2 Israelis killed.
In response to Palestinian gunfire overnight, the IDF tanks enter
PA-controlled Hebron before dawn to shell PSF posts, injuring 5
Palestinians. In retaliation to Binyamina suicide attack, the IDF sends tanks into Jinin, Tulkarm to shell
PSF posts there. DM Ben-Eliezer places forces on alert, cancels a
trip to Washington for a mtg. with Powell. The PA reiterates its
call for a halt to actions inside Israel. (MM, NYT, WP, WT 7/17; HA 7/18; SA
7/18 in WNC 7/19; MM 7/23; MEI 7/27)
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Comm. holds a closed session
to discuss the "Arab demographic threat" and the "dangers facing the survival of
Israel as a Jewish state." Arab MKs denounce the mtg. as "naked racism."
(al-Ahram [Internet] 7/19) (Cf. Special Document on the Herziliya
conference)
This evening, an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber kills 2
IDF soldiers, wounds 9 others at a bus stop in Binyamina inside Israel.
7 Israelis killed.
After attack at Emmanuel settlement, Israel places nearby Palestinian villages under curfew.
Israeli police arrest 4 IDF soldiers, 1 Jewish settler living
in settlements nr. Hebron, 1 IDF soldier living in Israel on suspicion of
stealing 60,000 rounds of IDF ammunition, selling 1,000s of rounds to
Palestinian militants; the IDF also arrests a Palestinian fr. Tarkumiyya
as the middleman. The IDF demolishes a Palestinian store under
construction in Jerusalem; bulldozes 29 dunams of Palestinian land nr. Qarni
crossing; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis; conducts arrest raids nr.
Jaba'. (HA, REU 7/16; AFP 7/16 in WNC 7/17; LAW, MM, NYT, PCHR, WP, WP 7/17; WJW
7/18; AYM 7/18 in WNC 7/22; NYT, WP 7/19)
In New York, Powell hosts a senior-level Quartet
mtg. to discuss ways of creating momentum for peace talks in light of Bush's
6/24 speech; holds separate mtg. with the FMs of Egypt, Jordan.
The Arab FMs then dine with EU, Russian, UN Quartet reps. (MM 7/16; ITAR-TASS
7/16 in WNC 7/17; MM, NYT, WP, WT 7/17; MM 7/18; Interfax, ITAR-TASS, MENA 7/18
in WNC 7/19; MM 7/19)
Palestinian gunmen disguised as IDF soldiers ambush a bus
nr. the West Bank settlement of Emmanuel, setting off a roadside bomb disabling
the bus, then firing on passengers, killing 7 Jewish settlers, wounding
16; the attackers escape; AMB, DFLP, Hamas, Islamic
Jihad take responsibility, though military analysts believe Hamas was
responsible.
The IDF locates missing Israeli taxi driver Eliyahu Goral,
bound but unharmed, in a house in Beitunia; says he was seized in East
Jerusalem, the victim of a robbery gone awry, not a kidnapping by militant
Palestinians. The IDF fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis, Rafah.
(HA, MM, NYT, PR, WP, WT 7/16; PCHR 7/24)
The IDF demolishes 3 brick factories, bulldozes agricultural land in
continuing operations in Bayt Hanun; fires on residential areas of Rafah,
Tulkarm r.c.; bulldozes 50 dunams of land nr. Jabaliya; conducts arrest raids
nr. Tulkarm and in Araba, Qabatya. (NYT 7/16; VOI 7/16, HJ, VOI 7/17, AYM, HA, MA,
al-Ra’i, YA 7/18, SA 7/19 in WNC 7/21; WP, NYT, WT 7/17; AYM 7/18, JP 7/20
in WNC 7/22; MM 7/19; DUS 7/19, AYM 7/20 in WNC 7/23; HA 7/20; NYT, PR 7/21;
PCHR, WP 7/22; MEI 7/23; JPI 7/30; PR 8/4; AYM 8/6 in WNC 8/10)
Armed PRC mbrs. ambush, kidnap Gaza
police chief Ghazi Jabali, exchanging gunfire with this bodyguards, wounding
2; parade him through the streets of al-Bureij r.c., accusing him of stealing
$22 m. in public funds; release him unharmed. Mbrs. of the Abu Rish Brigades
(ARB; a Fatah offshoot) kidnap 4 French citizens, hold them hostage
at a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) office in Khan Yunis for several
hrs., demanding that the PA fire corrupt security officials, before releasing
them unharmed. Separately, ARB mbrs. kidnap Palestinian security
official Khalid Abu al-Ula in Khan Yunis, free him by the end of the day. In
the evening, Gaza’s PSF head Rashid Abu Shiblak, Gaza’s General
Intelligence chief Amin al-Hindi resign, citing “the state of anarchy and
chaos” in Gaza, the PA’s refusal to implement reforms, but Arafat refuses
to accept their resignations.
