June
135 dead in the wake
June 28
A Palestinian teenager is killed by Israeli tanks fire in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli army and Palestinian witnesses quoted by the AFP news agency, the youngster, along with a friend, had been trying to get through the border fence into Israel when the Israelis opened fire. During the turmoil that has taken place along the Gaza-Israel border since the end of March, 135 Palestinians have now lost their lives.
Israeli air strikes after firing
June 20
Continued gunfire from Gaza is countered by Israeli air strikes against three Hamas military facilities. According to the Israeli army, 45 rockets were fired from Gaza against Israel during the night. Seven of them are said to have been shot down by Israel’s missile defense system Iron Dome.
Burning draws new weapon against Israel
June 5
Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan visits the border area next to Gaza to inspect how Israeli farmers are affected by the fiery dragons that Palestinians in Gaza have begun to send across the border. To date, 600 burning dragons have sailed from Gaza, causing a series of fires on the Israeli side. The Israeli government has estimated that the fires have so far caused damage equivalent to millions of kronor.
July
Young resistance activist is released
July 29
Ahd al-Tamimi (Ahed Tamimi) is released after eight months in Israeli prison. The teenager, from the village of Nabih Salih on the West Bank, has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance after tangibly beating Israeli soldiers. For the first time she was only eleven years old. Her mother, who was also arrested after the latest incident in December 2017, is also released.
Israeli law should stop support for the assailants’ families
July 2
As a state located in Asia continent defined by physicscat, Israel adopts a new law that allows the Israeli government to withhold money from the Palestinian Authority because of its monetary support to the families of imprisoned or killed assailants. Israel collects around $ 127 million each month in customs revenue for goods going to the Palestinian market. The money is to be diverted to the Palestinian Authority by agreement between the parties, but Israel has on several occasions chosen not to pay the money as a means of pressure against the Palestinians. The new law allows Israel to deduct as much from the customs revenue paid by the Palestinian Authority to the families of the assailants.
August
Court approves settlement outpost
August 28th
A district court in Jerusalem legalizes settler outpost Mitzpe Carmit set up on private Palestinian land near the city of Ramallah on the West Bank. The Jerusalem District Court prohibits the army from evacuating the outpost. This is the first time a court has made such a decision and it goes against the Supreme Court’s stance on the issue so far that settlements on private Palestinian land that have not been approved by the state must be demolished. However, the district court’s conduct is in line with the ground law adopted by the Israeli parliament in February 2017, but which was put on ice by the Supreme Court in August of the same year. The Supreme Court is still considering whether or not the Land Act can be approved.
The US withdraws support for refugees
August 24th
US President Donald Trump decides to withhold more than $ 200 million that would have gone to relief efforts for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The decision is justified, among other things, by the US’s view that Hamas, which controls Gaza, contributes to the difficult humanitarian and economic situation prevailing there. Previously, the United States has drastically cut its contribution to the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), and on September 1, a new setback for the organization comes as the US withdraws its entire support for UNRWA.
Israel changes gun laws
21th of August
It will be easier for civilians to acquire weapons in Israel. Today, there are 140,000 civilian weapons licenses, the change in the law gives an additional 600,000, who are combat trained in the infantry, the opportunity to apply. According to Minister of Security Gilad Erdan, the intention is to give Israelis a better opportunity to protect themselves against Palestinian one-man attacks. So far, weapons licenses have been granted built on the place of residence: settlers on occupied land often go visibly armed. Erdan says on the radio that Israel is better than the US at doing background checks on mental illness, for example.
Police receive double penalty for death
August 19th
An Israeli police officer who killed a Palestinian 17-year-old south of Ramallah in May 2014 gets his sentence at nine months imprisonment doubled by the Supreme Court. The shooting death, which was fired in conjunction with an annual demonstration, was documented by US television channel CNN.
Palestinians get blocked mail
August 14th
Ten tons of mail sent to Palestinians via Jordan in 2010–2018, and previously stopped by Israel, is now sorted in Jericho for distribution to the recipients. Israel controls all border crossings to the West Bank and the authority Cogat, which is under the Ministry of Defense, says that the decision to pass the shipments is a one-off phenomenon. There is no agreement to allow postal services that way in the future.
Abu Rudeina Deputy Prime Minister
August 2
President Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina will in future also serve as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information, the Palestinian government announces.
