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Assessing The UN’s OCHA “Gaza Crisis Atlas 2014″ Report by Judge Dan

August 24, 2014

Assessing The UN’s OCHA “Gaza Crisis Atlas 2014″ Report

Posted by: Judge Dan August 24, 2014

via Assessing The UN’s OCHA “Gaza Crisis Atlas 2014″ Report by Judge Dan | Israellycool.

Please visit website for full scale maps

 

Last week, OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) published their “Gaza Crisis Atlas“.

It is a 100-page long, ready-for-print, PDF atlas of Gaza, showing the locations of schools, shelters, hospitals and other infrastructure, along with more than 12,000 points representing damage and destruction caused by the IDF air and ground assault during the first month of Operation Protective Edge (between July 9th and August 5th).

The Gaza Crisis Atlas is a planning tool intended to assist aid and development agencies in assessing and responding to humanitarian and reconstruction needs emanating from the conflict in the Gaza Strip. It is a vital tool for humanitarian and development organizations, but it is also a valuable resource for anyone operating in Gaza as well as those wanting to better understand the impact of the recent escalation of hostilities.

The Atlas includes printable A3-size maps featuring satellite images of all areas of the Gaza Strip. The main features / land marks were plotted on a high resolution satellite image captured on 6 July 2014. The Atlas was designed at the neighbourhood level to provide higher level of detail to support operational organizations to conduct needs assessments and programming.  The individual subset maps illustrate physical damages provided by UNOSAT based on analysis of satellite images from 14 August 2014. Location of shelters, health and education facilities in addition to other baseline information is all mapped.

I cannot independently verify the veracity of the damage reports and locations, or the methodology used by OCHA in collecting and classifying these sites. From going over these locations with satellite imagery, they are indeed overlapping structures and other compounds.

OCHA defined 4 qualitative severity levels

  1. Crater/Impact
  2. Moderately Damaged Structure
  3. Severely Damaged Structure
  4. Destroyed structure

Their maps are colour coded, and I’ve used this same symbology for my maps

OCHA Scale

It should be noted that these maps had a separate symbol for damaged hospitals and power stations, yet didn’t actually have a damage point on top of it. I’ve saved these with threat level “zero.”

I extracted the points and uploaded them in this easy to navigate Google Fusion Tables map, displayed by severity.

Here are those points extracted by severity (increasing from 0 & 1 on the left to level 4 on the right):

 

Gaza Damage points broken down by severity, click for full resolution

Several patterns are discernible:

The attacks are in no way “random” or “indiscriminate”. One can clearly see the spatial distribution of the damage in several aspects. We find 8,952 of the 12,433 total points (72%) are within a 3 KM buffer abutting the border with Israel. The main objective of Operation Protective Edge was to find and destroy dozens of terror tunnels dug from Gaza into Israel.

That the most intensive damage was caused to the area where the tunnels naturally originated is thus perfectly understandable. Furthermore, of the 4,441 destroyed structures, 3,481 of them (78%) are within the 3 KM buffer, as are 2,531 of 3,303 (77%) of the lowest intensity damage (simple craters), which are mostly strikes on rocket launchers and tunnels.

Most of the attacks are grouped around certain neighborhoods or villages, such as Shuja’iyya, Johur ad-Dik, Sureij, and Khuza’a. These were probably the result of the ground operations that took place in dense urban areas also within the 3 KM buffer that housed multiple tunnel entrances and shafts, as well as launch sites for mortars and rockets.

The IDF has published a map of known terrorist infrastructure in the neighborhood of Shuja’iyya. By overlaying the the IDF’s map with OCHA’s damage points, the correlation is uncanny. Furthermore, note how most of the strikes on farmlands are indeed classified as “Crater/Impact”.

 

OCHA Damage points overlayed over IDF map of Shuja’iyya, click of full resolution

Of the places that were attacked outside of the 3 KM buffer there are two of note. The primary one is the Philadelphi corridor that separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt (under which run many smuggling tunnels). Additionally, there is the southern Gaza city neighborhood of al-Zeitun, which was just recently used as the launching site of the mortar that killed 4 year old Daniel Targeman.

OCHA is focusing mainly on the civilian aspect, and has thus divided and analyzed the damage based on the 5 Gaza governorates and their subdivisions, tallying the data in several tables in the report. This analysis is missing the “big picture”, the overall intensity of the strikes.

Damage Intensity Heatmap

This heatmap was created with a weighted kernel density of the OCHA damage points, with the weight being the severity.

 

It now becomes very clear that most of the damage was caused to 5 locations right on the border with Israel. The rest of the Gaza Strip was, for the most part, undamaged. The main population areas of Gaza city, Jabaliya, Khan Yunes, Rafah and Deir el-Balah were disproportionately undamaged.

