Jóvenes Israelíes desaparecidos desatan reacción de su gobierno: intervención en Gaza

Israel searches for 'kidnapped' students
Massive search under way for three teenagers who disappeared from Kfar Etzion, an illegal West Bank settlement.
Gregg Carlstrom Last updated: 13 Jun 2014 17:31
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Israeli soldiers scour the countryside around the city of Hebron after the youths vanished [Reuters]

The Israeli army is searching for three Jewish teenagers who disappeared while returning home from their religious school in the occupied West Bank, in what the military is calling a suspected kidnapping, officials have said.

The students, aged 16 to 19, disappeared on Thursday night around 10pm local time after leaving Kfar Etzion, an illegal settlement between Jerusalem and Hebron.

Two of them are students at a yeshiva, a Jewish seminary, in the settlement.

An army spokesman said the trio may have tried to hitchhike to their homes to Modi’in, a city in central Israel, before they disappeared.

"We are concentrating a large intelligence effort on trying to locate the missing," said Brigadier General Moti Almoz. Soldiers also found a burned-out car in the area on Friday, but it is unclear whether the two are related.

The army has set up checkpoints and deployed additional troops in the area, and there were reports of raids on Palestinian homes in villages around Hebron.

Stories embargoed

Israeli media were largely barred from covering the story until late Friday afternoon because of a military gag order.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz briefly reported a shootout near Hebron between Israeli soldiers and unknown gunmen, but removed the story later.

Palestinian media, and the Israeli channel i24, also reported an operation to free the students in which five Palestinians were killed.

The army denied those stories, and they too were eventually taken down.

"These rumors have no basis," Almoz said.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel "holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the safety of the missing [students]."

Major General Adnan al-Damiri, the spokesman for the Palestinian security services, dismissed the statement as a "joke," saying that Israel had not asked the PA for help in the search.

"They were in an area under the occupation's control, according to the Oslo Accords, and not in areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority,” Damiri told the Quds Network, a Palestinian news website.

Almoz said on Friday night that the army was starting to coordinate with the PA security forces.
Source:
Al Jazeera

Arrests made in search for missing Israelis
Israeli army intensifies hunt for three teenagers, arresting 20 Palestinians and raising fears of broader crackdown.
Gregg Carlstrom Last updated: 14 Jun 2014 18:30
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Two previously unknown groups have claimed responsibility for the suspected kidnappings [Reuters]

Hebron, Occupied West Bank -- The Israeli army has arrested more than 20 Palestinians as it intensifies its search for three suspected kidnapped teenagers, triggering fears of a broader crackdown.

The Israelis disappeared late Thursday night after leaving their religious school in Kfar Etzion, an illegal settlement between Jerusalem and Hebron. Security sources said the trio, aged 16 to 19, were probably trying to hitchhike to their homes in central Israel and the occupied West Bank.

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been deployed, and on Saturday afternoon they could be seen searching on foot in several villages. Drones and surveillance balloons could be seen hovering over Hebron.

I don’t know what happened here, but they say all Palestinians are responsible.

Mahmoud al-Karki, Hebron resident

Two previously unknown groups, "Islamic State" and the "Brigade of the Free Men of Hebron," have issued notices claiming responsibility for the suspected kidnappings. Neither statement offered any proof of their validity.

The Israeli defence minister admitted on Saturday that he did not know whether the teenagers were alive.

"As long as we don’t know differently, our assumption is that they are," Moshe Ya'alon told reporters in a short press conference.

Their case has transfixed Israel, with television channels providing wall-to-wall coverage. It has been met with far less sympathy in Hebron—where many contrast it with the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners staging lengthy hunger strikes to protest their "administrative detention," a tool Israel uses to hold people indefinitely, without charge.

"I don’t know what happened here, but they say all Palestinians are responsible," said Mahmoud al-Karki, a resident of northern Hebron, where the army deployed and raided homes overnight.

"This is the life here. Now these new prisoners will disappear."

Raids and arrests

The army would not provide any details on the 20-plus Palestinians arrested. Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, a spokesman, said that they were detained "in an attempt to close in on the inner circle of people involved in this."

"They'll come back tonight and arrest a hundred people for these three boys," said Marwan Qafishi, a pharmacist.

In a press conference on Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that he holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the teenagers' disappearance.

"We see Abu Mazen and the authority responsible for every attack that comes out of their territory," he said, referring to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president.

Major General Adnan al-Damiri, the spokesman for the Palestinian security services, called a similar statement by Netanyahu on Friday a joke, telling a Palestinian news agency that the alleged kidnapping happened in an area under full Israeli control.

One of the three teenagers is a US citizen, and Secretary of State John Kerry called Abbas to discuss the case on Friday night.

Osama Hamdan, a senior member of the Hamas movement, said in a television interview on Saturday night that his group has no knowledge of the alleged kidnapping.

Also on Saturday, Israeli warplanes carried out two strikes in the southern Gaza Strip; no injuries were reported in either.

There were two reports of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, one overnight, the other on Saturday evening; neither caused any damage or injuries.

Israeli arrests over missing teens condemned
Rights group condemns the closures in Hebron and partial sealing of crossings into Gaza as the search goes on.
Dalia Hatuqa and Fares Akram Last updated: 15 Jun 2014 17:02
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Israeli forces have arrested at least 80 Palestinians, including a high-level Hamas official [AFP]

Israel has closed the Hebron region and partially sealed Gaza Strip crossing points as it searches for three Israeli teenagers, in a move condemned by a Palestinian rights group as "collective punishment".

Israeli forces have also arrested at least 80 Palestinians, including a high-level Hamas official, in an operation on Saturday and early Sunday morning. The teenagers went missing three days ago and are believed to have been abducted in the West Bank.

"These revenge tactics are tantamount to collective punishment under international law," said Fuad al-Khufash, the director of Ahrar, a Palestinian rights group. "They are unjustified and merely serve to alleviate the fears of the Israeli people."

Among those arrested is Hassan Yousef, a Ramallah-based Hamas founder and legislator, four other members of parliament and two former government ministers, according to Ahrar.

Arrests took place in Hebron, Ramallah, Tubas, Bethlehem, Jenin and Nablus, al-Khufash said. He expected more arrests to take place in the next few days.
Israel's allegations against Hamas questioned

At the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Hamas was responsible for the abduction of the Israeli teenagers.

"Whoever carried out this kidnapping were members of Hamas," he said. "The same Hamas that entered into a unity government with President Abbas."

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, later on Sunday said "many indications point to Hamas' involvement", but provided no further detail.

Hamas denied any involvement in the kidnapping. Claims of responsibility by two obscure groups did not appear to be credible.

Earlier, Israel also held the Palestinian Authority responsible. Mohammad al-Madani, a Fatah Central Committee member, said the disappearance occurred in the so-called "Area C" of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli control.

"Netanyahu is taking advantage of this situation to incite against the PA in a bid to score PR points and political gains," al-Madani said in a statement.

RELATED: Arrests made in search for missing Israelis

The Israeli military closed most parts of the Hebron region, and banned all local men under the age of 50 from travelling through Allenby Bridge, which connects Jordan with the West Bank.

Palestinian government spokesperson Ehab Bssesio said the measures were part of an "Israeli escalation that amounts to acts of collective punishment", and called on the international community to intervene.

Workers from the southern West Bank city with valid permits were prevented from entering Israel and settlements, while a ban was placed on all family visits to Palestinians in Israeli prisons, said the former minister of prisoner affairs, Issa Qaraqe.

Last night, and as concerns of increased Israeli attacks mounted, settlers hurled stones at Palestinians' houses in Susya, south of Hebron. Settlers also attacked cars near Kiryat Arba, Gush Etzion, and the junction between Yatta and the southern entrance to the Hebron area.

In Gaza, at least six Israeli air raids were carried out overnight, leaving two Palestinians injured.

Ashraf al-Qedra, a Gaza health ministry spokesman, said a 27-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl were injured by shrapnel when an Israeli jet attacked a site near a residential area of the southern town of Rafah.

The air raids, which started late on Saturday and continued into Sunday, targeted open areas and alleged training sites for Palestinian groups.

The Israeli army said the assault was in response to three rockets Palestinian groups had fired from Gaza on June 14. The rockets caused no injuries or damage, and no Palestinian group said it fired them.

Meanwhile, Israel closed the only commercial crossing point into Gaza, allowing only fuel shipments. The Erez crossing in northern Gaza was operating for foreigners and patients seeking medical attention in Israel only.

Also, Palestinians with Israeli-issued permits were forbidden from crossing into Israel on Sunday, according to Gaza's interior ministry.
Source:
Al Jazeera

Israeli forces kill Palestinian during raids
Ahmed Sabarin, 21, shot in al-Jalazon refugee camp during house searches in the West Bank for three missing teens.
Dalia Hatuqa Last updated: 17 Jun 2014 10:50

Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian man and arrested the speaker of parliament, as the hunt for three Israelis believed to have been kidnapped in the occupied West Bank continues.

Twenty-one-year-old Ahmed Sabarin was shot in the chest, according to hospital officials at the Palestine Medical Centre, as the Israeli army conducted house-to-house searches in al-Jalazon refugee camp, on the edge of Ramallah.

Sabarin died of his wounds in the hospital. Another man was wounded in the assault, and at least five others from the camp were arrested. The Israeli army said Sabarin was shot after throwing a brick at Israeli soldiers.

Israel has accused Hamas of being behind the kidnapping of three Israeli teens who were hitch-hiking in the West Bank on Thursday night.

Its forces have so far rounded up more than 150 Palestinians, including parliament speaker Abdel Aziz Dweik, who was taken on Monday morning.

Earlier, Hamas founder Hassan Yousef and 20 parliament members and former ministers were detained.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday morning, their first conversation in more than a year, and demanded the PA's help in finding the teenagers. "The Hamas kidnappers came from territory under Palestinian Authority control and returned to territory under Palestinian Authority control," he said.

Abbas condemned the alleged kidnappings and the wave of arrests and violence that followed, calling on "both sides to refrain from violence", according to a statement released by WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the trio's disappearance. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, on Sunday called Netanyahu's comments blaming Hamas "stupid", saying they were a trial balloon to gather intelligence.

RELATED: Israeli arrests over missing teens condemned

The executive committee of the PLO, which is responsible for negotiations with Israel, said the Israeli mass arrests and closures were "racist" in nature, and intended to cover up what it termed Netanyahu's "incompetence".

"This is Netanyahu's modus operandi: diverting attention from the real cause of the cycle of violence," the committee said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has, meanwhile, called for the immediate release of the three teens.

"International humanitarian law prohibits abduction as well as the taking of hostages," Robert Mardini, who heads ICRC operations in the Middle East, said in a statement.

"They must be treated humanely, and their lives and dignity protected and respected."

On Sunday night, two Palestinian children were wounded when Israeli forces detonated their front door in Hebron, which has been cordoned off with checkpoints and roadblocks. Their father Akram al-Qawasami, who was also injured, was detained.

Also on Sunday, Israeli soldiers said shots were fired at a military post near the settlement of Har Gilo in the Bethlehem area.

At least two rockets were fired from Gaza towards the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Sunday night. An Israeli officer said the army does not believe Hamas was involved.

Four Palestinians, including two children, were wounded early on Monday in a series of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The bombings targeted training sites for Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and a base for national security forces.

Ahmed Bahar, the deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, urged the government to stop the security cooperation with Israel.

Hussam Badran, a Hamas official, said: "The assaults on Gaza and arrests in the West Bank will not stop the Palestinian people from resisting the Israeli occupation by whatever means necessary."

Fares Akram contributed reporting from Gaza, and Gregg Carlstrom from Tel Aviv.
Source:
Al Jazeer

Israel teens search aims to 'break' Hamas
The search for the missing Israeli teens has turned into a military and diplomatic campaign against Hamas.
Gregg Carlstrom Last updated: 18 Jun 2014 10:57

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Since the teenagers disappeared, Israel has moved aggressively with the army rounding up more than 200 Palestinians [AFP]

Jerusalem - The ongoing search for three Israeli teens, who may have been kidnapped in the occupied West Bank, has expanded far beyond its initial scope, quickly transforming into a full-scale military and diplomatic effort to crush Hamas.

The timing is fortuitous for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet, who spent the last few weeks trying frantically to discredit a consensus government announced on June 2 by Fatah and Hamas.

The United States and European Union both consider Hamas a terrorist organisation, as does Israel, yet they welcomed the announcement, meant to be the first step towards ending the seven-year schism between the two factions.

On Wednesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the alleged kidnappers were trying to "destroy the Palestinian Authority", a sign of the growing pressure on the leadership in Ramallah.

There are no members of Hamas in the new cabinet. Diplomats and pundits here complained that Netanyahu was caught flat-footed, unsure of how to respond.

Since the teenagers disappeared on Thursday night, though, Israel has moved aggressively. The army has rounded up more than 240 Palestinians, including much of the higher-level Hamas leadership in the West Bank.

In his public statements, Netanyahu has taken a vindicated tone, urging the world to denounce Hamas and the reconciliation pact.

There is still no concrete evidence linking Hamas to the suspected abduction - but Israel’s political and military leadership is, nonetheless, talking about a sustained campaign to "break" the organisation, and a prime minister, who seemed on the defensive just days ago, has suddenly found a political opportunity.

"We have an interest, a very clear interest, in differentiating between Hamas and Fatah, to do whatever we can to undo what has been done," said Meir Elran, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies. "It is within the policy of the government to try to crush Hamas as much as possible."

RELATED: Israeli forces kill Palestinian during raid

The three teens, aged 16 to 19, disappeared on Thursday night while hitchhiking home from their religious seminary in Kfar Etzion, an illegal settlement in the West Bank between Bethlehem and Hebron.

The army initially focused its search in that area, sealing off Hebron and deploying troops to comb the hills and villages. Checkpoints and concrete barriers have been erected around the city.

But the focus of the offensive quickly widened. Lt Gen Benny Gantz, the army chief, told a gathering of senior officers on Sunday night that the military operation had two goals: "To find the missing boys, and to injure Hamas as much as possible."

Since then, hundreds of troops have been deployed to the northern city of Nablus, and arrests were reported on Monday night as far away as Jenin, where the army raided a charity affiliated with Hamas.

The list of detainees includes not only alleged militants, but also dozens of politicians, even journalists. Many of them are likely to end up in "administrative detention", held indefinitely without charge on scant evidence.

Army Radio described the operation as a "root canal"; unnamed officers have told reporters that it could continue even after the teenagers are found.

On Tuesday, the security cabinet voted to approve harsher conditions for Hamas-affiliated prisoners in Israeli jails. A number of other measures are also being discussed, including exiling Hamas members from the West Bank to Gaza and demolishing their homes.

In an English-language statement to foreign reporters on Sunday, Netanyahu angrily denounced both Hamas and the PA’s leadership.

"You remember that Israel warned the international community about the dangers of endorsing the Fatah-Hamas unity pact," he said. "I believe that the dangers of that pact now should be abundantly clear to all."

Netanyahu has asked his cabinet to keep quiet, but ministers seem free to ignore the directive while commenting on Hamas.

Naftali Bennett, the head of the ultra-nationalist Jewish Home party, told Army Radio on Tuesday morning that Israel would "make Hamas membership a ticket to hell".

It’s nothing new … [Netanyahu] wants to take advantage of this opportunity and go back to his old approach.

-Yoram Meital, a professor of political science at Ben-Gurion University

Uzi Landau, the tourism minister, went as far as describing Washington as an accessory to the alleged kidnappings. "The willingness of the US administration to effectively recognise the Abbas-Hamas government causes damage to the security of Israel’s citizens and encourages terror," he said.

"The message to the international community is that, 'We’ve told you,’" said Yoram Meital, a professor of political science at Ben-Gurion University. "It basically puts sticks in the wheels of the talks that [US Secretary of State John] Kerry has tried to push."

This shift in momentum was hard to imagine a week ago, when Netanyahu seemed to be reeling. The international community largely blamed him for the collapse of negotiations with the Palestinians, which ended in April when Israel refused to honour the fourth round of a prisoner release.

A series of angry statements failed to shift world opinion on the consensus government - and Netanyahu himself did not impose any of his promised sanctions on the PA, beyond revoking the VIP travel permits of senior officials.

At home, too, he had suffered a stinging defeat, with the election of longtime rival Reuven Rivlin as Israel’s next president.

