2011 in the Palestinian territories
Encyclopedia
Events in the year 2011 in the Palestinian territories
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(non-state administrative authority)
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
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Incumbents
Palestinian National AuthorityPalestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
(non-state administrative authority)
- PresidentPresident of the Palestinian National AuthorityThe President of the Palestinian National Authority is the highest-ranking political position in the Palestinian National Authority ....
– Mahmoud AbbasMahmoud AbbasMahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
(PLOPalestine Liberation OrganizationThe Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
) - Prime Minister –
- Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority (in the West Bank)Prime Minister of the Palestinian National AuthorityThe Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority is the head of government of the Palestinian Authority government.The Prime Minister's Office was created in 2003 to manage day-to-day activities of the Palestinian government. The position was created because both Israel and the United...
– Salam FayyadSalam FayyadSalam Fayyad is a Palestinian politician and Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority of the Palestinian National Authority. His first appointment, on 15 June 2007, which was justified by President Mahmoud Abbas on the basis of "national emergency", has not been confirmed by the...
(Third Way) (emergency rule) - Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority (in the Gaza Strip)Prime Minister of the Palestinian National AuthorityThe Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority is the head of government of the Palestinian Authority government.The Prime Minister's Office was created in 2003 to manage day-to-day activities of the Palestinian government. The position was created because both Israel and the United...
– Ismail Haniyeh (HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
) (in rebellion against the Palestinian National Authority)
Events
- January 2 - IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
extends a six-month ban on the immigration of Palestinian Arabs married to Israelis. - January 3 - Israel Air Force planes bomb three targets, including two refugee camps and a weapons factory in the Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, PalestineState of PalestinePalestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...
, injuring two people in response to the firing of a Kassam rocketPalestinian rocket attacks on IsraelPalestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip have occurred since 2001. Between 2001 and January 2009, over 8,600 rockets had been launched, leading to 28 deaths and several hundred injuries, as well as widespread psychological trauma and disruption of daily life.The weapons,...
from the Gaza Strip into southern IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. - January 6 - IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i troops kill two Palestinians as they attempted to cross a border fence from the Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. - January 7 - ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
recognizesInternational recognition of the State of PalestineThe State of Palestine was proclaimed on 15 November 1988 in Algiers at an extraordinary session in exile of the Palestine National Council. Legal justification for this act was based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947, which provided for the termination and...
the State of PalestineState of PalestinePalestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...
. - January 11 - An Israeli missile attack kills a PalestinianPalestinian peopleThe Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
militant while he was riding a motorcycle in the Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. - January 11 - The Palestinian AuthorityState of PalestinePalestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...
states it will seek United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
recognition through both the Security Council and the General AssemblyUnited Nations General AssemblyFor two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
in September. It is currently lobbying nations for recognitionInternational recognition of the State of PalestineThe State of Palestine was proclaimed on 15 November 1988 in Algiers at an extraordinary session in exile of the Palestine National Council. Legal justification for this act was based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947, which provided for the termination and...
during the stalled peace talks with IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. - January 14 - GuyanaGuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
formally recognizes PalestineState of PalestinePalestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...
as an independent state. - January 18 - President of Russia Dmitry MedvedevDmitry MedvedevDmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
, on his first visit to the West BankWest BankThe West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
as head of state, confirms "support [for] the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in East JerusalemEast JerusalemEast Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
." - January 23 - The Palestine PapersPalestine PapersThe Palestine Papers, representing publication of information hidden from public records and containing a cache of nearly 1,700 files, are the largest news leak in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They were released in January 2011 by Al-Jazeera...
: thousands of confidential documents relating to diplomatic correspondence detailing the inner workings of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, are exposed by the Al-Jazeera news network. Following this, the Palestinian Authority condemns Al-Jazeera for releasing the documents and denies that the Palestinian Authority had agreed to make far-reaching concessions on Jerusalem as the documents purportedly reveal. - January 24 - PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
recognizesInternational recognition of the State of PalestineThe State of Palestine was proclaimed on 15 November 1988 in Algiers at an extraordinary session in exile of the Palestine National Council. Legal justification for this act was based on United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 of 29 November 1947, which provided for the termination and...
