4 Palestinians killed.
In Nablus, the IDF fires missiles at a car driven by senior Fatah
mbr. Jihad Mussaimi in an apparent assassination attempt. Mussaimi and
several bystanders are injured. Following a Palestinian sniper attack on
the Jewish enclave of Hebron that wounds 2 Jewish settler boys, the
IDF sends troops into the PA-controlled area of Hebron to blow up 2
Palestinian homes in the Abu Sunayna neighborhood. The 3-hr. raid, similar
to that on Jinin on 8/13+n14, sparks an intense gun battle that leaves 2
Palestinians dead and 10 Palestinians, 1 IDF soldier wounded; a
Palestinian woman dies of a heart attack while waiting hrs. for an ambulance
to reach her. In Gaza, the IDF fires on Palestinians throwing stones at a
Jewish settlement, killing 1 Palestinian boy; sends 3 tanks into Dayr
al-Balah refugee camp, sparking a gun battle that leaves 4 Palestinians injured.
(AFP 8/23; NYT, WP, WT 8/24; NYT, WT 8/25; HA 8/26)
2 Palestinians killed.
The IDF fatally shoots 2 armed al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AMB) mbrs.
attempting to infiltrate Gaza's Kefar Darom settlement; demolishes 2
Palestinian homes, 1 brick factory in Dayr al-Balah; razes 25 dunams of
olive groves in Abasan nr. Khan Yunis; fires on residential areas nr. Rafah;
arrests 4 humanitarian workers (2 Palestinians, 2 foreign nationals) in
Nablus for no apparent reason, threatens to deport 2 foreigners. Jewish
settlers establish a new settlement enclave nr. Shvut Rachel settlement.
(WP, WT 8/24; PCHR 8/28; Peace Now press release 9/2)
Israeli, Palestinian security cmdrs. hold talks in Jerusalem on the Gaza
First implementation, but Israel puts off discussion of expanding the
arrangement to Hebron for at least a wk. (AYM 8/24 in WNC 8/26)
1 Israeli killed.
The IDF continues to impose a
24-hr. curfew on Nablus, cuts off all access to Bethlehem; searching
house-to-house for arms, digging up floors and breaking down walls to search for
hidden weapons, clashing with protesters, leaving 16 Palestinians injured; fires
tank shells at Khan Yunis, seriously wounding 1 Palestinian; opens fire on
stone-throwing Palestinians protesting IDF operations in Nablus, wounding 16. An
Israeli wounded in the 8/19 bombing dies of her injuries, bringing that
toll to 21. (HA 8/23; HA, WP, WT 8/24; IDF Radio, MA, VOI, YA 8/24 in WNC 8/26;
QA 8/27 in WNC 8/29; PCHR 8/28)
Overnight, Palestinians fire a Qassam rocket at Sederot,
causing no damage or injuries. In a 1st step to cracking down on Palestinian
militants in Gaza, the PSF finds and seals 3 smugglers’ tunnels in Rafah
leading to Egypt, also seizing some arms and makes some arrests; deploys 10s of
officers near the n. Gaza border to halt the firing of Qassam rockets at
Sederot, reportedly exchanging gunfire with Hamas mbrs. The PA
calls on Palestinian factions to reaffirm the cease-fire; Hamas, Islamic
Jihad say they would agree to another truce if Israel were a party
too; Israel says it would not participate.
1 Palestinian killed.
In Rafat, the IDF opens fire on several Palestinians removing
belongings fr. a home that the IDF earlier warned would be demolished, seriously
wounding 1 Palestinian, firing on an ambulance that attempts to reach
him, allowing him to bleed to death. The IDF fires on residential areas
of Khan Yunis; demolishes a Palestinian home in al-Qarara; conducts
arrest raids, house searches in Araqa and Qabatya villages nr. Jenin, Askar r.c.
nr. Nablus, Balata r.c., Surif nr. Hebron, Tulkarm. Israel announces
plans for another 533 new housing units in the Adam, Emmanuel, Har Adar,
Har Gilo settlements in the West Bank. (JP, MM
8/23; DS, NYT, WP, WT 8/24; VOP 8/24 in WNC 8/26; PR 8/25; PCHR 8/26)
The PA announces that security
forces have recently arrested 6 suspected collaborators in Gaza.
