As Israel entered the fifth day of Operation Pillar of Defense, an eerie silence washed over the south, with the familiar sound of red alerts and booms of rockets giving way to rumors of a ceasefire. As soldiers continued to stream south, Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi told reporters that there were indications that an agreement to halt hostilities was close. Israel denied the report, with officials saying there were still too many targets to hit before they could be confident the job they set out to do was done. Still, Southern Command head Tal Russo told reporters Hamas had been dealt a heavy blow.
Since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday, the IDF has hit some 950 targets in the Gaza Strip, with Palestinians reporting 47 dead, over a dozen of them civilians. Gazan terrorists have fired some 700 rockets at Israel and Iron Dome has shot down nearly 250, including one aimed at Tel Aviv. Israel’s death toll stands at three, with dozens more injured, including 10 on Saturday when a missile scored a direct hit on an apartment in Ashdod.
Since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday, the IDF has hit some 1,000 targets in the Gaza Strip, with Palestinians reporting 52 dead. Gazan terrorists have fired some 750 rockets at Israel and Iron Dome has shot down nearly 270, including three aimed at Tel Aviv. Israel’s death toll stands at three, with dozens more injured, including two badly hurt in Ofakim and three in Ashkelon on Sunday.
Rockets are falling around me, but I gotta sleep. Been up since 5:30 reporting all this “fun stuff” to you all. Say a prayer for me and all the other innocents in our little country. We WILL prevail ! – JW
Reports are emerging in the Israeli press that the Israel Defense Forces accidentally hit a family in Gaza, killing 12, and not the terror chief they were aiming for.
Earlier today, Israeli officials reported the IDF had killed Hamas rocket chief Yihya Abiya. At the same time, reports emerged in Palestinian media of the deaths of 12 members of the A Dallo family, including several young children. Pictures from the scene showed a home reduced to rubble.
Israeli media are reporting that the army hit the A Dallo instead of Abiya’s house nearby. They also report that Abiya escaped the attack with only injuries.
The IDF spokesperson could not confirm whether Abiya was killed, but said the army hit the house it was aiming for.
Several rockets have fallen in the Eshkol region. No injuries or damage have been reported.
The area has been among the hardest hit on Sunday, with over 50 rockets targeting the regional council, which lies adjacent to the southern Gaza Strip.
Sirens are sounding in the port city of Ashdod as two rockets fired from Gaza approached. Iron Dome intercepts both rockets, according to Channel 10. Channel 2 reports that one rocket exploded in the vicinity of Ashdod.
Red-alert sirens are also sounding in Kiryat Malachi and Kiryat Gat.
IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai says that a very high percentage of the reservists called up over the last three days arrived as ordered, and have very high morale.
Mordechai also reports that while fewer rockets fell in Israel today than in previous days, Israel cannot afford to be complacent, noting that some 30 rockets did fall on Sunday in populated areas, with some damage and injuries being reported.
Israeli airstrikes have been extremely effective, Mordechai said, and the scope, volume and effectiveness of Hamas’s rocket fire have been severely damaged, which resulted in far fewer rockets falling in Israel on Sunday.
Channel 2 is interviewing a young female blogger in Gaza — quite a brave move from her to agree to be interviewed for Israeli television. Ilana Dayan, the anchor, presents her as a courageous writer who has had the guts to write blog posts criticizing Hamas.
Dayan asks her whether there are any Gazans who, amid the chaos and destruction, are saying they wish Hamas would stop firing rockets into Israel. Her response is to describe the aggression of the Israeli forces, and how cut off Gaza feels.
Dayan presses again, asking whether she has any criticisms of Hamas. “We are all Hamas” at times like this, she says.
Oh well, sighs Dayan, cutting short the interview, “that attempt was a failure.”
An Israeli drone strike targeted Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades leader Rafi Salameh in Khan Yunis, Maan News reports. There is no indication as of yet of Salameh’s condition.
An Israeli drone strike targeted Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades leader Rafi Salameh in Khan Yunis, Maan News reports. There is no indication as of yet of Salameh’s condition.
Channel 2 is reporting, citing senior Hamas sources, that the terror group rejected two of Israel’s ceasefire demands out of hand, sinking talks in Egypt.
The first demand was the Hamas commit to creating a one kilometer buffer zone along the border with Gaza, beyond which people cannot enter. The width of the “no man’s land” currently varies at different points along the border, and averages about 300 meters.
The second condition laid down by Israel was Hamas put an end to all weapons smuggling in the Gaza Strip.
A senior Hamas official reportedly tells Al Jazeera television that the two sides agreed on 90% of the points for a ceasefire.
Some rockets fired far into Israel by terrorists in the Gaza Strip in the past several days have been stripped of their warheads so they’ll travel farther, an Israeli security source tells Reuters.
“Our assessment is that the prestige of setting off alarms deep in Israel, and being perceived as fighting on, is as important to them now as spilling our blood,” the news agency quotes a senior security official saying. ”They’re pipes, basically.”
Hamas and Islamic Jihad did not respond to the report, but the Popular Resistance Committees dismissed Israel’s claim.”Israeli leaders are trying to assure their terrified public that those rockets are not dangerous, to minimize their fear. They will never succeed, and time will tell they lied to their people,” PRC spokesman Abu Mujahed said.
AP reports that about 500 Egyptian activists crossed into Gaza on Sunday to deliver medical supplies and show support for the Palestinians living there.
“We are telling the Palestinians that we are on their side,” says activist Adam Mubarak. “Our visit is a message to Israel that we will not abandon the Palestinians in Gaza.”
The Education Ministry has announced the cancelation of classes in all schools situated within 40 kilometers of the Gaza Strip. The list includes the cities of Beersheba (population 190,000), Ashdod (200,000), Kiryat Gat (48,000) and Ashkelon (110,000). Classes are expected to be held as scheduled in the greater Tel Aviv area.
Ynet reports, based on Arabic media, that the Israeli sent to Cairo for ceasefire negotiations has returned to Israel with the list of Hamas demands for a truce.
The report is unconfirmed.
Israel has refused to confirm that it even sent an official to Egypt, though Cairo indicated a ceasefire was near. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that the army was ready to widen the operation against Hamas in Gaza.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says he is working in conjunction with Hamas to bring about an end to Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip.
Abbas called on Arab countries to take any necessary steps to bring an end to Operation Pillar of Defense, now in its fifth day. He also praised the Arab leaders who have visited the Gaza Strip since the onset of the recent wave of violence.
According to Abbas, Hamas, like all Palestinian factions, supports the Palestinian Authority’s appeal to the UN to upgrade its status to that of an “observer state.”
