In Umm al-Fahm, 70,000 Israeli Arabs attend a rally in
support of Palestinian sovereignty over al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
(PASSIA 10/00)
4 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
Israel initiates land, sea, air strikes against PA targets in the
West Bank and Gaza, leaving 3 Palestinians dead and destroying the PA
intelligence headquarters in Gaza City, the naval headquarters in Nussayrat, a
PA police station in Rafah. Israel claims the action is in response to mortar
attacks staged fr. those areas. IDF troops
guarding Har Homa settlement direct shells, heavy machine gun fire at Bayt
Sahur, injuring at least 8 Palestinians. Troops continue to bombard the town as
Red Crescent medical workers attempt to reach the wounded, killing a
Palestinian paramedic, destroying 3 ambulances. The IDF also arrests
PC vice chmn. Bishara Daoud on his way to Jerusalem to participate in the
coronation of the new Greek Orthodox patriarch, detain him for interrogation.
(AP, HP, WP 9/15; LAW, PMC, WP, WT 9/16; NYT 9/20; LAW 9/29)
In East Jerusalem, DFLP gunmen ambush a
Jewish settler vehicle, killing 1 settler, wounding 1.
The IDF occupies 3 apartments in a Palestinian building in Ramallah;
fires on residential areas of Jenin, Tulkarm; bulldozes 4 small olive groves nr.
Kefar Darom settlement. (PCHR 9/18)
The IDF tightens restrictions on Palestinian movement in the Jenin
region, central Jordan Valley; uproots 2,000 Palestinian trees southeast of
Jerusalem, confiscates 130 dunams s. of Tulkarm for construction of the
separation wall; demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in Rafah completely,
11 partially; bulldozes 4 dunams of land s. of Khan Yunis, a stand of trees in
Dayr al-Balah; fires a percussion grenade at an ambulance in Nablus, damaging
it; conducts arrest raids in Dayr al-Balah, Nablus. (VOI 9/16 in WNC 9/18; PR
9/17; PCHR 9/18)
10 Palestinians killed.
Overnight, the IDF raids al-Mughraqa under cover of heavy shelling,
bulldozes 7 Palestinian homes, 20 d. before pulling out later in the day.
In an attempt to assassinate Nablus AMB leader Majid Mari, IDF
undercover units make a predawn raid on Nablus, fire on a group of
Palestinian militants gathered in a garden, killing 4 AMB mbrs., 1
mbr. of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), an
11-yr.-old Palestinian girl nearby, but leaving Mari unharmed; troops then
demolish an adjacent Palestinian home, claiming the wanted men hid there.
After dawn, more troops, tanks enter Nablus, sparking clashes with 1,000s of
Palestinians throwing stones, Molotov cocktails. IDF undercover units
ambush a car driving nr. Jenin, assassinate wanted AMB mbr. Fadi Zakarna,
his 3 passengers. The IDF also conducts arrest raids, house searches in
Duha, al-Khadir, al-Fara' r.c., Hebron, Jenin, Salfit; shells residential areas
of Khan Yunis. (PR 9/15; MM, PCHR, WP, WT 9/16; PR 9/22; PCHR 9/23; MEI 9/24;
PCHR 11/4)
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF deploys troops on roads btwn. Nur al-Shams r.c. and Tulkarm,
fires on residential areas; during the operation, an IDF jeep hits a Palestinian
car, killing 1 Palestinian, injuring 1. The IDF also conducts
house searches, patrols streets in Kafr Qaddum; sets up numerous checkpoints,
conducts arrest raids in and around Hebron. (IMEMC, WP
9/16; PCHR 9/22)
Hamas mbrs. blast more
openings in the Gaza border wall to facilitate crossing into Egypt, overwhelming
the 750 Egyptian border guards. Palestinians across the West Bank
demonstrate in front of UN offices, calling on the UN to intervene to
halt Israel's construction of the separation wall.
