1 Israeli killed.
The IDF bulldozes 45 dunams of
Palestinian land along the Gaza border nr. Nahal Oz kibbutz. (MM, NYT, WP 7/25)
A Jewish settler is found murdered nr. Ramallah; officials think he
was lured to Ramallah, then kidnapped, similar to the case of an Israeli
murdered on 1/18. Palestinians throw 15 grenades at a Rafah checkpoint
during the day, causing no injuries.
1 Israeli killed.
The IDF shells residential areas of Jenin r.c.
An Israeli dies of injuries received in the 7/17 bombing, bringing the
death toll of the attack to 4. An Israeli military court extends the
detention without charge of a Palestinian photographer for Agence
France-Press, who was taken into custody by the IDF at a West Bank checkpoint on
4/24; a Palestinian photographer for Reuters detained by the IDF
on 4/30 is also still in custody. (JTA, PCHR 7/24; MM, NYT 7/25; WT 7/26; Le
Monde 7/26 in WNC 7/29)
Palestinians fire 2 Qassam 2 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel and several
mortars fr. Gaza at settlements inside the Strip, causing no damage or injuries.
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF conducts arrest raids in Hebron (targeting the AMB),
Jenin (targeting Islamic Jihad), Ramallah (targeting the AMB).
Israeli border police fatally shoot a bedouin driving in the Negev
when he refuses orders to stop; the Israelis suspected him of transporting
illegal workers fr. the occupied territories; 10s of angry local residents
demonstrate, damage police cars, throw stones at police officers. Unidentified
assailants attempt to assassinate PA military intelligence chief Maj. Gen.
Musa Arafat, firing a rocket-propelled grenade at his office; the grenade
misses, hits a prison, injuring 13 inmates. Israel announces that the
Jewish settler population has increased by 5,415 during the 1st half of
2003. (HA, MM 7/24; AFP, WP 7/25; JP 7/27 in WNC 7/30; PR 7/30; PCHR 8/7)
1 Palestinian killed.
The IDF fatally shoots a 16-yr.-old Palestinian standing on the
roof of his home in Bayt Hanun; sends troops into Nablus, sparking
stone-throwing, then firing on demonstrators, wounding 1; fires on Palestinian
residential areas of Hebron; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Dahaysha
r.c., Dayr al-Balah, Tubas, Yatta. (NYT, WP, WT 7/25;
PCHR 7/29)
In Gaza, unidentified armed Palestinians
raid, set fire to a PA police station in Gaza City, causing serious damage;
20 armed AMB mbrs. take over the Local Government Min. offices in Khan
Yunis, demanding the reinstatement of at least 11 AMB mbrs. fired fr. their
security jobs and the dismissal of Musa Arafat, leaving after the PA
pledges to look into reinstating those fired. In Ramallah, Palestinians rally in
support of Arafat. In his 1st appearance since intra-Palestinian violence in
Gaza began on 7/16, Arafat denies he is facing a crisis, dismisses
Qurai`’s attempt to resign, pledges to carry out reforms.
2 Palestinians killed. 2 Israelis killed.
Israel says it captured an AMB mbr.
who infiltrated Israel fr. Gaza with an 11 lb. bomb, with plans to carry out a
suicide bombing in Tel Aviv; arrested a 2d Palestinian accomplice in Jaffa (with
an Israeli ID card, married to an Israeli Arab). An IDF drone fires 2
missiles at a group of armed Palestinians nr. Bayt Lahiya, causing no injuries,
in what may be an assassination attempt. The IDF also sends troops into
Sa'ir nr. Hebron, fires on stone-throwing Palestinians who confront the troops,
seriously injuring 1 bystander; fires on residential areas of Rafah; severely
beats a Palestinian at a flying checkpoint nr. Salfit; conducts arrest raids,
house searches in Balata r.c., villages around Jenin. Jewish settlers fr.
Ramat Yishai attack, vandalize a Palestinian home in Hebron. (HA, IMEMC, PCHR,
PRCS, WP, WT, XIN 7/24; NYT 7/25; OCHA, PR 7/27; PCHR 7/28)
Palestinian gunmen representing the AMB, Islamic Jihad,
the PRCs fire on a Jewish settler vehicle nr. Gaza's Kissufim crossing,
killing 2 Israeli civilians (visiting Jewish settler relatives), wounding
4; IDF soldiers at the crossing return fire, killing 2 Palestinians; 2
soldiers are wounded in the exchange. Palestinian
groups linked to Fatah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine fire
rockets at Gush Katif, causing no damage or injuries. An armed
Palestinian in fatigues raids the Rafah apartment of 4 American
International Solidarity Movement workers, forces 1 of them (a 75-yr.-old
man) into a car with 3 other masked Palestinians, holds him at a local school
for 1 hr. before releasing him unharmed; no reason is given.