The hacking collective Anonymous publishes what it claims is the personal information of 35,000 Israelis, including their names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, and ID numbers.
Hamas officials say that Sunday’s meeting in Cairo with an Israeli envoy and Egyptian mediators failed to produce any results.
Arab affairs commentator Ehud Ya’ari told Channel 2 News that Hamas sources cited a lack of support for their positions among Arab states as one of the reasons for the failure of Sunday’s negotiations.
Hamas’s Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades claims responsibility for the rockets fired in the past hour at Tel Aviv, saying it was in response to the “Israeli massacre against Ad-Dalo family” earlier today.
Reporters Without Borders has condemned Israeli missile attacks on two media centers in Gaza that wounded six Palestinian journalists Sunday and damaged the equipment of foreign media outlets, according to an AP report.
The attacks on the two high-rise buildings damaged offices of the Hamas TV station, Al Aqsa, and a Lebanese-based broadcaster, Al Quds TV, seen as sympathetic to the Islamists. Germany’s public broadcaster ARD; Russia Today, a state TV network that broadcasts in English; and Sky News Arabia said they lost equipment in the attacks.
A Gaza press association said six Palestinian journalists were wounded, including one who lost a leg.
Christophe Deloire, the director of Reporters Without Borders’ international headquarters in Paris, called the attacks unjustified and a threat to freedom of information. He demanded an investigation into the circumstances of the raid.
“Even though the outlets targeted are linked to Hamas, it does not legitimize the attacks,” he said. “Attacks against civilian targets constitute war crimes.”
The Israeli military said the strikes targeted Hamas communications equipment on the buildings’ rooftops and accused the group of using journalists as “human shields.”
Senior Hamas officials say that talks with Israel through Egypt are “positive” and that they are focused on providing guarantees for a ceasefire, according to AFP. A Hamas official adds that they are interested in the assurance that “the aggression and killing stop.”
Senior Hamas officials say that talks with Israel through Egypt are “positive” and that they are focused on providing guarantees for a ceasefire, according to AFP. A Hamas official adds that they are interested in the assurance that “the aggression and killing stop.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius that Israel would only be willing to consider ending its Pillar of Defense operation once rocket fire from Gaza completely ceased.
“First the shooting must stop, then we can discuss everything else,” he said, referring to diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire.
President Shimon Peres told Fabius that Hamas cannot claim to be fighting the occupation because there is no occupation.
“We voluntarily left Gaza (during the 2005 disengagement),” said the president, “and they fire at us when our children our leaving school.” He added that “Israel has set itself a goal to end the rocket fire and to allow the mothers in the south a good night’s sleep, something that hasn’t happened for too long.”
In addition to the prime minister and the president, Fabius also met on Sunday with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.
IDF Spokesperson tells The Times of Israel that Hamas claims that it shot down a helicopter over the northern Gaza Strip are false. Earlier in Operation Pillar of Defense, Hamas claimed to have shot down an IAF F-16 fighter jet, but the IDF dismissed the report as false and Hamas never provided evidence.
Red alert sirens are going off in the greater Tel Aviv area. Two explosions are reported by Channel 2. Iron Dome fired interception missiles, and both were shot down.
Channel 10 reports another Iron Dome interception over the coastal city of Ashkelon.
Eighty trucks bearing medical supplies and food entered the Gaza Strip from Israel through the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen Eitan Dangot says.
The unit has reopened the crossing for the first time since the escalation began on Wednesday, and has coordinated the exit of 35 diplomats from the Gaza Strip, as well as 26 Palestinians seeking hospital treatment in Israel and their families.
Two rockets have been shot down by Iron Dome over Ashkelon.
The missile defense battery, which was praised by Defense Minister Ehud Barak just hours earlier as the only system with such capabilities in the world, has now shot down over 300 rockets since the start of the conflict last week, including over 40 on Sunday.
Reuters reports that Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have wounded eight journalists. One employee from Lebanese al Quds TV lost his leg earlier on Sunday. The IDF says it hit two Gaza media buildings.
The IDF, according to Reuters, said the attacks “were pinpoint strikes on Hamas communication devices located on the buildings’ roofs,” and accused Hamas of using journalists as human shields.
The two buildings in Gaza City are home to British Sky News, German ARD, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya, Beirut-based al Quds television and other broadcasters.
President Shimon Peres is scheduled to meet with Special Envoy of the Quartet to the Middle East Tony Blair on Monday morning. According to a press release from the President’s office, the two will discuss the situation in southern Israel.
Peres is also scheduled to meet with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
Hamas’s Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades vows vengeance against Israel the “massacre against Ad-Dalo family,” and says it ”will not go unpunished.” The terrorist group is referring to the IAF strike on a house in Gaza City targeting Yihya Abiya, commander of Hamas’s rocket firing brigades, who was killed earlier on Sunday. As many as nine others were reportedly killed in the airstrike, according to Palestinian sources.
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Magen David Adom reports that rocket attacks on Israel on Sunday severely injured two, moderately injured one, lightly injured nine, and 10 were treated for shock.
Maan News reports that an IAF airstrike on a vehicle in the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabaliya, outside Gaza City. The Palestinian news site says that two people were killed, but gave no indication of their identity. Gaza-based Twitter user Samah Saleh identifies them as Suhail Hamada and his 10-year-old son Momen.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Sunday morning that in addition to Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel is waging a war on a second front – against anti-Israel cyber attacks.
According to Steinitz, Israel has successfully deflected some 44 million attacks against government websites in the past four days.
Steinitz made no reference to the group “Anonymous,” an online activist group that claimed on Saturday that it successfully attacked dozens of state agencies’ websites and that of the Bank of Israel, in addition to having downed or erased the databases of some 700 private and public websites in Israel.
On Saturday, “Anonymous” released a statement saying “For far too long, Anonymous has stood by with the rest of the world and watched in despair the barbaric, brutal and despicable treatment of the Palestinian people in the so called ‘Occupied Territories’ by the Israel Defence Force…but when the government of Israel publicly threatened to sever all internet and other telecommunications into and out of Gaza they crossed a line in the sand.”
Steinitz said that the government has developed backup for “essential websites” in case they are successfully disabled by hackers.
UPDATE: Channel Two reports that two parents and an infant were taking cover next to their car in Ofakim when a rocket landed 10 to 15 meters away, spraying them with shrapnel. The mother and father are listed in moderate to serious condition and the infant suffered light injuries. The three were taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.
Two more people in the area suffered light injuries from the rocket attack.
