In response to Palestinians firing 3 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel overnight (causing no damage or injuries), the IDF shells the n. Gaza no-go zone fr. land and sea, severely damaging the Bayt Lahiya electricity grid, a number of houses, 3 cars. The IDF also closes the Nablus–Tulkarm road into Tulkarm, sealing the city (other access roads were closed on 3/30); conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron, nr. Nablus. Armed Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba uproot and take back to the settlement 60 olive tree saplings fr. nearby Palestinian land. Other Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba vandalize a Palestinian home; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Also in Hebron, Jewish settlers fr. Beit Hadasah throw bottles and stones at Palestinian school children, escorted by international peace activists, injuring 1 activist; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Separately, Jewish settlers in Hebron throw bottles and stones at Palestinians to prevent them fr. using Shuhada Street. Jewish settlers fr. Mehola attack a Palestinian shepherd grazing his sheep nr. Bayt Furik outside Nablus, violently beating him, stabbing his sheep, killing 15 and wounding 5.

PM Haniyeh orders all Palestinian gunmen off Gaza City streets to reduce tensions after clashes on 3/31; the PRCs say they will observe the call, but in a show of defiance, 300 armed Fatah mbrs. march through the streets, firing in the air, demanding that the PA arrest PRC mbrs. involved in the 3/31 violence. (HA, JAZ 4/1; WT 4/2; PCHR 4/6)

The IDF shells Gaza’s Jabaliya r.c., seriously wounding a 7-yr.-old Palestinian boy and his father harvesting vegetables in their field; sends undercover units in a car with Palestinian license plates into Qalqilya to arrest a wanted Palestinian; later sends troops into Qalqilya to arrest another Palestinian, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 6; conducts other arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, in Qalqilya (also firing on residential areas), nr. Hebron and Jenin; seriously beats a Palestinian in Hebron for no apparent reason.

In retaliation for the 3/31 Abu Quka assassination, the PRCs fire 3 rockets fr. Gaza towards an IDF post at Kissufim crossing causing no damage or injuries. The IDF responds by shelling n. Gaza, targeting and hitting a truck hauling vegetables in Bayt Lahiya (apparently thinking it belonged to militants who fired the rockets), injuring 2 farmers. A Palestinian dies, a 2d is injured when heavy rain run-off obstructed by the separation wall, which effectively creates a dam nr. Bil‘in, causes flash flooding that washes the men into the razor wire cordoning off the wall, trapping them. (IMEMC, JAZ, PRC communiqu´e, XIN 4/2; VOP 4/2 in WNC 4/3; PCHR 4/6)

IDF undercover units raid an apartment building in Bethlehem and assassinate AMB West Bank cmdr. Ra’id Ubayyat, wounding and detaining his roommate. The IDF also sends troops into Qalandia r.c., fires on residential areas, killing a 5-yr.-old Palestinian boy; patrols in Jenin; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Tulkarm and in and around Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus. The IDF also fatally shoots a stone-throwing 13-yr.-old Palestinian nr. Qalandia r.c.; arrests 5 unarmed Palestinians attempting to sneak into Israel fr. Gaza to find work; conducts arrest raids in Qalqilya. (IMEMC, XIN 4/3; VOP 4/3 in WNC 4/4; PCHR 4/6)

The AMB fires a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel in response, causing no damage or injuries.

After Palestinians fire rockets fr. Gaza into Israel (causing no damage or injuries), the IDF launches Operation Southern Arrow (as warned on 3/30), making air strikes on a PA security compound (wounding 2 Palestinians; see 3/30) and Abbas’s helicopter pad in Gaza City, firing at least 30 shells at residential areas nr. the n. Gaza no-go zone (hitting 2 houses, killing 1 Palestinian and wounding at least 5), flying mock air raids over Gaza (repeatedly breaking the sound barrier), reducing the distance that artillery fire may be targeted nr. Palestinian homes fr. 300 m to 100 m. The IDF also recloses the Qarni commercial crossing; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, Dura, Nablus. (WP 4/5; VOP 4/5 in WNC 4/6; PCHR 4/6; HA 5/14)