If we do a rough estimate of the damage area, it is once again clear the vast majority of the Gaza Strip was unscathed. With a fairly generous estimation that a damage point has a 25 meter radius – the footprint of a house, or the blast radius of a bomb – the total damage area of the 12,433 impacts was in the order of 15 KM2. The land area of the Gaza strip is 360 Km2. In other words, less than 5% of the land was affected.

One last point which should be noted: with roughly 15% of Hamas rockets and mortars falling short or misfired, it is safe to assume that a significant number of those damage points were not the result of Israeli air strikes, shelling, or detonations. This is not mentioned in the OCHA report.

In conclusion, in this post I tried to show some absolute data and geographical information beyond the online and printed hyperbole that we have seen in the past several weeks. While it is indeed upsetting that many uninvolved have been killed, the lopsided portrayal of the “IDF attacks on Gaza” is disingenuous. Israel has said from the get-go that it is targeting terrorists, and the spatial distribution of the damage points (from this third party source) proves the IDF’s claims of targeted attacks on terrorist infrastructure, whether they are in fields or in the middle of a neighborhood hijacked by Hamas.

I am more than willing to continue analyzing and investigating the OCHA dataset and am open to suggestions and remarks from others. I am sharing CSV with the full list of 12433 geocoded points in WGS84 D.d format including their severity level and the page they appeared on for easy indexing, and WKT Geometry field.

Disclaimers:

OCHA damage data, while not published in itself, is considered public domain and as such can be subject to fair use.

All other geographic data: roads, buildings, outlines and places are OSM data.

The Damage Intensity map is copyrighted and watermarked. You can share it with proper attribution to my post here at Israellycool with a link back to this post. If you would like further comment or to republish this work please contact judgedan48 [at] gmail.com

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Hamas Sinks to Child Sacrifice in Thirst for Jewish Blood

August 23, 2014

Hamas terrorists are so callous that their thirst for blood means more than the lives of their own children.

By: Rachel LevyPublished: August 23rd, 2014

via The Jewish Press » » Hamas Sinks to Child Sacrifice in Thirst for Jewish Blood.

 

Terror rockets fired at Israeli civilians from a United Nations (UNRWA) girls school in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, on August 23, 2014.
Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit / satellite imagery
 

A new IDF intelligence report declassified last week has made it clear that Hamas terrorists have sunk to a new low — child sacrifice — in its thirst for Jewish blood.

Human shields, and particularly those who are most vulnerable (read: children) make the best headlines when they are photographed by horrified international reporters after they are bloodied and dead following a firefight or an IDF air strike.

How can that best be staged?

Of the more than 3,600 rockets and missiles fired from Gaza at Israeli civilians since the start of Operation Protective Edge on July 8, 1,600 were fired from civilian areas, according to the report.

Video footage of attacks fired from civilian areas were included.

he Gaza City neighborhood of Shujaiyya, as well as the areas of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun were found to be the most densely populated terrorist strongholds in the enclave.

There were rocket launches from within the El Azhar Islamic College as well, specifically at 2:45 a.m. on July 8, and three rockets launched from the Abu Nur School, also video taped.

Numerous other schools were also found to be terrorist bases — including several belonging to the ‘neutral’ United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

On August 1, 2014, rockets were launched at 7:23 pm from the UNWRA elementary school for girls in Beit Lahiya. Photographic evidence is available in an IDF aerial snapshot.

The next day, rockets were launched next to the UNRWA Shahada Al-Manara elementary school for boys in the Zeitoun district of Gaza City.

Beyond that, Gaza terrorists have also hidden behind the institutional “neutrality” of the United Nations, taking advantage of the international agency to fire rockets from inside an UNRWA distribution center and and UNWRA health center in Jabalya on August 2, 2014.

The terrorists also fired rockets from an UNWRA facility in a residential neighborhood in Gaza City.

Nor was the International Committee of the Red Cross, another “neutral” international aid organization, immune.

Rockets were fired at Israel just five meters away from a Red Cross Ambulance Station in Gaza; the launch was photographed by satellite.

Patients in hospitals, also made convenient shields for terrorists, who set up rocket launchers next to the Wafa Hospital in Shujaiyya and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

In addition, clinics and mosques were found to be favored spots for terrorist activity as well. One mosque was used as a weapons storage facility in Nuseirat. In Gaza City, another house of worship concealed the entrance to an attack tunnel. Rocket launchers were also placed around mosques.

Even the dead were not respected, or safe: terrorists have launched rockets from within cemeteries in the enclave.

Curiously, terrorists also fired rockets from within a hotel where journalists were staying: on August 1, 2014, rockets were fired at Israel from the Al-Mashtal Hotel in Al Shati. Due to intimidation and threats, no journalist reported it: but satellite imagery caught the launch. Likewise, Hamas terrorists have prepared and launched rockets next to a hotel used by international media — but none have reported it. Their lives are at stake if they do.