BBC correspondent Wyre Davis reports that 10 Palestinians are confirmed killed in a house that was bombed earlier on Sunday in Gaza City.
The Gaza Health Ministry says that 18 Palestinians have been killed on Sunday, including 9 children. A total of 64 have reportedly been killed since Operation Pillar of Defense started on Wednesday, 24 of whom, it claims, were children.
IDF Spokesperson’s Office says that 99 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip in the past four days have exploded in Gaza, injuring locals. It gave no indication of how many Palestinians have been injured or killed on account of stray Hamas rockets.
A senior member of Fatah, sent to Gaza as part of a delegation ahead of an Arab League visit, tells the Times of Israel that he hopes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will be signed soon.
“We hope that a ceasefire will be finalized within 48 hours, by the time the Arab League delegation arrives in Gaza,” Nabil Shaath said. “I have no final information on this, but I’m sure that if it were left to the Egyptians and the residents of Gaza, a ceasefire would be reached within an hour.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweets that “We are exacting a heavy price from Hamas and the terrorist organizations. The IDF is prepared for a significant expansion of its operations.”
UPDATE: Channel Two reports that two parents and an infant were taking cover next to their car in Ofakim when a rocket landed 10 to 15 meters away, spraying them with shrapnel. The mother and father are listed in moderate to serious condition and the infant suffered light injuries. The three were taken to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.
Two more people in the area suffered light injuries from the rocket attack.
BBC correspondent Wyre Davis reports that 10 Palestinians are confirmed killed in a house that was bombed earlier on Sunday in Gaza City.
The Gaza Health Ministry says that 18 Palestinians have been killed on Sunday, including 9 children. A total of 64 have reportedly been killed since Operation Pillar of Defense started on Wednesday, 24 of whom, it claims, were children.
IDF Spokesperson’s Office says that 99 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip in the past four days have exploded in Gaza, injuring locals. It gave no indication of how many Palestinians have been injured or killed on account of stray Hamas rockets.
A senior member of Fatah, sent to Gaza as part of a delegation ahead of an Arab League visit, tells the Times of Israel that he hopes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will be signed soon.
“We hope that a ceasefire will be finalized within 48 hours, by the time the Arab League delegation arrives in Gaza,” Nabil Shaath said. “I have no final information on this, but I’m sure that if it were left to the Egyptians and the residents of Gaza, a ceasefire would be reached within an hour.”
Defense Minister Ehud Barak thanks US Ambassador to Israel for US role in providing Israel with the Iron Dome defense system.Barak cites the nearly 90% success rate of Iron Dome batteries, that have so far taken out some 300 missiles fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip since the onset of Operation Pillar of Defense five days ago.
Barak tahkns US President Barack Obama and former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for the funds that enabled Israel to defend its citizens during the current conflict, and announces that the US Congress has approved funding for additional Iron Dome batteries.
Within the next few years,Israel will have the capability of defending the entire country against most missiles.
Israeli media reports that Yihya Abiya, commander of Hamas’s rocket firing brigades, was killed during the air strike on a house in Gaza City less than an hour ago on.
A car in Ofakim has taken a direct hit from a missile fired from Gaza. Four people are reported injured, two seriously and two lightly, according to initial media reports.
A house in the city was hit by a rocket about half an hour earlier, injuring one woman lightly.
Earlier in the day three people in Ashkelon were injured when a missile hit their home.
IDF says target of building bombed in Gaza City was Yihya Abiya, who, as commander of Hamas’s rocket brigades, was directly responsible for the missile attacks on southern Israel this morning. Reports say Abiya was injured although his condition is not known.
Udi Segal on Channel 2 says it seems Netanyahu and Liberman would stop the operation if the Hamas rocket fire stopped — but it hasn’t, so they won’t.
Ehud Yaari describes Egyptian-Turkish ceasefire efforts, which are not yet coming to fruition. He says Hamas is seeking an end to the blockade of Gaza, the opening of the Rafah border crossing to trade, and guarantees that its operatives won’t be targeted and there won’t be IAF strikes in the future.
Dryly, Yaari notes that no Israeli officials have yet gone to Cairo for ceasefire talks.
Channel 2′s military analyst Ronnie Daniel says that “if Hamas is still making demands” it obviously hasn’t been hurt badly enough.
Obviously, says Daniel, this operation was not launched merely for it to end with Hamas able to rebuild. “This operation is intended to create a different reality.” Israel, says Daniel, “must not accept a ceasefire.”
Is that what the IDF is telling the government, the studio anchor asks him? “That’s what i hear from the heads of the army,” says Daniel, “and it happens to be what I think to.”
Next guest is Arab MK Ahmad Tibi. As he begins criticizing the Israeli strikes, news comes in of an IAF strike in Gaza, in which three people are reported killed.
Arab MK Ahmed Tibi lets loose on Channel 2′s military analyst Roni Daniel (image capture/Channel 2 News)
“Are you happy now?” Tibi shouts from the studio, to Daniel out in the field. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Daniel: “I’m not happy when innocent people are hurt.”
The screaming match continues, until the presenter restores calm, with news of a direct hit by a Hamas rocket on a house in Ofakim, with reports of several people being treated for shock.
President Shimon Peres posts on his Twitter account that “the fact that almost no civilians are hit is not because of their defense but because of our care not to hit any civilian.”
Latest Palestinian reports claim that 52 people have been killed since Operation Pillar of Defense commenced five days ago.
Nabil Shaath, a senior Fatah official and member of the Palestinian negotiating team will travel to Gaza this evening to receive the Arab League foreign minister delegation scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.
Shaath expressed hope that a ceasefire will be finalized within 48 hours under Egyptian brokerage, but told The Times of Israel he had no official information on that.
He added that the PA is in no way involved in negotiating a ceasefire with Hamas, but he is continuously updated on developments by Hamas political bureau member Moussa Abu-Marzouq, a deputy to Khaled Mashaal, as well as by the Egyptian intelligence.
US President Barack Obama says Israel has a right to defend itself from missiles being aimed at the country by terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Obama says “no country on earth would tolerate missiles raining down” on its people and says any effort to resolve the conflict in Gaza “starts with no missiles being fired into Israel’s territory.”
He says it would be “preferable” if a solution could be achieved without a further escalation.
There’s no apparent red or even yellow light in these remarks for Israel, says Udi Segal on Channel 2.
Obama adds that, “We’re going to have to see what kind of progress we can make in the next 24, 36, 48 hours. He adds that he has spoken to Morsi and Erdogan and told them that “those who champion the cause of the Palestinians” need to recognize that further escalation from Gaza is going to push off peace talks and the prospects of a two-state solution.
