WarSclerotic

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hits a building in the Eshkol border region, no injuries are reported.

The government’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will meet on Tuesday to discuss a request by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to call up more troops ahead of a possible ground invasion of Gaza. The ministry has already been green-lighted to call up 75,000 troops.

Some 30,000 to 40,000 troops have already been called up.

The European Union is calling for an “urgent deescalation” of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas, clearly placing its support behind Jerusalem’s effort to defend its citizens but calling on both parties to “act proportionately.”

“All attacks must end immediately as they cause unjustifiable suffering of innocent civilians,” the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council states in a resolution adopted in Brussels Monday evening. “It therefore calls for an urgent deescalation and cessation of hostilities. It supports the efforts of Egypt and other actors to mediate for a rapid ceasefire and welcomes the mission of the United Nations Secretary General to the region.”

The Council resolution further states that the EU “strongly condemns” the rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza and called upon Hamas and other groups to cease them immediately. “There can be no justification for the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians. Israel has the right to protect its population from these kinds of attacks; in doing so it must act proportionately and ensure the protection of civilians at all times.”

Four rockets are reported shot down by Iron Dome over Ashkelon, with one landing in an open area outside the city.

This brings the number of rockets fired at the southern coastal city to over 20, with the majority of them being shot down.

Earlier in the day, a rocket hit an empty school in the city, causing damage but no injuries.

Hamas launched at least 10 anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli planes since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense, Walla News reports.

The army believes the group revealed those weapons in an attempt to down an Israeli plane, which would be a first for the terror organization.

Iron Dome intercepts five rockets shot toward Beersheba.

Channel 2 reporter denies report moments earlier by his own station of sirens going off in Ashkelon and surrounding area. “I didn’t hear any sirens,” he says, grinning.

At least 19 rockets have been fired at Ashkelon thus far on Monday.

A 63-year-old man is lightly injured after a rocket explodes in the Bnei Shimon region of southern Israel. Another rocket fired from Gaza explodes near a chicken coop in the Shaar Hanegev border region, causing damage to the building.

Pro-Palestinian hackers hijack the Israel Groupon site “on the behalf of all Pakistani and all Muslims.”

“Your war on Gaza will make you cry blood and let the next few days prove that to you!” they write.

“We Muslims are people who love to drink bloods. And we learn that the taste of your blood is delicious!!” the hackers post on the site. “We swear by ALLAH, we will come to you like hungry lions, cut your bodies, roast your Asses, and rip what remaining of you. But who fall in our hands of your soldiers, we will throw him to our children to play him as a hungry cat.”

“Hamas, who is taking serious hits from the IDF at this very hour, is looking for a ladder to climb down off the tree. The statements of [Hamas politburo chief Khaled] Mashaal that Israel is requesting a ceasefire are as accurate as the Hamas statements that they downed an F-16 and hit the Knesset,” a source in Jerusalem says.

Mashaal: we will only ceasefire after our demands our met. If Israel wants to halt its fire, it’s welcome to do so. The murderer is the one who must stop the killing and initiate, not the victim.

The IAF conducts an airstrike in the Gaza Strip against Islamic Jihad operatives, Channel 2 reports. Maan News reports two killed in the Nuseirat refugee camp, but it is not clear if the two incidents are related.

Channel 2 columnist Ehud Ya’ari, analyzing Mashaal’s speech, says it essentially amounts to a denial that there is a ceasefire.

Al Arabiya is the only news organization reporting that Hamas and Israel have managed to come together.

Rockets have continued to be fired at the Eshkol and Sha’ar Hanegev regions in the past several minutes, indicating that an end to hostilities has not yet been reached.

Meanwhile, the IDF has just struck an Islamic Jihad cell in Gaza, Channel 2 reports

It should be noted that ceasefires are often proceeded by an increase in hostilities, as both sides attempt to get in their last shots before laying down their arms.

Mashaal: we do not seek escalation. Those who started the attack must hold their fire, and we will hold ours, under our conditions.

All fighting forces in Gaza are coordinated, and work in tandem and harmony with society in Gaza. The West Bank is also with us. Fatah and Hamas are not enemies; Israel is the common enemy. Confrontation with the enemy is our moment of truth. We must end the political divide and unite around common institutions and around resistance to Israel.

