1 Palestinian killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes
intensify, especially around Khan Yunis, leaving 1 Palestinian dead.
Sharon returns fr. his trip to the U.S., immediately goes into talks with
his security cabinet. The IDF shells residential areas of Brazil, Khan
Yunis. Jewish settlers bulldoze 2 olive groves nr. Elazar settlement.
(AFP [Internet], HA, MM, WJW 3/22; WT 3/23)
5 Palestinians killed.
An AMB suicide bomber detonates a device at an IDF checkpoint
outside Jenin, wounding 1 IDF soldier. The IDF continues
operations in PA-controlled areas nr. Hebron and Nablus, fatally shooting
1 Palestinian. The IDF fatally shoots another 2 Palestinians
in separate incidents in Gaza; a 5th Palestinian dies of injuries
received on 3/21. (ITAR-TASS 3/22 in WNC 3/25; HP, LAW, NYT, WP, WT 3/23; PCHR
3/27)
1 Palestinian killed.
Palestinians report that the IDF seems to have been imposing a
system of “creeping curfews” over the past few days, placing 24-hr. curfews on
an increasing number of areas, including Hebron, Jenin, Qalqilya, Yabad. The
IDF raids a home in Dayr al-Balah, causing a Palestinian to suffer a
fatal heart attack; fires on Palestinians violating the curfew in Qalqilya to
buy food, injuring 2; conducts arrest raids nr. Rafah; demolishes a cement
factory in Gaza City; bulldozes 15 dunams of olive groves nr. Shuhada Junction.
(PM 3/22; PCHR 3/27; LAW 3/28)
13 Palestinians killed.
The IDF assassinates Hamas spiritual leader and founder Shaykh
Ahmad Yasin, firing 3 internationally banned flechette missiles at him as he
leaves a Gaza City mosque after morning prayers, also killing 3 bodyguards,
4 bystanders, wounding at least 17 Palestinians, including Yasin’s 2
sons. Immediately, 100,000s of Palestinians take to the streets
throughout the territories to protest the assassination. The IDF seals
Gaza; clashes with Palestinian demonstrators in Balata r.c. (killing an
al-Najah Radio correspondent in Balata r.c., apparently thinking his mobile
phone was a weapon), Bethlehem, Dayr al-Balah, Hebron (fatally shooting 1
Palestinian watching fr. his balcony), Jenin, Khan Yunis (killing 3
Palestinians), Nablus; fires on residential areas of Rafah, Qalqilya, Tal
Zu’rub; imposes a curfew on areas around Jenin, fires on residential areas;
temporarily occupies a Palestinian home as an IDF post nr. Dayr al-Balah.
100s of Palestinian youths in East Jerusalem gather at checkpoints to throw
stones at IDF soldiers; Palestinian prisoners in 2 Israeli jails riot.
Palestinians fire Qassam rockets, mortars, antitank rockets at Gush Katif
and Netzarim settlements, nearby IDF posts, the western Negev, damaging 2
apartments in Netzarim but causing no injuries. An ax-wielding Palestinian
fr. the West Bank village of Bidiyya wounds 3 Israelis outside an
army base in Tel Aviv before being arrested. An unidentified assailant
said to be Arab stabs, lightly wounds 3 Israelis on a Jaffa bus. 4
Palestinians are arrested for beating up a Jewish settler in East
Jerusalem. Jewish settlers detain, beat a Palestinian man in the
Jordan Valley. An estimated 200,000 Palestinians, including reps. of all
Palestinian factions, take part in Yasin’s funeral services later in the day,
with 21 PSF officers forming an honor guard for Yasin’s coffin, Gaza
churches ringing their bells, mosques broadcasting Qur’anic verses. Meanwhile,
Israeli defense chiefs meet, agree to target the entire remaining
Hamas leadership immediately, without waiting for another Hamas attack.
