2002 Settlement Timeline
December 29, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that since September, 78 houses have been demolished in the West Bank.
The IDF announces that it has foiled 21 infiltration attempts into settlements in the preceeding month. (Ha'aretz)
December 28, 2002
Central Command Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky announces that special security zones have been established around the settlements of Otniel and Beit Haggai, south of Hebron. The decision means that no "foreign elements" will be allowed within 400 meters of the towns.
An Israeli tank opens fire and kills a Palestinian youth attempting to approach a military post near Netzarim. The youth, a Hamas member, was killed near the settlement. (Hear Palestine)
The IDF imposes a curfew on Dura and blow up two homes. Five residents are wounded. (Hear Palestine)
al-Ayyam reports IDF confiscating 20 dunums of land belonging to the al-Rawashi family, near Kfar Darom.
December 27, 2002
Four settlers are killed and ten wounded by two Palestinians in a restaurant in the Otniel settlement, south of Hebron. Both Palestinians are killed by the IDF. Sary al-Quds, a faction of Islamic Jihad, claims responsibility. (Hear Palestine and Ha'aretz)
December 25, 2002
Two Palestinians are killed by IDF tank fire while attempting to approach Netzarim. (Arutz-7)
December 24, 2002
A report issued by the municipality of Bethlehem claims that 7,223 buildings have been damaged and 78 completely demolished by Israeli incursions this year. (WAFA)
December 23, 2002
The Gush Etzion bloc has grown by 117 families in two years. Bat Ayn has grown by 17 families, Tekoa by 14, and Karmei Tzur by 13. (Arutz-7)
Arutz-7 reports the IDF recommending that YESHA residents not hitchhike after learning that abductions may be made in order to swap settlers in exchange for detained Palestinians.
December 21, 2002
A Palestinian is killed during an attack on an Israeli settler convoy near Morag, in Rafah. (Hear Palestine)
December 19, 2002
Israeli defense minister Mofaz orders the evacuation of an illegal outpost in the middle of Hebron, established after the November 15 ambush that killed nine Israeli soldiers and three security volunteers from nearby Kiryat Arba. Zvi Katzover, mayor of Kiryat Arba, said to Army Radio, "The evacuation was pointless. We plan to return and settle there and soon." (Mideast Mirror)
December 17, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that the IDF has halted plans to demolish five houses in Bethlehem after learning that the owners are peace activists who enjoy the patronage of the U.S. embassy and Senator Hillary Clinton.
December 16, 2002
The General Committee for the Defense of Land reports that bulldozers have cut a road 4 kilometers long and 25 meters wide on hills and agricultural fields in the area south of al-Bireh and in al-Jadira, northwest of Jerusalem. (Hear Palestine)
December 15, 2002
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency reports that by the end of October 2002, 639 shelters accommodating 888 families had been destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli military activity: 519 shelters for 739 refugee families and 120 shelters for 149 non-refugee families.
"At the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting, Chief of Staff Ya'alon reported that since Operation "Defensive Shield," more that 4,700 Palestinians involved in terrorism have been arrested and 109 homes have been demolished in Judea and Samaria. Approximately 200 terrorists, who attempted to infiltrate communities and cross the fence into Israel, have been killed in defensive actions in the Gaza Strip." (Cabinet Communique)
December 13, 2002
Residents of Bethlehem are placed under curfew for the thirtieth consecutive day. In Hebron, a curfew continues for the thirty-fourth day. (Hear Palestine)
Hear Palestine reports, "Israeli bulldozers leveled over 20 dunums of agricultural land southwest Deir al-Balah today as well as destroyed water and electricity networks in the area. Two tanks and a bulldozer took off from Tel Katif settlement under intense fire and headed towards al-Baraka area where vast areas of agricultural land were destroyed. Bulldozing activities also took place on land northeast of al-Qarara. Over 300 fruitful olive, palm and fig trees were destroyed, around 400 meters away from Kisofim settlement road. Over 60 dunums of agricultural land were demolished."
December 12, 2002
A Palestinian from al-Maghazi refugee camp is killed near the Netzer Hazani settlement in the Katif bloc while trying to infiltrate it. (Hear Palestine)
Hear Palestine reports Israel demolishing seven homes in Hebron's al-Rajabi quarter, near the Ibrahimi mosque.
A spokesman for the Hebron Jewish Community states, "Blood is cheap in [Jewish] Hebron. It has been a month since 12 men were killed by terrorist gunfire [very close] to tonight's attack. What did the government do? No buildings were destroyed, the incitement continues, the inciters have not been apprehended, and the terrorists' arms have not been confiscated. The new neighborhood linking Hebron and Kiryat Arba has not yet been approved. Such negligence only encourages terrorists to murder, again and again." (Arutz-7)
Palestinian gunmen kill two Israeli soldiers at a guard post between Hebron and Kiryat Arba. (Arutz-7)
December 10, 2002
The Israeli High Court issues an order instructing the IDF not to demolish Palestinian buildings adjacent to the areas planned for a new road to link the Kiryat Arba and Hebron. (Ha'aretz)
December 9, 2002
The IDF arrests Tanzim operative Mahmud Muhammad Mahmud Amro, a resident of Hebron, for the death of 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass. (Israel Line)
December 3, 2002
Yediot Aharonot reports that more than 1,000 Palestinian olive trees have been sold to nursery owners in Israel. "By cautious estimate, at least 2,000 olive trees have been uprooted in recent months. Some are destroyed in the process." It was noted that some trees are returned to their Palestinians owners to be replanted, but most are sold. (Boston Globe)
December 2, 2002
An IDF soldier sustains light injuries when an armed Palestinian attempts to infiltrate Netzarim in the Gaza Strip. (Israel Line)
The IDF posts notices ordering property seizures and house demolitions along the length of a street in Hebron that will be used to link the Hebron and Kiryat Arba settlements. Sixty buildings and pieces of land will be seized on al-Haram St. for "military necessity." About 15 buildings are abandoned or falling down, but 30 or so families still occupy about half the street. (The Guardian)
December 1, 2002
The Knesset Finance Committee approves the allocation of $10 million for building bypass roads in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz)
November 29, 2002
A Palestinian youth is killed and three Israelis wounded in armed confrontations inside the Bedolah settlement, in Rafah. (Hear Palestine)
November 27, 2002
Palestine Report announces that since the start of the al-Aqsa intifada, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee has built 211 agricultural roads to serve more than 300 residential areas in the West Bank and Gaza. The construction has provided work for 5,000 laborers who have been unable to work inside the Green Line, and 2,200 families have benefitted directly from the roads, which help farmers reach their cultivated lands.
The IDF kills three Palestinians attempting to infiltrate the Gaza settlement of Rafiach Yam and Atzmona. (Hear Palestine)
November 26, 2002
The IDF has demolished some 80 Palestinian homes in Gaza since August. (News Asia)
Police arrest three settlers near the Elkana settlement in the West Bank. They were found with uprooted olive trees and claimed to have had permission from the Palestinian owner of the orchard to remove the trees. (New York Times)
November 18, 2002
An Israeli woman is killed and another injured in an ambush near the West Bank settlement of Rimonim, northeast of Ramallah. (Ha'aretz)
A U.S. State Department spokeswoman declares, "We believe that, consistent with the Mitchell committee recommendations, Israeli settlement activity should halt. We understand Israel's right to defend itself against the perpetrators of the [Hebron] attack but continue to urge both sides to refrain from unilateral actions which aggravate an already dangerous situation." (Reuters)
November 17, 2002
Kiryat Arba settlers set up an outpost at the site of an attack against armed Israelis who were providing security for worshipers on their way to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The IDF begins uprooting trees and destroying houses. (Ha'aretz)
November 15, 2002
Three settler families set up camp in a clearing alongside a road to Hebron after Islamic Jihad members ambushed Israeli soldiers. Visiting Likud member Eli Cohen says, "If you come here in three years, you will see this neighborhood connected to historic Hebron. This is a historic moment." (Ha'aretz)
November 14, 2002
Israeli bulldozers supported by the IDF clear 10 dunums of land and demolish water networks and the main water well in the Palestinian area around the settlement of Kfar Darom. (Hear Palestine)
November 13, 2002
Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz tells the Knesset that in the preceeding month, the IDF has dismantled 23 illegal outposts and evacuated 60 others. (Kol Yisra'el)
November 12, 2002
Israeli authorities prevent residents of Nablus from harvesting olives. Settlers confiscate olives from Yanun, and the IDF prevents residents from Awarta from harvesting olives. In Beit Furik, harvesters are unable to reach their land to pick olives because of movement restrictions imposed by the IDF. (WAFA)
November 11, 2002
The General Information Center in Hebron releases a report announcing that in the two years of the al-Aqsa intifada, 160 Palestinian residents have been killed and more than 8,256 wounded. The report reveals that the Old City of Hebron has been under curfew for 318 days during this period and that the IDF has demolished 34 homes under "security" pretexts and 20 under the pretext of "no construction permit." More than 3,250 dunums around Hebron has been seized for settlement expansion. (al-Quds)
November 9, 2002
Kol Ha'ir reports that 45 Palestinian homes will be demolished and 1,250 dunums of land confiscated for Jerusalem's eastern ring road. (Hear Palestine)
A report by the General Committee for the Defense of Land claims that settlers in more than 84 settlements in the West Bank have carried out more than 1,000 attacks against Palestinian farmers and their property in the past year. The attacks have resulted in civilian casualties and the destruction of more than 12,200 dunums of cultivated land, the source of income for 1,414 Palestinian families, with the Nablus area suffering the greatest damage. (al-Quds)
al-Ayyam reports moves in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis for the confiscation of the fishing port and its transfer to a new settlement bloc.
