WarSclerotic

More than half of Israel under Hamas rocket attack – from Beersheba up to Greater Tel Aviv. No casualties. Hamas tries smuggling terrorists in by tunnels and sea, DEBKAfile, July 8, 2014

First Hamas rockets were fired or intercepted Tuesday night, July 8, over Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Givatayim, Raanana, Caesaria and Yavne, as well as southern Israeli cities. No casualties but a house was hit in North Jerusalem. Beyond shooting dozens of rockets, Hamas also made several attempts Tuesday, July 8, to smuggle terrorists into Israel for attacks. A Hamas naval commando which tried in the afternoon to land from the sea near Ashkelon’s Zikkim beach was repelled by an IDF coast guard. Later, another group of terrorists tried to creep into Israel through a tunnel running under the Kerem Shalom crossing. This was discovered when a tunnel exploded there under an Israeli military post. A large IDF force backed by tanks raked the entire area with fire in case of a network of hidden tunnels was serving Hamas to secretly transport terrorists to civilian locations in Israel. The people living there were told to stay at home and lock their doors.

A wide-ranging search continues in the Ashkelon coastal area in case Hamas terrorists made it through to land. Local roads are blocked.

During the day, the first Hamas rocket over Tel Aviv was blown up in mid-air by an Iron Dome battery after volley after volley hit southern and central Israel. .

In readiness for attack, public shelters were earlier opened in Tel Aviv, the beaches along the Mediterranean coast from the south to Netanyahu further north were cleared of bathers and Sdei Dov airport was been closed. Arrivals and departures of flights at Ben Gurion international and Eilat airports were thrown off schedule by Israeli Air Force sorties against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF called up another 40,000 reservists Tuesday, July 8, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered Operation Solid Rock expanded against mounting Palestinian rocket assaults – 100 by mid-afternoon. This was after Israel carried out dozens of air strikes Monday night, culminating during the day in raids that killed five leading Hamas operatives: Hamas Naval Commando chief Mahmoud Shaaban, 24, and three passengers were killed when their car was hit from the air. Another airborne raid bombed the Rafah home of Abdul Rahman Juda which served as a command and control center. Thirty Palestinians were injured.

Magen David Adom has treated nine people for minor injuries and anxiety attacks from emergency call centers in the southern and central Israeli regions under rocket attack.

The high-intensity rocket offensive from Gaza, now in its fourth week, has seriously disrupted normal life for millions of Israelis in the rocket-blasted regions – especially within a 40km radius from Gaza. Ashdod port has stopped working, major transport routes like the Ashkelon-Sderot railway halted, end-of-term exams in colleges postponed, children sent home from summer camps and social events called off.

DEBKAfile reported earlier Tuesday: Israeli finally launched its military operation Solid Rock against Hamas Monday night, July 7, after the Palestinians directed a steady stream of 100 rockets from Gaza to expanded targets as far as Rehovot, 50 km away. Most of the 50 IDF strikes were conducted from the air and two from the sea. Ten destroyed Hamas infrastructure facilities plus 4 private buildings which, according to the Palestinians, included the homes of the Hamas commander and a Democratic Front operative in Khan Younes, after Israel gave them advance warning. Hamas reported 17 injured – but kept on shooting rockets through the night and early Tuesday, threatening to further expand the range of their rocket fire.

The government and the IDF have billed the operation as a long-term, staged offensive to destroy Hamas’ logistical and strategic infrastructure, to be escalated stage by stage as needed, up to a limited ground incursion, which would require additional reserve call-ups, as well targeted assassinations. This progression will be adjusted to the enemy’s response and how quickly “quiet is restored to the South.”

The population has been forewarned that the contest may be protracted and asked to refrain from public events within a 40km radius from Gaza.

Iron Dome batteries are in place.

Israel’s security cabinet and the IDF command are counting on the prospect of losing its infrastructure deterring Hamas and persuading it to halt its rocket war on Israel.

But Hamas has its own game book and is unlikely to play by the rules dictated by Israel.