According to the biography of fmr. Mossad chief Efraim Halevy, released today in Britain, just before Israel’s 1997 attempted assassination of Hamas political leader Khalid Mishal in Amman, King Hussein transmitted a message offering a 30-yr. cease-fire fr. Hamas to then Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu via a local Mossad rep. The message did not reach Netanyahu until after the hit was made. (JAZ 4/4)

The IDF shells the Gaza coastal road nr. Bayt Lahiya; sends undercover units into Tulkarm to arrest the local Islamic Jihad spokesman; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem and in and around Hebron, Nablus, Tulkarm. (Voice of al-Aqsa, VOP 4/5 in WNC 4/6; PCHR 4/6, 4/13)

As Operation Southern Arrow on Gaza continues, the IDF conducts air strikes on 2 AMB targets in Bayt Lahiya where AMB mbrs. allegedly are meeting to plan rocket launches against Israel; makes air strikes on the presidential landing strip in Gaza City for a 2d time (see 4/5), on a Muslim youth association building in Gaza City (causing damage but no injuries); fires some 300 artillery shells into Gaza (injuring 2 Palestinians nr. their homes in Bayt Hanun and Bayt Lahiya) in response to Palestinians firing some 12 rockets towards Israel in recent days; also drops 1,000s of leaflet on n. Gaza warning Palestinians against approaching areas fr. which rockets are launched. The IDF also arrests, questions, releases PA Jerusalem Affairs M Khalid Abu ‘Arafa, a Jerusalem resident, as he leaves Jerusalem for the West Bank, saying he is on a list of individuals barred fr. entering the West Bank for security reasons; continues arrest raids, house searches in Nablus (see 4/5), firing on residential areas, occupying a Palestinian home as an observation post, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 8 plus an American journalist covering the demonstration; bars Palestinian vehicular traffic into or out of Tulkarm; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, in and around Jenin. In separate raids on Nablus late in the evening, an IDF undercover unit shoots, wounds a PA police officer who mistakes their raid on an apartment for a burglary (the officer is uniformed and identifies himself before being shot); fires on a Palestinian vehicle that enters an area in which an arrest raid is underway, wounding 4 bystanders, fatally shooting a 5th bystander who attempts to leave the scene to get medical help. (HA, MM 4/6; Voice of al-Aqsa 4/6 in WNC 4/9; NYT, WT 4/7; Guardian 4/8; HA 5/7; PCHR 4/13)

The IDF sets up another artillery battery nr. Kerem Shalom outside the s. Gaza Strip; conducts air strikes on a car nr. Rafah assassinating wanted senior PRC military cmdr. Iyad Abu al-‘Aynayn and 3 other PRC mbrs., also killing ‘Aynayn’s 5-yr.-old son,a young bystander, and wounding at least 14 bystanders, including ‘Aynayn’s 7-yr. old daughter; steps up shelling across Gaza, particularly around Gaza City, including nr. Abbas’s presidential compound where he is currently staying (no injuries reported); blows up a Palestinian home in Hebron allegedly used for manufacturing explosives; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Balata r.c. (firing on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 2), nr. Jenin. After Palestinians fire a rocket fr. n. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF shells n. Gaza, injuring 4 Palestinians nr. Bayt Hanun, Bayt Lahiya. Jewish settlers fr. Avraham Avino occupy a Palestinian house in Hebron, evicting the Palestinian residents (the IDF observes but does not intervene); the settlers claim to have purchased the building, but the Palestinian owners deny this; the Israeli Civil Administration says it is reviewing the claim. Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh beat a 73-yr.-old Palestinian farmer working on his land in nearby Salim. (AFP, HA, YA 4/7; Guardian, HA, NYT, WP 4/8; VOP 4/8 in WNC 4/9; PCHR 4/9; PCHR 4/13)

