WarSclerotic

ISIS seizes oil field and towns in Syria’s east, Al Arabiya News, July 3, 2014

Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria’s northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. (Reuters)

Militants from the Islamic State group seized control of Syria’s largest oil field from rival Islamist fighters on Thursday, strengthening its advance across the eastern Deir al-Zor province, an opposition monitoring group said.

The capture of the al-Omar oil field gives Islamic State control of crude reserves which could be useful to its advancing fighters, and underlines how the al Qaeda offshoot has eclipsed its militant rivals by capturing territory and assets across Syria and Iraq in the past few weeks.

It has declared an Islamic ‘caliphate’ on lands it has seized in both countries, and urged Muslims worldwide to flock there and wage holy war.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State “took leadership” of the oil field from Nusra Front, the official wing of al-Qaeda in Syria.

A video posted on the Internet showed a group of armed men dressed in black outside what they said was the entrance to al-Omar oil field.

One fighter said they had not faced any resistance from Nusra Front and that they had captured the field on the fifth day of Ramadan, or Thursday.

“God is greatest and thanks to God. Islamic State! God is greatest!” the men chanted. It was not possible to independently verify the contents of the video.

Nusra Front, which had captured the oil field from the Syrian government in November, had claimed to be producing around 10,000 barrels of oil a day from the field, which has a capacity of 75,000.

Syria is not a significant oil producer and has not exported any oil since late 2011, when international sanctions took effect to raise pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.

Before sanctions, Syria exported 370,000 barrels per day, mainly to Europe.

Towns captured

Nusra Front fighters also withdrew from two towns in Deir al-Zor on Thursday, leaving most of the border province under the control of advancing forces of the Islamic State, the Observatory said.

It said the Nusra Front pulled out of Mayadin and Shuhail, the group’s regional stronghold, while local tribal fighters had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which has also swept through Sunni Muslim provinces in Iraq.

The Observatory, a British-based monitoring group, said the Islamic State, previously called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), now controls an area of Syria five times the size of neighboring Lebanon.

It has followed al Qaeda’s hardline ideology, but has alienated Osama bin Laden’s successor Ayman al-Zawahri and other Islamists with its extreme violence.

The jihadi group, which claims authority over Muslims worldwide, has seized weapons from arms depots in Syria and Iraq, money from bank vaults in cities it has overrun, and controls other oil fields and farmlands.

In Deir al-Zor province only the regional capital and airport – still held by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces – and a few villages remain outside the Islamic State’s control, the Observatory said.

Earlier this week the Islamic State seized the town of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi frontier from the Nusra Front, securing both sides of the border crossing.

Andrew Klavan: Who Put the BS in BDS?, Truth Revolt, Andrew Klavan, July 2, 2014

In which our host, Andrew Klavan, points out that the leftists behind the current Boycott, Divestment and Sanction, or BDS, efforts against the State of Israel are not at all anti-semitic. They just hate Jews and want to kill them…

TRANSCRIPT:

RT:  WHO PUT THE BS IN BDS?

I’m Andrew Klavan and this is the Revolting Truth.

Many[1] people have voiced disapproval of the BDS movement. Personally, I feel if some hapless schmuck likes to be chained up while a woman smacks him with a whip that’s nobody’s business but…  No, wait, maybe that’s BDSM, the sex thing. BDS is the one where they want to kill all the Jews. Eh, that’s not so good.

Of[2] course the BDS movement doesn’t really want to kill all the Jews. They just want boycotts, divestments and sanctions against the state of Israel until the nation’s so weak it can be overrun by its enemies so THEY can kill all the Jews.  So it’s not like BDSers are Nazis or anything.  They’re more like the Nazis’ cute little sidekicks.  Like Hitler and the Seven Dwarves!  Stinky, Nasty, Junky, Lousy, Crappy and Himmler…  and… Doc.

You see, Hitler’s horrific racist slaughter of Jewish people taught left wingers that we mustn’t demonize the Other. And Edward Said’s book Orientalism taught left wingers that the Other equals Palestinian Muslims.  And Palestinian Muslims want to destroy Israel so left wingers have to help kill all the Jews to prevent another Holocaust.