A building in the southern town of Ofakim has reportedly suffered a direct hit from a Hamas missile. One woman was lightly injured by shrapnel and several other people were treated for shock.
Palestinian sources say at least two people were killed in an air strike on a civilian building in the Sheikh Radoan neighborhood in Gaza City. Sources say at least ten people were also injured in the attack.
President Barack Obama reiterates that the US is “fully supportive” of Israel’s right to defend itself, saying that no country would tolerate missiles on its citizens.
IDF spokesman says 124 trucks carrying supplies crossed from Israel to Gaza since this morning. The trucks are carrying goods, medical supplies, dairy products, and gas.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman meets with his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius. At a press conference following their meeting, Liberman thanks France for all its efforts to bring about a long-term agreement between Israel and the Hamas-led Gaza Strip.
Liberman emphasizes that no country should have to tolerate a million citizens sitting in bomb shelters, children not attending school and adults not working.
The foreign minister says that the first condition for any ceasefire agreement must be the complete cessation of all rocket fire into Israel. Once all terror organizations operating in the Gaza Strip halts their attacks, Liberman said, Israel will be willing to discuss any options that are on the table.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is on the verge of being completed, says senior Hamas official Mustafa Sawaf. Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Sawaf says that 90 percent of the agreement has been finalized and that they are waiting to hear from Israel regarding certain security guarantees.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is meeting with Hamas political bureau head Khaled Mashal in Cairo to discuss a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, according to reports in the Hebrew media.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s legal adviser calls for the Arab world to announce the establishment of a Palestinian state.
During an interview with US-based Radio Sawa, Mohammed Fouad says that the Palestinian factions should be armed by Arab countries so that the new country can protect itself. (Source Israel Radio)
Reports coming now of a large volley of rockets launched toward communities in the south, Beersheba, and coastal areas.
Ynet reports that two rockets have landed in Beersheba, one damaging a building and one landing in an open area next to an apartment building, and two have landed in Ashdod, one of which damaged a vehicle in a parking lot. No reports of injuries.
The national police force is employing school security guards who have been left without work on account of the school closures in all communities within 40 kilometers of the Gaza Strip.
Minister of Internal Security Yitzhak Aharonovitch indicates that the arrangement is beneficial for both the strained police force and the jobless guards.
President Shimon Peres was just interviewed by Channel 2. He praises the conduct of the IDF and the government, which he called “very good” during the crisis. He says that he is unsure if national elections (currently set for January 22) will be delayed by the hostilities, and is open to the possibility that if there is a ceasefire soon, elections can proceed as planned.
He says several times that Hamas must cease rocket fire from Gaza in order for a truce to be considered, and adds that “we have received no truce offers” so far. Peres praises Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi for taking a “responsible role” in attempting to broker, along with Turkey and Qatar, a truce between Israel and Hamas.
The president explains that the current conflict is also a “technology competition,” with Hamas acquiring long-range missiles than can reach Israel’s heartland, which Israel can counter with the Iron Dome missile defense. Israel is “among the most advanced nations” in this regard, he says.
Jews across Australia rally to show their support for Israel by wearing red as a reminder of the “Color Red” missile alert that warns of incoming rockets from Gaza. Demonstrators gathering in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra call for an end to the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel.
The Jewish Agency says it will give financial assistance to those injured in rocket attack or whose homes were damaged by direct hits. Each family will receive 1000 dollars as part of a benefit drive funded by the Jewish Federation of North America.
Former social protest leader and National Student Union head, Itzik Shmuli, a strong contender for a spot on the Labor Party list for Knesset in the January elections, just received an emergency reserves call-up, a “Tsav-8,” and will not be participating in any further events in the lead up to the Labor Party primaries, set for November 27.
There is speculation that the current military operation may push back the national Knesset elections, currently set for January 22, 2013.
Former social protest leader and National Student Union head, Itzik Shmuli, a strong contender for a spot on the Labor Party list for Knesset in the January elections, just received an emergency reserves call-up, a “Tsav-8,” and will not be participating in any further events in the lead up to the Labor Party primaries, set for November 27.
There is speculation that the current military operation may push back the national Knesset elections, currently set for January 22, 2013.
Maariv reports that Knesset management have cancelled a ceremony scheduled for Monday marking the 35th anniversary of Egyptian President Anwar Saddat’s 1977 visit and address to the Israeli parliament.
Knesset Director-General Dan Landau says it will be inappropriate to hold festive events under the current situation and adds he will find another occasion to mark the date. Landau says he has given instructions to host children from southern communities at the Knesset instead where they can enjoy specially organized activities and tours.
Reports coming now that a house in Beersheva was hit by a rocket. First reports of an attack in Beersheva today. Channel 2 says three rockets landed in the city, with no injuries.
Reports coming in that some Israeli citizens have become blase about the incoming rockets, not running instantly to shelter when an air-raid is sounded or attempting to take video of Iron Dome in action. In some cases citizens have indirectly interfered with security personnel at sites of rocket impacts by acting as “sightseers.”
A Home Front command spokesman was just on the radio admonishing citizenry in areas affect by the ongoing rocket fire to take the threat seriously and enter shelters as soon as possible when an alert is sounded.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague tells Sky News that both he and Prime Minister David Cameron have both stressed to their Israeli counterparts that a ground invasion of Gaza would lose Israel a lot of its international support and sympathy. He says it would be much more difficult to restrict and avoid civilian casualties during a ground invasion and that a large ground operation would threaten to prolong the conflict.
Walla reports that around 400 Palestinians are protesting in the West Bank city of Tulkarm against Operation Pillar of Defense. They are reportedly throwing Molotov cocktails and stones are security forces, who are armed with tear gas and riot control gear.
One of the jokes going around local Facebook pages today is from the Mutar Litzhok (or Allowed to Laugh) site, which posted this deadpan photo sometime Saturday. Captioned “Kipat Barzel,” or Metal Yarmulke, it plays off the name of the Hebrew name for the Iron Dome missile defense system. #Israelihumor.
Haniyeh’s spokesman now says the Hamas prime minister has gone underground “for security reasons.” Haniyeh got the message that he might be a target, says the spokesman, when the IAF struck at the command center where his office is situated. The spokesman also vows that Hamas “resistance” will continue until the occupation of Palestine is over.
Several Israeli politicians including Environment Minister Gilad Erdan said last week that they hoped IDF operations would extend to Hamas political figures.
More than a thousand students are rallying at the University of Haifa in support of Operation Pillar of Defense and residents of the south, Ynet News reports. University President Amos Shapira is among the demonstrators.