Both sides have therefore entered a dark corridor in which the two adversaries will try and outdo each other in damage. Israel began by limiting itself to air strikes. Hamas hit back with a mighty barrage of 100 missiles and expanding its range of targets.

The rules of Operation Solid Rock now require Israel to scale its response up to the next stage, in response to which Hamas will no doubt go for Tel Aviv. No one seems to know how this tit-for-tat duel will end.

The inherent weakness of the thinking behind Israeli military operation is that it requires the IDF to catch up with and undo the damage caused by Israel’s passivity after the three boys, Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, were kidnapped and murdered on July 12. The IDF’s campaign against its facilities on the West Bank left Hamas more confident than ever. In the space of a month, the Palestinian Islamists have maneuvered Israel into launching not one but two major operations – Brother’s Keeper to find the kidnapped boys and their abductors (who are still at large) and now Solid Rock – and they still hold the initiative against Israel, as well as the whip hand in the Palestinian movement.

They certainly owe their advantage in part to the atrocious murder by a handful of Israelis of the Palestinian boy Muhammad Abu Khdeir from Shuafat, Jerusalem. This was a gift which Hamas had never dreamed of. The Islamists have been able to assert control over and calibrate Palestinian fury across the board, in Gaza, the West Bank and the Israeli Arab community – a second front against Israel.

With all these cards stacked against Solid Rock, the IDF will have its work cut out to repair the damage and bring its operation to a successful conclusion.

On the diplomatic front, Israel suffered another letdown when Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi disappointed the hopes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had vested in him to intercede powerfully with Hamas for a ceasefire. El-Sisi decided that the Israeli-Hamas conflict was a minor episode in regional terms and no real threat to Egypt’s national interests and dropped his role as peace broker.

This was a bitter disappointment to Jerusalem. It left Israel facing the Palestinian aggressor alone, but for the Europeans. They are willing to assume this role, but they are seeking the restoration of the short-lived Palestinian reconciliation and a unity government, which is the direct opposite of Netanyahu’s most fervent objective.

First rockets over Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Caesarea, Rishon. No casualties, Hamas tries sending terror squads into Israel through tunnels and by sea, DEBKAfile, July 8, 2014

First Hamas rockets were fired or intercepted Tuesday night, July 8, over Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Givatayim, Raanana, Caesaria and Yavne, as well as southern Israeli cities. No casualties but a house was hit in North Jerusalem. Beyond shooting dozens of rockets, Hamas also made several attempts Tuesday, July 8, to smuggle terrorists into Israel for attacks. A Hamas naval commando which tried in the afternoon to land from the sea near Ashkelon’s Zikkim beach was repelled by an IDF coast guard. Later, another group of terrorists tried to creep into Israel through a tunnel running under the Kerem Shalom crossing. This was discovered when a tunnel exploded there under an Israeli military post. A large IDF force backed by tanks raked the entire area with fire in case of a network of hidden tunnels was serving Hamas to secretly transport terrorists to civilian locations in Israel. The people living there were told to stay at home and lock their doors.

A wide-ranging search continues in the Ashkelon coastal area in case Hamas terrorists made it through to land. Local roads are blocked.

During the day, the first Hamas rocket over Tel Aviv was blown up in mid-air by an Iron Dome battery after volley after volley hit southern and central Israel.

In readiness for attack, public shelters were earlier opened in Tel Aviv, the beaches along the Mediterranean coast from the south to Netanyahu further north were cleared of bathers and Sdei Dov airport was been closed. Arrivals and departures of flights at Ben Gurion international and Eilat airports were thrown off schedule by Israeli Air Force sorties against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF called up another 40,000 reservists Tuesday, July 8, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered Operation Solid Rock expanded against mounting Palestinian rocket assaults – 100 by mid-afternoon. This was after Israel carried out dozens of air strikes Monday night, culminating during the day in raids that killed five leading Hamas operatives: Hamas Naval Commando chief Mahmoud Shaaban, 24, and three passengers were killed when their car was hit from the air. Another airborne raid bombed the Rafah home of Abdul Rahman Juda which served as a command and control center. Thirty Palestinians were injured.