But[3] there are plenty of other reasons to boycott Israel too! For instance, women’s rights!  In Saudi Arabia, women can’t leave home without a male escort and they’re forced to wear veils and robes covering every inch of their skin. In Israel they just let the pesky critters run around free wearing whatever they want… which can cause men to have all kinds of filthy thoughts. I’m having some now. It’s disturbing.

Likewise[4], in Israel there’s all this religious tension because Israel lets people of all faiths worship in whatever way they want. You don’t see religious dissent in Muslim countries. Are you kidding? Those people’ll kill you!  So BDS wants to bring Israel down in order to keep religious peace throughout the Middle East.

The[5] key point is that just because BDSers are trying to destroy the Jewish state alone out of all the nations, just because they’re holding Israel to a higher standard than other countries in the region, just because they’re targeting the one Middle Eastern land where people are free and differences are tolerated, that doesn’t mean they’re anti-semitic.  They’re probably great people…  who just haven’t really thought things through.

I’m Andrew Klavan with the Revolting Truth.

Some murders are different, Israel Hayom, Richard Baehr, July 3, 2014

The world press is hot on a story it wants to cover — a Palestinian teenager is forced ‎into a car, and is found murdered hours later. A verdict has been rendered — ‎the murderer had to have been an Israeli settler, seeking vengeance after the ‎kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers two weeks earlier. It may well be ‎that this murder went down exactly as it is described. In any sense, it is ghastly, and ‎Israeli officials have been quick to condemn it, however it happened. ‎

The bigger story is the wave of relief this latest murder has created for the ‎international press, since it has enabled them and the rest of the “international ‎community” to turn the page from the horrific slaughter of the three young Israelis for which there is ‎little doubt about responsibility, to one that better fits their biases and beliefs.‎

The latest murder, if in fact a tit-for-tat killing, is one that will get the storyline back ‎to where it needs to be and where the international community is in its comfort ‎zone — that settlers, and the occupation are at the bottom of all the troubles in the ‎area. The reporting in American newspapers on the kidnapping, and then the ‎discovery of the bodies of the three Israeli teens, almost never failed to mention ‎that the boys were settlers, despite the fact that only one of them lived in the West ‎Bank, and the boys were not the decision-makers in their families as to where to ‎live or study in any case. Presumably from the media coverage, it is problematic for ‎Jews to even study at a yeshiva in the area. Of course the area in which they were ‎abducted (Gush Etzion) contained Jewish villages before the partition plan passed ‎by the United Nations in 1947, and that plan allowed Jews to continue to live there ‎in the new Arab majority state that was created, as Arabs were allowed to live in ‎the Jewish majority state that was created. It was Jordan’s occupation and then ‎annexation of the West Bank after that war (in which they and other Arab armies ‎invaded the new Jewish state to destroy it), a seizure and colonialist expansion ‎never recognized by anyone except Britain and Pakistan, that led to the area ‎becoming Judenrein. But Jews never lost their right to live or work or study in the ‎area, despite the media’s ignorance of history, and international law.‎

Israeli officials believe they know the identity of the murderers of the three Israeli ‎teenagers — two Hamas members from the Hebron area, who went missing the night ‎of the abduction. The kidnapping was ‎likely planned and executed to force Israel into another disproportionate prisoner ‎exchange, as occurred after five years with the captive solider Gilad Schalit, ‎exchanged for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom have since ‎returned to terror activities soon after their release. ‎

The participation by Hamas members in such an operation, was embarrassing to ‎the Palestinian Authority which had recently achieved the latest in a series of unity ‎deals with Hamas, this one sold as creating a new government filled with ‎technocrats, rather than say murderers of, or apologists for and planners for the ‎murder of Jews in Israel or the territories. The technocrat malarkey was enough ‎for President Barack Obama, who pledged continued U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority ‎despite legislation that seemed on its face to bar aid to a Palestinian government ‎which included Hamas. Then again, why should compliance with established law ‎be more important for the president in this circumstance when the administration ‎had so cavalierly and consistently ignored other laws on immigration, health care, ‎recess appointments, and the operation of federal agencies (e.g., the Internal Revenue Service) when it ‎suited him? ‎

