1 Israeli killed.
A Jewish settler is found murdered nr. Hebron. The IDF
retaliates by sealing the neighboring villages of Yatta and Yibna, and
bulldozing homes, cave dwellings, 10s of other structures, wells, olive groves,
leaving at least 500 Palestinians homeless. The IDF also bulldozes
30 Palestinian stalls at a market outside Jinin, where a settler was killed on
7/1; orders 4 Palestinian families to evacuate an area in Sawisa, nr. Hebron,
then demolishes their tents. This evening, 1,000s of Jewish settlers
rally in Tel Aviv to protest the "inadequate" security provided by the
Israeli government. (Gush Shalom press release,
al-Haq press release, MM 7/3; HP, NYT, WT 7/4; AFP [Internet] 7/5; HA 7/12; MEI
7/13)
Sharon meets with senior cabinet mbrs. to discuss contingency
plans should the cease-fire collapse completely. He secures their authorization
to step up assassinations. The State Dept. repeats its opposition. (MM,
NYT, WP, WT 7/4; JT 7/4 in WNC 7/7; NYT 7/5)
A Jewish settler is found murdered nr. Hebron. After dark, Palestinians toss homemade grenades
at an IDF post in Rafah, causing no injuries.
The IDF directs shells, heavy machine gun fire at
residential areas of Khan Yunis; bulldozes 10s of dunams of land n. of Khan
Yunis, 500 olive trees nr. Bethlehem; conducts arrest raids in Qibya, Ramallah
(raiding the civil service building), Sanirya. The IDF also confiscates 3
garbage trucks, 2 bulldozers fr. the al-Ram municipality. (PR 7/3; NYT, WP 7/4;
HA 7/14; MA 7/23 in WNC 7/25)
In Gaza, 1,000s of
Palestinian attend a Fatah-organized march against Bush's
stand against Arafat. Also in Gaza, Hamas mbrs. demanding the
execution of a collaborator held by the PSF attack, throw pipe bombs at a PA
police station; the PSF returns fire, injuring 23.
1 Palestinian killed.
As gestures to the PA, Israel announces a halt to deporting
families of West Bank Palestinian militants to Gaza; releases 34
Palestinian prisoners, including senior Gaza PSF official Sulayman Abu
Mutlak, who was arrested in early 5/03 and is freed for lack of evidence.
The IDF raids Qalqilya, arresting local AMB head
Ibrahim Mansur, fatally shooting his aide Mahmud Shawar (reportedly
1st wounding him in the leg, then executing him with gunshots to the head); the
AMB vows to respond within 24 hrs. The IDF also imposes a curfew on,
conducts arrest raids in Tulkarm; fires on Palestinians waiting to cross a Khan
Yunis checkpoint, wounding 1; bulldozes 8 dunams of Palestinian land nr. Dayr
al-Balah. Sharon authorizes Israeli police to crack down on crime
among bedouin in s. Israel. (HA, MM 7/3; MA, VOI 7/3, AYM 7/5 in WNC
7/10; NYT, WP, WT 7/4; NYT 7/6; MM 7/8; PR 7/9; PCHR 7/10)
Overnight, Palestinians fire an antitank rocket at Kefar Darom,
wounding 4 Jewish settlers; the Palestinian resistance comms. (PRCs)
and a Rafah-based Fatah offshoot called Abu Rish, neither of which agreed
to the cease-fire, claim responsibility; meanwhile, the PSF arrests 4
PRC mbrs., an AMB mbr. in connection with the attack; the IDF
shuts Gaza’s main north–south road for 6 hrs. to search for the assailants,
without success. Abbas condemns the rocket attack and the 6/30 fatal
shooting of a Bulgarian worker as “acts of sabotage.” The PSF also
arrests 2 Palestinians in Khan Yunis on charges of firing mortars at Gush
Katif on 7/1.
3 Palestinians killed. 1 Israeli killed.
The IDF fatally shoots a 9-yr.-old Palestinian in continuing
operations in Bayt Hanun, a stone-throwing Palestinian in Balata r.c.;
conducts arrest raids in, bulldozes a mosque and surrounding agricultural land
in al-Qarara (see 7/1); conducts arrest raids nr. Jenin; fires on residential
areas of Khan Yunis, starting fires that seriously damage 2 houses. A
Palestinian dies of injuries received earlier. (AFP 7/3; PRCS 7/4; VOI 7/4
in WNC 7/9; WP 7/5; PCHR 7/8)
AMB
gunmen ambush, fatally shoot 1 Jewish settler on a West Bank road.
Some 20 IDF soldiers patrolling in Rafah exchange fire with Hamas
mbrs., leaving 1 armed Palestinian injured. The IDF bulldozes part of a
cemetery in Rafah to widen the Philadelphi route; sends troops into Bayt Furik
nr. Nablus, fires on residential areas, then fires on stone-throwing
Palestinians who confront the troops, wounding 2; temporarily seals `Ayn Bayt
al-Ma' r.c. nr. Nablus, searches houses; conducts arrest raids, house searches
in Qabatya nr. Jenin, in villages around Hebron; occupies a Palestinian home in
Mughraqa as an observation post. An Israeli border policeman is seriously
injured in a fall during scuffles with Palestinians at a separation wall
demonstration nr. Har Adar. (XIN 7/3; VOI 7/3 in WNC
7/4; YA 7/4 in WNC 7/5; OCHA 7/6; PCHR 7/7)
Palestinians fire 6 mortars at Jewish
settlements in Gaza, causing no damage or injuries.
