From Ian:
Smoking Rocket: NDTV Films Hamas Firing Rocket From Next To Hotel
India’s NDTV has caught Hamasholes setting up a launch site and then firing rockets from right next to their hotel.
But unlike others who may not have wanted the word to get out, the NDTV crew kept the cameras rolling, and reported it truthfully. (h/t Yisroel)
On Hamas Imagery, New Delhi Television Shows West How It's Done
While most of the mainstream Western media hasn't provided even one still photograph of a Hamas fighter, an Indian television station gets the goods. New Delhi Television broadcast and posted online intriguing video of Hamas assembling a launch site and firing a rocket from just outside a Gaza hotel in a crowded civilian neighborhood. The footage was only shared after the NDTV team was out of Gaza and safe from Hamas retaliation.
NDTV Shows How Hamas Assembles & Fires Rockets
Pat Condell Hypocrisy over Gaza
Col. Richard Kemp on Israel vs Hamas in Gaza
WATCH: CNN's Wolf Blitzer challenges Hamas spokesman on blood libel comments
Osama Hamdan appeared on Blitzer's "Situation Room" on the cable network on Monday, stating the organization's positions in regard to Israel's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.
Several minutes into the interview, Blitzer asked Hamdan to explain some "very disturbing" comments he had made recently to the Al-Quds television station. Blitzer read out MEMRI's English translation of the comments, which he said had been verified as accurate by CNN:
"We all remember how the Jews used to slaughter Christians in order to mix their blood with their holy matzos. This is not a figment of the imagination or something taken from a film; it is a fact acknowledged by their own books and historical evidence."
Blitzer then asked Hamdan, "You believe that Jews would kill Christians to mix their blood to bake the holy matzos on Passover? Is that your belief Mr Hamdan?" (h/t dabney)
Wolf Blitzer Confronts Osama Hamdan Hamas Spox for Disturbing Blood Libel Remarks - 8-4-14
Hannity: Israel resolute in bid to destroy Hamas terror tunnels
Israel is resolute in its mission to destroy terror tunnels built by Hamas in the face of unrelenting rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, Fox News' Sean Hannity reported Monday.
"(The conflict between Israel and Hamas) has pretty much gone on for years now, which is why every Israeli that I've run into is pretty much committed to saying they've got to destroy the infrastructure that Hamas has built," the "Hannity" host told "The Five" on Monday.
Hannity Special Report from Israel (YT Videos)
Hannity Special Report Part 1 intro - talks to soldiers
Hannity Special Report Part 2 (Correct) tunnels
Hannity Special Report Part 2 (really pt3) Iron Dome
Hannity Special Report Part 4 talks to soldiers and a taxi driver
Hannity Special Report Part 5 interview Gen Yossi Kuperwasser
Hannity Special Report Part 6 interview Col. Richard Kemp
Melanie Phillips: What we are not being shown
Miliband has berated David Cameron for not condemning Israel’s attacks in Gaza. No 10 says it is shocked that Mr Miliband is making political capital out of the war. Meanwhile Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, says the suffering in Gaza is intolerable and has called for an unconditional humanitarian ceasefire.
The exchanges illustrate the widespread incomprehension of the nature of this conflict and the uniquely dreadful dilemma it poses.
The civilian suffering, particularly the dead and injured children, is indeed appalling and tragic. No one of any conscience could fail to be horrified. With these sickening images regularly broadcast on TV, and with interviewers all but accusing Israeli spokesmen of being cruel and reckless child-killers, it is no surprise that much of the public is being inflamed against Israel.
People don’t realise, however, how their emotions are being manipulated. They are not being shown how Hamas is using its own people as human shields and sacrifices, to enable it to continue firing rockets at Israeli civilians and to increase its own civilian casualties in order to turn western opinion against Israel.
