Chronology: October 16, 2014 – January 15, 2015

ABBREVIATIONS

• AFP, Agence France-Presse

• AJE, Al Jazeera English

• Al Arabiya

• AP, The Associated Press

• BBC

• Bloomberg

• CNN

• The Daily Beast

• DS, Daily Star (Lebanon)

• France24

• The Guardian

• Haaretz

• Hurriyet

• JP, The Jerusalem Post

• LA Times

• The National

• NYT, The New York Times

• RFE/RL, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

• Reuters

• Time Magazine

• VOA, Voice of America

• WP, The Washington Post

• WSJ, The Wall Street Journal

Arab-Israeli Conflict

See also Iran, Lebanon, Syria

Oct. 16: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers killed a 13-year-old Palestinian boy during clashes between Palestinians and IDF soldiers in the West Bank town of Bayt Liqya. The conflict began when IDF tanks entered the town in an attempt to stop residents from throwing rocks at the barrier wall and escalated when IDF soldiers fired live ammunition at protesters in retaliation for throwing Molotov cocktails at the tanks. [NYT, 10/16, Guardian, 10/17]

Oct. 22: A hit-and-run car attack targeting the Ammunition Hill light-rail station in Jerusalem resulted in the death of a three month-old Israeli baby and an Ecuadoran woman, and the injury of seven others. Israeli police shot and killed the driver, a Palestinian man with a criminal record of terrorism-related charges, as he attempted to flee from the accident. The motivation of the attack was not immediately known. Israeli premier Binyamin Netanyahu responded to the incident by increasing the police presence in Jerusalem. [JP, 10/22, 10/26]

Oct. 24: IDF soldiers killed Orwa Abd al-Wahab Hammad, a 14-year-old Palestinian-American teenager from the West Bank town of Silwad. The IDF claimed that Hamad was killed after throwing a Molotov cocktail onto a road often used by Israeli settlers. Hamad’s death marked the second Palestinian teenager to be killed in the West Bank at the hands of the IDF over the period of eight days. [NYT, Reuters, 10/24]

Oct. 26: In the face of intense pressure from Jewish settlers in the West Bank, Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya‘alon issued a directive banning Palestinian laborers from using Israeli-run public buses traveling directly from central Israel to their homes in the West Bank. The directive, scheduled to go into effect in late November, directly opposed the official IDF stance that a Palestinian presence on Israeli-run buses in the West Bank was not a security threat. [Haaretz, 10/26]

Oct. 30: Mu‘tazz Hijazi, the Palestinian man suspected of the attempted murder of prominent Israeli right-wing activist Yehuda Glick, was shot and killed by Israeli police following an exchange of gunfire at his home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Tor. While the group did not claim responsibility for the attack, Islamic Jihad published an obituary for Hijazi, claiming him as a member. Hijazi’s death incited clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, stoking fears of a third intifada. Glick was known for his advocacy of greater access for Jews to the holy sites on the Temple Mount, sacred also to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. [Haaretz, Reuters, 10/30]

The Israeli government declared the complete closure of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first time in 14 years following an escalation in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, and Jewish farright groups’ calls to march on the holy site. Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmud ‘Abbas referred to the closure as a declaration of war on the Palestinians and the ruling party, Fatah, called for protests to be held the following day. Later in the evening, Israeli officials announced that the site would be reopened only to women, children, and men over the age of 50. [NYT, Guardian, 10/30]

Nov. 4: The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, passed a law blocking the hypothetical release of Palestinian prisoners convicted of killing Israeli citizens in future peace negotiations or prisoner exchanges. The law did not apply to those imprisoned before the law was passed, and still allowed Israeli presidents to pardon future inmates. [Reuters, AFP, 11/4]

Nov. 5: In two separate incidents, Palestinian men drove cars into crowds of Israelis, killing one police officer and injuring...