Our enemy cannot be treated with words, but only by force. No concessions should be made with Israel, given the new atmosphere in the Arab world.

Mashaal: the enemy is capable of launching a ground offensive, but [Netanyahu] knows that an incursion will be costly for Israel and make him lose the elections. He wants to negotiate with us through fire.

Netanyahu is the one who requested a ceasefire, turning to the international community and to Egypt. It was not Gaza which requested the ceasefire. Gaza demands implementation of its legitimate demands: stopping assassinations and ending the siege.

“We didn’t attack anyone. Whoever attacks Palestine will be buried” in its ground, Khaled Mashaal tells reporters in Cairo during a long press conference.

The Political leader of Hamas mourns the killing of Ahmed Jabari by Israel, says “it’s a great loss” but he “is survived by many heroes.”

Mashal: Netanyahu may have a powerful army, but he does not have the resolve, because he is a usurper of land. We do not maintain a balance of power with Israel, but we have managed to uphold deterrence through our resolve.

Mashaal: today Netanyahu wanted to achieve three goals, but did not succeed. He wanted to reestablish his deterrence and failed; tried to destroy missile launchers, and failed; and finally, tried to show that he had complete control over the initiative. All these failures have strengthened our resolve.

Khaled Mashaal in Cairo press conference: moral in Gaza is high, unlike in Israel which has failed in its strategy.

15:54

Reports coming now of an IAF strike on the offices of Hamas media arm al-Aqsa TV in Gaza. The multistory building houses offices of other media outlets. Al Jazeera describes smoke billowing out of the side of the building, confirmed by images broadcast on Israel’s Channel 2.

Moments ago, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who is now in Gaza, tweeted that he saw a building hit by multiple rockets in its lower floors and described an ambulance at the scene treating a severely burned man. Not clear if he is describing the same media building.

Al Arabiya tweets that Hamas aims for “immediate ceasefire”, while Israel prefers a two-stage truce.

Three rockets strike open areas in the Eshkol region. No injuries or damage reported.

The Egyptian government releases an official statement in which it denies Iranian reports of Egyptian reserves being called up. Egypt says Iran fabricated the announcement.

According to the IDF Spokesperson, the number of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel was dropping. On Saturday there were 230 rockets launched, on Sunday the number dropped to 156 and as of now only 42 were fired on Monday.

Earlier IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai told reporters the Hamas’s rocket-firing capabilities were hurt, and the number of launches at Israel was getting smaller.

Ynet News reports three rockets intercepted by the Iron Dome over Ashdod.

The Guardian reports on Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank as part of a protest against Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Israel responds by firing tear gas and making arrests.

The Guardian reports on Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank as part of a protest against Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Israel responds by firing tear gas and making arrests.

The British Guardian presents the public with an interactive map showing the verified incidents on both sides of the border since Operation Pillar of Defense was launched on Wednesday.

It also allows readers to write in and report events that aren’t on the map so they can be added.

Channel 2′s Arab affairs analyst Ehud Ya’ari reports that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are sharply divided on whether or not to agree to a prolonged ceasefire. Islamic Jihad, which is backed by Iran, is against such an agreement.

Reports say Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Barak and Foreign Minister Liberman held a six-hour meeting yesterday, until four in the morning, to discuss the Egyptian-mediated cease-fire proposal.

In the meeting, Netanyahu, Barak and Liberman decided to give more time for a diplomatic solution before starting a ground operation.

Reuters reports ongoing negotiations in Cairo as Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil says “we are close…[but] it is difficult to predict.”

Israel is a “terrorist state,” says Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish media reports.

“Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza,” Erdoğan tells the Eurasian Islamic Council at a meeting in Istanbul, according to Todays Zaman.

“For this reason,” he continues, “I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is to visit Gaza tomorrow, along with a delegation from the Arab League.

IDF says that over the past five days a total of 877 rockets were fired by terrorists in Gaza at Israel. Iron Dome succeeded in intercepting 307 missiles.

@IronDomeCount announces interceptions within the last few minutes of two rockets headed to Ashdod and one rocket headed to Beersheba.

Fatah and Hamas reportedly agree to put aside their substantial differences and enter a unity agreement in light of the current hostilities, Al-Arabiya reports.

