDF withdraws to the outskirts of Ramallah. Nr. Hebron, 1
Palestinian is shot dead, 2 are wounded allegedly by Israeli undercover
units. The dead man, Issa Dababsa, reportedly had run-ins with local
settlers over land he owns adjacent to their settlement. A 2d Palestinian
is killed by heavy IDF gunfire in Khan Yunis. A 3d Palestinian
dies of kidney failure at an IDF roadblock nr. Jinin after being denied passage
to a hospital for dialysis. The IDF also fires on a PSF post
outside Khan Yunis, injuring 1 officer; confiscates a Palestinian home in
Tulkarm; reinforces troops outside Nablus. (AFP, HP, NYT, WP, WT 11/7; HP, PCHR
11/8)
The Israeli Interior Min. demolishes bedouin homes in the Negev
that housed 60 individuals. (HA 11/8)
The PA High Court orders the immediate release of 2 PFLP mbrs.
arrested in connection with the 10/17 Ze'evi assassination, saying the PA had
violated its own legal procedures in making the arrests, there is not enough
evidence to hold the pair. The PSF does not release them. (al-Ahram
11/15; AFP 11/18; MEI 11/23)
3 Palestinians killed.
According to the IDF, soldiers foil a suicide bombing when they stop a
Palestinian taxi at a checkpoint nr. Nablus to search passengers; one of the
passengers emerges fr. the vehicle wearing an explosive belt, runs toward the
checkpoint; soldiers fire on the man, detonating the belt, killing the bomber,
another Palestinian passenger. The IDF
bars an ambulance transporting a wounded Palestinian across a checkpoint,
allowing the man to die; fires rubber-coated steel bullets at Palesthian
schoolchildren on their way to classes in Jenin r.c., wounding 5; directs tank
fire at a 12-yr.-old Palestinian boy playing in a field, seriously injuring him;
bulldozes 15 dunams of land in Dayr al-Balah; fires on residential areas of
Rafah; conducts arrest raids in Tubas. (HA 11/7; NYT, WP 11/8; PRCS press
release 11/10; LAW, PHRC, PR 11/13)
In Khan Yunis, 4 masked Palestinian
gunmen kidnap German International Comm. of the Red Cross (ICRC) rep.
Nikolai Panke as he is distributing food to Palestinians; Panke is released
unharmed 11 hrs. later; 1 of the kinappers reportedly is a fmr. PSF officer who
was “frustrated” over the loss of his job, wanted to be rehired.
7 Palestinians killed.
The IDF reinforces its troop presence in n. Jerusalem, surrounding
villages; sends tanks, troops into Maghazi r.c. in search of wanted
Palestinians, shells residential areas (wounding 5, destroying 1 Palestinian
home), exchanges fire with Hamas mbrs. attempting to block the incursion,
killing Hamas mbr. Mu`amin Mughari; opens fire on a group of Palestinians
nr. the Qarni crossing, killing a 10-yr.-old Palestinian boy; raids
Jenin, capturing local Islamic Jihad cmdr. Amjad Obeid, sparking rioting
and an exchange of gunfire in which 1 Palestinian is killed; raids, fires
on residential areas of Balata r.c. (killing 1 Palestinian), Rafah;
fatally shoots 2 Palestinian teenagers apparently attempting to sneak
across the Israeli border at Bayt Hanun to find work; demolishes 3
Palestinian homes in Jenin, 1 in Rafah, a greenhouse nr. Rafah. A
Palestinian dies of injuries received earlier. (AP, MM, NYT 11/7;
al-Quds 11/7 in WNC 11/11; WP 11/8; PCHR 11/13)
The PSF
arrests 2 AMB mbrs. for plotting attacks inside Israel. Palestinians
fire a mortar at a Jewish settlement in Gaza, causing no damage or injuries.
4 Palestinians killed.
The IDF ambushes, assassinates 4 AMB mbrs. driving nr. Jenin,
blows up 2 homes in Jenin r.c. belonging to the families of 2 of the men;
fires on residential areas of al-Brazil r.c., al-Qarara, Rafah. 1 IDF soldier
is killed, 2 are wounded in a friendly fire incident nr. Tulkarm. (VOI, VOP 11/7
in WNC 11/9; NYT 11/8; PRCS 11/11)
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF allows the PA to open the Rafah crossing for 4 hrs. to
allow humanitarian cases to cross; demolishes a Palestinian home in
Anata, East Jerusalem for having been built without a permit. Late in the
evening, the IDF launches major arrest raids, house searches in Qabatya,
occupying 13 Palestinian homes as observation posts; also conducts arrest raids,
house searches nr. Tulkarm and in Balata r.c., Dura, Hebron, al-Til, Jenin town
and camp, neighboring Marka. Jewish settlers fr. Harsina nr. Hebron
uproot 40 Palestinian olive trees. A mentally handicapped Palestinian
wounded by IDF gunfire nr. al-Mahatin checkpoint nr. Khan Yunis on 9/9 dies.