Magen David Adom has treated nine people for minor injuries and anxiety attacks from emergency call centers in the southern and central Israeli regions under rocket attack.

The high-intensity rocket offensive from Gaza, now in its fourth week, has seriously disrupted normal life for millions of Israelis in the rocket-blasted regions – especially within a 40km radius from Gaza. Ashdod port has stopped working, major transport routes like the Ashkelon-Sderot railway halted, end-of-term exams in colleges postponed, children sent home from summer camps and social events called off.

DEBKAfile reported earlier Tuesday: Israeli finally launched its military operation Solid Rock against Hamas Monday night, July 7, after the Palestinians directed a steady stream of 100 rockets from Gaza to expanded targets as far as Rehovot, 50 km away. Most of the 50 IDF strikes were conducted from the air and two from the sea. Ten destroyed Hamas infrastructure facilities plus 4 private buildings which, according to the Palestinians, included the homes of the Hamas commander and a Democratic Front operative in Khan Younes, after Israel gave them advance warning. Hamas reported 17 injured – but kept on shooting rockets through the night and early Tuesday, threatening to further expand the range of their rocket fire.

The government and the IDF have billed the operation as a long-term, staged offensive to destroy Hamas’ logistical and strategic infrastructure, to be escalated stage by stage as needed, up to a limited ground incursion, which would require additional reserve call-ups, as well targeted assassinations. This progression will be adjusted to the enemy’s response and how quickly “quiet is restored to the South.”

The population has been forewarned that the contest may be protracted and asked to refrain from public events within a 40km radius from Gaza.

Iron Dome batteries are in place.

Israel’s security cabinet and the IDF command are counting on the prospect of losing its infrastructure deterring Hamas and persuading it to halt its rocket war on Israel.

But Hamas has its own game book and is unlikely to play by the rules dictated by Israel.

Both sides have therefore entered a dark corridor in which the two adversaries will try and outdo each other in damage. Israel began by limiting itself to air strikes. Hamas hit back with a mighty barrage of 100 missiles and expanding its range of targets.

The rules of Operation Solid Rock now require Israel to scale its response up to the next stage, in response to which Hamas will no doubt go for Tel Aviv. No one seems to know how this tit-for-tat duel will end.

The inherent weakness of the thinking behind Israeli military operation is that it requires the IDF to catch up with and undo the damage caused by Israel’s passivity after the three boys, Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, were kidnapped and murdered on July 12. The IDF’s campaign against its facilities on the West Bank left Hamas more confident than ever. In the space of a month, the Palestinian Islamists have maneuvered Israel into launching not one but two major operations – Brother’s Keeper to find the kidnapped boys and their abductors (who are still at large) and now Solid Rock – and they still hold the initiative against Israel, as well as the whip hand in the Palestinian movement.

They certainly owe their advantage in part to the atrocious murder by a handful of Israelis of the Palestinian boy Muhammad Abu Khdeir from Shuafat, Jerusalem. This was a gift which Hamas had never dreamed of. The Islamists have been able to assert control over and calibrate Palestinian fury across the board, in Gaza, the West Bank and the Israeli Arab community – a second front against Israel.

With all these cards stacked against Solid Rock, the IDF will have its work cut out to repair the damage and bring its operation to a successful conclusion.

On the diplomatic front, Israel suffered another letdown when Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi disappointed the hopes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had vested in him to intercede powerfully with Hamas for a ceasefire. El-Sisi decided that the Israeli-Hamas conflict was a minor episode in regional terms and no real threat to Egypt’s national interests and dropped his role as peace broker.

This was a bitter disappointment to Jerusalem. It left Israel facing the Palestinian aggressor alone, but for the Europeans. They are willing to assume this role, but they are seeking the restoration of the short-lived Palestinian reconciliation and a unity government, which is the direct opposite of Netanyahu’s most fervent objective.

