2 Palestinians killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes continue but are less severe,
largely because overnight the IDF deployed tanks on access roads to and around
PA cities, sealing areas A, limiting movement. During the day, 2 Palestinians
are killed by Israeli gunfire, over 160 are injured. Israel prohibits
Palestinians under 45 fr. attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem, prompting
scuffles with those denied access but preventing the full-scale rioting of 9/29,
10/6. In Jerusalem, cameramen record footage of Israeli police disguised
as Palestinians seizing 2 Palestinian youths, beating them while holding them in
a choke hold. Armed Jewish settlers rampage through Husan, fire on
Palestinian homes in Artas, Bayt Inun, al-Khadir. (AP, IsRN, LAW 10/13; ADM,
LAW, NYT, WP, WT 10/14; HA [Internet] 10/15)
In Gaza City and Shati camp,
100s of Palestinians hold rallies denouncing the PA for the failed
peace process. The rallies devolve into riots, with demonstrators torching cars,
bars, hotels, restaurants; the PA police arrest 16.
Oman closes its trade office in Tel Aviv, Israel's trade
mission in Muscat. Morocco recalls its envoy to Israel. In Cairo,
10,000 Egyptians hold anti-Israeli, anti-U.S. demonstrations. In
Lebanon, the army keeps Palestinians away fr. the blue line, where they want
to hold demonstrations. However, 6,000 Palestinians in `Ayn al-Hilwa
camp, 3,000 in Beddawi camp, 5,000 in Nahr al-Barid camp, 7,000
in Rashidiyya camp demonstrate against Israel. In Amman, 8,000 Jordanians
attend a government-sanctioned rally; a smaller, unauthorized demonstration
takes place spontaneously following Friday prayers. In the U.S., rallies
are held in Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Las Vegas,
New York, Petaluma (CA), Philadelphia, Santa Ana (CA), San Francisco,
Washington. Similar demonstrations are held in Austria, Bahrain,
Bosnia, Canada, Djbouti, Greece, Indonesia,
Italy, Pakistan, Scotland, Sudan, Syria. (AFP
[Internet], BBC, Los Angeles Times [Internet], MM, Omani News Agency
[Internet], REU, UPI 10/13; AFP, BETA [Belgrade], MENA 10/13, MENA 10/14 in WNC
10/16; Daily Star [Internet], NYT 10/14; HA [Internet], NYT 10/15; MM
10/17; WJW 10/19; WP, WT 10/20; MM 10/24, 10/25; WJW 10/26; MEI 10/27)
1 Palestinian killed.
A Palestinian dies of injuries received when the PSF opened
fire on demonstrators in Gaza on 10/8. (AP 10/16)
7 Palestinians killed.
AMB mbr. Muhammad Ubayyat is killed when a bomb in a pay phone he is
using explodes; the IDF apparently intended to assassinate Ubayyat's
brother, Bethlehem tanzim cmdr. Nassir Ubayyat, and killed
Muhammad in error. The IDF makes a predawn raid on Rafah r.c.,
demolishing 6 Palestinian homes allegedly hiding tunnels to Egypt,
killing 2 Palestinians (including a 4 yr. old crushed by a falling wall),
wounding 25, bulldozing 10 dunams of land; fatally shoots 2 Palestinians
nr. the Rafah border; fires on a Palestinian vehicle nr. Jenin, killing 1
Palestinian woman, injuring 2 others; fatally shoots a stone-throwing
Palestinian teenager in Tulkarm; bulldozes 3 bird farms, a water network in
Abasan; demolishes a Palestinian home in Jenin; conducts arrest raids in
Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah. (LAW, NYT, PM, WP, WT 10/14; LAW, PCHR 10/16)
The IDF pulls most troops out of the Rafah area during the day, but
reinvades al-Salam neighborhood after dark, shelling residential areas, razing
land, demolishing homes. The IDF also raids a medical center outside
Hebron, arrests a Palestinian waiting to be seen by doctors. (MM 10/13; WP
10/14; PCHR 10/16)
After several days of talks in Amman, a group of Palestinian, Israeli
figures announce that after 2 yrs. of secret talks under the auspices of
Switzerland, they have finalized an unofficial draft peace agmt., known as the
Geneva Accord, as an alternative to the road map. (HA, JP, MM
10/13; AYM, al-Ra’i, XIN 10/13 in WNC 10/16; BBC, HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT
10/14; HA, MM, PR 10/15; MM 10/16, 10/17; MEI 10/24)
9 Palestinians killed.
In n. Gaza, the IDF conducts air strikes against 2 groups of armed
Palestinians, killing 2 AMB mbrs., 1 Hamas mbr.; fires a missile
at 2 Palestinian civilians distributing food aid in Jabaliya, killing
them both. 2 Palestinian militants die of injuries received in Jabaliya
on 10/9. The IDF also fatally shoots a 16-yr.-old Palestinian,
seriously wounds another playing soccer in a field in Rafah (soldiers claim they
thought they were planting a bomb); fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis;
arrests Hamas’s Hebron military cmdr. Imad Qawasmi on charges of plotting
the 8/31 Beersheba bus bombings; blows up a Palestinian home in Hebron.