The PA, perhaps sensing a new financial risk to the international aid dollars that ‎make it the world’s greatest welfare dependency, criticized the abduction, and ‎allowed some PA security forces to assist Israel in its search for the missing teens ‎‎(who apparently were killed within minutes of their abduction). Hamas applauded ‎the abduction, and its members and supporters carried on as they normally do ‎when these things occur — celebrating and ululating, and passing out sweets, to ‎share in the joy of Israeli families’ misery. Of course, these Palestinian mothers ‎include some who had willingly sent their children out to carry out mass murder ‎with suicide vests attached to them, and then pledged their devotion to providing ‎future jihadists to the noble cause of murdering Jews. ‎

Bret Stephens described the pride and joy he heard from some ‎Palestinian mothers of earlier terrorist suicide bombers and concluded:‎

‎”As for the Palestinians and their inveterate sympathizers in the ‎West, perhaps they should note that a culture that too often ‎openly celebrates martyrdom and murder is not fit for statehood, ‎and that making excuses for that culture only makes it more ‎unfit. Postwar Germany put itself through a process of moral ‎rehabilitation that began with a recognition of what it had done. ‎Palestinians who want a state should do the same, starting with ‎the mothers.”‎

This rebuke to the culture of martyrdom flies in the face of the ‎conventional wisdom on what is really perpetuating the Arab-‎Israeli conflict. The font of established international wisdom on ‎these matters, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, had ‎the answer for Stephens — that in the Middle East, there are ‎‎”arsonists and firefighters.” Arsonists include the kidnappers of the three Israelis ‎‎(to be fair, Friedman was unaware the boys had been murdered ‎at the time he wrote the column), and Israeli cabinet members ‎who back new housing for Israel’s growing population (the ‎highest birth rate in the world among developed countries):‎

‎”The Palestinian extremists who recently kidnapped three ‎Israeli youths were arsonists, aiming to blow up any hope of ‎restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and to embarrass ‎Palestinian moderates. But they had help. Radical Jewish ‎settler supporters in the Israeli cabinet, like Naftali Bennett ‎and Housing Minister Uri Ariel, are arsonists. Ariel ‎deliberately announced plans to build 700 new housing units ‎for Jews in Arab East Jerusalem — timed to torpedo Secretary ‎of State John Kerry’s shuttle diplomacy. And they did.”‎

Kidnappers and murderers are extremist. Cabinet members ‎who support new housing in communities that would almost ‎certainly remain as part of Israel, if Friedman’s beloved two-‎state solution were realized, are radicals. There is not much ‎moral difference for Friedman between kidnapping teenagers ‎and brutally murdering them, and building more apartments ‎in areas that are now and will almost certainly remain part of ‎one’s country. As for the argument that the two Hamas ‎kidnappers/murderers were merely trying to blow up the non‎existent peace process, Friedman assumes that other parties ‎are as obsessed with the “process” as he is — some working to ‎move it along (firefighters), others trying to destroy it ‎‎(arsonists). When you believe that this process is critical to ‎everything that goes on between the Muslim world and the ‎West, it makes sense to make such an argument, even if there ‎is little or no evidence to support it. ‎

Neither Friedman nor his paper would ever even consider ‎that Islamists’ hatred of Jews might be an explanation for the ‎recent murders of Jews in Belgium, France, and Israel. For ‎him, it is always the occupation and settlements. The murder ‎of Jews around the world by Arabs is collateral damage for ‎the real crime, the original sin of building new housing units ‎in Jerusalem. ‎

Not surprisingly, The New York Times, which has become the ‎most reliable path to understanding the thinking of the ‎current U.S. administration, published another article‎ attempting to equate the mothers of the Israeli kidnap victims ‎with the mother of a Palestinian boy who was killed while ‎harassing and confronting Israelis searching for the three ‎teenagers. There is always moral ‎equivalence, and the suffering on the two sides will go on until ‎the new housing stops getting built. ‎