Iron Dome intercepts second rocket over greater Tel Aviv, Jerusalem Post, July 8, 2014

For second time on Tuesday evening, Gaza terrorists launch rocket at central Israel; air raid sirens sounds in central Israel, blasts heard in Tel Aviv; Tel Aviv opens public bomb shelters; no injuries reported.

IDF deploys 5th Iron Dome Battery Photo: IDF SPOKESMAN’S OFFICE

For the second time on Tuesday evening, a rocket was launched at central Israel from the Gaza Strip.

An Iron Dome battery intercepted a projectile over the greater Tel Aviv area.

Sirens sounded in various cities in central Israel on Tuesday night and blasts were heard in Tel Aviv.

The air raid siren was activated in cities including Rishon Lezion, Bat Yam, Holon and Bnei Barak, but not in Tel Aviv.

Earlier on Tuesday evening, the Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted a projectile near Tel Aviv over the city of Rishon Lezion, as air raid sirens sounded in central Israeli cities for the first time amid recent escalations.

No injuries or damage were reported in the attack, which marked a widening of the range of rocket fire the Gaza Strip.

Israeli television showed a double-burst of smoke in skies above Tel Aviv after air raid sirens sounded, sending residents running for shelter.

Air raid sirens sounded in all of Gush Dan, including Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Lod and Givatayim.

It was the first Gaza rocket that reached Tel Aviv since Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012.

Following the attack over central Israel, the Home Front Command instructed the Tel Aviv Municipality to open public bomb shelters in the city.

The Home Front Command had earlier instructed Tel Aviv residents to prepare for utilizing protected rooms and shelters in their private homes.

Under the same instruction, the division responsible for civil security ordered for bomb shelters in Tel Aviv schools to be opened.

The IDF launched Operation Protective Edge in the early hours of Tuesday morning in order to quell the ongoing barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Later in the day, the IDF begun actively calling up 40,000 reserves approved to it by the cabinet.

Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza continued to pound southern Israel throughout Tuesday, with some 80 rockets landing in Israeli territory by the evening. Iron Dome made 23 interceptions throughout the day, shooting down projectiles over Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Gaza border communities.

Meanwhile, the Israel Air force struck 150 targets in Gaza, and Palestinians reported multiple casualties in a number of the strikes.

Some 100 underground rocket launchers and ten attack tunnels were among the targets.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Calls for More Enrichment Capacity, Washington Free Beacon, Michelle Moghtader and Fredrik Dahl, July 8, 2014

(Iran wants only a “moderate” ten fold increase in centrifuges. No problem; it’s all for the children. — DM)

Ali Khamenei / Reuters

Iran now has more than 19,000 installed enrichment centrifuges, mostly old-generation IR-1 machines, with about 10,000 of them operating to increase the concentration of uranium’s fissile isotope U-235.

“Their aim is that we accept a capacity of 10,000 separative work units (SWUs), which is equivalent to 10,000 centrifuges of the older type that we already have. Our officials say we need 190,000 SWU. Perhaps this is not a need this year or in two years or five years, but this is the country’s absolute need,” Khamenei said in a statement published on his website late on Monday.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Iran would need to significantly increase its uranium enrichment capacity, underlining a gap in positions between Tehran and world powers as they hold talks aimed at clinching a nuclear accord.

Iran and six major powers – the United States, Russia, France, Germany, China and Britain – have less than two weeks to bridge wide differences on the future scope of Iran’s enrichment program and other issues if they are to meet a self-imposed July 20 deadline for a deal.

They resumed talks in Vienna last week and their negotiators continued meetings in the Austrian capital on Tuesday; but there was no immediate sign of any substantive progress.

Iran’s capacity to refine uranium lies at the center of the nuclear stalemate and is seen as the hardest issue to resolve.

Iran insists it needs to expand its capacity to refine uranium to fuel a planned network of atomic energy plants. The powers say Tehran must sharply reduce the capacity to prevent it being able to quickly produce a nuclear bomb using uranium enriched to a far higher degree. (Full Story)

“Their aim is that we accept a capacity of 10,000 separative work units (SWUs), which is equivalent to 10,000 centrifuges of the older type that we already have. Our officials say we need 190,000 SWU. Perhaps this is not a need this year or in two years or five years, but this is the country’s absolute need,” Khamenei said in a statement published on his website late on Monday.