(PCHR 11/10; al-Awda news 11/12)
14 Palestinians killed.
The IDF pulls most troops out of Bayt Hanun before dawn; bulldozers and tanks
remain positioned nr. Bayt Lahiya. Clashes continue in Jabaliya during the day,
leaving at least 8 Palestinians dead, including an AMB mbr. assassinated in an
air strike on his car in n. Gaza (3 AMB mbrs. are wounded), 2 Islamic Jihad
mbrs. nr. Bayt Lahiya, the sister-in-law of Change and Reform PC mbr. Jamila
al-Shanti (who helped organize the 11/3 women’s demonstration in Bayt Hanun), 2
Palestinians affiliated with Hamas are killed in Jabaliya r.c. when the IDF
fires tank shells at Palestinians who allegedly fired RPGs fr. Shanti’s home, a
Palestinian civilian fatally shot nr. Bayt Lahiya. IDF air strikes destroy the
Gaza City home of a senior Hamas military cmdr., damage several neighboring
homes after ordering the residents to leave. A Palestinian wounded in Bayt Hanun
on 11/6 dies. Palestinians fire 6 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel (4 hitting nr.
Ashkelon), causing no damage or injuries; IDF artillery shells Bayt Hanun in
response. The IDF says it seized “large amounts of weaponry” during the
operation, including rocket launchers, RPGs, mines, rifles, ammunition but no
rockets or antitank weapons. The UN estimates that some 250 Palestinians were
wounded, 30 Palestinian homes demolished, 100 damaged (residents put the number
at around 40 demolished, 400 damaged), water and sewerage systems damaged, large
tracks of trees uprooted during the operation. In the West Bank, the IDF sends
undercover units into Qalqilya (in a car with Palestinian license plates to
arrest several wanted Palestinians, wounding 1), al-Yamun nr. Jenin
(assassinating AMB mbrs. Tahir ‘Abahra, Salim Abu al-Hayja, Mahmud Abu Hasan,
‘Ala’ Khamaysa and killing 1 Palestinian bystander, wounding 3 Palestinians);
conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem. (IFM, REU 11/7; NYT, WP, WT
11/8; PCHR, WP 11/9)
In Gaza, the IDF conducts arrest
raids, house searches, ID checks in Um al-Nasser nr. Bayt Lahiya, detaining 67 Palestinians for questioning, firing on residential areas (particularly to hold
back a group of journalists attempting to reach the area) and making an air strike
on a previously destroyed Palestinian home. Overnight, the IDF raids
Balata r.c., blows up the home of a senior AMB mbr., causing no reported injuries. Late in the evening, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Nablus and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Salfit, Tulkarm. The U.S. complains
that Israel is not allowing Abbas’s security forces to expand
their control of the West Bank before the Annapolis conference, citing the 11/3 confiscation of body armor intended for the PA presidential guard and the continuing
raids on Nablus since the new PA security force has been deployed there, undermining its credibility. (PCHR, PAP, WT 11/8; PCHR 11/15)
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Ramallah after meeting with PA President Abbas: "[Palestinians] are dignified people and I am certain the day is coming soon when they will have a State that will be in accordance with that great national dignity… Settlement activity is inconsistent with the atmosphere that really helps promote negotiations, and the parties' actions should encourage confidence, not undermine it… The United States will not consider settlement activity to affect any final status negotiations, including final borders." (AFP)
The French Foreign Ministry announced that Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner would represent the European Union at the Quartet meeting at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt on 9 November. (AFP)
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired four Qassam rockets at Israel's western Negev region. No injuries or damage were reported. (Haaretz)
Hamas Political Bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said that Hamas would boycott the Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation talks unless Fatah halted a campaign of "arrests and repression" against the group in the West Bank. "It is impossible for Hamas to participate in the dialogue with a single prisoner remaining in Abbas' jails," he added. (Reuters)