There has been some muted criticism from inside Israel: The liberal newspaper Haaretz called Netanyahu’s actions "underhanded opportunism"; Rami Igra, a former head of the Mossad unit that searches for captive Israelis, told the Jerusalem Post that his accusations could be premature.

"There have been no facts presented to the public that they have been abducted by Hamas," he said. "The fact that he is naming who abducted these kids is more political than based on fact."

Political or not, though, the domestic reaction has been largely supportive. The alleged kidnappings have frozen all talk of negotiations with the Palestinians, and Abbas is under growing pressure to cancel the reconciliation deal with Hamas.

There has been no credible claim of responsibility for the act, and Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, called Netanyahu’s accusations "stupid".

"The longer-term strategy is basically to buy time, to keep the status quo, and not to take what he sees as a risk, a huge risk, of getting into historic concessions with the PA," Meital said. "It’s nothing new … [Netanyahu] wants to take advantage of this opportunity and go back to his old approach."
Source:
Al Jazeera

Fierce West Bank battle over missing teens
Three Palestinians wounded in Jenin clashes following Israeli arrest raid over three missing Israeli teenagers.
Last updated: 19 Jun 2014 15:12
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Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas roundly condemned the kidnappers [AP]

Israeli soldiers have clashed with Palestinians during an arrest raid in the fiercest confrontation so far in the week-long search for three missing Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank.

Hospital officials said on Thursday three Palestinians suffered bullet wounds in the overnight clashes in Jenin. There were no reported Israeli casualties.

The Israeli army said in a statement that about 300 Palestinians took to the streets when the soldiers entered the city at about 2am local time. The military claimed they were attacked with explosives, rocks and gunfire.

"The soldiers responded with live fire, identifying hits," the statement said, adding that 30 "terror suspects" were detained in West Bank, bringing to 280 the number of Palestinians taken into custody over the past week.

The Reuters news agency photographers in Jenin heard heavy gunfire during the night but were kept away from the scene of the clashes by the Israeli army.

Alleged abductions

Gil-Ad Shaer and US-Israeli national Naftali Fraenkel, both aged 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19, disappeared last Thursday as they were hitchhiking near a Jewish settlement.

Since then, Israeli raids have spread from house-to-house searches in Hebron to raids across the West Bank of institutions believed to provide funding and other support for Hamas that Israel accuses of the abductions.

At Bir Zeit University, near the Palestinian town of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers on Thursday seized Hamas posters and flags from a student group affiliated with Hamas.

The military said that so far, soldiers had searched about 900 locations. There has been no word from the missing teens nor any public claim of responsibility or ransom demands - including by Hamas. Hamas however has not issued any denial of involvement.

Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas roundly condemned the kidnappers on Wednesday and promised to hold to account those responsible.

His words in turn were denounced by Hamas and other factions, who accused him of betraying the national cause.

Abbas defends cooperation with Israel
Alleged kidnapping of Israeli teens condemned by Palestinian president, who also accuses Netanyahu of inflicting pain.
Last updated: 19 Jun 2014 09:13
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The Palestinian president has defended his policy of security cooperation with Israel, despite Israeli forces escalating their crackdown in the occupied West Bank following the apparent abduction of three Israeli teenagers.

In a speech to senior Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia, President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the alleged kidnapping, saying it had caused heavy damage to the Palestinians and that his forces were helping the search for the missing teens.

Three teenagers, Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Fraenkel, disappeared last week while hitchhiking home from Jewish seminaries in the West Bank.

While accusing Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, of exploiting the crisis to inflict pain on the Palestinians, Abbas said the coordination with Israel is a Palestinian interest as well.

Israel and the Palestinian leadership are know to coordinate meetings, and share intelligence and communication on security matters.

"We don't want to go back to chaos and destruction, as we did in the second [Palestinian] uprising," he told the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah.

"I say it openly and frankly. We will not go back to an uprising that will destroy us."

Abbas's comments drew condemnation at home and highlighted one of his most controversial policies, working with the Israeli military to keep Hamas, which Israel accuses of carrying out the kidnapping, in check.

Hamas' Gaza spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, slammed the Palestinian President saying his comments were based on a "Zionist narrative."

Widesread crackdown

Since accusing Hamas of being behind the apparent abduction, Israel has launched a widespread crackdown on the group, arresting scores of members while conducting a feverish manhunt for the missing teens.

Al Jazeera's Jane Ferguson reporting from Ramallah said Israel had not presented any firm evidence proving Hamas' involvement, but the crackdown was mainly targeting its members in and around the city of Hebron.

"No one has claimed responsibility for the missing teenages and no ransom has been made," she said.

Israel's incursion in the West Bank is the most extensive military ground operation in more than five years, with thousands of soldiers fanning out, searching some 800 locations and arresting more than 280 Palestinians, leading to violent confrontations.

On Thursday, soldiers clashed with Palestinians during an arrest raid in the town of Jenin, while forces opened fire at protesters at a nearby refugee camp.

The Israeli military also launched a series of airstrikes on sites in Gaza due to alleged "terror activity".

Israel has said it is using the search for the missing to deliver a painful new blow to the remaining Hamas infrastructure in the West Bank.
Source:
Agencies

Am I My Brother's Keeper?
How the disappearance of three Israeli boys in the West Bank is upending Palestinian politics.

BY Dalia Hatuqa
JUNE 24, 2014

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RAMALLAH — If there was ever any question about the Palestinian public's feelings about recent Israeli military operations in the West Bank, those were resolved in the predawn hours of Sunday morning, June 22.

Israeli forces carried out a raid only steps from a Palestinian Authority (PA) police station in the center of Ramallah. Pictures showed Israeli soldiers parked in front of the building, as Palestinian police officers peered helplessly out of windows above them. After the army left, groups of Palestinians turned on the PA police to punish them for their powerlessness in the face of the occupation forces. A crowd stoned the police station and smashed the windows on the cars parked outside.

The PA police were less hesitant to respond to their countrymen: They responded with live fire to drive the crowd away. When morning broke, dumpsters lining the city's main shopping district were still ablaze and large rocks carpeted the streets from the clashes hours before.

The early morning riot in Ramallah was the latest manifestation of the conflict tearing Palestinians apart -- just eight weeks after they were supposed to become united.

The latest Palestinian political tumult began nearly two weeks ago when three Israelis who attended a yeshiva in the sprawling Gush Etzion settlement went missing in the West Bank. Israeli officials blame Hamas, the Islamist movement that is one of Palestine's two main political factions, for the alleged kidnapping. That it came on the heels of the April 23 reconciliation agreement between Hamas and its rival Fatah, a deal that was seven years in the works and was supposed to pave the way for a more effective Palestinian government, was red meat to Israeli critics of the deal who say that Hamas is a terrorist group. The fallout from the disappearances -- and Israel's violent crackdown -- threatens to upend both Palestinian politics and relations with Israel.

In a June 18 speech to Arab dignitaries at the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Saudi Arabia, PA President Mahmoud Abbas accused the assailants behind the alleged kidnapping of a conspiracy. "The truth is that whoever carried out this action wants to destroy us," Abbas said. "That is why we will speak to him differently and take a different position toward him, whoever it is ... because we cannot tolerate such acts."Abbas also said security coordination with the Israelis was "in our interest ... to protect our own people."

A Hamas spokesman condemned Abbas's comments, saying they were "based on the Zionist narrative." But even some in the president's own faction chafe at PA policies.

"The leadership talks about reason and logic, but where is the reason and logic in living under occupation without resisting?" said Mohammed Abu El Nasr, a Fatah youth activist. "There is something wrong with the leadership's conflict management and its focus on peaceful resolution."

If Israeli allegations that Hamas is behind the disappearances are true, then the Islamist party has room to regain some of the clout it lost in the past couple of years by calling for another high-profile prisoner exchange. Moreover, they'll have boxed in the PA and its security forces, which, composed largely of Fatah loyalists, risk looking like collaborators with the occupation. And the conflict between the two groups could spiral into a crisis that plays into the Israeli government's hopes by unraveling the unity agreement.

Since June 12, the Israeli army has killed at least four Palestinians and arrested more than 470 others in an operation dubbed Brother's Keeper. The targeting of Hamas has been especially brutal, and is putting a serious strain on the recent Hamas-Fatah détente. The speaker and 10 members of the now-defunct parliament in which Hamas enjoys a majority have been arrested, as have at least 50 of the 1,027 Palestinians released in 2011 in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas in 2006.

The upper echelons of Hamas's West Bank political leadership are currently all incarcerated, including founding member Hassan Yousef. The Gaza Strip, where Hamas dominates political life, has been pounded by Israeli air raids. Even in Israeli prisons, members of the Islamist party are being punished by a slew of tougher living conditions that include a ban on family visits. Hamas has not claimed responsibility for what Israeli authorities allege is a kidnapping, but it has warned that there will be reprisals if the crackdown continues.

The stated goals of Israel's military operation have not only been to find the three missing teens; Hamas's West Bank infrastructure is also the target. "We have a goal," said the Israeli army Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, "to find these three boys and bring them home and to damage Hamas as much as possible." Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the true test of Abbas's comments in Saudi Arabia will be whether or not he divorces Hamas.

"The Israelis tried to prevent [the unity government] from the beginning," said Ghassan Al Khatib, the vice president of Birzeit University. "And now they are taking advantage of this incident to abort this national unity by all means."

The limits of Palestinian unity came into stark view on June 20 when PA forces violently dispersed a Hamas-organized demonstration in Hebron supporting Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, beating both protestors and journalists. The PA's heavy-handed methods even prompted local media outlets to boycott all government events for three days.

In April, it seemed Palestinians were finally on the verge of putting a historical end to seven long years of infighting, which left the Gaza Strip and West Bank not only geographically but also politically isolated from each other. The unveiling of an independent government composed of technocrats and led by current Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was supposed to usher in parliamentary and presidential elections within six months. But no sooner had the ministers been sworn-in than the three Israelis went missing and the military operation ensued.

Israel's crackdown on Hamas -- and the PA's cooperation in it -- casts doubts on Fatah's initial claims of dedication to the reconciliation agreement with its old Islamist foe. The coordination efforts are condemned unanimously by Hamas members and supporters, who have gone as far as to call them a "disgrace" and "a crime punishable by law," under the Cairo Agreement, the initial reconciliation pact signed by the two parties in 2012.

At the leadership level, Abbas's confidantes have defended the PA's course of action thus far. Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told Reuters last Friday that there would be no Third Intifada on Abbas' watch. Those at the party's second tier, meanwhile, are lashing out against Israel's military incursions in the West Bank without criticizing their party's leadership. But at the grassroots -- the party's Revolutionary Council, lower-level members, and local activists -- dissatisfaction is growing.

"These are the people who are not really happy with the political leadership's statements, and who felt that the concessions are very high and have weakened the credibility of the Fatah movement in the eyes of the public," said Mahdi Abdul Hadi, who heads the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, an independent East Jerusalem-based institute.

The Palestinian public longs for a coherent political strategy, something lacking from their leadership's agenda for some time. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the international representative body of the Palestinians, announced in November 2012 it would take its liberation struggle to international forums upon their ascendance to a non-member observer seat at the U.N.'s General Assembly. But since then, they have been largely reluctant to join other international organizations apart from the largely symbolic signing of a slew of treaties and conventions on April 1. Most importantly, Abbas has refused to make good on his threat that Israelis fear the most: approaching the International Criminal Court to ask the prosecutor to investigate Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"The leadership does not care about the average man's reaction," Abdul Hadi said. "From day one, Abbas said, 'This is my policy. I was elected to end the Intifada. I will not allow another one.' Some people say this shakes his credibility in the eyes of the public. He does not pay attention to that. He's not Arafat, he's not a leader; he is a representative for a mission."

After nine months of failed peace talks with Israel, with expanding settlements in the West Bank, and now a large-scale closure and assault, a security relationship with Israel is becoming increasingly unpopular. But for the PA, maintaining security cooperation with Israel is essential. Without it, EU and U.S. aid money and political support would end, recalling not-so-distant memories of the PA's previous ill-fated attempt at unity governance in 2006-2007. Following a boycott by international donors due to Hamas's presence in the government, the PA was left unable to pay salaries. Since one-third of all Palestinians in the West Bank are employed by the PA, many were subjected to extreme economic hardship.

But this time around things are different, with the actors making sure to not violate any of their Western donors' stipulations with their unaffiliated caretaker government. Even the United States expressed a willingness to test the new unity government, encouraging restraint and continued security coordination last week with State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki stating that the United States was "encouraged by President Abbas's strong statement to the Arab and Islamic foreign ministers today in Saudi Arabia."

"The fundamentals of Abbas's position are correct," said Al Khatib, himself a former government spokesman. "This kidnapping does not serve our national interests. "What [the president] is saying, is we should try to prevent a return to violence and I think he speaks for the silent majority of the Palestinian people."

But not everyone agrees.

Last Friday, the mood was somber in Qalandiya refugee camp, outside Ramallah, as families reeled from an overnight military raid that left three young men critically wounded. Inside, homes were filled with smashed furniture and clothes were strewn across the floor after Israeli soldiers ransacked the area the previous night.

Nasim Mteir, a 28-year-old resident of the camp, said the army searched his parents' and brother's houses during the raid. "They tore up the place," he said. "Since Israel seems to be in charge anyway, why don't we let it resume its responsibilities in the territories? Those who want liberation should not be concerned with political seats."

THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images

Middle East
Israeli air strikes hit targets in Gaza
Army says 12 locations in Gaza hit, including "concealed" rocket launchers and weapons manufacturing sites.
Last updated: 29 Jun 2014 19:32

Israel said the airstrikes were in retaliation for six rockets from Gaza that struck Israel the previous night [Reuters]

The Israeli military has carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip after rockets were launched towards Israel, the military said, and Israel's foreign minister suggested reoccupying the Hamas-ruled territory to stop the rocket fire.

Palestinian security officials said on Sunday that one Palestinian fighter was killed in a drone strike in Gaza.

The alternative is clear. Either with each round we attack terror infrastructure and they shoot, or we go to full occupation.

Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman

The Israeli military said it targeted 12 locations in the coastal enclave on Sunday, including "concealed" rocket launchers, weapons manufacturing sites and what it called "terror activity" sites.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli government is ready "to expand" the operation if necessary.

"Over the weekend, the IDF attacked multiple targets in response to firing
at Israel from the Gaza Strip. We are ready to expand this operation as per
need," he said, without elaborating.

The army said the airstrikes were in retaliation for six rockets from Gaza that struck Israel the previous evening.

Two of those rockets hit a factory in the town of Sderot, setting it ablaze, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, however, said limited military operations against armed groups in Gaza only strengthened Hamas.

"The alternative is clear," Lieberman said on Army Radio. "Either with each round we attack terror infrastructure and they shoot, or we go to full occupation."

There has been an increase in rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel this month, as the army continues a wide-ranging operation in the West Bank to search for three Israeli youths who went missing this month.

Israel has accused Hamas of carrying out the abduction. Hamas has rejected the accusation.

Targeting Tawhid Brigades

Israel unilaterally pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, but continues to control access to the territory by air, land and sea.

Israeli leaders have said the pullout cleared the way for Hamas to seize control of the territory two years later, and turn it into a base for rocket attacks on Israel, but there has been little support for reoccupying the territory.

On Friday, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians who were members of the Tawhid Brigades, a conservative group unaffiliated with Hamas, according to Palestinian security officials and fighters from the group.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief reporters and the armed men because they operate underground.

The security officials had initially said the two fighters were members of a group allied with Hamas that often fires rockets at Israel.

Since the beginning of June, more than 60 rockets have been launched from Gaza towards Israel -- more than four times the amount in May -- and 28 of the rockets hit Israeli territory, the military said.

The crude, makeshift devices rarely wound anyone, but they have caused damage and sown panic in communities along the frontier.

Bodies of missing settlers found in West Bank
Israeli PM blames Hamas for death of three settlers, raising fears of a military crackdown in the occupied territories.
Gregg Carlstrom Last updated: 01 Jul 2014 00:41

Tel Aviv — The Israeli army has recovered the bodies of three teenage settlers who went missing in the West Bank earlier this month, triggering fears of a broader military crackdown in the occupied territories.

The bodies of the settlers were found in a field near the village of Halhoul on Monday, not far from where Israeli troops first started searching after they vanished on June 12.

The Israeli army responded to the discovery of the bodies by launching at least two dozen airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The trio were hitchhiking home from a religious school in Kfar Etzion, an illegal settlement between Bethlehem and Hebron, and were last heard in a brief emergency call to police.