November 6, 2002
Hamas claims responsibility for an attack on the Katif bloc in Gaza where two settlers were killed and one wounded. (Hear Palestine)
November 4, 2002
Settlers attack residents of Kfar Qalil village during which a large amount of harvested olives are stolen. (Hear Palestine)
November 3, 2002
Israeli soldiers continue to prevent farmers from Salfit from harvesting olives. (Hear Palestine)
October 31, 2002
Three commanders who live in religious settlements are expelled from their brigade for refusing to evacuate the illegal outpost of Mitzpeh Assaf, near Beit El. The commanders say they cannot take part in an operation that means "evacuating Jews from the Land of Israel." (Ha'aretz)
October 30, 2002
Israeli bulldozers level land north of al-Ram in preparation for construction of the separation zone around Jerusalem. (Hear Palestine)
The Palestinian Agriculture Ministry in Rafah reports that the IDF has destroyed 1,435 dunums of trees, 122 dunums of greenhouses, 5 water wells, and more than 7,000 dunums of cultivated land since October 2000. (Palestine Report)
October 29, 2002
IDF and police return to Havat Gilad for the third time to evacuate a group of settlers from the illegal outpost. (Ha'aretz)
Canadian authorities announce their decision to revoke tax exemptions on donations made to the Magen David Adom organization after noting that money for the emergency medical services supports ambulances operating in the territories. (Ha'aretz)
Ha'aretz reports three settlers killed and five wounded when a Palestinian infiltrates the settlement of Hermesh, near Jenin.
October 27, 2002
Hear Palestine reports that the IDF has started construction of a wall 10 meters high along the border stip between Rafah and Egypt.
Ha'aretz reports five people injured when settlers from Itamar attack peace activists and Palestinian olive harvesters from the nearby village of Yanun.
A Palestinian detonates explosives at a gas station near the Ariel settlement in the West Bank, killing three people and injuring nineteen. (Yediot Aharonot)
October 25, 2002
Settlers arrested for involvement in the disturbance at Havat Gilad are released and the evacuation of more West Bank illegal outposts is postponed for a week. (Ha'aretz)
Hear Palestine reports 160 homes partially demolished and more than 1,750 damaged, most in the Block ‘O' refugee camp in Rafah, as a result of random IDF shelling. Approximately 2,200 residents from the camp were without refuge as a result. During the al-Aqsa intifada, 190 civilians, including 60 children have been killed in Rafah and 2,300 residents wounded.
October 24, 2002
After abandoning their village because of settler attacks, four families from Yanun return after an Israeli army officer promises that the residents will be protected as they harvest their olives. Mayor Abdel Latif Sabih declares, "We will not let go of our village and land. We left to seek a safe haven for our wives and children, but we men will come here everyday." (al-Ayyam)
October 23, 2002
The IDF prohibits Palestinians from picking olives in the West Bank after announcing that troops cannot protect harvesters from settler attacks. The order is later retracted because of protests by human rights groups and Israeli politicians. (Ha'aretz)
Ha'aretz reports that Israeli national infrastructure minister Effie Eitam has ordered a stop to all drilling for water by Palestinians in the West Bank, as well as a freeze on permits for further drilling.
Israeli authorities issue three house demolition orders in al-Khader village, Bethlehem, in order to construct a road for a nearby settlement.
October 22, 2002
The European Union agrees to continue favorable treatment of Israeli exports from the territories as part of its free trade agreement with Israel. (Ha'aretz)
October 21, 2002
Settlers erect two temporary structures at the dismantled outpost of Havat Gilad, west of Nablus. The IDF announces it will not attempt to remove the structures at this time. (Ha'aretz)
Kol Yisrael reports the IDF killing two Palestinians attempting to infiltrate the settlement of Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip.
Settlers from Shvut Rahel fire weapons, throw stones, and set cars on fire at a Palestinian-owned orchard in Turmus A'ya as residents harvest olives. (Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group)
October 20, 2002
The IDF bulldozes dozens of dunums of land between Izbat Salman and Izbat Jalud to make room for the construction of the "seamline" wall. Israeli officials declare the confiscation of a further 2,600 dunums of land from Izbat Salman. (Hear Palestine)
Hear Palestine reports confrontations between residents of Jayous, supported by foreign volunteers, and the IDF when Israeli bulldozers begin demolishing the village's agricultural land, including more than 150 olive trees.
Settlers return to the dismantled Havat Gilad outpost to rebuild a temporary structure. (Ha'aretz)
October 19, 2002
Ha'aretz reports twelve police officers and ten settlers wounded when security forces begin the evacuation of Havat Gilad, near Nablus.
Settlers prevent residents of the West Bank villages of Aqraba and Inabus, near Nablus, and Jewish and Arab Israeli left-wing activists from picking olives by firing shots in the air. (Jerusalem Post)
Hear Palestine reports settlers throwing stones and garbage at students of the Qartaba School for Girls in the center of Hebron, forcing students to avoid the main road.
Two hundred peace activists go to several West Bank locations to protect Palestinians from settler harassment during the olive harvest. (Ha'aretz and Gush Shalom)
October 18, 2002
Settlers from Efrat cut down 50 olive trees to the west of al-Khader village. (Hear Palestine)
October 16, 2002
Hear Palestine reports settlers attacking Palestinian farmers near Yassuf, north of Salfit, forcing them to evacuate their land.
October 15, 2002
Israeli settlers east of Jenin continue to prevent the residents of Deir Abu Da'if from harvesting olives on land situated near the settlements. (Hear Palestine)
The Council of Jewish Settlement Rabbis calls on IDF soldiers to ask their commanding officers to release them from duties evacuating the settlements, citing religious reasons and reasons of conscience. The council also calls on all Zionist parties to leave the government coalition if it continues its policy of removing outposts. (Mideast Mirror)
More than 5,000 buildings have been destroyed by Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory since October 2000, including the destruction of whole neighborhoods, schools, shops, factories, and farmland. According to PA labor minister Ghassan al-Khatib, some 500,000 people are unemployed in the territories, 150,000 of whom once worked in Israel as laborers and 350,000 of whom worked in the territories but cannot get to their jobs because of closures and curfews. The hardest hit have been the 30,000 who live near settlers in Hebron and have been under curfew for 385 days in the last two years. (Ha'aretz)
October 14, 2002
Ha'aretz reports Palestinian complaints that Hebron settlers are forcibly preventing the muezzin at the Tomb of the Patriarchs from calling the faithful to prayer; that settlers have invaded waqf offices and vandalized equipment; and that settlers have broken into a local school. When Israeli police arrived at the Jewish enclave in the heart of the city's old quarter, settlers assaulted them with paint.
October 13, 2002
Hear Palestine reports Israeli settlers setting fire to land cultivated with olive trees in Dura al-Qaria, north of Ramallah.
While heading to their land to harvest olives, farmers in the town of Tqu, southeast of Bethlehem, become the target of random machine-gun fire from settlers. (Hear Palestine)
October 12, 2002
Settlers open fire on Palestinian olive pickers in Beit Furik, near Nablus, and set fire to olive trees in Silwad and al-Mizra'a al-Sharqiya, east of Ramallah.
October 11, 2002
Construction of the "seamline" wall has affected 6000 dunums of Qiffin's land, located north of Tulkarem, with another 5,000 dunums expected to be bulldozed. By the time the wall is finished, the IDF will have confiscated 40 percent of Qiffin's agricultural land. (Hear Palestine)
October 10, 2002
Settlers kill a Palestinian from the Aqraba village.
The IDF demolishes 11 homes and a farm in Qalqas and al-Sha'aba areas, southeast of Hebron, for lack of proper construction permits. (Hear Palestine)
Israel continues to demolish agricultural land and uproot olive trees in Tura al-Gharbiya village, Jenin, for the purposes of the "seamline" wall. (Hear Palestine)
October 9, 2002
Ha'aretz reports the IDF's dismantling of two illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank.
The Danish security services firm Group 4 Falk announces plans to shut down operations in West Bank settlements after learning that its security group subsidiary Hashmira Corp patrols areas in and around settlements. (Ha'aretz)
Dozens of soldiers sign a petition to be sent to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demanding the evacuation of all illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz)
October 8, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that Israeli defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer has ordered the army to begin evacuating 20 to 30 illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank.
October 7, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that the Jordan Valley Road will be named after slain Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi.
The IDF bulldozes at least five houses in the village of Yabad, west of Jenin, because their owners did not have building permits. (Agence France Presse)
October 6, 2002
Ha'aretz reports settlers from Gidonim and Itamar killing a Palestinian and wounding two others during an attack on olive harvesters from the village of Aqraba, near Nablus, the latest in a series of such attacks.
The Khan Yunis hospital is hit by IDF assault rifle fire after the military traces three mortar shells fired at nearby settlements to the hospital. The gunfire killed one man and wounded three others. (Associated Press)
After Palestinians fire a rocket at a settlement near Khan Yunis, causing no casualties, Israel raids the Gaza Strip, leaving 12 Palestinians dead and 80 wounded. (Mideast Mirror)
October 5, 2002
Jewish settlers confiscate the well that provides al-Laban al-Sharqiya village with drinking water and confiscate a home in the village. The action falls within a wider plan that aims at confiscating more than 400 dunums of Palestinian agricultural land in the area. (Hear Palestine)
October 4, 2002
The Israel Defense Forces attack al-Zahraa, south of Gaza City, after a missile hit Netzarim settlement, injuring no one. (Hear Palestine)
October 3, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that Jewish settlers from Hebron have taken control of a Palestinian-owned house close to the Jewish enclave of Beit Romano.
October 2, 2002
The trial begins of four men accused of being members of a Jewish cell responsible for planting a bomb in an East Jerusalem girls' school in April. (Israel Line)
October 1, 2002
After signing a State Department spending bill, U.S. president George W. Bush claims that his administration is not legally bound to follow a provision in it that requires Jerusalem be identified as Israel's capital. "We have always opposed legislative action that hinders the president's prerogatives on advancing our interests in the region and promoting a just and lasting peace," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, adding, "the State Department made consistently clear that it was opposed to those provisions."