Israel also announces that it will close the only mental health clinic
serving East Jerusalem Palestinians (1,200 patients) because of “security
concerns.” (AP, BBC, CSM, HA, MA, MM, NYT, REU, WP, WT 3/22; AP, ATL, ITAR-TASS,
MNR, MENA, IDF Radio, IRNA, ITAR-TASS, JP, VIRI, VOI, VOP, XIN 3/22 in WNC 3/24;
al-Arabiyya TV [Dubai], Syrian Arab News Agency 3/22 in WNC 4/27; AFP, BBC, CSM,
HA, JT, MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/23; AFP, AYM, DUS, HA, al-Hayat al-Jadida, JT,
MA, MENA, al-Ra’i, THWR, TSHR, VIRI, YA 3/23 in WNC 3/25; MM, NYT, PR, WP
3/24; ATL, ITAR-TASS, Izvestiya, JT, al-Ra’i, SA, VOP, XIN 3/24 in
WNC 3/26; AYM 3/24 in WNC 4/3; JT, MM, PCHR, WJW 3/25; ITAR-TASS, MENA, NHR,
VIRI 3/25 in WNC 3/27; MM 3/26; MNR 3/27 in WNC 3/30; AYM 3/30, VOP 3/31 in WNC
4/2; MEI 4/2; PCHR 4/15)
In Washington, Shalom holds further talks on Sharon’s disengagement
plan with VP Dick Cheney, Powell, Rice. (WP 3/23)
The IDF, PA security officers hold a ceremony to jointly unlock
the gate (set up after the outbreak of the al-Aqsa intifada, locked since 2001)
on the Anabta–Tulkarm road, finalizing the transfer of security control over
Tulkarm; the IDF sets up a checkpoint 30 m. down the road to check Palestinian
IDs; all other checkpoints into and out of the city, all villages surrounding
Tulkarm remain under Israeli control. The IDF demolishes 2 Palestinian
homes in Silwan; uproots 300 olive trees in Surif nr. Hebron for
construction of the separation wall; issues a military order confiscating
a plot of land (exact size not specified) in Nahalin w. of Bethlehem for
construction of the separation wall, citing the 1950 Absentee Property
Law (see Quarterly Update in JPS 135). Jewish settlers fr. Ma'on
spread poisoned food pellets on 30 d. of Palestinians grazing land. The IDF
says that the PA security forces have sealed 18 smuggler's tunnels to
date. (HA 3/22; HA, OCHA, PR 3/23; PCHR 3/24)
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF raids Aqabat Jabir r.c. nr. Jericho, fatally shoots wanted Islamic
Jihad mbr. Ramadan Mutayr in an apparent assassination; 2 other Islamic Jihad
mbrs. are arrested. The IDF also demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in Walaja nr.
Bethlehem; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Ramallah, in and around
Nablus and Tulkarm, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. (IMEMC 3/22; VOP 3/22 in WNC
3/23; NYT, PCHR 3/23; PCHR 3/30)
IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinians collecting scrap metal
who stray nr. the border fence n. of Bayt Lahiya, wounding 1. In the West Bank,
the IDF partially demolishes a Palestinian home in Ibaydiyya nr. Bethlehem;
conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring
‘Askar r.c., in Bayt Fajjar and Dahaysha r.c. nr. Bethlehem, in Hebron, and nr.
al-Fawar r.c. (shooting, wounding 1 Palestinian). (NYT, WP 3/23; OCHA 3/28; PCHR
3/29)
In Bureij r.c., a Palestinian
is injured when an explosive device he is handling explodes prematurely. Fatah,
ESF mbrs. clash in n. Gaza for a 2d day, leaving a 2-yr.-old Palestinian boy
dead, 6 Palestinians injured. In Gaza City, ESF mbrs. exchange fire with a
Fatah-affiliated family, killing 1 Palestinian; unidentified gunmen halt, seize
a UN vehicle, leaving the Palestinian UN employee unharmed. Outside Gaza City, a
PRC mbr. is shot dead in apparent factional violence. In Khan Yunis,
unidentified gunmen shoot, wound a PSF officer.
In the West Bank, the IDF enters
Azun nr. Qalqilya, imposes a curfew, fires on residential areas (wounding 1
Palestinian), searching several homes, but making no arrests; conducts
late-night arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c. (breaking into
the offices of an Islamic charity, confiscating a computer, documents), nr. Nablus.
For a 2d day, Jewish settlers in Hebron vandalize Palestinian property
and attack local Palestinians; the IDF observes but does not intervene. (OCHA
3/26; PCHR 3/27)
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued an order against demolishing Israeli homes built on Palestinian land in the “Ofra” settlement in the West Bank, saying that the matter must be investigated before such action was taken. The order was made in response to a petition submitted last June by five residents of the nearby Palestinian village of Ein Yabrud and the Israeli human rights groups Yesh Din and B’Tselem, demanding that the High Court of Justice instruct the State to evacuate the settlement. (Haaretz)
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoom announced that there would be a new round of talks between Palestinian factions in Cairo this week aimed at ending a factional split. (Ma’an News Agency)