Their disappearance set off the largest military operation in the West Bank since the end of the second intifada: More than 400 Palestinians were detained in the 18-day search, thousands of homes raided, and five people killed by Israeli gunfire.

Hamas blamed

Israel has blamed Hamas for the murders, though it has offered no evidence to support that claim.

On Monday night it demolished the homes of Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha, two Hebron-area residents who the Israeli government has named as suspects.

The use of punitive demolitions revived a practice that was almost entirely discontinued in 2005.

The Israeli security cabinet also held an emergency meeting on Monday night, which ended with no major decisions on further actions, according to a government source. The cabinet will reconvene on Tuesday.

Some politicians have called for harsher steps against Hamas, including targeted assassinations. “I don’t know how many leaders of Hamas will remain alive after tonight,” Tzachi Hanegbi, the deputy foreign minister, told reporters.

“Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

The group dismissed the accusations in a statement, calling them propaganda. “We warn Israel against any stupid action. If Israel wants a war, the price they will pay will be greater than in previous wars,” it said.

The settlers' bodies were found at a time of heightened tensions in the south, with daily airstrikes and rocket launches, and Israeli troops preparing for a possible military offensive. In conversations over the past two weeks, security officials have hinted at “retaliating” against Gaza if the trio were found dead.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation's Hanan Ashrawi told Al Jazeera that the "Israeli escalation already took place, and now they have an excuse of further escalation.”

Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on Monday night to hold a sombre vigil for the trio. The mood was far more angry in the West Bank, though, and there were reports of Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in several villages.

Israel sends troops to border with Gaza
Tanks and artillery movement raises possibility of expanded military operation in Palestinian territory.
Last updated: 03 Jul 2014 17:28

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Israeli military says troop reinforcements are being sent to the border with the Gaza Strip, raising the possibility of an expanded operation in the Palestinian territory in response to intensifying rocket fire.

Thursday's movement of tanks and artillery forces came after 11 Palestinians were wounded in Israeli air raids on Gaza, as Palestinians prepared for the funeral of a teenager who was killed in occupied East Jerusalem.
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The Gaza raids began as residents were preparing their pre-dawn Ramadan meal, known as Suhur, on Thursday.

"Eleven people were wounded during the night, including one who is in serious condition," a spokesman for the Gaza Health Authority said, adding seven were hurt in Beit Lahiya in the north and four in Gaza City.

The Israeli military said the air force struck 15 "terror sites" in Gaza. "The targets included weapons manufacturing sites as well as training facilities," a military spokesman said.

The raids came after at least 15 rockets struck southern Israel, two of which were intercepted by Israel's anti-missile system, the army said.

The rockets struck two houses in the southern border town of Sderot. Police said that one of the rockets caused a power cut. The Israeli army reported no injuries.

Israel's last major operation in Gaza, a territory controlled by the Palestinian group Hamas, took place in late 2012.

RELATED: East Jerusalem clashes follow teen's murder

The tensions have heightened following the abduction and killing of three Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Israel has accused Hamas of being behind the deaths, and arrested about 600 suspected Hamas activists as part of a broad manhunt in the largest ground operation in the West Bank in nearly a decade.

The Palestinians have, for their part, accused Israelis of abducting and killing 17-year-old Mohammed Abu Khudair, a teenage boy, in East Jerusalem in a revenge attack, and stone-throwing youths clashed with Israeli police throughout the day on Wednesday.

The weeks since the young settlers disappeared have seen Palestinians in Gaza fire scores of rockets at Israel, which has responded with air strikes against alleged militant targets.

Two Palestinian fighters were killed in an air raid last week, and a young Palestinian girl was killed by an errant rocket attack. There have been no serious casualties on the Israeli side.

Responsibility claim

The armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades said in a statement that had they fired rockets.

They said they were "in response to the ongoing Israeli escalation against our people in Gaza and West Bank" - a reference to clashes in East Jerusalem after the murder of early on Wednesday.

According to figures from Dr Amin Abu Ghazali, the head of field operations for the Red Crescent in East Jerusalem, 232 people were wounded during the clashes, 178 of them in Shuafat alone.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said it was clear that Abu Khdair was killed by Jewish settlers and called on Israel to bring the killers to justice.

An investigation into the disappearance and murder of the teenager was launched by Israeli police after the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, demanded a swift probe of what he called a "reprehensible murder".

Khdair's family said he was abducted on Wednesday shortly before a charred body was found in a Jerusalem forest. Police were still working to identify the body on Thursday.

"The investigation is continuing in order to determine whether this was criminal or nationalistic," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

With additional reporting from Fares Akram.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies

East Jerusalem clashes follow teen's murder
Biggest clashes in years erupt amid probe into link between Palestinian's killing and murder of Israeli settlers.
Gregg Carlstrom Last updated: 03 Jul 2014 04:06

Occupied East Jerusalem - Dozens of people have been injured in the largest clashes in occupied East Jerusalem in years, as Palestinians fought with police after the mutilated body of a boy was found dumped in a forest outside the city.

The body may belong to Mohammed Abu Khdair, a 17-year-old from the Shuafat neighbourhood, who was abducted on Wednesday morning.

Police say they are investigating whether the murder was a revenge attack, carried out after three kidnapped Israeli settlers were found dead earlier this week in the occupied West Bank.

A police spokesman said Abu Khdair was reported missing early on Wednesday. Witnesses said that he was abducted around 3.45am and thrown into a car by two or three men as he was walking to the mosque.

"I heard screaming outside: 'Mohammed has been kidnapped'," said Abu Moussa Abu Khdair, a cousin who was in the mosque at the time.

"When I ran outside he was gone, and the youth [outside the mosque] said he was taken in a car."

By nightfall, though, the body was still unidentified. DNA samples have been taken as the body was too badly burned to be recognised.

Relatives said his father spent most of the day in a police station.

Stun grenades

The discovery led to more than 12 hours of clashes in Shuafat on Wednesday.

Local Palestinian youths blocked the light railway and threw stones at Israeli border police, who fired stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets.

Clashes dragged on throughout the day, despite the summer heat and the Ramadan holiday.
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The heaviest fighting was outside the Abu Khdair family home, and the mosque where he was abducted.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that more than 50 residents were injured throughout the day; there were no injuries among the police. Among the injured were at least four journalists, including two from Palestine TV, one of whom was seriously injured.

"From 7am the army tried to block off this neighbourhood," said Akram al-Salameh, the owner of a nearby bakery who was wounded.

"They forced me and my employees to leave ... . I think they are taking revenge for what happened," he said, referring to the kidnapping.

The kidnapping happened just hours after a funeral for the three settlers, who were abducted on June 12 while hitchhiking home from their religious seminary in the occupied West Bank.

Their bodies were found on Monday near Hebron, prompting fear of retaliatory attacks against Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up 20 percent of the population.

Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israeli police, said the department was investigating whether the abduction and possible murder were "criminal or nationalistic".

Additional officers have been sent to Jerusalem, where several Palestinian neighbourhoods were closed to traffic, and in northern Israel.

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In a statement, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, called the incident "a heinous murder".

"I call on all sides not to take the law into their own hands. Israel is a nation of laws for all, and all are compelled to follow the law," he said,

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, demanded that Israel did more to stop future attacks.
Gaza residents testify about the effects Israel and Egypt's blockade of their land has had on their lives.

"We call for providing international protection for the Palestinian people against settlers' attacks that, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, have continued unabated," he said in a statement.

The mood in Jerusalem, in particular, has been extremely tense since Monday.

Dozens of people were arrested at a right-wing rally on Tuesday night, where protesters chanted "Death to the Arabs".

One man was jailed overnight for attacking a Palestinian worker in a fast-food restaurant in the city, and two other assaults were reported on Tuesday.

"Palestinian blood is no less valuable than the blood of settlers," Ahmed Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Knesset, said during a visit to Shuafat on Wednesday.

Israeli aircraft carried out several strikes in the Gaza Strip early on Thursday, an official and witnesses said, after Palestinians fired rockets into southern Israel.

At least 10 civilians were injured in the northern Gaza Strip, including a woman who was described as being in critical condition by the Gazan emergency chief Ashraf al-Qedra.

The Israeli government has blamed Hamas for the abduction of the three settlers, and it has carried out dozens of air raids this week in Gaza.

In a statement, Hamas said Israel would "pay the price" for Abu Khdair's abduction: "Our people will not let this crime pass, nor all the killings and destruction by your settlers."
Source:
Al Jazeera
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Israel launches deadly airstrikes in Gaza
At least nine Palestinian fighters killed after attacks by Israeli jets and drones on central and south Gaza Strip.
Last updated: 07 Jul 2014 04:55
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The strikes come after the murder of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir triggered violent clashes [Reuters]

Israeli airstrikes have killed at least nine Palestinian fighters from the armed wings of Hamas and Fatah, making it their highest single death toll since a 2012 cross-border war.

Two of the men from the Al Hussinin brigade, a military group belonging to Fatah, were targeted by drone strikes east of the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday, witnesses said.

Seven fighters from the Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, were killed when an air strike hit a tunnel at Rafah, in the south of Gaza.

In a statement, Israel's army said it "has succeeded in stopping another attack against Israel by targeting terrorists who are implicated in launching rockets from central Gaza". "The target was hit," said the statement.

Earlier, the Israeli army carried out a drone strike against an armed group in Gaza, but the targets managed to escape, witnesses said.

Fighters in Gaza have fired at least 25 rockets and mortar shells over the border since Sunday morning, after a night of 10 air strikes.

The strikes come after the murder of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir on July 2 triggered four days of violent clashes that broke out in East Jerusalem and have spread to more than half a dozen Arab towns in Israel, with crowds of protesters hurling stones at riot police.

Israeli police arrested six people on Sunday in connection with the murder of Abu Khdeir who Palestinians say was killed in revenge for the murder of three teenage settlers last month.
Source:
Agencies

Israel libra guerra con Hamas
Jana Beris Corresponsal| El Universal
Miércoles 09 de julio de 2014

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[Israel bombardeó la Franja de Gaza, en ataques que funcionarios dijeron que habían matado a al menos 11 personas, intensificando lo que podría convertirse en una ofensiva a largo plazo contra los islamistas de Hamas luego de que varios cohetes impactaron en ciudades israelíes Reuters]

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[Israel dijo que una invasión terrestre del enclave era posible, aunque no inminente, e instó a los ciudadanos en un rango de 40 kilómetros del territorio costero a permanecer cerca de refugios antibombas AP]


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Los militares israelíes dijeron que habían atacado cerca de 90 sitios en asaltos aéreos y navales durante la noche y reanudaron los ataques aéreos EFE

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[Los ataques acabaron con la vida de al menos seis personas en una casa, dijo el Ministerio del Interior palestino AP]


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[Otras cuatro personas murieron dentro de un automóvil alcanzado en la ciudad de Gaza, informaron médicos, uno de los cuales fue identificado por un sitio web favorable a Hamas como Mohammed Shaaban, un comandante del brazo armado del movimiento islámico Reuters]


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[Una fuente de la oficina del primer ministro Benjamin Netanyahu citó al líder israelí diciendo: "Las IDF (Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel) deben estar listas para llegar hasta el final. Todas las opciones están sobre la mesa, incluyendo una invasión terrestre" Reuters]



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[Los militares israelíes dijeron que recibieron una aprobación provisional del Gobierno para llamar hasta a 40 mil soldados de la reserva, pero que aún no lo han hecho. Hasta el momento, el Estado judío ha movilizado a alrededor de mil 500 reservistas Reuters]


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[Los problemas en la frontera entre Israel y Gaza aumentaron después de que el Estado judío arrestó a cientos de activistas de Hamas en Cisjordania, donde tres jóvenes israelíes desaparecieron el 12 de junio Reuters]

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[Más de 200 cohetes fueron lanzados desde la Franja de Gaza hacia Israel, dijo el Ejército, desde que el Estado judío montó un operativo para encontrar a los jóvenes, que fueron hallados muertos la semana pasada Reuters]

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[Israel ha acusado a los militantes de Hamas de matarlos. En un supuesto ataque de revancha, un adolescente palestino fue secuestrado en Jerusalén Oriental. Su cuerpo carbonizado fue hallado en un bosque y seis sospechosos israelíes fueron arrestados Reuters]

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[El Ejército israelí dijo que en las últimas 24 horas más de 100 cohetes habían sido lanzados contra Israel, lo que representa un fuerte incremento Xinhua]

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[El brazo armado de Hamas, la fuerza que domina el enclave, amenazó con un "terremoto" en respuesta a los ataques de Israel Xinhua]

http://fotos.eluniversal.com.mx/web_img/fotogaleria/israel_ataca_gaza_reuters15.jpg[/img]
[Pero una fuente palestina cercana al grupo dijo que estaba preparado para restablecer la calma si el Estado judío cumplía condiciones que incluyen la liberación de prisioneros Reuters]


Israel libra guerra con Hamas
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VÍCTIMA. Una niña palestina observa la casa destruida de la familia Al Abadlla tras un ataque de las fuerzas israelíes en Janyunis, al sur de la Franja de Gaza. (Foto: MOHAMMED SABER / EFE )
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Cobertura Conflicto Israel-Palestina
Fotogalería Israel lanza ataques aéreos contra la Franja de Gaza

En las primeras 24 horas del operativo “Marco Protector”, Israel atacó 230 blancos de grupos armados palestinos en Gaza, especialmente relacionados con la “industria misilística”

JERUSALÉN.— Israel, Hamas y otros grupos radicales palestinos en la Franja de Gaza están enfrascados nuevamente en una guerra frontal, que había dejado, al cierre de esta edición, un saldo de 25 palestinos muertos y más de 130 heridos.

En las primeras 24 horas del operativo “Marco Protector”, Israel atacó 230 blancos de grupos armados palestinos en Gaza, especialmente relacionados con la “industria misilística”, lanzacohetes, células que disparaban hacia Israel, fundiciones, escondites, depósitos y hasta las casas de cuatro de los jefes involucrados en todo el sistema de misiles.

Fuentes palestinas informaron que la mayoría de las víctimas de los ataques israelíes eran de Hamas y la Yihad Islámica, pero al parecer, también hubo civiles entre los muertos. Los palestinos dispararon hacia Israel en las primeras 24 horas otros casi 160 cohetes y misiles diversos, de los cuales casi una treintena fue interceptado en el aire.

A la situación de emergencia que se vive desde hace semanas en el sur de Israel se agregaron ayer otras zonas del país y hubo disparos de misiles también hacia Tel Aviv y otras ciudades aledañas, y la capital, Jerusalén. “Todo Israel tendrá que correr a los refugios, y el enemigo sionista se arrepentirá de su agresión”, dijo un vocero de Izz al Din al-Qassam, el brazo armado de Hamas.

El primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, acusó a Hamas de “atacar a la población civil en forma intencional, escudándose detrás de sus propios civiles”, y aseguró que “nosotros no buscamos atacar a los civiles sino sólo a los terroristas”.

La especulación de las últimas semanas acerca de si los ataques aéreos israelíes contra blancos palestinos en respuesta al disparo de misiles desde Gaza hacia territorio israelí lograrían poner fin a la escalada y reinstaurar la calma, ha desaparecido.

Ahora está claro que no sólo no se ha calmado la situación, sino que la conflagración es amplia y existe la posibilidad de que todo se complique aún más, si al operativo que Israel lanza por ahora desde el aire contra Hamas y otras organizaciones palestinas se agrega una incursión terrestre, algo que Netanyahu dejó en claro ayer, es una posibilidad.

El hecho es que el gabinete autorizó la movilización de 40 mil reservistas, que supuestamente sustituirían a los efectivos regulares en actividades de rutina, para que estos puedan participar, según la necesidad, en el nuevo operativo.

Israel lanza 400 toneladas de explosivos contra palestinos: ‘Haaretz’
Mathieu Tourliere
9 de julio de 2014
Internacional
Niños heridos tras los bombardeos en Franja de Gaza. Foto: AP / Khalil Hamra
Niños heridos tras los bombardeos en Franja de Gaza.
Foto: AP / Khalil Hamra

MÉXICO, D.F. (apro).- En sólo dos días las Fuerzas Aéreas de Israel bombardearon más de 550 veces la franja de Gaza (326 en el transcurso de este miércoles) para asesinar a líderes de Hamas, y para ello utilizaron alrededor de 400 toneladas de explosivos, reveló hoy un oficial castrense al periódico israelí Haaretz.

