7 Palestinians killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes continue, leaving a total of 7
Palestinians dead. Hrs. before dawn, without warning, the IDF opens
fire with M-16s and heavy machine guns on a PSF post in Beitunia, killing 5
PSF officers. Later in the day, 10,000s of Palestinians attend a memorial
for the 5 in Ramallah. The U.S. says Israel's actions mark a "very
disturbing" escalation. When a Palestinian throws a grenade at an IDF
checkpoint nr. Khan Yunis, IDF soldiers open fire on cars waiting to pass
through, killing the assailant (who is reportedly wearing an explosive device),
1 bystander, wounding 5 bystanders. The IDF also demolishes a PSF
building nr. Tulkarm. Palestinian gunmen fire on Gilo settlement,
wounding 4 Jewish settlers. (LAW, MEZ, MM, NYT, WP, WT 5/14; MM, NYT, WP,
WT 5/15; AN, MENA 5/15 in WNC 5/16; AYM 5/16 in WNC 5/18; PCHR, WP 5/17; LAW,
MEI 5/18)
Hizballah fires 5 rockets fr. Lebanon into the Israeli-occupied
Shaba` Farms. The IDF responds by firing mortars at Hizballah targets
in s. Lebanon, overflying the area. Neither side reports damage. (RL 5/14 in WNC
5/15; NYT 5/15; MEI 5/18)
When a Palestinian throws a grenade at an IDF
checkpoint nr. Khan Yunis, IDF soldiers open fire on cars waiting to pass
through, killing the assailant (who is reportedly wearing an explosive device),
1 bystander, wounding 5 bystanders.
2 Palestinians killed.
In a predawn operation, the IDF enters Halhul, ambushes and
assassinates 2 PA intelligence officers wanted for "terrorist
activities." The IDF conducts arrest raids in 2 other West Bank villages,
detaining at least 12 Palestinians; continues searching homes in Bayt Umar (see
5/13). Israeli police arrest fmr. head of the outlawed Kach movement
Noam Federman, a 2d Kach mbr. in connection with the plot to bomb East
Jerusalem's Maqassid Hospital. (HA, LAW 5/14; NYT, WP 5/15; WP, WT 5/16)
5 Palestinians killed.
IDF undercover units raid Nablus, sparking numerous demonstrations and
exchanges of gunfire, in which wanted AMB mbr. Taysir Shihab is fatally
shot, 20 Palestinians (mostly stone-throwing youths) are injured. The IDF
also bars Norwegian special envoy to the Middle East Jakken Bioern Lian
entry to Gaza for a scheduled mtg. with PA officials (see 5/11); issues
an order expelling a Palestinian fr. the al-Mawasi area, where he
resides, for 6 mos.; shells a PSF post nr. Netzarim settlement, killing 3 PSF
officers, wounding 2; makes arrest raids in Jenin, sparking clashes that
leave a 12-yr.-old Palestinian dead; conducts additional arrest raids in
Qalqilya, Tulkarm; fires on residential areas of Khan Yunis; bulldozes more than
86 dunams e. of Bayt Hanun. Jewish settlers evacuate 7 mobile homes fr.
an unauthorized outpost nr. Shilo. (AFP, HA, PCHR, REU 5/14; HA, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 5/15)
Israel allows Islamic Movement northern branch head Shaykh Ra’ed Salah,
1 of the 15 arrested on 5/13, out of custody for several hrs. to attend the
funeral of his father in Umm al-Fahm, which turns into a massive Israeli Arab
rally against Israeli government discrimination. (HA 5/15)
Palestinians fire 2 Qassam rockets
at Sederot and 5 mortars at Gush Katif settlement, causing no damage or
injuries.
2 Palestinians killed. 2 Israelis killed.
Clashes btwn. the IDF, Palestinians continue in Rafah for a 4th
day, leaving 2 IDF soldiers, 2 Palestinians dead. Palestinians
report near-continuous IDF shelling. The IDF announces plans to bulldoze
100s of Palestinian homes along the Rafah border with Egypt to widen (by
“a couple of hundred meters”) the Philadelphi Route (now 4.5 mi. long and 250 m
wide); bulldozes more Palestinian homes, as 1,000s of Palestinians
flee the area. Human rights groups report that the IDF has demolished 72
Palestinian homes in Rafah completely, another 27 partially since 5/12. The
IDF also fires on a Palestinian car nr. Netzarim settlement, wounding a
pregnant Palestinian; demolishes 5 Palestinian homes in al-Qarara, 1 nr.
Ramallah; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem; fires on
residential areas of Tulkarm. (BBC, MM 5/14; MA, MENA, VOI, VOP, YA 5/14 in WNC
5/18; NYT, WP, WT 5/15; PCHR 5/20)
The IDF fires on residential areas nr. Nablus; conducts arrest raids,
house searches in nearby Askar r.c.; raids, searches the Bil`in home of Abdallah
Abu Ramah, the coordinator of the local Higher Comm. Against the Annexation
Wall, arresting him. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar detain a Palestinian
farmer plowing his nearby land at gunpoint, take him to their settlement, beat
him, threaten to bury him alive; the IDF observes the abduction, beating
but only intervenes when settlers threaten the man's life, ordering him to leave
the area and never come back, saying it is a closed military zone. Jewish
settlers fr. Ma'on set fire to 50 d. of nearby Palestinian crops. Jewish
settlers fr. Elon Moreh erect a tent on nearby Palestinian farmland.