PalestineState of PalestinePalestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...
"as a free and sovereign state". - February 17 - IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i troops kill three Palestinian militants near Beit LahiaBeit LahiaBeit Lahia is a city located north of Jabalia, near Beit Hanoun and the 1949 Armistice Line with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 59,540 in mid-year 2006. Hamas, an Islamist party, took control of it during the 2005 municipal...
, in the northern Gaza Strip, who were approaching the border apparently in an attempt to plant a bomb; the Democratic Front for the Liberation of PalestineDemocratic Front for the Liberation of PalestineThe Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist, secular political and military organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dimuqratiyah...
identified one of the men as a member of the group and said he had been killed "during a mission carried out by our military wing." - February 19 - The U.S. vetoes a draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution which was critical of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The resolution was supported by all other council members and co-sponsored by almost 120 nations. This veto resolution is the ninth U.N. resolution on the Israel-Palestine conflict to be vetoed by the U.S. since 2000.
- March 12 – Itamar attack: Two PalestinianPalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
teens armed with knives infiltrated the West BankWest BankThe West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
settlement of Itamar and stabbed to death five Israeli family members, including the parents and three of their children, aged 11, 3 and a month old infant. - March 15 - The Israeli Navy intercepts the cargo ship "VictoriaVictoria AffairThe Victoria Affair was a military action by Israel in March 2011 in which the Israeli Navy intercepted the German-owned, Liberian-flagged vessel Victoria on the high seas, and discovered concealed weapons which, according to IDF, were destined for Palestinian militant organizations in the Gaza...
" which was carrying a long list of advanced weapons that were smuggled from IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and were allegedly bound for the militant organizations operating in the Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
. - March 16 - The Israeli Air ForceIsraeli Air ForceThe Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
attacks a training site of the Palestinian militant group Al Qassam brigadesIzz ad-Din al-Qassam BrigadesThe Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades is the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist fundamentalist socio-political organisation Hamas. Created in 1992, under the direction of Yahya Ayyash, the primary objective of the group was to build a coherent military organisation to support the goals of...
in the southern part of GazaGazaGaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
city in response to a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip at the Israeli southern communities in the Sdot Negev Regional CouncilSdot Negev Regional CouncilSdot Negev Regional Council , formerly known as Azata Regional Council is a regional council in the north-western Negev desert in the South District of Israel. Established in 1951, it covers two kibbutzim, 12 moshavim and two communal settlements...
in the southern district of Israel. Palestinians reported that three people were killed in the attack and three were wounded. - April 4 - Israeli/Palestinian actor and peace activist Juliano Mer-KhamisJuliano Mer-KhamisJuliano Mer-Khamis was an Israeli actor, director, filmmaker and political activist of Jewish and Christian Arab parentage. On 4 April 2011, he was assassinated by a masked gunman in the Palestinian city of Jenin, where he established the Freedom Theatre....
, of both Jewish and Christian ArabPalestinian ChristianPalestinian Christians are Arabic-speaking Christians descended from the people of the geographical area of Palestine. Within Palestine, there are churches and believers from many Christian denominations, including Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholic , Protestant, and others...
origin, is gunned down in JeninJeninJenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...
by masked militants. - April 7 – 2011 Israeli school bus anti-tank missile attack: An anti-tank missile fired from the Gaza Strip hits a school bus, moderately wounding the bus driver, and critically injuring a 16 year boy who later died of his wounds.
- April 15 - Italian reporter, writer and pro-Palestinian activist, Vittorio ArrigoniVittorio ArrigoniVittorio Arrigoni was an Italian reporter, writer, pacifist and activist. Arrigoni worked with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement in the Gaza Strip, from 2008 until his death...