Obama condemned the murder of the three Israelis, ‎and also called for Israel to avoid any destabilizing responses. ‎Those apparently include striking back at Hamas, continuing ‎the search for the killers, and building new housing. Secretary ‎of State John Kerry wasted no time condemning the murder ‎of the Palestinian teenager, seemingly certain of the ‎perpetrator and the cause:

‎”The U.S. denounces in the strongest possible terms ‎the sickening and despicable and senseless abduction ‎and killing of Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir.‎ … Those who undertake acts of vengeance only ‎destabilize an already explosive and emotional ‎situation.”‎

We will find out more in the days ahead about both of the ‎abductions/murders. But the guilty parties will be seen as ‎different kind of villains for much of the world. Some murders ‎are different.‎

Israel sends troop reinforcements to Gaza border. National home front on heightened alert, DEBKAfile, July 3, 2014

Israeli tanks on Gaza border

Israeli defense officials passed the word to foreign news agencies Thursday, July 3, that troop reinforcements had been sent to the Gaza Strip border amid intensifying Palestinian rocket barrages. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the reinforcements almost certainly included tanks and self-propelled artillery.

A military official added that the Israeli Navy had reinforced its war fleet opposite Gaza’s Mediterranean coast, and the Home Front Command had raised the national level of alert

While highly reluctant to embark on a major offensive against Hamas in its Gaza stronghold, the Israeli government could scarcely continue to avoid real action after 30 rockets were aimed on the same day, July 2, against Ashkelon, Netivot, Sdot Negev, Sderot, Kerem Shalom and the Eshkol District. One slammed Thursday morning into a house in Sderot, causing heavy damage but no casualties.

The IDF clearly expects the Gaza missile barrage to widen out from targets in southern Israel to towns further north.

Tensions are also simmering in Jerusalem over the suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian boy, with further violent Palestinian outbreaks expected to accompany his funeral later Thursday.

The various sources said that, by passing word of a military buildup, Israel was most likely broadcasting a grave warning to Hamas to stop the missile barrage or else the IDF would step in for a wider operation than heretofore to achieve this purpose. Thus far, Hamas has not been persuaded by Israeli air strikes to rein in its own or fellow terrorist organizations shooting rockets at Israel.

‘Next 24 hours will show if Hamas gets the message,’ senior security source says | JPost | Israel News.

( Sickening…  Reminiscent of Obama’s “red line” on Syria. – JW )

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

07/03/2014 16:29

IDF increases preparedness in case Hamas fails to heed Israel’s call for quiet; Hamas is not behind all of the recent rocket attacks on Israel, but compared to the past, the IDF is seeing a growing Hamas role, source says.

Damage to a home in Sderot from rocket fire Thursday morning.

The coming 24 hours will show whether Hamas in Gaza has understood Israel’s message that rocket fire on the South must end, a senior security source said Thursday, as projectiles continued to rain down on southern towns, and trigger air raid sirens.

“We’ll see what the bottom line is… whether Hamas understands our message… within 24 hours, and then we’ll weigh our steps,” the source said.

Hamas is not behind all of the recent rocket attacks on Israel, but compared to the past, the IDF is seeing a growing Hamas role in projectile fire, the source added.

He spoke after 18 Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza slammed into southern Israel on Thursday, damaging homes in Sderot. The most recent rocket attack, in the afternoon, targeted the town of Ofakim, and one rocket fell in an open area near the town.

At the moment, “Our main mission is to transmit the message that quiet will be met with quiet,” the source added. Meanwhile, the IDF has deployed limited forces to the Gaza border region as part of a series of defensive measures, and to increase military preparedness in case Hamas does not respond to Israel’s call for quiet.

“We are taking steps [so that we are ready] in case Hamas chooses one solution, or another,” the source stated. To that end, the IDF is building up what the source described as “defensive efforts” against rocket attacks and cross-border terrorist infiltrations.

