1 Palestinian killed. 1 Israeli killed.
The IDF tightens closures throughout the West Bank; directs shells,
heavy machine gun fire at residential areas of Rafah, at a PSF post
outside Qalqilya; demolish 5 Palestinian homes in Bayt Hanina;
establishes new checkpoints outside Qalqilya, Tulkarm; continues demolitions in
Yibna (see 7/3), destroying an unknown number of homes, farming structures,
cisterns. 1 Palestinian dies of injuries received earlier. (HP 7/4; LAW 7/9)
Israel's security cabinet selects 26 Palestinians as prime targets for
assassination. The UN, the U.S. reiterate their opposition. The
PA says Israel is essentially renouncing the U.S. cease-fire arrangement. As
the cabinet mtg. takes place, plainclothes gunmen shoot, wound senior Fatah
mbr. Hazim Natshe, on Israel's most wanted list, in an apparent
assassination attempt in Hebron. (HA 7/4; AYM, DUS, MA, QA 7/4, MA, MENA 7/5 in
WNC 7/7; AP, NYT, WT 7/5; AP 7/6; MEI 7/13; MM 7/18; MA 7/18 in WNC 7/19)
Palestinian gunmen fire on 2 vehicles driving along the Israeli
border nr. Tulkarm, killing 1 Israeli civilian.
2 Palestinians killed.
Senior AMB mbrs. Jihad al-Omarayn, Wa'il al-Nimrah
are killed when a bomb in their car explodes in Gaza City in what is presumed to
be an IDF assassination; Israel refuses to confirm or deny
allegations. The IDF bulldozes agricultural land nr. Khan Yunis, also
demolishing a PSF post. The IDF says it has arrested a
Palestinian truck driver for smuggling guns across the Jordan border
with a shipment of vegetables. (NYT, WP 7/5; al-Quds 7/7 in WNC 7/9; LAW,
PCHR 7/10)
In Gaza’s Shati` r.c., PSF officers attempt to arrest 4 PRC mbrs.
responsible for rocket fire on 7/3, sparking an exchange of gunfire that leaves
1 PRC mbr. dead, 3 under arrest, at least 1 PSF officer and 1 PRC mbr.
wounded. Palestinians fire a mortar and an antitank rocket at a Jewish
settlement in Gaza, causing no damage or injures. (NYT, WT 7/6; PCHR 7/10)
3 Palestinians killed.
The IDF fires on stone-throwing youths in Bayt Hanun (killing an
18-yr.-old Palestinian), Rafah (killing a 2d Palestinian, wounding a
woman in her home), Ramallah; rockets 2 metal foundries (allegedly Hamas weapons
factories) in Gaza City, wounding 6 Palestinians, cutting electricity to parts
of the city; demolishes a Palestinian home nr. Nablus; fires on
residential areas of Ramallah; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police fatally shoot a Palestinian who
attempts to flee on foot after allegedly trying to run down an officer with his
van. (VOI, VOP 7/4, VOI 7/5 in WNC 7/9; NYT, WP, XIN 7/5; PR 7/7; PCHR 7/8)
Prominent Jewish residents of Ashkelon ask Mayor Roni Mahatzri
to ban Israeli Arabs, bedouin fr. staying overnight in the city,
attending the city’s entertainment venues, complaining that “bedouin and Israeli
Arabs from the north of the country employed in the city’s construction sites
hang out with local [Jewish] girls” in the evenings. (HA 7/4; PR 7/7)
1 Israeli killed.
The IDF confirms that in recent wks. it has confiscated 2,000 d. of
Palestinian agricultural land btwn. Jenin, Nablus for temporary housing for IDF
soldiers responsible for evacuating 4 n. West Bank Jewish settlements under
disengagement. The IDF also sends troops into Bayt Furik nr. Nablus,
fires on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 2; conducts
arrest raids, house searches in Ramallah; occupies a Palestinian home in Gaza
City as an observation post; patrols in villages nr. Jenin; fires on Palestinian
farmers conducting a peaceful march to their lands being razed by the IDF for
construction of the separation wall, wounding 3. An Israeli border policeman
injured on 7/3 dies. (HA 7/4; YA 7/4 in WNC 7/5; VOI 7/5 in WNC 7/6; OCHA 7/6;
PCHR 7/7)
Palestinian gunmen
fire on Qadim settlement in the n. West Bank, causing damage but no injuries.
Palestinians fire a mortar at an IDF base outside Gaza's Neve Dekalim
settlement, causing no damage or injuries.