, is kidnapped and murdered in GazaGazaGaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
by Islamic militants. - April 27 - Rival PalestinianPalestinian peopleThe Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
factions HamasHamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and FatahFatahFataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
sign a unity deal, calling for the foundation of a single government in the Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
and Palestinian AuthorityPalestinian National AuthorityThe Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
-controlled areas of the West BankWest BankThe West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, presidential and legislative elections in a year, and the release of prisoners. - July - Freedom Flotilla IIFreedom Flotilla II"Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human" was a flotilla that planned to break the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel by sailing to Gaza on 5 July 2011. Ultimately, the sailing did not take place....
- July 19 - The French-flagged yacht Dignité Al Karama, which was to have been part of the Freedom Flotilla IIFreedom Flotilla II"Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human" was a flotilla that planned to break the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel by sailing to Gaza on 5 July 2011. Ultimately, the sailing did not take place....
, is intercepted and boarded without incident by Israeli commandos, off the coast of Gaza, and escorted to the Port of AshdodPort of AshdodThe Port of Ashdod is one of Israel's two main cargo ports. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River. Its establishment doubled the country's port capacity. It is a major point of entry for both cargo and tourists in and out of...
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- July 19 - The French-flagged yacht Dignité Al Karama, which was to have been part of the Freedom Flotilla II
- August 18 – Eight people were killed and dozens are injured in southern Israel after a string of terrorist attacks on a highway targeting two civilian buses and cars as well a military bus responding to the attacks. No organization took responsibility for the attacks. Nevertheless, the Israeli security establishment blamed the The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in Gaza for carrying out the attacks and in retaliation, Israel launched an air raid on the town of RafahRafahRafah , also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate...
in which six Palestinians militants from the Popular Resistance Committee were killed, among them Abu Oud al-Nirab, the commander of the organization's military wing and Khaled Shaath, a senior in the organization. - September 23 - During the opening of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the President of the Palestinian National AuthorityPresident of the Palestinian National AuthorityThe President of the Palestinian National Authority is the highest-ranking political position in the Palestinian National Authority ....
Mahmoud AbbasMahmoud AbbasMahmoud Abbas , also known by the kunya Abu Mazen , has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation since 11 November 2004 and became President of the Palestinian National Authority on 15 January 2005 on the Fatah ticket.Elected to serve until 9 January 2009, he unilaterally...
makes a bid for a UN recognition in a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian stateState of PalestinePalestine , officially declared as the State of Palestine , is a state that was proclaimed in exile in Algiers on 15 November 1988, when the Palestine Liberation Organization's National Council adopted the unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Independence...
which would exist in the Gaza StripGaza Stripthumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
, the West BankWest BankThe West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and have the East JerusalemEast JerusalemEast Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
as its capital.
Predicted and scheduled events
- The construction of the West Bank barrierIsraeli West Bank barrierThe Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...
will be completed.
Notable deaths
- April 4 - Juliano Mer-KhamisJuliano Mer-KhamisJuliano Mer-Khamis was an Israeli actor, director, filmmaker and political activist of Jewish and Christian Arab parentage. On 4 April 2011, he was assassinated by a masked gunman in the Palestinian city of Jenin, where he established the Freedom Theatre....
, 52, Israeli actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, directorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, filmmaker and political activist of Jewish and Arab origin, murdered in Jenin. - April 15 - Vittorio ArrigoniVittorio ArrigoniVittorio Arrigoni was an Italian reporter, writer, pacifist and activist. Arrigoni worked with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement in the Gaza Strip, from 2008 until his death...
, 36, Italian reporter, writer and political activist, murdered in Gaza. - August 18 - Immad Hammad, 39, Palestinian deputy, air strike.
See also
- 2011 in Israel2011 in Israel-Incumbents:* Prime Minister of Israel – Benjamin Netanyahu * President of Israel – Shimon Peres* Chief of General Staff – Gabi Ashkenazi until February 14, Benny Gantz* Government of Israel – 32nd Government of Israel-Domestic developments:...
- 2007–present blockade of the Gaza Strip
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2011
- List of violent incidents in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, 2011