On the 5th day of Operation Southern Arrow, the IDF conducts an air strike on a car driving in Gaza City, killing AMB mbrs. Muhammad Abu Shari‘a and Mahmud Ajjur and seriously injuring a 3d who had just fired a rocket into Israel (causing no damage or injuries), and an air strike on a car nr. Khan Yunis, assassinating at least 6 mbrs. of the Abu Rish Brigades (ARB;a Fatah offshoot) and wounding 4 other ARB mbrs. and at least 11 bystanders; 3 Palestinian children in Jabaliya r.c. and a family of 5 in Bayt Lahiya are wounded by shrapnel in continued shelling of n. Gaza. The IDF also bars Palestinians under age 30 fr. crossing checkpoints into or out of the Jordan Valley; sends troops back into Nablus, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 12; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron, nr. Jenin (targeting Islamic Jihad, firing on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops); patrols in Anabta nr. Tulkarm, firing on Palestinian youths who confront the troops. Jewish settlers fr. Suissa set fire to a Palestinian home, attack Palestinian farmers, shepherds in nearby Yatta. A smugglers tunnel on the Rafah border collapses, killing 2 Palestinians. (IMEMC 4/8; Palestine Satellite Channel Television, VOI, VOP 4/8 in WNC 4/9; IMEMC, NYT, PCHR, WP, WT 4/9; PCHR 4/13)

The Israeli security cabinet formally severs all direct contacts with the PA, which it calls a “hostile entity,” and vows to “work toward preventing any entrenchment of the Hamas government’s rule”; says Israel will not rule out “personal” contacts with Abbas but views the PA as a single entity, meaning that opening a separate negotiating channel with him to bypass the Hamas-led government is not an option; Israel will also refuse to meet with foreign officials who meet with Hamas mbrs. during their regional visits. After Palestinians fire 5 rockets towards Israel (causing no damage or injuries; 2 land inside Gaza), the IDF heavily shells the n. Gaza no-go zone and populated areas in Bayt Ha- nun, Bayt Lahiya, and Jabaliya r.c., killing a PA security officer evacuating Palestinians fr. the area, wounding at least 16 Palestinians (including 3 PA security officers), hitting a taxi, and heavily damaging the PA Customs Bureau, a factory, and 1 house. IDF undercover units raid Bayt Ta’mar nr. Bethlehem, assassinate PRCs Salah al- Din Brigadeshead Jabir Akhras; the IDF has attempted to assassinate Akhras several times, most recently 3 mos. ago. The IDF also sends troops into Nablus, firing on areas of al-Najah University campus (hitting a female Palestinian student in the face with a rubber bullet, causing her to lose an eye), fatally shooting a Palestinian for no apparent reason, conducting arrest raids, house searches; also conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Tulkarm, nr. Hebron, in villages surrounding Nablus; occupies a Palestinian building in Bayt Jala nr. Bethlehem as an observation post. Palestinians in Qalqilya report that for several days, the IDF has been harassing, delaying the entry of non-Qalqilya residents (primarily shoppers fr. surrounding villages) into the city, barring them fr. driving cars across the checkpoint. A Palestinian family evicted fr. its home in al-Tur on 3/29 reoccupies its home, but is quickly evicted by the IDF for “squatting.” (HA, IMEMC, PNN 4/9; AP, JP, PCHR 4/9; HA, JP, NYT, WP, WT 4/10; PCHR 4/13; Islamic Republic News Agency 4/16; HA 4/23)

The IDF continues heavy shelling of Gaza, including populated areas, hitting a house in Bayt Lahiya, killing an 8-yr.-old Palestinian girl, wounding 12; damaging several commercial greenhouses in Bayt Lahiya. Palestinians fire rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. The IDF also sends troops back into Nablus and Balata r.c. to conduct arrest raids, house searches (beating a foreign journalists and medic in Nablus, occupying several Palestinian homes as observation posts in Balata); also conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qalqilya and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin. Jewish settlers fr. Rotem nr. Tubas fence off, place a trailer on nearby Palestinian land to expand the settlement. Some 100 Palestinian youths demonstrate outside, throw eggs at the UN headquarters in Gaza City, where the EU’s Gaza staff is based, to protest the EU’s 4/7 decision to cut off aid to the PA. (Deutsche Welle, HA, IMEMC, JP 4/10; NYT, WP 4/11; MM, NYT 4/12; PCHR 4/13)

IDF makes an air strike demolishing an AMB building in Gaza City; blows up a Palestinian home in Jenin that allegedly stored explosives; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin and in Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarm. Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Abbas dispatches mbrs. of Force 17, the presidential guard, to take control of PA operations at the Rafah crossing, relieving PA security forces controlled by the Interior Min.. (MM 4/11; MM, NYT 4/12; PCHR 4/13)