Según cifras dadas a conocer por el Ministerio de Salud de Gaza, el pasado lunes 7 –durante el operativo militar denominado “Margen protector”– murieron 53 palestinos, 13 de ellos menores de 16 años, y 465 resultaron heridos.

De acuerdo con Haaretz, un periodista palestino falleció en uno de los bombardeos que se registraron entre la noche del martes y el miércoles.

Hamid Shahab, reportero de Media 24, se encontraba en un carro con varios colegas cuando estalló un explosivo. Tres de ellos resultaron con heridas de gravedad.

El ataque del gobierno israelí se dio después de que integrantes de las brigadas Qassam, brazo armado del Hamas, dispararon centenares de cohetes desde Gaza sobre Israel, uno de los cuales llegó a más de 120 kilómetros de la ciudad.

La gran mayoría de los proyectiles fueron destruidos en vuelo por el “Domo de Hierro”, el dispositivo antimisil israelí, por lo que no se reportaron víctimas en Israel. No obstante, las sirenas de alerta sonaron todo el día en varias ciudades, aseguraron las agencias.

“Somos el objetivo de cohetes de mierda. Los habitantes de Gaza están bombardeando con armamento pesado. Tenemos abrigos, sirenas, Domo de Hierro. No tienen nada”, escribió en Twitter la activista de derechos humanos israelí Elizabeth Tsurkov.

En tanto, el primer ministro de Israel, Benjamín Netanyahu, declaró que intensificará los ataques sobre la franja de Gaza, y dio luz verde al ejército para preparar 40 mil reservistas ante la eventualidad de un “operativo en el terreno”.

“No pararemos”, aseveró por su parte el ministro de la seguridad interna de Israel, Yitzak Aharonovitz, y precisó que los palestinos “recibirán en un primer tiempo un golpe duro desde el aire y el mar, y si se requiere una invasión terrestre, habrá una invasión terrestre”.

A finales de 2008, la operación terrestre israelí, en represalia por el lanzamiento de cohetes, provocó la muerte de entre mil 166 y mil 387 palestinos. En aquella ocasión, 13 israelíes perdieron la vida.

“Hamas pagará un precio alto por disparar sobre los ciudadanos israelíes”, advirtió Netanyahu al recalcar que el operativo continuará “hasta que vuelva la calma”.

Y declaró: “Les ruego que tomen paciencia, porque (el operativo) podrá durar tiempo”.

El ministro de la Defensa, Moshe Yaalon, abundó: “No se terminará en tan sólo unos días”. Y amenazó: “Nos preparamos para extender nuestro operativo con todo lo que dispongamos para pegar a Hamas”.

Por separado, el presidente del gobierno de la Unión Nacional Palestina, Mahmud Abás, declaró que la operación militar “no representa una guerra contra una u otra facción, o contra el Hamas, sino contra el pueblo palestino entero”.

El pasado 12 de junio, tres adolescentes israelíes fueron secuestrados en Cisjordania. El gobierno de Tel Aviv acusó a Hamas de haber perpetrado el plagio.

A sabiendas de que los tres jóvenes habían muerto, las autoridades israelíes montaron un operativo para encontrarlos y hallaron sus cuerpos el lunes 30 de junio.

El martes siguiente, un grupo de colonos secuestró y quemó vivo a un adolescente palestino en un acto de venganza, mientras se dirigía a la mezquita antes de empezar el ayuno del Ramadán. El 5 de julio la justicia israelí detuvo a seis sospechosos, “judíos extremistas”, según la agencia AFP.

Los acontecimientos provocaron una respuesta armada de Hamas, que empezó a lanzar cohetes. El ejército israelí realizó un vuelo en la noche del domingo y mató a siete combatientes palestinos.

El portavoz de Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, denunció entonces una “escalada grave” por parte de Israel, que sepulta de forma definitiva el proceso de paz iniciado hace nueve meses entre la Autoridad Palestina e Israel, bajo el patrocinio de Estados Unidos.

De hecho, tanto Washington como los gobiernos de Francia y Alemania se pusieron del lado de Israel.

“Ningún país puede tolerar disparos de cohetes destinados a civiles. Apoyamos al derecho de Israel de defenderse contra esos ataques viciosos”, declaró Josh Earnest, vocero de la Casa Blanca.

El secretario general de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas, Ban Ki Moon, anunció que mañana dará a conocer datos sobre la escalada de la tensión en el conflicto israelo-palestino, durante el Consejo de Seguridad al que convocaron los líderes árabes.

Estado de emergencia en Franja de Gaza, declara agencia de la ONU
La Agencia de Naciones Unidas para Asistencia de Refugiados Palestinos en Medio Oriente señala que la violencia no muestra señales de terminar pronto.
israel
FOTO: XINHUA
Redacción AN
julio 10, 2014 1:27 pm

Ginebra.- La Agencia de Naciones Unidas para Asistencia de Refugiados Palestinos en Medio Oriente (UNRWA por siglas en inglés) declaró estado de emergencia en las cinco zonas del territorio palestino, ante la escalada de la violencia.

UNRWA declaró en un comunicado que de ser necesario y de seguir esta escalada de la ofensiva israelí contra palestinos “está dispuesta a organizar una respuesta de emergencia”.

Según autoridades palestinas al menos 76 personas, la mayoría civiles, murieron a consecuencia de la ofensiva de Israel en Gaza al tiempo en que militantes leales a Hamas mantienen los ataques con cohetes sobre Tel Aviv y otras ciudades.

En opinión de UNRWA la violencia en esa zona no muestra señales de terminar pronto.

Esta mañana ocho miembros de una familia palestina, entre ellos cinco niños, murieron en un ataque aéreo que destruyó al menos dos casas en Khan Younis en el sur de Gaza, dijo el Ministerio de Salud palestino.

Por su parte, el Ministro de Defensa israelí, Moshe Yaalon, reconoció el jueves en su cuenta de Twitter tener “un largo día de lucha por delante de nosotros”.

La violencia se desató entre los dos estados luego del asesinato de tres adolescentes israelíes y el asesinato de un joven palestino.

El gobierno de Israel defendiendo su derecho de auto-defensa señaló que los ataques contra la Franja de Gaza no cesarán hasta que Hamas suspenda por completo y definitivamente el lanzamiento de cohetes en su territorio.

Todo esto se sienta en el contexto de un vacío de gobierno en Gaza, consideró UNRWA.

Refirió que hay cierta esperanza para un cambio positivo con el anuncio del pasado 2 de junio de la formación de un Gobierno de Consenso Nacional (NCG).

Los habitantes de la Franja esperaban que el nuevo gobierno traería estabilidad y mejores salarios para los trabajadores del sector público, que el cruce de Rafah con Egipto se abriría para el paso de civiles y que el largo bloqueo impuesto por Israel podría levantarse.

“Ninguna de estas expectativas se han cumplido”, lamentó UNRWA.

En junio de 2014 el bloqueo israelí ha entrado en su octavo año y continúa teniendo un efecto contrario en su población.

Las exportaciones desde Gaza y el movimiento de personas hacia y desde la Franja de Gaza siguen prohibidos, y el acceso a las zonas de pesca y a las tierras ha sido limitado.

“Como resultado del fracaso político, el contexto socio-económico en Gaza es igualmente alarmante”, señaló UNRWA.

La economía y su capacidad para crear puestos de trabajo han sido devastadas, la mayoría de la población es cada vez más pobre y dependiente de la ayuda humanitaria para satisfacer sus necesidades básicas, refirió.

El número de refugiados palestinos que reciben ayuda alimentaria de la agencia de la ONU asciende a unos 830 mil en la actualidad, 65 por ciento de la población tiene 24 años o menos y el desempleo juvenil se sitúa en el 65 por ciento.

Al tiempo en que se ha producido una alarmante espiral de violencia en las últimas horas, la ONU ha condenado tanto los ataque desde Gaza al parecer deliberados contra zonas residenciales israelíes así como el uso de la fuerza de Tel Aviv contra Gaza causando víctimas civiles en violación del derecho internacional humanitario.

“No hay claridad sobre lo que los próximos días y semanas traerán”, reconoció UNRWA, en tanto que las bajas civiles están en aumento, las calles de Gaza siguen estando prácticamente vacías y todos los bancos así como la mayoría de las tiendas siguen cerradas. (Con información de Notimex)

Injured Palestinians cross into Egypt
As Israel steps up air strikes targeting Gaza, Rafah border terminal is opened for people seeking medical treatment.
Last updated: 10 Jul 2014 21:08


The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on Thursday to allow injured Palestinians to receive medical treatment. The move came after Israel dramatically escalated its aerial assault in Gaza.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reports from the terminal.
Source:
Al Jazeera

Middle East
Israel's next step in Gaza
Israel's strategy in Gaza remains uncertain, as internal politics are at play for PM Netanyahu.
Gregg Carlstrom Last updated: 10 Jul 2014 08:51

Netanyahu is facing pressure from within his own coalition [AP]

Tel Aviv, Israel - There is undeniably a war going on in Gaza, where Israeli army jets have dropped 400 tonnes of ordinance on as many targets, killing at least 70 Palestinians and causing more damage in two days than they did during an eight-day campaign in 2012.

Inside Israel, though, the talk is (somewhat counterintuitively) about whether a "major escalation" looms on the horizon.

Until recently, Hamas had been keeping relative peace in Gaza, arresting members of Islamic Jihad and other groups who fired rockets at southern Israel, pursuant to the terms of a ceasefire that ended the 2012 conflict.

But the detente broke down after June 12, when three teenage Israeli settlers were kidnapped in the occupied West Bank; their bodies were discovered on June 30 in a valley outside Hebron.

Israel blamed Hamas for the kidnappings, though it has not presented any evidence to prove it.

VIDEO: Israel-Gaza tension: Preparing for battle?

The Israelis carried out a massive round of arrests in the West Bank, rounding up hundreds of people affiliated with the group, including dozens of prisoners released in 2011 in exchange for captured soldier Gilad Shalit.

In Gaza, it stepped up air strikes on Hamas members. Hamas fired a barrage of dozens of rockets on Monday night, and by Tuesday, Israel set off on the current military offensive.

Israel has threatened to escalate further: The cabinet has authorised the army to mobilise 40,000 reservists, and the defence minister has spoken of a lengthy campaign, even a possible ground offensive.

So far, though, most of this is for show. Only a few thousand soldiers have actually been called up, and in the south on Wednesday, there were few signs of the large-scale movement of military equipment that would precede an invasion.

"I wouldn't say it's bluffing. Israel is preparing for all options, but at the moment, they're not going to be launched," said Ephraim Kam, a former Israeli intelligence officer.

But even top officials have no idea how or when this conflict will end, according to government sources, and Israeli officials say they don't know what Hamas hopes to achieve from the fighting.

The group has already unveiled new weapons, striking further into Israel than ever before. During the 2012 war, Hamas surprised observers by shooting once at Tel Aviv. The city has already been targeted several times in the current fighting, as has Jerusalem, and overnight the Qassam Brigades lobbed a rocket at Hadera, a central city 100km from the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, they reached even further, as two rockets landed in the sea near Haifa, about 30km further north. They are the furthest-reaching rocket strikes conducted from Gaza to date.

The group also landed a makeshift naval commando squad on the beach in Zikim, south of Ashkelon. Five fighters were killed when they tried to attack an Israeli military base.

None of these new weapons and tactics, however, have caused any damage or deaths, and analysts say they are unlikely to change the Israeli strategy.

"Hamas tried to achieve something, and they're eager to have a military success, but so far they failed in everything they tried to conduct," said Shaul Shay, a former deputy head of Israel's national security council.

The diplomatic scene, however, is considerably different from 2012, when Egypt played a key role in negotiating a ceasefire. The military-led government which came to power in Cairo last year declared Hamas a terrorist organisation, and destroyed most of the smuggling tunnels on which the group relies for weapons and basic goods.

The Egyptian intelligence services maintain their long-standing contacts with Hamas, but Israeli officials say it's unclear whether they will make effective mediators. Talks over the past few days have been unsuccessful.
Gaza residents testify about the effects Israel and Egypt's blockade of their land has had on their lives.

Hamas has hinted that one condition for ending the rocket fire is the release of the Shalit deal detainees re-arrested over the past few weeks.

But that will be politically difficult for Netanyahu, as a number of top politicians, including members of his government, have demanded an end to prisoner releases.

Netanyahu is also facing pressure from within his own coalition: At a cabinet meeting last week, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett complained that the air force was bombing too many empty structures in Gaza.

"The situation in the government is such that if they let go now, politically, they will suffer. The people in the south will never forgive them. They can't stop the operation,"

Shmuel Sandler, a political science professor

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, meanwhile, has revived his bi-annual call to reoccupy Gaza.

He announced on Monday that his political party, Yisrael Beiteinu, would end its 18-month-old unity pact with Netanyahu's Likud, at least partly because of disputes over Gaza policy.

"The situation in the government is such that if they let go now, politically, they will suffer. The people in the south will never forgive them. They can't stop the operation," said Shmuel Sandler, a political science professor at Bar-Ilan University.

But Netanyahu also has to contend with vocal opposition from inside Israel. The past week has seen unprecedented protests by the country's Palestinian minority, who make up about 20 percent of the population.

The demonstrations started in East Jerusalem, where a 16-year-old boy was abducted and brutally murdered, a revenge attack for the killing of the settlers.

Protests have since spread to other cities in central and northern Israel, and activists say they are planning fresh demonstrations against the offensive in Gaza.

Palestinians also demonstrated against it on Tuesday night in Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem and other cities in the occupied West Bank.

"The Israeli government is not stopping. They are continuing their crimes, wounding and killing people in Gaza," said Jamal Zahalka, a Palestinian member of the Knesset. "If he invades Gaza, there will be a strong protest inside Israel itself… He's worried about our reaction, and that is good."

Rafah crossing provides hope to exit Gaza
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Palestinians try to escape Israeli shelling, but exit is limited to the severely wounded and Egyptian passport holders.
Fares Akram Last updated: 11 Jul 2014 01:56

Gaza’s interior ministry said only 11 wounded made it through Rafah crossing Thursday [Wissam Nassar/Al Jazeera]

Rafah border crossing, Gaza-Egypt border - For many Palestinians living under heavy Israeli bombardment, Egypt’s limited opening of the Rafah crossing with Gaza provided a small glimmer of hope.

After nearly a month of closure, Egypt opened Gaza's main gate to the outside world, but travelling was restricted to medical patients and people seriously wounded by Israeli air strikes, which are now entering their fourth day.

Gaza’s Interior Ministry announced that Palestinians holding Egyptian passports would also be eligible to leave through Rafah.

But people rushed to the crossing in the hundreds anyway on Thursday, including many who were not allowed to cross. Palestinian police officers shut the metal-iron gates to control the exit of travellers, and provide easy passage to ambulances carrying patients.

RELATED: Palestinians denounce West Bank leadership

At the gate, women, children and men were screaming at the security officials, trying to push themselves through a narrow space, as the gate was not fully closed.

Ahmed Daghma, 24, was among them. Though he has no Egyptian passport, he said he was desperate to leave.

My mother calls me crying every hour, worried about my life.

- Ahmed Daghma, 24

"I finished my studies here and want to go back to reunite with my family in Saudi Arabia," Daghma told Al Jazeera. "My residency will expire by the end of the month and then I won't be able to renew it."

Daghma said he had been trying to leave Gaza for more than a month, but large numbers of would-be travellers - more than 10,000, according to the Interior Ministry - meant he couldn’t get out the last time the crossing was open in mid-June.

"My mother calls me crying every hour, worried about my life. I try to comfort her and say it's alright in our area, but she knew of an airstrike near our home," he said.

Khadra Abdul Razeq, 37, was crying in the crossing’s departure hall. An Egyptian citizen, she was eligible to travel with her two children, but had to leave her husband behind because he only has a Palestinian passport.

"We live in al-Burij [refugee camp in central Gaza]. The bombings damaged our house's windows and doors. We don't sleep. This is not a life," she said.

RELATED: Israel's next step in Gaza

Khaled al-Shaer, director of the Palestinian side of Rafah crossing, said he was unsure how long the crossing would remain open.

'It might be closed tomorrow, but from our side, we are fully prepared to work at full capacity every day and can handle all the numbers of travellers," he told Al Jazeera.

At the last point of the crossing, in front of the Egyptian gate, three ambulances carrying wounded people were waiting to cross on Thursday. Fatma Al-Naqib, 38, lay in one of them, her head wrapped in a white bandage. Her mother sat beside her, feeding her some water.