An SWU is a measurement of the effort necessary for the separation of isotopes of uranium.

Iran says its program is for civilian purposes such as electricity generation and denies any ambitions to build an atomic bomb.

Ending the decade-long dispute with Iran is seen as central to defusing tensions and averting the danger of a Middle East war.

A Western diplomat made clear the uphill task negotiations face if they are to hammer out an agreement: “We’re still far from a deal…(However) the deadline is July 20 and that’s what we’re working towards.”

Iran expert Ali Vaez said the negotiations were now at a precarious stage. “This has once again turned into a contest of wills,” Vaez, of the International Crisis Group, said.

HARDLINERS

Last week, other Western diplomats said Iran had reduced demands for the size of its future nuclear enrichment program in the negotiations, although Western governments were urging Tehran to compromise further. They did not give details.

But Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the non-proliferation program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank, said Khamenei’s statement “confirms what I have suspected: that although Iranian negotiators have leeway on some issues, such as transparency and the timeframe for lifting sanctions, they are not authorized to accept cutbacks to the enrichment program”.

Iran now has more than 19,000 installed enrichment centrifuges, mostly old-generation IR-1 machines, with about 10,000 of them operating to increase the concentration of uranium’s fissile isotope U-235.

Mohammad Ali Shabani, a Tehran-based political analyst, said Khamenei’s statement was in line with what Iran’s negotiators have been saying for months in Vienna.

“The open timeline, however, allows enough flexibility for the two sides to come to consensus,” he added.

In defiance of Western pressure, Iran has expanded the centrifuge number sharply over the last decade until it stopped doing that under a Nov. 24 interim deal agreed between Iran and the world powers in exchange for limited sanctions relief.

Iran wants an end to sanctions, which have stifled its economy and hindered oil exports. But Khamenei, ultimate arbiter on all major decisions in Iran, said the country “should plan for the future, supposing the enemy won’t ease on sanctions”.

Khamenei said the idea of shutting down the underground Fordow enrichment plant was “laughable”, his website said.

Israel blocks rocket headed for Tel Aviv – CNN.com.

Jerusalem (CNN) — Israel intercepted a rocket fired at Tel Aviv on Tuesday and killed militants who stormed into Israeli territory, the military said, as people on both sides of the Gaza border were living under a barrage of attacks from the air.

In a dramatic escalation of the conflict, militants fired more than 130 rockets at Israeli civilians, Israel said. Palestinians reported 15 people killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting militants. Israel said it targeted about 150 “terror sites” in Gaza.

The warning sirens that blared in Tel Aviv, one of Israel’s most populated areas, showed a threat Israel had warned of. The country said Hamas rockets from Gaza are powerful enough to reach 3.5 million Israeli citizens. “Hamas will pay a heavy price for its vicious attacks on millions of Israeli civilians,” the Israel Defense Forces said on Twitter.

“No nation would accept constant rocket fire. Neither will we,” the IDF said, using the hashtag #ItMustStop.

Hamas, on Twitter, used the hashtag #Gazaunderattack and warned, “Retaliations are coming, it is a matter of time.”

Flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian violence: Why now?

The possibility of an Israeli incursion into Gaza loomed, with the Cabinet authorizing the military to call up 40,000 troops if needed — 10,000 more than were called up during Israel’s offensive into Gaza in November of 2012. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, referred to “possible ground maneuvers.”

But it was Hamas that claimed responsibility for storming into Israeli territory Tuesday. Hamas-controlled television reported “from the heart of the battlefield” that a group of its “commandos” was “conducting its duties in Zikim Zionist military base according to plan.”

Zikim lies just north of Gaza and south of the Israeli city of Ashkelon. The group of militants tried to enter Zikim through the water, Israeli media reported. Israeli soldiers spotted the divers in the water and called in an infantry force, Channel 10 reported. An exchange of fire ensued.