2 Palestinians killed.
Overnight, the IDF sends another 15–20 tanks and armored personnel carriers
(APCs) into Bayt Hanun and into the Erez industrial zone, leveling land to clear
lines of sight, searching for roadside bombs and tunnels that could obstruct a
large-scale military incursion into Gaza (as PA security forces pull out of
their border positions at Erez, Palestinians stream into the industrial zone to
scavenge fr. closed businesses there); continues to break the sound barrier over
Gaza and to make air and artillery strikes on n. Gaza, killing 1 PA security
officer, wounding several Palestinians, and destroying an empty building on
Islamic University campus. During the day, the IDF continues the n. Gaza
build-up, reoccupying the fmr. Nisanit settlement site, occupying 2 more
Palestinian homes as operational bases, bulldozing a PA security force base in
Bayt Hanun; fires on residential areas around Erez (wounding a Palestinian
child) and on a Palestinian Energy Authority repair crew attempting to fix a
transformer in the area. The IDF also allows Qarni crossing to reopen for
several hrs. to import humanitarian supplies from the World Food Program (WFP)
and UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East);
WFP reports that there are only 2 days left of sugar and 8 days left of animal
feed in Gaza and that milk and dairy products are only available in small
quantities. Meanwhile, the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades fire a 2-engine Qassam
rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, hitting an empty school nr. Ashqelon, 7.5 mi inside
Israel (the longest-range rocket to date). In the West Bank, the IDF raids
Jenin, ambushes and fires on a car, assassinating wanted AMB Jenin cmdr. Fida’i
Qandil, wounding a passenger; raids a PA police station in Ramallah, detaining 3
Palestinians captured by the PA in connection with the murder of a Jewish
settler on 6/29; arrests Hamas spokesman Farhat Asad nr. Ramallah; patrols in,
fires on residential areas of al-Fara‘a r.c. nr. Jenin, wounding 2 Palestinians;
conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, in Nablus and
Qalqilya, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. Jewish settlers fr. Mehola nr. Tubas attack
Palestinian farmers working their fields nearby. (HA, IMEMC, MM, NYT, OCHA,
PCHR, WT, YA 7/4; NYT, WP, WT 7/5; OCHA, PCHR 7/6)
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF
bulldozes Palestinian land in n. Gaza, reinforces troops inside the border nr.
Bayt Hanun (conducting arrest raids, house searches, occupying a Palestinian
home, bulldozing land), expanding the IDF’s n. Gaza buffer zone.
In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem and nr. Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarm. A
Palestinian teenager dies of wounds
received during a 2004 IDF raid on Hebron. (BBC, HA, NYT, WP 7/4; PCHR, WP 7/5; Jewish Telegraphic Agency 7/6; WP
7/8; OCHA 7/11; PCHR 7/12)
Overnight, Hamas secures
the release of BBC reporter Johnston fr. the Army of Islam, which kidnapped him on 3/12; Haniyeh
holds a press conference with Johnston at his Gaza
City home, facilitates his transfer to the British Consulate in Jerusalem; British
FM David Miliband "fully acknowledge[s] the crucial role" played
by Hamas and Haniyeh in securing his release.
Islamic
Jihad fires an RPG at an IDF jeep on the Israeli side of the border fence
nr. Dayr al-Balah; the missile lands inside Gaza, causing no damage or injuries.
Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the demolition of the homes of two East Jerusalem Palestinians who had
perpetrated attacks against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem, Israel Army Radio reported. The first home to be demolished
housed the construction worker who ploughed a bulldozer into a string of vehicles on 2 July. Mr. Barak's order was
based on the announcement a day earlier by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz stating that razing the homes of
"terrorists" was permissible by law. (Haaretz)
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) decided to review its relationship with Israeli billionaire and donor Lev
Leviev after a campaign by Adalah-NY human rights organization and found "at least a reasonable grounds for suspecting"
that Mr. Leviev's companies were building settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Chris de Bono, a senior
adviser to the Executive Director of UNICEF, told Reuters, adding that it was UNICEF's policy to have partners who were
"as non-controversial as possible." (Reuters)
The Al-Aqsa satellite channel affiliated with Hamas denounced the draft resolution presented to the US Congress to
classify it and four other television channels as terrorist organizations. The draft resolution also calls for
classifying the satellites that provide service to the channels, including the Arab League's Arabsat and the Egyptian
Nilesat, as terrorist organizations. (Xinhua)
Palestinian sources announced that 558 Palestinians, stranded on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, were now back
in the Gaza Strip. (Ma'an News Agency)
Hamas Political Bureau Deputy Head Moussa Abu Marzook said that his movement "has suspended the negotiations regarding
(IDF soldier) Gilad Shalit, due to the Israeli decision to close the crossings in response to the firing of rockets
into its territory," the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported. (Ynetnews)
Israeli sources said that Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli military patrol near the Karni crossing east of Gaza City. The soldiers were reportedly in the area responding to reports of gunfire in the area. No injuries were reported. (Ma’an News Agency)
A spokesperson for UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "We would be concerned if the stories of the Israeli Navy boarding the Spirit of Humanity in international waters were true," referring to the takeover of the Free Gaza Movement’s aid ship. Noting that the issue of the legal status of Gaza's waters was murky, the spokesperson said that still the Foreign Ministry was looking into claims that the takeover of the ship and her 21-member crew violated international law. (Ma’an News Agency)
In an interview with Australia’s ABC Radio – National, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that Australia would consider contributing forces to an international peacekeeping force in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. "We are always prepared to consider requests case by case," she said adding, “We have continuously assisted in the Middle East. Obviously I can't answer a hypothetical question about what would happen if we had a request, but if we did get a request, obviously we would work our way through it and consider it on the merits". (Ma’an News Agency)
PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Jews remaining inside a future Palestinian State would enjoy freedom and civil rights. Speaking at the Aspen Institute's Aspen Ideas Festival, Mr. Fayyad said: “The kind of State that we want to have, that we aspire to have, is one that would definitely espouse high values of tolerance, co-existence, mutual respect and deference to all cultures, religions. No discrimination whatsoever, on any basis whatsoever.” (www.aspendailynews.com)
Gazans celebrated the opening of a new water aquifer funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the Al-Mughraqa area, south of Gaza City. The Al-Kawther aquifer, which met UNICEF standards of quality, would provide local residents, who suffered from highly chlorinated water and frequent shortages, with clean water. (Ma’an News Agency)