Fatma suffered from a shrapnel injury that caused fraction in the skull, her brother told Al Jazeera. "This happened after [an] F16 struck near our house," Rajab said.

Gaza’s interior ministry said that only 11 wounded Palestinians made it out of Gaza through Rafah crossing on Thursday.

Southern Israel frustrated by rocket fire
Jewish residents of southern towns complain of discrimination, while pushing for stronger military intervention in Gaza.
Gregg Carlstrom Last updated: 11 Jul 2014 11:48
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Israelis have set up a viewing area in the south to watch Israeli army air strikes on the Gaza Strip [AP]

Sderot, Israel - The Israeli cabinet is under mounting pressure to launch a ground invasion of Gaza, and much of it comes from towns like this, where residents say they want an end to the bi-annual salvos of rocket fire from Gaza.

Over the past ten years, hundreds of rockets have landed here, just a few kilometres from the Gaza border. The Israeli government has spent about $150m to build a network of bomb shelters, at a cost of more than $6,000 per resident. There have been no injuries or serious damage here during the current round of fighting, partly as a result of the costly infrastructure.

The town has become something of a showpiece, a popular destination for journalists and foreign dignitaries, who are regularly bussed in to meet with the mayor and other locals. Residents, though, say they’d prefer to be known as something other than a target.

"I’d prefer a highway to Tel Aviv," quipped Ofir Steinberg, standing in one of the bomb shelters that dot the road every few hundred metres, as sirens wailed around town.

It is hard to draw a straight line between the rocket fire and the economic situation in the south, which has long been poorer than the centre of Israel. But some residents feel that spending on bomb shelters has crowded out more beneficial investments, and that the government has a double standard. "Imagine if this was Jerusalem, or Tel Aviv, or even Haifa. They wouldn’t endure this for a decade," Steinberg said.

RELATED: Israel's next step in Gaza

The cabinet met for more than six hours on Thursday at the defence ministry in Tel Aviv to discuss the campaign in Gaza. The meeting ended with no firm decision; troops are slowly building up around the border, though still far below the numbers required for any major offensive.

Government sources say Netanyahu is still reluctant to approve an invasion, which would likely entail heavy casualties. There is also no clear endgame for a ground offensive: A West Bank-style occupation would be costly and unpopular, and there are no real alternatives to Hamas rule in Gaza, aside from unrealistic dreams about the Palestinian Authority resuming control.

In Sderot, though, there was support for an escalation, which many residents have come to see as the only way to ensure a long period of quiet.

The voices inside Israel are fed up with this situation, with a war every few years. So I cannot rule out the biggest possibility for this operation.

- Ya'akov Amidror, former national security adviser to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

"The voices inside Israel are fed up with this situation, with a war every few years. So I cannot rule out the biggest possibility for this operation," said Ya’akov Amidror, a retired general who was Netanyahu’s national security adviser until recently.

Further north in Kiryat Malachi, a city of 20,000 near Ashkelon, the mood was equally critical. It was home to three of the four Israeli civilians killed during the 2012 war, who died when a rocket slammed into their apartment building.

At the time, residents called for harsh retaliation against Gaza. On Thursday the mood was similar, with an added hint of frustration that high-profile rocket strikes on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have attracted more interest.

"The [news] channels don’t even send me an alert when a rocket is fired here," said Hili Dayan, gesturing to her phone. "If one person died in Tel Aviv they would probably flatten the whole [Gaza] strip."

VIDEO: Fear fuels desire for revenge in Israel

The feeling of discrimination is widespread in the south, where residents feel there has been far more attention to a handful of ineffective rocket attacks on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Places like Sderot are known locally as "development towns", built hastily in the 1950s in order to absorb new Jewish immigrants. Many of their earliest inhabitants were mizrahim, Jews of Arab descent who faced discrimination from the predominantly Ashkenazi (European) founders of Israel. During the 1990s, the south also became home to large numbers of Jews from the former Soviet Union.

"They were set up to grab land in places where there were no [Jewish] settlements," said Barbara Swirski, who studies and advocates for disadvantaged groups in Israel. "They were supposed to develop, but they never did. There’s a lack of good jobs and economic opportunities, and a lack of government policy aimed at fixing the problem."

Both of these groups, the mizrahim and the Russians, remain economically disadvantaged, as do their cities. The average family income in Tel Aviv was 18,618 shekels per month ($5,429), according to a 2012 report from the Central Bureau of Statistics. In Be’er Sheva, it was 12,962 shekels ($3,780), nearly one-third lower.

The bureau does not track salaries in smaller localities, but economists say those are lower still; wages in Sderot have typically been about half the national average. "Whatever we speak about, whether health indicators, monthly salary, or educational achievement, the south has less of it," Swirski said.

RELATED: Bedouins defiant despite Israel eviction plan

We don’t have water, we don’t even have electricity, except what we get from the sun. How would they run the sirens?

- Abd al-Salam al-Sayyid, Bedouin citizen of Israel

The residents of these predominantly Jewish towns nonetheless fare better than those in Al-Sayyid, a Bedouin village in the Negev desert, near the city of Be’er Sheva.

About half of the Negev Bedouin - totalling more than 200,000 citizens - live in unrecognised villages, which receive no municipal services and are subject to routine home demolitions. Al-Sayyid was officially recognised in 2004, but residents say they have seen little improvement since then.

Today, their homes offer little protection from possible rocket strikes, and the government has not installed any municipal shelters nearby.

"Yes, we have sirens, we have bomb shelters, just like we have the roads they promised," said Abd al-Salam al-Sayyid, gesturing to the rutted dirt track outside the mosque where he had just finished midday prayers.

"We don’t have water, we don’t even have electricity, except what we get from the sun. How would they run the sirens?"

An elderly resident of the village, Moussa al-Sayyid, tried to make light of the situation. "I’m not afraid," he said. "We have a siren at the airport," referring to Nevatim, an air force base about 10km from the village.

"You can hear that?" Abd al-Salam joked. "Of course the people here are afraid. When rockets fly above our heads, we are all the same, we are all human beings. We are worried."
Source:
Al Jazeera

Palestinian journalists under Israeli fire
The death of Hamed Shehab on Wednesday in an Israeli air strike has triggered fear and anger among journalists in Gaza.
Mohammed Omer Last updated: 11 Jul 2014 08:01
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An Israeli air strike killed Shehab and injured another eight Palestinians on a busy street in Gaza City [Reuters]

Gaza City - With tearful eyes, the Al-Aqsa TV anchorman announced the death of Palestinian journalist Hamed Shehab on Wednesday evening, hit by an Israeli air strike while driving home on Omar al-Mukhtar street.

Shehab, 27, was working for local press company Media 24. He was driving a car that had the letters "TV" affixed to it in large, red stickers when it was struck by an Israeli missile. The bombing, carried out on one of Gaza City’s busiest streets, has triggered fear and rage among journalists in Gaza.

"Such [an] attack is meant to intimidate us. Israel has no bank of targets anymore, except civilians and journalists," Abed Afifi, a cameraman for the Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV channel, told Al Jazeera.

Afifi said Shehab was an independent media professional, and was not affiliated to any political party.

RELATED: Rafah crossing provides hope to exit Gaza

Shehab's body arrived at Gaza’s Shifa hospital in pieces, burned and unidentifiable. His silver-coloured Skoda car was riddled with shrapnel and covered in blood. Another eight Palestinians were injured in the same attack.

The Palestinian death toll sat at nearly 100 Palestinians as of Friday morning, while hundreds of others have been injured over the past four days of Israeli air strikes. The UN estimated on Thursday that at least 342 housing units had been destroyed, and at least 2,000 Palestinians displaced, in the bombardment.

This crime is meant to break the will of Palestinian media professionals who are working day and night … to show the brutality of the occupation.

- Ihab al-Ghussein, Gaza ministry of interior

Ihab al-Ghussein, from Gaza's interior ministry, commented on Shehab's death from Shifa hospital: "This crime is meant to break the will of Palestinian media professionals who are working day and night … to show the brutality of the occupation".

Ghussein held the international community responsible. "No doubt this is a crime, but journalists will not stop their mission," he added.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government said it had no initial information about the incident, while an Israeli army spokeswoman told Reuters news agency that the military was checking for more details.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned Shehab’s killing as a war against press freedom. "This is a deliberate and planned crime to discourage Palestinian journalists from showing occupation crimes and horrors of collective punishment against the Gaza Strip," a statement from the group read.

The Syndicate said it would appeal to all international media groups to withhold membership to the Israeli Journalists Syndicate in response to Shehab's killing.

RELATED: Jordan, Egypt criticised for policy over Gaza

This isn't the first time Israel has allegedly targeted journalists in Gaza. In November 2012, the Israeli army carried out four separate strikes on Gaza-based media, killing two cameramen, injuring at least 10 other media workers, and damaging four media offices.

Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev justified the bombings at the time, saying that the people targeted were not "legitimate journalists".

But Human Rights Watch said that the Israel air strikes had violated the laws of war. "Journalists who praise Hamas and TV stations that applaud attacks on Israel may be propagandists, but that does not make them legitimate targets under the laws of war," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW.
Gaza residents testify about the effects Israel and Egypt's blockade of their land has had on their lives.

Most recently, on July 8, Reporters Without Borders accused Israel of preventing journalists from reporting on the upsurge of violence and arrests in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and inside Israel.

Mousa Rimawi, head of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), said that Israel has frequently targeted Palestinian and international journalists during major military campaigns.

"The purpose," Rimawi told Al Jazeera, "is to silence media and to prevent the journalists from covering the crimes that are committed by Israel against [the] Palestinian people."

"Without pressure from international civil society, Israel will continue to target journalists because they are behaving like a state above international law," Rimawi added. "There is no pressure and nothing that can stop them [from continuing] this policy."

But for journalists like Afifi, he said his job is something he is not willing to compromise, despite only getting a few hours of sleep over the past four days outside the morgue at Shifa hospital.

"All these attacks on civilians should not stop us from working - the world has to see what Israel is doing in Gaza," he said.

US complicity in Israel's attack on Gaza
The US needs to admit its responsibility for the crisis in Palestine.
Last updated: 11 Jul 2014 13:03
Nora Lester Murad

Nora Lester Murad
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The Israeli attack on Gaza has claimed more than 100 lives [EPA]

It was very kind of Brenda from the US Consulate in Jerusalem to finally return my call at 7pm, long after work hours.

I had been trying since early morning to get an appointment for a group of concerned US citizens living in Palestine to meet with a policy officer. We came together through social media and word of mouth because we are desperate to speak out about the unjustifiable slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza that is now under way.

We want to express our opposition to United States' complicity in the Israeli attacks that have taken over 100 Palestinian lives, with hundreds more injured. We want to demand a change of policy before the threatened Israeli ground invasion becomes a reality. But it turned out that it was difficult to reach anyone in the consulate, much less to get an appointment.

Brenda was clearly in a hurry, but she responded professionally and explained that the American Citizen Services section was busy trying to help US citizens stuck in Gaza to get out to safety. They had priorities, she explained. They couldn't take time to hear our views. Besides, her office doesn't do policy work. That would be the other office.

No, she didn't know the name of the person responsible for policy at the other office. It's that transitional time of year when people finish their missions and new people replace them. She advised that we not bother the policy people either. There is a crisis now and everyone is busy.

How convenient! US representatives are "too busy with the crisis" to talk about US responsibility for creating the crisis. I explained my view: The US gives billions in military aid to Israel year after year; it provides unconditional political support despite Israel's belligerent settlement policies; and it has refused to hold Israel accountable for violations of international law in the 2008-9 attack on Gaza and the 2012 attack on Gaza, not to mention the current attack. Isn't the US government - and, by extension, US taxpayers - complicit in creating the emergency that has now placed over 1.5 million lives at grave risk in Gaza?

Sounding a bit frustrated, Brenda said she understood my point but still advised that we cancel our visit to the US consulate tomorrow since no one would be available to hear our complaints.

There are protests here in Palestine, in Boston, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and in cities across the United States and the world. People want the US to stop unconditional support for jingoistic Israeli actions. But our government is too busy to hear our complaints? How loud must we scream before our government hears our demand for justice for Palestinians?

The Gaza conundrum: To invade or not to invade
Al Jazeera's senior political analyst explains the ramifications of escalation in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Last updated: 11 Jul 2014 09:42
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At least 98 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded since the campaign began [Reuters]

Why the escalation in Gaza now?

The pretexts for any war or violence can be seen in two ways: explicit short-term justifications, and implicit longer-term explanations. The recent escalation over Gaza can be seen within this framework as follows:

First, there are the immediate factors that are publically pronounced but strategically less significant. The usual examples cited: "We're acting in self-defence"; "protecting our citizens"; "they've started it first"; "no other government would accept that rockets rain down on its people." So far, Israel has done a far better job than the Palestinians making a case for war even when it's the occupying power. This is reinforced by the ABC-type western news media, that shows Israel defending itself against the aggression of the besieged Palestinians, even when the evidence or images tell otherwise.
Gaza residents testify about the effects Israel and Egypt's blockade of their land has had on their lives.

The long term, less conspicuous but strategically significant goals include: improving one's own strategic deterrence; weakening the enemy's military bombast; breaking out of diplomatic isolation; and reaching a more conducive ceasefire of political arrangement.

Considering that war is all too often the continuation of politics or diplomacy by other means, it's rather expected that force would be used to accomplish what diplomacy fails to achieve. War fills the political void resulting from a deadlocked diplomatic process, otherwise still known as the "Peace Process" in Western newspeak.

All parties involved in the current escalation should know from the experience of the 2008 and 2012 wars, that the ongoing assault would lead to more of the same paralysis. And yet Benjamin Netanyahu and his Israeli coalition government believe military grandstanding could produce more favourable, albeit temporary, arrangements.

But what could Israel or the Palestinians possibly achieve by such senseless violence?

The Netanyahu government probably believes it has the most to gain for a number of reasons:

For one, Israel hopes the assault will marginalise the Palestinian national unity government between Fatah and Hamas which, to Netanyahu's irritation, received the green light from Israel's western backers.

Secondly, the assault helps Netanyahu maintain his coalition government. Its most extreme wing seeks to act aggressively in the occupied territories in order to expand the illegal settlements and punish Mahmoud Abbas for daring to choose the UN recognition and national unity with Hamas.
Read more of our coverage on Palestine

Third, the assault could help Israel break out of its diplomatic isolation after the US - its foremost international backer - blamed Israel equally if not more than the PLO for ruining the chances to reach an interim framework agreement. Now that the assault is under way, the Obama administration is stressing Israel's "right to defend itself" and is likely to come back to help bring about a ceasefire.

Lastly, Netanyahu believes the regional landscape, especially in Egypt, provides an opportunity for an attack. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's repression of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose offshoot Hamas operates in Palestine, provides Israel with a strategic opportunity to weaken this Islamist movement.

The Israeli prime minister sees the Egyptian president as a strategic ally in the so-called "war on terror" and calculates that Sisi is happy to see the Muslim Brotherhood weakened anywhere in the region, no less in next door in the Gaza Strip.

As for the Palestinians, the situation is dire and escalation costly, even for the many in Gaza, for whom it couldn't get much worse.

However, if Hamas and the other factions endure, and Israel is unable to achieve its military objectives, the movement could see improvement in its rather poor standing among the Palestinians and in the region.

Its capacity to produce and shoot short and long range rockets that reach Israel's main cities has already shocked and confused the Israeli military.

Secondly, a US-sponsored, Egypt-mediated ceasefire is expected to result from any standoff, which could potentially benefit Hamas and force Israel to fulfill the largely unfulfilled commitments it made during previous ceasefires and prisoner exchange agreements, or at least force it to make new commitments.

Third, Hamas calculates it could potentially benefit from direct Egyptian mediation by calming the tensions with the Sisi regime and reducing its hostility towards the movement, such as by lifting the siege on Gaza and opening of the crossings with Egypt.

And finally, Abbas is bound to lose if the escalation continues to spiral and lead to another popular uprising. He is vehemently opposed to a third Intifada and considers the security arrangements with Israel indispensable because of the stability it provides for his regime and country. However, if the confrontations end quickly, the US will once again try to pump him up as the only alternative to the senseless violence.

What future then for Israel Palestine? Will there be an invasion in Gaza?

