WarSclerotic

https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-rocket-fire-israeli-jets-strike-gaza-for-second-time-in-hours/

Army says 2 projectiles intercepted by Iron Dome; reports say rocket fell in Sderot, damaging home

By TOI STAFFToday, 3:54 am  1Gazans protest at the border with Israel, August 15, 2020 (Channel 12 screenshot)

Israeli jets carried out a second wave of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip within hours early Sunday morning, after rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave at southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.

In response to the rocket fire and general rise in violence around Gaza, Israel has also decided to fully close off the enclave’s fishing zone until further notice, reports said Sunday morning. The decision was effective immediately.

The overnight raids targeted Hamas sites in the southern Gaza Strip, the army said. The strikes hit a rocket storage facility belonging to the terror group, it said.

“The IDF views with severity any terror activity against Israel and will continue to operate as needed against attempts to harm the citizens of the State of Israel or its sovereignty. The terror group Hamas is responsible for all [attacks] perpetrated from and in Gaza, and it will bear the consequences of terror attacks against Israelis,” the military said.

The renewed airstrikes came hours after two rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, according to the army. Another rocket slammed into a yard of a home in the southern city of Sderot, damaging the residence.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1294798968963178497&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesofisrael.com%2Fafter-rocket-fire-israeli-jets-strike-gaza-for-second-time-in-hours%2F&siteScreenName=timesofisrael&theme=light&widgetsVersion=223fc1c4%3A1596143124634&width=550px

The rockets triggered sirens in Sderot around 1 a.m., sending thousands rushing for shelter. A 58-year-old man was lightly hurt by glass, and several people were treated for shock or for minor injuries sustained while running to shelters, medics said.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-1&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1294760618851958785&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesofisrael.com%2Fafter-rocket-fire-israeli-jets-strike-gaza-for-second-time-in-hours%2F&siteScreenName=timesofisrael&theme=light&widgetsVersion=223fc1c4%3A1596143124634&width=550px

Israel’s earlier round of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip late Saturday came in retaliation for the continued launches of balloon-borne incendiary devices from the Palestinian enclave and the renewal of nighttime clashes along the border fence.

The IDF said that warplanes targeted “a military installation and underground infrastructure of the Hamas terrorist group,” adding that it holds the terror organization responsible for any violence from the Strip.

A Hamas-linked news site said some 800 Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops on the border as part of “night confusion units,” which had previously held violent demonstrations along the security fence but hadn’t been active in recent months.

Some of the Palestinians threw explosive devices at Israeli soldiers, Hebrew media said.

The Hamas-run health ministry said two people were injured by live bullets, apparently during the border clashes, and were taken to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City for treatment.

The renewal of the late night border clashes came amid growing tensions between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist terror group that controls Gaza.

Saturday marked the fifth consecutive evening Israel launched strikes in Gaza, after at least 19 fires were sparked in the south during the day by airborne incendiary objects flown from the Strip.

Earlier, Hamas warned of a “dangerous escalation” after two children were reportedly lightly injured in the Israeli strikes.Illustrative: An IDF soldier stands in front of a fire near Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel that was sparked by a balloon-borne incendiary device launched from the Gaza Strip, August 13, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Makeshift firebombs attached to bunches of balloons or kites ignited over 100 fires in Israel in the past week, setting alight agricultural fields and brush. Officials said most were small fires, but some caused damage.

According to a report Friday in the Haaretz daily, Israel has communicated it won’t allow the transfer of a monthly sum of $30 million from Qatar to Gaza unless the spate of incendiary balloon attacks stops.

The report, which did not cite a source, added that the Qatari envoy himself is “not thrilled” to go to the Strip until the escalation is over.

Palestinian analysts say attacks from Gaza often aim to pressure Israel to give the green light for the transfer of the Qatari financial aid into the Strip.

In response to the attacks, Israel has already closed its cargo crossing with the Strip, with exceptions made for food and humanitarian aid, and also previously reduced the territory’s permitted coastal fishing zone.

The practice of launching balloon-borne incendiary and explosive devices from the Gaza Strip toward Israel has waxed and waned over the past two years, with an uptick since the end of last week.

He’s advancing peace and U.S. interests abroad, while repudiating his predecessor.Nate Jackson · Aug. 14, 2020  

Barack Obama may have been handed a Nobel Peace Prize merely for ascending to the presidency, but Donald Trump is the one actually securing peace deals. The president announced a historic agreement Thursday between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump summed up the “Abraham Accord,” saying, “After 49 years, Israel and the United Arab Emirates will fully normalize their diplomatic relations. They will exchange embassies and ambassadors, and begin cooperation across the board and on a broad range of areas, including tourism, education, healthcare, trade, and security.”

Gary Bauer notes, “This marks the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country in more than 25 years and only the third such deal.” Most Arab nations still refuse to recognize Israel at all, though don’t be surprised if this lays the groundwork for a similar deal with Saudi Arabia.

The accord also marks a big win for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been embattled by domestic political attacks that bear resemblance to those Trump has survived. It both shores up concerns about foreign policy and quiets some domestic opposition regarding Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Naturally, Joe Biden had the audacity to claim credit, thanks to his supposedly key work in the Obama administration. “The coming together of Israel and Arab states builds on the efforts of multiple administrations to foster a broader Arab-Israeli opening, including the efforts of the Obama-Biden administration to build on the Arab Peace Initiative,” Biden’s handlers wrote in a statement. “I personally spent time with leaders of both Israel and the UAE during our administration building the case for cooperation and broader engagement and the benefits it could deliver to both nations, and I am gratified by today’s announcement.”

He shouldn’t be. In fact, he should be ashamed of such a brazen revision of history. The true Obama-Biden policy was to marginalize Israel and the Gulf states by cutting a deal with the mullahs in Iran. It’s telling that former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes, one of the architects of and propagandists for the Iran deal, slammed Trump’s agreement for “the total exclusion of the Palestinians.” Tehran seeks hegemony in the Middle East while fomenting violence, seeking the destruction of Israel, and opposing the U.S. at every turn. Obama helped advance that goal not just with the nuclear deal but with his war policies in Iraq, Syria, and Libya.

Trump decided a better course would be to work with our allies and against our enemies.

After decades of empty promises from American presidents, it was Donald Trump who finally moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem — a move his critics promised would lead to unrest. It was Donald Trump who rescinded the deal with Iran and who replaced it with a different “deal” — killing General Qasem Soleimani, leader of Iran’s elite terrorist Corps-Quds forces. Critics decried that, too, as provoking further violence.

Yet here we are with a peace deal, in large part because of Trump’s actions. To be sure, Trump has not once and for all secured “peace in our time” with this agreement. But it is notable for Middle East stability and it advances U.S. interests. That’s a welcome change, and one we’d rather not see undone come November.