WarSclerotic

Thousands flee north Gaza after IDF warning

Residents gather belongings, leave homes on foot and by car, and head to UNRWA centers

By AFP and Times of Israel staff July 13, 2014, 12:20 pm

via Thousands flee north Gaza after IDF warning | The Times of Israel.

housands of Palestinians were fleeing northern Gaza on Sunday after a night of intense Israeli strikes and an explicit warning from the army that the raids were set to intensify as Israel attempts to stop Hamas rocket attacks.

In Beit Lahiya, whole streets were emptying, with residents fleeing with all the belongings they could carry — by car, by donkey- and horse-drawn carts, and on foot.

“Last night there was so much shelling that no one could sleep, it was terrifying,” said one man, who gave his name only as Farid.

He was fleeing with six family members, riding alongside them on a motorbike piled high with blankets.

“I’m going to try to go to a school, anywhere that is safe,” he told AFP.

Mohammed Sultan packed his family’s belongings onto a horse-drawn cart, with five children sitting among the hastily assembled items.

He walked alongside the cart, with other adult relatives, heading for a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army said it would drop leaflets over the north warning residents to leave their homes “immediately” ahead of a fresh wave of attacks it said would begin at midday (0900 GMT).

It even specified the areas that it would hit most heavily.

“This is a real threat, it’s not a psychological threat,” military spokesman General Moti Almoz told Army Radio.

“We are asking the Palestinian population to leave the place because they could really get hurt.”

But Sultan said he had not received any warning.

“We didn’t get any warning, but there was firing all around us all night,” he told AFP.

“We were terrified and so afraid for our children,” he said. “It was total war.”

Overnight, the Palestinian death toll from five days of an intensive Israeli air campaign whose stated goal is to curb rocket fire from the Strip rose to 165, among them a large number of civilians.

During the night, Samari al-Atar, who lives in the Atatra neighbourhood — one of the areas Israel said it would hit hard — fled to an UNRWA school in Gaza City.

“We tried to shelter inside the house but we heard the sounds of people screaming and when we looked outside there were many people fleeing their homes,” she said.

“It was the middle of the night, and I gathered the children, they were so afraid,” she added, her voice breaking as she started to cry.

“Even as we were fleeing, there was firing all around us… we couldn’t take anything with us, the children were barefoot.”

Inside the school compound, the displaced children draw on a blackboard, sketching images of war in pink and yellow chalk — Israeli helicopters and tanks firing, and Palestinian rockets.

One boy seemed almost catatonic as he spoke in a long, monotone about fleeing his home, his eyes downcast and fixed on the floor.

Maani al-Ataar described the terror of fleeing by night, as Israeli planes circled overhead.

“People were screaming and there were old men who couldn’t walk properly, the younger men had to support them,” she said.

“There was no electricity, so the road was pitch black.”

Robert Turner, director of UNRWA operations, said thousands of displaced people were already sheltering in its schools across Gaza.

“UNRWA now has eight schools sheltering about 4,000 displaced Gazans. More are arriving by the minute. They are mostly fleeing areas in the north, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanun,” he told reporters.

In Beit Lahiya, Farida Zayed was packing up her belongings and preparing to flee, without knowing where she would go.

“People say they are going to the schools, but Israel has bombed schools before. Even the hospitals have been bombed,” she said.

“We’ve lost everything, our future and the future of our children,” she said.

“The Israelis don’t want to let us live.”

Akunis: Cease-fire Under Our Terms, Not Hamas’

MK Ofir Akunis said that Israel had no plans to stop its attacks against Gaza terrorists, and would continue to fight

By Yosef BergerFirst Publish: 7/13/2014, 4:29 PM

via Akunis: Cease-fire Under Our Terms, Not Hamas’ – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

On a visit to Ashkelon Sunday, MK Ofir Akunis said that Israel had no plans to stop its attacks against Gaza terrorists. “Israel will continue to do anything and everything to defend our people,” Akunis said. “It is unacceptable that just ten kilometers from here there is a terror organization that is shooting at our kids,” Akunis added.