Only after leaving the enclave have some had the courage to “tell.”

Perhaps the most self-destructive of all: on July 30, 2014, Gaza terrorists fired rockets at Israeli civilians from within the Gaza power plant itself, at 8:39 am, either believing the launch would not be seen or documented (it was, by satellite photography).

The tactics of Hamas and other Gaza terrorists are a flagrant violation of international law. Essentially, the terrorists have dropped to the level of child sacrifice not seen since the days of the pagan worship of the false god Ba’al Peor.

The responsibility for “collateral damage” that occurs during IDF attacks on terrorists as Israeli soldiers return fire in defense of civilians living in the Jewish State lies solely with Hamas, which controls Gaza.

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DUNETZ: Obama’s Strategy For Fighting Terrorism: ‘Except When The Terrorists Are Targeting Jews’

August 23, 2014

DUNETZ: Obama’s Strategy For Fighting Terrorism: ‘Except When The Terrorists Are Targeting Jews

8.22.2014 Commentary Jeff Dunetz

via DUNETZ: Obama’s Strategy For Fighting Terrorism: ‘Except When The Terrorists Are Targeting Jews’ | Truth Revolt.

 

 

he pundits on both sides of the political spectrum are confused about President Obama’s strategy for fighting terrorism. He seems to say one thing and then a few days later orate something quite different. Ye his recent actions have made his strategy clear. As a service to readers of TruthRevolt and the political punditry of America, we will explain Obama’s terrorism-fighting strategy, which in his administration seems to be outspoken “except when the terrorists are targeting Jews.”

This is how it works.

While talking about ISIS and the murder of Jim Foley on Wednesday, President Obama said:

They have rampaged across cities and villages — killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children, and subject them to torture and rape and slavery. They have murdered Muslims — both Sunni and Shia — by the thousands. They target Christians and religious minorities, driving them from their homes, murdering them when they can for no other reason than they practice a different religion. They declared their ambition to commit genocide against an ancient people.

A few hours after Obama’s speech, Israeli Prime Minster Netanyahu gave one of his own, accurately explaining that Hamas is guilty of the same horrific acts as ISIS.

Hamas is ISIS. ISIS is Hamas. They’re the enemies of peace, they’re the enemies of Israel, they’re the enemies of all civilized countries, and I believe they’re the enemies of the Palestinians themselves.

Netanyahu explained that the Foley beheading “shows you the barbarism, the savagery of these people,” He added:

We face the same savagery. People who wantonly rocket our cities and conduct mass killings, and when they can, they murder children, teenagers, shoot them in the head, throw people from the sixth floor, their own people, and use their people as human shields.

During the daily State Department briefing that same day, Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf was asked about Netanyahu’s comparison. Harf refused to concede that the two terrorist groups were similar.

I think by definition, they are two different groups. They have different leadership, and I’m not going to compare them in that way. I’ll let him [Netanyahu] speak for himself, but I’m not going to use that comparison.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hmQpzV2KkPU

Why would the Obama administration refuse to accept the Netanyahu comparison? There is one major difference between ISIS and Hamas. As the President said above, ISIS attacks people of all religions including their own. On the other hand, Hamas’ primary target is the Jewish people. Their stated objective is killing all of the Jews in Israel and once that is done, killing all of the Jews in the rest of the world.

Civilian casualties are another example of the “Except when the terrorists are targeting Jews” strategy.

Since the start of the Gaza war, President Obama has constantly attacked Israel for the tragedy of civilian casualties despite the fact that Israel goes even further than the U.S. to avoid civilian casualties and that Hamas uses its population as human shields.

During an interview with the New Yorker this past January, Obama told David Remnick that he “wrestle[s]” with civilian casualties. But he also said he has

“a solemn duty and responsibility to keep the American people safe. That’s my most important obligation as President and Commander-in-Chief. And there are individuals and groups out there that are intent on killing Americans — killing American civilians, killing American children, blowing up American blowing up American planes. That’s not speculation. It’s their explicit agenda.”

Why would Obama go out of his way to criticize this country’s number one ally in the Middle East about civilian casualties when he knows that Hamas puts non-combatants in the line of fire and the lengths Israel goes to avoid killing civilians? That’s because the President believes Netanyahu’s “solemn duty and responsibility” to keep his citizens safe is different than Obama’s. Each of the countries has pluralistic societies recognizing the freedom of its people, but only one of them is comprised mostly of Jews.

Obama believes the civilized world should weed out and fight terrorism wherever they may find it, except, of course, if the terrorists are targeting Jews.