“Four terrorists were killed,” Lerner said. “Two by infantry, one by air force, one by navy. They were armed with Kalashnikovs and hand grenades.” One Israeli soldier was lightly wounded, and the situation was ongoing as of Tuesday evening on the beach near the military’s base in Zikim, he said.

People in ‘human shield’ killed on Gaza rooftop

Among the dead in Gaza, meanwhile, was Mohammad Sha’aban, a leader of Hamas’ militant wing, Palestinian sources said. Israel confirmed that Sha’aban, “a senior Hamas terrorist,” was killed. Another militant was killed in an Israeli airstrike on an open field in Gaza.

Several Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on a Gaza rooftop. Palestinian medical sources told CNN the death toll was 10, but then lowered it to seven. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that six were killed. Those killed were forming a “human shield” on the roof of a home belonging to members of Hamas’ militant wing, Palestinian sources said. Two were children, WAFA and Palestinian medical sources said.

The home was near another home belonging to the same Hamas members that Israel struck Monday night, Palestinian sources said.

Palestinians said another of the 15 killed was a child who died of wounds after an airstrike on a motorcycle.

The Israeli military, on Twitter, said Hamas “uses Palestinians as human shields when firing rockets at Israel.” The tweet included a photo of what Israel said showed Hamas “caught firing a rocket” from a civilian area.

Israeli warnings: Stay away from Hamas

A CNN producer was among those who received an automated phone call from the Israeli military. It warned people in Arabic to stay away from members of Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza and not to cooperate with them “because they are risking your lives.” The message told people not to use their homes to store arsenals for terrorist groups. “Anyone who is present in these buildings risks their lives.”

On Monday, Israel dropped fliers telling residents that terrorist groups and those who smuggle weapons continue to hide among residents even though they know they are “always a target for the Israel Defense Forces.” It warned that those activities create dangers for residents and their children. The fliers provided phone numbers and e-mail addresses for Gazans to secretly provide information about militant activities.

The Israeli military’s Operation Protective Edge against Hamas is part of an effort “to restore a state of security,” Lerner, the Israeli military spokesman, told CNN on Tuesday.

Teens’ deaths sparked new violence

Tensions in the region reached a fever pitch after three Israeli teens, including one dual U.S. citizen, on their way home from school in the West Bank were kidnapped last month. Israel blames Hamas. Their bodies were found last week.

Later in the week, a Palestinian teen was abducted and then found dead within an hour in Jerusalem. Israel has arrested suspects and says there’s “strong indication” it was a revenge killing. Amid clashes in the days following, the Palestinian teen’s American cousin, who was visiting, was beaten by men in Israeli security uniforms.

Israel also announced a confession in the May killing of another Israeli Jewish teen. The suspect is an Arab resident of northern Israel, and police believe the attack was fueled by Palestinian “nationalism.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was criticized by Palestinians when he condemned the Israeli teens’ kidnappings, called on Israel on Tuesday to immediately stop its strikes, warning the operation would drag the region into instability.

Abbas said a truce was needed to “spare the innocent from mass destruction.”

And presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah accused Israel of carrying out an “open massacre” against children, women and the elderly, WAFA reported. He said Israel is making a “decision to expand the war,” which he said will drag “the region into a spiral of bloody violence” that “will burn everyone.”

Long-range threat

Israel says the aim of its offensive is to strike Hamas in Gaza and stop rocket fire into Israel that threatens civilians. Hamas is estimated to have 10,000 rockets of varying ranges, Lerner said, including some that can reach as far north as Tel Aviv and beyond.

“They have substantial armaments which can strike the soft underbelly of Israel,” he said.

Lerner said the Israel Defense Forces’ position had changed from focusing on de-escalation to preparing for a deterioration of the situation.

‘Red lines’ crossed

The conflict between the two sides has worsened in the past few days.