6 Palestinians killed.
In Gaza, the IDF drops leaflets on and makes automated phone calls to
residents in n. Gaza warning them to evacuate areas around rocket launch sites,
buildings used by militants; shells Bayt Lahiya, killing 3 Palestinian
civilians, wounding 11 others (the IDF says a shell may have misfired);
repeatedly shells Bayt Hanun and perimeter, killing 3 Palestinian civilians,
wounding 8; shells a shed on a farm nr. Gaza City, allegedly serving as a
weapons depot. IDF troops stationed at the Dahaniyya airport fire on residential
areas of nearby al-Shuka, wounding 1 Palestinian woman outside her home.
Palestinians fire 8 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries.
Late in the evening, the IDF conducts air strikes destroying 2 Palestinian homes
in Gaza City and Khan Yunis (belonging to an Islamic Jihad mbr.), damaging
surrounding stores and residences, wounding 3 bystanders; in both cases, the IDF
phoned the homes 20 min. before the attack to warn residents to evacuate. The
IDF also makes an air strike destroying a house of a Hamas mbr. under
construction in Brazil r.c., also destroying 2 neighboring homes, damaging
several others, wounding 15 bystanders (including 7 children). In the West Bank,
the IDF patrols in Beitunia nr. Ramallah; conducts arrest raids, house searches
nr. Jericho, Tulkarm, and in ‘Askar r.c., Azariyya, Jenin town and r.c.;
bulldozes 35 d. of Palestinian land for construction of the separation wall nr.
Jerusalem. (WP 7/24; NYT, WP 7/25; PCHR 7/27; B’Tselem 8/3)
IDF ground forces advance another half- mile into s. Lebanon, using
bulldozers to clear roads and demolish buildings, engaging Hizballah mbrs. in
Bint Jubayl and encountering artillery fire, antitank weapons, land mines,
leaving 2 IDF soldiers dead, 14–20 IDF soldiers wounded, 2 Hizballah mbrs.
captured, an unknown number of Hizballah casualties, up to 5 IDF tanks disabled;
an IDF helicopter returning fr. Bint Jubayl crashes in the n. Galilee, killing
another 2 IDF soldiers. Meanwhile, IDF-Hizballah clashes continue in Maroun
al-Ras. The IDF also continues air strikes across Lebanon, targeting at least 70
Hizballah sites (particularly around Tyre), killing at least 7 Lebanese
civilians; also hitting a UN post, injuring 4 UNIFIL soldiers. Hizballah fires
around 80 rockets into n. Israel, injuring 20 Israelis, 2 seriously, and
starting brush fires. (JAZ, NBC Nightly News, Slate, Wall Street Journal 7/24;
NYT, WP, WT 7/25; WP 7/26)
The IDF makes an air
strike on a car in Gaza City suspected to be carrying wanted Palestinians, missing the target and hitting a nearby home,
causing heavy damage but no injuries. In the West Bank, the
IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron, and in Bethlehem, Qalqilya, nr.
Hebron and Nablus; raids the offices of a children’s charity in Jenin, confiscating documents. For a 2d day in
Jerusalem, Israeli police escort a group of Jewish
settlers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound to mark the Tisha B’Av holiday. A
Jewish settler fr. Kiryat Arba seriously injures a 10-yr.-old
Palestinian boy in a deliberate hit-and-run in Hebron. Jewish settlers severely
beat a Palestinian teenager nr. Nablus. (OCHA, WP 7/25; PCHR 7/26)
As daily clashes continue at
Nahr al-Barid r.c., FI kills 3 Lebanese soldiers—2 by a mortar, 1 by a booby-trapped device. The estimated
death toll to date is 120 soldiers, 81 FI members, 41 civilians. (WT 7/25)
Islamic
Jihad fires 10 mortars at the IDF base at Kissufim crossing, causing no injuries.