September 28, 2002
Israeli authorities close the District Coordination Office near Beit Hanun, expelling staff and expropriating weapons and computers, effectively canceling administrative relations with Palestinian Authority officials.
September 25, 2002
Israeli settlers and lawmakers mark the transformation of the Rehalim outpost into an official settlement. The Defense Ministry claims that the outpost's designation as an educational institute four years prior permits construction there. Knesset member Benny Elon rejects the idea of dismantling outposts, saying, "We will fight for every outpost that they want to take down. We will not compromise or concede on any outpost. We can talk about dismantling refugee camps and transferring Arabs, but the Jews are here to stay." (Jerusalem Post and AP)
In Hebron, settlers announce plans to take over abandoned houses in the casbah said to have been previously owned by Jews. They plan to house dozens of families in them. National Infrastructure Minister Effi Eitam has endorsed the plan. (Ma'ariv)
Israel destroys agricultural land near Za'tara village, Bethlehem, to build a bypass road. (Hear Palestine)
September 24, 2002
An Israeli is killed and his children wounded in Hebron when a Palestinian opens fire on a group of Israeli tourists. (Mideast Mirror)
The IDF destroys the home of the man who allegedly carried out the attack at Atzmona in which five students were killed. (Mideast Mirror)
September 23, 2002
In Hebron, the IDF imposes a curfew on Palestinians during Sukkot celebrations staged by settlers. (Ha'aretz)
After five months of quiet, gunshots are fired from Beit Jala toward the Jerusalem settlement suburb of Gilo. No injuries or damages are reported. (Ha'aretz)
Israel destroys hundreds of dunums of agricultural land in the area of the Netzer Hazani settlement in the Gaza Strip. (Hear Palestine)
September 19, 2002
In Abu Dis, in Jerusalem, the IDF demolishes the homes of two youths allegedly involved in an attack carried out in 2001 in the West Bank. The demolition leaves at least 25 people without refuge.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reports that more than 73 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of August.
Israeli settlers attack and wound residents of Beni Na'im and Ya'bid, which are under a curfew. (Hear Palestine)
September 18, 2002
A resident of Ma'ale Adumim is found murdered outside the West Bank village of al-Azariya.
One man is killed and another injured by gunfire near the West Bank settlement of Mevo Dotan, in the Jenin region.
September 17, 2002
The IDF permits "settlers and members of the right-wing" to pray at Joseph's Tomb, in Nablus, for the first time in the two years since the IDF withdrew under fire from the site in October 2000. (Yediot Aharonot)
In a Hebron schoolyard, eight Palestinian children are injured when a bomb left by settlers explodes. Israeli authorities detonate two other bombs. (PHRMG)
Hear Palestine reports an IDF order placing parts of al-Ras village between the old Green Line and the seam-line wall.
The IDF demolishes more than 34 residential units under construction in Ein Sinya, in northern Ramallah. (Hear Palestine)
Ha'aretz reports that a wall 8 to 10 meters high will be constructed around the site of Rachel's Tomb and that the site will be unofficially annexed to the Jerusalem municipality.
September 14, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that the Shin Bet opposes allowing Jews access to Joseph's Tomb, in Nablus. The IDF had allowed 75 settlers to enter the site.
September 13, 2002
Jerusalem mayor Olmert says that the annexation of Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem is "only a matter of time." (Kol Ha'ir)
The American company Ditkshin wins the tender for construction of the separation fence around greater Jerusalem.
September 12, 2002
Israel destroys 200 dunums of cultivated land in Rafat, northwest of Jerusalem. Village council members report Israeli settlers uprooting olive trees and carrying them to locations within Israel. (Hear Palestine)
A resident of the Einav settlement is wounded by gunfire while traveling to Avnei Hafetz. (Kol Yisrael)
September 11, 2002
A tender is published in Ha'aretz for 43 "build your own" plots in Elkana.
Palestinians fire two mortar shells at Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. No injuries or damages are reported.
The IDF orders the confiscation of 8,000 dunums of agricultural land from Ya'bid and surrounding villages near Jenin. (Hear Palestine)
Ha'aretz reports Israeli security cabinet approval of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's recommendation, supported by Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert, to include Rachel's Tomb, situated on the outskirts of Bethlehem, within the Jerusalem "seam line."
September 9, 2002
In Tulkarem, Israel destroys cultivated land covering an area two kilometers long and sixty meters wide in preparation for building the seam-line fence. (Hear Palestine)
Israeli settlers attack residents of Sinjil village, north of Ramallah, and prevent them from harvesting crops. (Hear Palestine)
September 6, 2002
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency reports that from October 2000 to the end of June 2002, 516 shelters housing 721 families in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed or damaged beyond repair by Israeli military action.
September 2, 2002
Construction began for permanent dwellings at the settlement at Tel Rumena in Hebron. Seven units will be constructed in phase one at the site, which now comprises 60 settlers residing in caravans.
The ELAD foundation, which promotes Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, takes over the home of a Palestinian in the neighborhood of Jabal Mukhabar as part of its plan for a 600-unit Jewish neighborhood. ELAD claims that it legally purchased the house six years ago. (Ha'aretz)
September 1, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that Peace Now is offering to help settlers move out of the territories. In a letter sent to hundreds of settlers, the group cites a survey indicating that "many Israelis living in the territories are interested in returning to live in Israel, within the boundaries of the Green Line."
August 31, 2002
An Israeli couple is injured when a Palestinian infiltrates the settlement of Bracha, near Nablus, after the IDF kills a Fatah suspect and four children. (Ha'aretz)
August 29, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that "some months ago the IDF put forward a plan for an interim agreement that includes evacuation of all settlements in Gaza and seven in the West Bank in return for a provisional Palestinian state and the extended postponement of a final status agreement." IDF redeployments would establish "full" Palestinian territorial continuity throughout the Gaza Strip and "transport links" between Palestinian blocs in the West Bank.
August 27, 2002
Mortar shells are fired at the settlement of Neve Dekalim in Gaza, striking one home and damaging others. (Jerusalem Post)
August 26, 2002
The Jerusalem municipality announces plans to demolish 15 homes in Wadi Qaddum to expand a road to connect the settlements of Gilo and Har Homa to Ma'ale Adumim and Mishor Adumim. (al-Quds)
Two mortar shells fall in settlement communities in the Gaza Strip, and an antitank rocket is fired at an IDF outpost near Netzarim. No injuries are reported. (Ha'aretz)
August 25, 2002
Defense Ministry director-general Amos Yaron announces that the first 112 kilometers of the seam-line fence will be completed by July 2003. (Ha'aretz)
August 23, 2002
At the Kfar Darom settlement in the Gaza Strip, three armed Palestinians are killed by an IDF patrol near the security fence. The al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade claims responsibility. (Kol Yisrael)
August 22, 2002
Israeli defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer announces that 19 illegal outposts have been dismantled in the West Bank. Opposition leader MK Yossi Sarid claims that no settlers have been evacuated and that any talk of removing illegal outposts is trickery.
August 20, 2002
A Hamas guerrilla shoots and kills an Israeli soldier guarding a settlement near Khan Yunis. The attack is in retaliation for the IDF's assassination of a Hamas member. Israel responds by shelling the residential area from which the guerrilla fired, killing a 15-year-old Palestinian boy. (al-Ahram Weekly)
An IDF soldier is killed by a sniper at the Yakinton outpost in the Katif bloc in Gaza. (Yediot Aharonot)
August 19, 2002
A tender is published in Yediot Aharonot for the construction of six dwelling units in Ma'ale Adumim.
A tender is published in Yediot Aharonot for the leasing of 86 "build your own" plots in Har Adar.
August 16, 2002
It is reported that the Israeli Religious Affairs Ministry, along with the Housing and Interior Ministries, plans to invest more than $4 million to build 55 synagogues, construct 30 ritual baths, and renovate 43 existing baths in the settlements over the next two years. (Yediot Aharonot)
The Israeli High Court rejects the petition of a Palestinian resident in Gaza contesting the confiscation of his land for the construction of a road to the settlement of Netzarim. (Jerusalem Post and Ha'aretz)
August 15, 2002
Settlers from Eli, Ma'ale Levona, and Shilo reoccupy the house in Luban al-Sharqiyya. They demand the house's destruction and the "cleansing" of an area nearby.
A tender is published in Ha'aretz for the construction of 72 dwelling units in Ariel.
A tender is published in Ha'aretz for the construction of 303 dwelling units in the Olive Hill section of Efrat.
A tender is published in Ha'aretz for the construction of 290 dwelling units in Emmanuel.
B'Tselem reports that during the al-Aqsa intifada, at least 40 Palestinian homes belonging to Palestinians allegedly involved in attacks have been destroyed, at least 21 in recent weeks. (B'Tselem)
August 14, 2002
Shas Party spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef visits the settlement of Emmanuel, marking a dramatic reversal of his long opposition to settlements. "Yesha residents are heros," he declares.
August 11, 2002
Settlers from Eli break into a Palestinian home in Luban al-Sharqiyya near the location where snipers killed two settlers on August 2. The IDF places a curfew on Palestinian residents during negotiations between settlers and the IDF. Settlers leave the building before nightfall.