Earlier Sunday, A 16-year-old boy was seriously injured by a missile fired on Ashkelon. A 60 year-old man was also hurt, suffering light injuries. Simon Lugasi, head of Ashkelon Branch of Ichud Hatzalah, spoke to Arutz Sheva about the injured teen. “This is a rocket which landed near a building,” he said. “The boy was hit by shrapnel. Following first aid, the boy received medical treatment by Hatzalah medics on the scene, and was brought to Barzilai Hospital were he is in serious condition,” he added.

Akunis said he was not opposed to a cease-fire with Hamas, but “if there is to be a cease-fire it will be under our conditions, not those of Hamas,” he added. “This campaign must continue until there is quiet in the south.”

When asked how Israel should deal with accusations that it was “targeting women and children,” an allegation that has been increasingly sounded in the foreign press, Akunis said that this was not Israel’s purpose. “We are not looking to hit civilians in Gaza, just terrorists. That is our plan and that is what we will do,” he said, adding that “we will continue to do whatever is necessary to defend our people.”

Palestinian-Americans, dual citizens flee Gaza Strip in droves

By BEN HARTMANLAST UPDATED: 07/13/2014 16:02

Residents of the Hamas-ruled enclave began making their way out of the coastal territory as operation entered sixth day.

via Palestinian-Americans, dual citizens flee Gaza Strip in droves | JPost | Israel News.

An exodus of several hundred Palestinian dual citizens from the Gaza Strip began Sunday at the Erez crossing.

Residents of the Hamas-ruled enclave began making their way out of the coastal territory as Operation Protective Edge entered its sixth day, with no ceasefire in sight.

They began making their way through the crossing in the hours before a bombing campaign the IDF said would begin at noon, and would pass through Israel to Jordan and then to their final destinations.

The crossing was a hive of activity Sunday morning, with consular staff from several countries including Romania, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere trying to make their way into the terminal and the Strip to coordinate the evacuation of their citizens.

The biggest contingent appeared to be Americans, part of a group of around 150 leaving on Sunday from Erez, according to US State Department Press Attache Leslie Ordeman. Another large contingent was expected later from Romania, which according to two Romanian officials included around 100 people.

Australia’s ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, said that on Thursday the embassy began encouraging its citizens to leave Gaza. So far, about 22 had registered to leave, including five who had already made it through the Rafah crossing on Saturday into Egypt. He said the total would be in the “low dozens,” and that those who are refusing to leave include one woman with disabled children in Gaza who wants to look after them, as well as others who are simply not too concerned about the situation or prefer to stay behind with their family.

Sharma said the evacuation “just reflects the deteriorating security situation in Gaza” and in the same instant a mortar exploded somewhere close by. He added that the violence “only appears to be increasing and not decreasing and we believe a ceasefire is at least a few days off so we’re urging them to leave.”

Dr. Akram Mushtaha, a Gaza native who now lives in Houston, said that for several days he has been trying to leave in order to get his two daughters out of the Strip. He came with his daughters and wife for summer vacation and said that he wanted to stay and possibly use his medical training to help people in Gaza, but that he left for the sake of his children, aged 17 and 4.

“I don’t want them to go through that experience they were scared they were crying whenever they’d hear the sounds, and they would panic and ask me, ‘Why’d we come here?’”

Like the rest of the American Palestinians reached by The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Mushtaha lives in Texas, as does his 17-year-old daughter Diana, who will attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall, where she said she will major in international relations.

Rawan Mehana, 21, of Dallas, Texas, was at the crossing with her parents and her sister, Noor, 10, and Muhammed, 13, on Sunday, seemingly in high spirits though clearly ready to leave.

Sipping a soft drink, Noor said “it’s very scary, of course we’re not used to it, when it started it brought me to tears it was very close by.”