Palestinian Ma’an news agency is reporting that rescue crews have found the body of a 52-year-old woman in the rubble left behind by an Israeli airstrike on a police station in al-Tufah in the northern Gaza Strip.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz tweets that the government will compensate workers who live within the 40 kilometer rocket range for lost wages. He also says Israel has blocked 44 million cyber-attacks since Operation Pillar of Defense began on Wednesday.
IDF Spokesperson tweets that Israel coordinated the transfer of 124 truckloads of goods into Gaza this morning, including supplies of food and medicine.
Israel Radio is reporting that the person injured in the recent rocket strike on Ashkelon was a fireman. The man reportedly lost a lot of blood and was transferred to Barzilai Hospital in the City.
A mass prayer rally “for the success of the military operation going on in southern Israel and for the safety of our soldiers and civilians” is scheduled to be held at the Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem Sunday afternoon. Sephardi chief rabbi Shlomo Amar and Western Wall rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz followed up on a suggestion of National Union MK Uri Ariel and agreed to initiate the mass prayer at Judaism’s holiest site.
Words of wisdom on the contours of a possible ceasefire from Ehud Yaari, Channel 2′s Arab affairs commentator and Times of Israel editorial board member.
Writing in Foreign Affairs, Yaari highlights Egypt’s potentially central role, and the US imperative to ensure Egypt plays that role. “Egypt knows well that ongoing support for Hamas’ shelling of Israeli civilians would jeopardize the billions of dollars in international aid that its bankrupt treasury depends on — 0 million annually from the United States, .3 billion annually from the IMF, and .3 billion annually from the EU’s development bank. This explains why, despite Cairo’s venomous anti-Israeli rhetoric over the past several days, Egypt did not take any serious actions beyond recalling its newly accredited ambassador from Tel Aviv…
“Given Egypt’s adversity to conflict, Egypt and Israel should strive to reach an understanding about Gaza. In doing so, they would reaffirm the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty for the post-Arab Spring era…
“First, Egypt should broker the Israel-Hamas cease-fire at the highest political levels… Egypt faces a choice: launching a high-level political dialogue with the Israel to obtain the cease-fire that it desires, or seeing the continuation of violence in Gaza. An Egyptian refusal to lead the political process should raise red flags in Washington.
“Second, since most of the weapons in Gaza were trafficked through Egyptian territory, Cairo should agree to help prevent the reconstruction of Hamas’ arsenal. For years now, Egypt has been turning a blind eye to smuggling in the Sinai Peninsula and tolerating the operation of 1200 tunnels that run underneath the Egypt-Gaza frontier…
“Any agreement should also address the growing lawlessness in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, where attacks against Israel and even sometimes against Egyptian security personnel have become regular occurrences…
“Egypt and Israel need to ensure that when the cease-fire takes hold in Gaza, terror operations do not simply pick up and move south to Sinai…
“A cease-fire agreement could also address the sensitive and important issue of border crossings. Egypt might get Israeli consent to open the Rafah terminal on its border with Gaza, not only for passenger traffic but also for trade. This could mean that Gaza would get its fuel and other commodities from Egypt, while Israel would continue to supply electricity. Egyptian ports could begin to handle the flow of goods in and out of Gaza…
“Given its leverage over Egypt, Washington has a role to play in bringing about such a comprehensive cease-fire — and in keeping it in place. The Obama administration should inform Morsi that, in return for the huge financial support Egypt gets from the United States, it must start ensuring stability in the region…”
Prime Minister Netanyahu releases an official statement from the Sunday cabinet meeting. In it, the PM says that the “Gaza operation continues, and we are expanding it. I appreciate the rapid and impressive mobilizations of reservists from all over the country…regular and reserve soldiers are ready for any command.”
The PM says the IDF has caused “significant damage” to terrorist infrastructure from strikes on over 1,000 targets in Gaza. He says strikes will continue.
“Today I will continue to consult with world leaders,” the PM says. “I appreciate the understand they are showing for the right of Israel to defend itself. I have emphasized in these conversations the effort Israel does to avoid harming civilians, and how Hamas and other terrorist organizations make every effort to hit civilian targets in Israel.”
Netanyahu said he talked with US President Barack Obama at the end of last week and thanked him for his support for Israel’s right to defend itself, and for the American people’s contribution to the development of the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Meretz chief Zahava Gal-On calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to let Israel be drawn into a ground operation in Gaza, as such an offensive would cause necessary bloodshed and would do little to restore peace to the area. “We won’t live on might alone, and right now what’s needed is a diplomatic effort and a ceasefire through the help of the Egyptians and the international communities,” she says during a meeting with students at Tel Aviv University. Netanyahu shouldn’t listen to his coalition members but act judiciously and responsibly, she adds.
The left-wing Meretz party is the only Zionist faction in the Knesset that openly voiced criticism against Operation Pillar of Defense.
While residents of the south remain in or close to safe areas as the rockets rain down, there’s no doubt that the astonishing effectiveness of the Iron Dome anti-missile system has changed the equation. The relative lack of Israeli casualties is predictably working against Israel in much of the international media — “Why are there so few Israeli dead?” runs the unspoken context of some coverage — but we’d rather be alive with poor press than dead with good press. Moreover, the success of Iron Dome is giving the IDF greater room for maneuver — breathing space for the commanders — and more time.
To date, the five Iron Dome batteries — the fifth came into service on Saturday, and not a minute too soon as rockets headed toward Tel Aviv — are intercepting with a remarkable success rate of around 90 percent.
Cheap, it is not. Each interceptor rocket costs some 35,000 dollars. Each new battery costs almost 200 million dollars. Life-savingly effective, it most certainly is. Lately, accuracy has improved to the point where one interceptor is fired, rather than two until recently — exploding in the vicinity of the incoming fire. And technical improvements have also enabled swift decisions on whether an intercept is needed at all based on incoming fire trajectory.
The Times of Israel’s Mitch Ginsburg wrote presciently about the merits of Iron Dome back in March, highlighting former defense minister Amir Peretz’s central role in getting the project operational. Peretz has been the object of immense criticism for his unsuitability in the role as exposed during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. He is now the object of quite a lot of positive media attention, and public gratitude, for getting Iron Dome up and firing.
As a resident of Sderot, “as someone who raised a family in the city, and as someone who came from the civilian world,” Peretz told Ginsburg in the March article, one of the first questions he grappled with upon taking office as defense minister was the IDF’s inability to stop the short range rocket fire on southern Israel. “I was told in no uncertain terms that defensive systems were incompatible with the offensive spirit of the IDF,” he said.