At a rally in Ramallah attended by top Fatah officials and the Hamas West Bank leadership, Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub announces that “we are ending the division” while the crowd chants “hit, hit Tel Aviv,” according to the report.

Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat gamely dashes for cover in the entrance of an apartment building in Ashkelon after a missile alert sounds just as she is about to give a television interview in the rocket-targeted town. Livnat, who is touring communities in a show of support, reiterates that the goal is to bring quiet to Israel’s south.

Over 500 journalists and television crew members have arrived in Israel since the outbreak of hostilities last week, the Government Press Office reports. The GPO has been working extra hours to provide press credentials, enabling access to conflict areas, to the new arrivals. They join the already 1,400-strong members of the foreign press registered in the country.

In Egyptian-moderated ceasefire efforts, Egyptian sources have leaked some or all of the purported Israeli and Hamas truce demands — three from each side — which form an ostensible working paper.

Hamas wants: 1) all border crossings to and from Gaza opened 24 hours a day; 2) an end to Israeli targeted strikes on its personnel; 3) to keep its arms and have the rest of Gaza’s armed groups remain armed too.

Israel wants: 1) All terror groups disarmed; 2) a guaranteed halt to rocket attacks on Israel; 3) a guaranteed long-term ceasefire.

All this, according to Channel 2, being reported as alarms sound over Beersheba.

Udi Segal, the channel’s diplomatic correspondent, says Israel certainly wants a long-term ceasefire, and to create a wider buffer zone on the Gaza border.

There have been 11 million efforts to crash Peres’s website, his spokeswoman tells Channel 2.

Earlier in the channel’s all-day news coverage, Yossi Beilin, former Labor minister, says “Hamas will emerge stronger” from this conflict, which has put it “front and center” internationally, boosting its legitimacy. Beilin says Israel has nothing to achieve longterm with Hamas, but does have a partner in Mahmoud Abbas.

A former spokesman for Ariel Sharon, the bushy-eyebrowed, bulldog-spirited Raanan Gissin speaks sadly about Israel’s fading international legitimacy, in this conflict and generally. As they say in English, he laments, “it’s slip-sliding away.”

A barrage of rockets, in the space of a few minutes, rains down on southern communities including Beersheba, Ashkelon, and Eshkol region. Iron Domes intercepts several rockets, some fall in open spaces, no reports of injuries.

Iron Dome intercepts a rocket heading toward Beersheba.

Five Palestinians have been injured during clashes with Israeli security forces during a demonstration near Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, Ma’an News reports.

Israel under attack:

Hamas military wing says it is responsible for the last volley of 10 rockets toward Ashkelon.

Palestinian sources report the IAF recently destroyed several tunnels along the Gaza-Egyptian border in three separate attacks.

Six more rockets intercepted by Iron Dome near Ashkelon.

An official close to PM Netanyahu says Israel is ready for a ground assault on Gaza, but prefers to come to a ceasefire agreement, according to a brief Reuters report.

“We would prefer to see a diplomatic solution that would guarantee the peace for Israel’s population in the south,” the official says. “But if diplomacy fails, we may well have no alternative but to send in ground forces.”

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad calls for Palestinian unity, including a reconciliation between Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in the face of the Gaza hostilities.

He also asserts that the “vast majority” of Palestinian casualties from Operation Pillar of Defense are women and children, and calls on the international community to take steps to stop ”Israeli aggression.”

“The Prime Minister calls on international powers to move, without delay, and intervene to stop the Israeli aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip, which has killed and injured hundreds of citizens, the vast majority of who are women and children,” reads a post on the Facebook profile of the Palestinian Government Media Center. “Dr. Fayad considers that the true test of the international community is its ability to assume its legal, political and moral responsibilities in stopping this grave escalation that threatens the region with further instability.”

Palestinian news agencies have so far reported on 84 Palestinian death since the offensive started, saying that about half were non-combatants, and up to 700 wounded.

According to the Palestinian Media Center, Fayyad also is calling for a “high-level leadership” meeting of all Palestinian factions, including the PLO Executive Committee, Hamas and “Islamic Jihad movements.”

Two rockets hit Ashkelon. One explodes between apartment buildings, no reports of injuries.

President Shimon Peres meets with Middle East Quartet envoy and former British prime minister Tony Blair in Jerusalem to discuss the conflict with Gaza.