In Ramallah, PA presidential
guardsmen halt a car carrying the son and daughter of jailed Fatah tanzim
leader Marwan Barghouti (seen as a potential challenger to Abbas), harass them both, detain and beat the
son at the PA headquarters. Pro-Fatah students at
al-Najah University in Nablus attack, beat pro-Hamas students protesting
Abbas’s ouster of the Haniyeh government, leading to police intervention and an
exchange of fire that leaves 3 students wounded, 1 critically. In Gaza City, 10 ,000 Hamas supporters stage a
nonviolent march to PC headquarters to
protest PA attacks on Hamas activists and institutions in the West Bank.
Seven demonstrators were wounded by rubber-coated metal bullets, and two IDF soldiers were hurt by stones during a
demonstration against the construction of the separation wall in Ni'lin, near Ramallah. (AFP)
IDF troops arrested five Palestinians and wounded three other in an operation in the southern part of the West Bank.
(AFP)
IDF troops arrested a Palestinian in a Ta'naq, a village near Jenin. (Ma'an News Agency)
More than 20 Israeli settlers entered the village of Burin near Nablus, where they smashed cars, broke windows and cut
electric wires. (AP, Haaretz, Ynetnews)
IDF troops confiscated machinery, materials and arrested an unknown number of Palestinians in the industrial zone of
Beit Fajar, near Bethlehem. (WAFA)
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad that the IDF had decided to cease its military
operations in and around Nablus in the West Bank. (Xinhua)
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a joint press conference with the Australian Minister for Foreign
Affairs Stephen Smith: "We do have an Annapolis process that we'll try to get to an agreement by the end of the year so
that Israelis and Palestinians can finally have a two-State solution that will secure them both. The work is not easy
to achieve, but it's very active… We're having bilaterals and trilaterals with the Israelis and Palestinians next
week." (www.state.gov)
The Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights said that the Israeli secret service had recently prevented 14 critically
ill patients from leaving the Gaza Strip for medical treatment due to "security reasons". (WAFA)
The Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved the construction of a new settlement in the West Bank. The
plan would see the construction of 20 housing units and the establishment of the "Maskiot" settlement in the Jordan
Valley. The final approval of the plan is to be taken by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who, according to a source in his
Ministry, would approve it within weeks. In 2006 the US pressured Israel to drop the establishment of the "Maskiot"
settlement and during the Annapolis Peace Conference last year; Israel had vowed not to establish any new settlements
in the West Bank. PA Chief Negotiator Saeb Erakat said that the construction was "destroying the process of a two-State
solution" and called upon the Americans once again to put pressure on the Israelis to block the final approval of the
project. (AFP, AP, DPA, Haaretz, Ma'an News Agency, WAFA, Xinhua)
Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in the Majedo prison in the Negev desert circulated a letter to the media and
humanitarian organizations, calling for an improvement of their living conditions. The letter said that the prison
administration deliberately cut off water and deprived them of family visits without proper explanation. (WAFA)
The Spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued the following statement:
The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the announcement today of the initial approval by the Ministry of
Defense of 20 residential units in the Israeli military post of Maskiot in the West Bank. The Secretary-General has
stressed many times before that settlement construction or expansion is contrary to international law and Israel's
commitments under the Road Map and the Annapolis process. The Secretary-General urges Israel to heed the call of the
Quartet to freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth, and to dismantle outposts erected since March
2001. (UN press release SG/SM/11717)
A cross-party committee in the British Parliament called on Quartet Representative Tony Blair to use the ceasefire to
include Hamas in the peace process and facilitate reconciliation between the Palestinian factions. (BBC, Ynetnews)
PA Planning Minister Samir Abdullah said that some 150,000 PA employees would not receive their July salaries in full
because of a growing budget deficit. (AP)
The unemployment rate in Gaza reached 45 per cent in 2007, according to a study conducted by UNRWA. According to the
study, the overall unemployment rate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which had increased to 29.5 per cent, was
"among the highest in the world". Another finding in the study was that 35 per cent of Gazans lived below the "deep
poverty" line, set at $457 per month for a family of six. In the West Bank, however, the situation had improved
slightly in 2007, with 20 per cent of the population under the poverty line, defined at $572 for a family of six.
(IRIN)
The Swedish Government earmarked SKr 50 million (around $8.3 million) for direct support to the Palestinian Authority.
