German FM en route to Morsi at Israel’s request

Ceasefire negotiations go into high gear as German FM called to Egypt.

President Morsi says ‘Israeli aggression’ against Gaza to end later Tuesday

Itamar Eichner

 

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has left Israel en route to Cairo where he will hold meetings with the Egyptian mediators following meetings he held with Israeli officials.

Mohammed Morsi Photo: Reuters

Mohammed Morsi Photo: Reuters

It is estimated that Israel asked Westerwelle to intervene in order to introduce amendments to the ceasefire agreement draft.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Tuesday that “Israeli aggression” against Gaza would end later in the day, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported. Continue Reading »

IDF Jeep Hit AGAIN by Rebel Gunfire from Syria

Rebel gunfire from Syria hits IDF for third jeep, Israel complains to UN.

By Maayana Miskin

 

An IDF jeep patrolling the northern border was hit by gunfire from Syria on Tuesday. The incident occurred in the Ramat Golan region.

The jeep was damaged, but soldiers were not hurt. The soldiers did not return fire despite new rules of engagement in the area.

IDF commanders believe the shots were not aimed at Israel, but rather, were stray shots from fighting in Syria. Fighting has approached the border in recent weeks. Two misfired shells have hit the Golan region as well; after one such incident Israel fired warning shots over the border. Continue Reading »

Egypt’s Morsi telephones Iran to get Islamic Jihad to agree to cease-fire

Egyptian president Morsi calls Ahmadinejad to convince Islamic Jihad head Ramadan Salah to stop the violence

Khaled Mashaal furious that Salah is not being flexible & is making demands on Hamas that even the Egyptians don’t agree with.

By Daniel Siryoti and Yoni Hirsch

 

Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal convened a press conference in Cairo on Monday and said that Egypt and Qatar were mediating the conflict and trying to bring about a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Mashaal made the statement against the backdrop of Arab media reports claiming an agreement between the sides was imminent.

Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal holds a press conference in Cairo on Monday – Photo: AFP

Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Kandil, who spent three hours in Gaza last Friday, was quoted in the media as saying, “A cease-fire agreement will be achieved shortly.”

Continue Reading »

Hamas rockets fired at Jerusalem land in the West Bank

Rocket falls in open area of Palestinian village

IDF reserve officer wounded near Gaza

Salvos of rockets hit Beersheba

IDF strikes Gaza, hitting 11 terror cells & 30 launchers

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip toward Jerusalem on Tuesday landed in the Gush Etzion area Tuesday, with one hitting an open area of a Palestinian village in the West Bank, police and the IDF reported. It was unclear if the rocket caused any damage or injuries, although AFP reported Palestinian paramedics were making their way to the scene.

Jerusalem - Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Jerusalem – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

The rocket set off the warning siren in the nation’s capital for the second time since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense.

Continue Reading »

Leading US media say Israel wining battles, Hamas wins war

Where as Israel’s operation is apparently strengthening Hamas’ following, leading US media outlets say Israel’s military victory may further decrease Mahmoud Abbas’ power

 They say the operation is also distracting attention from the crisis in Syria

By Yitzhak Benhorin

 

While Israel‘s day-to-day life is being disrupted by rockets and sirens, some US media outlets have already crowned Hamas as the winner of the current conflict.

Hamas politburo chief Mashaal. Current Palestinian leader Photo: EPA

Hamas politburo chief Mashaal. Current Palestinian leader – Photo: EPA

Veteran diplomat Aaron Miller wrote in the Foreign Policy magazine that Hamas won the war and “it doesn’t really matter if Israel wins the battle. Continue Reading »

Hamas chief , Mashaal ‘calls Israel’s Bluff’, ‘I Dare You to Invade’

Khaled Mashaal, leader of Hamas, charges an Israeli ground invasion into Gaza as a bluff. “If you wanted to launch it, you would have done it.”

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

Hamas’ supreme leader Khaled Mashaal charged in Cairo that Israel is bluffing by preparing for a ground incursion in Gaza. “If you wanted to launch it, you would have done it,” he told journalists Monday.

IDF reservists in Pillar of Defense

IDF reservists in Pillar of Defense
Israel news photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Office

The following day, Hamas’s senior military commander Mohammed Deif broadcast a rare audio message on Hamas’ Al Aqsa television and warned, Israel will “pay a heavy price” if it launches a ground operation in Gaza. Continue Reading »

GOTCHA! 4 More Top Terrorists Eliminated

Israel Air Force jets on Monday targeted & eliminated 4 senior Hamas & Islamic Jihad terrorists.

By David Lev

 

IDF planes on Monday targeted and eliminated another four senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. The four were eliminated as part of the IDF’s efforts to dismantle the Hamas terror infrastructure in Gaza, and to restore calm and quiet to southern Israel, the army said in a statement.

The four were eliminated in a joint operation of the IDF and the Shabak, the General Security Service, the report said.

They were in a multi-storied apartment building, but were killed in a pinpointed “surgical” attack that did not hit any of the international media representatives whose offices are in the builidng. Continue Reading »

Possible Gaza ceasefire discussed at inner cabinet meeting

Khaled Mashaal Hamas leader, says Israel must initiate cease-fire

Obama speaks with Egypt’s Morsi 

PM Netanyahu on how to move forward

UN’s Ban Ki Moon arrives in Cairo.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Israel diplomatic and security cabinet met late Monday night to discuss latest cease-fire initiatives, as international leaders continued to press for an end to Gaza hostilities.