The IDF completes the settler disengagement in the West Bank
with the evacuation of Homesh (est. 1980, pop. 228, hrs. to evac. 7) and Sanur
(est. 1982, pop. 105, hrs. to evac. 8), permitting the IDF to withdraw
fr. its military positions in the 4 West Bank settlements and in Gaza over the
next 2–5 wks. Most residents of the 2 settlements left before disengagement
began; those who had remained generally go willingly, but some 2,000
disengagement protesters at the two sites put up mild resistance against some
12,000 soldiers, with 1 female protester in Homesh stabbing, lightly
injuring a female soldier. IDF dismantlement of settler homes is underway in 13
of the 25 evacuated settlements; some protesters manage to infiltrate cleared
settlements, but the IDF removes them again. Elsewhere in the West Bank, the
IDF conducts house searches, interrogations in Hebron (occupying a school as
an observation post) and around Jenin; fires on residential areas nr. Jenin;
bulldozes several tents, animal pens set up by bedouin in an IDF "training zone"
nr. Bethlehem. Jewish settlers fr. Keddumim severely beat a Palestinian
nr. Qalqilya. (BBC, HA, IMEMC 8/23; NYT, WP, WT 8/24; PCHR, PR 8/25; MEI 9/2)
1 Palestinian killed.
In Gaza, the IDF begins allowing limited humanitarian and food supplies
through the Kerem Shalom, Sufa crossings (closed since 6/25); sends an
undercover unit into Abasan in s. Gaza to capture senior Hamas mbr. Yunis Abu
Daka, firing on his home, killing his brother Yusuf Abu Daka, then conducts air
strikes on the house causing severe damage (Yunis Abu Daka is not captured). In
the West Bank, the IDF sends an undercover unit into Jenin, driving a car with
Palestinian license plates, that shoots, seriously wounds Islamic Jihad’s West
Bank military cmdr. Hussam Jaradat in an assassination attempt; conducts arrest
raids, house searches in and around Hebron and Qalqilya, in Bethlehem and
Nablus, nr. Jenin. (Miftah 8/23; NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 8/24; OCHA
8/25; PCHR 8/31; NYT 9/1)
Without explanation, the IDF shells Shaba‘ village, inside Lebanon, fr. the
disputed Shaba‘ Farms region, causing no damage or injuries. In s. Lebanon, 3
Lebanese troops are killed when they accidentally detonate an unexploded IDF
missile that they are trying to disarm; an IDF soldier is killed, 3 are wounded
when they accidentally trigger one of the 1,000s of Israeli landmines left over
fr. Israel’s previous occupation. (NYT, WP 8/24)
A previously unknown group called the Holy Jihad Brigade
releases a video tape of 2 Fox News journalists kidnapped in Gaza City on 8/14,
demanding that the U.S. release all Muslims fr. its jails within 72 hrs.,
marking the 1st time that a Palestinian militant group has made demands of a
foreign country other than Israel, which is not mentioned in the statement; all
major Palestinian groups denounce the kidnapping and deny involvement. PA civil
servants launch a series of strikes to press PA PM Ismail Haniyeh’s government
to take action to pay back salaries.
1 Palestinian killed.
Overnight, the IDF makes an
incursion into Khuza’a nr. Khan Yunis, storming houses, occupying homes and a
school as observation posts, clashing with and calling in air strikes on armed
Palestinians who confront them (wounding at least 6 Palestinians, including 2 civilians), bulldozing 6 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of Palestinian land, detaining 5 Palestinians (4 of whom are released later in the day). During the day, IDF troops on the Gaza border fire a surface-to-surface missile into Gaza at a group of
Hamas mbrs., killing 1 Hamas mbr., wounding 1. In 2 separate
incidents in Hebron, Jewish settlers attack, vandalize Palestinian
homes. In Wadi al-Juz in East Jerusalem, the IDF raids a home where some
25 Israeli Palestinian religious figures, including Islamic Movement head
Shaykh Raed Salah, are having a dinner, ordering the group to disband because
they are holding an “illegal meeting”; when the group refuses, the IDF fires percussion grenades into the home, injuring 4. (REU 8/23; OCHA 8/29; PCHR 8/30)
Islamic Jihad
mbrs. fire an RPG at an IDF patrol on the Gaza border nr. Dayr al-Balah, causing no damage or injuries. Nr. Gaza City, 1 Hamas mbr. is killed, another wounded when a roadside bomb they are planting explodes prematurely.
Israeli forces seized two activists affiliated with Hamas in the town of Al-Shawawra, east of Bethlehem. Also, Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians in the village of Al-Araqa, west of Jenin, and the nearby village of Misliya. (Ma'an News Agency)
Palestinian officials said the PA would receive financial assistance from Saudi Arabia to help pay public sector salaries. PA Information Minister Riyad al-Malki said, "The Saudi Finance Minister told the Palestinian Authority that the decision was made to transfer $100 million," adding that the money was part of pledges made to the PA at the Paris Donors' Conference in December and was expected to arrive in the coming days. (Reuters)
Two boats carrying 44 pro-Palestinian activists arrived in the Gaza Strip after Israel allowed them through despite its tight blockade of the territory. The boats had set sail the day before from Cyprus carrying activists from 17 countries, including Israel, determined to draw attention to the blockade of Gaza. The boats sailed into Gaza City's main port, where they were greeted by thousands of people waving Palestinian flags, many of them motoring around the harbour in boats. The event was organized by the US-based Free Gaza Movement. (AFP, AP)