News of Terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (October 27-November 3, 2009)

One rocket hit was identified on November 2. It landed in an open area; there were no casualties and no damage was done. Light arms were fired at an IDF force near the Karni crossing on October 28. There were no casualties.

The Israeli security forces continued their counterterrorism activities this past week, detaining Palestinians suspected of participating in terrorist activities. Throughout the week there were various incidents, primarily the throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails. The most prominent were the following:

This past week the crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip were open and 340 trucks entered the Strip to make deliveries.

The Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip opened for three days on November 1 to allow 3,000 Palestinians with humanitarian issues to leave and 1,500 detained in Egypt to enter. During the past months there was a significant increase in the activity at the Rafah crossing, especially for humanitarian reasons, as an alternative to the crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The Egyptians allow the crossing to be used as a safety valve and have opened it more frequently than in the past.

On October 31 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Secretary Clinton said that the United States accepted the Israeli position regarding the renewal of negotiations with the Palestinians without preconditions. She said that what Netanyahu said was “historically accurate” and that there had never been a “precondition.”