Rawan said they came to Gaza City for her sister’s wedding three weeks ago to a man from Gaza, though the wedding now seems like a much longer time ago.

When asked what they would do when the airstrikes happened, she said, “That’s the problem, Israel always says we give them warning strikes but where do you want them to go? We have no shelters so you stand in the middle of the house away from the windows and hope for the best.”

She said the whole experience was “truly mortifying” and when asked what she hopes happens now, she added, “I think a ceasefire that’s fair on both sides, to make the Palestinians feel their lives are worth something but also to bring peace to the hearts of civilians who are suffering in Israel. I don’t want them to be terrified either.”

Looking visibly-shaken, 34-year-old Ayed Al-Hamdani made his way through the Erez crossing with his wife, en route to Norway, where he said he has lived for 17 years.

The two of them had been visiting in the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza City since March and a few days ago, decided it was time to leave, with Ayed saying, “There’s nowhere to run, nowhere that’s safe in Gaza.”

When asked how he feels leaving family back in the Strip, he said, “It’s all so terrible. It doesn’t feel right to leave, but what can you do? All you can do is hug them.”

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Netanyahu Reassures: IDF ‘Prepared for All Possibilities’

Binyamin Netanyahu vows to continue pummeling terrorists in weekly Cabinet meeting; calls on int’l community to recognize Iran’s role.

By Orly Harari, Tova DvorinFirst Publish: 7/13/2014, 3:03 PM

via PM Reassures: IDF ‘Prepared for All Possibilities’ – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed Operation Protective Edge on Sunday, opening his weekly Cabinet meeting with several harsh words for Hamas.

“Israel is conducting a vigorous military campaign against Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu began. “Hamas has chosen to attack our cities with massive and indiscriminate rocket fire.”

“I said from the outset that we would respond in strength against this criminal firing at our citizens and this is what we are doing,” he continued. “We are striking Hamas with increasing strength. We are hitting commanders, militants, arsenals and command centers. The IDF, ISA, security services, firefighters, the Israel Police – everyone is doing their part and doing it in the best way possible.”

‘No’ to a Ceasefire

Netanyahu stressed that it is Hamas, not Israel, who endangers civilian lives.

“But one must understand how our enemy operates,” he said. “Who hides in mosques? Hamas. Who puts arsenals under hospitals? Hamas. Who puts command centers in residences or near kindergartens? Hamas.”

“Hamas is using the residents of Gaza as human shields and it is bringing disaster to the civilians of Gaza; therefore, for any attack on Gaza civilians, which we regret, Hamas and its partners bear sole responsibility,” he declared. “The leadership of Hamas and the other organizations has chosen – at a time when they are using the population of Gaza as human shields – to hide under ground, to flee abroad and to deliberately put civilians in the line of fire.”

“This is the entire difference between us and Hamas – we are using defensive systems against missiles to protect the residents of Israel and they are using the residents of Gaza to protect arsenals of missiles,” he continued. “Nothing better underscores the difference in this campaign. Israel is a democracy that is fighting – in a legitimate and focused manner – against unbridled terrorists and no country in the world would do any less than we are doing to protect our citizens.”

A Hamas spokesperson called for Gaza residents to act as human shields on live television earlier this week, calling the move “an effective strategy” in the PR war against Israel and encouraging Palestinian Arabs to stay in their homes despite IDF warnings to prevent casualties.

As a result, at least 166 have been estimated to have been killed in Gaza in less than a week – mostly civilians, according a United Nations estimate.

The deaths have sparked outrage from Arab countries and international bodies; calls have escalated for a cease-fire. Netanyahu emphasized, however, that Israel would continue to act against Hamas – despite pressure from the UN and others for such an arrangement.

“We will continue to act in a patient and level-headed manner, with responsibility, and vigorously in order to achieve the goal of the operation – the restoration of quiet for a long period while inflicting a significant blow on Hama and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip,” he said. “The IDF is prepared for all possibilities.”

