2 Palestinians killed. 2 Israelis killed.
Israeli-Palestinian clashes
continue, leaving 2 Palestinians dead. Some 600
mbrs. of the Union of Palestinian Women's Comms. hold a nonviolent march
nr. the al-Ram checkpoint, where the IDF fires tear gas and percussion
grenades, beating some with their rifles, injuring 15, including Hanan
Ashrawi. The IDF directs shells, heavy machine gun fire at
residential areas of Brazil, Khan Yunis, Rafah (hitting an elementary school,
injuring 8 children); bulldozes 50 dunams of Palestinian land nr. Bayt Hanun,
destroying a PSF post. Nr. Jerusalem, IDF soldiers stop, arrest, beat 2
ambulance drivers returning from a call; the pair are freed after the
International Comm. of the Red Cross intervenes. (MM, Palestinian Red
Crescent Society press release, REU 3/19; HP, MM, WT 3/20; WJW 3/22; MEI 3/23;
LAW 3/24; JP 4/6)
Sharon
arrives in Washington for his 1st mtg. with U.S. officials since his
inauguration; also addresses the annual American Israel Public Affairs Comm.
conference. (MM 3/19; WT 3/20; WJW 3/22; MM 3/23; JP 3/30; NYT 4/19; MEI,
WP, WT 4/20; NYT 4/22; MM 4/24; WJW 4/26) (see Peace Monitor)
A Jewish settler is killed
in a drive-by shooting nr. Bethlehem; the IDF reseals the city.
At
Manara kibbutz on the Israeli-Lebanese border, residents find the
kibbutz's security head murdered, the kibbutz's arsenal ransacked, 60 rifles
and handguns stolen. The border fence with Lebanon is intact, so Israel suspects
Palestinians or Israeli Arabs. (MM 4/20; WJW 3/22; MA 3/24 in WNC
3/26)
3 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
The IDF completes its withdrawal to the outskirts of Bayt Jala,
Bethlehem. The IDF fatally shoots a 3d Palestinian standing
outside his shop in Bayt Omar; conducts arrest raids in Dayr Istya, Dahariyya.
Armed Jewish settlers fire on a Palestinian school in Silat al-Dahir,
injuring a 12-yr.-old boy. (AP, MM 3/19; LAW, NYT, WT 3/20)
Before dawn, 2 Palestinian gunmen infiltrate an IDF
camp in the Jordan Valley, fire on paratroopers, killing 1, wounding 3 before
being shot dead.
1 Israeli killed.
Israel extends the closure on the territories (imposed 3/17 for Purim) until 3/30. The
IDF demolishes a Palestinian home in Dayr al-Balah; conducts
arrest raids in Jenin, al-Maghazi r.c., Qalqilya, Tulkarm. Israeli
police arrest 3 Israeli Arabs fr. Acre on suspicion of joining
Islamic Jihad, plotting attacks on Israelis. (AFP, JTA 3/19; HA, NYT, PCHR 3/20;
PCHR 3/27; HA 4/3)
Just 90 mins. after the U.S. deadline passes for Hussein to leave
Iraq, the U.S. makes a single strike on Baghdad, acting on
intelligence of where Hussein, his top officials and sons could be found,
assassinated. The strike marks the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, but not the
start of the “shock and awe” air campaign that the U.S. previously indicated
would launch the war. Iraqi TV airs 2 videos of Hussein that suggest he was
unharmed. (MM 3/19; HA, MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/20; MM 4/21)
As the U.S.’s 48-hr. deadline for Hussein to leave Iraq draws near,
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, fearing Israel will step up
attacks and impose stiff closures and curfews as soon as war on Iraq begins,
close schools and businesses, hoard provisions, stay inside. AMB gunmen
ambush, fatally shoot a Jewish settler driving nr. Jenin.
Abbas accepts Arafat’s nomination as PM, is given 3 wks. to form a
government. (HA, MM 3/19; AYM, Interfax 3/19 in WNC 3/20; HA, NYT, WP 3/20; AYM
3/25, al-Quds 3/27 in WNC 3/28)
2 Palestinians killed.
The IDF fires on residential
areas of Khan Yunis (killing a 7-yr.-old Palestinian girl playing outside
her home), Rafah (wounding an 8-yr.-old boy); demolishes a Palestinian home
in Bethlehem; conducts arrest raids nr. Hebron, Netzarim settlement. A
Palestinian youth attempts to stab an Israeli border policeman in
Jerusalem; is shot, wounded, arrested. AMB gunmen fatally shoot George
Khoury, son of a prominent Israeli Arab attorney, nr. East Jerusalem’s
French Hill settlement, mistaking him for a Jewish settler; AMB issues an
apology to the family, calling Khoury a martyr.