Israel’s acting FM Tzipi Livni says that any Palestinian “fighting against Israeli soldiers is an enemy and we will fight back, but I believe that this is not under the definition of terrorism,” only those “who take the lives of civilians are terrorists.” Says that the international community should “stop calling terrorists those who are freedom fighters.” (AFP, IFM 4/11)

The IDF opens the Qarni crossing (closed since 4/4); fatally shoots 2 armed AMB mbrs. attempting to sneak into Israel fr. s. Gaza; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Qalqilya. (OCHA 4/12; PCHR 4/13, 4/20; OCHA 4/23)

The IDF sends armored bulldozers several dozen yards into Gaza to look for buried explosives; shells the n. Gaza no-go zone and the border area nr. Khan Yunis, causing no injuries; closes the Kerem Shalom crossing for the day, the Sufa crossing indefinitely; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, Ramallah, Tulkarm. (AP, HA, MM 4/13; WP, WT 4/14; NYT 4/15; PCHR 4/20)

In interviews with the Israeli dailies Ma’ariv and Yedi’ot Aharonot, Israeli Military Intelligence cmdr. Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin says that Israelis “should not frighten ourselves” about Hamas, “Gaza is not acquiring the kind of terror capabilities that should keep us awake at night,” adding, “[W]e certainly must not regard them as an existential threat or the end of the world. One must look at Hamas through a complex lens and not one-dimensionally. . . . Hamas is an organization with a realistic and pragmatic outlook, which requires it to compromise, at least in the short run, to achieve its long-term goals. The fact that Hamas can reach a cease-fire or very practical arrangements in the short run is based on the Qur’an, which says that those who have patience will have Allah on their side.” (MA, MM, YA 4/13)

Some 20 AMB gunmen temporarily shut down the PA Transportation Min., seize the PA parliament building in Ramallah, protesting the refusal of the new government to meet their demands to give them taxi licenses as perks (worth thousands of dollars), promotions for mbrs. in the PA security services.

The IDF continues to shell n. Gaza (wounding a Palestinian in Jabaliya r.c.), sends armored bulldozers several dozen yards inside Gaza for a 2d day to search for buried explosives, as IDF Dep. Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky warns that the IDF could launch ground operations into Gaza if rocket fire fr. Gaza into Israel keeps up. The IDF also opens the Kerem Shalom (closed 4/13) to allow in basic foodstuffs and gas (most trucks entering are for the UN); raids a girls elementary school in Far‘un in the West Bank; patrols in, fire on residential areas of Aida r.c.; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus, nr. Hebron.

In Jabaliya r.c., 1,000s of Palestinians rally to denounce the cut off in some international aid, continued Israeli shelling and overflights of Gaza. (HA, NYT, WT 4/15; PCHR 4/20)

The IDF closes Qarni crossing for 2 days; closes the Kerem Shalom crossing for the day; shells Bayt Lahiya (wounding a Palestinian outside his home, damaging several homes); raids a PA police station in Tamun, confiscating a guard’s gun; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Madama nr. Nablus, ordering all of the village residents to gather the local school for ID checks. At the request of Jewish settlers fr. Suissa, the IDF beats and forcibly removes a Palestinian farmer and his 6-yr.-old son fr. their nearby farm land. A Palestinian bystander wounded in the 4/7 IDF assassination of PRC cmdr. Abu al-‘Aynayn dies of his injuries. (HA, IMEMC, XIN 4/15; WP, WT 4/16; PCHR 4/20; OCHA 4/23)

Some 50 masked PA policemen (AMB mbrs.), firing in the air, block a main Gaza road in Khan Yunis, briefly seize a government building to protest a 2-wk. delay in their 3/06 salaries.

