2 Palestinians killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes continue, killing at least 1 Palestinian.
A 2d Palestinian dies of injuries received earlier. In Hebron, IDF
troops push, kick, detain Palestinians accompanying UN special envoy
Terje Larsen on a tour of the Palestinian section of the city. Larsen says
he will report the incident to UN Secy.-Gen. Kofi Annan. The IDF
continues to bulldoze lands, structures nr. Netzarim Junction, Dugit settlement.
(LAW, WT 12/8; PCHR 12/18)
The PA State Security Court sentences to death Alam Bani Odeh,
nephew of assassinated Hamas official Ibrahim Bani Odeh, for treason and
espionage. Alam, who was arrested on 11/28, reportedly confessed to having been
recruited by Shin Bet 9 mos. ago to monitor his uncle. (LAW 12/11) (see
11/23)
2 Palestinians killed.
Israel continues strikes on PA targets, destroying
2 PSF buildings in Gaza City, wounding 18 Palestinians, and damaging
al-Azhar University buildings, Palestine Bank offices, the UNRWA school for the
blind. In the West Bank, the IDF ambushes, fatally shoots 2
Palestinians. (AFP, REU 12/7;
NYT, REU, WT 12/8; WP 12/9; LAW 12/12)
At Zinni's request, CIA, PA, Israeli
security officials hold a "heated" trilateral security comm. mtg. in Tel
Aviv. Separately, Ben-Eliezer meets with Arafat financial adviser
Muhammad Rashid to discuss ways of achieving a cease-fire. (NYT, WP, WT
12/8; MENA 12/8, MA 12/9 in WNC 12/11; HA, WT 12/9)
The funeral for a Hamas mbr. killed outside Shaykh
Yasin's house on 12/5 turns into an anti-Arafat protest. The PA bars the
press fr. covering a large pro-Hamas rally in Hebron.
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF assassinates Islamic Jihad mbr. ‘Abd al-Hadi Omar nr.
Jenin, also wounding 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., 2 bystanders; conducts arrest raids
in Jenin, al-Til; disarms, arrests a would-be suicide bomber wearing a 33
lb. explosives belt nr. Tulkarm; finds, safely defuses a 110 lb. bomb planted by
the Gush Katif security fence. (HA, NYT 12/8; LAW, PCHR 12/11)
A day before the UN deadline, Iraq turns over a 12,000-page
declaration on its biological, chemical, nuclear weapons programs, asserting
that it has no weapons of mass destruction. (WP 12/7; NYT, WP, WT 12/8; MM
12/11)
The IDF erects a new military post in Shaykh Ajlin s. of Gaza City;
bulldozes 3 dunams of land nr. Khan Yunis; conducts arrest raids in Balata,
Nablus, Qabatya, Tulkarm; searches houses in Hebron. (VOI, YA 12/8 in WNC 12/10; PCHR 12/11)
Palestinians fire a
mortar at a Jewish settlement in Gaza, causing no damage or injuries.
4 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
The IDF retaliates to Qarni bombing with gunfire nearby, killing 2 Hamas
mbrs., 2 Islamic Jihad mbrs., wounding 10 bystanders, bulldozing 30
d. of land. The IDF raids a charitable society, orphanage, and
school reportedly tied to Hamas in Bani Na`im, confiscating files,
sealing 3 offices; raids the Prisoners' Supporters Society in Hebron,
confiscating computers, files; fires on residential areas of Brazil r.c., Khan
Yunis, Rafah; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c., Beitunia,
Hebron and nearby Bayt `Awwa, Qalqilya and neighboring `Azun and Jayyus, Taqu`a,
Zabbuba nr. Jenin; begins large-scale bulldozing operations nr. Jaba` village
northwest of Hebron for construction of the separation wall; fires rubber
bullets, percussion grenades, tear gas at stone-throwing Palestinians
demonstrating against the separation wall in Budrus nr. Ramallah, also
arrests 40 Israeli protesters demonstrating with them. A carload of Jewish
settlers twice attempts to run down a group of Palestinian teenagers on
their way to school; the settlers then emerge fr. the car, attempt to kidnap a
Palestinian boy, scuffle with teenagers; the IDF intervenes, orders
settlers to leave but does not arrest them. (IMEMC, MM 12/7; VOI 12/7 in WNC
12/9; NYT, WP, WT 12/8; VOI 12/8 in WNC 12/10; PCHR 12/9; MEI 12/17)
Hamas takes responsibility for planting a bomb in a chicken coop nr.
Gaza's Qarni crossing, luring an IDF bomb squad to the site, and detonating the
device, killing an IDF solider and a bomb-sniffing dog, wounding 4
soldiers. The AMB
kills a Palestinian collaborator believed to have passed information to
the IDF that led to the killing of 3 AMB mbrs. on 11/21.