From Welfare to Warfare
The loss of life is tragic and regrettable, and may or may not have been avoidable. But it is a measure of UNRWA's reflexive anti-Israel bias and instinct to protect itself that it tweeted first and investigated later. The narrative of Israel's unnecessary and violent attack was created and repeated by a world press that cannot see Hamas' human shields, rockets, or tunnels.
Only here and there do reporters let slip that Hamas officials were seen using hospitals as headquarters, that rockets are being stored in mosques and fired from residential neighborhoods and schoolyards, and that Hamas supporters intimidate reporters into silence, beating and even executing critics as "collaborators." There is little wonder the press refuses to question UNRWA more deeply.
UNRWA learned long ago to wave the bloody shirt, proclaim its formal neutrality, and act as unofficial Palestinian spokesmen with the imprimatur of the United Nations. As Hamas' tunnels are being discovered to lead into everyday Gaza residences, however, it is becoming impossible to assert that UNRWA saw nothing and knew nothing. What is clear is that it did nothing until it absolutely had to.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador: Equating Israel and Hamas Like Equating U.S. and Al Qaeda
CNN’s Erin Burnett asked Prosor to comment on the U.S. criticism: “The United States has come out, as you know, and called Israel’s actions disgraceful and appalling. What do you say to the United States?
“I say, look, the real question here, is who’s the bad guy here?” Prosor replied.
Prosor reminded Burnett that Hamas uses facilities like schools to launch rockets at Israel, but added that Israel is investigating the incident of the school. “And I can tell you we won’t shy away from taking responsibility.”
“But in a sense,” Prosor said, “you are trying to equate–and this is my point here–a democracy like Israel with a terror organization like Hamas. This is like equating the United States with al Qaeda.”
Dermer Slams Psaki: ‘She Does Not Know All The Facts’
Dermer responded, “Well, it was a rush to judgment. You just don’t know all the facts. This has happened a number of times where people say certain things about Israel and the action without actually knowing the facts, and this is an example of one of those cases. In the same statement, it was said that we [Israel] shelled that facility. Obviously, we didn’t shell the facility- we didn’t actually hit the facility at all…”
He continued, “There have been a number of statements made. I think they’re very unfortunate. She [Psaki] does not know all the facts, and when she knows all the facts, maybe she’ll make a different statement.”
Asked by Blitzer if the destruction of the tunnels from Gaza to Israel was complete, Dermer said “I understand it’s almost completed. It’s a question of hours, not days.”
State Dept. backtracks on harsh condemnation of UN school shelling
Psaki reiterated that regarding the striking of terrorist operatives, "there’s more that Israel can do to prevent civilian casualties," but she did not repeat the harsh language used to condemn the attack in a previous statement.
Her latest comments were made during a Monday night press briefing, during which a reporter asked whether it wasn't "hypocritical" to condemn Israel for causing "collateral damage" in its mission to defeat dangerous militants when the United States has also harmed innocent civilians in its drone strikes in Afghanistan and other Middle East locations.
Psaki replied that "we [the US] hold ourselves to a high standard, and we’ve had to keep ourselves to a high standard over time, and Israel should do the same."
Video: State Dept's Psaki Can't Handle the Truth About Palestinian Terrorism
QUESTION: Now when you mentioned high standard, the terrorists are shooting from hotels, they are shooting from schools, they are shooting from houses, which is a high standard to fight against terrorism. What kind of – how can you explain that?
MS. PSAKI: The terrorists are shooting from – I’m sorry.
QUESTION: Yes, from hotels. Today I saw pictures today from the IDF showing that they are shooting from hotels, they are shooting from restaurants, they are shooting from many crazy places that are civilian places. Do you have an idea of what is a high standard to combat terrorism?
MS. PSAKI: I think I’m going to leave it at the statement we issued yesterday.
Oren: Israel Has to Take Measures to Defend Itself
Speaking with MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Monday afternoon, Oren said “If Hamas continues to fire 100 rockets at us per day, clearly the operation can’t be over and Israel is going to have to take measures to defend itself.”