During that same Wednesday speech the President said:

From governments and peoples across the Middle East there has to be a common effort to extract this cancer, so that it does not spread. There has to be a clear rejection of these kind of nihilistic ideologies. One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century.

Since the start of the Gaza operation, Obama has allowed Israel to go only so far in trying to destroy Hamas before demanding a cease-fire. Contrary to America’s ally Israel, Obama’s strategy is to bring Hamas to the negotiating table as opposed to extracting “this cancer, so that it does not spread.”

Why is Obama’s goal to eradicate ISIS but only to bring Hamas to the bargaining table? There can be only one answer, as there is only one difference between the two terrorist groups: unlike ISIS which targets everyone, Hamas’ primary target is the Jews, not only in Israel, but in America, and indeed across the world.

Talking heads on both sides of the aisle have declared their consternation about President Obama’s strategy for fighting terrorism. It’s quite easy to understand when one realizes there is one rule for the terrorists who want to kill the Jews and a different rule for the terrorists who target a broader range of people.

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Smuggling between Sinai and Gaza still thriving

August 22, 2014

Smuggling between Sinai and Gaza still thriving

Bedouin guide claims there are 500 tunnels that can shuttle weapons, goods, building materials and people into Strip

By Spencer Ho August 22, 2014, 9:26 am

via Smuggling between Sinai and Gaza still thriving | The Times of Israel.

 

A Palestinian worker inside a smuggling tunnel, beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border
in the southern Gaza Strip, in February 2013 (photo credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
 

ith Israel’s attention focused on Hamas’s cross-border attack tunnels into Israel, the smuggling of arms and goods from the Sinai Peninsula has continued and gained a boost from the flare-up of hostilities in the Gaza strip, according to Egyptian and Bedouin sources.

“During the Gaza war, business has flourished,” a Bedouin guide, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.

The fighting and humanitarian crisis has increased the demand for weapons and humanitarian supplies that only skilled smugglers can provide. However, while their business is still thriving, it is not what it used to be just two years ago, the report said.

The crackdown on smuggling came amid accusations by Egypt that Hamas had colluded with the Muslim Brotherhood in carrying out “terror attacks” on its territory in the past few years.

In March of this year, Egypt’s military said that it had destroyed 1,370 smuggling tunnels under its border with the Gaza Strip. Coupled with the frequent closure of the Rafah border and Israel’s effective security blockade, the destruction of so many of the tunnels has left the Hamas-run coastal enclave almost completely isolated.

“The situation is much more controlled,” a senior Egyptian official told Reuters, noting that since mid-2012 the army had managed to seriously curtail the smuggling of weapons, fuel, food and drugs. “It’s not 100 percent, but we are trying to reach this percentage.”

For their part, the Bedouin smugglers acknowledge that the Egyptian crackdown has forced them to think smaller. The massive tunnels that used to accommodate cars and trucks have been destroyed, but many of the one- to two-meter-wide corridors have survived. One Bedouin guide told Reuters that smugglers had built up to 200 more such tunnels in the last two years, bringing the total of working tunnels up to 500. Comparatively, before the crackdown, there were some 1,500.

“Each day, about three or four people cross with weapons, and each one carries about six or seven guns,” the guide said, without specifying what type of arms were being transported.

A peek into a derelict house in Egypt where a tunnel opening is located — concealed only by a shower curtain — offers a glimpse into how the system works.

“This tunnel is a partnership between us,” the Egyptian tunnel owner said, referring to his Palestinian counterpart on the Gaza side. “Building it cost us $300,000. He paid half and I paid half. The profit is split between us 50-50.”

On average, the two men net about $200 per day by charging varying rates for different supplies, according to the owner. For instance, a one-square-meter crate of medicine or food would cost $12, while weapons, building supplies, or fuel might cost as much as $150.

When Egypt cracked down on smuggling between its territory and Gaza in 2012, it charged that militant forces were using the tunnels to shuttle weapons and fighters to the groups that were frequently attacking its military forces and causing unrest amongst the population in Sinai. While its campaign may have struck a blow to the enterprise, this tunnel operation proves that the threat still exists.

Much like goods, people can also pass, with the price starting at $50 per person; extra if they are carrying weapons.

“If someone is passing with one or two guns, we charge $60 to $70. But if someone has more weapons, it’s a special operation and might cost as much as $1,000 or $2,000 depending on the type of weapon,” the Egyptian was quoted by Reuters as saying, adding that he has no interest in who they are or their intentions, as long as his Palestinian partner says they are alright.

“As long as they give me $50, I let them through, he said. “I just deliver the weapons and take the money. I’m not concerned with where they’re going.”

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Message From President Abbas’ Fatah Party—It’s OK To Slaughter Jews In Settlements

August 22, 2014

Message From President Abbas’ Fatah Party—It’s OK To Slaughter Jews In Settlements”Our political decision is resistance in the occupied territories in order ‎to bring an end to the occupation [using] all forms of resistance.”