The IDF fires artillery shells at the Bayt Hanun industrial zone, hitting a nearby cattle farm, killing 46 cows; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, and in and around Jenin town and r.c. (firing on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 4), Nablus. Israeli police arrest Change and Reform PC mbr. Muhammad Abu Tir in East Jerusalem, where he is a resident, arrest 7 Palestinians thought to be planning a Hamas rally in the city. Jewish settlers in Hebron attack a Palestinian boy, attempt to break into a Palestinian home nr. Beit Hadasah settlement. (HA, IMEMC 4/16; PCHR 4/20; OCHA 4/23)

The IDF continues to shell the n. Gaza no-go zone (killing 1 Palestinian, wounding 2) and the s. Gaza coast from land and sea; makes an air strike on a building in Gaza City allegedly used as a factory to make rockets, causing no injuries; reopens the Sufa and Qarni crossings (closed on 4/13 and 4/15); sends troops into Nablus, where they fire on Palestinian stone throwers and on residential areas, wounding at least 16 Palestinians and damaging a clearly marked AP press vehicle; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin town and r.c. (arresting the father of the 4/17 suicide bomber), in Tulkarm town and r.c., and nr. Hebron, Qalqilya. Jewish settlers fr. Elon Moreh fire on Palestinian shepherds, steal some sheep nr. Nablus. (HA, NYT, YA 4/17; MM, NYT, WP, WT 4/18; HA, MM 4/19; PCHR 4/20; OCHA 4/23)

An Islamic Jihad suicide bomber detonates a device in a Tel Aviv deli, killing 9 Israelis, wounding 59. Abbas condemns the attack, the deadliest since an 8/31/04 bombing killed 16 Israelis in Beersheba and since the 2/05 cease-fire was declared, whereas a Hamas spokesman in Gaza calls the bombing “a natural result of the continued Israeli crimes against our people”; the U.S. says that “the burden of responsibility for preventing terrorist attacks such as this one rests with the Palestinian Authority.”

Israel says that the Hamas-led PA is responsible for the 4/17 suicide bombing but that it will not launch a large-scale military operation in retaliation so as to “avoid escalation”; instead it will increase “diplomatic pressure” on the government, including revoking the Israeli residency rights of 3 Change and Reform PC mbrs. (including Jerusalem Affairs M Abu ‘Arafa) from East Jerusalem, meaning they would have to leave the city. The AMB, ARB, PRCs issue a joint statement demanding that Abbas “apologize to the entire Palestinian people for the offense he committed” by condemning the 4/17 suicide bombing. Meanwhile, the IDF steps up Operation Southern Arrow, shelling areas of n. Gaza, hitting a sewage treatment facility, seriously injuring 3 Palestinian children, and wounding a farmer working his field, a shepherd grazing his sheep, a Palestinian outside his home in Bayt Lahiya, a Palestinian walking in a residential area of Bayt Hanun, a truck driver nr. the customs bureau in Jabaliya; detains, severely beats a 16-yr.-old Palestinian boy at a Bethlehem checkpoint for allegedly carrying a knife; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin, in Nablus (confiscating the camera of an AP journalist covering the raid). Israeli police detain PA Jerusalem Affairs M Abu ‘Arafa at a checkpoint on the outskirts of East Jerusalem as he is en route to a PA cabinet mtg., delaying him 2 hrs. (AFP, AP, IMEMC, JP, NYT, PNN, REU, WP 4/18; MM, NYT, WP, WT 4/19; MM, PCHR 4/20; HA 4/24)

The IDF shells n. Gaza in response to a Palestinian rocket fired fr. Gaza into Israel that causes no damage or injuries; closes Gaza’s Sufa and Kerem Shalom commercial crossings for the day; shells n. Gaza, wounding a Palestinian child; sends troops back into Nablus, who fire on residential areas and on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 5 youths and 2 bystanders; patrols in al-‘Araqa nr. Jenin; fires on residential areas of Azun; conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. (MM 4/19; PCHR 4/20; OCHA 4/26; PCHR 4/27)

The IDF sends undercover units into Bethlehem to conduct arrest raids, house searches; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and nr. Bethlehem, Jenin, Jericho, Qalqilya; sends troops into Dura, fires on stone-throwing youths who confront them, wounding 4; patrols in al-Aqaba nr. Jenin. Some 15 Jewish settlers in Hebron attack 2 international peace activists, lightly injuring them. (PCHR 4/27)

With PA security forces (predominantly Fatah mbrs.) refusing to deploy on his orders, new PA Interior M Said Siyam appoints PRC head Jamal Abu Samhadana (formerly a Fatah member and senior PA security officer) as inspector gen. of the Interior Min. to set up a new volunteer security force, the Executive Support Force (ESF), to help restore law and order to the streets. The ESF ideally would include mbrs. of “all the resistance branches.” Israel, the U.S. accuse PM Haniyeh of forming his own militia to counter Abbas. (MM, NYT, WP, WT 4/21; MM, WT 4/25; XIN 4/30; NYT 5/20)