He blamed Hamas for the loss of civilian life. “Well, Israel indeed has no intention of attacking the civilians of Gaza…” he said. Oren continued, “Hamas started this war. It fired now well over 3000 rockets into Israel as well as dug tunnels under the border with the sole goal of attacking Israeli farms and communities, killing women and children.” He denounced Hamas for failing to protect its civilians from Israel’s attacks and for using them as shields in a deliberate move to portray Israel as heartless and responsible for civilian deaths. “It’s part of Hamas’ very deep strategy,” he said.
Democrat Dov Hikind: Terrorists In Gaza 'Thrilled' With Obama's Reaction To Israel
When asked if he believed that Obama has a "double-standard" towards Israel, Hikind was clear:
"No question -- in fact over the years in fighting the tally back -- Taliban and Al Qaeda, American jets have killed many, many civilians in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In fact maybe thousands of civilians, men, women and children, have died at a result of attacks against the terrorists. The President himself, when he was asked this year in an interview in 'New Yorker Magazine' with regard to civilian casualties, America defending itself, said the following. "He wrestles with civilian casualties about the president said that it was, and I quote, his "solemn duty and responsibility to keep the American people safe. That is my most important obligation as president and commander in chief." It's good for America but not for the people of Israel? Not for Prime Minister Netanyahu, to defend the people of Israel? The people of Israel want peace. That's all."
Hikind concluded by requesting that the president act more like the government of Canada and "stop blaming the people of Israel, stop blaming the Prime Minister of Israel."
"The terrorists in Gaza they're thrilled... They are rejoicing because they put civilians as human shields. America condemns Israel, and they are thrilled. They are happy. I asked the President of the United States, stop this."
Ben Shapiro Blasts CNN's Gaza Coverage Live On Air
Appearing on CNN Tonight, TruthRevolt Editor-In Chief Ben Shapiro castigated the network for its anti-Israel bias through the entirety of the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Prompted to discuss Israel’s standing in the court of public opinion, Shapiro opened by explaining how CNN’s slanted coverage helped create anti-Israel sentiment in its audience:
“There's no question. Hamas is a terrorist group and people going in understood Hamas to be a terrorist group. Israel, thanks to outlets like CNN, has been turned into the villain in this particular scenario and a moral equivalency has been drawn,” he contested. “If Hamas could have come up with any sort of outlet that would have created a will to kill more Jewish babies and Palestinian babies, CNN would be it. CNN is a key factor in drawing the same sort of equivalency.”
CNN Contributor Gripes That Iron Dome 'Takes Away Hamas's Military Leverage' Over Israel
In a discussion on the August 4 edition of CNN Newsroom, Hill critiqued Israel’s Iron Dome system, almost lamenting the fact that it has limited Israeli deaths, leading to the disproportionate outcome of the war liberals so often mention. He absurdly claimed:
"But what the Iron Dome does is it also takes away all of Hamas's military leverage which is very different than say, 10 years ago or 15 years ago in other wars like Lebanon, et cetera. As a result, it not only serves a defensive purpose but de facto serves an offensive purpose. It allows Israel to essentially assault and siege Gaza without any retribution or response on the other side. So again, to some extent, they are not just funding defense, they are funding an offensive war and ultimately an occupation. That for me, is the problem."
Michael Totten: A Closer Look at Gaza’s Civilian Casualties
Hamas wants you to think the Israelis are either killing people at random in Gaza or they’re so inept that can’t hit what they aim at. If either of these narratives strikes you as plausible, by all means, believe whatever you want, but Time magazine parses the fatality statistics and reveals that the number of civilian casualties is not nearly as high as reported.
"Expanding the age range from 17 to 39 and including those identified as combatants whose ages were not given increases that number to 551 fatalities, or 57% of all fatalities, even though this group represents less than one-sixth of Gazans. By contrast, adult female fatalities were less than 10% of total fatalities for a group that comprises a quarter of the total population.
