WarSclerotic

Israel has reportedly warned Hamas that it will resume assassinations of the terror group’s leaders if Hamas continues to organize clashes on the Gaza border. The terror group, meanwhile, vowed revenge after Monday’s deadly riots.

“If the protests continue, the assassinations will return,” Hadashot TV news quoted security officials as saying in a message sent to Hamas via Egypt.

The reported warning came as Hamas escalated its own threats of violence.

“We say clearly today to all the world that the peaceful march of our people lured the enemy into shedding more blood,” said Khalil al-Hayya, a senior leader in Hamas.

He added that Hamas’s armed wing and other terror groups “will not prolong their silence over the crimes of the occupation.”

The threat came after the bloodiest day yet of the weeks-long violent “March of Return” protest against Israel — and the deadliest day in the Strip since the 2014 war — with Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry saying 52 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,000 wounded in the violence.

Citing Hamas sources, Hadashot TV news said 10 of the terror group’s members were killed in the clashes, including a son of its co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.

Palestinian protesters look at tear gas and smoke billowing from burning tires, east of Gaza City, on May 14, 2018. (Mohammed ABED/AFP)

The Israel Defense Forces called the clashes “unprecedented,” compared to past weeks.

“This is unprecedented in terms of the level of violence, compared to previous weeks,” said spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, citing three attempted attacks by armed men against Israeli forces during the riots as the main proof of the riots’ ferocity.

Amid international criticism over the army’s handling of the clashes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel “will continue to act with determination to defend our sovereignty and our citizens.”

“Every country has the obligation to protect its borders. The Hamas terrorist organization declares its intentions to destroy Israel and sends thousands to break through the border fence for that purpose,” he said, ahead of an emergency meeting of the security cabinet on Gaza Monday night.

However, despite the fierceness of the clashes, the IDF spokesperson, Manelis, said Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, appeared to have failed to bring out protesters in sufficient numbers to be considered a political victory.

Hamas, and the IDF, anticipated that over 100,000 people would participate in Monday’s demonstrations along the border fence. But ultimately, the army calculated that 40,000 people took part, though Manelis acknowledged the final tally may be higher.

Manelis said Hamas attempted to convince and pressure Palestinians to come to the border protests, tried to bribe them by offering “$100 per family that comes,” and threatened people by accusing them of being “collaborators” if they did not attend the protests.

Despite those efforts, Manelis said, “Hamas failed.”

Israeli soldiers walk amidst smoke from a fire in a wheat field near the Kibbutz of Nahal Oz, along the border with the Gaza Strip, which was caused by incendiaries tied to kites flown by Palestinian protesters from across the border., May 14, 2018. (JACK GUEZ/AFP)

Military officials said they were prepared for the protests to last into the night. Soldiers on the border, for instance, were outfitted with night-vision equipment, and the military was ready to use flares to illuminate the area.

However, as of 6:30 p.m., it appeared that the protesters were clearing the border area for the night, and, according to unconfirmed reports, the organizers were calling the demonstrators away from the border.

Manelis said the IDF was expecting protests to continue on Tuesday and potentially for several additional days.

In response to the three attacks, the Israeli army destroyed a number of Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip. Fighter jets also destroyed five Hamas targets in the northern Gaza Strip, and Israeli tanks and aircraft struck two more, the army said.

Additionally, according to the IDF, protesters hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli troops on the other side of the border fence. Demonstrators launched dozens of so-called “terror kites” — kites laden with containers of burning fuel — into Israeli territory, sparking brush fires in open fields and farm lands across the region.

Manelis said that there were also multiple attempts to rush the border — none of them successful — and that the army has intelligence indicating Hamas and other terrorist groups have plans to try to kidnap or kill Israeli soldiers serving on the fence. The IDF’s spokesman said Hamas deployed 12 separate terrorist “cells” to try to breach the border at different locations, and that all were rebuffed.

The protests came as part of the weeks-long March of Return coinciding with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding, which the Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.” Monday’s protests were also timed to coincide with the opening ceremony for the new US Embassy in Jerusalem.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.

Turkey on Monday recalled its ambassadors to Israel and the United States in protest of the Israeli military’s deadly response to riots on the Gaza border.

The announcement was made by Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag, who also declared three days of mourning over the 55 Palestinians the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said were killed in the riots.

“Israel is wreaking state terror. Israel is a terror state,” Erdogan told Turkish students in London in a speech broadcast by state television. “What Israel has done is a genocide. I condemn this humanitarian drama, the genocide, from whichever side it comes, Israel or America.

“We will continue to stand with Palestinian people with determination,” he added.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said Jerusalem was aware of reports on Turkey’s intention to recall its ambassador but had not received an official notice.

Hamas called for an uprising on Monday night after violent clashes on the Gaza border resulted in a high death toll.

“The natural reaction to the death of people who were protesting peacefully should be with an Arab and Islamic intifada (uprising),” said Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy Hamas leader. “The Palestinian response must be clear in Gaza and in the West Bank. There is no other choice but to light the fire in Gaza and in the West Bank in response to what happened.”

“Hamas is monitoring the marches and stands as a shield for them,” he added.

About 40,000 Palestinians have gathered near the fence in 13 hot spots along the border since the morning hours. Several thousand others were located in the tent area about half a kilometer from the fence. At 5:30pm, Hamas ordered all those present in the border area to return home.

At least 52 Palestinians were killed from IDF fire on the Gaza border, with over 1,200 suffering gunshot wounds and 1,200 others suffering other injuries. This is the highest Palestinian death toll since Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held security consultations on Monday evening in light of the clashes on the Gaza border, said Israel was acting in self-defense.

“Every country has an obligation to defend its borders,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter. “The Hamas terrorist organization declares it intends to destroy Israel and sends thousands to breach the border fence in order to achieve this goal. We will continue to act with determination to protect our sovereignty and citizens.”

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman also held consultations on Monday evening with IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, instructing him “to continue acting with determination to prevent any attempt to undermine Israeli sovereignty and Israeli citizens, in accordance with the policy outlined.”

Twenty-eight Arab rioters were killed and roughly 500 more were wounded Monday after clashes erupted along the Gaza-Israel border ahead of the opening ceremony for the new US embassy in Jerusalem, Fox News reported.

Rioters threw stones and burning tires at Israeli soldiers stationed along the border to prevent infiltrations into Israeli territory.

Israeli security personnel opened fire on stone-throwers and rioters who approached the Israeli security fence. According to Gaza health officials, 25 rioters were killed and some 500 more wounded during the riots Monday.

One rioter, identified by Gaza health officials as 21-year-old Anas Qudeih, was shot and killed during clashes east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Gaza officials later said that 24 more rioters had died

More than 10,000 Gazans have already gathered at sites along the border, but Israeli security officials expect those numbers to swell as the US embassy unveiling ceremony approaches. The ceremony is set to begin at 4:00 p.m. Jerusalem time.

Seventy-nine Gaza rioters have been killed since the beginning of the riots, dubbed the “March of Return”, on March 30th. The mass-demonstrations kicked off six weeks of violent clashes along the Israel-Gaza border, culminating in a massive “Nakba Day”.

Nakba, Arabic for “disaster”, is the term used by Hamas and other anti-Israel groups in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza in reference to the anniversary of Israel’s establishment. Monday marks the 70th anniversary on the Gregorian calendar of the establishment of the State of Israel.

Hamas leaders have called on the rioters to break through Israel’s security fence along the Gaza border and infiltrate into Israeli territory en masse.