The deployment of IDF units toward Gaza is “only linked to this,” he said. “Our job is to prepare for all eventualities that might arise,” the source added, and stressed that “there is no call-up of reserves” or a large-scale military buildup under way.

Escalation scenario starting to fulfill itself – Israel Opinion, Ynetnews.

Analysis: With murderous terror attack in Judea and Samaria, rocket fire from Gaza and Jews seeking revenge, reality of past few weeks resembles scenario IDF has been preparing for.

Since the jolt in the Arab world began about three years ago, the IDF has been preparing for a scenario in which a flare-up on one of the fronts the Israeli army is dealing with will spread to other arenas and eventually spark a major war on two or three fronts.

In such a war, the Israeli home front will be hit with a large amount of missiles and rockets and will become, like the home front in Gaza and possibly in Lebanon, a main battlefield.

What happened in the past few weeks, and mainly in recent days, quite resembles this scenario, which the IDF refers to as “reasonable.”

It began with a murderous attack by Hamas 20 days ago. Gaza joined several days later with a growing pace of rocket and mortar shell fire at the western Negev, and the Israel Air Force responded. On Monday, the bodies of the three kidnapped teens were discovered, and on Tuesday 16-year-old Mohammad Abu Khdeir of Shuafat was murdered. It is still unclear whether the murder was nationalistically or criminally motivated. The Palestinians in Jerusalem did not wait and, as expected, responded with riots.

According to the scenario written in the IDF’s Operations Directorate, we are only in the beginning of the escalation, and we should hope that this scenario does not fulfill itself completely.

The incitement which began on Tuesday as the kidnapped teens were being buried has an emotional-impulsive component. The instigators want to hurt the Arabs, but more than that, they want to advance their political goal which is to expel the Arabs from the Greater Land of Israel.

Murdered Arab teen Mohammad Abu Khdeir

Can the rolling fireball be stopped? (Photo: Gettyimages)

This may very well be a third intifada (Photo: AFP)

The question is what should be done to stop the ball of fire which began rolling on Monday evening? First of all, a massive deployment of IDF and police forces in the territories and in friction areas in Israel.

In particularly sensitive areas, like Jerusalem for example, the police should set up roadblocks and send all forces to patrol the streets. In Judea and Samaria, the IDF must deploy and set up checkpoints, including mobile roadblocks and patrols and observations in the open fields, in order to prevent and create deterrence against additional acts of violence, both on the Palestinian side and on the Jewish side.

We must understand that originally, the biblical logic of “an eye for an eye” was aimed at deterring members of tribes wandering in the desert from breaking the law. Since then, this principle has been implemented as justification for revenge.

In our days it has a new twist. The moment one of my people has been murdered, I am not only waging a vendetta because I have been dishonored, but the victim narrative is now on my side and provides me with legitimacy to carry out an equally cruel act against my rival because I am the victim, and the victim – in other words, the underdog – is allowed to do anything.

Another measure is taking on all channels which shape and influence the public opinion, starting from the social networks to the synagogues and mosques. Rabbis and imams must be recruited, Facebook pages inciting to violence must be closed and Facebook pages calling for restraint must be opened. The social networks are a strong measure which can definitely be as effective as deploying massive forces on the ground.

The forces on the ground have to be massive so that they will not be forced to fire in self-defense at times of distress and will not cause casualties among the rioters, Jews or Palestinians. Every dead person in the current situation turns into a particularly explosive and inflammable material.

These are the main measures, and we must not forget the politicians, who must exercise maximum restraint on such days. Hanin Zoabi, for example, must be reminded by the Knesset that there is a limit even to the freedom of speech of an elected representative, and the limit is when the blood of innocent people might be shed as a direct result of such comments.

Restrain Jewish politicians as well

But Hanin Zoabi is not the only one who needs a reminder. They are quite a few Jewish politicians who must be restrained as well. Who will restrain them? The prime minister, for example, and it must be done quickly also in condemnation of the Arab youth’s murders.

Another measure is of course the coordination with the Palestinian Authority and its security organizations.