The IDF closes the Zatara checkpoint linking the n. and s. West Bank (closed almost continually through the end of the quarter); patrols in, fires on residential areas of Bethlehem (seriously wounding 1 Palestinian stone-thrower), Nablus (wounding 3 Palestinians); conducts arrest raids, house searches in Jenin (targeting the AMB) and nr. Hebron, Qalqilya. Islamic Jihad claims to fire a 2d Grad rocket fr. Gaza towards Ashkelon (see 3/28), but the IDF reports no rocket fire. Some 15 Jewish settlers fr. Tal Rumayda attack a group of Palestinian girls on their way to school and 5 international peace activists escorting them, causing minor injuries. (HA 4/23; PCHR 4/27)

A Palestinian stabs, lightly wounds an Israeli border policeman at al- Ram checkpoint into Jerusalem, is arrested.

Abbas vetoes Siyam’s 4/20 appointment of Abu Samhadana as Interior Min. inspector gen. and vows to block his plan to set up a new security force (the ESF). In Damascus, Hamas head Khalid Mishal accuses Abbas and Fatah of seeking to form a parallel government, conspiring against Haniyeh’s new government, committing treason, surrendering to Israel. Haniyeh denounces Mishal’s statements. (NYT, WP, WT 4/22; HA 4/23; MM 4/24–26; HA 4/30) (see Quarterly Update)

The IDF tightens restrictions on Palestinians traveling btwn. the n. and s. West Bank; bars 100s of Armenian worshipers from processing to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to celebrate Orthodox Easter; sends troops back into Nablus, where they fire on stone-throwing youths who confront them,wounding 3 stone-throwers and a journalist covering the clashes; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Hebron. Dozens of Jewish settlers attempting to break into a Palestinian store in Hebron attack, beat 2 female international peace activists blocking their way; the IDF intervenes to halt the attack. Jewish settlers fr. Ma’on ambush and stone an IDF jeep escorting Palestinian school children to school along a road that passes by the settlement, detaining the jeep and children for an hour until IDF reinforcements arrive. Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar set fire to 2 new trucks and a generator at a private Palestinian quarry nr. Nablus.

In Gaza City, al-Azhar University students backing Fatah and rallying in support of Abbas’s 4/21 veto of Siyam’s security decisions occupy a campus building, unfurl a Fatah banner, stone students at neighboring Islamic University, largely supportive of Hamas, who throw stones back; Fatah, Hamas cadres join the clashes, exchanging gunfire, leaving 20 Palestinians wounded. In the West Bank, some 4,000 Fatah supporters take part in several rallies supporting Abbas and denouncing Mishal (see 4/21). Hamas, Fatah leaders meet late in the evening to restore calm. (HA, PCHR, WP 4/23; MM, WT 4/24; PCHR 4/27; HA 4/30)

IDF undercover units raid Bethlehem, open fire on a car, assassinating wanted AMB mbrs. Daniel Abu Hammami and Ahmad Muslih, wounding a 3d. The IDF also closes Kerem Shalom crossing for the day; raids al-Amal Hospital in Nablus, searching wards for wanted Palestinians; raids a PA police station in Azariyya in East Jerusalem, detaining 2 officers; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Hebron and nr. Bethlehem, Tulkarm. (IMEMC, PNN, YA 4/23; MM, WP, WT 4/24; OCHA 4/26; PCHR 4/27)

In Gaza City, armed Fatah mbrs. protest outside the PA Health Min. offices in Gaza City, demanding assistance for relatives in need of medical treatment abroad, and begin to riot when they are told that budget constraints have forced the government to slash funding for medical transports abroad; when PA police are unable to quell the demonstration, the Health M calls in Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades mbrs. to support the police, sparking an exchange of gunfire with the Fatah mbrs., leaving 3 Fatah mbrs. wounded. In Nablus, AMB gunmen (mbrs. of the PA security forces) fire on the historic Nablus municipal building, forcing employees to evacuate, demanding that the Hamas mayor close his offices, that the PA pay their salaries. To calm tensions, Abbas orders the PA security forces to cancel plans for a massive pro-Fatah rally in Ramallah against Mishal’s 4/21 statements.