(IMEMC 5/15; OCHA 5/18; PCHR 5/19)
7 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
The IDF raids Qabatya, surrounds the home of senior Islamic Jihad military
leader Elias al-Ashkar, killing Ashkar and 4 Islamic Jihad mbrs. in an exchange
of fire, sparking massive protests in Qabatya in which soldiers kill a 6th
Palestinian, wound 16 (including a journalist); sends undercover units into
Jenin in car with Palestinian license plates, willfully shooting and killing a
PA General Intelligence Service (GIS) officer guarding the GIS headquarters in
Jenin, besieging a house nearby, arresting 1 wanted Palestinian; shoots, wounds
senior Islamic Jihad political leader Shaykh Mahmud al-Sadi outside Jenin in an
apparent assassination attempt; conducts additional arrest raids, house searches
in and around Nablus, in Tulkarm, nr. Hebron; raids Aida r.c., chasing and
firing on Palestinian children who allegedly threw stones at IDF soldiers,
wounding an 11-and a 12-yr.-old with live ammunition; confiscates goods from,
demolishes 13 shops in a farmers market in the Jordan Valley; captures a
Palestinian boat smuggling explosives fr. Egypt to Gaza. A small bomb explodes
at a hitchhiking post outside Shiloh settlement nr. Ramallah, lightly wounding 1
Jewish settler; no group takes responsibility. An American wounded in the 4/17 Tel Aviv bombing
dies of his injuries, bringing that toll to 11. (AFP, REU, XIN, YA 5/14; HA, MM,
NYT, WP, WT 5/15; PCHR 5/18)
The Israeli High Court upholds (6–5) a 2002 law that sharply restricts family
reunification for West Bank and Gaza Palestinians married to Israeli
Palestinians living in Israel to women over age 25 and men over age 35. (AP,
B’Tselem press release, HA 5/14; HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT 5/15)
Unidentified gunmen shoot, wound
a bodyguard outside the home of PA GIS Gaza chief Maj. Gen. Tariq Abu Rajab;no
group claims responsibility.
1 Palestinian killed.
In the West Bank, the IDF sends
undercover units into Qabatya to conduct arrest raids, house searches; conducts
additional arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron, and in
Qalqilya, Tulkarm town and r.c.; patrols, fires on residential areas of Anabta
nr. Tulkarm. A Palestinian dies of injuries he received on 1/31 when he was shot
by the IDF while attempting to sneak into Israel unarmed to find work. (BBC
5/14; NYT, WT 5/15; OCHA 5/16; PCHR 5/17)
PA Interior M Qawasmi resigns in protest of Abbas’s deployment of Fatah PA
forces without coordination with his ministry, but blames both Hamas and Fatah
for failing to take his security reform efforts seriously; Haniyeh will assume
the post until a replacement is decided. Fatah-Hamas clashes continue in Gaza
despite a 2d Egyptian brokered cease-fire agmt. today, leaving 4 Palestinians
dead and raising questions of whether the political leadership of either party
has effective control over its military wings. The casualties include 2 AMB mbrs.
killed when Hamas mbrs. raid a PA intelligence headquarters and the home of
Fatah spokesman Mahir Miqdad.
6 Palestinians killed.
Overnight, the IDF makes an
incursion into Abasan, raiding and searching homes, occupying several as
operational bases, making air strikes on local gunmen who confront them
(killing 1 Hamas mbr., seriously wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs. and 1
Hamas mbr.), demolishing 1 Palestinian home, bulldozing 110 d. of
agricultural land and 4 poultry farms, arresting 4 Palestinians before
withdrawing late in the evening. The IDF also makes an early-morning
incursion into Jabaliya town, fatally shooting a Palestinian civilian
riding a bicycle for no apparent reason, exchanging fire with local gunmen
(killing 1 armed Palestinian, 1 bystander), hitting 3 Palestinian
homes with tank fire (injuring 3 Palestinian civilians). Late in the evening, the IDF
makes an air strike on Gaza City, killing 2 Palestinian resistance mbrs.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids,
house searches in and around Bethlehem and Nablus, and in Qalqilya. (NYT, PCHR,
WP 5/15; PCHR 5/22)
Palestinians
fire a Grad-type rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, striking a shopping
mall in Ashqelon, wounding 16 Israelis, 3 of them seriously; several groups,
excluding Hamas claim responsibility.
At least 15 armed Israeli setters from “Karmel” ransacked and damaged three Palestinian homes in the village of Khirbit near Hebron. (IMEMC)
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Jordan's king Abdulla II in Aqaba where the latter pressed Mr. Netanyahu to immediately commit to the establishment of a Palestinian State and urged him to accept the Arab peace initiative and to take the necessary steps to move forward toward a solution, according to a Royal Court statement. (Haaretz)
Quartet Representative Tony Blair told the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate that there was no workable alternative to a two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “The opportunity is there. But it won’t remain if not seized. As President Obama has recognized, this is the right time to seize it,” Mr. Blair said. (AP, www.foreign.senate.gov)
Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a mass in Nazareth, calling for a peaceful coexistence between the Muslims and the Christians. (DPA)
Commemorating the 61st anniversary of Al-Nakba, crowds in Beit Hanoun called for a restoration of unity so Palestinians could remain steadfast and insist on their right of return to the villages and towns they were expelled from in 1948. “Those who abandon that right,” one protester said, “should not be considered Palestinian.” The event was organized by the local branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the northern Gaza Strip. (Ma’an News Agency)
“Not for Sale,” a 72-minute documentary, was recently released reflecting the suffering of Palestinians expelled from their homeland after the 1948 Al-Nakba. The documentary was based on two cases: one of them a child from Ash-Shati refugee camp, working after school on the street to support his 11-member family; the other case was a refugee from Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut, also working after school as a mechanic with his father. (Ma’an News Agency)