Israel reportedly offered Hamas a 40-hour cease-fire last week, sources said Sunday afternoon, which Hamas immediately rejected. It should be noted that not only has Hamas breached each cease-fire ever offered from Israel since rocket fire began in 2001, but also that they have reiterated repeatedly during the current hostilities that they have no interest in a cease-fire arrangement.

Israel, too, rejected a cease-fire over the weekend, saying nothing by a total cessation of rocket-fire against Israeli civilians would be deemed acceptable.

Roughly 8,000 rockets have been fired on Israeli civilians since the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza

‘Stay Safe’

The Prime Minister then turned to Israeli civilians.

“To the citizens of Israel: You are showing maturity and responsibility and I think that you are impressing the entire world,” he began. “But I have one request: Do not be complacent.”

“I know that there are people who are going out and who want to see the missiles,” he continued. “I ask you: Do not do this. I ask that you enter protected spaces. We are speaking here from a protected space. We ask you to be in protected spaces and to listen to instructions from IDF Home Front Command.”

“Someone rightly said that that regarding civil defense, one needs not only an Iron Dome but iron discipline as well,” he added. “You have shown this up until now. This could yet take a long time and we need both your support and your discipline.”

Netanyahu’s comments surface hours after a teenager from the coastal city of Ashkelon was seriously injured by rocket fire.

An initial investigation shows the boy was standing outside when the sirens sounded, instead of following Home Front Command guidelines to find shelter as soon as possible.

A warning against Iran

Netanyahu concluded by linking the rocket fire to Iran.

“Today in Vienna, the foreign ministers of the major powers are discussing the question of dealing with Iran’s nuclear program,” he stated. “I would like to remind them Hamas and Islamic Jihad are being financed, armed and trained by Iran.”

“Iran is a major power of terrorism that finances, arms and trains the terrorist organizations that we are fighting against,” he continued. “This Iran cannot be allowed the ability to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons. If this happens, the things that we are seeing around us and the things that are happening in the Middle East will be far worse.”

“In recent years we have made various forecasts for the Middle East – me and my colleagues here around the table – and these forecasts have, to my regret, come true one by one,” he concluded.

“The prediction of Iran as a nuclear threshold state cannot be allowed to come true, it cannot. This cannot be and it will not be.”

Iran has been crucial in providing Hamas and Islamic Jihad with long-range missiles such as the Fajr-5 and M302 – the latter of which is believed to have been used to target cities in central Israel.

Earlier this year, Israeli naval commandos seized the Klos C ship, and discovered weapons including long-range rockets destined for terrorist groups in Gaza.

Hamas calls on evacuated Gazans to ‘return immediately

‘Despite IDF warning to leave homes in northern Strip, organization’s interior ministry calls on local residents to ignore Israeli ‘psychological warfare.

‘Roi KaisPublished: 07.13.14, 14:11 / Israel News

via Hamas calls on evacuated Gazans to ‘return immediately’ – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Hamas called on Palestinian residents of the northern Gaza Strip to “immediately return” to their homes, after the IDF warned locals to evacuate the area at noon to avoid being harmed in any military operation.

A spokesperson for UNRWA in Gaza claimed that some 4,000 Palestinians had evacuated their homes and headed for UN facilities and shelters in the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas Interior Ministry released a statement titled “Urgent call to the residents of the Gaza Strip” in which locals were told to ignore the calls and warnings made by Israel and the IDF. “To all of our people who have evacuated their homes – return to them immediately and do not leave the house.”

“You must follow the directives of the Interior Ministry. This is psychological warfare, random messages to instill panic in people.”

The ministry statement also attempted to calm the local population. “We are following developments on the ground moment by moment, especially on the border. If it becomes necessary to take a step to protect the Palestinian people, we will send directives using local communication tools to keep you safe and provide all the necessary measures.”