The IDF shells n. Gaza, hitting a poultry farm in Bayt Lahiya (wounding 1 Palestinian), damaging 2 Palestinian homes (injuring 2 Palestinians), hitting a farm in Bayt Hanun (killing 2 cows); conducts arrest raids in and around Nablus and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Ramallah. (PCHR 4/27)

The IDF arrests without charge Hamas’s chief West Bank spokesman Farhad Asad; raids an elementary school in Hebron, arresting a 12-yr.-old Palestinian for throwing stones; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus (firing on stone-throwing youths who confront the troops, wounding 6), in Jenin r.c., nr. Hebron. In a rare move, Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality approves 17 proposals for Arab construction in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Bayt Hanina, Shu‘fat on approximately 1,000 d. of land; Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski calls the decision a “revolutionary step” that constitutes a “breakthrough” for Palestinian residents of the city. (JP 4/25; IMEMC, WP 4/26; PCHR 4/27)

The IDF closes the Qarni crossing; conducts arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and nr. Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin (fatally shooting a Palestinian gunman), Ramallah (searching the home of Change and Reform PC mbr. Ahmad ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Malik). (IMEMC, REU 4/26; NYT, PCHR, WP 4/27; IFM, XIN 5/1; OCHA 5/3; PCHR 5/4)

PA security forces at Gaza’s Qarni crossing prevent 2 Palestinian vehicles of PRC mbrs. carrying explosives that attempt to crash through the PA security barrier to attack the main transit building; 3 PA policemen, 2 gunmen are wounded in the exchange, and 3 gunmen are arrested; Israel claims that the PRCs were acting under the direction of Hamas, which denies the charge; PA Interior M Siyam says that attacking border crossings is against the national interest and should not be done. Meanwhile, mbrs. of the Yasir Arafat Brigades (considered an offshoot of the AMB)say that in response to Siyam’s plans to create the ESF, they are planning to form a new militia “to protect Fatah men against the Israeli enemy and against any attempt by any party inside the homeland to target them.”

The IDF closes Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing for 2 days; makes air strikes on 2 cars driving in central Gaza, missing 1 car carrying 5 Islamic Jihad mbrs. but hitting the 2d, assassinating Islamic Jihad mbrs. Ahmad Abu Nijim and Wa’il al-Qaran, wounding a 3d mbr. and 3 bystanders; arrests Change and Reform PC mbr. Ah- mad Mubarak in his home in Jalazun r.c., giving no reason; sends troops back into Nablus and Askar r.c., conducting arrest raids, house searches and firing on stone- throwing Palestinians who confront them; also conducts arrest raids, house searches nr. Jenin. (AFP, IMEMC, MM 4/27; NYT, WP 4/28; OCHA 5/3; PCHR 5/4)

The IDF conducts arrest raids, house searches in Qabatya and nr. Bethlehem, Qalqilya. Palestinians fire 4 rockets fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba seize and fence off 7 d. of nearby Palestinian agricultural land to expand the settlement. (HA 4/30; PCHR 5/4)

Overnight and throughout the day, the IDF shells n. Gaza, hitting a house and a populated street in Bayt Hanun (injuring 7 Palestinians), hitting a house in Bayt Hanun (wounding 3 Palestinians), wounding 3 farmers in fields nr. Bayt Hanun and Bayt Lahiya. Meanwhile, the IDF notes a sharp decline in Palestinian rocket fire over the previous wk. The IDF also unintentionally kills a 3-yr.-old Palestinian girl nr. Ramallah by shutting a crossing gate on her head; conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, nr. Qalqilya. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba vandalize Palestinian homes in Hebron. Jewish settlers ambush, attack several Palestinian cars in the Jordan Valley. (IMEMC 4/29; HA 4/30; PCHR 5/4)

The IDF reopens the Qarni crossing (closed on 4/26); conducts arrest raids, house searches in Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin, Nablus. Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries; the IDF responds by shelling n. Gaza, causing no injuries. Jewish settlers fr. Kiryat Arba vandalize Palestinian homes in Hebron for a 2d day. (HA, IMEMC 4/30; B’Tselem press release 5/1; OCHA 5/3; PCHR 5/4)