8.21.2014 News Jeff Dunetz

via Message From President Abbas’ Fatah Party—It’s OK To Slaughter Jews In Settlements | Truth Revolt.

 

Are this the people where Israel wants to work with, like safeguarding border crossings ?

 

Once again proving that Palestinian leadership talks peace in English but war in Arabic, Jibril Rajoub, the Deputy Secretary of the Central Committee for President Mahmoud Abbas’ “Moderate” Fatah Party, appeared on independent Palestinian TV Station​ Awdah announcing that Fatah has made a “political decision” to support slaughtering of Jews who live in settlements.

I’m telling everyone: Fatah has decided that our relations with the Israelis are relations between enemies. There is no kind of coordination between the Israelis and us. Everyone can be certain that any form of mutual coordination ended a day after they declared war on the National Unity Government… OK, brother, ‎here is the occupation, am I stopping you from slaughtering a settlement? No one is stopping anyone. ‎Don’t lie and tell me: ‘the [PA] Security Forces and Mahmoud Abbas,’ and so on [stop you]. Drop it, ‎OK? No one is stopping anyone. Our political decision is resistance in the occupied territories in order ‎to bring an end to the occupation [using] all forms of resistance.

Source: Palwatch

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Exclusive: Militants, weapons transit Gaza tunnels despite Egyptian crackdown

August 22, 2014

Exclusive: Militants, weapons transit Gaza tunnels despite Egyptian crackdown

AL-SARSOURIYA Egypt Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:55pm BST

via Exclusive: Militants, weapons transit Gaza tunnels despite Egyptian crackdown | Reuters.

 

A Palestinian fighter from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, gestures inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014.Credit: Reuters/Mohammed Salem
 

(Reuters) – A third of the houses on the main street of this Bedouin town near Egypt’s border with Gaza look derelict, but inside they buzz with the activity of tunnel smugglers scrambling to survive a security crackdown by the Egyptian army.

Smugglers and tunnel owners, who once publicly advertised their services, have taken over the nearly two dozen single-storey concrete structures and boarded up their doors and windows to avoid the attention of the authorities.

While tunnels used by Gaza’s dominant Hamas militants to infiltrate Israel were a priority target of an Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave this summer, many smuggling conduits into Egypt have skirted detection.

That has allowed transports of weapons, building materials, medicine and food to continue to and from the small, coastal territory that is subject to blockade by both Israel and Egypt, tunnel operators say and Egyptian security sources acknowledge.

“During the Gaza war, business has flourished,” said a Bedouin guide who gave Reuters access to one of the tunnels and a rare look at how the illicit, lucrative industry has evolved since Egypt began trying to root out the passages in 2012.

Egypt sees a halt to the flow of weapons and fighters as important to its security, shaken in the past year by explosions and shootings by an Islamist insurgency based mainly in the Sinai Peninsula bordering Gaza and Israel.

Humanitarian supplies and building materials headed in the other direction have provided a vital lifeline to the 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza who have been living under the Israeli-imposed blockade since Hamas seized the enclave in 2007.

Cairo mediated talks this month between Israel and Palestinian factions led by Hamas to try to end the war in Gaza but refused to discuss easing its tight control of the Rafah border crossing as part of the deal Hamas seeks.

A 10-day ceasefire expired on Tuesday without a deal to extend it indefinitely, with Israel resuming air strikes on Gaza and Hamas and other Islamist militants their rocket salvoes into the Jewish state.

The guide who accompanied Reuters and requested anonymity estimated the total number of functional tunnels in about 10 border villages like Al-Sarsouriya at nearly 500 – down from about 1,500 before the Egyptian clampdown began.

Most of the bigger tunnels – the kind that can accommodate cars and even trucks – have been destroyed by the Egyptians, but smaller ones ranging 1-2 meters (yards) in diameter survive.

The guide said that as many as 200 new tunnels had been built in the past two years, dodging Egyptian security sweeps, with new ones coming onboard each week.

The smaller tunnels are still big enough to allow weapons, building materials and humanitarian supplies to pass under the heavily guarded land crossing.

“Each day, about 3 or 4 people cross with weapons, and each one carries about 6 or 7 guns,” the Bedouin guide said, without specifying what type of arms were being transported.

A senior Egyptian security officer confirmed that while the biggest and longest tunnels were no more, smaller ones remain operational.

“The situation is much more controlled. It’s not 100 percent but we are trying to reach this percentage,” he told Reuters. He said the army had achieved a noticeable reduction in smuggling of weapons, fuel, food and drugs over the past two years.