The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron and in Balata r.c.
nr. Nablus, Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai in Hebron damage, remove
parts of a fence surrounding a Palestinian home; IDF troops observe but do not
intervene. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim nr. Qalqilya drive into Kafr Qaddum
village, threaten Palestinians with a gun, enter and search a Palestinian home.
(NYT, WT
9/16; PCHR 9/21)
In Gaza City, unidentified gunmen fatally shoot senior PA intelligence official
Brig. Gen. Jad Tayih (the intelligence services’ international coordination
chief), his 4 bodyguards yards fr. PM Haniyeh’s home, taking their weapons and a
briefcase believed to contain money; no group claims responsibility.
1 Palestinian killed.
Overnight in Gaza, the IDF launches
arrest raids, house searches in al-Nazaz nr. Bayt Hanun, firing on residential
areas (wounding 1 Palestinian), demolishing 1 Palestinian home, damaging 7 others, bulldozing 12 d. of agricultural land, temporarily detaining 7 Palestinians
for questioning, withdrawing fr. the area in the evening; sends troops into al-Fakhari
in s. Gaza to conduct arrest raids, house searches. In the West Bank, the IDF sends
troops into Balata r.c., where they ambush, fatally shoot wanted AMB mbr. Yusif al-Assi in an apparent assassination (Assi’s name was not included
in lists of AMB mbrs. given amnesty by Israel last quarter); exchanges fire with Palestinian gunmen in `Ayn Bayt
al-Ma’a and neighboring Nablus, wounding 1 armed Palestinian; conducts
arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron (also presenting a PA
security officer with an order to surrender for questioning with Israeli
intelligence). A Jewish settler in Hebron seriously injures a 7-yr.-old
Palestinian boy in a deliberate hit-and-run. (OCHA 9/19; PCHR 9/20)
Palestinians fire
several mortars at the IDF post at Kerem Shalom crossing, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds by firing 2 surface-to-surface missiles at 2 mortar-launching
sites, causing no reported injuries.
The report to the Human Rights Council of the High-level Fact-Finding mission to Beit Hanoun, headed by Archbishop Tutu, said: "In the absence of a well-founded explanation from the Israeli military… the mission must conclude that there is a possibility that the shelling of Beit Hanoun [in November 2006] constituted a war crime… As the mission has repeatedly stressed (including to representatives of Hamas), those firing rockets on Israeli civilians are no less accountable than the Israeli military for their actions." (www.ohchr.org)
The Israeli Army arrested four members of the Islamic Jihad near Tulkarm, amid intensive gunfire, the faction said in a statement. (Xinhua)
The Israeli Army shut down the commercial crossing points into Gaza. Palestinian security sources said that the work at the Karni and Sufa crossings had completely stopped. Israel also closed fuel pipes at the Nahal Oz crossing and left the Erez pedestrian crossing open only for urgent medical cases. (Xinhua)
Israeli forces raided Qalqilya in the northern West Bank and ransacked several shops, Palestinian security sources said. (Ma'an News Agency)
"Every day that goes by without our reaching a deal with the Palestinians is a day we may regret in the future, and I say this as a man who once had, and fought for very different ideas," Prime Minister Olmert was quoted as telling the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "I join in expressing sorrow for what happened to the Palestinians and also for what happened to the Jews who were expelled from Arab States," he said. "Under absolutely no circumstances will there be a right of return," he declared, "but we are prepared to be part of an international mechanism that will work to solve the problem." (AP, BBC, Haaretz)
In an interview with Haaretz, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos said that PA President Abbas was seriously considering Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's proposal of an agreement in principle on the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He expressed conviction that the peace talks were going to continue, saying "Whatever happens in Israeli internal politics and in the US administration ─ both sides and the international community need to work to make them irreversible". Mr. Moratinos said that he had received details of Mr. Olmert's proposal to Mr. Abbas, and that the proposal was "based on a long series of bilateral negotiations" between Messrs. Olmert and Abbas. (Haaretz)