Settlement Timeline

March 1

Dozens of pigs belonging to Israeli settlers attack a Palestinian man in al-Hamra. (Ma’an News) 

March 2

Army Radio reports the new housing minister of the Netanyahu government will receive plans drafted by the Housing Ministry to expand settlements in the West Bank. Plans include 73,000 housing units, 19,000 of which are east of the separation barrier and more than 3,000 in the E-1 area. (Army Radio)

Israeli authorities demolish two Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem, one day before the arrival of U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton. (Ha’aretz)

March 3

Israeli security forces demolish an animal pen on the Federman farm near Kiryat Arba. The farm was destroyed months ago on the grounds that it was built illegally. The family continues to live nearby. (Amnesty International)

Demolition orders for 50 Palestinian homes in Ras Khamis, Jerusalem, are presented on the same day as Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat meets with Secretary Clinton. (Ir Amim)

Ha’aretz reports that seven years after construction began, delays and budget constraints have resulted in significant gaps in the separation barrier. 

March 4

The Jerusalem municipality issues demolition orders for 55 houses in the Shu’fat refugee camp because of permit issues. Owners are given 72 hours to evacuate.  (al-Quds)

The al-Aqsa Institution for Palestinian Property and Heritage reports on Israeli plans to dig two additional tunnels at the Sharaf Quarter to link it with the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. (al-Quds)

An Israeli settler and three Palestinians are arrested on charges of forging and selling property documents in Jerusalem. (al-Ayyam)

March 5

Israeli authorities issue orders to 20 citizens of the Aqraba village, near Nablus, for the demolition of their homes and agricultural installations. (al-Ayyam)

The Jerusalem municipality delivers evacuation orders to the owners of two seven-story buildings in Abu Tor. The 650 residents are given 10 days to evacuate. (OCHA)

March 6

Palestinians from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan throw rocks at Israeli officials to protest the recent demolition of two homes in the neighborhood. (Yediot Yerushalaim)

March 7

Ma’an News reports that 88 houses are slated for demolition in the al-Bustan neighborhood of Silwan to make room for a park.

The U.S. government informs the office of the Palestinian prime minister that there will be no home demolitions during Secretary Clinton’s visit to the region. (al-Quds)

March 9

Israeli authorities issue demolition orders for 20 homes in Nablus. (Ma’an News) 

Dozens of disguised settlers, guarded by Israeli police, break into the al-Aqsa mosque. (Ma’an News)

March 10

Israeli authorities issue orders confiscating 142 dunams of land in the West Bank. (al-Ayyam)

March 13

Citing a lack of building permits, Israeli authorities issue demolition orders for a building housing seven Palestinian families in the Burj Laqlaq area in Jerusalem’s Old City. (al-Ayyam)

A Jerusalem court freezes demolition orders issued to dozens of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem. (Ma’an News)

March 16

Army Radio reports that since becoming mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat has ordered 34 houses demolished and filed more than 100 indictments each month demanding more. This is a significant increase in comparison with the actions of the previous mayor, Uri Lupoliansky.

Ma’ariv reports the sale of 11 housing units in the Tal housing project in the settlement of Har Adar, in January and February. They sold for $2.95 million. The construction company Dona sold 17 housing units in Ma’ale Adumim, Modi’in Ilit, and Ariel in February for more than $4.4 million.

March 22

Women-in-Green co-founder Nadia Matar clarifies remarks made during a speech in which she called for the death of PA president Mahmoud Abbas. She explains that her words were not a call for people to take the law into their own hands. (Yediot Aharonot)

March 23

The Amana organization, which builds and populates settlements in the West Bank, announces its new goal of strengthening Jewish identity and spreading the Jewish faith. (Ma’ariv)

Defense Minister Ehud Barak informs the High Court of Justice that he will not evacuate settlers from nine houses in Ofra built on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Ein Yabrud. See entries for June 4, 8, and 19, 2008, in the Settlement Report, vol. 18, no. 5. (Ma’ariv)

Ha’aretz reports on Defense Minister Barak’s approval of a new settlement in south Mount Hebron and the construction of 440 new housing units for it. Under the plan,

the settlement outpost of Sansana will be authorized and attached to the Eshkolot settlement, despite the two-mile distance between them.

Israeli forces open the Qusin-Nablus gate to Palestinians after five years of restricted access. (Ma’an News)

The High Court of Justice authorizes the confiscation of 30 dunams of Palestinian land in the Shu’fat neighborhood of East Jerusalem to expand a military checkpoint. (al-Quds)

March 24

Israel’s Foreign Ministry requests a formal apology from the government of Britain for alleging that Israeli businesses were falsifying addresses in

order to sell products in Europe that were produced in West Bank settlements.

(Ha’aretz)

March 25

The Jerusalem municipality freezes plans to build 250 homes for settlers in the Palestinian neighborhood of Abu Dis, East Jerusalem. (Ha’aretz)

The High Court of Justice instructs the state to explain within two months why it is not carrying out demolition orders for nine buildings in Ofra that were built on private Palestinian land. The judges criticized the conduct of security officials. (Israel Radio)

March 26

Israeli security forces demolish buildings and homes in the Maoz Esther and Ma’ale Shlomo outposts. (Arutz 7)

March 27

Israeli police arrest six settler youths for throwing rocks at Palestinians. The police baited the settlers by sending a car with Palestinian license plates into the Gilad Farm outpost near Kedumim after reports of settler violence against Palestinians near the outpost. (Arutz 7). 