Children, here defined as those under age 17, represented 194 of fatalities, 20% of the total. Any child fatality is a tragedy, but it is important to note that children make up over half the population of Gaza."
Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson: C’mon, let’s recognize Hamas’s legitimacy
From Foreign Policy:
"The international community’s initial goal should be the full restoration of the free movement of people and goods to and from Gaza through Israel, Egypt, and the sea. Concurrently, the United States and EU should recognize that Hamas is not just a military but also a political force. Hamas cannot be wished away, nor will it cooperate in its own demise. Only by recognizing its legitimacy as a political actor — one that represents a substantial portion of the Palestinian people — can the West begin to provide the right incentives for Hamas to lay down its weapons. Ever since the internationally monitored 2006 elections that brought Hamas to power in Palestine, the West’s approach has manifestly contributed to the opposite result." (h/t MtTB)
Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: United Against Israel
This week, Abbas took another step toward consolidating the unity agreement by agreeing to pay salaries to tens of thousands of Hamas civil servants in the Gaza Strip. Abbas had refused to pay the salaries to the Hamas civil servants, even after the signing of the unity deal and the formation of the Palestinian "national consensus" government.
The previous wars between Israel and Hamas had resulted in a deterioration in relations between Hamas and Fatah. During the past two wars, Hamas did not hesitate to accuse Abbas and Fatah of "collusion" with the "Zionist enemy."
But the current war has thus far has brought the two sides closer to one another. Abbas even instructed his security forces in the West Bank to suspend their crackdown on Hamas supporters, a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah disclosed.
Abbas is expected to continue his efforts to enhance his partnership with Hamas even after a cease-fire is reached in the Gaza Strip. This may be good for Palestinian "national unity" and Hamas, but it also means that the prospects for peace with Israel on the basis of a two-state solution – an idea vehemently opposed by Hamas – will be as remote as ever. By strengthening his ties with Hamas, Abbas is burying any chance of a peaceful solution with Israel.
Prominent UK Medical Journal: Letters from 'Israeli Academics' Not Welcome
The once premier British medical journal The Lancet has, once again, engaged in an outrageous Blood Libel against Israel-- but, unlike its previous attacks on Israel, the journal has told an Israeli doctor that letters of rejoiner from "Israeli academics" will not be published.
In an article titled “An Open Letter for the People of Gaza,” it describes the violence between the terrorist group Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces in highly biased, inaccurate, and defamatory ways. It was authored by Paola Manduca, Iain Chalmers, Derek Summerfield, Mads Gilbert, and Swee Ang “on behalf of 24 signatories.”
The Lancet has done this before—but this time, they will not publish any genuinely scientific and medical letters of rejoinder. They have, in fact, just rejected Dr. Boris Yoffe’s letter. Professor Yoffee is the head of the division of surgery at the “Barzilai” University Medical Center in Ashkelon, in southern Israel. The Lancet editors told him that letters by “Israeli academics” are not welcome.
A dangerous season of Orwellian censorship is upon us. I am reminded of how swiftly German Christian physicians took over all the German Psycho-analytic Societies which were formerly headed by Jewish doctors--and of course, I remember Dr. Robert Jay Lifton’s work on the Nazi doctors. Simply because someone has an advanced degree of some kind or has won a Nobel Prize in no way inoculates them from the most vulgar common prejudices.
Time of Israel Live Blog: Schools to reopen, troops head home as ceasefire with Gaza holds
An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into force on Tuesday morning, and Hamas fired a salvo of rockets minutes before, and then fell quiet. Israeli military chiefs said they had delivered a “serious blow” to Hamas, including destroying all its known cross-border tunnels, and would restart military action if needed. Terror had returned to Jerusalem Monday, as two attacks left one man dead and several more injured. The IDF death toll stands at 64. Gazan health officials put the death toll there at over 1,900. Israel says some 900 were armed operatives.