“I said that threats to morale were strategic in nature,” Peretz recalled. “Sure, more people might die in a big car accident than in a wave of rocket attacks, but the effects (of death from rocket fire) reach every single house in Israel.”
A number of news sites are reporting that Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting that Israel is prepared to “significantly expand” the Gaza offensive, presumably a reference to a ground operation.
The PMs office tweets that since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense the IDF has struck more than 1000 terrorist targets and have “significantly damaged weapons aimed at Israel.”
Lots of rockets send towards the center of the country today, sparing Beersheva, which has heavily targeted in the first days of the recent escalation. The Channel 2 reporter in the southern city says “it’s still quiet,” but that things haven’t returned to normal.
One person reported to be lightly injured in Ashkelon. There are also reports that the latest rocket to fall on the coastal city landed next to a school, and that the air-raid siren did not go off.
Channel 2 reports Iron Dome has intercepted 6 rockets headed towards Ashdod this morning.
Air-raid sirens heard across cities in the center of Israel. Channel 2 reports that two rockets were successfully intercepted by Iron Dome over Tel Aviv. This is the fourth day in a row that Tel Aviv has been targeted by long-range missiles from Gaza.
Hamas claims responsibility for the missiles, believed by Israel to be Iranian supplied Fajr-5 rockets. The Israeli air force reportedly destroyed the rocket launcher that fired the missiles towards Tel Aviv.
Reports surfacing that a Palestinian official says a truce could be reached today or tomorrow, with the help of the Turks and Egyptians. Ynet News quotes an AFP report, which says that there are “serious discussions” underway to call a cease-fire.
Israel Radio reports that Hamas sources claim there has been progress towards reaching a ceasefire agreement. Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives, currently in Cairo to discuss an Egyptian-mediated deal, say a truce may be declared before the end of the day.
Israel has denied reports it is participating in ceasefire talks, confirming only that there is diplomatic talk of de-escalating the conflict.
Iran has denied supplying long-rage Fajr-5 missiles to Hamas, according to a Reuters report from early Sunday, which cited sources from the Iranian media. According to the article, Iranian parliamentarian Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the national security committee, refuted Israeli claims that Iran has sent Fajrs to Gaza and asserted that Hamas is “self-sufficient” with regards to armaments.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle reiterates in an op-ed in Bild, Germany’s largest daily, on Sunday his unequivocal support for Israel’s military offensive against terrorists in Gaza, firmly placing the blame for the current violence on Hamas. He also called on Egypt to mediate a ceasefire.
“It is obvious that Israel has the right to confront the violence of Hamas rockets and to protect its people. Israel’s government is acting in order to protcect its citizens. The trigger of this spiral of violence are Hamas’s rockets,” Westerwelle writes.
“But what’s also obvious is that the situation is extremely dangerous. The entire region risk to be drawn into an escalation. Everyone needs to be aware of their responsibility,” he adds.
Westerwelle calls on both sides to avoid civilian casualties and to start working toward achieving a ceasefire. “The most important criteria for that to happen is an end to the rocket fire from Gaza,” he writes.
Egypt has influence on Gaza’s Hamas rulers and therefore is playing a central role in mediation efforts, the German foreign minister adds. “President [Mohammed] Morsi has acted responsibly until now. We hope he uses his influence to stop the senseless rockets and create the possibility of a ceasefire.”
Channel 2 reports that some 3,200 Israeli school children from the south, where schools are closed, are being treated by the Jewish Agency to special activities out of rocket fire range.
Ashkelon strike update: Israel Radio reports that one of the rockets hit the roof of a four-story apartment building and one hit a parked automobile. One person was lightly injured by flying debris and has received medical attention.
Two more rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome, and one landed in an open area in the Ashkelon Regional Council, causing no reported damage.
Channel 2 reports that it was two rockets that landed in a residential area in Ashkelon. One resident was injured from shrapnel and is being given medical attention.
Channel 2 reports that the Canadian government has sent police to guard Jewish schools and synagogues in major cities, in response to anti-Israel demonstrations and fears of violence directed against Jewish institutions.
IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai tells Army Radio that as long as rockets continue to fall on Israel, there will be no change in plans for a ground incursion into Gaza.
Mordechai says that the reservists that were called up are streaming to the area and preparing for their planned missions.
Mordechai also talks about the air force’s activities overnight and the complexity of targeting terrorists who use mosques and hospitals as their bases of operation.
“It is a huge challenge and sometimes causes us to cancel strikes, but the air force knows how to carry out surgical strikes and will continue doing so successfully,” says Mordechai.
Former defense minister Amir Peretz tells Army Radio that Israel should give Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi a chance to initiate a ceasefire.
Peretz notes that in the past, when Hosni Mubarak was president, he was seen by Hamas as an impartial broker, favoring Israel. “The same cannot be said about Morsi,” says Peretz.
Peretz says Israel should consider accepting a long-term ceasefire, but not one that will last a month or two before Gaza terror groups resume fire.
Sirens warning of rocket fire are heard in the Sdot Negev and Sha’ar Hanegev regions. The alarms bring an end to a relatively quiet night that saw no rocket attacks on southern Israel since around midnight. No reports of injuries or damage.
Since the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense, 490 rockets have hit Israel. Iron Dome intercepted an additional 270.
The IDF Spokesman’s Office says the air force conducted 70 airstrikes on terrorist targets overnight, a total of 1,000 since Wednesday afternoon.
Schools in southern Israel are once again closed today.
The Israeli Air Force has reportedly hit a training camp of the Popular Resistance Committees in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. According to a report by the Palestinian Ma’an news agency, there were no casualties in that strike. Meanwhile, several Hamas installations were targeted in Rafah and Gaza City.
The Sunday Times is reporting that Israeli commandos are already operating behind enemy lines in the Gaza Strip, where they’re engaged in a “frantic search for long-range rockets aimed at Israel.” According to the report, any IDF ground operation in Gaza would be spearheaded by the Paratroopers Brigade.
The report, penned by Uzi Mahnaimi, quoted a defense official who speculated that Hamas could go for a “desperate attempt” to outfit rockets with chemical warheads. Still, according to the report, there’s no indication that any of Hamas’s mid-range Fajr-5 rockets, which are capable of carrying a non-conventional payload, have indeed been outfitted with such warheads.
Mahnaimi’s report included a blow-by-blow account of the assassination on Wednesday of Hamas chief of staff Ahmed Jabari, who, according to the Israeli sources quoted by the report, had “lost his insurance policy” as soon as captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit — whose kidnapping was masterminded by Jabari – was released from captivity last year.
