Key Dates
July 12, 2007: One Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Arbel Reich, 21, is killed by Islamic Jihad militants during a reconnaissance mission on the outskirts of the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. [1]
June 17, 2007: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swears in an emergency government to replace the Hamas-led unity government. Salam Fayyad, an independent and internationally respected economist, is designated prime minister, finance minister and foreign minister in the 12-member cabinet. [2]
June 14, 2007: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dismisses the Hamas-led unity government and declares a state of emergency following Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip. [3]
June 9-14: Hamas violently seizes control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah. The deadly factional violence leaves about 135 people dead and another 487 civilians and militants injured. Hamas's brutal actions are condemned by the international community. [4] Human Rights Watch accuses the militant groups of serious violations of international humanitarian law, some even amounting to war crimes. These violations include summary execution of captives, killing civilians, engaging in hostilities inside or near Palestinian hospitals and endangering journalists. [5]
June 9, 2007: Israel Defense Forces foil an attempted kidnapping by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades operatives who use a vehicle disguised as a television truck to infiltrate the Kissufim crossing between Gaza and Israel. Both the Foreign Press Association in Israel and the Palestinian Journalists Association condemn the Gaza gunmen's exploitation of the media to launch their assault. [6]
May 27, 2007: One Israeli civilian, Oshri Oz of Hod Hasharon, 36, is killed in Sderot in a Qassam rocket attack. On the same day, a total of six Qassams land in Sderot. [7]
May 21, 2007: One Israeli civilian, Shir-el Friedman, 35, is killed in Sderot by a rocket as she walks near a car struck by a Qassam. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees claim responsibility for the attack. A total of 15 rockets are fired in the Sderot area over the course of the day. [8]
May 15-31, 2007: More than 300 Qassam rockets are launched from Gaza, with 230 hitting Israeli territory during the course of heavy Palestinian factional violence. Medical personnel treat 175 casualties: two dead, two severely wounded, two moderately and 19 lightly injured. Another 150 people suffer from anxiety attacks. Hamas is a principal perpetrator of the attacks. [9]
May 13-19, 2007: A total of 55 Palestinians are killed and 243 injured as a result of renewed internal violence between Hamas and Fatah. On May 19, the two militant groups reach a new ceasefire agreement.
Since the beginning of 2007, more than 150 Palestinians are killed in factional violence and more than 750 injured compared to 146 killed in 2006 and 19 in 2005. [10]
April 24, 2007: Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, claims responsibility for firing 30 Qassam rockets and 70 mortar shells at Israel on Israeli Independence Day. A spokesman for the militant group declares the November truce between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza over. [11]
March 17, 2007: The unity government of Fatah and Hamas is installed with the formation of the national unity cabinet. Israel refuses to work with the government as long as it does not fulfill the Quartet's conditions. [12]
March 12, 2007: BBC correspondent Alan Johnston is abducted in Gaza by the Army of Islam, a jihadi Islamist group influenced by Al Qaeda doctrine. [13]
Feb. 8, 2007: Fatah and Hamas, the two leading Palestinian political entities, sign the Mecca Agreement, a power-sharing accord to establish a unity government. The new government, however, will not fulfill the Quartet's conditions to forswear violence, recognize Israel, and accept past interim peace deals. [14]
Feb. 1-3, 2007: At least 33 Palestinians die, including four children, and 242 are injured in a flare-up of factional violence between Fatah and Hamas. [15] On Feb. 1, Hamas ambushes trucks carrying containers that belong to Abbas' Presidential Guard. [16]
Jan. 29, 2007: Three Israeli civilians are killed in a suicide bombing in a bakery in the southern Israeli port city of Eilat. The bomber, a Gaza Strip resident, entered Israel from the Sinai through the border with Egypt. Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claim responsibility for the attack. [17]
Jan. 25-30, 2007: A total of 34 Palestinians die and 133 are injured from Jan. 25-29 in the heaviest loss of life to date from inter-factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas. On Jan. 30 a ceasefire is announced. [18]
Dec. 11, 2006: Four Palestinians are killed by unidentified gunmen, alleged Hamas members, in the "Rimal neighborhood shootings." Three of the victims are the young children of Baha Balousha, a Fatah member and senior Palestinian security officer. This shooting signals a serious escalation in Palestinian inter-factional violence. [19]
Nov. 26, 2006: A ceasefire between Israel and militants in Gaza takes effect with the aim of ceasing rocket fire from Gaza and bringing an end to Israel's military offensive since the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit in June. Firing Qassam rockets, Palestinian militants violate the ceasefire just hours after its implementation but Israel promises restraint. [20]
Nov. 21, 2006: One Sderot resident, Yaakov Yaakobov, 43, dies when a Qassam rocket strikes the factory where he is working. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claim responsibility for the attack. [21]
Nov. 15, 2006: One Sderot resident, Faina (Fatima) Slutzker, 57, is killed in a Qassam rocket attack, and another man is critically injured, requiring both legs to be amputated. In a separate incident, a 17-year old boy is seriously wounded. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim responsibility for the attacks. [22]