March 30

The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel holds a demonstration in front of Motorola offices in New York because they supply equipment to the IDF. (Ma’ariv)

April 1

Israeli troops begin fencing in the northern side of the West Bank Palestinian village of Azun, effectively separating villagers from its agricultural lands. (Ma’an News)

April 2

Dozens of Israeli settlers, backed by police, forcibly take over a Palestinian house in the Old City of Jerusalem. (Ma’an News)

Personnel from the Jerusalem municipality issue demolition warnings to several Palestinians in the al-Issawiya neighborhood. (Ma’an News) 

A boy from the Bat Ayin settlement is killed and another is seriously injured by an axe-wielding Palestinian man. The military wing of Islamic Jihad and the Imad Mughniyeh Group claim joint responsibility. (Ha’aretz)

April 3

The British embassy in Israel cancels plans to relocate to another building because of the property owner’s affiliation with settlement construction. (Associated Press)

The Israeli internal security minister extends the closure of Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem, including Orient House and the Arab Chamber of Commerce, for another six months. (al-Ayyam)

April 4

Settlers from Hebron riot in the Palestinian neighborhood of Jebel Johar to protest the IDF’s plan to allow Palestinian traffic on the road between the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Kiryat Arba. (Israel Radio)

April 7

Soldiers forcibly evict the family of Husam Taysir Dwayat, who had gone on a rampage in Jerusalem on a bulldozer, from their home in Jabal Mukabber. (Ma’an News)

Palestinian stone-throwers injure a settler driving on a settler-only road north of Ramallah. (Ma’an News)

The Israeli High Court of Justice rejects an appeal by two Palestinian families who were evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem. (al-Ayyam)

April 8

Fifteen armed settlers from the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin enter the Palestinian village of Beit Omar and fire shots into the air, damaging Palestinian homes and property. (Yediot Aharonot)

Yediot Yerushalaim reports the freezing of a plan to construct 400 housing units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa.

April 11

The Israeli Interior Ministry approves an addition to a building on the northern section of the Western Wall plaza. The area will have a police station, the Chain of Generations Center, and services for visitors and workers. (Yediot Aharonot)

April 15

The Palestinian Authority (PA) condemns Israeli settlers’ attempts to storm the al-Aqsa mosque compound, calling it a reflection of the Israeli authorities “Judaization” of Jerusalem. (Ma’an News)

Marwan Barghouti, the jailed leader of the Fateh Tanzim organization, says that Palestinians should not renew peace negotiations with Israel until it frees thousands of Palestinians prisoners, ends settlement activity, lifts the blockade on Gaza, and removes West Bank roadblocks. (Israel Radio)

April 16

Hatem Abdul Qader, advisor to Prime Minister Fayyad on Jerusalem affairs, says that 1,000 Arab dwellings in East Jerusalem are threatened with demolition. (al-Ayyam)

April 17

Israeli forces open fire on Palestinians throwing Molotov cocktails at the Bet El settlement, killing a Palestinian boy and injuring a Palestinian man. (OCHA)

Thousands of Palestinians from Jerusalem gather at the al-Aqsa mosque to frustrate entry by Jewish religious groups. Israeli police officers, in charge of preventing the Jewish groups from performing religious rituals in the mosque compound, were allegedly seen praying there themselves. (al-Ayyam)

An armed Palestinian is shot dead after entering a settlement in the West Bank. (Ma’an News, Arutz 7)

April 20

Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council demand an investigation into the release of Palestinians accused of selling land to settlers. (Yediot Aharonot)

April 22

Palestinian residents of Na’alin petition the High Court of Justice to order the Modi’in Ilit settlement to demolish a 5.4-acre park it built on land belonging to Na’alin. (Yediot Aharonot)

April 23

Israeli forces demolish eight Palestinian houses southwest of Nablus and one Palestinian house in Jabal Mukabber, Jerusalem. (Ma’an News, Ma’ariv)

April 24

Four Palestinians and two Israelis are lightly injured in a clash outside the Yitzhar settlement in the northern West Bank. (Ma’ariv)

More than 100 Palestinians and several European representatives demonstrate in Bil’in to protest the death of Bassam Ibrahim Abu Rahma, a Palestinian organizer killed on April 17 by Israeli forces during a protest. Twenty-five Palestinians and 13 Israeli troops are lightly injured. (Ma’ariv)

April 26

The Israeli Defense Ministry, in response to a court order, offers to return 750 out of 2,000 dunams of expropriated land in Bil’in to Palestinians residents. The Palestinians say the offer is insufficient and will not be accepted. (Army Radio)

The Israeli Interior Ministry recommends that approximately 12,000 dunams, including the Kedar settlement, be added to Ma’ale Adumim. (Ha’aretz)

April 27

Construction begins on a new East Jerusalem settlement in Talpiot, near Arab al-Suahara. Authorities approved the plan in 2000.

The axe-wielding Palestinian who killed a 13-year-old settler on April 2 is apprehended. (Mideast Mirror)

A Palestinian teenager from the village of Madama is hospitalized after being shot by a settler near the Bracha settlement. Palestinians claim that the boy was farming when the settler shot him. Settlers assert that the boy had thrown stones toward an Israeli car. (Yediot Aharonot)

Nonviolent demonstrators convince Israeli settlers to re-route a road in the village of Umm al-Khayr to avoid the demolition of a Palestinian house. The legality of the road is being adjudicated. (Ma’an News)

April 28

A Palestinian man is sentenced to death by a PA military court for selling land to Israeli settlers. (Ma’an News)

April 30

The Israeli civil administration reports that a higher percentage of settler homes than Palestinian homes are demolished for being constructed without permits. (Ma’ariv)