The Israeli security cabinet approves the first phase of the seam-line fence, or separation wall, dividing Israel from the West Bank. The initial part of the fence will run 110 kilometers along the northern section of the West Bank from Kafr Salem to Kafr Kassem. (Ha'aretz)
August 10, 2002
A woman from Moshav Mechora, in the Jordan Valley, is shot and killed in her home by a Palestinian who is then killed by IDF soldiers. (Yediot Aharonot)
August 7, 2002
U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer states that Secretary Rumsfeld's August 6 remarks were personal and do not signal a change in U.S. policy. Kurtzer adds, "I use the language of the president of the United States and he talked in his speech about the territories that were occupied in 1967." (Jerusalem Post)
Ha'aretz reports that the IDF is paying $2 million a year to settlements in the West Bank and Gaza to rent buildings for housing soldiers protecting the settlements.
August 6, 2002
In the settlement of Itamar, a Palestinian stabs a resident. In the village of Jammain, Palestinian gunmen kill two settlers selling fuel to a cement factory. (al-Ahram Weekly)
U.S. secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld refers to lands Israel seized in the 1967 war as "so-called occupied territories," contradicting the long-standing U.S. stance that regards East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip as occupied territory.
August 2, 2002
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) begin enforcing a ban on the movement of Palestinian vehicles in the northern West Bank and Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz)
An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian bystander are killed when a Palestinian fires on border police and a Bezeq telecommunications vehicle near the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City. (Israel Line)
A settler couple are shot dead on their way home to the settlement of Eli.
July 30, 2002
Israeli officials report that 583 Israelis have been killed since the start of the al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000: 38% inside the Green Line, 35% in the West Bank, 18% in Jerusalem, and 9% in Gaza. (Ma'ariv)
July 31, 2002
Israeli police begin a special deployment to prevent acts of settler retaliation against Palestinians and their property after a week in which seven settlers were killed. (Ha'aretz)
July 30, 2002
Ma'ariv reports that the settlement of Ofra has received permission from Defense Minister Ben Eliezer to settle an army post originally established by settlers to commemorate the death of Kach leader Benjamin Kahane and his wife.
Professor Zvi Eckstein, former head of Tel Aviv University's economics department, publishes a report stating, "The state budgets on average 17 times more money for settlers than for a Ramat Gan [Israeli town] resident." He also reports that in 2000, West Bank settlements received an average of $1,260.50 per resident from government ministries. Receiving the most that year was the Gaza Coast Regional Council, at $2,505.25 per resident. Karnei Shomron followed with $2,051; Kedumim, with $1,826; Negev communities, with $633.25; Haifa, with $328.75 on average; Tel Aviv-Jaffa, with $216.50; and Ramat Gan, only $147. (Ma'ariv and Ha'aretz).
Settlers from Yitzhar burn olive trees belonging to Palestinians in the Hawara and Burim villages.
A Palestinian enters the Itamar settlement and stabs a couple. (Mideast Mirror)
Two Israelis, ignoring security warnings, are killed when they enter a West Bank village. (Mideast Mirror)
July 28, 2002
U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer recommends that Israel "improve the atmosphere" by freezing settlement expansion and dismantling recently established settlement outposts. (Ha'aretz)
Settlers rampage through Hebron, setting fire to houses and shops, stabbing two Palestinians and shooting and killing a 14-year-old girl. (Ha'aretz and PHRMG).
July 27, 2002
To save money, the IDF decides to increase the use of regular forces to guard settlements. (Yediot Aharanot)
Israel bulldozes cultivated Palestinian land near the Netzarim settlement. (Hear Palestine)
July 26, 2002
Kol Ha'ir reports an IDF study concluding that it is permissible to expel Palestinians from Areas A and B in the West Bank in order to defend the Israeli civilian population. The study asserts that, according to The Hague convention, it is possible to declare captured territory to be a military area, and because of the high danger posed to civilians by attacks from such areas, to transfer the indigenous population to another region.
Palestinians fire an antitank missile at a bus on the Karni-Netzarim road in the Gaza Strip. The attack, which caused extensive damage to the bus but no casualties, was the first of its kind.
Palestinian gunmen kill three settlers in a car near the Zif junction. The gunmen then ambush another vehicle near the Carmel settlement, killing one Hebron settler. (Ha'aretz)
July 25, 2002
Yediot Aharanot reports that the IDF has, for the first time, approved the establishment of a civil guard composed of Gaza Strip settlers.
YESHA spokesman Yehoshua Mor-Yosef announces that since January 2001 the settler population has increased by 7.7 percent. (Jordan Times)
July 24, 2002
A rocket attack injures two people at a settlement in north Gaza. (Ha'aretz).
A mortar attack near Ma'ale Levonah leaves two Israelis injured. (Ha'aretz)
An Israeli settler from Peduel dies when his car is ambushed near Alei Zahav. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claims responsibility. (Mideast Mirror)
July 23, 2002
Ha'aretz reports Israeli government approval for a new settlement, Kidmat Kinerret, in the Syrian section of the Golan DMZ.
July 22, 2002
The Gaza settlement of Netzarim celebrates its thirtieth anniversary.
July 21, 2002
Peace Now states that not one unauthorized settler outpost has been dismantled.
July 18, 2002
Ha'aretz reports Syria demanding that Israel return to the United Nations compensation paid by Iraq to the settlement of Hamat Gader in the Golan Heights for damages suffered during the Gulf War.
July 17, 2002
The Knesset authorizes $437,500 for greenhouses in the Katif bloc and an additional $13 million for a new Ma'ale Adumim neighborhood. (Ha'aretz)
Shlomo Aviner, rabbi of the Beit El settlement and head of the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva, says that it is permissible to kill IDF soldiers who refuse to serve in the occupied territories. (Yediot Aharanot)
Defense Minister Ben Eliezer promises $25 million to increase security in West Bank settlements. (Kol Radio)
The IDF reports that additional outposts, most of them uninhabited and in the northern West Bank, have been evacuated in the preceding days as part of an agreement between the Defense Ministry and the YESHA Council to dismantle 20 outposts by the middle of the month.
July 16, 2002
Palestinians kill eight Israelis and wound 20 others in an attack on a bus near the settlement of Emmanuel in the West Bank. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Hamas, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and Islamic Jihad all claim responsibility. (Mideast Mirror)
July 14, 2002
Ha'aretz reports IDF West Bank commander Yitzhak Gershon volunteering officers and soldiers for a week of duty at settlements because of a shortage of guards.
July 9, 2002
Hear Palestine reports settlers from Adam confiscating agricultural land near Jaba village. Settlers are constructing a 12-meter-wide road west of the settlement.
The IDF demolishes seven Palestinian homes and damages two in Rafah. (Hear Palestine)
July 4, 2002
Palestinian officials in Gaza report that the IDF has destroyed more than 3,500 dunams of agricultural land since the beginning of the al-Aqsa intifada, including 830 dunams in al-Sheikh Ajlin, one of the most important agricultural areas in Gaza. (Hear Palestine)
July 3, 2002
Hear Palestine reports that Israel continues to destroy cultivated land in northwest Khan Yunis and Beit Hanun.
Ha'aretz reports a group of 15 well-known rabbis, mainly from settlements, issuing a declaration imploring Israelis, "Do not employ Arab workers, or negotiate with Arabs. Give preference in commerce to those who do not employ Arabs and who don't sell Arab wares."
July 1, 2002
The IDF announces plans for a special training facility to improve the performance of soldiers and civilians guarding settlements. (Yediot Aharanot)
Israel decides not to ratify the 1998 Rome Treaty establishing the International Criminal Court. The government reportedly fears repercussions over its illegal settlement enterprise and the transfer of Israelis to the occupied territories.
Military sources report that the YESHA Council has evacuated 11 illegal outposts, but settlers maintain that only 3 have been abandoned, with 9 others scheduled for evacuation. The IDF later acknowledges that 2 of the 11 remain inhabited.
June 30, 2002
The IDF closes the PA's Bethlehem liaison office and replaces Palestinian flags with Israeli ones.
June 28, 2002
The IDF blows up the PA's Hebron compound. The blast also destroys fifteen homes. (Hear Palestine)
Israeli uproots 40 dunums of olive and almond trees north of Khan Yunis to expand the Ganei Tal settlement. (Hear Palestine)
June 27, 2002
Israel bulldozes 11 Palestinian homes in the Rafah refugee camp. Some 330 homes have been demolished in the camp since the beginning of the al-Aqsa intifada. (Palestine Report)
June 26, 2002
The settler arrested June 22 for the murder of a Palestinian is released on $500 bail after promising not to visit the northern West Bank during the next month.
Construction of the "Jerusalem Envelope" fence begins after the expropriation of Palestinian land for the project.
June 25, 2002
Sharon tells the Knesset Security and Defense Committee that during his last White House visit, it was agreed that the topic of settlements would be addressed only in final status talks. (Ha'aretz)
IDF forces increase security at settlement outposts in the West Bank to prevent Palestinians from infiltrating them. (Ha'aretz)
June 23, 2002
The Knesset approves the construction of a 115-kilometer fence along the "seam line," near the 1967 borders at a cost of $115 million. Labor's Peres is the only minister to vote against the fence. He also opposes an unsuccessful attempt by minister of defense Ben Eliezer to win approval of a "security zone" in the Jordan Valley comprising 22 percent of the West Bank. (Ha'aretz)
June 22, 2002
A settler is arrested for involvement in the violence in Hawara and Burim and the death of a Palestinian. (Ha'aretz)
June 21, 2002
Kol HaZeman reports the installation of security cameras around the settlement of Kedumin because settlers had opposed a perimeter fence for ideological reasons.
Kol Ha'ir reports that the Israeli Ministry of Housing and Construction has spent $9 million in the preceding 18 months to guard buildings inhabited by Israelis in East Jerusalem. The Ministry of National Infrastructure is financing electricity to settlement outposts that Benjamin Ben Eliezer, minister of defense, has repeatedly promised to evacuate.