IDF tanks and infantry begin massing on Gaza's northern border in
apparent preparation for a major incursion. The IDF continues operations
in and around Tulkarm; conducts predawn missile strikes on 3 auto repair
garages, machine shops in Gaza City, Khan Yunis thought to be weapons factories,
injuring 3 Palestinians; conducts arrest raids targeting Hamas and
Islamic Jihad mbrs. in Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, and Tulkarm, arresting 26
Hamas, 4 Islamic Jihad mbrs.; also raids, searches homes in Mughraqa; fires on a
group of Palestinians trying to cross the closed Abu Huli crossing into Gaza,
wounding 4; conducts patrols nr. Ramallah, Tulkarm and in Dahaysha r.c., Nablus
(firing on residential areas), Qalqilya, Tubas nr. Jenin. (HA, IMEMC, JAZ, REU, YA 7/16; VOI, VOP 7/16 in WNC 7/17; HA, JAZ, JP, NYT, WP, XIN 7/17; VOP 7/17 in WNC 7/18; OCHA, PR 7/20; PCHR
7/21)
Israel releases the leader of the Islamic movement in Israel Shaykh
Ra'id Salah, arrested in 5/03, after serving a sentence for directing funds
to West Bank and Gaza charities that allegedly support "terrorism"; his sentence
was reduced by more than a yr. for good behavior. (REU 7/17; VOI 7/17 in WNC
7/18; JP 7/18 in WNC 7/19; PR 7/20)
Hamas fires 10
mortars, 8 Qassam rockets fr. Gaza at Sederot and Nisanit
settlement (lightly injuring 7 settlers). In Gaza City, some 10,000 Hamas
supporters attend the funeral of 4 Hamas mbrs. assassinated on 7/15. In Bayt
Lahiya, Hamas gunmen shoot, wound a PA security officer. In Khan
Yunis, Palestinian gunmen associated with a Fatah splinter group
set fire to the newly opened offices of Fatah head Faruq Qaddumi, then fire on PA security forces posts in the area. In
Ramallah, AMB mbrs. fire in the air, order stores to close to protest
Palestinian deaths in recent days; PA security forces deploy in response,
ordering stores to reopen.
6 Palestinians killed.
The IDF sends tanks, troops back into n. Gaza before dawn, firing missiles at
and exchanging gunfire with Palestinian militants, killing at least 3 Hamas
mbrs., 2 PRC mbrs., wounding at least 30 persons (including 1 Japanese and 1
Palestinian journalist, 2 paramedics) nr. Bayt Hanun and conducting arrest
raids, house searches in Bayt Hanun; continues to shell n. Gaza, areas nr. Rafah
(killing a 59-yr.-old Palestinian woman); makes a predawn air strike on PA FMin.
offices in Gaza City, wounding 3 Palestinians; makes a 2d air strike on the
FMin. complex late in the evening, destroying it, wounding 12 bystanders,
damaging several nearby homes; fires missiles fr. helicopters at the ESF
compound in Jabaliya, damaging it. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night
arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem and in and around Hebron (also
searching and confiscating documents fr. the Islamic Society for Orphans),
Nablus; begins work on a new segment of the separation wall southwest of Hebron.
The IDF also detains for several hrs. al-Jazeera satellite TV’s Jerusalem bureau
chief for questioning regarding violating Israeli military censorship rules.