“The enemy has crossed the red lines and will be made to pay the price for its crimes,” Mushir Al-Masri, a Hamas leadership figure and member of the Palestinian parliament, wrote on his Facebook page Monday. “The blood of our martyrs is precious … and is fuel for the intifada and the resistance.”

After that statement, the barrage of rockets from Gaza into Israel increased, with Hamas claiming responsibility.

Political strains

The conflict is creating strains within the governing coalition of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, said in a news conference Monday that he told Netanyahu of his intention to dissolve his party’s joint faction with Netanyahu’s Likud party, saying it was “not working.”

Lieberman criticized Netanyahu’s handling of Gaza.

Tensions are also increasing between Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the more moderate Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Netanyahu orders ‘dramatic widening’ of Gaza operation | The Times of Israel.

Islamic Jihad Claims Credit for Tel Aviv Missile, The Jewish Press, Hana Levi Julian, July 8, 2014

A view of Tel Aviv from the area governed by the Palestinian Authority. Photo Credit: middle-east-info.org

The Islamic Jihad terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the missile barrage fired at Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening.

One missile was intercepted directly over Tel Aviv by the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, indicating that it was headed for a populated area.

The terror group is generously funded and equipped by Iran, as is Hamas and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist organization.

IDF actively begins calling up 40,000 reserves for Operation Protective Edge, Jerusalem Post, Yaakov Lappin, Herb Keinon, July 8, 2014

The cabinet approved the request and the IDF has already begun issuing reserve notices.

Gantz requests call-up in order to replace conscripted forces in the West Bank, and enable their deployment to the Gaza border.

The IDF has begun actively calling up the 40,000 reserves approved to it by the cabinet for Operation Protective Edge.

IDF chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz requested the call-up of 40,000 reserves in order to replace conscripted forces in the West Bank, and enable their deployment to the Gaza border.

The cabinet approved the request and the IDF has already begun issuing reserve notices.

The IDF had previously called up 1,500 reserves on Monday.

Operation Protective Edge, which has seen the IAF strike some 100 terror targets in the Gaza Strip, came after more than 250 rockets were fired into southern Israel in recent weeks.

The rocket fire continued on Tuesday, with dozens of rockets fired into Israel, including some which targeted Beersheba and Ashdod.

Following high level security deliberations Tuesday morning Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided to expand the military operation in Gaza, including beginning preparations for a ground operation.

No time limit was put on the operation but senior diplomatic officials said it could be “for a long time.”

The objective of the operation, according to the officials, is to return quiet to the South, but the equation that “quiet would be met with quiet” was no longer the operative principle.

During the day Netanyahu expected to talk to a number of world leaders to explain Israel’s position and another security cabinet meeting will be held later in the afternoon if necessary.

Iron Dome intercepts rocket over Tel Aviv | JPost | Israel News.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

07/08/2014 19:14

Code Red siren sounds in central Israeli cities, including Petah Tikva, Lod and Givatayim for first time since 2012 Gaza escalations; no injuries or damage reported.

The Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted a projectile over Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening. No injuries or damage were reported.

Israeli television showed a double-burst of smoke in skies above Tel Aviv after air raid sirens sounded, sending residents running for shelter.

The Code Red siren sounded in all of Gush Dan, including the central Israeli cities of Petah Tikva, Lod and Givatayim.

It was the first Gaza rocket that reached Tel Aviv since Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Tel Aviv Municipality was instructed to inspect and open public bomb shelters in the city in order to “provide an optimal response for residents if necessary” in the event that escalations in the South reach the Center.

The Home Front Command also instructed Tel Aviv residents to prepare for utilizing protected rooms and shelters in their private homes.

Under the same instruction, the division responsible for civil security ordered for bomb shelters in Tel Aviv schools to be opened.

The IDF launched Operation Protective Edge in the early hours of Tuesday morning in order to quell the ongoing barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

Since midnight Tuesday, more than 30 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip have exploded in Israel.