(Reliefweb)
The flow of food and goods into Gaza had increased since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel begun. Building
materials, being imported for the first time since the summer of 2007, and also shoes, clothes and juice, which had
been blocked from entry for most of last year, were now entering Gaza. However an aid worker in Gaza described the
increased flow of food and goods as "a humble improvement" and Richard Miron, a spokesman for UNSCO, said, "There is a
need for something more sustainable for Gaza, a more sustainable economic base". (IRIN)
At the Askar refugee camp in Nablus, the IDF arrested Mahmoud Rashad Abu Kishak, an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade member “wanted” for a string of attacks, the army said. (The Jerusalem Post)
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli Defence Ministry had distributed a document this week saying that unions affiliated with Hamas had set up joint committees with UN agencies that dispensed humanitarian aid. The document was also sent to the United States to warn them that the $900 million it had pledged to help rebuild the Gaza Strip could fall into Hamas hands. A senior Defence Officer said on 23 July, "All humanitarian aid sent into the Gaza Strip today needs to receive Hamas clearance," adding, "Hamas uses violence against international organizations, including UNRWA, if they do not cooperate." According to officials, UNRWA and UNDP had "no choice" but to have some contact with Hamas officials in order for the assistance to be transferred. They added that Israel could live with that situation as long as the talks remained only at the technical level and did not become political in nature. One official said efforts to develop a mechanism through which money for the rehabilitation of Gaza could be channelled into the region, without in any way strengthening or helping Hamas, is continuing. In response to the report, UNRWA Spokesman Chris Gunness released a statement saying: "UNRWA distributes its aid on basis of need. Humanitarian need dictates the way we distribute aid and nothing else.” (The Jerusalem Post)
The US Administration issued a message asking Israel not to build in the E-1 area between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of “Ma'aleh Adumim”, saying any change in the status quo in E-1 would be "extremely damaging, even "corrosive". Israel’s plan was to strengthen its hold on East Jerusalem, which would then be completely surrounded by Jewish settlements. The Obama Administration demanded a moratorium on settlement building in East Jerusalem until an agreement was reached on the city's legal status. In this context, three senior American officials will visit Israel in the following week: Special Envoy George Mitchell, National Security Advisor James Jones and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates. (Haaretz)
Unofficial Israeli and Palestinian representatives that were part of the 2003 Geneva Initiative, have over the past 18 months negotiated a draft document, outlining in minute detail the security arrangements between Israel and a future Palestinian State. Israel’s Daily Yediot Ahronot reported that under the document, the Palestinian State would be demilitarized and would, among others, not be allowed to have fighter jets, helicopter gunships, tanks, rockets, anti-aircraft or anti-ship weapons, artillery, mortar shells, mines and machine guns larger than 7.62 calibre. Instead, Palestinians would be allowed to have 400 light armoured vehicles as well as light weapons and non-lethal equipment to disperse demonstrations. This security document was to be officially presented to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser James Jones this week. (DPA)
Hamas leader Ismail Radwan denied a Jerusalem Post report that the movement could have diverted or stolen international funds donated to the reconstruction effort in war-torn Gaza. He said the report consisted of “lies” adding that the entry of foreign aid to Gaza was overseen by Israel and not by Hamas. (Ma’an News Agency)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was expected to announce the transfer of $200 million to the Palestinian Authority in an effort to improve conditions on the ground that would bolster attempts to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The money was part of $900 million in aid that Ms. Clinton had pledged at a donors conference in Egypt in March. (Reuters)
At the closing session of the United Nations International Meeting on the Question of Palestine in Geneva, Saviour Borg, the Rapporteur of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, read out the Concluding Statement of the Organizers expressing serious concern at the continued settlement activities in the West Bank including in and around East Jerusalem. The Permanent Representative of Palestine to the United Nations in New York, Riyad Mansour, said for the first time in the history of Israel there were investigations and many people were saying that Israel had to be held accountable for its human rights and humanitarian law violations. Wrapping up the two-day discussions, the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People Paul Badji made concluding remarks saying that one of the most important challenges was the complete denial by Israel that any wrongdoing had been committed violating the laws of war and it has been so far total intransigence as regards cooperation with investigations of what had happened during the military operation. There was an historic opportunity to put an end to impunity and hold perpetrators of grave violations of international humanitarian law and international crimes accountable for their actions. (www.unog.ch)
UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness denied a report in The Jerusalem Post that its Director John Ging fled the Gaza Strip after Hamas death threats. UNRWA also denied a report in the newspaper that Hamas could have diverted or stolen international funds donated to the reconstruction of Gaza. (Ma’an News Agency)