WarSclerotic

Gaza crisis: Israel, Hamas agree to 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire | Fox News.

In Memoriam: The 56 IDF soldiers who gave their lives to protect Israel
By JPOST.COM STAFF
30/07/2014

Please click on the link to see a brief narrative and photo of each of these brave young soldiers.-LS

Israel mourns the deaths of the 56 soldiers and officers killed in action in Operation Protective Edge.

Report: Desperate Hamas Stealing UN Food Stamps to Survive
by Joel B. Pollak 30 Jul 2014

Who was it that said an army marches on its stomach?-LS

Though Hamas started the latest round of conflict with Israel, it seems to have calculated–wrongly–that Israel would not launch a ground invasion. Members of the Hamas terrorist organization are reportedly so desperate for food after three-and-a-half weeks of war with Israel that they are seizing United Nations food coupons to keep their members fed–and to prevent them from surrendering to Israeli soldiers out of sheer hunger.

The Jerusalem Post reports that senior Israeli military planners have concluded that Hamas is operating from a position of weakness, having lost much of its secretive tunnel network–and at least some of its popular support:

In recent days, Hamas members seized UN food coupons and prevented Gazan civilians from receiving the aid, in order to try and keep field cell members fed. The Islamist regime refuses to publish most of the names of its members who were killed fighting the IDF, and disposes of their bodies quickly, to avoid harming morale. It has tried to ban Gazan civilians from giving interviews to the foreign press during humanitarian truces.

The IDF has seen Hamas tunnel fighters surrender because they have run out of food.

The Post’s national security correspondent, Yaakov Lappin, cautions that Hamas is not yet “near the breaking point,” and that it is drawing on additional reserves from across Gaza. Still, he writes: “Despite their rhetoric, some senior Hamas leaders are privately asking themselves whether the war they began is worth the price.”

US Embassy in Tel Aviv Severely Restricts Visas for Israelis
By Tova Dvorin
First Publish: 7/30/2014, 8:45 PM / Last Update: 7/30/2014, 8:54 PM

Barack is punishing you for not listening. I know. He does it all the time to us in the USA. Of course, there’s always the border with Mexico. It’s wide open and you may even get a ride to your destination once here.-LS

Tourist visa process cancelled until further notice, embassy announces. Is it a matter of security, or discrimination?

The US embassy in Tel Aviv has cancelled tourist visa applications for Israelis, according to a statement on its official website, in a move it claims is a matter of staffing and security.

“Due to the current security situation in Tel Aviv, U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv remains open but is operating at reduced staffing until further notice, and has canceled routine visa application processing and American Citizen services,” the statement says. “Emergencies involving an American citizen and visa applications will be considered on a case by case basis.”

The statement surfaces in the midst of both souring US-Israel relations and an already-pressured visa crisis, which has seen the visa process for Israelis grow more and more difficult over the past year.

In April, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced an internal review into claims that hundreds of young Israelis were being barred from entering the US for political reasons.

An initial investigation found that the rejection rate of visa applications for young Israelis ages 21-26 had doubled, from 16% in 2009 to 32% in 2014; Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro stated that the visa crisis is close to coming to an end several days later.

“The department will take immediate steps to increase the number of young Israelis that can travel to the US according to our immigration laws,” Shapiro wrote, in a Facebook post.

“The law dictates that applicants must prove that they intend to return to Israel in making the request, and that the visa does not allow recipients to stay beyond the designated time period or to work legally in the US,” he said. “But we are aware of the fact that although two-thirds of young applicants receive visas, some people harbor a misconception that young Israelis are not welcome in the USA.”

“Surely that’s not true,” he continued. “Israel is one of the US’s closest allies, and we welcome all networking between Israelis and Americans, including visits to the United States.”

Israeli officials have yet to respond to the letter, which responds to earlier claims that political motivations were at stake in the visa rejections.

Earlier this year, Israeli security officials also claimed they were being targeted by the US, and that hundreds of defense officials were turned away from making important visits to Washington.

Major Israeli politicians claimed in May that the US had been “humiliating” them during the visa application process for years, according to a report in Yediot Aharonot, and had been forced to endure long wait times for acceptance and allowed only brief visits to their alleged ally.