As truce holds, Israelis set to negotiate long-term solution
As the 72-hour truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to hold on Tuesday, Israeli officials were set to head to Cairo for negotiations seeking to consolidate the ceasefire. Jerusalem is willing to somewhat ease its blockade on Gaza but will demand a mechanism to demilitarize the Strip, officials said.
“Israel will bring to these discussions our top priority, which is preventing Hamas from rearming,” a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Monday morning, a few hours after the 8:00 a.m. ceasefire went into effect. “Their military machine has been largely dismantled, their network of tunnels destroyed and their arsenal of rockets greatly depleted.”
Israel’s challenge now is to figure out how to demilitarize the Gaza Strip and prevent Hamas from rearming, the senior official said. “We believe that both regional and international cooperation can be effective in preventing Hamas from rearming.”
900 operatives killed over Gaza campaign, IDF says
Some 900 operatives from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian terror groups were killed in the Gaza Strip in the four weeks of fighting, since Operation Protective Edge was launched by the IDF on July 8, a senior Israeli military source said Tuesday.
The source added that the Israel Air Force hit a total of 4,800 targets in the Palestinian enclave.
Health officials in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip say that close to 1,900 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting began, most of them civilians and many of them children. Palestinian rights groups have claimed that 84 percent of those killed in the conflict were civilians; Israel disputes those claims. Israel has blamed Hamas for the death and destruction in Gaza, since it emplaced its rockets, rocket launchers, cross-border tunnel openings and other military infrastructure in homes, schools and mosques, and thus used Gazans as human shields.
IDF completes withdrawal from Gaza, keeps forces massed on border
The IDF completed work to destroy 32 attack tunnels in Gaza overnight between Monday and Tuesday, a senior army source said. The source spoke shortly before the 8 a.m. cease-fire.
Hamas fired heavy barrages of rockets at Jerusalem and the Shfela region minutes before the start of the truce. Iron Dome intercepted several incoming projectiles.
Israeli ground forces completed their withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as the cease-fire came into effect.
"We will prepare outside of the Strip," the source said. The IDF is not moving forces away from the Gaza border area, the source said. "We are staying on stand by. We must see what happens on the ground, and the situation will be judged based on developments. On that basis, we will act," the source added.
Netanyahu applauds destruction of Gaza tunnels, but says no guarantee of 100% success
He said the tunnels' destruction harmed a strategic Hamas weapon in which they invested tremendously over the years. The tunnels would have allowed Hamas to kidnap and murder numerous civilians and IDF soldiers in simultaneous attacks from a number of different tunnels that penetrated into Israel.
“As I said at the beginning, there is no guarantee of 100% success, but we did everything to achieve the maximum,” the prime minister said.
Netanyahu sent his condolences to the bereaved families of the fallen soldiers, and said that in his conversations with each family, he stressed that their sons fell in the most just battle possible.
IDF kills top Islamic Jihad members
On Monday morning, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the IDF carried out a joint strike that killed Ibrahim Mashawari, an Islamic Jihad battalion commander in the Sheikh Radwan region, and seriously wounded senior Islamic Jihad members Amar Arhim, a deputy brigade commander.
They were in a structure in the Shati region of Gaza.
The Shin Bet said Arhim orchestrated rocket fire on central Israel, and is a key figure in planting underground launchers and weapons manufacturing.
Security guard stabbed near Ma’ale Adumim
A security guard working at a checkpoint near the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim was stabbed by an unknown assailant, in what police believe to be a terror attack.
The attacker entered a getaway car near the scene and fled into a nearby Arab village, police said.
Three suspects were later arrested in connection with the stabbing after a vehicle fitting the description of the getaway car was spotted by police.
Aharonovitz: Tractor Terrorist was Known to Police
Interior Security Minister Aharonovitz told Channel 2 that the tractor terrorist, Muhammad Naif Jabis from Jabel Mukhaber, was known to police.