While the escalation (and its ramifications) might help Israeli and Palestinian leaders deflect criticism for failing to achieve peace or security to their people, it ultimately won't advance the cause of peace and security any bit.

That's why Israeli government's approval of calling up of 40,000 reservist troops is worrisome. It's costly for the Israeli economy and society and further escalates the conflict. But it remains to be seen whether the stakes are politically nudging the US and Egypt to intervene diplomatically on Israel's behalf- or military.

It's not clear what Israel's military objectives are if it invades. Former PM Ariel Sharon withdrew unilaterally from Gaza because Israel wanted to separate for good from the oldest, most populated and impoverished refugee camp in the region, indeed the world. An all-out invasion and occupation of Gaza would be too costly and too stupid.

However, judging from its history in Lebanon and Gaza, the Israeli leadership is more than capable of carrying out such follies. Israel might also try tactical incursions, which also proved futile in the past.

Meanwhile, the escalation is causing more tension and violence, which in turn is bound to deepen hostilities and push peace further into the distance. The latter begins only with lifting the Israeli siege, freeing the Palestinians, and ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories.

As long as the occupation persists, it will continue to breed violence, instability and hatred on both sides. Considering that the entire region is in turmoil, if not falling apart, there is less will to make a regional push for real solution.

Worse yet, Israel's western backers, who should be using their leverage to nudge Israel to lessen tension, have shown mounting indifference. This week, even UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sounded like a State Department official.

Yes, like all states Israel does have the right to defend itself and protect its citizens. However, that right doesn't extend to protecting its occupation and defending its settlements at any cost, including to its own citizens.

Marwan Bishara is the senior political analyst at Al Jazeera.

Follow him on Twitter: @marwanbishara

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
Source:
Al Jazeera

Gaza toll passes 105 as Israel raids continue
Total of 105 Palestinians killed as air offensive enters fourth day, while rockets are fired from southern Lebanon.
Last updated: 11 Jul 2014 20:07

At least 105 people have been killed as Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip enters its fourth day, with the latest attack killing five people in Rafah while rescuers were trying to free those trapped in the ruins of a building.

The air raid in Rafah on Friday came as Israel continued to bomb Gaza in what it says is an attempt to halt indiscriminate rocket fire by Hamas fighters.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaza on Friday, said at least 200 homes in the territory had been destroyed in the offensive that began earlier this week.

"Over 3,000 homes have been partially destroyed by the air strikes, and we've received figures that translates to an air strike here every four and half minutes," she said.

Avichay Adraee, spokesman for the Israeli military, said it had hit more than 1,100 targets in Gaza since the beginning of the offensive and that "there are still hundreds to finish off".

At least 700 Palestinians have been injured since the start of the Israeli attacks, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

A total of 10 Israelis have been injured by Palestinian fire since Israel began attacks on Gaza, with no deaths reported.

Eight people were injured when a Palestinian rocket hit a fuel tanker at a petrol station in Ashdod on Friday, the Israeli army said.

In an attack on Thursday, two soldiers were injured in a mortar bomb attack targeting the Eshkol regional council.

The army said on Friday its Iron Dome missile-defence system intercepted at least four rockets, believed to have been targeting the airport near Tel Aviv.

'Prolonging conflict'

Meanwhile, Lebanon's state news agency said that two rockets were fired from Hasbaya in southern Lebanon towards Israel on Friday morning.

The Lebanese army searched the area and found rocket launchers as well as two other rockets that had not been fired, and dismantled them, Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reported from Beirut.
Hamas denies using 'human shield' in Gaza

"They say they don't know who's behind the firing of these rockets, but are looking for them," she said.

"In retaliation, Israel fired 25 shells into Lebanese land, but no injuries or casualties were reported on either side of the border."

The clashes and exchange of rocket fire between Hamas and Israeli military has drawn strong reactions from leaders across the world.

On Friday, Navi Pillay, the UN's human rights chief, expressed alarm at Israel's military operations and the mounting civilian toll in Gaza, as well as the indiscriminate firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel.

"Israel, Hamas, and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza have been down this road before, and it has led only to death, destruction, distrust and a painful prolongation of the conflict," Pillay said.

"This time around, once again, civilians are bearing the brunt of the conflict. I urge all sides to steadfastly respect their obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law to protect civilians."

Source:
Al Jazeera and agenc

Toll mounts as Israel steps up Gaza air raids
Eight members of Palestinian family, including five children, among 98 dead so far, with no deaths on Israeli side.
Last updated: 11 Jul 2014 06:35


Israel has continued its bombardment of Gaza but failed to stop rocket fire across the border, as the US offered to help negotiate a truce.

At least 98 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said on Friday. Hundreds of others have been wounded.

Among those killed were eight Palestinian family members, including five children, who died in a Thursday morning air raid in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military to Arab media, on Friday morning said Israel had hit 1,100 targets since its campaign was launched earlier this week.

"There are still hundreds to finish off," he said. "The terrorists continue their rocket attacks because of the painful attacks that aim to destroy their rocket power".

Three people were reported injured in a rocket attack on the Israeli town of Ashdod on Friday morning, one critically, taking those injured by Palestinian fire to five, and no deaths reported.

Israel estimates 550 rockets have been fired from Gaza since Monday.

The clashes and exchange of rocket fire between Hamas and Israeli mlitary has drawn strong reactions from leaders across the globe.

The US president, Barack Obama, meanwhile "called for all sides to do everything they can to protect the lives of civilians".

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, condemned the rocket attacks and urged Israel to show restraint.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the UN in New York, said it was unlikely the Security Council would release anything more than a "carefully worded statement" on the matter.

Medical officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza said at least 60 civilians, including a four-year-old girl and boy aged five who were killed on Thursday, were among those killed.

In a statement, the Israeli army said it had hit a number of houses that were being used for military purposes.

"These houses may be used for weapons storage, command and control centre, or communications," it said.

The Israeli offensive began after a build-up of violence following the killing of three young Israeli settlers last month and the murder of a Palestinian teenager in a suspected revenge attack.

Israeli leaders said the air offensive could be expanded into a ground invasion of one of the world's most densely populated territories. Some 20,000 reservists have been mobilised, the military says.

"Everyone in Gaza is talking about a ground invasion and people are saying that is the next step," said Al Jazeera's John Hendren, reporting from Gaza.

Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies

How it started in Gaza
PM Benjamin Netanyahu had to seek a way out of isolation.
Last updated: 12 Jul 2014 10:52
Ahmed Moor

Ahmed Moor
Follow @https://twitter.com/ahmedmoor

Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American who was born in the Gaza Strip. He is a Soros Fellow, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books 2012) and co-founder and CEO of liwwa.com.
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More than 100 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its aerial assault on the Strip [EPA]

Beginnings matter. Questions about culpability and responsibility, about the narrow cynicism that defines so much of life in the Gaza Strip, sequence and motive - they all go to beginnings. Why are Israeli men and women battering and gnashing lives and livelihoods in that prison camp? How did it start? Why are they killing? What are they after? How will it end? The answers are embedded in our crusty beginnings.

How it started

In the beginning, Zionists invaded Palestine. They expelled the Palestinians and Gaza, an ancient place that hosted Ramses II, Alexander the Great, and Salahuddin, became a tent city. A wasteland for the dejected and destitute.

It didn't take long for Palestinians in Gaza to begin to fight to reclaim their homes from the Ashkenazis that displaced them. The Fedayeen - refugee militiamen - commenced with overnight raids as soon as the shock of their ignominious defeat began to wear.

The first Israeli massacre in Gaza occurred in 1956. My father was a small boy at the time, but he remembers how the men were rounded up and shot. Today, his grand-nephews and -nieces, also refugees, also born in camps, cower in terror as the third generation of Ashkenazis in Palestine shows them their place. Life in the shadows, balanced precariously on obsidian with fire on either side - that's their inheritance.

The latest round

Among Israeli elites, Gaza is everything to everyone. Israeli politicians attack Gaza to enhance their electoral appeal. They use it to muzzle the opposition, to preserve a coalition or to distract from a domestic scandal. Israeli generals like to invade to provide troops with "battle" training or to test new wares, and to debut new formations and tactics; Hamas is not Hezbollah, after all.

Jewish-Israeli scientists, meanwhile, coordinate with the army to use the territory as a convenient testing ground for advanced, experimental technologies. Corporate Israel later repackages those technologies for global export. Those are the relationships - the status quo.

The recent move towards Palestinian reconciliation undertaken by the Hamas and PLO leaderships, threatened to end the political - if not material - isolation of Gaza. It posed a risk to the current state of things by providing Hamas, a political movement which came to power through elections, with a means for re-entering the realm of international legitimacy.

Once the Americans and Europeans agreed to recognise the new caretaker government, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began to seek a way out of his new, uncomfortable isolation. He could not attack the Palestinians solely for their political reconciliation - the Americans would admonish him for that. Nor, to his great consternation, could he convince world powers to repeal their endorsement of the new government. Desperately, he sought a way out.

Restoring Netanyahu's balance

It came in the form of tragedy. When the three Jewish-Israeli settler teenagers disappeared in the West Bank, the Israeli leadership claimed that they were still alive. Through its prerogative as the enforcement vehicle of Israeli apartheid, the army spent three weeks smashing into hundreds of homes and terrorising their occupants in the search for the three youths.

More than 500 Palestinian men were rounded up and imprisoned as Netanyahu clamoured for the teenagers' return and inveighed against Hamas, the group he claimed kidnapped the youths. No evidence was offered. Only bluster, bombast, and fatalistic conviction delivered in a sonorous tone of voice.

As Max Blumenthal has documented, it was all a shameful and cynical political show. The Israeli leadership knew within the first day of their disappearance that the youths were dead; bullet holes, blood samples and a telephone recording provided evidence of what happened. But the ever-receptive Jewish-Israeli public demanded revenge and by the time the extent of the sham was revealed, the Israelis had killed nine people in the West Bank and three more in the Gaza Strip through missiles they fired in "retaliation" for the West Bank murders.
Gaza residents testify about the effects Israel and Egypt's blockade of their land has had on their lives.

Naturally, the Palestinians availed themselves of their right to self-defence. They used crude, unguided workshop missiles to reclaim the balance of fear that existed - thereby providing the Israeli leadership with more material for international consumption. It is now claimed that the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza ghetto had nothing to do with the murders of the three Jewish-Israeli youths. Instead, Israel is merely "responding" to Hamas' nihilistic provocations.

More than a month after the reconciliation, it appears that Netanyahu has succeeded - his balance has been restored. Israelis are free to indulge in a grand delusion of self-righteousness. "No normal country could tolerate terrorists firing missiles into its urban centres," they say.

"No normal country practises the crime of apartheid."

"No normal country demolishes the homes of suspects…

or punishes millions of people…

or seeks vengeance and vengeance and vengeance in a fit of bloody wrath," we might wearily reply.

Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American who was born in the Gaza Strip. He is a Soros Fellow, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books 2012) and co-founder and CEO of liwwa.com.

Follow him on Twitter: @ahmedmoor

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
Source:
Al Jazeera

Middle East
'I never like the night'
Palestinian families fear Israel's night-time air strikes, as the civilian death toll soars in the Gaza Strip.
Mohammed Omer Last updated: 12 Jul 2014 08:51

Gaza City - For Ala al-Jarwsha, his wife, and their two children, the most difficult moment of the day comes when night falls. Huddled together in the darkness, the parents struggle to comfort their children, who constantly ask about the loud explosions heard outside.

The family moves from one corner of their apartment to the next, as this is where they feel most safe. Other families living nearby sleep under their beds to try to protect themselves.

"It is a heated night, where we don't know who will be in the news. It could be all of us," the 31-year-old father told Al Jazeera, as his eldest child, three-year-old Mohammed, grabbed at his leg and didn't let go.

It is just one hour after midnight, and no one is asleep in the family's home - not even Jarwsha's two children, Mohammed and Ahmed, aged one-and-a-half. This has been the case for the past five days, since Israel's military offensive on Gaza began.

"Dad, we are going to die," one of the children said, with tears in his eyes.

The Jarwsha's home is just a few hundred metres from the house of a Hamas leader in Gaza, making the family more fearful than most that it may be hit by an Israeli bomb.

In the early morning hours on Friday, the house shook three separate times as a result of nearby explosions. "We only have the faith in [God] to protect us," Jarwsha told Al Jazeera.

RELATED: Palestinian journalists under Israeli fire

The Jarwshas' fears are widespread among many in Gaza. At least 121 Palestinians have been killed as the violence entered a fifth day on Saturday. Nearly 1,000 others have been injured. According to the United Nations, Israel has fired more than 1,100 missiles and 100 tank shells, and carried out about 330 naval shellings.

The UN also reported that the destruction of residential buildings is the main cause of civilian casualties in the current violence engulfing Gaza: An estimated 342 housing units were destroyed as of midday on Thursday, forcing 2,000 Palestinians to seek refuge with relatives.

The Israeli government has denied allegations that it is targeting civilians in Gaza, and insists that it is only going after members of Hamas. The Israeli military also inferred that civilian homes in Gaza serve "military purposes", and wrote on social media that its soldiers "target them for a reason".

"Israel targets Hamas terrorists and not innocent civilians," Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, said on Tuesday. "Hamas … bears full responsibility for any harm that comes to Israeli and Palestinian civilians alike."

Hamas … bears full responsibility for any harm that comes to Israeli and Palestinian civilians alike.

- Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister

But the UN estimates that 77 percent of all deaths so far in Gaza have been civilian casualties. Navi Pillay, the UN human rights chief, expressed concern on Friday over the mounting civilian death toll.

"We have received deeply disturbing reports that many of the civilian casualties, including of children, occurred as a result of strikes on homes," Pillay said in a statement.

"Such reports raise serious doubt about whether the Israeli strikes have been in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law."

With electricity cuts usually lasting between 12-16 hours each day, families don't have access to much information about where the air strikes are taking place. The power outages also impact peoples' ability to share Ramadan meals, with many forced to eat whatever they can find, often in the dark.

"It is only [in the] daylight that we can live. I never liked nights during Israeli wars, whether we are being bombed by F16s or [Palestinian] rockets are fired from nearby, we are afraid, as the noise is too loud," Jarwsha told Al Jazeera.

This has left families in Gaza spending each night fearing where and when the next air strike will hit. "Israeli shrapnel never discriminates," said Jarwsha, as his wife and children cried.

"For this reason, I never like the night. It [reminds] me of how vulnerable we are in this unprotected home."

Follow Mohammed Omer on Twitter: @Mogaza

Gaza toll soars as Israeli raids continue
At least 121 Palestinians killed by five days of bombardment as Israel brushes off pressure for ceasefire.
Last updated: 12 Jul 2014 08:54
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A total of 121 Palestinians have died in Israel's five-day bombardment of Gaza as Hamas continued to launch rockets into central Israel and the US offered to help broker a truce.

A dozen Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks overnight on Saturday in the occupied Gaza Strip, emergency services said. A total of 920 people have been injured since Israel began its campaign on Tuesday.

Gaza medical sources told Al Jazeera that three handicapped children and a nurse were killed in the bombing of the NGO, Mercy Givers for Handicaps, in Jebaliya.

The AFP news agency also reported two dead at a charitable association for the disabled in Beit Lahiya, three deaths in the eastern Tufah area of Gaza City, and three others killed in western Gaza City.

The US said it remained "prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities", but the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not end his campaign until Hamas rocket fire stopped.

"No international pressure will prevent us from striking, with all force, against the terrorist organisation which calls for our destruction," he told a news conference in Tel Aviv.

"I will end it when our goals are realised. And the overriding goal is to restore peace and quiet. No international pressure will prevent us from acting with all power."

Netanyahu added that he was in touch with numerous world leaders, including the US president, Barack Obama, and the leaders of the UK, France, Germany and Canada.
Gaza residents testify about the effects Israel and Egypt's blockade of their land has had on their lives.

However, the UN's top human rights official on Friday said the air campaign may violate international laws prohibiting the targeting of civilians.

"We have received deeply disturbing reports that many of the civilian casualties, including of children, occurred as a result of strikes on homes," said Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights.

"Such reports raise serious doubt about whether the Israeli strikes have been in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law," she said.

Israel said on Saturday that 680 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel since Tuesday, injuring nine Israelis.