At a joint press conference Peres said that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is fulfilling an important function, and it is therefore strange that Hamas doesn’t hold Morsi in any esteem, whereas Israel does.

Peres thanks Blair for his support of Israel’s positon. Peres added that Iran is supplying Hamas with weapons, funds, and training and isn’t interested in ending the dispute.

Blair says the United States, Egypt, the United Nations and the Quartet are working together to try arrange a ceasefire.

Another rocket lands near Sderot, causing no injuries, amid continuing reports of sirens in Sderot and Sha’ar Hanegev.

Israel Radio’s diplomatic correspondent Chico Menashe says Israel’s leaders are toiling to produce a counteroffer to the ceasefire proposal presented by Egypt. Menashe says there is some disagreement about the details of the offer, including on whether a truce will precede discussion of long term calm.

Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon says that while it is good that there is an active diplomatic push, if an agreement isn’t reached soon, Israel will have to carry out its planned ground incursion.

Iron Dome intercepts four missiles in the skies over Ashdod.

Reports that Iron Dome intercepted two rockets en route to Sderot.

Channel 2 diplomatic correspondent Udi Segal was just on the air. In his opinion, before starting a ground operation in Gaza, Israel is planning to give Egypt and other countries more time to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas.

Haaretz financial reporter Zvi Zrahia says the cost of Operation Pillar of Defense could range from one billion shekels, if the fighting ends in the next few days, to several billion if it goes on to include a ground incursion.

For comparison, the 2008 Operation Cast Lead cost nearly 3 billion shekels and the 2006 Second Lebanon War cost upwards of 8 billion.

Palestinian demonstrations are planned for today across the West Bank, including at the Qalandiya checkpoint and in Jenin, Nablus and Hebron, according to Al Jazeera.

Ma’an News reports that “dozens of youths” are throwing rocks at an Israeli military station next to Rachel’s Tomb, just outside of Jerusalem in Bethlehem.

The Hamas military wing claims credit for 10 Grad rockets launched at Ofakim earlier today, the Hebrew media reports.

Two rockets struck a short while ago in open areas near Sderot. No damage or injuries reported.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is to pay a visit to Gaza tomorrow along with an Arab League delegation, the Turkish media reports.

Davutoglu is currently in Cairo, where he is to hold meetings on the Gaza situation with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Qatari PM Hamad bin Jassim.

Reports now that the school in Ashkelon was in fact hit by a rocket, not debris from an Iron Dome interception as was thought possible. @IronDomeCount tweets, “Working at full capacity to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Palestinians are demonstrating on Route 443 against the IDF Pillar of Defense operation in Gaza. Demonstrators are throwing rocks and trying to block the road, a major east-west route in the middle of Israel. Army troops and police are at the scene trying to disperse the crowds.

Haaretz publishes a poll indicating that while 84 percent of the Israeli public supports Operation Pillar of Defense, only 30% support a ground operation in Gaza.

The poll also analyzes the political implications of the operation, with Defense Minister Ehud Barak the big winner. His Independence party is now predicted to remain in the Knesset following the January elections, where previous polls had indicated he would not pass the minimum threshold to gain a seat.

Reports in the Hebrew media that the Philippine government is planning to send a delegation to Israel and Gaza to examine the possibility of evacuating its citizens from Gaza. There are an estimated 100 Philippine nationals in Gaza, most of them married to locals.

Gaza civilians, caught in the crossfire between Israel and terror groups:

China has released a statement calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, according to a Reuters report. China has traditionally refrained from engaging in Middle-Eastern issues, although it has come under fire for its support of Syria’s Assad government in the UN Security Council.

“China is extremely concerned about Israel’s continued large-scale military operations towards the Gaza Strip…China supports Arab countries’ position on the Palestine issue…We strongly urge relevant parties, especially Israel, to maintain maximum restraint and cease fire as soon as possible, to avoid any actions which may exacerbate the situation or raise tensions,” the statement reads in part.

Iranian News agency IRNA reports on a phone conversation between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi, in which Ahmadinejad reiterated the need for achieving an international consensus against the continuation of Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Ahmadinejad reportedly thanked Morsi for his efforts to resume tranquility and sustainable security to Gaza.