Israel uproots cultivated land on the outskirts of Qalqilya to accommodate the separation wall. (Hear Palestine)
Settlers from Elon Moreh, Itamar, and Yitzhar enter Hawara and Burim villages, setting fire to stores and cars and killing one Palestinian. Settlers also attack Yanun, near Itamar. (Ha'aretz)
June 20, 2002
A Palestinian kills five settlers and wounds two others at the Itamar settlement. IDF forces shoot and kill the gunman. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claims responsibility. (Yediot Aharanot)
The Israeli cabinet, responding to Palestinian suicide bombings, declares, "Israel will respond to acts of terror by capturing PA [Palestinian Authority] territory. These areas will be held by Israel as long as terror continues. Additional acts of terror will lead to the taking of additional areas." The PA describes the decision as "destroying the Oslo agreement and canceling the powers of the authority."
Peace Now reports that 44 settlement outposts have been established since Ariel Sharon's election in February 2001, contrary to his statement that only 13 such sites have been established during his tenure.
June 19, 2002
A Palestinian suicide bomber kills six Israelis and injures more than fifty in East Jerusalem's French Hill. (Ha'aretz)
June 18, 2002
A Palestinian kills 19 people and wounds 70 others when he blows himself up on a bus traveling on the Gilo road in East Jerusalem. Hamas claims responsibility.
June 17, 2002
Two Meretz MKs submit legislation for the evacuation within 60 days of the settlements of Baracha, Elon Moreh, Ganim, Hebron, Itamar, Kadim, Kfar Darom, Netzarim, Psagot, Tapuah, and Yitzhar. (Ha'aretz)
Settlement leaders and heads of local councils in Israel agree to a policy on construction of a separation fence. Its path will seal off as many West Bank Palestinians as possible from Israel and some settlements. (Ha'aretz)
June 16, 2002
Israel demolishes greenhouses and a sand barrier located near a Palestinian security checkpoint in the Absan area. (Hear Palestine)
Yizhar settlers set fire to seven dunams of olive trees and cultivated land near Hawara village. (Hear Palestine)
June 15, 2002
Israel begins digging a ditch near Kfar Sur to separate more than 800 dunams of cultivated land south of Tulkarem in Far'un, Jbara, al-Ras, and Kfar Sur villages. (Ha'aretz)
June 14, 2002
IDF sappers destroy a 40-kilogram bomb found near the Dugit settlement in the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz)
Reversing a 35-year policy, the United Jewish Communities in the United States announces that it will provide funds to Jews living in settlements. The organization will use these monies to increase settlement security and rehabilitate "victims of terror and their families."
The Israeli government decides that settlements and industrial areas in the occupied territories will continue to benefit from the highest level of subsidies granted to Priority A areas.
June 13, 2002
The Los Angeles Times reports that since October 2000, Palestinians have killed 20 Israeli civilians and 35 soldiers in Gaza, many of them traveling to and from the Katif bloc settlements.
The Knesset votes in favor of establishing a judicial commission of inquiry into the Oslo agreements. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres declares, "If there has to be an investigation, it should be into those who halted the process and the illegal settlements that were established in contravention of Israel's commitments and security needs." (Mideast Mirror)
June 12, 2002
Yediot Aharanot reports the fears of attorney general Rubinstein that the construction of settlements in Jerusalem may precipitate charges in the International Criminal Court. Rubinstein warned of the possibility that senior IDF officers and politicians may find themselves in danger of arrest abroad for their actions in this regard. A special department is to be established in the Ministry of Justice to address these issues.
Yediot Aharanot reports the establishment of an outpost settlement "very close" to Singil, north of Ramallah.
Residents of Mazra'a al-Sharqiya village report the IDF setting up a tent on their land and closing the village's garbage facilities. (Hear Palestine)
The IDF bulldozes land near Beni Zeid to expand the settlement of Halamish. Neighboring Palestinian villages also report that Halamish settlers, under the protection of Israeli soldiers, have confiscated more than 400 dunums of land. (Hear Palestine)
June 11, 2002
The IDF demolishes six homes in Sur Bahir, in East Jerusalem. Israeli forces have destroyed 33 East Jerusalem homes since January 2002. Seventeen Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem were demolished in 2001. (LAW).
June 10, 2002
IDF officers warn that the settlements are targets for terror attacks. Many have no serious security and are easily infiltrated. The YESHA Council demands that reservists be called to guard settlements against attacks instead of dismantling illegal outposts. (Yediot Aharanot and Ma'ariv)
Ha'aretz reports Jewish Agency sponsorship of a program that relocates entire foreign Jewish communities to both sides of the Green Line. Of nine groups slated to relocate, 3 communities are to be sent to settlements.
According to Israeli security officials, 61 illegal outposts have been established in the occupied territories since 1995, 15 of which were built during the al-Aqsa intifada. (Ha'aretz)
June 9, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that the Jerusalem Planning and Construction Council has approved the construction of 750 units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramot.
Residents in Neve Dekalim were asked by the IDF to spend the night in shelters in anticipation of a Palestinian attempt to "imitate the success" of previous infiltrations at Adura, Karmei Tzur, and Itamar.
June 8, 2002
Two gunmen kill three Israelis and wound three others in the Karmei Tzur settlement, near Hebron. Another gunman wounds four Israeli soldiers in Yitzhar, near Nablus, before being shot and killed. Yitzhar settlers retaliate by setting fire to crops and a house in three neighboring Palestinian villages. (Palestine Report)
June 6, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that an Israeli youth was shot and killed while traveling north of the Ofra settlement. Fifteen Israelis have been killed in attacks in the area since October 2000.
Ma'ariv reports that the Gittit, Homesh, Mevo Dotan, Nativ Hagadud, and Sa Nur settlements have asked, or are considering asking, Gush Emunim's Amana to find settlers willing to move to the settlements.
June 5, 2002
Hear Palestine reports that the IDF has dug a ditch from west of al-Matahin to the beach in al-Mawasi to isolate Gaza's Deir al-Balah from al-Mawasi.
June 4, 2002
The IDF informs residents of Issawiyeh, East Jerusalem, that 40 dunams of land between their town and the Ma'ale Adumim-Jerusalem road will be confiscated for military purposes.
Work is suspended at the Jabal Mukkabar settlement site when Palestinian residents protest.
Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon endorses a plan for the construction of a 110-kilometer fence that will run from Kfar Salem to Kfar Kassam. The course of the fence approximates the Green Line. (Ha'aretz)
June 3, 2002
A tender is published in Yediot Aharanot for the construction of 48 dwelling units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev.
Israeli attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein accuses suspected members of a Jewish extremist group of responsibility for a bomb placed in a schoolyard in Sur Bahir, East Jerusalem, in March, 2002
that injured 11 Palestinians. (Ha'aretz)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) detonate a 40-kilogram bomb planted on a road near the settlement of Dugit, in Gaza. It is similar to bombs that have damaged IDF tanks in the past. (Israel Line)
Hear Palestine reports armed settlers carrying out attacks in villages surrounding Nablus. Agricultural land in Asira al-Qabaliya and Orif villages are set on fire and dozens of sheep stolen.
The Economist reports that since the Israeli invasion of the West Bank on April 24, there have been 83 incursions into Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps.
June 2, 2002
Israel fences 115 dunams of Palestinian land in Jabal al-Mukkabar, in East Jerusalem, for the construction of a new 200-unit settlement project. (Palestine Report)
Arutz 7 reports that 1,200 shells have been fired at residents of the Katif bloc in Gaza, since October 2000.
May 31, 2002
Work resumes on the Beit Sahour bypass road after a hiatus of some months. The $14 million road will link Tekoa and Nokdim with Har Homa. (Ha'aretz)
Ha'aretz reports a Palestinian man killed after he opened fire and threw grenades at a kindergarten and homes in the West Bank settlement of Shavei Shomron.
Yosef Barel, the new director of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, prohibits the use of the term settlers on radio and TV broadcasts. (Ha'aretz)
May 28, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that the Knesset Finance Committee has approved $1.4 million for the construction of 14 new housing units in the occupied territories, $600,000 for the development of infrastructure in the Tel Zion settlement, and $600,000 for six housing units in the Golan Heights.
Settlers set fire to land cultivated with olive, almond, and fig trees in Iraq and Burin villages, south of Nablus. (Hear Palestine)
Three seminary students in the West Bank settlement of Itamar, south of Nablus, are shot and killed by a gunman, and one settler is killed in a drive-by shooting near the Beit El settlement.
May 27, 2002
Arutz 7 reports that 1,200 mortar shells have fallen in Gaza since October 2000, but very few people have been wounded.
The Binyamin Regional Council launches a new initiative, "Benjamin, Absorption Without End," to bring 1,000 new families to communities in its jurisdiction, especially to new settlement outposts.
May 26, 2002
A local planning committee approves plans for the construction of 2,330 housing units at Airplane Hill, north of Gilo in the southern part of East Jerusalem, and 740 units in the settlement neighborhood of Ramot.
Residents of Beit Surik and Badu villages protest the construction of a new road along the Har Adar settlement.
May 24, 2002
Yerushalim reports that two new tenants have signed leases in the Mishor Adumim industrial park. Every company signing a five-year agreement gets one year rent free.
Kol Ha'Ir reports the demolition of two Palestinian houses in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. The action was ordered by Israel's Ministry of the Interior.
May 23, 2002
A tender is published for the construction of 31 new housing units in Ma'ale Adumim; a permit is issued for the construction of 16 housing units in the settlement of Tel Rumeida in Hebron; and in Elkana work begins on 480 housing units. (Peace Now)
May 20, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer opposes removing $150 million in tax benefits to settlements.
May 19, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that the IDF has begun to demand that Palestinians apply to the Civil Administration for permits to travel between West Bank cities.