A woman slightly injured late on Friday in the southern city of Beersheva was the latest injury reported.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies

Israel's dissenting voices get lost in the war echo chamber
Israeli politicians across the political spectrum appear to support the attack on Gaza.
Last updated: 12 Jul 2014 13:06
Neve Gordon

Neve Gordon

Neve Gordon is the author of Israel's Occupation.
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Israeli activists carry placards during a protest against the war on the Gaza strip, in Tel Aviv on July 9 [AFP]

For several days now, some of my neighbours have suggested that the time has come to "destroy them"- meaning either Hamas or Palestinians - "once and for all". The rockets being fired from Gaza clearly do have the effect of raising the level of hysteria within Israel.

However, not only have the dozens of Grads been fermenting the spirit of war - government ministers, members of Knesset and leading media commentators have also been consistently pouring oil onto the fire. Indeed, it seems the only vocal criticism against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is that he is too soft on the Palestinians. There is no public debate about the necessity of another war, but only about how punitive Israel should be.

Immediately following the discovery of the three Jewish teenagers' bodies on June 30, Israel's security cabinet met. Although it was, by then, common knowledge that the higher echelons had known the boys were dead even as they launched a massive military operation in the West Bank two weeks earlier - killing seventeen Palestinian civilians and arresting more than 500, including a number of Hamas members who had been released in the Shalit swap - the cabinet allegedly convened to discuss how Israel should respond to the boys' death.

'Not striking hard enough'

Reportedly, the political and security leadership supported a "more moderate response," while the far-right wing economy minister and the head of the Jewish Home Party, Naftali Bennett, demanded a much harsher reaction. A few days later, Bennett complained that "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is undermining Israel's deterrence"; adding that "restraint following the execution of three children is a sign of weakness". Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman went so far so to dismantle the Likud-Beiteinu unity, blaming Netanyahu for "not striking Hamas hard enough".

In a similar vein, several prominent columnists urged Netanyahu to take a more belligerent stand. Shaul Rosenfeld noted that Israel's restraint is outrageous and shameful. In an opinion piece for the popular news site Ynet he wrote: "'The regional power Israel has fallen to its knees to beg the murderous terrorist organisation to graciously give it some peace and quiet."

The public debate today is not whether or not to stop the air strikes but rather whether or not to deploy ground forces. In an opinion column, Channel 2's military correspondent Ronnie Daniel claimed that only "a ground operation will extract a heavy enough price from Hamas" in order to ensure a longer period of peace for Israel. The following day Channel 2's anchor pondered: "We wanted Hamas to fall on its knees and so far this has not happened"; and Daniel responded, "So far it's not happening, and the conclusion, in my opinion, is that it has not received enough."

Moreover, the editor-in-chief of the most widely circulated daily newspaper Israel Hayom, published an opinion article entitled "Bring the Gaza Strip back to the Stone Age." He immediately explained that he did not mean that Israel should reduce all of the houses in Gaza to rubble but rather to "destroy the weapon arsenal Hamas has accumulated over the past ten years. To pull out the snake's teeth. To leave them without missiles, with stones at the most. And this can only be done in or through an extensive ground operation."

While not all commentators were as blatant, the Israeli press has, overall, mobilised itself in the name of the national hysteria. Most commentators for Haaretz, Yediot Ahronot, Ynet, and Ma'ariv concur that the current round of fighting was forced on Netanyahu and are also in general agreement in insisting that it is impossible to eradicate Hamas without recapturing the Gaza Strip, but note that at this stage the government is not interested in doing so.

A number of Likud members also object to a ground operation. Knesset Member Moshe Feiglin stated that "Our enemy is not only Hamas but the entire population that supports it and raises three fingers with pride while handing out candy as our sons are killed," he wrote, exclaiming: "We should not send a single soldier to Gaza! We do not even need to bomb houses and empty areas! We should simply deny them electricity, water, food and medicine until they fall on their knees."

Deputy Defence Minister Danny Danon, who has over 105,000 followers on his Facebook page, posted a poster of an aerial photo of Gaza showing a rocket being launched towards Israel. On the poster he wrote: "A billion and a half shekels debt to the electricity company; more than 360 rockets have been fired towards Israel; 0 rationale in transferring electricity and fuel to Hamas." Close to 33,000 people liked the poster, 6,700 shared it, and 1,200 commented on it, claiming, for example, "it is the leader head of your party [Netanyahu] who is to blame."

This is the atmosphere produced by the right wing government and the media, but what, one might ask, has been the reaction of the political parties sitting in the opposition?

Responding to a question posed by Channel 2's anchor, Labor leader and the head of the opposition Yitschak Herzog said: "…I think Israeli restraint has run its course and it's time to execute the blow that will restore the calm…" The anchor pressed Herzog, asking whether he supports a ground operation, but Herzog was unwilling to provide a direct response. Similarly, former Labor leader Shelly Yachimovitch, also expressed support for the military operation, adding that while she is one Netanyahu's harshest critics "it is impossible not to appreciate his responsible and restrained conduct in this crisis."

The leader of the liberal Meretz Party publically demanded an end to the operation, but in a conversation with Netanyahu she was quoted as saying that "You have to punish Hamas, but also strive for a diplomatic move, with the aid of the Egyptians, that will produce a cease-fire."

The only exceptions to this warmongering have been the usual suspects, people like Gideon Levy, Amira Hass and Uri Misgav from Ha'aretz who have harshly condemned the current round of violence. The voices of the Palestinian members of Knesset have not been heard in the Israeli media for the past several days, because, I suspect, they are adamantly against this cycle of violence and the demos does not really want to hear them.

Finally, the left has organised several protests, fifty people here a hundred people there, and, while often this is how resistance begins, it is not clear how within the current atmosphere these sober voices will amount to anything. It is a time of deep despair for all those who envision a different and brighter future for this land.

Neve Gordon is the author of Israel's Occupation.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdbG0EBeNSM

Israeli troops launch first incursion in Gaza
Commandos clash with Hamas fighters in Gaza, after deadliest night of bombings that killed 18 members of same family.
Last updated: 13 Jul 2014 14:26


Israeli marines clashed with Hamas gunmen in the first reported ground incursion in the Gaza Strip, after the deadliest night of violence in Israel's latest offensive in which 18 members of the same family were killed.

The Israeli army said at least four soldiers were "lightly injured" on Sunday, as they attacked a site in northern Gaza the army said was being used to launch long-range rockets.

"During the mission a gunfight broke out, started by some terrorists operating at the site, during which four Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded," said the spokesman who declined to give further details on the operation.

The Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed-wing, confirmed the exchange of gunfire "between our fighters and soldiers of the Zionist navy which tried to penetrate the zone of Sudanyia" in northwest Gaza.

Hamas said its fighters had fired at the Israeli force offshore, preventing them from landing.

Israel later dropped leaflets on northern Gaza urging residents to leave the area, ahead of an expected wider attack on the area.

The early morning incursion followed the deadliest night of Israeli bombing since it launched its campaign on Tuesday. A total of 52 Palestinians were reported killed overnight, bringing the toll to 166 in six days of attacks.

Eighteen people, from the same extended family, were killed in the deadliest attack since the bombardment of the Palestinian enclave began on Tuesday, when Israeli forces targeted the home of Gaza police chief Tayseer al-Batsh in the Toufah area of Gaza City.

Ashraf al-Qedra, a spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, told Al Jazeera that the house, located near a mosque in Tofah, was hit after Ramadan prayers.

"It’s a new massacre being committed against our people in Gaza strip. People were trying to get out of the mosque after they finished night time 'Taraweh' prayers but suddenly they saw the house under intensive shelling.”

Batsh was among the wounded, Palestinian officials told the AFP news agency.

Israel says its bombardment is to end rocket fire by Palestinian fighters into Israeli cities. The UN on Saturday said that three quarters of those killed in Gaza were civilians.

The Israeli army said late on Saturday that rockets fired from Gaza had hit the cities of Hebron and Bethlehem. No deaths or injuries was reported.
INTERACTIVE: Gaza Under Attack

Palestinians in the cities rioted against Israeli troops on Sunday morning.

More than 500 missiles have struck Israel during the conflict, but none have resulted in Israeli deaths. More than 1,200 Israeli attacks have been reported since Tuesday.

An Israeli air raid on Saturday hit a centre for the disabled in Gaza, killing three patients and a nurse.

The UN Security Council called for a cessation of hostilities and top diplomats from the UK, France, Germany and the US are due to meet later on Sunday to discuss the need for a ceasefire.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies

Gaza under siege: naming the dead
Palestinian death toll continues to rise since Israel launched its "Operation Protective Edge".
Last updated: 13 Jul 2014 20:33
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Israel's aerial offensive began on July 8 [AP]

Israel has hit more than a thousand targets in the densely populated Gaza Strip, in attacks it says target Hamas military infrastructure. Family homes and a beach-side cafe have also been hit.

Hundreds of rockets have also been launched from Gaza into Israel.

Some rockets have reached Tel Aviv, but Israel's Iron Dome defence system intercepted most of them.
Naming the dead

Ashraf al-Qedra, a spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, is providing Al Jazeera with a list the names of those killed since the start of Israel's campaign on Monday, July 7. The list is updated regularly.

1. Mohammed Shaaban (24) killed in Gaza

2. Amjad Shaaban (30) killed in Gaza

3. Khader Al-Bashiliki (45) killed in Gaza

4. Rashad Yassin (27) killed in the Nusseurat refugee camp

5. Mohammed Ayman Ashour (15) killed in Khan Younis

6. Riad Mohammed Kawareh (50) killed in Khan Younis

7. Bakr Mohammed Judeh (22) killed in Khan Younis

8. Ammar Mohammed Judeh (26) killed in Khan Younis

9. Hussein Yousef Kawareh (13) killed in Khan Younis

10. Mohammed Ibrahim kawareh (50) killed in Khan Younis

11. Mohammed Habib (22) killed in Gaza

12. Ahmed Moussa Habibi (16) killed in Gaza

13. Saqr Ayesh Al-Ajuli (22) killed in Jabalia

14. Ahmed Nael Mahdi (16) killed in Gaza

15. Basil Salem Kawareh (10) killed in Khan Younis

16. Hafez Mohammed Hamad (30) (Islamic Jihad commander)

17. Ibrahim Mohammed Hamad (26)

18. Mahdi Mohammed Hamad (46)

19. Fawziya Khalil Hamad (62) (Female)

20. Dunya Mahdi Hamad (16) (Female)

21. Suha Hamad (25) (Female)

22. Suleiman Salman Abu Sowaween (22)

23. Siraj Ayad Abdelal (

24. Abdel Hadi Jumaa Al-Sufi (24)

25. Rashid Al-Kafarneh (30)

26. Nayfeh Farajallah (80) (Female)

27. Abdel Nasser Abu Kweik (60)

28. Khaled Abu Kweik (31)

29. Mohammed Arif (13)

30. Mohammed Malake (1 year and a half)

31. Amneh Malake (27) (Female)

32. Hatem Abu Salem (unreported age)

33. Mohammed Khaled Al-Nimre (22)

34. Sahar Hamdan Al-Masri (40) Female)

35. Ibrahim Al-Masri (14)

36. Mohammed Khalaf Al-Nawasra (4)

37. Nidal Khalaf Al-Nawasra (a child of unreported age)

38. Aicha Najm (Female) (unreported age)

39. Salah Awad Al-Nawasra (unreported age)

40. Mahmoud Nahed Al-Nawasra (unreported age)

41. Amal Yousef Abdel Ghafour (Female) (unreported age)

42. Raneem Judeh Abdel Ghafour (Young girl of unreported age)

43. Ibrahim Daoud Al-Balaawi (24)

44. Abdel Rahman Jamal Al-Zamli (22)

45. Ibrahim Ahmed Abdeen (42)

46. Mustafa Abu Murr (20)

47. Khaled Abu Murr (23)

48. Mazen Faraj Al-Jarba (30)

49. Marwan Isleem (27)

50. Hani Saleh Hamad (57)

51. Ibrahim Hamad (20)

52. Salima Hassan Maslam Al-Arja (Female) (60)

53. Mariam Atiah Mohammed Al-Arja (11) (Female)

54. Hamid Shihab (37)

55. Ibrahim Khalil Qanan (24)

56. Mohammed Khalil Qanan (26)

57. Suleiman Al-Astal (55)

58. Hamdi Badie Sawali (33)

59. Mohammed Al-Akkad (24)

60. Ahmed Sawali (28)

61. Raed Shalat (37)

62. Asmaa Mahmoud Al-Hajj (Female) (unreported age)

63. Tarik Saad Al-Hajj (unreported age)

64. Saad Mahmoud Al-Hajj (unreported age)

65. Najlaa Mahmoud Al-Hajj (Female) (unreported age)

66. Fatima Al-Hajj (Female) (unreported age)

67. Omar Al-Hajj (unreported age)

68. Basima Abdel Fattah Al-Hajj (Female) (unreported age)

69. Ahmed Salim Al-Astal (unreported age)

70. Moussa Mohammed Al-Astal (unreported age)

71. Raed Al-Zawarea (33)

72. Mahmoud Lutfi Al-Hajj (58)

73. Bahaa Abu Al-Leil (35)

74. Salem Qandil (27)

75. Amer Al-Fayyoumi (30)

76. Abdallah Ramadan Abu Ghazal (4)

77. Mohammed Ehsan Farwane (18)

78. Islamel Hassan Abu Jamaa (19)

79. Mahmoud Talee Wallud (unreported age) (Islamic Jihad)

80. Hazem Ibrahim Baaloushe (unreported age) (Killed in a civilian car North Gaza)

81. Alaa Abdel Nabi (unreported age) (Killed in a civilian car North Gaza)

82. Raed Mohammed Abu Shalt (37)

83. Hassan Abu Jamaa (19)

84. Yasmin Mohammed Al-Mutwak (4) (Female)

85. Mohammed Mounir Ashour (25)

86. Anas Rizk Abu Al-Qas (33)

87. Wissam Abdel Razek Hassan Ghannam (23)

88. Ghalia Deeb Jaber Ghanem (7) (Female)

89. Mahmoud Razek Hassan Ghannam (23)

90. Kifah Shahadeh Deeb Ghannam (20)

91. Nour Marwan Al-Najdi (10) (Female)

92. Abdellah Abu Mahrouk (Unreported age)

93. Sami Andan Shaldan (25)

94. Mohammed Kamal Al-Kahlout (Unreported age)

95. Ahmed Zaher Hamdan (22)

96. Bassam Abdel Rahman Khattab (6)

97. Jumaa Atiah Shallouf (Unreported age)

98. Noor Rafik Udai Al-Sultan (Unreported age)

99. Shahraman Ismaeil Abu Al-Qas (42) Killed in Al-Breij

100. Mazen Mustafa Aslan (63)

101. Mohammed Rabih Abu Humeidan (65)

102. Shahd Al-Qreinawi (7)

103. Abdel Halim Abdel Moeti (54)

104. Hussein Al-Mamlouk (47)

105 Saber Sukkar (80)

106. Nasser Mohammed Sammame (49)

107. Rami Abu Musaed (23) Killed in Deir Al-Balah

108. Mohammed Al-Sumeiri (24) Killed in Deir Al-Balah

109. Husam Eddine Al-Razayne (39) Killed in Jabalia

110. Anas Youssef Qandil (17) Killed in Jabalia

111. Abdel Rahim Saleh Al-Khatib (38) Killed in Jabalia

112. Youssef Mohammed Qandil (33) Killed in Jabalia

113. Mohammed Idris Abu Sanena (20) Killed in Jabalia

114. Hala Weshahi (31) Killed in the disabled centre in Jabalia

115. Suha Abu Saada (38) Killed in the disabled centre in Jabalia

116. Ali Nabil Basal (32) Killed in Gaza

117. Mohammed Bassem Al-Halabi (28) Killed in Gaza

118. Mohammed Al-Suweiti (20) Killed in Gaza

119. Ibrahim Nabil Hamade (30) Killed in Gaza

120. Hassan Ahmed Abu Ghoush (24) Killed in Gaza

121. Ahmed Mazen Al-Balawi (26) Killed in Gaza

123. Azmi Mahmoud Taha Obeid (51) killed in shelling on Radwan street

124. Nidal Mohammed Ibrahim Abu Al-Malsh (22) killed in shelling on Radwan street

125. Suleiman Saeed Younis Obeid (56) killed in shelling on Radwan street

126. Ghassan Ahmed Al-Masri (25) killed in shelling on Radwan street

127. Mustafa Mohammed Taha Anabe (58) killed in shelling on Radwan street

128. Rifaat Yousef Amer (36) Killed in Gaza

129. Ghazi Mustafa Areef (62) killed in Gaza

130. Mohamed Idriss Abo Sowaylim (20) Killed in Jabalia

131. Fadi Yaqoub Sukar (25) Killed in Gaza

132. Qassim Jabr Adwan Ouda (16) Killed Khan Younis

133. Mohamed Ghazi Areef (35) Killed in Gaza

134. Khawala Mahmoud Al-Hawajeree (25) Killed in Al-Bareej

135. Ahmed Yousef Daloul (47) Killed in Gaza

136. Mahmoud Lutfi Al-Hajj

137.Mohammad Ahmed Bassa (19) killed in Gaza

138.Mohannad Youusef Dhahir (23) killed in Rafah

139.Mahmoud Abdallah Charatha (53)