“Our religious and humanitarian duties oblige us to try to prevent the further massacre of defenseless Palestinians and restore tranquility and sustainable security in the region and throughout the entire Palestinian territories,” the Iranian president is quoted as saying.

“It is necessary that all-out efforts be made to put an end to the killing and massacre of women, children and the oppressed people of Gaza and Palestine,” Ahmadinejad continues.

Going around Twitter is a link to this MEMRI video, a translation of a terrorist propaganda song allegedly produced recently in Gaza. The song, done in pop Arabic style, threatens to send missiles to Tel Aviv and destroy the Israeli army and also references the (since discredited) Hamas claim that it downed an IAF fighter jet at the beginning of the current hostilities, among other topics.

Al Jazeera reports that according to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Prisoners Affairs, 120 Palestinians have been detained by Israel since Operation Pillar of Defense was initiated last Wednesday.

Walla news reports that a elementary school in Ashkelon has been damaged, either by a rocket or by falling debris from an Iron Dome interception. No injuries.

Hamas television reports, then retracts report on journalists killed by Israeli airstrike.

The attack, it turns out, was on a taxi marked with the word TV, but the vehicle’s occupants were not reporters.

It is yet unclear who the victims of the attack were.

News 1 reports that a delegation of mayors from around Israel are making a solidarity visit to Sderot and Ashkelon this morning.

Ma’an News reports that a car in Gaza City was targeted by an airstrike, resulting in one dead.

Channel 2 is reporting that two rockets were just intercepted by Iron Dome over Ashkelon.

Palestinian media reports that about 30 minutes ago two Palestinians riding a motorcycle were killed by an airstrike in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

UPDATE: Ma’an reports that the two casualties were actually bystanders, and the motorcyclist escaped the strike.

Reports that two or three rockets have landed in the Eshkol region; no reports of injuries or damage.

An Israeli envoy left Cairo Sunday night after receiving Hamas’s conditions for a ceasefire, the independent Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reports.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi tells Egyptian press that he has no guarantees that Israel will implement a ceasefire, but that there are “indicators” that such an agreement was reached.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is expected to arrive in Cairo today to hold talks with Morsi.

Security forces conclude that the explosion near Eilat this morning was caused by the accidental detonation of an old explosive device. The exact kind of device involved is not clear.

A tractor working on the new border fence between Israel and Egypt went over the device, setting it off. The tractor driver was treated for shock. Security forces are not treating the incident as a deliberate attack.

The IDF reports that one of the targets hit in overnight airstrikes was the main soccer stadium in Gaza, where terrorists had set up a rocket launching area. The IDF also says that a cache of weapons was buried under the playing field.

IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai says the air force also struck six rocket firing squads in the past 12 hours in addition to attacks on 40 Gaza smuggling tunnels, which he says will take a long time to rebuild.

Mordechai says there has been a decrease of 40 percent in rocket fire into Israel.

Civil Aviation chief Giora Rom says Israel has adjusted flight paths for commercial planes leaving and departing Ben Gurion International Airport due to rocket fire from Gaza on the center of the country.

Rom says the new flight paths were put in place on Saturday, when an Iron Dome battery was installed nearby

There have been no indications that the conflict has influenced commercial air traffic in the country.

The IDF spokesperson tweets some numbers. Since the hostilities began five days ago, 848 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza. Of those, 302 have been intercepted by Iron Dome and 546 landed in Israel.

(Most of those that landed did minimal damage in open areas. The Iron Dome system only intercepts incoming rockets if they are heading toward population centers.)

Veteran journalists Haim Yavin and Gadi Sukenik are being interviewed about the media’s coverage of the conflict on Channel 2. Both men are criticizing the near absence of the Palestinian side’s narrative in the Hebrew press.

Sukenik says news reports are censoring out much of the bloody images from the raw footage it receives from Gaza.

Musa Abumarzuq, deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, explains the organization’s version of the Gaza conflict in an op-ed in The Guardian.

Abumarzuq says Hamas has the right to defend the Palestinian people against Israeli aggression if the world stands by. He also claims that the current round of fighting was orchestrated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in order to boost his popularity before the coming general elections in Israel.

Abumarzuq charges that the 1996 Second Lebanon War launched under the then Prime Minister Shimon Peres and the 2008 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza under Ehud Olmert’s premiership are examples of Israeli leaders going to war to gain popularity ahead of an election. (Neither Peres nor Olmert were reelected.)

Palestinian blogger Shahd Abusalama posts a list of the names and ages of people killed from Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip. The list, arranged in chronological order, details the manner of death of each of the 84 deceased. It doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians.

“We’ll remain ready to pay any price for attaining of freedom and dignity,” writes Abusalama.

Security forces say explosion in Eilat on Monday morning was caused by an anti-tank missile, apparently fired from Sinai. One person was treated for shock and there are no reports of other injuries or damage.

08:22

Security services say reported explosions in Eilat were not as a result of a rocket attack. Security forces and police are investigating the source of the loud noises heard in the resort town this morning.

Rockets lands in an open areas in the Shaar Hanegev and Eshkol regions. No reports of injuries or damage.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrives in the region today, stopping first in Egypt to meet with President Mohammed Morsi regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip and Israel.

In a statement, Ban said Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths of the civilians and “alarmed by the continuing firing of rockets against Israeli towns.”

The UN chief is expected in Israel later this week.

Palestinian sources calling the airstrike on a house in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City a “massacre.” The Associated Press is now reporting that four people were killed in that attack, including two children, and 42 people were injured.

The incident follows Sunday’s apparent accidental targeting of the Gaza home of the Dalo family, in which 11 people were killed, including several children.

The upsurge in civilian casualties over the last 24 hours is likely to increase international pressure on Israel to negotiate an end to hostilities.

Medical officials in the Gaza Strip say the overnight death toll has risen to nine people, including the three from the Israeli airstrike in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

Palestinian sources reporting heavy casualties after the IAF struck a house in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

Medical officials cited by Reuters say that three people, including two children, were killed and some 30 injured in the attack.

Imprisoned terrorist Marwan Barghouti is calling on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to visit the Gaza Strip in order to “demonstrate the stability of the resistance,” according to the Ma’an News Agency.

According to the report, Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison on multiple charges of murder, condemned the “Israeli aggression” and called the offensive on Gaza and attack on all Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims and citizens of the free world.

Palestinian sources reporting that the Al Abbas police station in Gaza City has been struck by the Israeli Air Force.

According to the sources, the station is close to the Al-Shifa hospital, which is the Gaza Strip’s central medical facility.

For the last couple of hours, quiet in southern Israel.

Fifty rockets were shot down by Iron Dome on Sunday, and the IDF says that Hamas’s firing capability is dwindling.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz announces that starting Monday reserve soldiers will be able to use all forms of transportation, including Jerusalem’s light rail system, free of charge.

Palestinian sources are reporting that two people are dead after an Israeli airstrike on a car in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, the party’s legislative body has called for an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza, according to the Ma’an News Agency.

After a late night meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman have approved the expansion of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and preparations for a ground incursion, reports Walla News.

PA official Nabil Shaath tells Ma’an news agency from Cairo that although negotiations between Hamas and an Israeli representative have entered “a serious stage”, a ceasefire will not likely be finalized soon.

Shaath says he has been fully updated on developments by Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal and his deputy Moussa Abu-Marzouq who are both in Cairo.

According to Shaath, Hamas and the other factions in Gaza are demanding the following conditions for a ceasefire to take effect:

1. Israel must completely lift the blockade on Gaza.

2. Israel must stop its incursions into the Gaza Strip.

3. Israel must stop targeted killings of faction leaders in Gaza.

4. Israel must stop attacking Gaza fishermen and firing at them.

The Israeli conditions, reported by Palestinian sources on Ma’an are as follows:

1. The ceasefire must last for over 15 years.

2. Weapons must no longer be let into Gaza.

3. Hamas and the factions must stop shooting missiles and targeting Israeli forces on the border.

4. Israel may conduct a “hot” pursuit into the Gaza Strip if it has information on an imminent attack.

5. The removal of the blockade will be done from the Egyptian side, not the Israeli.

6. President Morsi is the personal guarantor for the agreement, and not Egyptian security forces.

Shaath tells Ma’an that Mashaal could not speak of a timetable for implementing the agreement, due to “the threats of [Benjamin] Netanyahu.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval rating is at 73%, indicates a poll sponsored by Channel 2 News and conducted after the start of Operation Pillar of Defense.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has a 66% approval rating, according to the poll.