May 18, 2002
A Palestinian from Dura al-Kara infiltrates Beit El and stabs a security officer. The attacker is shot and killed. (Arutz 7)
May 16, 2002
Israel's Ministry of Housing and Construction issues tenders for the construction of 957 new housing units in West Bank settlements, including 76 in Giva Benjamim (Adam), 244 in Betar Ilit, 224 in Ma'ale Adumim, and 339 in Efrat.
May 15, 2002
"Make a Dream Come True," a million-dollar campaign for the sale of 1,000 housing units in the Golan by the end of the summer, receives a boost when 40 immigrant families from Argentina announce their plans to move to Katzrin. (Arutz 7)
May 14, 2002
Yediot Aharanot reports that IDF reserve soldiers drafted by emergency order are guarding settlement outposts with as few as two residents.
May 13, 2002
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that in the preceding two years, seven Palestinians have been killed and ten others wounded in suspected attacks by Israeli civilians.
Arutz 7 reports Palestinians shooting at settlers manning the Haramiya checkpoint, north of Ramallah.
May 12, 2002
Arutz 7 reports Palestinian Authority secretary-general Ahmed Abdel Rahman calling for Palestinians to focus attacks on settlers.
The Likud Central Committee adopts a resolution rejecting a Palestinian state. (Ha'aretz)
The Israeli Interior Ministry freezes Palestinian applications for Israeli citizenship due to the rise in the number of applicants. (al-Quds)
An Israeli court orders the removal of a settler from an Arab home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. (al-Quds)
Ha'aretz reports Katif bloc settlers oppose strict examination of Palestinian laborers by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) because they need help to farm their land.
A Palestinian gunman kills his employer, an Israeli resident of Pe'at Sadeh, in southern Gaza, at a checkpoint near Rafiah Yam.
May 11, 2002
Some 60,000 to 80,000 Israelis attend a demonstration calling for the dismantling of settlements and an end to the Israeli occupation.
May 10, 2002
Yerushalim reports that the industrial park in Mishor Adumim has suffered the closing of 32 concerns employing 600 people during the preceding 12 months of the al-Aqsa intifada. Eighty businesses continue operating in the settlement.
Ha'aretz reports that four settlers have been detained for planning an attack against Palestinian residents of al-Tur, in East Jerusalem.
The previously unknown Fighters for the Kingdom of Israel claim responsibility for the killing of eight Palestinians and the wounding of ten others during the preceding eighteen months and urge young settlers to join their efforts.
May 9, 2002
Two families move into the East Jerusalem settlement of Nahlat Shimon. (Ha'aretz)
May 8, 2002
Israeli economics professor Haim Ben-Shahar estimates that the cost of providing alternative housing in Israel for 80,000 settlers would be $2.4 billion. (Ha'aretz)
May 7, 2002
An attempted infiltrator into Nisanit, in northern Gaza, is killed. (Arutz 7)
Arutz 7 reports that only three families and ten seminary students currently live in the settlement of Sa Nur, near Jenin.
May 2, 2002
An Israeli development company publishes a tender for the sale of the right to construct 74 dwelling units in the settlement of Har Adar.
May 1, 2002
The Israel Lands Administration publishes a tender for 20 housing units in the settlement of Efrat.
April 30, 2002
Israeli Border Guard police kill two Palestinians as they attempt to infiltrate the settlement of Kfar Darom. Palestinians fire on Israeli cranes in the industrial center of Neve Dekalim in the Katif bloc. (Arutz 7)
April 29, 2002
In response to the attack in Adura, the IDF enters Hebron, killing nine Palestinians and arresting 17 people affiliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Tanzim. (Israel Radio)
April 27, 2002
In the Adura settlement west of Hebron, four Israelis, including a five-year-old girl, are killed by Palestinians disguised as IDF soldiers who enter homes and fire upon settlers. (Ha'aretz)
April 25, 2002
A tender is published for the construction of 31 dwelling units in Ma'ale Adumim. (Ha'aretz)
Ha'aretz reports a new settlement site in the Hebron market area, where five apartments are ready for occupancy. Palestinian store owners had been removed from the market by the IDF in the aftermath of the Ibrahimiya mosque killings by Baruch Goldstein in February 1994.
The IDF kills four heavily armed Palestinians trying to infiltrate the Katif bloc settlement of Kfar Darom. It is the ninth foiled infiltration in two weeks. In separate attacks, Palestinian gunmen fire upon two residents of the settlement of Beit Haggai and an Israeli motorist in Gaza. (Arutz 7)
April 24, 2002
Ma'ariv reports that 100 apartments will be built on a 4.5 acre site in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where Palestinian refugee families were evicted on 22 April. Six Israeli families already live at the site.
Palestinians fire on Israeli soldiers guarding Ganei Tal in the Gaza Strip. (Arutz 7)
April 23, 2002
Sharon declares that Israel "will not evacuate one settlement. Such an evacuation will only encourage terror and increase pressure upon us. The fate of Netzarim is that of Nega, Yad Mordechai, and Tel Aviv." (Yediot Aharanot)
Three Palestinians are killed by the IDF as they attempt to infiltrate Netzarim. (Arutz 7)
April 22, 2002
Twenty Palestinian families are evicted by Israeli court order from three homes constructed on land owned by Jews in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Benny Elon, a former cabinet minister, leads a group of Israelis into the newly vacant homes. A Palestinian family is allowed to return to one house evacuated without authorization. (Yediot Aharanot; Agence France Presse)
The chief rabbis of Israel are joined by Shas leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in issuing a halakhic (religious) ruling forbidding civilians from entering Joseph's Tomb in Nablus. They claim that going to the site without the approval and protection of Israeli security forces unnecessarily endangers one's life. (Americans for Peace Now)
Sharon criticizes Labor secretary-general Ra'anan Cohen, who in a cabinet session seconds an anonymous senior IDF official's recommendation that isolated settlements in Gaza be evacuated. (Israel's Channel Two; Ha'aretz)
Palestinian gunmen open fire at IDF soldiers at the Katif bloc junction and at Rafiah Yam. (Arutz 7)
April 21, 2002
An IDF withdrawal from Nablus is held up by the presence of Jewish worshippers at Joseph's Tomb who have trouble exiting the city. (Ha'aretz)
A Palestinian who tries to enter the Dugit settlement is killed. (Arutz 7)
April 20, 2002
Armed Israeli settlers attack residents of Urif, near Nablus. (Palestine Media Center)
April 19, 2002
A Palestinian bomber blows himself up outside the Katif bloc. The IDF kills two Palestinian gunmen attempting to infiltrate the Netzarim settlement. (Reuters)
April 18, 2002
In the Katif bloc, IDF sappers dismantle a powerful 100-kilo bomb. (Arutz 7)
The IDF kills a Palestinian boy near Dugit. Military sources allege that the boy was carrying a pipe bomb. (Ha'aretz)
April 17, 2002
Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer authorizes the building of 16 dwellings at the Tel Rumeida settlement site in Hebron. (Ha'aretz)
April 15, 2002
The IDF kills a Palestinian attempting to infiltrate the town of Nisanit in northern Gaza. Two other Palestinians try to infiltrate Atzmonah. (Arutz 7)
Palestinians fire mortar shells at Katif bloc communities.
April 14, 2002
The IDF evacuates a new settlement outpost 10 km south of Nablus because of fears that it will be used to access Joseph's Tomb. The IDF detains fifteen Israelis after they arrive at the tomb. (Ha'aretz)
The first two Israeli families move into a new settlement locale in East Jerusalem near the Old City's Damascus Gate. Moledet MK Benny Elon promises that additional residents will be settled in the Old Musrarra neighborhood. (Ha'aretz)
April 10, 2002
Lebanese guerrillas fire more than a dozen rockets at Israeli positions in the Golan Heights. Israeli warplanes respond with missiles.
April 9, 2002
The IDF bulldozes land in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip. (Palestine Media Center)
April 6, 2002
A battle erupts inside the Rafiah settlement in the Gaza Strip. One Palestinian is killed and three Israelis are wounded. (Al Jazeera TV website)
IDF forces attack the al-Fawwar refugee camp near Hebron, and enter the town of Yatta. (Palestine Media Center)
Two Palestinians are killed and one IDF soldier is fatally wounded when two Palestinian gunmen try to infiltrate Rafiah Yam in the Katif bloc. (Arutz 7)
April 5, 2002
Ha'aretz reports that the Jerusalem municipality is building a fence between Gilo and areas next to the Tunnel Highway.
April 4, 2002
IDF forces enter Hebron, completing its occupation of every West Bank city excepting Jericho. U.S. president George W. Bush calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Areas A.
April 3, 2002
The IDF re-takes control of Joseph's Tomb in Nablus. Israel evacuated the site under fire in October 2000. (Arutz 7)
IDF tanks and helicopters attack Nablus and encircle three nearby refugee camps. (Reuters)
April 2, 2002
Israeli warplanes and infantry attack Bethlehem. (The Guardian)
April 1, 2002
One Palestinian dies and another is seriously wounded in an attack near the settlement of Kochav Ha'Shahar. Police are investigating the possibility that a Jewish group is behind the attack. (Arutz 7)
IDF troops enter the West Bank towns of Jenin, Qalqilya, and Salfit, and tighten the blockades of Beit Jala, Tulkarm, and other areas near Bethlehem. (Ha'aretz)
A Palestinian gunman shoots and kills an IDF soldier near the settlement of Har Homa in Jerusalem.
March 30, 2002
IDF forces take over Beit Jala.
March 29, 2002
A mortar shell from Beit Jala hits Gilo.
Israeli tanks enter Arafat's Ramallah compound. Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets, notably a suicide bombing in Netanya that killed 26 people, precipitated the assault. Sharon declares, "Arafat is an enemy, and at this stage he will be isolated." (Ha'aretz)
March 28, 2002
A Hamas gunman kills four members of an Israeli family after infiltrating the settlement of Elon Moreh. The gunman is killed after an exchange of fire with Israeli forces.