Terrorists in Gaza have launched more than 250 projectiles at Israel in recent weeks.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Hamas Vows Revenge After Use of Human Shields Goes Awry, Israel National News, Ari Soffer, Dalit Halevi and AFP, July 8, 2014

(The photo below may well be of an Israeli airstrike against Rafah on July 8th, not June 8th as stated in the caption. — DM)

IAF strike on target in Rafah, Gaza, 8th June 2014 Reuters

Hamas has vowed revenge after an attempt to use Palestinian civilians as human shields resulted in several fatalities, as Israeli Air Force planes targeted the home of a Hamas commander.

Gazan emergency services claim Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 14 people on Tuesday and wounded 80 others, as the military began an aerial campaign against terrorists in the Strip and prepares for a potential ground offensive.

It was the most serious flare-up in and around the Islamist-controlled territory since November 2012, and came as Israel’s cabinet reportedly authorized the army to call up 40,000 reservists for a possible assault on Gaza.

The deadliest single airstrike was on a house in the southern city of Khan Yunis belonging to a Hamas commander, killing seven people and wounding 25 others, medics said.

The attack “targeted the house of the al-Kaware family,” emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP, saying children were among the injured.

The events leading up to the strike offer an insight into the difficulties facing IDF forces in combating Gaza-based terrorism. It also provides a revealing glimpse into the way Hamas and other terrorist groups violate international law through the use of human shields. Israeli leaders have in the past referred to such tactics as a “double war crime”: firing missiles at Israeli civilians, while using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

Witnesses said an Israeli drone launched a warning flare prior to the strike, in a bid to allow innocent civilians to evacuate the area. Instead, relatives and neighbors gathered at the house to act as human shields, but shortly afterwards an F-16 fired a missile which leveled the building.

In response, Hamas said “all Israelis” would be potential targets for retaliation. “The Khan Yunis massacre… of children is a horrendous war crime, and all Israelis have now become legitimate targets for the resistance,” spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said on Facebook.

Hamas has repeatedly vowed to target Israeli civilians, including in a recent propaganda video aimed at the residents of the southern Israeli city of Beersheva.

Earlier, four terrorists were killed in a separate strike on a car in the Daraj neighborhood in the center of Gaza City, Qudra said.

Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV showed gruesome images of charred body parts being loaded onto ambulance stretchers.

Family members said all of them were Hamas militants, identifying one as Mohammed Shaaban, 32, a senior commander in Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades. He was also head of the group’s naval operations, they said.

Israel’s army confirmed targeting Shaaban, describing him as “a senior Hamas operative”.

In a separate strike near Nusseirat refugee camp, another man was killed, with witnesses telling AFP he was also a Hamas operative.

Later, two Palestinians were killed Tuesday in a fresh Israeli air strike east of Gaza City, a spokesman for the emergency services said. Their identities have not yet been released.

“At least two people were killed and several wounded in an air strike on Shejaiya, east of Gaza City,” Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned Israel was “playing with fire” and would pay for its ongoing operations.

The deaths came hours after Israel announced the start of Operation Protective Edge, a military campaign aimed at stamping out rocket fire on southern Israel and destroying Hamas’s military infrastructure.

Army figures show that since midnight, terrorists have fired 130 rockets at southern Israel, prompting the air force to strike 150 “terror targets” in Gaza.

Israel must ‘wave the white flag’

Meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail al-Askar, who serves as a “member of parliament” for the group’s Gaza-based government, reiterated previous Hamas demands that the only way they would agree to stop the current barrage of rockets against Israeli civilians would be for Israel to agree to several conditions.

The first would be to end its air strikes against terrorists in Gaza, which he termed “aggression”; the second would be to end the limited blockade on the Strip, which Israel imposed to stop Hamas and other terrorist groups smuggling in weapons. The third condition, he said, was that Israel release the dozens of terrorists who were initially freed during the 2011 Shalit Deal, but rearrested during the IDF’s recent operations in Judea and Samaria after they broke the terms of their release.

If not, Askar warned, Hamas was ready for a protracted war with Israel which could last months or even years.

“The resistance will not raise the white flag, and will not put down its weapons until the occupation waves the white flag and surrenders to the terms of the resistance.