2 Palestinians killed.
Before dawn, the IDF begins moving tanks into the Bayt Hanun area of n. Gaza,
occupying 4 Palestinian homes as operational bases, leveling land, searching for
roadside bombs and tunnels; steps up air strikes on Gaza, hitting AMB offices in
central Gaza City; continues shelling n. Gaza (wounding a Palestinian in a home
nr. Bayt Hanun). During the day, the IDF make air strikes on Hamas targets in
Bayt Hanun, killing 2 Hamas mbrs., damaging a Reuters press vehicle; halts fuel
supplies to Gaza. Palestinian groups holding Shalit give Israel until 11:00 P.M.
EST this evening to begin releasing 1,500 Palestinian prisoners or Israel would
“bear full responsibility for the future consequences”; Olmert says Israel will
not give in to any Palestinian demands; Haniyeh repeats calls to treat Shalit
well, protect him. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, the IDF conducts arrest raids,
house searches in and around Hebron, in Nablus, and nr. Bethlehem; raids an
Islamic charity nr. Bethlehem, confiscating computers. (MM, NYT, WT 7/3; NYT,
WT, YA 7/4; PCHR 7/6)
2 Palestinians killed.
In the West Bank, the IDF imposes restrictions barring Palestinians ages 16–25 from traveling southward
through 8 major northern checkpoints (Anabta-Kifriyat tunnel, al-Ras in Tulkarm; Awarta, Hawara, Yitzhar in Nablus; Jit
in Qalqilya; Dayr Ballut, Za`atara in Salfit); fatally shoots a Palestinian teenager in Hebron, mistaking his toy
gun for a real one; raids 3 mosques and a rehabilitation center in Hebron, confiscating documents, books; raids,
searches the Palestinian General Federation of Trade
Unions offices in Ramallah; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron and in Balata r.c., Nablus, Tulkarm town
and r.c. A Palestinian dies nr. Um
Salamuna when he is run over by a Jewish settler bus. (HA 7/3;
OCHA, WP 7/4; PCHR 7/5)
In Gaza, the ESF deploys heavily in Gaza City’s
Sabra neighborhood, where Hamas believes BBC reporter Johnston is being held; detains a number of
mbrs. of the Daghmash clan thought to be behind the Army of Islam;
exchanges fire with Daghmash family mbrs. who refuse to stop at an ESF checkpoint, wounding 1 Palestinian bystander.
(The ESF says that since 7/2, it has detained 20 Daghmash mbrs.; that the Daghmash clan has kidnapped 10 Hamas
mbrs. in
retaliation.) Palestinians fire 3 mortars fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries.
A 17-year-old boy was shot in the foot by IDF soldiers as they entered his family's house in Hebron. (WAFA)
The IDF arrested 24 Palestinians affiliated with Fatah in the village of Duma, south of Nablus. (Ma'an News Agency)
An IDF spokesman said that a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip had landed in an open field north of the southern Israeli
town of Sderot, causing no injuries or damage. (AFP, Reuters)
Egypt reopened the Rafah border crossing to allow passage for around 300 Palestinians waiting to return to Gaza,
according to an Egyptian official. The same source said that the opening was temporary and only applied to Palestinians
returning to Gaza but not to persons trying to cross in the other direction. (AFP, DPA, Xinhua)
An IDF official said Israel would close its border crossings to Gaza on 4 July in response to the rocket attack earlier
in the morning. (Reuters)
In response to the bulldozer attack in Jerusalem on the previous day, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon proposed to
change the route of the wall in Jerusalem in order to cut off outlying Arab villages, as well as to revoke the
residency rights of the people living there. "One of the main reasons that the attack was carried out yesterday with
such ease was because there are Palestinian villages that for some reason are called Jerusalem. They need to be treated
as we treat Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin and Nablus," Mr. Ramon said. (AP, BBC, Haaretz)
Egypt's official MENA news agency quoted the Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Nabil Amr as saying, "Egypt will shortly
invite around 14 Palestinian factions for dialogue to draw up mechanisms to apply Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh's
initiative on a Palestinian national reconciliation." (AFP)
The Gaza office of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, a non-governmental organization, announced the resumption
of a project funded by Norwegian People's Aid to plant fruit and olive trees in areas where IDF incursions had
destroyed the crops. (Ma'an News Agency)
At a northern West Bank military checkpoint, a 20-year-old Palestinian woman suspected of having a weapon was shot and wounded after refusing to stop as ordered by soldiers, according to an IDF spokeswoman. "The soldiers then realized that the Palestinian actually had a toy - a plastic gun," she said. (AFP)
In Warsaw, UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd said Israel had indicated it would pay compensation for UN buildings that had been destroyed by IDF shelling during the Gaza conflict. "We are now in the process of negotiating and we are putting very clearly ... the value of the loss," Mrs. AbuZayd said. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had said he would seek compensation in the amount of more than $11 million. (Reuters)