March 27, 2002
Ma'ariv reports that 16 Peruvian Indian families who converted to Judaism and recently emigrated to Israel are living in the settlements of Karmei Tsur and Alon Shvut in the Etzion bloc.
March 26, 2002
The YESHA Council accuses Israel's Channel Two television of insensitivity and apathy towards the deaths of settlers after the channel fails to report the killing of an Otniel settler. (Arutz 7)
A Palestinian gunman opens fire on a car, killing two members of TIPH and wounding a third. The casualties are the first since the observer force, composed of 85 members from six European Union countries, was set up in 1994. (Arutz 7)
March 24, 2002
Ofra imposes restrictions on Arab entry into the settlement, citing a similar decision by Efrat settlers. (Arutz 7)
Ha'aretz reports that 10 homes have been sold for $1.1 million to private parties on the Golan Heights settlement of Kibbutz Geshur. "The land for the houses," notes Ha'aretz, "is actually given by the Israel Lands Authority for free."
Palestinians armed with hand grenades attempt to infiltrate the settlement of Dugit in Gaza. One is killed by Israeli soldiers. (Arutz 7)
Two Palestinian children are wounded when Israeli soldiers based in observation towers in the Neve Dekalim settlement open fire at Palestinian funeral-goers west of Khan Yunis. (Hear Palestine)
Palestinian gunmen kill a settler from Otniel, south of Hebron, on his way home from Jerusalem. (Arutz 7; Israeline)
A Palestinian gunman kills a 23 year-old woman from the settlement of Neve Tzuf on her way to work in Ofra. (Israeline)
March 22, 2002
Israeli deputy interior minister David Azoulai issues orders making it easier for settlers to obtain permits to carry personal weapons. (Ha'aretz)
Hear Palestine reports that Israeli authorities have confiscated hundreds of dunams of Bedouin land in Mikhmas. Settlers have reportedly destroyed property and planted olive trees in preparation for a new settlement in the area.
March 21, 2002
The Erez Industrial Zone near Gaza, considered the only successful example of Israeli-Palestinian joint entrepreneurship, is reported to be near financial collapse. Approximately 4,500 Palestinians are employed in this area. (Americans for Peace Now)
Israeli forces in the Neve Dekalim settlement shell Palestinian homes in Khan Yunis, causing extensive property damage. (Hear Palestine)
An Israeli settler opens fire on a group of Palestinian children near Hizma village in northeast Jerusalem, reportedly wounding several. (Hear Palestine)
March 20, 2002
According to a report prepared by an Israeli border inspection unit, 21,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza emigrated to other Arab countries in 2001, a substantial increase compared to previous years. Of particular note are Jordan's figures, which rose from 6,000 in 2000 to 9,000 in 2001. (Al Quds)
March 19, 2002
Israeli forces destroy a building on the main highway near Netzarim that Palestinians reportedly used for shelter during attacks against Israeli tanks and cars. (Arutz 7)
Settlers, under the protection of Israeli soldiers, raid Kufr Harith village for the third consecutive day. (Hear Palestine)
March 18, 2002
A 2001 review of assaults on Palestinians or IDF forces in the West Bank reveals that 398 of 537 cases were perpetrated by settlers in Hebron, Kiryat Arba, south Har Hebron and the Etzion bloc. (Americans for Peace Now)
Palestinian gunmen infiltrate an IDF training base in the Jordan Valley, killing one IDF officer and wounding several soldiers. (Mideast Mirror)
Kassam-2 rockets are fired into the Katif bloc. IDF soldiers kill two Palestinian infiltrators, while three others escape. (Israeline; Mideast Mirror)
March 17, 2002
An Israeli Arab driver for the Paz-Gaz company is lightly wounded in a shooting attack on a road connecting the settlements of Beit El and Psagot. (Arutz 7)
March 16, 2002
Settlers in Hebron wound a 15 year-old Palestinian girl from Tarqumiya. (Hear Palestine)
March 14, 2002
Sharon instructs Minister of Defense Benjamin Ben-Eliezer to gradually withdraw IDF troops from Ramallah. (Ha'aretz)
Palestinians blow up a Merkava-3 tank in Gaza, killing three IDF soldiers accompanying a convoy of settlers. (Reuters)
March 13, 2002
The Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) reports shooting in Hebron the preceding three nights, forcing observers to dodge bullets at least twice. (Palestine Report)
Yediot Aharanot reports that the Israeli government is offering free land and subsidizing half the development cost for housing in the occupied territories and in the Galilee region of Israel in order to "push young couples from the center" of the country and to prevent "hostile control" over land. In order to discourage speculation, participants must commit to live on the property for at least five years.
MK Mossi Raz (Meretz), a critic of this policy notes, "Only in a dream is such a situation possible where the state finances the renovation of caravans for the purpose of establishing illegal settlement outposts. The next stage will no doubt be the stationing of a large number of soldiers to endanger their lives in order to protect these outposts."
The Knesset Finance Committee approves $29 million for settlement projects, including $25 million to subsidize home purchases and "manufacturing activities," $2.4 million to repair water networks at Itamar, Kiryat Arba, and Yitzhar damaged by Palestinians; and $1 million to renovate some of the 1,000 government-owned caravans sited in settlements. Seventy percent of settlers living in such dwellings do not pay any rent to the state.
Two masked Palestinians stab a settler from Nahliel in his home.
March 12, 2002
According to a poll by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, 46 percent of Israel's Jewish citizens favor transferring Palestinians out of the territories and 31 percent favor transferring Israeli Arabs out of the country, compared to 38 percent and 24 percent respectively in 1991. There was also a decline from 55 percent in 2001 to 49 percent in, 2002
in the number of settlers willing to leave the settlements as part of a permanent status agreement. (Ha'aretz)
Hours after it is announced that Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat is free to leave his Ramallah compound, IDF forces enter and take over most of the city. They also enter the al-Am'ari and Qadura refugee camps. (Hear Palestine)
An Israeli is killed in a shooting near the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Sefer, east of Modi'in. (Israeline)
In Gaza, Israeli forces kill two Palestinians believed responsible for firing seven mortar shells into the Netzarim settlement. The IDF also kills two Palestinians believed to be planning another attack on Netzarim. (Arutz 7)
March 11, 2002
The Daily Telegraph reports that Israeli chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz is planning a limited call-up of reservists to guard settlements in the occupied territories and to free soldiers for combat operations.
The IDF takes over large areas of Qalqilya using helicopters, tanks, and armored personnel carriers. (Arutz 7)
March 10, 2002
A Palestinian worker at the Netzarim settlement in Gaza wounds two Israelis before being killed by a settler. (The Daily Telegraph)
March 9, 2002
Palestinians kill two Israeli soldiers in the Katif bloc. (Arutz 7)
March 8, 2002
Settlers from Shilo decide to man the Haramiya checkpoint after the IDF dismantles its checkpoint following the attack there on March 3. The IDF currently employs a roving system to carry out spot checks of Palestinians along West Bank roads. (Arutz 7)
In response to the attack on Atzmonah, Israeli forces enter the village of Khuza'a and kill 17 Palestinians. Israeli tanks and helicopters also hit Palestinian targets in the West Bank. (Reuters; Arutz 7)
A 19-year-old Hamas gunman attacks a yeshiva in the Katif bloc settlement of Atzmonah, killing five students and injuring twenty-four. (Arutz 7)
March 7, 2002
The IDF takes control of Tulkarm in the West Bank, killing 14 Palestinians and injuring 150, 15 of them children. (Ha'aretz)
A Palestinian suicide bomber blows himself up in the settlement of Ariel, seriously wounding one Israeli. (Arutz 7)
March 6, 2002
The IDF confiscates land and bulldozes trees and crops belonging to Palestinians in al-Khader near Bethlehem. According to residents, the fields were destroyed in order to build an Israeli military base. (Hear Palestine)
Settlers in Efrat ban all Arabs from the area after an Arab who had worked in the local supermarket was found with a powerful bomb. The decision will be up for review in three months time. (Arutz 7)
Settlers from Yitzhar fire on a nearby Palestinian village and attack Israeli soldiers sent to detain them. In another incident, dozens of settlers in 25 vehicles infiltrate the West Bank village of Huwara, injuring four Palestinians and damaging a mosque and clinic. (Americans for Peace Now)
March 5, 2002
The Israeli cabinet decides to tighten travel restrictions, banning Palestinian traffic on most West Bank roads.
A woman from the West Bank settlement of Efrat is killed and her husband wounded in an attack on the Tunnels Highway. (Israeline)
In Sur Baher in East Jerusalem, a bomb placed at an Arab school injures eight children and one teacher. A group calling itself "Revenge of the Infants" claims responsibility. (Los Angeles Times)
A female settler is killed in a drive-by shooting near Bethlehem. (Reuters; Los Angeles Times)
March 4, 2002
A missile fired from the Psagot settlement kills five women and children in Ramallah's al-Amari refugee camp. (Palestine Report)
March 3, 2002
A sniper affiliated with Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade kills seven IDF soldiers and three civilians at Haramiya junction, an army roadblock near the Ofra settlement. The gunman escapes. (Israeline)
March 2, 2002
Schools in Gilo that face Beit Jala and Bethlehem close for the day as a result of shooting incidents on March 1.
The body of a Jerusalem police detective from Ma'ale Adumim is discovered near the Mar Saba monastery in the Judean Desert. He was shot while riding his motorcycle. (Israeline)
March 1, 2002
More than 50,000 Israeli demonstrators, many of them settlers, call upon the Sharon government "to act with power against the Palestinian Authority and Arafat," and to "destroy the [Palestinian] Authority and bring back security."
