Chronology: July 16, 2015 – October 15, 2015

ABBREVIATIONS

• AFP, Agence France-Presse

• AJAM, Al Jazeera America

• AJE, Al Jazeera English

• Al Arabiya

• AP, The Associated Press

• BBC

• Bloomberg

• CNN

• Daily Star (Lebanon)

• Dawn

• France24

• The Guardian

• Haaretz

• Hurriyet

• JP, The Jerusalem Post

• JT, The Jordan Times

• LA Times

• Ma’an, Ma’an News

• NYT, The New York Times

• RFE/RL, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

• Reuters

• Today’s Zaman

• VOA, Voice of America

• WP, The Washington Post

• WSJ, The Wall Street Journal

Arab-Israeli Conflict

See also Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestinian Territories

July 27: Israeli border police shot and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian for evading arrest in the Qalandiya refugee camp in the West Bank. Israeli authorities maintained that the youth was plotting terrorist attacks against Israelis. The incident took place less than a week after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fatally shot two Palestinian men in the West Bank, a 53-year-old in the town of Bayt Ummar and a 21-year-old in the village of Burqin. [Haaretz, 7/27]

July 29: Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu approved the construction of 300 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Bet El after being pressured by right-wing groups. The construction of more housing units was approved despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that two other buildings in the settlement be demolished. Netanyahu also approved the construction of more than 400 housing units in East Jerusalem. Settlers clashed with IDF soldiers after a petition to overturn the demolition order was rejected by the Supreme Court. [AFP, AJAM, 7/29]

July 30: Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a controversial law that allowed for hunger-striking inmates in Israeli jails to be force-fed. The law permitted a judge to order the administration of food or medical treatment if an inmate were deemed in danger, regardless of their consent. The law was enacted in response to occasions where hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners were released amid fear that they would die while in custody. Rights groups condemned the law. [AP, BBC, 7/30]

July 31: An 18-month-old Palestinian infant, ‘Ali Dawabsha, burned to death in the West Bank village of Duma in an arson attack. Witnesses reported seeing two masked men enter the village early in the morning, who broke windows of two homes and threw firebombs inside. Dawabsha’s father was able to rescue his wife and other child, but both parents were in critical condition. Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmud ‘Abbas condemned the attack. [Guardian, Haaretz, 7/31]

Two Palestinian teenagers were killed during clashes with the IDF. The first, a 15-year-old, was shot and killed outside the West Bank city of Ramallah after throwing a firebomb at an army lookout post. The second, aged 17, was shot in northern Gaza Strip after approaching a border fence with Israel to protest the death of ‘Ali Dawabsha. Six other Palestinian youths were injured in violent confrontations across the West Bank. [Haaretz, 8/1]

Aug. 9: Israeli authorities announced they were holding two Jewish militants in administrative detention without trial for six months. Another Jewish militant was also put in six-month detention the week prior. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved the measure for Israeli citizens after an arson attack killed a Palestinian toddler and his father on July 31. Israel had held hundreds of Palestinians in administrative detention without trial, claiming it stemmed violence and allowed for further investigation of criminal offenses. [Reuters, 9/8]

Aug. 19: Israeli forces demolished two West Bank homes, which housed a total of 19 Palestinians, because the structures lacked the necessary Israeli permits. Aid groups denounced the demolitions and the United Nations announced that 63 houses had been demolished that week alone leaving 132 Palestinians homeless. The surge of demolitions occurred in Area C, the areas of the West Bank under full Israeli control, which constituted some 60% of the occupied territory. [AFP, 8/22]

Muhammad ‘Allan, a Palestinian attorney who was arrested in November 2014 without trial, ended his 65-day hunger strike after the Israeli supreme court suspended the warrant for his arrest. ‘Allan...