Egypt accuses the Islamist Hamas of supporting the Sinai insurgents, which Hamas denies. For its part, Israel has long wanted Egypt to end arms smuggling from Sinai to Gaza militants.

LUCRATIVE TUNNEL BUSINESS BEHIND SHOWER CURTAIN

A shower curtain is all that conceals the entrance ramp to the tunnel which Reuters visited. Two sheep and a cart in an adjacent room gave the impression that the house was abandoned, should security forces come searching.

The tunnel owner and his teenage son sat on cushions around a small wooden table beside the curtain. A photograph of the pair hung on the wall overlooking their cash cow.

The concrete-lined entrance to the 600-metre (0.37 miles) tunnel turns to dirt after a few steps. Posts support a wooden ceiling as deep as 10 meters (33 feet) below the surface, and energy-saving bulbs every few meters light the way.

The Egyptian owner accompanies passengers to the midpoint where a sentry checks on the security situation on the other side and then brings them to meet the Palestinian co-owner.

“This tunnel is a partnership between us,” said the Egyptian. “Building it cost us $300,000. He paid half and I paid half. The profit is split between us 50-50.”

The tunnel regularly brings the men profits of $200 a day. Shipping rates vary, starting at $12 for one-metre crates of medicine or food and topping out at $150 for weapons, building supplies or fuel.

People can pass for $50 each but the rate increases if they are armed. Most of the passengers are men, the owner said, but women and children also use the tunnels. Farm animals occasionally make the journey as well.

“If someone is passing with one or two guns, we charge $60 to $70. But if someone has more weapons, it’s a special operation and might cost as much as $1,000 or $2,000 depending on the type of weapon,” the Egyptian owner told Reuters.

He said he does not check the identification of people who pass and even allows masked men to use his tunnel if his Palestinian partner vouches for them. “As long as they give me $50, I let them through,” he said.

The owner said he also does not seek to know the affiliation or destination of militants and weapons for fear that displeased customers will use another tunnel or report him to the security forces. “I just deliver the weapons and take the money,” he said. “I’m not concerned with where they’re going.”

In Gaza, Hamas has disputed Israel’s claim that it demolished all of the militants’ infiltration tunnels during the current conflict, and granted a rare tour to a Reuters news team last week to back up its assertion.

(The name of the correspondent is being withheld for security reasons; Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh in Cairo; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Hamas buries commanders killed by Israel

August 21, 2014

Hamas buries commanders killed by Israel

Funerals held for three al-Qassam Brigades leaders in Rafah, as Israel calls up fresh troops for extended Gaza campaign.

Last updated: 21 Aug 2014 18:54

via Hamas buries commanders killed by Israel – Middle East – Al Jazeera English.

 

Hamas said the deaths of the three commanders was a “big Israeli crime” [AFP]
 
So much innocent civilians !
 

Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets as funerals were held for three Hamas commanders killed in the latest round of Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip that left a total of 29 Palestinians dead.

The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, said Mohamed Abo Shamaleh, Raed al-Attar and Mohamed Barhoum were killed in an attack in Rafah on Thursday, little more than a day after an attempt on the life of its leader Mohammed Deif.

Their supporters later took over the streets as their funerals processions snaked through Rafah, which bears scars of Israeli bombing from previous days.

Another 26 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since Wednesday evening, raising the overall death toll to 2,077 in 45 days of conflict.

Israel meanwhile said it was rotating 10,000 troops – meaning fresh soldiers were being prepared for possible future operations – a day after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel’s offensive may be an extended operation.

Hamas condemned the assasinations, with Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman, calling them a “big Israeli crime” for which it would pay.

Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, reporting from West Jerusalem, said Israel had turned to its historical tactic of targeting senior figures.

“This could be seen as an acknowledgement that military tactics have not been delivering on several levels,” she said, including damage to its international reputation.

Al Jazeera’s Jane Ferguson, reporting from Gaza, said the Hamas commanders killed on Thursday had been implicated in the kidnapping of its soldier Gilad Shalit, who was freed in 2011 under a prisoner swap deal with Hamas.

Ferguson said that Hamas and other Palestinian factions were still open to talks, an “indicator of how both sides … are aware that while they say they’re prepared to fight, they also know that they need a political solution at some stage”.

Hamas is seeking an end to a seven-year Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has battered Gaza’s economy, while Israel wants guarantees that Hamas will disarm.

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U.S. Has Not Expressed Concerns Over Hamas Leader in Turkey

August 21, 2014

U.S. Has Not Expressed Concerns Over Hamas Leader in Turkey

Turkish official says no ‘concerns’ expressed to Turkey following Hamas coup plot

BY:

August 20, 2014 5:00 am

via U.S. Has Not Expressed Concerns Over Hamas Leader in Turkey | Washington Free Beacon.