“We have identified more rocket fire from the northern Strip than other sectors and this morning we are calling on the population to evacuate from there ahead of an escalation of (Israeli) attacks,” the IDF said Sunday morning.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced that the military has airdropped leaflets on the northern Gaza Strip with similar messages. Locals have also been sent pre-recorded messages and video clips.

“It is the intention of the IDF to attack from the air terror infrastructure and terrorists in the area east of Al-Attara,” the leaflets warn. “Residents must evacuate their homes by 12 pm, noon, today heading south towards Jabalia.”

The Israeli warnings told Gaza residents that “the IDF operation will be temporary and short. Those who do not adhere to these directives will jeopardize their own lives and the lives of their families. Be careful, stay safe.”

Yoav Zitun contributed to this report.

Report: Hamas, Not Israel, Rejected Cease-Fire

Sources say Hamas offered 40-hour ceasefire last week, but rejected it;

Cairo working quietly for ceasefire despite contrary reports.

By Tova DvorinFirst Publish: 7/13/2014, 12:20 PM

via Report: Hamas, Not Israel, Rejected Cease-Fire – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

Despite reports that Cairo has been staying out of the conflict between Israel and Gaza-based terrorist groups, Egyptian officials have reportedly been working behind the scenes to broker a temporary ceasefire between the sides – but to no avail. Attempts to do so ultimately fizzled out last week, and rocket fire on Israel continued.

However, while Hamas and PLO officials have blamed Israel for the lack of a cease-fire, it was actually Hamas who rejected the offer of a 40-hour “cooling-off” period, Walla! News revealed Sunday.

Both Israeli and Palestinian Arab sources told the daily that Cairo presented Israel’s offer of a ceasefire to Deputy Head of the unity government Political Bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk last week.

Marzouk immediately rejected the cease fire, the sources said, after a brief consultation with senior officials from Hamas’s “military wing,” the Ezzadine Al-Qassam Brigades.

Egyptian officials stressed that were not be responsible for publishing Hamas’s rejection of the offer, but did say that Hamas would be responsible for the negative repercussions of that decision.

The sources added that while neither Israel nor Hamas has presented a counter-offer, European countries, the US, and Egypt are all kicking around options to bring an end to the fighting.

Cease-fire: not in anyone’s interest

Palestinian Authority and Hamas spokesmen have said repeatedly since the operation was launched last week that Hamas has no interest in a cease-fire.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stressed Saturday that no one “presented us with no plan or outline for a cease-fire” and that there is “nothing to talk about while aggression continues.”

Former Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) legal adviser and negotiator Diana Buttu went so far on Friday as to accuse Israel of rejecting a cease-fire, as well as breaking previous cease-fires, in a wooden monologue later ripped apart by CNN’s Jake Tapper.

It should be noted that Hamas has breached each previous cease-fire, continuing a steady trickle of rockets or turning a blind eye to attacks by other terrorist groups. As of June, before the recent escalation, over 450 rockets had been fired at Israel since the previous ceasefire was brokered at the end of 2012.

Israeli officials, for their part, have rejected the idea of a cease-fire as well at this point, saying that after approximately 8,000 rockets have been fired on Israeli civilians since the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza they would accept nothing should of an unconditional end to the attacks.

“The pace of attacks in this operation is double that of Operation Pillar of Defense and the military strikes will continue until we can be certain that the quiet has returned to Israeli citizens,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated Friday afternoon.

Not even international pressure would sway Jerusalem from protecting its citizens, he said – despite multiple calls for restraint and an absolute skewering from the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner, Navi Pillay.

“I had good talks with all of them, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and British Prime Minister David Cameron, and of course with French President Francois Hollande,” Netanyahu noted. “To all of them I said something simple – no country would accept its civilians being fired at without a harsh response.”

“I said that I would not allow Israel’s citizens to live in this reality,” he added. “No international pressure will prevent us from operating with full force against a terrorist organization that calls for our destruction.”

There appears to be a broad consensus within the coalition government on the issue.

“The Israeli government at this stage is not answering ceasefire efforts because we want to know first that we have taken away Hamas’s desire to do this again in another year or six months,” Finance Minister and Yesh Atid party head Yair Lapid told IDF Radio Sunday.

“That has not happened yet. When that happens, then we can talk.”

IAF Strikes Terror Targets in Northern Gaza

Senior Hamas commander, terrorist targets eliminated in strike after IDF warns civilians of upcoming raid

By Tova DvorinFirst Publish: 7/13/2014, 2:22 PM

via IAF Strikes Terror Targets in Northern Gaza – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

IAF struck several targets in northern Gaza on Sunday, including a senior Hamas official responsible for the constant barrage of rocket fire on Israeli citizens.

The Hamas official, who has not been officially named as of 2:00 pm IST, was targeted in the Jabaliya “refugee camp,” which operates as a terrorist training camp.

The IAF also attacked terror targets in Beit Lahiya, following leaflets distributed to civilians there Sunday morning warning of an upcoming attack. The targets belonged to Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for a volley of rockets fired on Ashkelon earlier Sunday.

Palestinian sources told AFP that a man had been killed during an IDF raid on a building in nearby Beit Hanoun in the same strike, although this could not be confirmed with Israeli officials.

The sources also claim that a 14 year-old girl was killed in Sunday’s strike, and that the death toll in Gaza allegedly tops 166 people. Those figures have not been independently verified.

It should be noted that a Hamas spokesperson called for Gaza residents to act as human shields on live television earlier this week, calling the move “an effective strategy” in the PR war against Israel and encouraging Palestinian Arabs to stay in their homes despite IDF warnings to prevent casualties.

Rocket fire continues as IDF’s noon deadline passes for northern Gazans to evacuate

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAFFLAST UPDATED: 07/13/2014 12:43

Projectile lands in Ashkelon, injuring 16-year-old; IDF urges tens of thousands of civilians in Strip to leave ahead of intensified air strikes on rocket launchers.

via Rocket fire continues as IDF’s noon deadline passes for northern Gazans to evacuate | JPost | Israel News.

A fresh slew of rockets were fired from Gaza at southern Israel on Sunday morning as the IDF alerted tens of thousands of residents in northern Gaza to vacate the area by noon ahead of more intensive IAF attacks on rocket launchers and commanders there.

“This is a place that fires significantly more rockets than other areas. We plan to increase our attacks,” an army source said. People were still leaving the Beit Lahiya area and the IDF had yet to launch the promised attacks an hour after the deadline had passed Sunday.

Meanwhile, a rocket fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip landed in Ashkelon on Sunday shortly after noon, causing moderate-to-serious injuries to a 16-year-old boy and lightly wounding another person.

Large numbers of police forces were present at the scene.

Air raid sirens sounded in various southern communities throughout the morning warning of incoming rocket attacks as the IDF’s Operation Protective Edge against Hamas entered a sixth day.

The IDF Spokesman’s Unit released an English translation of the leaflet the military said it was dispersing to residents in northern Gaza, urging them to move away from Hamas operatives and command centers used by the terror group.

We are dropping these leaflets above N. Gaza, warning civilians to move away from Hamas terrorists & command centers.

pic.twitter.com/HxVWjjGpsC
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 13, 2014

“It’s our assessment a huge majority of rockets are being launched (at Israel) from northern areas” in Gaza, said IDF spokesman Peter Lerner.

The IDF has struck 200 targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours, including 53 underground rocket launchers, 11 rocket production and storage centers, and nine Hamas command and control centers, a military source said. Five training camps were among the targets

Since Sunday morning, the IDF has carried out a series of targeted strikes in the Gaza Strip, the military’s spokesperson said.

The IDF has targeted Hamas bases of operation in the Strip, including a building used by one of its operatives in Beit Lahiya.

