Chronology: January 15, 2014 – April 15, 2014

\ABBREVIATIONS

AFP

Agence France-Presse

AJE

Al Jazeera English

Al Ahram

Al Arabiya

AP

The Associated Press

BBC

Bloomberg

CNN

Daily Star (Lebanon)

France24

The Guardian

Haaretz

Hurriyet

JP

The Jerusalem Post

JT

The Jordan Times

LA Times

Magharebia

NYT

The New York Times

RFE/RL

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Reuters

VOA

Voice of America

WP

The Washington Post

Arab-Israeli Conflict

See also Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories

Jan. 16: Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip wounded a woman and four children. Israel claimed the strikes were in retaliation for five Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza the previous night by Islamic Jihad. [AFP, 1/16]

Jan. 20: An Israeli air strike injured two Palestinian civilians, including a 12-year-old boy. The Israeli military said recent air strikes in Gaza targeted a militant whom it claimed was responsible for rocket fire against southern Israel the previous week. [Guardian, 1/20]

Jan. 22: Israel arrested three Palestinian members of an al-Qa‘ida cell in East Jerusalem. The men were allegedly preparing to carry out large-scale bombing and shooting attacks on multiple Israeli targets, including a large conference center in Jerusalem and the US embassy in Tel Aviv. [BBC, 1/22]

Feb. 5: Israeli officials approved building plans for 558 new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, drawing international criticism and threatening peace talks with the Palestinians. Israel announced plans for 5,349 new homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since peace talks resumed in July. Israeli authorities also demolished three Palestinian homes that they said were built without permits in occupied East Jerusalem, displacing five families. [Reuters, 2/5]

Mar. 12: Militants from Islamic Jihad fired more than 60 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel in the most intense barrage since a 2012 cease-fire agreement. Israel retaliated with air strikes on 29 targets across Gaza. No injuries were reported from the attacks on either side of the border. Islamic Jihad militants said the attacks were in response to an Israeli air strike the previous day that killed three of its members. [NYT, 3/12]

Mar. 18: A bomb wounded four Israeli soldiers in the Israeli-claimed Golan Heights, and Israel responded with artillery strikes on Syrian army positions, killing one and injuring seven. No party claimed responsibility for the attack. [BBC, 3/18]

Mar. 19: Israel approved building plans for 184 new homes, to be constructed in two Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The plans drew anger from Palestinians and threatened to derail ongoing peace talks, which had made little headway. [Reuters, 3/19]

Mar. 21: The Israeli military uncovered an underground tunnel running more than a mile from the Gaza Strip into Israel, likely built by militants with the intended purpose of attacking or kidnapping Israeli civilians. The tunnel was longer and more sophisticated than any previously unearthed. [BBC, 3/21]

Apr. 1: Israel’s Construction and Housing Ministry approved a tender for 708 homes to be built in southern Jerusalem. The move threatened to collapse the already-faltering US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). [JP, 4/1]

Apr. 2: PA president Mahmud ‘Abbas took steps to join 15 international agencies, dealing a blow to the struggling peace talks. ‘Abbas had agreed not to seek membership in international institutions until after the April 29 expiration of the peace talks, but said the move was in response to Israel’s failure to release 29 long-serving Palestinian prisoners by the end of March. The move defied both the United States and Israel; US secretary of state John Kerry canceled an upcoming visit to the region in response. [NYT, 4/2]

Apr. 3: Israel canceled the release of a fourth and final group of 26 Palestinian prisoners in response to Palestinians seeking recognition in 15 international agencies the previous day. The prisoners had been scheduled to be released on March 29, but Israel delayed the release because little progress had been made in ongoing US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. [WP, 4/3]

Apr. 10: The Israeli government announced that it would withhold from the PA hundreds...