140. Shadi Mohammed Zaareb (21) killed in Rafah

141.Imad Bassan Zaareb (21) killed in Rafah

142. Nahedh Naim Al Batsh (12) killed in Rafah

143.Bahaa Majed Al Batsh (12) killed in Gaza

144. Kosai Issam Al Batsh (12) killed in Gaza

145. Aziza Youssef Al Batsh (57) killed in Gaza

146. Mohammed Issam Al Batsh (17) killed in Gaza

147. Ahmed Noman Al Batsh (27) killed in Gaza

148. Yahya alaa al batsh (18) killed in Gaza

149.Jalal Majed Al Batsh (26) killed in Gaza

150. Mahmoud Majed Al Batsh (22) killed in Gaza

151.Marwa Majed Al Batsh (25) killed in Gaza

152.Majed Sobhi Al Batsh killed in Gaza

153.Khaled Majed Al Batsh (20) killed in Gaza

154.Ibrahim Majed Al Batsh (18) killed in Gaza

155. Manar Majed Al Batsh (13) killed in Gaza

156.Amal Hassan Al Batsh (49) killed in Gaza

157.Anas Alaa Al Batsh (10) killed in Gaza

158. Kosai Alaa Al Batsh Killed in Gaza

159.Rami Abu Chanab (25) killed in Deil El Balah

160.Mohammed Ghazi Areef (35) killed in Gaza

161. Hejaziya Hamed AL Helw (80)

162.Fawzeya Abdelal (73) killed in Gaza

163.Hossam Ibrahim Al Najjar (14)

164.Moayad Al Araj (2) Khan Younis

165. Layla Hassan Al Awdat (41)

166. Haitham Ashraf Al Zooreb (21)

166. Kacem Talal Hamdan (23) Bayt hanoun

167. Maher Thabet Abu Mar Sharq (24) Rafah

168. Mohamed Salem Abu Briss (65) Deir Al-Balah

169. Saddam Musa Maamar (23) khan Younis

170. Musa Shahda (60) Khan Younis

Last updated at 20 GMT on Sunday

'No real mediation' for Gaza ceasefire
Israel and Hamas seem far from reaching a truce to end ongoing violence, as the death toll rapidly mounts in Gaza.
Gregg Carlstrom and Fares Akram Last updated: 13 Jul 2014 09:11
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More than 165 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip [AP]

Tel Aviv, Israel - As the Israeli army launched its first ground incursion into the Gaza Strip overnight on Sunday, and Israeli air strikes on the territory continue, talk of a mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains mired in uncertainty.

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported on Saturday that Egypt was talking with another Arab state, "most probably Qatar", about the terms of a ceasefire. Tony Blair, the Quartet envoy, arrived in Cairo on Saturday and met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who warned against "further escalation" in Gaza.

But Egyptian and Palestinian sources have said that previous attempts at mediation have ended in failure.

"There were some initial attempts to calm things down, but the message from Hamas is that there’s no real mediation," said Issandr El Amrani, the North Africa director at the International Crisis Group. "The players are not ready to do it."

US President Barack Obama spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and offered to help broker a truce, though the State Department clarified that it would not talk directly with Hamas, which Washington considers a terrorist organisation.

His message was undermined on Friday, though, when Dan Shapiro, the US ambassador in Tel Aviv, told Israeli Army Radio that Israel would enjoy American support "even if it decides" to launch a ground invasion.

Israeli officials maintain that any ceasefire is "up to Hamas", and that they would be satisfied with a return to the ceasefire which ended Israel's 2012 military offensive. But any concessions to Hamas will be a tough sell within Israel, after weeks of dire talk from officials about the need to destroy the group.

Netanyahu, notably, toned down his rhetoric in a press conference on Friday evening, speaking only of the need to stop the rocket fire. "The military strikes will continue until we can be certain that the quiet has returned to Israeli citizens," Netanyahu said. "I would like to make it clear that no terrorist target in the Gaza Strip is immune."

INTERACTIVE: #GazaUnderAttack

In Gaza, Palestinians have demanded an end to Israel's aerial bombings, as more than 165 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 1,000 more injured in six days of attacks.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that the group is demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners that were freed in a prisoner swap in 2011, but were subsequently rearrested. But Naftali Bennett, the Israeli economy minister and a key member of Netanyahu's coalition government, said last month that his party would oppose any more prisoner deals. "After 30 years, it's clear that Israel should not release any more terrorists, in any situation, period," he said.

Other Hamas prerequisites to reaching a truce are for Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem, and for Israel to abide by the 2012 ceasefire agreement, Abu Zuhri said.

[Israel] started the fight. We will remain on our land and the future is for us. If there [is] a lull, this will not be the last battle, but a warrior's respite.

- Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas

The Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday that the ceasefire terms are "more-or-less set", and include a one-year period of calm on both sides, and possibly, the presence of Palestinian Authority security forces in the Gaza Strip, manning the Rafah crossing with Egypt in coordination with European Union inspectors.

"The [talk] about efforts to broker a ceasefire come from Israeli sources only," Abu Zuhri told Al Jazeera, adding that media reports of a ceasefire are meant to distract international attention from the violence currently engulfing Gaza.

The deputy secretary-general of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhale, told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that the 2012 ceasefire was behind them because "the Israelis did not honour it". He also said that there have been no concrete discussions on reaching a halt to the hostilities.

But Moussa Abu Marzouk, a member of the Hamas leadership, recently hinted at a ceasefire on his Facebook page. "[Israel] started the fight. We will remain on our land and the future is for us. If there [is] a lull, this will not be the last battle, but a warrior's respite," he wrote.

Tormenting Gaza
Disappointing global response to Israeli aggression calls for more grassroots efforts to help Palestinian struggle.
Last updated: 13 Jul 2014 12:35
Richard Falk

Richard Falk
Follow @rfalk13

Richard Falk is Albert G Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Research Fellow, Orfalea Center of Global Studies.He is also the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights.
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While Gaza burns, the fiddlers at the UN worry about the text of a proposed Security Council resolution [EPA]

For the third time in the last six years, Israel has cruelly unleashed the full fury of its military machine against the defenceless 1.7 million people of Gaza, inflicting heavy civilian casualties and further devastation on the long besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip.

With cynical disregard of the realities of this latest confrontation between Israel and Palestine, instead of condemning such recourse to massive violence as "aggression" that violates the UN Charter and fundamental international law principles, the reaction of western diplomats and mainstream media has perversely sided with Israel. From the UN Secretary-General to the president of the United States, the main insistence has been that Hamas must stop all rocket attacks while Israel is requested ever so politely to show "maximum restraint".

Up to now, the Israeli attacks have caused over a hundred deaths (more than half of whom are women and children) and several hundred injuries, while the reported firing of over hundreds of rockets from Gaza have yet to cause a single death or injury, although there are reports that nine Israelis sustained injuries while fleeing to shelters.

Political condemnation

Granted that such indiscriminate rocket attacks are unlawful forms of resistance, but to single out this lesser type of violence and overlook the greater violence distorts the context in biased and unacceptable ways. Surely, the greater occasion of terror is that being inflicted on the hapless Gazans as disclosed by comparing the casualty figures, and surely the political condemnation by responsible governments and even more so by the UN should be directed at the aggressor, who also happens to be the only political actor with the means to end the escalating violence.

The international reaction to this latest crisis confirms for all with eyes to see that geopolitical alignments, not law or justice, dominate the diplomacy of leading western states and the UN, when it comes to the Middle East, and especially if it concerns Israel-Palestine, and never more so than in relation to Gaza.

The greater occasion of terror is that being inflicted on the hapless Gazans as disclosed by comparing the casualty figures, and surely the political condemnation by responsible governments and even more so by the UN should be directed at the aggressor...

After several days of the Israel attack, self-servingly code-named "Protective Edge" by Israel, US President Barack Obama has offered to mediate a return to the 2012 ceasefire that had been arranged through the good offices of Egypt after the earlier onslaught on Gaza.

Whether the US government, the undisguised patron and unconditional supporter of Israel, has the credibility to play such a mediating role is rather doubtful. It is possible that Hamas, weakened by developments in Egypt and elsewhere in the region, and by the desperation of a terrorised and totally vulnerable people, might accept such a move even if excluded from participating directly in the negotiations, which would mean depending on the Palestinian Authority to represent Gaza's interests.

After all, Hamas, although prevailing in fair elections back in 2006, remains "a terrorist organisation" according to the western diplomatic establishment, even though it has been in recent years mostly on the receiving end of Israeli state terrorism, and should be allowed to act diplomatically on behalf of Gaza.

At present, the issue may be moot as Benjamin Netanyahu belligerently insists that no amount of international pressure will lead Israel to stop its attack until the goals of the military operation have been attained.

An aspect of the distorted approach to responsibility for the violence in Gaza is the refusal of the West to take note of the connection between Protective Edge and the June 12 kidnapping and killing of the three Israeli settler teenage children and the surge of revenge violence, which culminated in the grisly murder of 17-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir.

Hysterical reaction

Without ever disclosing evidence linking Hamas to such an atrocious crime, the Netanyahu government and Israeli media reacted hysterically, immediately inciting a vicious campaign against Hamas throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including air strikes in Gaza and provocatively calling upon the Israeli citizenry to strike back at the Palestinians. In this inflamed atmosphere, the Israeli government undertook a massive campaign of collective punishment, itself a war crime: hundreds of Palestinians thought to be associated with Hamas were arrested and detained; house demolitions of the homes of suspects; killings of six Palestinians; lockdown of entire cities; air strikes against Gaza.

All this was done despite the mounting belief of independent observers that the crime against the Israeli youths was carried out by two Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas, perhaps with an initial plan to bargain for the release of Palestinian prisoners in an exchange. Never has it been asserted in high profile diplomatic circles of the West that the horrible crime provided Netanyahu with a pretext for an anti-Hamas campaign, which seems less motivated by a response to the kidnapping/murder than by the political objective of punishing the Palestinian leadership for defying the Netanyahu government for recently achieving a measure of reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Further in the background is the Israeli interest in shifting responsibility away from themselves for the failure of the Kerry negotiations that collapsed at the end of April.

So far, Israel has met calls for restraint and a ceasefire with contempt. Rumours of Hamas' receptivity to a ceasefire have been ignored. Israel's leaders have responded defiantly, suggesting that Protective Edge will not cease until the Hamas infrastructure is destroyed, supposedly to ensure that no rockets will ever again be fired from Gaza. When Palestinian civilians are killed in the process of pursuing such an elusive goal, this is rationalised by Israeli officials as a regrettable side effect of what Israeli leaders are claiming to be a legitimate military undertaking. In a characteristic warped statement, Netanyahu declared: "We are not eager for battle, but the security of our citizens and children takes precedence over all else."

Some Israeli top officials went beyond the prime minister. Defence Minister Moshe Yalon called for the total destruction of Hamas, which is tantamount to seeking a hunting license in relation to the entrapped people of Gaza and the oppressed population of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The deputy minister of defence, settler notable Dani Dayon, publicly urged Israel to cut off fuel and electricity to Gaza. If such a policy is implemented, it would virtually guarantee a grotesque humanitarian crisis.

While Gaza burns, the fiddlers at the UN content themselves by worrying about the text of a proposed Security Council resolution. Israel and the US were reported to be using all the leverage at their disposal to avoid condemnations of the Israeli air strikes on civilian targets in Gaza and even hoping that the final text of any resolution will include language about every sovereign state having the right to protect itself. It now seems that there will be no resolution, as the US is refusing to accept the language of the drafters.
INTERACTIVE: Gaza Under Attack

Symbolic gestures

On the basis of this disillusioning global response to Israeli aggression, it should become clear that the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and justice needs to be waged worldwide primarily at the grassroots level. It has never seemed more reasonable and morally necessary for persons of good will to lend maximum support to the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) campaign that has been in any event growing rapidly. It is also time to demand that governments adopt sanctions seeking Israeli withdrawal from the occupation of Palestine.

An appropriate further response would be for the UN General Assembly to recommend an arms embargo imposed on Israel. This would be a largely symbolic gesture as Israel has become a major weapons maker, exporting arms to many countries with a sales pitch stressing the benefits of "field-tested" weaponry.

It is painfully evident that state-to-state diplomacy and the UN have failed to produce a just peace despite decades of fruitless talks.

It is time to acknowledge that these talks were carried on in bad faith: while the diplomats sat around the table, Israeli settlements relentlessly expanded, apartheid structures deepened their hold on the West Bank and Jerusalem, and Gaza was cordoned off as a hostage enclave to be attacked by Israel at will and a bloody sacrifice exacted.

At least, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Nabil al-Araby, condemned the "dangerous Israeli escalation", urged the Security Council to "adopt measures to stop Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip", and warned of the humanitarian consequences. Turkey and Iran issued official statements along similar lines.

There is so much regional turbulence at present that it is unlikely to hope for anything more than scattered verbal denunciations from authorities in the region preoccupied with other concerns, but given the gravity of the situation, attention needs to be refocused on the Palestinian ordeal.

Pressure on Israel is urgently needed to protect the Palestinian people from further tragedy. Israel's Arab neighbours and the European states that long held sway in the region, are challenged as never before to do the right thing, but it is doubtful that any constructive action will be taken unless regional and global public opinion becomes sufficiently enraged to exert real pressure on these governments. To pursue this goal now should be made a top priority of the Palestinian global solidarity movement.

Richard Falk is Albert G Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Research Fellow, Orfalea Center of Global Studies.He is also the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Israel bomb hits disabled centre in Gaza
Rehabilitation centre hit on fifth day of Israel's aerial offensive on Hamas, which PM Netanyahu says will not stop.
Last updated: 13 Jul 2014 05:54
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At least four people have been reported killed in a bomb strike on a rehabilitation centre for the disabled in Gaza, medical sources say, as the toll from Israel's bombardment of the Palestinian territory reaches 151.

Three patients and a nurse were killed in the explosion on Saturday in Jabaliya, the sources told Al Jazeera. They were among a dozen people killed in overnight raids, as Israel's campaign entered its fifth day.

Video footage of the aftermath of the attack, obtained by the Reuters news agency, showed victims being taken to hospital for injuries including severe burns.

The AFP news agency also reported on Saturday that two people had been killed in an explosion at a charitable association for the disabled in Beit Lahiya, three deaths in the eastern Tufah area of Gaza City, and three others killed in western Gaza City.

A mosque in al-Nusarirat, central Gaza, was also destroyed in the overnight raids.

More than 950 people have been injured since Israel began its campaign on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, said medical facilities in the territory were overwhelmed.

"Most of the casualties we are seeing here are, overwhelmingly, civilians. It really is a horrendous scene," she said. People are absolutely terrified. The hospitals are having issues with the lack of materials to deal with the people coming in."

Israel is adamant it will continue its campaign, which is says is to stop Hamas missile attacks on Israel.

Fighters in Gaza fired fired rockets at Tel Aviv late on Saturday, the Israeli army said, with media reporting that four were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, said late on Friday that he would continue the military campaign until he achieved his goal.

"No international pressure will prevent us acting with all our force against a terror organisation that is calling for our destruction. We will continue to forcefully attack anyone who is trying to hurt us," he said on Friday.

"No terrorist target in Gaza is immune."

Israel said on Saturday that 680 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel since Tuesday, injuring nine Israelis.

The army said that they struck a total of 1,160 targets since the beginning of their operation.

Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Jerusalem, said Netanyahu has a lot of support domestically for the offensive in Gaza as Israelis feared the intent Hamas has against them, and Israel's major international allies have not criticised their actions.

"Some sort of natural mediator is what is missing," he said, "In 2012, Egypt, led by then-President Mohamed Morsi, brokered a ceasefire".
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies