Chronology: June 16 – September 15, 2020

SOURCES

• AFP, Agence France-Presse

• AJ, Al Jazeera

• Al Arabiya

• AP, The Associated Press

• BBC

• Bloomberg

• CNN

• Dawn (Pakistan)

• France24

• GU, The Guardian Haaretz

• JP, Jerusalem Post

• KT, Khaleej Times

• MEMO, Middle East Monitor

• MWN, Morocco World News

• NPR, National Public Radio

• NYT, The New York Times Reuters

• WP, The Washington Post

• WSJ, The Wall Street Journal

Arab-Israeli Conflict

See also Iran, Israel, Palestinian Territories, Sudan

Jun. 23: Two Syrian regime soldiers were killed and four were wounded in airstrikes on military installations in the governorates of Dayr al-Zawr, Hama, and Suwayda. The Syrian government claimed that the attacks had been carried out by Israel as part of an ongoing campaigns on regime and allied targets in eastern and southern Syria, which Israeli leaders tacitly acknowledged, although Israeli authorities did not comment on these particular airstrikes. [Reuters, 6/23]

Jun. 24: United Nations secretary-general António Guterres condemned Israeli plans to annex portions of the West Bank as a violation of international law. The denunciation came days before Israel's cabinet would begin discussing annexation on July 1, following increased international condemnation of the proposal. The West Bank had been captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and had been the site of sustained Israeli settlement due to nationalist and security concerns. [Reuters, 6/24]

Jun. 25: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a partnership with the United Arab Emirates aimed at combatting the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). The UAE described this relationship as solely between private companies to develop medical therapeutics. The announcement came among other signs of a normalization of diplomatic relations between the two states, including a leading Emirati diplomat expressing opposition to the annexation of the West Bank in a leading Israeli newspaper on June 12. [NYT, 6/25]

Jun. 28: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that nine fighters in Iran-backed pro-regime militias were killed in an airstrike near the Dayr al-Zawr Governorate city of Bukamal, near the border with Iraq. While the strike was not acknowledged by Israel, it was consistent with an ongoing campaign against Iranian targets in Syria, as Iranian state media reported Quds Force commander Esma'il Qa'ani visited the site hours before. The Quds Force was the international arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which reported directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah 'Ali Khamenei. [JP, 6/28]

Jun. 29: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for Israel to terminate plans to annex any portion of the West Bank. Bachelet cited the illegality of annexation and potential consequences of the move for Israel, the Palestinians, and the Middle East. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet was planning to engage in formal annexation deliberations on July 1. [Reuters, 6/29]

July 1: The Israeli cabinet postponed its planned discussion about annexing of parts of the West Bank, citing ongoing deliberations with the United States and complications due to Covid-19. Inhabited by 2–3 million Palestinians, the West Bank had been viewed by many in Israel as due for either full or partial annexation due to nationalist sentiments and security concerns. Moves to make Israeli presence in the territory permanent had been opposed by most of the international community since Israeli troops first occupied the area in 1967, though successive Israeli governments continued to subsidize Israeli settlements there. The incumbent government had agreed to begin discussion of annexation after the US published a peace plan in January that detailed the incorporation of some of the territory into Israel. [AJ, 7/1; BBC, 6/25]

Jul. 20: SOHR reported the deaths of at least five people as a result of an airstrike on military targets near Damascus. Syrian air defenses claimed the attack was carried out by Israel targeting an ammunition depot in the Rif Dimashq Governorate town of Kiswa. The Israeli government did not comment on the attack. [AP, 7/21; Reuters, 7/20]

Aug. 3: The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged it had launched an assault on military targets near Damascus in response to a bombing attempt near a perimeter fence in the Israeli...