The riots place the cabinet, which has been trying for the past three days to decide on the proper response for the murder of the three teens, in a particularly difficult position. Absurdly, the Arab youth’s murder and the Jewish riots and racist calls for revenge on the social media are seriously eroding the international legitimacy Israel enjoyed until 48 hours ago.

With this legitimacy, Israel could have launched an operation in Gaza. Now, an operation in Gaza after Mohammad Abu Khdeir’s murder will likely spark a major flare-up, not only in Judea and Samaria but also in Egypt and Jordan, and maybe even the Lebanese will be glad to forget about their internal quarrels for a moment and join the activity against Israel – diplomatic activity or, God forbid, violent activity.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has already realized the potential this situation holds following the Arab teen’s murder, and he has already begun preparing his appeals to the UN for recognition. So in the current situation, restraint will not suffice.

What is happening now may very well be an expression of what we refer to as “a third intifada.” It must be clarified, however, that this intifada has been bubbling in the Judea and Samaria for a long time now, and that the teens’ murder only led to a volcanic outburst of the popular uprising Abbas has been talking about for a long time, which is in fact that third intifada.

The Yeshiva World IDF Ground Forces Amassing Along Gaza Border [UPDATED 14:21 IL] « » Frum Jewish News.

For Hamas it may have been one rocket attack too many as the IDF’s Gaza Division has given the order. Ground forces are mobilizing and taking up position near the Gaza border ahead of a possible military action. The navy is moving additional forces off the Gaza Coast. The IDF’s Homefront Command continues to monitor events.

The increasing frequency of rocket attacks appears to have convinced cabinet ministers that something must be done to restore the deterrence to permit southern residents to return to a normal life, one that does not compel being 15 seconds running distance from a shelter.

Some 15 rockets were fired into southern Israel since Wednesday night the eve of 5 Tammuz. There were power outages in Sderot during the night as a result and houses have been damaged. In one case, a rocket pierced a concrete wall and landed in a home that was operating a summer camp for children. B’chasdei Hashem there has not been any loss of life.

14:00:
Nana News adds that a “minimal call up of IDF reservists” is in progress, quoting a senior officer stating anonymously that the troops are for defensive purposes only, not for an offensive operation.

The Security Cabinet continues sending messages calling for calm to Hamas in an effort to halt rocket fire and eliminate the need for a military operation.

14:03:
Channel 10’s Ohr Heller quotes PA (Palestinian Authority) sources stating the IAF is striking the Rafiach area of Gaza at this time. There is no confirmation of this from IDF sources.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz held an assessment with senior commanders earlier and it is clear Israel is doing what it can to avoid a military ground forces operation in Gaza at this time. There are still diplomatic efforts involving Egypt to prevent an escalation as well but in reality, Hamas has already drawn the line in the sand with its frequent and continuous rocket fire.

Channel 10 adds Hamas commanders are already deep underground, literally hiding in shelters, realizing there will be a price to pay.

14:21:
Sirens sounded in Ofakim minutes. There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Miracle in Sderot: Rocket Hits Home, None Injured – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

Rocket damage in Sderot (archive)

A Kassam rocket fired by Gaza Arab terrorists struck a building in Sderot Thursday morning. No one was injured, but a home suffered extensive damage. The home is being used this summer as the base for a summer day camp. Miraculously, the rocket did not explode, and all the damage was sustained from the impact of the rocket. Children were set to come to the building for their day in camp just a few minutes after the attack.

It was the second building to be hit in Sderot since midnight. At least eight rockets fired by Gaza Arab terrorists hit areas within Israel. Two of the rockets fired Thursday morning were deflected by Iron Dome missiles.

Overnight Wednesday, several other rockets hit Israel, with one causing damage to a building in Sderot. No one was injured in that attack, and electricity was cut off to several buildings in the area. The Red Alert warning system sounded several times during the early hours of Thursday morning.

In response to the rocket attacks, IDF forces struck early Thursday in Gaza. Gaza sources reported several injuries in the IDF strike.

The security cabinet met again Wednesday night to discuss the current security situation. The cabinet has yet to announce any decisions about the situation in Gaza or the fierce rioting in Jerusalem Wednesday in the wake of the discovery of the body of an Arab teen earlier Wednesday.