Another Palestinian dies
of injuries received during the IDF missile attack on Rafah on 3/17. (MM 3/19;
VOP 3/19 in WNC 3/23; NYT, WP, WT 3/20; NYT, WP, WT 3/21; PR 3/24; HA, PCHR
3/25)
Hamas detonates a roadside bomb nr. Mughraqa, disabling an IDF
tank, injuring 4 soldiers. In response, the IDF demolishes 5
Palestinian homes in Mughraqa.
The IDF tightens restrictions on Palestinian movement into Jericho
(turned over to PA security control on 3/16); announces plans to install an
electronic gate at the entrance to Wadi al-Silqa nr. Dayr al-Balah, near a
settler bypass road, to control Palestinian movement in and out; arrests 3
Palestinians attempting to sneak into Israel nr. al-Mintar crossing to find
jobs; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Budrus nr. Ramallah, Dayr
al-Ghusun, al-Til. Jewish settlers fr. Ma'on attack, beat several
Palestinian farmers working their land nearby. (AYM 3/20; PCHR 3/24)
Several Palestinian gunmen
raid the PA's Rafah police office, fire shots in the air, free a jailed
Palestinian, who was arrested on 3/18 for throwing stones at PA security
officers sealing a smugglers' tunnel in Rafah.
Israel extends the seal on the West Bank and Gaza (imposed on 3/11) until
after the 3/28 Israeli elections. The IDF arrests 3 unarmed Palestinians
attempting to sneak into Israel fr. n. Gaza to find work; patrols in Nablus;
conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus;
seizes 766 d. of Palestinian land in Bethlehem for construction of the
separation wall. (AFP, IMEMC 3/19; PCHR 3/23)
The UN warns that Gaza is dangerously short of basic foodstuffs and faces a
major humanitarian crisis as a result of Israel’s continued closure of the Qarni
trade crossing. The UNRWA Gaza dir. reports that the agency has run out of food
to distribute to impoverished families. In a bid to avert a crisis, U.S. Amb. to
Israel Richard Jones calls an emergency mtg. with Israeli, PA delegations (with
the participation of reps of the EU, Egypt) in Tel Aviv to discuss declining
humanitarian conditions in Gaza; says shortages of food, medicine are beginning
to threaten Palestinians’ basic welfare. The sides agree to open Israel’s Kerem
Shalom crossing in s. Gaza on 3/20 for the transport of humanitarian goods fr.
Egypt. (AFP, AP 3/19; MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/20)
Having failed in its negotiations with Fatah and other parties to form a
national unity government or agree on a national unity program, Hamas presents
its cabinet slate to Abbas for approval and issues the draft national unity
program as its platform. (AP, NYT, WT 3/19; AP, MM, NYT, WP, WT 3/20; HA 3/21;
MM 3/22; MM, Washington Jewish Week 3/23)
Overnight, the Israeli navy rounds up 14 Palestinian fishing boats, detains
56 fishermen, releases 50 later in the day. In the
West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron,
firing on stone-throwing Palestinians, wounding 4. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat
Arba bar Palestinian worshipers fr. entering al-Ras Mosque in Hebron; the IDF
observes but does not intervene. Separately, 50 Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba,
under IDF protection, occupy a 4-story Palestinian residential building in
Hebron, claiming to have legally purchased it; the owner denies this; officers
fr. the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) ask the settlers to
see the purchase documents, but they refuse. A Jewish settler fr. Hebron
seriously injures a Palestinian man in a deliberate hit and run. (al-Mezan,
NYT, OCHA, WP, WT 3/20; PCHR 3/22)
A Hamas sniper fires across the Gaza
border into Israel, wounding an Israeli electrical worker in the 1st armed
attack by Hamas since the Gaza cease-fire went into effect 11/26/06. Hamas mbrs.
also fire 2 mortars at the IDF post at Qarni crossing, causing no damage or
injuries. Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad reiterates Hamas’s call for mutual calm;
Israel says that it will continue to abide by the truce but that its patience is
wearing thin. In Shati’ r.c., an Islamic Jihad mbr. is killed, 9 Palestinians
are injured when explosives he is handling detonate prematurely. Egyptian
security forces announce that they have captured a Hamas mbr. in the n. Sinai,
who allegedly intended to sneak into Israel to stage a suicide bombing.
In Gaza City,
200 family mbrs. of Palestinians detained by Israel hold a sit-in to demand
greater PA and international efforts to secure a prisoner release.