Nov. 1, 2006: One Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Kiril Golenshein, 21, is killed by Hamas gunmen during the course of an army operation in the Gaza neighborhood of Beit Hanoun. [23]
Sept. 12, 2006: An Israeli Bedouin soldier, a 44-year-old tracker, is killed by sniper fire during an army operation in Gaza. The Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, and Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claim responsibility for the attack. [24]
July 4, 2006: For the first time, a Qassam rocket strikes the heart of the southern city of Ashkelon, home to about 120,000 residents. The rocket lands next to a high school, damaging the structure. Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, claims responsibility for the attack. [25]
Footnotes:
[1] Harel, Amos, "IDF soldier killed in Gaza laid to rest Friday in Galilee town," Haaretz, July 13, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/881625.html
[2] Kershner, Isabel and El-Khodary, Taghreed, "Abbas names new cabinet in bid to restore order," International Herald Tribune, June 17, 2007, http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/17/asia/mideast.php
[3] "Abbas sacks Hamas-led government," BBC News, June 15, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6754499.stm
[4] "Gaza Humanitarian Situation Report," United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, June 20, 2007, http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b00
6d88d7/e436d51d768ab1ba85257300004b78a2!OpenDocument
[5] "Gaza: Armed Palestinian Groups Commit Grave Crimes," Human Rights Watch, June 13, 2007, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/06/13/isrlpa16156.htm
[6] Cashman, Greer Fay, "Press slams gunmen for using TV jeep," The Jerusalem Post, June 10, 2007, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181228588087&pagename=JPo
st%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
[7] Paz, Shelly, "A man of courage," The Jerusalem Post, May 28, 2007, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708695334&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[8] Grinberg, Mijal and Issacharoff, Avi "Woman killed, two wounded in Qassam rocket strike on Sderot," Haaretz, May 22, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/861946.html
[9] "Sderot hit my Kassam barrage from Gaza," Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, June 1, 2007, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Sderot+hi
t+by+Kassam+barrage+from+Gaza+-+May+2007.htm
[10] "Escalation in the conflict in the Gaza Strip," United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, May 21, 2007, http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/3822b5e39951876a85256b6e0
058a478/3c6eeff9ad5f22c6852572e3005c2150!OpenDocument
[11] Kershner, Isabel, "Hamas Military Wing Fires Rockets at Israel," The New York Times, April 24, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/world/middleeast/24cnd-mideast.html?ex=1187150400&en=0cb40fae7a197197&ei=5070
[12] al-Mughrabi, Nidal "Palestinian unity government takes office," Reuters, March 17, 2007, http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17174068.htm
[13] "Video released of BBC's Johnston," BBC News, June 1, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6710863.stm
[14] Issacharoff, Avi "Fatah and Hamas sign deal on unity government," Haaretz, Feb. 8, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/823645.html
[15] "Gaza Strip Situation Report - 6 Feb. 2007," United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Feb. 6, 2007, http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/
cb4e4c7b7afa8acb8525727a005285bd!OpenDocument
[16] "Protection of Civilians - Weekly Briefing Notes," United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Feb. 6, 2007, http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a
798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d
7/54294e2fa52e74f285257280005600ab!OpenDocument
[17] "Suicide bombing in Eilat bakery," Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jan. 29, 2007, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peac
e/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Suicide+
bombing+in+Eilat+bakery+29-Jan-2007.htm
[18] "Gaza Strip Situation Report - 30 Jan. 2007, 9 am," United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jan. 30, 2007, http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d
88d7/940a0f2ec90a0afd852572740051cd1a!OpenDocument
[19] Waked, Ali, "Gaza: 4 Palestinians killed by gunmen," YnetNews, Dec. 11, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3338450,00.html
[20] al-Mughrabi, Nidal, "Gaza truce takes hold despite rocket fire," Reuters, Nov. 26, 2007, http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26746986.htm
[21] Katz, Yaakov and Keinon, Herb, "Sderot man dies of wounds sustained in Kassam attack," The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 22, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1162378
438878&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[22] "Qassam attacks kill one, wound two in Sderot; IDF: No magic bullet," Haaretz, Nov. 16, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/788352.html
[23] Wilson, Scott, "Israeli Troops Spark Clashes In Gaza Strip," The Washington Post, Nov. 2, 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic
le/2006/11/01/AR2006110100788.html
[24] Greenberg, Hanan, "Soldier killed in Gaza clash," YnetNews, Sept. 12, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3302872,00.html
[25] Hadad, Shmulik, "Qassam rocket lands in heart of Ashkelon," YnetNews, July 4, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3271207,00.html
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