1 Palestinian killed.
IDF air strikes target the head of the Popular Resistance Comm.'s
(PRC) Salah al-Din Brigades Mahmud Arqan, assassinating him as he drives
through a residential area of Rafah, wounding at least 5 bystanders. IDF artillery
fires 10s of shells on roads and uninhabited areas in n. Gaza, causing no
reported casualties. The IDF also conducts arrest raids nr. Ramallah and
in Balata r.c., Hebron, Tulkarm; raids Waqf offices, 2 charitable societies in
Jenin, confiscating computers and files, sealing the buildings; conducts arrest
raids in Bani Na'im nr. Hebron, Bayt Laqia, Bethlehem, Kafr Dan nr. Jenin,
al-Khadi, Tulkarm r.c. Late in the evening, the IDF raids the Muslim
Youth Association in Hebron, confiscate computers, copiers, documents and
vandalize and seal the building. (Israeli FMin. press
release, JAZ, JP, YA 12/7; HA, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT, XIN 12/8; HA 12/9; PCHR 12/15)
In
retaliation to Rafah assassination, Palestinians fire several rockets and 1 mortar
fr. n. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. A Palestinian woman (a bystander) is
killed, several Palestinians are wounded in a clash btwn. rival clans in Bayt
Hanun in continuation of the fatal violence of 12/3.
IDF troops on the n. Gaza border shoot, wound 2 Palestinian farmers working
his land nr. Bayt Lahiya, 2 Palestinians collecting scrap metal nr. the border
fence outside Bayt Hanun. For a 2d day, the Israeli navy fires on Palestinian
fishermen w. of Rafah, damaging some boats but causing no injuries. In the West
Bank, the IDF raids al-Hurriyya and al- Siraj radio stations, confiscating
equipment; conducts house searches in Jenin. (OCHA 12/13; PCHR 12/14)
1 Palestinian killed.
Israel
allows 27 Gazans to enter Egypt through the Rafah crossing for the Hajj.
IDF troops on the Gaza border fatally shoot a Palestinian farmer
plowing a field nr. the border fence nr. Khuza in s. Gaza. In the West Bank,
the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Qalqilya. Jewish
settlers accompanied by IDF soldiers set up tents, raise an Israeli
flag on a plot of Palestinian land along Road 60 northeast of Hebron; Israeli
police remove them. (OCHA 12/12; PCHR
12/13)
In Gaza City, unidentified assailants detonate a
bomb outside the former PA National Security Forces headquarters, now controlled
by Hamas, causing damage but no injuries. Armed PRC mbrs. raid,
vandalize, steal equipment fr. a Fatah office in al-Bureij r.c. Armed PRC
mbrs. whose salaries have been cut off by Abbas’s government raid a youth
center in al-Maghazi r.c., fire in the air, demand reinstatement of their
salaries; Hamas-affiliated police convince them to leave.
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert compared the violence used by settlers against Palestinians in Hebron to a "pogrom." He said he was ashamed of recent scenes in Hebron. (BBC)
The Israeli ministerial committee overseeing the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails approved the release of 230 prisoners as a gesture of goodwill toward the PA ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The Cabinet had earlier approved a list of 250 prisoners, but some 20 names were removed from the original list following objections of several ministers, who were opposed to releasing prisoners into the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz)
A ship that had been slated to sail from Jaffa to the Gaza Strip was halted before ever leaving port, after Israeli police warned the ship's owner that he could be charged with a crime. The ship was to have carried a cargo of medicines and other supplies, along with several Arab Knesset members. (Haaretz, Reuters)
Two Palestinian militants were injured by an Israeli artillery shell in the Al-Faraheen neighbourhood of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. According to the Popular Resistance Committees, Israeli forces had fired from close range from the Kissufim military base east of Khan Yunis. (Ma'an News Agency)
Palestinians fired six Qassam rockets and five mortar shells at southern Israel. One of the rockets landed near Sderot and others fell on open areas. No injuries or damage were reported. The Israeli Air Force attacked a rocket launcher in Gaza. There was no report of casualties. (Haaretz)
PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and asked him to allow Israeli banks to transfer cash to the Gaza Strip, where the shortage of bank notes had forced banks to shut down. The meeting also addressed the easing of Israeli access restrictions for the Eid al-Adha holiday. (Ma'an News Agency)
The Gaza Strip power plant ran out of fuel and ceased operating completely, plunging half of the Gaza Strip into darkness. Israel had last allowed 400,000 litres of fuel into Gaza on 3 December. (Ma'an News Agency)