 

AP
 

he Obama administration has not expressed to Turkey any concerns over recent reports indicating that a senior Hamas operative operating in Turkey had been implicated in a coup plot to overthrow the Palestinian government in the West Bank and wage war on Israel, according to a Turkish official.

The State Department on Monday defended new missile sales to Turkey just hours after news emerged that Ankara is hosting a senior Hamas operative who Israel accused of hatching a plan to violently overthrow the Palestinian Fatah government in the West Bank.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf did not respond yesterday to Free Beacon requests for comment on whether the Obama administration had related any concerns to Ankara over its reported sheltering of Hamas official Saleh Al-Arouri, who is said to have been responsible for planning the kidnapping of three Israeli teens who were killed by Hamas.

A Turkish official confirmed to the Free Beacon late Tuesday that the Obama administration has not reached out to express concerns over the reports about the alleged coup and rejected allegations that Turkey may be aiding Al-Arouri.

“Turkey strongly condemns and rejects such allegations. As a matter of fact Turkey’s strong support to the National Unity Government in Palestine and to the President [Mahmoud] Abbas himself is self-explanatory and refutes such accusations,” the official said.

The Turkish official further noted that “U.S. authorities are well aware” of Turkey’s support for Abbas and his government.

“Since U.S. authorities are well aware of Turkey’s aforementioned position, there has been no such concern [expressed by the Obama administration] as you mention in your email which has been conveyed to the Turkish side,” the official said.

Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also addressed the controversy in a statement issued Tuesday in Turkish.

“Turkey is at the top of the list of countries that have supported the Palestinian reconciliation” between Hamas and Fatah, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in the statement, which was translated for the Free Beacon by Merve Tahiroglu, a research associate for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). “In this regard, our country has welcomed and supported the Palestinian unity government that was formed on June 2.”

Turkey views this unity government as “an indispensible element” for peace in the region and “the welfare of the Palestinian people,” the statement adds.

Turkey maintains that is has not “overlooked any attempts to overthrow the Palestinian national unity government,” according to the statement. “We strongly reject and condemn such slander. Turkey’s close contact and strong cooperation with the Palestinian administration will, just as it has been in the past, continue with determination in the future.”

A heated back-and-forth between reporters and Harf broke out at the State Department’s daily briefing on Monday and Tuesday when questions emerged about why the administration is going through with the transfer of U.S. missiles to Turkey while simultaneously holding up similar weapons shipments to Israel.

Harf again on Tuesday ducked questions by reporters asking if the U.S. government had conveyed concerns to Turkey over the plot.

“Do you have any concerns at all about the apparent role of Turkey in this?” AP reporter Matt Lee asked Harf.

“I don’t have any more details on this, Matt. I’m happy to check with our team,” Harf responded.

“Okay. Because I did ask this yesterday. You weren’t aware of the incident, but … now, the Israelis say that this is all being planned and funded from Turkish territory,” Lee followd up.

“Well, as I said, I think it involves some Hamas militants and cash, but let me check on that piece of it. I certainly have nothing to confirm that,” Harf told Lee.

“I’m most curious to know if you guys are planning to raise any concerns with the—I don’t know, maybe you don’t have any concerns … if you’ll raise them with the Turks,” Lee responded.

Harf responded that she would “check on that.”

Harf maintained on Monday that the Turkish and Israeli arms shipments are completely separate matters.

“Turkey is also a NATO ally,” she told reporters. “So for all of us who are—talk a lot about the importance of the NATO alliance, particularly when it comes to Russia and Ukraine and what’s happening there, we think it’s important to provide our NATO allies with resources. We think that’s an important use of our resources. The two [cases] aren’t comparable, but those are the facts behind them, I would say.”

Additionally, Harf could not explain to reporters the exact process taking place behind the scenes regarding the hold up in Israeli arms shipments.

“I don’t know how the process specifically works in that granularity,” she said, when faced with questions about who in the government holds veto power over the arms shipments.

When asked later in the briefing to comment on reports about the Turkey-backed Hamas coup, Harf could not provide much information.

“I don’t have anything to confirm those [reports],” she said. “I hadn’t heard about that otherwise. I can check,” she told reporters.

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Israel ‘Closer than Ever’ to Full Gaza Invasion

August 21, 2014

Minister: Israel ‘Closer than Ever’ to Full-Scale Gaza Invasion

Communications Minister and Security Cabinet member Gilad Erdan appeals to Israelis for patience, says Hamas will reach ‘breaking point.’

By Shlomo Piotrokovski

First Publish: 8/21/2014, 9:36 AM

via Israel ‘Closer than Ever’ to Full Gaza Invasion – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

 

Minister Gilad Erdan Flash 90
 

Communications Minister and Security Cabinet Member Gilad Erdan (Likud) has appealed for Israelis to be patient and to allow the IDF time to complete Operation Protective Edge, adding that the army was closer than ever to launching a full ground invasion of Gaza.