Jabari had never carried a phone, the report said, and was exceedingly cautious. Last week, having evaded detection for a year, he was reportedly tracked down by a Shin Bet agent who managed to verify his location as he got out of one car and entered a silver Kia — one of 10 cars he used — to which an Israeli tracking device had previously been affixed.
According to the report, Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, watching live, huge-screen footage of the vehicle as it drove down Omar Mukhtar Street — Gaza City’s main thoroughfare — okayed the assassination of Jabari, by drone-fired missile, with the words “Kill the bastard.”
The Associated Press has published a rundown of Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system, which has been second only to the Twitter wars as the most discussed aspect of Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza.
As of Saturday evening, the military said it had shot down some 240 incoming rockets, more than half the number of projectiles launched into Israel since Wednesday.
Here’s a quick look at the system:
— Produced by Israeli-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Iron Dome is meant to shoot down rockets and artillery shells with ranges of up to 70 kilometers, or 45 miles. It has been operational since 2011. Officials say it has a roughly 80 percent success rate.
— How it works: The system detects launches of rockets and quickly determines their flight path. If it is headed toward populated areas or sensitive targets, it fires an interceptor with a special warhead that strikes the incoming rocket within seconds. Rockets headed toward open areas area allowed to land.
— Currently, five Iron Dome batteries are deployed in Israel. Most are located in the south near Gaza. A fifth battery was deployed outside Tel Aviv on Saturday, two months ahead of schedule. Hours later, it shot down a rocket headed toward Tel Aviv.
— Missiles cost around $ 40,000 a piece. In 2010, the US provided $ 200 million to expand development. Additional funding is currently being considered, with $ 70 million already allocated for the 2012 fiscal year.
— The system is part of what Israel calls its “multilayer missile defense.” It is meant to protect against the tens of thousands of short-range rockets possessed by militants in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. Israel has also deployed its “Arrow” missile defense systems for long-range threats from Iran. The military says its new “David’s Sling” system, being developed by Rafael to stop medium-range missiles, will be activated by 2014.
Palestinian sources are reporting additional IAF airstrikes in the northern and southern Gaza Strip. There were no initial reports of casualties. So far, on Sunday morning, two Palestinians were killed — both were reportedly children — and 15 were injured, including journalists.
According to Palestinians, 50 have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday.
Rocket attacks on Israel ceased at around midnight Saturday, and had yet to resume at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. On Saturday night, Palestinians fired dozens of rockets at southern Israel, injuring six. So far, of some 800 rockets fired by Gaza terrorists, around 300 have been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
The IDF tweeted a link to the following video with the text “These are the kind of underground rocket launchers the IDF has been targeting in the past few days.”
A Palestinian official quoted by Reuters says ceasefire talks will recommence on Sunday in Cairo, Egypt. He reportedly says “there is hope” for a truce but that it is still too early to tell whether the efforts — spearheaded by Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi — will bear fruit.
According to a report in Haaretz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated in talks with world leaders Saturday night that if Hamas were to cease all rocket attacks, Israel would stand down and commence a de facto cease fire. Still, Israeli officials told The Times of Israel diplomatic correspondent Raphael Ahren last night that a ceasefire would not be in Israel’s best interests only four day into the operation. They indicated that there were still many Hamas targets that had to be hit before the IDF could claim to have inflicted a substantial blow on the rulers of the Gaza Strip.
In his latest column for The Atlantic, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg quotes Times of Israel blogger Meir Javedanfar in making the argument that an Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip cannot achieve any sustainable, long-term objectives. Instead, Goldberg suggests, a viable, thriving Palestinian state in the West Bank could convince Palestinians in Gaza to finally lay down their weapons and strive for peace.
Meanwhile, David Horovitz addresses the prospect of Hamas actually relinquishing its armed struggle:
“Israel has no quarrel with Gaza. It has no military presence in Gaza. It ripped out the settlement enterprise it had constructed in Gaza. Had a peaceful Gaza flourished after 2005, Israel – even though our country is tiny and embattled – would have been tempted, in its burning quest for a quiet place among the nations, to relinquish much or all of biblical Judea and Samaria to the Palestinians as well. None of this is of interest to Hamas; it should all be remembered, however, by those who seek to avoid the unpalatable reality of Hamas’s kill-and-be-killed motivation and look instead for ostensible reasons for Hamas-led ‘resistance.’”
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch appears to be weighing in on international coverage of Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip. The non-Jewish Murdoch, whose News Corp holding company owns Fox News, among many other outlets, tweeted Saturday:
Two people were killed and 10 others were injured in an IAF airstrike in Gaza, AFP is reporting. According to Ma’an, six journalists — including three who worked for Hamas’s al-Quds TV station — were among the wounded in a strike on the Al-Shawa building in Gaza City.
Quoting Israeli officials, the Daily Beast reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday assured President Barack Obama that Israel would not launch a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip “unless there was escalation from Hamas or a strike that caused significant casualties.”
The report quotes Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, as saying: “If they keep shooting at 5.5 million Israelis at the current rate we will have no choice but to use all necessary and legitimate means to defend our citizens and that includes possible ground action.”
The prospect of Israel ground forces invading Gaza is looming large, after Israel upped the number of reservists it has called up since last week to 75,000. The step is presumably meant to show Israel “means business,” sending to Hamas the signal that if rocket fire doesn’t taper out, Israel’s infantry and armored corps will come knocking.
The Palestinian Ma’an news agency is reporting that the IDF has struck a target in the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Lahia. At this point, there are no reports of casualties.
The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday released its second video aiming to disprove Hamas claims of damage wreaked upon Israel, and Israeli damage wreaked upon civilians, after releasing a debut installment on Friday.
Among the Gazan group’s more creative claims have been that it hit an Israeli warship, killing a soldier, rained missiles on Tel Aviv’s beach near the US Embassy, the stock exchange in Ramat Gan, and even north of the city, and that the Israeli army shot live rounds at protesters near Ofer Prison in the West Bank.
Our Arab affairs reporter, Elhanan Miller, is reporting that Hamas has been warning Gazans not to spread rumors originating from Israeli intelligence agencies. Such messages are part of a “psychological war” aimed at splintering Palestinian society, Hamas is claiming. Read more here.
Palestinian sources are reporting that a mid-level Islamic Jihad operative by the name of Tamer Hamri was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Hamri reportedly headed Islamic Jihad’s artillery unit in the central Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has weighed in on the situation in Gaza, warning that an Israeli ground incursion would be “stupid.” He also criticized Arab nations that have been trying promote a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
These countries, Nasrallah said at a Shiite festival, “must pressure Israel to stop its aggression and accept the terms of the Palestinian resistance.”