Israel had agreed to briefly hold off on sending ground forces into Gaza, to allow time for cease-fire efforts in Cairo to continue, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

PM Biyamin Netanyahu at cabinet meetin - Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO

PM Biyamin Netanyahu at cabinet meetin – Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO

“Israel prefers a diplomatic solution,” the official said. Continue Reading »

Second Ashkelon school hit as Cairo truce talks stagnate

Gaza rocket penetrates school’s roof & ‘tears classroom apart’

3 hurt in rocket barrages on south.

Mashaal: Land war won’t be a picnic for Israel

Ynet reporters

 

Terrorists in Gaza continue assault on south as negotiations on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continue in Cairo: The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted four rockets fired toward Ashkelon Monday evening, while another rocket struck an empty school in the city. There were no reports of injury. Another school in Ashkelon was hit earlier in the day.

Classroom hit in Ashkelon – Photo: Ido Erez

Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin said the rocket penetrated the school’s roof and “tore apart an entire classroom. Continue Reading »

Video Advertises Hamas’ Strategy: A Death Wish

Hamas is winning int’l sympathy as a result of alleged civilian deaths, although some were caused by its own misfired rockets.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

Hamas is winning international sympathy as a result of alleged civilian deaths, some caused by its own misfired rockets.

Mainstream media has emphasized the number of alleged civilian deaths in Gaza the past several days, after believing and headlining a story that the visiting Egyptian prime minister kissed the head of a dead boy, allegedly killed by Israel.

Watchdog sites and Arutz Sheva exposed the fact that that the boy died after one of Hamas’ own rockets misfired and exploded in Gaza. Continue Reading »

Turkey’s PM Erdogan claims Israel is ‘terrorist state’

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, is scheduled to travel to Gaza with a group of foreign ministers from the Arab League.

By REUTERS

 

ISTANBUL – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described Israel on Monday as a “terrorist state” in carrying out its bombardment of Gaza, underlining hostility for Ankara’s former ally since relations between them collapsed in 2010.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

His comments came after nearly a week of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. An Israeli missile killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians including four children in Gaza on Sunday.

Continue Reading »

Lebanon Army defuses Grads found & aimed at Israel – Syrian gunfire on Israel border

Lebanese security forces discovered rockets positioned just four km from border, set to fire as act of solidarity with Gazans

By Roi Kais & Yoav Zitun

 

Lebanese security forces on Monday discovered two Grad rockets that were aimed at Israel in the southern region of Mazraat Halta, the official Daily Star news agency reported.

Photo: Avihu Shapira

A source told the agency that the rockets, which were found just four kilometers from the Israeli border, were defused by security forces. He said the rockets could reach seven kilometers into Israel if launched in full power.

Security sources hinted that those who placed the rockets may have been planning to launch them toward Israel as an act of solidarity with the residents of Gaza. Continue Reading »

IDF Takes Control of Hamas TV Programming

IDF took over operational control of Hamas TV “to broadcast warnings” to its viewers on the 6th day of Pillar of Defense.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The Israeli army on Monday took over programming at a Gaza-based Hamas television station “to broadcast warnings” on the sixth day of Operation Pillar of Defense.

PMW Feature Hamas TV

PMW Feature Hamas TV – PMW Screenshot

Al-Aqsa television, the official station of Gaza’s Hamas regime, said in a statement the Israeli army “is interfering with Al-Aqsa TV,” with the picture going on and off for several hours and sometimes appearing scrambled, according to AFP.

“We took over the Hamas television to broadcast warnings,” a military spokeswoman said, indicating the takeover would probably last for a number of hours. Continue Reading »

Under fire from Hamas Israel sends humanitarian aid & basic goods to Gaza

The NGO, ‘Legal Forum for the Land of Israel’ calls for closing the Kerem Shalom crossing during the conflict: “It is obvious to everyone that food and medical supplies won’t be used just for the civilian population in Gaza because, first and foremost, it will go to the heads of Hamas.”

By Edna Adato & Lilach Shoval

 

 

Israel allowed the resumption of humanitarian aid and basic goods transfer to the Gaza Strip on Sunday, through the sole cargo terminal at the Kerem Shalom crossing on the Israel-Gaza border.

A Palestinian girl stands next to humanitarian supplies in a refugee camp in Gaza.

Continue Reading »

Hamas ‘Goebbels’ photos of injured Syrians for propaganda

“One can expect little else from an organization that prides itself on lies. Deception is [Hamas’s] way of life.” Jewish Agency social media expert says the truth is “often the first casualty in these situations.”

Hamas has posted photographs from other conflicts on social media in recent days, claiming they are victims of Israeli actions in Gaza.

On Thursday, the Izzadin Kassam tweeted a photograph of a weeping father with his dead, bloody child in his arms, while doctors look on.

Other conflicts on social media

Other conflicts on social media – Photo: Facebook

Soon after, Twitter followers pointed out that the photo was taken at the Dar al-Shifa Hospital in Aleppo, Syria, and originally came from a slideshow on The Guardian website. Continue Reading »