Speaking in an interview with Army Radio on Thursday morning, Erdan revealed that Israel did not yield to Hamas’s demands during recent negotiations in Cairo.

“Hamas did not receive a single one of its demands and so it appears they have resumed firing,” he stated.

Echoing sentiments shared by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu late last week, Erdan said that Israel was not prepared to concede its position of strength by suddenly capitulating to Hamas demands. He also noted that the negotiations were not expected to have achieved any major achievements for Israel apart from a period of calm, and added that

“Israel is the stronger party, it is the party in control here, and so there wasn’t much for Israel to receive apart from a long-term period of quiet. That is the achievement that we will receive, but in return we do not need to give anything more than humanitarian affairs.”

“When will Hamas reach breaking point? There’s no scientific formula,” he continued. “At first Hamas wanted to come (to the table) with preconditions and at the end it came without preconditions – in the end it will reach breaking point.

He added that Israel was closer than ever to launching a full-scale ground operation, but cautioned “Will this happen tomorrow? It’s not certain, since the price for this will be high, but we are closer today to a ground operation than we have been at any point since the start of the operation.”

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Hamas fighters show defiance in Gaza tunnel tour

August 19, 2014

Hamas fighters show defiance in Gaza tunnel tour

Terrorists say they feel at home in tunnels, vow to restock arsenal: ‘In peace we make preparations, and in war we use what we have readied,’ says one of them.

ReutersPublished: 08.19.14, 19:13 / Israel News

via Hamas fighters show defiance in Gaza tunnel tour – Israel News, Ynetnews.

GAZA – Hamas fighters, clad in black and armed with assault rifles, navigated the dimly lit tunnel with ease, saying they felt at home in their network of underground passages in the Gaza Strip.

A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel’s claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group’s border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war.

“We are speaking to you today from inside one of those tunnels, which Israel said it had destroyed. Our men are still operating in those tunnels prepared for all options,” said a masked fighter from Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

But driven, blindfolded, to the secret location in a Hamas vehicle that made a series of turns, it was impossible for the Reuters crew to tell whether it was close to the frontier or further inside the Gaza Strip in tunnels untouched by Israeli bombing. It was not clear where the tunnel led.

 

Photo: Reuters
 

By Israel’s own account, its ground forces focused only on destroying tunnels within 2 to 4.5 km of the border, while ignoring more distant connecting passages. During the Gaza offensive, Israel’s military took reporters through tunnels it discovered at the frontier.

Chatting in soft voices and laughing at times, Hamas men guided the Reuters crew through corridors less than a metre (3.3 feet) wide that are reached by descending a thin metal ladder through a tiny shaft.

“It feels just like home,” their commander said. “Fighters dug these tunnels with their own hands just like they built their houses, so they live here at comfort and assurance like they do at home.”

Sound of silence
The ceiling in parts of the tunnel was high enough so we could walk through – alternately on dry, concrete floors and muddy ground – without having to bend our heads.

It was impossible to gauge the tunnel’s length, but it had offshoots leading in different directions. Once inside, the sounds of traffic and Israeli drones that routinely fly over the territory of 1.8 million people could not be heard.

Israel said the tunnel network is used by Hamas to move and store weapons and keep fighters out of sight of Israeli aircraft.

It is separate from smuggling conduits that ran under the Egypt-Gaza border. Egypt, which regards Hamas as a security threat, destroyed those tunnels before the current war.

 

Photo: Reuters
 

Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8 after a surge in Hamas rocket fire across the border. Israeli ground forces invaded on July 17 with the declared aim of destroying infiltration tunnels and left on August 5 after saying that mission had been accomplished.

Egypt is trying to finalize a long-term ceasefire after a five-day truce was extended by 24 hours into Tuesday, a truce that was broken several hours before it was set to expire when Palestinian factions in Gaza resumed rocket fire on Israel.

On the battlefield, Hamas met Israeli forces with an array of tactics, including the use of tunnels to launch surprise attacks. The IDF lost 64 soldiers, more than six times the number of troops killed in its previous invasion of Gaza in early 2009. Three civilians in Israel were also killed.

Israel says it has killed hundreds of Hamas fighters and destroyed more than 30 tunnels. Funeral marches were held for several members of the Qassam Brigades but there has been no official word from the group on its losses.

The Palestinian Health Ministry puts the Gaza death toll at 2,016 and says most were civilians in the small, densely populated coastal territory.

 

Photo: Reuters
 

In the tunnel, a Hamas fighter said the group would press on with restocking its arsenal or rockets and other weaponry and shoring up its underground network.

“In peace we make preparations, and in war we use what we have readied,” he said.

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