The terrorist is reportedly related to one of the terrorists in the 2008 Mercaz HaRav terror attack.
Hotovely blames Jerusalem terror attacks on incitement from PA
“The PA is operating a well-funded incitement effort against Israel,” she said. “We must place our cards on the table and say that under the guise of moderation, the PA is encouraging terrorism, and therefore, it is responsible.”
Hotovely’s Likud colleague, Deputy Minister for Liaison with the Knesset Ophir Akunis, also blamed the PA, which he called a government of terror.
“It is now clear as day that the deterioration in our region, the escalation of terrorism, and the attacks are the direct result of Abbas accepting Hamas into his government,” Akunis said. “A government that accepts a vile terrorist organization as a member gives a green light and encourages terrorism. Abbas is responsible for forming the government, so he should dismantle it.”
Hamas Calls for '3 Day Uprising' During Ceasefire
Hamas on Monday specifically called on Arabs in Judea and Samaria to conduct attacks on Israelis, urging them to start the “third intifada” that would start with attacks on Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and eventually move into the rest of Israel.
In a message sent out by Hamas Monday to “the Palestinians of the Occupied West Bank,” Hamas called on Arabs to “conduct mass riots” over the next three days as a “sign of support” for Gaza, and of “resistance” to “violence” by Israel.
Gaza rocket hits Palestinian home in Bethlehem
Minutes before a Gaza ceasefire took hold at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Hamas launched a salvo of long-range rockets into Israel, calling them revenge for Israel's "massacres". Sirens went off as far north as Jerusalem's outlying areas such as Ma'ale Adumim. There was no word of casualties.
One rocket hit a house near the Palestinian West Bank town of Bethlehem, police and residents said. (h/t Yenta Press)
Critically Wounded Soldier Opens Eyes for First Time
The soldier, Ohad Ben-Yishai, was wounded from shrapnel that entered his head while fighting terrorists in the Sajaiya neighborhood in Gaza City. He was airlifted to the Soroka Hospital where he underwent surgery.
For days Ben-Yishai was sedated and on a respirator, with his family staying at his bedside and praying for a sign of life. On Saturday, he finally opened his eyes, though he has not yet regained full consciousness and has yet to communicate with his surroundings.
First Hand Account of Gaza Operation by Wounded IDF Soldier
After returning from combat in Gaza, an IDF soldier described how Hamas fills residential neighborhoods with weapons and terrorists.
Sgt. O. entered Gaza with the IDF Paratrooper Special Forces during Operation Protective Edge with orders to dismantle terrorist infrastructure. On the fourth day of the ground operation, he was wounded in a firefight with terrorists. His first-hand account of the fighting in Gaza sheds light on the tactics used by Hamas and the IDF’s parallel attempts to deal with those tactics while minimizing harm to civilians.
Fear of Gaza tunnels empties kibbutz of children
Kfar Aza, a kibbutz on the front line of cross-border tunnels, was emptied of all its children during Israel’s war on Hamas operatives in Gaza.
Its 250 children were evacuated along with many families, leaving behind a few dozen adults in the collective farming village which usually boasts a population of 750 inhabitants.
Homes were shuttered, playgrounds left empty and silent, with the only noise coming from Israeli bombardment of Gaza and rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory.
“We were used to rockets and shells, but these tunnels, from which terrorists can emerge, really frighten us,” said kibbutz spokesman Noam Stahl.
Netanyahu, Peres letters to slain lone soldier’s family made public
Condolence letters from Israeli leaders sent to the family of lone soldier Max Steinberg, who died fighting in Gaza, were published by a Jewish Journal reporter.
Photos of the letters first posted Sunday on Twitter by Jared Sichel were from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-President Shimon Peres, as well as New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
They were published the following day on the website of the Jewish Journal, a Los Angeles weekly, with excerpts.