The military also said it destroyed a building in Beit Lahiya used by Islamic Jihad to launch rockets into Israel.

The IDF says that 36 percent of all rocket fire since Monday originated in northern Gaza. Of all of the long-range rockets launched by Palestinians, 30 percent originated in Beit Lahiya, while 10 percent of all rockets launched originated in Beit Lahiya.

Some 1,320 targets have been hit since the start of the six-day operation to extinguish Hamas fire on Israeli cities, including 735 underground rocket launchers, 130 command and control centers, 163 tunnels, 64 training camps, and 58 rocket storage and production centers.

The Israel Air Force has struck 62 Hamas regime buildings and 14 command rooms since Monday.

There are 154 casualties in Gaza, the source said, two-thirds of whom are combatants, he added.

During one of the strikes early on Sunday, a house belonging to Hamas police chief Taysir Al-Bardge was targeted due to the presence of weapons in it, the source said. Twenty one people, who may have come out of a nearby mosque just as the strike was underway, were killed in the bombing, the source stated.

Addressing the naval commando raid on a long-range rocket facility in Gaza overnight, the source said, “We are deploying special forces in Gaza. The commandos were ordered to deal with long-range rockets, and came under fire during the raid. They completed their mission, and combat helicopters simultaneously fired on targets [in the area] that were chosen ahead of time,” he added.

The source said several Palestinian gunmen were hit by the commandos’ return fire during the raid.

Turning his sights to the North, the source said that a Palestinian organization fired three rockets from Lebanon into Israel on Saturday, adding, “We are sure it was not Hezbollah. We are keeping our eyes open in the Northern Command,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said, the West Bank sector has become stable and clashes there has dropped in comparison to June.

Jpost.com Staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

Arab World Hopes Israel Continues Operation and Destroys Hamas

Hamas is paying a heavy price for meddling in the internal affairs of Egypt and some other Arab countries.

By: Aryeh Savir, Tazpit News AgencyPublished: July 13th, 2014

via The Jewish Press » » Arab World Hopes Israel Continues Operation and Destroys Hamas.

The Arab world, as a default, rallies around Hamas against Israel on any and all issues. Muslim countries in conflict, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as other Muslim countries came together last week at the UN in attempt to have Israel condemned for their so-called aggression in Gaza.

However, in wake of the ever evolving geo-political reality in the Middle East, this seems to be only lip service, and the Arab World is actually interested in the IDF seriously hindering Hamas’ terror activities.

They see the atrocities and massacres committed by Islamists on a daily basis in Iraq and Syria and are beginning to ask themselves if these serve the interests of the Arabs and Muslims. A growing number of Arabs and Muslims are fed up with the Islamist terrorists who are imposing a reign of terror and intimidation in the Arab world.

Senior journalist Khaled Abu-Toameh, writing for Gatestone, reports that over the past week there are voices coming out of Egypt and some Arab countries, voices that publicly support the Israeli military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Isolated and under attack, Hamas now realizes that it has lost the sympathy of many Egyptians and Arabs.

Egypt’s Prime Minister announced this morning that Israel is insistent on continuing what he defined as aggression, and is waiting for Israel’s willingness for a cease fire. However, President Abdel Fattah Sisi has thus far turned down appeals from Palestinians and other Arabs to work toward achieving a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian Authority [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas telephoned Sisi and urged him to intervene to achieve an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas. Abbas later admitted that his appeal to Sisi and, other Arab leaders, had fallen on deaf ears.

Sisi’s decision not to intervene in the current crisis did not come as a surprise. In fact, Sisi and many Egyptians seem to be delighted that Hamas is being badly hurt. Some Egyptians are even openly expressing hope that Israel will completely destroy Hamas, which they regard as the “armed branch of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization.”