Palestinian gunfire from Beit Jala damages forty homes in Gilo. (Arutz 7)
February 28, 2002
Israel bulldozes land for settlement expansion in the Ras al-Amud area in East Jerusalem. (Hear Palestine)
Settlers from Ma'ale Amos attack Palestinian civilians from Kisan village near Bethlehem. (Hear Palestine)
Fatah members shoot from Beit Jala at the Gilo settlement community and the Tunnels Highway. (Wafa)
An IDF soldier and 10 Palestinians are killed after the IDF enters Balata and Jenin refugee camps.
February 27, 2002
Israeli forces begin construction of a cement wall outside the Neve Dekalim settlement, west of the Khan Yunis refugee camp. (Hear Palestine)
Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert, announces the construction of a wall between the Neve Ya'akov settlement community and the Area B villages of Dahyat al-Barid and A-Ram. (Ha'aretz)
February 25, 2002
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bulldozes over 100 dunams of cultivated Palestinian land linking the Har Adar settlement to nearby settlements. (Arutz 7)
February 25, 2002
Two Israeli settlers are killed in an ambush near two Israeli settlements outside Bethlehem.
Residents of the Katif bloc decide to put pigskin and lard on the dead bodies of suicide bombers. "That way we block their passage to heaven," explains the rabbi of the Katif bloc, Yosef al-Nakwa. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv)
Two Palestinian gunmen kill a 21-year-old Israeli female police officer, and injure nine others in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Neve Ya'akov. (Arutz 7)
Two Israeli settlers are killed and a pregnant woman injured in an attack on a road near the Nokdim settlement. (Mideast Mirror)
February 23, 2002
Settlers wound a Palestinian at the entrance of the Pnei Hever settlement. (Ha'aretz)
February 22, 2002
A Palestinian gunman kills a security guard on the road between Givat Ze'ev and Atarot. One person is slightly injured in a suicide bombing at a supermarket in Efrat. A woman is wounded in Palestinian shooting on Gilo. (Arutz 7)
February 21, 2002
Marwan Barghouti, Fatah leader in the West Bank, states that the increase in attacks in the occupied territories signals a desire to attain international and Israeli support for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and reaffirms that Palestinians do not seek to "eliminate Israel from the map." (New York Times)
February 20, 2002
The YESHA Council protests against Prime Minister Sharon's promise not to harm PA leader Arafat. The council calls on Sharon to "declare war and clean out the area of terror infrastructure." (Arutz 7)
Palestinian gunfire targets Psagot, the Tunnels Highway between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem, and the Kvasim Junction (south of Hebron). (Arutz 7)
February 19, 2002
Six IDF soldiers are killed when Palestinian gunmen attack their position at a checkpoint north of Ramallah.
Two settlers are killed by Palestinian infiltrators in the Morag settlement. One attacker is also killed. In the course of the skirmish, a Palestinian woman and her daughter in nearby A-Najar are killed by IDF tank shells. The B'Tselem human rights organization charges that the firing at A-Najar had been deliberate. (Ha'aretz, B'Tselem)
February 18, 2002
Two IDF soldiers are killed at the Kissufim crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip. (Arutz 7)
The IDF commander in the West Bank orders the removal of most checkpoints in order to reduce friction and eliminate potential attacks at them. There will still be surprise checks on vehicles. (Ha'aretz)
Israeli settlers level land along the bypass road that cuts through Ajinsya and Zawata. (Hear Palestine)
A Palestinian detonates a car bomb at an Israeli roadblock between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim killing an Israeli Arab policeman. (Independent)
February 16, 2002
Dozens of Palestinian farmers in the Qizan al-Najar and al-Sha'ir areas, near the Morag settlement, are forced to leave their land due to economic losses and dangers related to the occupation. (Hear Palestine)
Israeli forces bulldoze greenhouses and trees along Gaza's green line from al-Breij refugee camp to al-Maghazi. (Hear Palestine)
More than 15,000 Israelis participate in a peace march in Tel Aviv. "The path to peace is through the return of the refugees to the State of Palestine and the return of settlers to the State of Israel," says Sari Nusseibeh, the most prominent Palestinian political figure in Jerusalem. (PeaceNow.org)
A Palestinian suicide attack injures a number of people at a shopping mall in Karnei Shomron. It is the first time such attack occurs in a settlement. In response, Israeli warplanes launch air strikes against PA targets in Nablus. (Ha'aretz)
February 14, 2002
A bomb on the road between Netzarim and Karni kills three Israeli soldiers in a tank. (Ma'ariv)
February 9, 2002
Palestinian gunmen kill a settler from Ma'ale Efraim in a drive by shooting near Tapuach. (Arutz 7)
February 6, 2002
Al-Quds reports that Italy will impose restrictions on all imports from Israel in a step to ensure that the goods are not manufactured in the settlements. Every Italian importer must deposit a financial guarantee of 5 percent of the cost of the goods before they can be imported.
Israeli forces bulldoze land in Za'tara, in southeast Bethlehem. (Hear Palestine)
Eight Kassam rockets are fired at the Katif bloc. (Arutz 7)
Five Palestinian houses in Beit Hanina in east Jerusalem are demolished. "The houses were being illegally built," a spokesman for the mayor says. (Agence France Presse)
A Palestinian gunman enters a house in Hamra in Jordan Valley and kills a mother and her 11-year old daughter. It is the first action of this kind in the West Bank since the beginning of the al-Aqsa intifada. One IDF soldier is also killed in the attack. (Mideast Mirror)
February 4, 2002
After three mortar shells are fired at industrial areas in Neve Dekalim and Erez, the IDF shells and damages a factory that is believed to be housing bomb-producing equipment in Gaza. (Arutz 7)
Israeli forces destroy two Palestinian homes in al-Issawiya in East Jerusalem. (Hear Palestine)
February 3, 2002
Settlers set up ten mobile homes in the Abu Nadur and Ur areas in Tama'areh near Bethlehem. The new settlement is called Rehavam Ze'evi, in honor of the slain Israeli minister of tourism.
February 1, 2002
Palestinians unsuccessfully try to enter the Kfar Darom settlement in Gaza. Shooting is reported at Gadid, Gan Or, Neve Dekalim and Rafiach Yam. The IDF destroys the PA naval police headquarters. (Arutz 7)
January 31, 2002
Israel Radio reports Palestinian snipers shooting at the Gadid and Neve Dekalim settlements. Settlers in Elon Moreh capture two Palestinians trying to infiltrate the settlement.
The IDF discovers five mortars aimed at the Morag settlement in Gaza. (Ha'aretz)
Palestinians shoot at IDF posts in Psagot, damaging an army vehicle. (Arutz 7)
Israeli forces kill two Palestinians as they attempt to blow up a van on the Katif bloc road near Gane Tal.
January 29, 2002
Prime Minister Sharon approves a security plan for Jerusalem that includes Gilo, Givat Ze'ev, and Ma'ale Adumim. (Ha'aretz)
Shooting is reported in Gilo after Israeli forces arrest Palestinians near Bethlehem. (Mideast Mirror)
January 26, 2002
An Arab truck driver is critically wounded after being shot by Palestinian gunmen. His truck has Israeli license plates. (Arutz 7)
January 23, 2002
The IDF destroys two Palestinian homes in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem. (Ha'aretz)
Coca-Cola in Israel is reported to be entering the wine market, negotiating with the Golan Winery for a possible partnership. (Globes)
January 22, 2002
Arutz 7 reports "In the past, entry to Area A required a cabinet decision, while now it is a decision made at the local military levels."
January 21, 2002
Ha'aretz reports shootings near Gane Tal, the Katif bloc, Kfar Brukin, Psagot, Rafah and on the Tunnels Highway.
IDF troops enter Tulkarem, imposing a curfew and arresting terror suspects. It is the first time since the signing of the Oslo accords that the IDF has reestablished control over a West Bank city in Area A. (Jerusalem Post, Hear Palestine)
January 17, 2002
Shooting is reported near Alfe Menashe, near Mevo Dotan, in Neve Dekalim and Rafah. (Irish Times)
According to PA officials, 198 of 6,000 Palestinian buildings erected illegally in Jerusalem's Old City have been demolished in the preceding 4 years. They say that construction without permits will continue as long as building in the settlements proceeds. (Hear Palestine)
January 16, 2002
Palestinian gunmen kill a 30-year-old Israeli Arab driving a rented car with Israeli license plates. (Ha'aretz)
January 15, 2002
The Likud party resolves not to accept a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. Prime Minister Sharon had earlier issued a statement supporting a Palestinian state. According to the party's resolution, Sharon's statements "stand in stark contrast to the party's platform and ideology." (Arutz 7)
Palestinian gunmen kill two Israelis in separate shootings near Bethlehem and in Givat Ze'ev, north of Jerusalem. (Ha'aretz)
January 14, 2002
An Israeli settler is killed in Kedumim. Fatah, whose senior activist Raed Karmi was killed earlier in the day, claims responsibility. (Jerusalem Post)
The IDF destroys five houses in the Issawiya neighborhood in East Jerusalem. (Palestine Media Center)
January 10, 2002
Israeli forces attack the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza, demolishing 54 houses. The action leaves more than 500 people homeless, making it the most extensive demolition since the start of the al-Aqsa intifada in September 2000. (Ha'aretz)
January 6, 2002
Around 150 settlers demonstrate against the Israeli government's decision to ease closure restrictions on Palestinian traffic. The settlers argue that opening roads to Palestinians will lead to more drive-by shootings against Israeli civilians. (Ha'aretz)
January 4, 2002
Har Homa is now being populated. This week, twenty families were authorized to move into Har Homa. Ariel Katan, community leader of Har Homa, said, "The settlers, most of them young couples, are happy about the beginning of the population." In a short time, 200 single apartments will be populated. Several other construction companies have obtained authorization to build in the area, and according to Housing Minister Natan Sharansky, these new apartments will also be populated as soon as February. (Yerushalayim)