American MDA has Raised $8 Million for Israel Emergency Aid
A high level figure in US Magen David Adom who came to see how for himself how the organization is meeting the challenges of Operation Protective Edge has told Arutz Sheva that since the start of the war, the organization has raised over $8 million for Israel's war-caused emergency needs.
The cost of emergency services and other war-related expenses have skyrocketed as the war goes on and the money will allow for much-needed ambulances, blood and medication, equipment, gasoline, uniforms – whatever is in need of being augmented. Israel's MDA is arranging blood donations and coordinating all its other work from a central computerized location.
The MDA executive, asking to remain anonymous, said: "With a war going on, Jewish hearts all over the world are here with you. At least, we say to ourselves, we can participate somewhat in this way."
Suspicious call triggers manhunt for would-be terrorist
A massive manhunt was underway in northern Tel Aviv on Monday after authorities received a call from an individual who claimed he had been sent from Hebron to carry out a terrorist attack.
According to the Israel Police, the caller spoke with an Arabic accent and said he had had a change of heart "and wants to go home." The police traced the call to the Tel Aviv port area, but could not determine the identity of the caller.
Hundreds of law enforcement officials set up roadblocks in and around the area, including on Route 2, which runs along Israel's coast, and the Ayalon Highway, which traverses the city from north to south.
According to a statement released by the Israel Police, "in light of the ongoing situation, the head of the Israel Police Tel Aviv District has decided to increase police activity across the district. He calls on the people to exercise more vigilance and report any suspicious activity."
As of late Monday night, the caller's whereabouts were still unknown.
Bennett Asks Hostile Anchor: What Would You Do in Our Place?
Faced with increasingly malicious journalists, Israel's spokesmen are doing their best to justify to the world the civilian death toll in Gaza.
It has become a formidable task, by Day 29 of Operation Protective Edge, as sympathy mounts for Hamas's hapless brainwashed human shields, which it used as a flesh-and-blood 'Iron Dome.' Economics Minister Naftali Bennett asked SkyNews's anchor, repeatedly, what she would do if she were being fired at by a person who held up his own child as a human shield. She did not answer.
Bennett to Skynews: "When buses exploded in London, they gave out candies in Gaza"
Masked rioters attack police near Temple Mount
Dozens of masked Palestinian protesters hurled stones, Molotov cocktails, and firecrackers at police officers near the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday morning, before being pushed back into the Al-Aqsa mosque by security forces who were rushed to the area.
Five policemen were injured during the riots, and 12 protesters were arrested.
The rioting took place as thousands of Jews gathered nearby for prayers at the Western Wall on Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar, a day of mourning that commemorates the destruction of the first and second Jewish temples. According to tradition, both temples were destroyed, the first by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and the second by the Romans in 70 CE, on Tisha B’Av.
Israeli Government Now Probing Lebanon Terror Tunnels Threat
Israel’s Ministry of Defense is investing millions of shekels in research programs designed to locate tunnels from Lebanon into Israel.
“There is a lot of talk about it and concern,” according to one anonymous source who spoke with Israel’s Channel 2 News on Monday.
Since the IDF’s discovery and detonation of dozens of terror tunnels dug by Hamas in Gaza beneath Israeli territory during the course of Operation Protective Edge, jittery Israelis are wondering if their hostile neighbors to the north, across the border in southern Lebanon, might be planning the same tactic.
Working under fire at Gaza’s only commercial transit point
At 9 a.m. on Monday, a warning siren sent workers at the Kerem Shalom crossing – the sole entry point for commercial goods into Gaza – scattering for cover.
“Mortars were fired at the eastern part of the crossing point,” says Ami Shaked, who oversees the large concrete compound located at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, not far from Rafah and the Egyptian border. “Unfortunately we work under fire.”
Flak jackets are standard at the crossing, which has been targeted by Palestinians in Gaza multiple times a day since Operation Protective Edge began in July.