IDF begins to shift forces south as rocket fire continues – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Officials says Hamas behind rocket fire at Israel, claims attack is in retribution for death of Palestinian teen Wednesday; as IDF prepare for possible Gaza operation.

Yoav Zitun

The IDF has begun shifting forces to the Gaza area, in preparation of a possible escalation in the conflict with Hamas. Israel believes Hamas was directly behind the massive rocket fire at Israel Thursday morning which saw more than 11 rockets slam into Israel, with three hitting residential structures and causing damage.

According to an official source within the defense establishment, Hamas has begun firing rockets itself in retribution for what the death of Mohammed Abu Khder, a Palestinian youth who was found dead in a Jerusalem forest Wednesday.

Police are investigating the possibility he was killed by Jews as a revenge attack for the murder of the three Israeli teens who were presumed to have been kidnapped but were discovered dead Monday in a West Bank valley.

The IDF began preparing for an escalation in the south and artillery forces training in other regions were transferred to the Gaza area. Though the forces were not large in number, they give the IDF the ability to quickly respond and embark on a larger operation, should it decide to do so.

A senior IDF official said that the IDF was “preparing for a wider operation in Gaza,” and Palestinians have reported that Israeli warships across from Gaza’s shores also seem to be preparing. It is possible the shift in forces is intended as a warning to Hamas.

It is far from certain that the IDF is planning to undertake a massive ground operation. Though both sides have expressed a desire not to escalate the situation, should rocket fire increase in scope and range or exact heavy causalities, the military will be forced to lock horns with Hamas.

Hamas rockets

Last Monday saw the first rocket attack by Hamas since the end of Operation Pillar of Defense ended in 2012, with a wave of attacks overnight Sunday and early Monday emanating from central Gaza refugee camps completely under Hamas control.

There a number of Palestinian factions active in Gaza and though Israel views Hamas as responsible for any rockets fired from the Gaza territory, the group generally avoids such direct attacks on Israel.

Hamas men in Gaza (Photo: EPA)

Ynet’s senior national security corresponded, Ron Ben-Yishai, claimed the current round of escalation had yet to reach its zenith: “We can still stop the Gaza escalation, but it currently seems unlikely. The fear is that tensions will spill into riots in Jerusalem which will further spread out.

“The norm is that before you take things one step up – you give some form of notice. The IDF needs to send the Palestinians the message that they are preparing themselves for the next escalation, whether it is a large operation or even an incursion into Gaza.”

Since the Pillar of Defense ended, the majority of rockets fired at Israel – currently standing at over 200 in 2014 alone – have been launched by either the Islamic Jihad or the Popular Resistance Committees. At time, smaller Salafist groups have also fired rockets or carried out attacks at Israel.

The fact that Hamas – which recently signed a controversial reconciliation agreement with Palestinian President Abbas’ Fatah movement – is behind the attack could mean the group has chosen to escalate its response to Israel’s retaliatory attacks.

Over ten rockets slammed into Israel overnight Wednesday and Thursday morning, with four of them hitting homes in Sderot. The last two struck a house in the city which hosted a summer camp and another residence. The rocket that penetrated the structure used as a camp failed to explode and no one was injured.

Three rockets exploded in populated areas in Sderot overnight Thursday, while one of them hit a student’s apartment in the city and the other exploded adjacent to an apartment building. Yet another rocket slammed into a wall of an outdoor rocket shelter, fracturing it. Some four people suffered anxiety as a result of the barrage.

In addition, two rockets from the morning barrage were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system and the others landed in open areas in Sdot Negev and Bnei Shimon in the northern Negev, apart from one that hit a greenhouse in the area.

About two hours following the barrage of rockets, the IAF attacked 15 Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip, including concealed rocket launchers, training compounds and weapon-storage facilities.

The IAF also struck rocket-launching terrorist cells in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The attack was carried out after a volley of rockets was fired on Wednesday afternoon at western Negev communities, continuing a general escalation in tensions. Direct hits were confirmed on all targets.