Operation Pillar of Defense will only end after Hamas has been dealt a serious blow, they vow.
“In parallel to the military effort, there is a diplomatic effort [to stop the rocket fire on Israel],” says one Israeli government official. “But the operation will continue until we can be sure that the people of Israel’s south will no longer live under constant fear of rockets — and that goal will be achieved, one way or another.”
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18 Comments on “Pillar of Defense – Day 5 – Live Blog”
The BBC World’s reporting today has reached surreal bias. The headline was “Israel’s Gaza violence”
Imagine attacks by V1 and V2 rockets pounding London (late 1944, see V1 and V2 exhibited in the Imperial War Museum) and the RAF bombing German cities while the BBC reports “ Britain’s Germany violence”
Here is how it feels to be at the target end of the 700 rockets launched into Israel from Gaza in 4 days .
Very good comparison, sir. It seems to us that the brits are still angry on Israel for the sake of the good ol’ days of their mandate in Palestine. The brits didnt forgot nothing, neither did they learned anything.
Most people in the uk openly support Israel,Cameron is a pc prick his own party wants him gone,i have met plenty of people who went to school with him,they all say he is a prick,Cameron is prepared to launch a nuclear strike on Argentina for just approaching the Falklands imagine how he would respond to a missile salvo,but for sure if the crunch comes the UK will without any doubt send troops and aircraft to support Israel
ps had my comutors hacked last night,its done 50ks worth of damage the cgi has 30 cores melted the rgc left their ip,am using a old laptop the plus is,i have an enter key now and don’t have to look at frames for a few weeks
Gosh not good man 😦 I had an attempted hack on my global security website, twitter and facebook, which isn’t even public yet, some people dont like what I have to say it seems.
Now i have to see this an organization as incompetent as hamas trying to deploy a NBC,its historically proven that every time nato or the ussr tested them in the field it was a disaster,watch them kill themselves,and the retaliation,Israel has no chemical weapons,to retaliate back with which would leave them with the use of a neutron bomb,hamas will be dust and gaza will be the rightful home of the jews once they have pushed the 1.5 million dead body’s into the sea
IDF sources report first troops enter the Gaza Strip
DEBKAfile November 18, 2012, 7:07 PM (GMT+02:00)
This report is not confirmed. A short time ago, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz visited the reserve units gathering at jumping-off positions outside the Gaza Strip.
Of cource special forces have been in gaza for a while 😉 Ill wait until this is confirmed, was hearing tank shells on live video feeds earlier so lets see…
WarSclerotic 
November 18, 2012 at 8:11 AM
Leftist Jews in media tend to be self-hating and quite anti-Israel, so the tweets aren’t surprising.
The same goes for leftist Hollywood Jews- from directors and studio heads down to actors.
Yes. You can be Jewish and be anti-Israel. You can even be Israeli and anti-Israel. There are idiots of all kinds. Stupidity doesn’t discriminate.
November 18, 2012 at 1:23 PM
…Also you can be jew and still voting for Obama. Being jew is not an intelligence assurance.
November 18, 2012 at 9:55 AM
The BBC World’s reporting today has reached surreal bias. The headline was “Israel’s Gaza violence”
Imagine attacks by V1 and V2 rockets pounding London (late 1944, see V1 and V2 exhibited in the Imperial War Museum) and the RAF bombing German cities while the BBC reports “ Britain’s Germany violence”
Here is how it feels to be at the target end of the 700 rockets launched into Israel from Gaza in 4 days .
Be’er Sheva under Grad attack
http://www.madisdead.blogspot.co.il/2012/11/beer-sheva-under-grad-attack.html
November 18, 2012 at 1:21 PM
Very good comparison, sir. It seems to us that the brits are still angry on Israel for the sake of the good ol’ days of their mandate in Palestine. The brits didnt forgot nothing, neither did they learned anything.
November 18, 2012 at 2:17 PM
Video of Iron Dome intercepting a barrage of Grads over Be’er Sheva
November 18, 2012 at 2:31 PM
Amazing!
Thank you. I’m reposting it and will give you thanks on the site.
Victory!
Joe
November 18, 2012 at 4:55 PM
Most people in the uk openly support Israel,Cameron is a pc prick his own party wants him gone,i have met plenty of people who went to school with him,they all say he is a prick,Cameron is prepared to launch a nuclear strike on Argentina for just approaching the Falklands imagine how he would respond to a missile salvo,but for sure if the crunch comes the UK will without any doubt send troops and aircraft to support Israel
November 18, 2012 at 5:14 PM
A large number of our troops, ships and aircraft are not far from Israel right now.
November 18, 2012 at 6:28 PM
ps had my comutors hacked last night,its done 50ks worth of damage the cgi has 30 cores melted the rgc left their ip,am using a old laptop the plus is,i have an enter key now and don’t have to look at frames for a few weeks
November 18, 2012 at 8:21 PM
Gosh not good man 😦 I had an attempted hack on my global security website, twitter and facebook, which isn’t even public yet, some people dont like what I have to say it seems.
November 18, 2012 at 10:03 PM
i think there monitoring this site
November 18, 2012 at 11:02 PM
They know about defence today via this site, but not my global security site.
November 18, 2012 at 2:29 PM
There is talk in the papers today about the possibilty of hamas using chemical weapons
November 18, 2012 at 6:37 PM
Now i have to see this an organization as incompetent as hamas trying to deploy a NBC,its historically proven that every time nato or the ussr tested them in the field it was a disaster,watch them kill themselves,and the retaliation,Israel has no chemical weapons,to retaliate back with which would leave them with the use of a neutron bomb,hamas will be dust and gaza will be the rightful home of the jews once they have pushed the 1.5 million dead body’s into the sea
November 18, 2012 at 4:57 PM
thers a DEBKA report of fighting between Syria and Israel in Golan,it has been confirmed
November 18, 2012 at 7:28 PM
Debka breaking news says:
IDF sources report first troops enter the Gaza Strip
DEBKAfile November 18, 2012, 7:07 PM (GMT+02:00)
This report is not confirmed. A short time ago, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz visited the reserve units gathering at jumping-off positions outside the Gaza Strip.
November 18, 2012 at 8:25 PM
Of cource special forces have been in gaza for a while 😉 Ill wait until this is confirmed, was hearing tank shells on live video feeds earlier so lets see…
November 18, 2012 at 8:23 PM
You dont call your operation “Pillar of cloud” if it’s a small operation. We only see one part of the big picture.