Jewish settlers fr. Tal Rumayda attack Palestinians, international peace
activists in Hebron. Unidentified gunmen fatally shoot a PA security officer in
Gaza. (AP, IMEMC, NYT 7/16; AP, NYT, WP, WT 7/17; OCHA, PCHR 7/18; OCHA 7/19;
PCHR 7/20)
Overnight, the IDF launches heavy missile barrages and air strikes on s.
Beirut suburbs (leveling wide swaths around the Hizballah headquarters) and s.
Lebanon, hitting a major power station. In response, Hizballah fires some 20
rockets on Haifa, killing 8 Israelis and wounding 7 at a rail yard, hitting the
city’s main oil refinery and gas depot, and a busy downtown street at rush hour;
the IDF says that 4 of the rockets fired were Iranian made Fajr missiles (which,
if confirmed, would mark Hizballah’s 1st use of the weapons), but Hizballah says
it fired only Raad-2 and Raad-3 missiles. The IDF strikes back during the day,
ordering Lebanese to evacuate 7 villages in s. Lebanon; hitting at least 80
targets across Lebanon, killing at least 45 Lebanese and wounding more than 100,
including killing 20 in an air strike on a government civil defense building in
Tyre (also wounding 50) and 8 dual Canadian citizens in a strike on a minibus in
s. Lebanon; also killing a Ghanaian UNIFIL soldier and his family in an air
strike on his house; leveling an apartment building in s. Beirut, knocking out
electricity in many areas of the capital. (AP, HA, IFM 7/16; NYT, WP, WT 7/17)
In Gaza, the IDF makes an
air strike on a suspected rocket launching site nr. Bayt Hanun, causing no
injuries. In Dayr al-Balah, 4 Palestinian children are injured by IDF
UXO. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in
al-Tur nr. Jerusalem; orders the closure of a Palestinian barbershop in Hebron,
stating it is too close to Beit Romano settlement; conducts arrest raids, house
searches nr. Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba beat a 12-yr.-old
Palestinian boy. Jewish settlers fr. Otniel uproot another 100 Palestinian
olive trees nr. the settlement as part of the expansion begun on 7/14. Jewish
settlers beat a Palestinian farmer tending his land nr. Qalqilya. (OCHA
7/18; PCHR 7/19; OCHA 7/25)
Unidentified assailants
detonate a roadside bomb targeting a UNIFIL convoy driving through Tyre, causing no injuries. Hizballah
condemns the attack. (NYT 7/17) (see 6/24)
Israeli forces raided the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, and detained four Palestinians. Also, Israeli
forces detained a Palestinian in the village of Jalqamus, east of Jenin. (Ma'an News Agency)
Israeli Forces arrested nine Palestinians in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nablus, Jenin and Jericho. (WAFA)
The first rocket fired from Gaza in more than a month landed in southern Israel without causing injury or damage, the IDF said. The rocket was fired from the Shujaiya district of Gaza City and landed near the Nahal Oz kibbutz, according to a military spokesman. (AFP)
Speaking in Parliament, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Israel to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank in order to restart the peace process in the region. Mr. Brown said, “All of us are putting pressure [on Israel], recognizing of course that Israel must have guarantees about its security, recognising that a Palestinian State cannot be viable unless it is economically viable.” (Haaretz)
Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu was working against a Knesset bill that would prevent Palestinian prisoners from Hamas from receiving visitors until IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was released, Likud sources said. They said that Mr. Netanyahu opposed the bill because it could complicate negotiations on prisoners’ exchange and harm Israel's image abroad. (The Jerusalem Post)
Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad pledged to raise more than $700,000 in his country to help international activists seeking to challenge Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. He met with members of the Free Gaza Movement, saying the money would be used to buy a small cargo vessel and a passenger boat. (AP)
American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) announced the launch of a renovation project in 10 pre-schools in Gaza. OCHA has granted ANERA more than $93,000 to carry out the five-month project that will affect approximately 1,800 preschoolers in vulnerable and war-damaged communities. (www.anera.org)