The 10-yr.-old Palestinian girl wounded inside an UNRWA
classroom on 10/12 dies. (MEZ 10/13; VOI, VOP 10/13 in WNC 10/15; HA, MM, NYT,
PCHR,WP 10/14; VOI 10/14 in WNC 10/16; PCHR 10/21)
Palestinians fire 2 Qassam rockets at Sederot, causing no damage
or injuries.
The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Nablus,
Ramallah (also firing on residential areas). IDF undercover units conduct
arrest raids in Surif nr. Hebron. Palestinians report that in the
previous wk., the IDF had issued military orders confiscating 60 d.
northwest of Nablus for creation of a buffer zone around Shavei Shomron
settlement, cutting off another 100 d. from Palestinian access, and declaring
the whole area a closed military zone. (PCHR 10/13, 10/20)
6 Palestinians killed.
In Gaza, the IDF continues operations in Abasan, directing tank fire at
residential areas, killing 1 Palestinian woman inside her home, wounding a man,
bulldozing 120 d. of agricultural land; makes an air strike on a car driving in
Bayt Lahiya, killing 3 Hamas mbrs. (‘Adil al-Maqusi, Muhammad al-Taluli, Rasim
Zhahir) allegedly en route to fire rockets into Israel, wounding 1 bystander;
makes an air strike on a car in Gaza City, assassinating Fatah Mujahiddin
Brigades mbr. Raja’i al-Labban, wounding a 2d Fatah mbr.; makes a late-night air
strike on Rafah destroying a Palestinian home (after warning residents to
leave), severely damaging 5 others, cutting power to some areas; conducts arrest
raids in Wadi al-Silqa. Late in the evening, Palestinians fire 3 rockets fr.
Gaza into Sederot, lightly injuring 3 Israelis. In the West Bank, the IDF
conducts searches in Qabatya, exchanging fire with Palestinian gunmen, firing on
residential areas, wounding 1 Palestinian militant; conducts house searches in
and around Hebron, nr. Nablus (firing on residential areas, wounding 2
civilians). 100s of angry Palestinians barred by Israel fr. attending Ramadan
Friday prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque use makeshift ladders to scale the separation
wall and 4 checkpoints around Jerusalem and 1 checkpoint nr. Nablus, fighting
with IDF soldiers who disperse them using tear gas, water cannons, stun
grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets. Jewish settlers fr. Ramat Yishai stone a
Palestinian home in Hebron. Jewish settlers nr. Ramallah prevent Palestinians
fr. reaching their olive groves; Israeli border police intervene to disperse the
settlers. (AP, NYT, REU 10/13; NYT, WT 10/14; PCHR 10/15, 10/19)
Overnight and throughout the day, Hamas mbrs. angered over the
assassination of a local leader on 10/12 engage in fierce clashes with Fatah
mbrs. in Bayt Lahiya, leaving a 14-yr.-old Palestinian dead, around 50
Palestinians injured. A Palestinian wounded by IDF fire in Gaza on 10/12 dies.
The IDF sends troops into areas northwest
of Bayt Lahiya to bulldoze 5 d. of citrus trees, temporarily detaining farmers
working in the area, withdrawing by evening. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Ramallah, nr. Nablus (arresting a PA General Intelligence
officer); fires rubber-coated steel bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at Palestinian, Israeli, international activists taking part in the weekly nonviolent
demonstration against the separation wall in Bil`in, injuring 4. Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh nr. Nablus deny local Palestinian farmers
access to their land nearby the settlement; the Palestinian District
Coordination Office (DCO) contacts its IDF counterpart, which refuses to intervene. (OCHA 10/17; PCHR 10/18)
Palestinians fire 2 mortars
fr. al-Maghazi r.c. toward Israel; both land inside Gaza, causing no damage or
injuries.
The Israeli military detained five Palestinians in Hebron. (IMEMC)
A 20-year-old Palestinian was shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers at the Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus. According to the IDF, he was carrying three improvised explosive devices. (Ma'an News Agency, Ynetnews)
Israel shut down entry from the West Bank during the weeklong Sukkot holiday. The order barred almost all Palestinians from entering Israel until 21 October, except for humanitarian cases. (AP)
Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi urged Israel to stop all settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, saying such practices "do not serve the quest of peace". He was speaking at a meeting with the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert H. Serry. He also urged a continuation of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians "regardless of political developments". (DPA)
Palestinian farmers from the West Bank village of Gith said settlers from "Havat Gilad" had cut down at least 20 of their olive trees. (Ynetnews)
Secretary General of the OIC Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu condemned the actions taken by Israel to build a synagogue in the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. (www.oic-oci.org)
In the Declaration on the Peace Process in the Middle East adopted during a two-day extraordinary session held in Jordan, the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) said, "The EMPA reiterates its total support for the current negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and stresses the need for them to be conducted in a limited time framework and in a climate of mutual trust, which can only be established by visible progress on the ground which has a direct impact on the living conditions of the civil populations; regrets, therefore, that the international financial support that has been mobilized has not yet produced an economic revival in the Palestinian Territory because of the restrictions on access and movement which are still being imposed by the Israeli authorities and continue to jeopardise the prospects of Palestinian economic revival." (www.europarl.europa.eu)
A Gaza-Egypt underground tunnel exploded in Rafah. (Ma'an News Agency)
UNRWA and the Salam Ya Sughar Fund from the United Arab Emirates signed a $3 million cooperation agreement to feed Gaza refugee schoolchildren. (www.unrwa.org)