“Thank you Netanyahu and may God give us more [people] like you to destroy Hamas!” Wrote Azza Sami, of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram. Sisi’s Egypt has not forgiven Hamas for its alliance with Muslim Brotherhood and its involvement in terrorist attacks against Egyptian civilians and soldiers over the past year. The Egyptians today understand that Hamas and other radical Islamist groups pose a serious threat to their national security.

That is why the Egyptian authorities have, over the past year, been taking tough security measures not only against Hamas, but also the entire population of the Gaza Strip. These measures include the destruction of dozens of smuggling tunnels along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Sisi and other Arab leaders are now sitting on the fence and hoping that this time Israel will complete the job and get rid of Hamas once and for all. Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah are certainly not going to shed a tear if Hamas is crushed and removed from power in the Gaza Strip, writes Abu-Toameh.

The reaction of some Egyptians to the Israeli military operation has shocked Hamas and other Palestinians. As one Hamas spokesman noted: “It’s disgraceful to see that some Egyptians are publicly supporting the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip while Westerners are expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and condemning Israel.”

Addressing the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian actor Amr Mustafa said that they should not expect any help from the Egyptians. “You must get rid of Hamas and we will help you,” he said. He also called on Hamas to stop meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries. “Pull your men out of Egypt, Syria and Libya,” Mustafa demanded. “In Egypt, we are today fighting poverty that was caused by wars. We have enough of our own problems. Don’t expect the Egyptians to give more than what they have already given. We’ve had enough of what you did to our country.”

In response to Egyptian Defense Minister Sedki Sobhi’s decision to dispatch 500 tons of food and medical aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian newspaper El-Bashayer remarked: “The standard of living for a Gazan citizen is much higher than that of an Egyptian citizen. The poor in Egypt are more in need than the poor in the Gaza Strip. Let Qatar spend as much as it wants on the Gaza Strip. We should not send anything that Egyptians are in need of.”

Famous Egyptian TV presenter and journalist Amr Adeeb has been told by many Egyptians to “shut up” after his criticism of Sisi’s “silence” toward the war in the Gaza Strip. One Egyptian reminded Adeeb that “Hamas is responsible for the killing of Egyptian soldiers.” Egyptian ex-general Hamdi Bakhit was quoted as expressing hope that Israel would re-occupy the Gaza Strip. “This would be better than the Hamas rule,” he said.

Egyptian TV presenter Amany al-Khayat launched a scathing attack on Hamas. She pointed out that Hamas agreed to the reconciliation pact with Fatah only in order to get salaries for its employees in the Gaza Strip. Al-Khayat said that Hamas was seeking to depict itself as a victim of an Israeli attack only in order to get the Egyptian authorities to reopen the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip. “They just want us to open the Rafah border crossing,” she said on her show. “Hamas is prepared to make all the residents of the Gaza Strip pay a heavy price in order to rid itself of its crisis. We must not forget that Hamas is the armed branch of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist movement.”

Isolated and under attack, Hamas now realizes that it has lost the sympathy of many Egyptians and Arabs, says Abu-Toameh. Some Hamas leaders are now talking about the “betrayal” and “collusion” of their Arab brethren, especially Egypt.

When the Egyptian authorities reluctantly and briefly re-opened the Rafah border crossing a few days ago, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum rushed to declare: “The Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah border crossing only to receive bodies. Egypt is imposing a blockade on the Gaza Strip and has destroyed the tunnels.”

Former Palestinian Authority security commander Mohamed Dahlan predicted that the Egyptians will not do anything to save Hamas. “Egypt won’t intervene to stop the war on the Gaza Strip because Hamas was conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood against Egypt,” he said. “Hamas was working with Muslim Brotherhood against the Egyptian army.”

Hamas is paying a heavy price for meddling in the internal affairs of Egypt and some other Arab countries. But the Palestinians living under Hamas in the Gaza Strip are paying a heavier price, largely due to their failure to rise up against the Islamist movement and demand the right to live better lives, concludes Abu-Toameh.