1 Palestinian killed.
In the West Bank, the IDF bulldozes a
large area of Palestinian land southwest of Hebron for construction of a settlers-only
bypass road; bulldozes 7 Palestinian homes nr. Hebron, 5 nr. Jerusalem
(built without permits), 1 nr. Jenin (located nr. the separation wall); conducts
late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Jenin r.c. and
Qabatya, and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron. Jewish settlers vandalize a
Palestinian home nr. Nablus; the IDF intervenes to remove them. A Palestinian
dies of injuries received in an earlier IDF air strike on Gaza. (OCHA
3/26; PCHR 3/27)
The IDF confirmed that troops had arrested 10 senior Hamas officials during overnight operations in the West Bank. Among those detained were four Hamas lawmakers, a university professor and former Hamas Deputy Prime Minister Nasser As-Sha’er. An army statement said, “These men have been the leaders of the ongoing effort to restore the administrative branch of the Hamas terror organization in the region, while attempting to increase the power and influence of Hamas.” Meanwhile Hamas spokesperson Ayman Taha said if Israel worsened the conditions of the group’s prisoners, captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit would be treated likewise. More than 40 Hamas members from the West Bank were already in Israeli jails. (AFP, BBC, Haaretz, Ma’an News Agency, The Jerusalem Post)
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak promised to investigate reports that soldiers recounted on how some troops opened fire too hastily and killed Palestinian civilians during the recent Gaza assault, believing that they would not be held to account under relaxed rules of engagement. One account told of a sniper killing a mother and children at close range whom troops had told to leave their home. Soldiers also reported large-scale destruction of Palestinian property. The solders gave their accounts at a get-together with students at a military preparatory institute. The institute’s director, Danny Zamir, said that the soldiers pointed to an atmosphere of “unbridled contempt for, and forcefulness against the Palestinians.” An infantry squad leader said, “The climate in general, from what I understood from most of my men … was the lives of Palestinians … are far less important than the lives of our soldiers. So, as far as they’re concerned, they can justify it that way.” (AP, BBC, Reuters)
In the wake of the Defence Minister Barak’s promise to investigate reports of soldiers killing civilians during the recent Gaza assault, it was reported that Maj. Gen. (res.) Ami Ayalon, former head of the Navy and Shin Bet, stated that “the IDF has neither the tools nor the culture to carry out inquiries into ethical dilemmas … The IDF never knew how to investigate such things, and in recent years, the problem has become more difficult because there are more such incidents.” (Haaretz, www.timesonline.co.uk, Ynetnews)
The Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, said that he would press forward with a plan to raze the entire Palestinian neighbourhood of Al-Bustan in East Jerusalem and to “relocate” more than 1,000 of its residents to make way for a park. The spokesman for PA President Abbas stated that “there was an unprecedented escalation … against the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem through the destruction of tens of houses and the issuance of demolition orders against dozens of others.” He added that “this is an infuriating campaign by the municipality to ‘Judaize’ the city and expel the Palestinian population. (Ma’an News Agency, Ynetnews)
Palestinian groups adjourned reconciliation talks in Cairo without a deal on a national unity Government. The groups had earlier agreed to hold presidential and legislative elections by January 2010 but remained deadlocked over the issue of a unity Government that would prepare for the polls. They had agreed that the new Government would be called a “coalition Government.” Talks would continue after the Arab Summit at the end of March. (AP, Haaretz, Ma’an News Agency)
During a visit to the village of Khirbet Al-Litwani, south of Hebron, Quartet Representative Tony Blair said Palestinians living in “Area C” of the West Bank under full Israeli control were denied basic rights afforded to Israeli settlers. “The reason for coming here today is to draw attention to the fact that without a new and different system applying in Area C, it is very hard for Palestinians to enjoy a standard of living so that they can enjoy and develop their land as they should be able to develop it,” he said. He noted that Palestinians were “obviously denied the right to live decent lives,” while “around there are outposts where people do have a decent standard of living.” (Ma’an News Agency)
Hamas threatened to harm Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in the wake of Israel’s arrest of 10 of its leaders in the West Bank. Hamas official Osama Hamdan said that his delegation had not left Cairo and was prepared to resume prisoner exchange talks. (Haaretz, Ma’an News Agency, Ynetnews)
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk stated in an interview that Israel’s military assault on densely populated Gaza appeared to constitute a grave war crime. He added that “if it is not possible to [distinguish between military and civilian targets], then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under criminal law.” Mr. Falk also stated that: “The denial of people’s right to flee the war zone as refugees may also constitute a crime against humanity”. In his view, “the aggression was not legally justified and may represent a ‘crime against peace’”; he suggested that the Security Council might set up an ad hoc criminal tribunal to establish accountability for war crimes in Gaza. He also called for the establishment of an independent experts group to probe possible war crimes committed by both Israeli forces and Hamas and to gather eyewitness testimony as well as explanations from Israeli and Palestinian military commanders. Mr. Falk was scheduled to present his report to the Human Rights Council at its tenth session on 23 March. (Haaretz, Reuters, www.ohchr.org, Ynetnews)