“Even at this moment, a mortar could fall and people would be wounded while undertaking a humanitarian mission for the people of Gaza,” he tells visiting journalists less than two hours after the siren went off. “It’s not a normal situation.”
Knesset member: Retake Gaza, put civilians in ‘tent camps’
In a lengthy Facebook post last week that was addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Feiglin pointed out what he perceived to be the failures of Israel’s current Gaza campaign, and outlined key actions he said must be taken immediately.
Feiglin, the deputy speaker of the Knesset, said that “Oslo is finished” and there are “no two states for two people; there is only one state for one nation.”
Urging a change of strategy, he wrote that Israel must redefine the enemy — “radical Islam in all its varieties, from Iran to Gaza, which seeks to annihilate Israel in its entirety”– the mission and the strategic goal of the operation and “reconquer Gaza” while killing all the fighting forces and “their supporters.”
The UN’s crimes against humanity
Even though the UN has been collecting and documenting testimonials of the crimes and atrocities that Hamas terrorists are committing against Palestinians, the UN committees choose to ignore these findings and continue to provide Hamas terrorists and their ideology with a back-wind by castigating Israel. The symmetry that the UN has created blocks any possibility of exchanging the murderous ideology that rules the Gaza strip with a moderate ideology of coexistence and peace. The committees de facto give Hamas the oxygen it needs to continue its internal and external violence.
Thus instead of being an important direct player that can act against Hamas and its murderous ideology, the UN has become one of its biggest supporters.
Hamas Scare Clip Becomes Israel's Summer Hit
Shortly after Israel's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza began 27 days ago, Hamas released a video clip of a song it produced that calls on Palestinian Arabs to carry out terror attacks.
The clip is in Hebrew, however, and appears to mostly be intended for demoralizing Israelis.
Surprisingly, though, Israelis found the tune of “Attack! Carry Out Terror Strikes” extremely catchy. Making it even more fun was the flowery Hebrew, dotted with nonexistent words sung in a heavy Arab accent, all of which led to the song's becoming a summer hit.
It has since spawned numerous covers and tributes, including this a capella version:
CLAIM: Latest Israel 'War Crime' Video is Another Palestinian Hoax
According to many press reports, Rafah Preparatory ‘A’ Boys School was hit by Israeli fire, killing 10 people, when Israel targeted three militants from the Islamic Jihad group who were riding past on motorcycles.
World leaders have condemned the strike, with UN Secertary General Ban Ki-moon calling it a “gross violation of international law”, while U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said America was appalled by the “disgraceful” attack.
Most press sources admit that the attack happened outside the school, with some saying it happened on the street while others claim it was at the entrance, yet video and photo footage shows injured people inside the school.
Wictor notes that there are several inconsistencies in the footage. The two dead men are first of all photographed outside the school, yet in subsequent images are shown inside school grounds, suggesting their bodies have been moved.
All Gazans Want To Be Shahids, So We’re Making The Whole Strip A Graveyard By Muhammad Dieff, Kassam Brigades (satire)
You’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating: as one man, the noble residents of the Gaza Strip wish for nothing more than to become martyrs in the holy struggle to liberate our holy land from the clutches of the accursed Zionists. That’s 1.8 million potential Shahids. Which means we’re going to need quite a bit of cemetery space to bury them. So we’re trying to get Israel to do the work for us, and destroy all those buildings that are in the way.
It will take a long time, but we Palestinians are patient. We have waited 66 years; we can wait a few more. However long it takes for the entire Gaza Strip to be transformed into one massive graveyard, which, after all, is the natural outcome of getting our fondest desire.
Does not every Palestinian mother pray for each of her children to die a martyr’s death in the struggle against the imperialist terrorist Jewish dogs? We wish to accommodate each and every such mother, and are working as hard as we can to clear the necessary space – and provide the bodies to fill it.