Hamas is seething over the closure of Israel's crossing points into Gaza in response to rocket fire by the terror organization on Friday. The crossings are closed indefinitely (except for humanitarian emergencies).
Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq early Sunday condemned an
Israeli decision to close crossings into Gaza, calling it "collective
punishment."
"The justifications given by the (Israeli) occupation to shut down crossings are unacceptable," Abu Marzouq said in a statement.
He also criticized the Palestinian Authority for what he called a failure to arrange the entry of goods into Gaza.
"Where
does the PA come in regarding this Israeli closure? And where does it
come in regarding its responsibilities, especially after PA employees
have resumed work at Gaza crossings?"
He said Israel's decision to close the crossings violated international laws and conventions.
Instead
of closing the crossings, he said Israel should establish more
crossings in order to allow for greater freedom of movement for people
and goods in and out of Gaza.
Israeli authorities on Saturday
announced that the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings would be closed until
further notice, following reports that a projectile fired from Gaza
landed in Israel overnight Friday without causing damage or injuries.
They said exceptions would be made for humanitarian emergencies.
Funny how one doesn't hear the 'Palestinian Authority' protesting too much, isn't it?
Channel 2 reported that a three-person committee made up of Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the coordinator of government activities in the territories, UN Mideast envoy Robert Serry and PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will supervise the [reconstruction] process and determine what goods are allowed in.
So we're relying on the UN's Serry to control the 'Palestinians.' What could go wrong?
Tamir Idan, who heads the Sdot Negev Regional Council, said that “if
the reports in the mdeia are right, and the agreement for a ceasefire is
for one month only, in which Hamas's demands for constructing ports
will be discussed, then this is a surrender to terror.”
He also refused to accept Israel's lack of response to a last minute
attack by Hamas that killed two men in Kibbutz Nirim Tuesday.
"Israel's tacit acceptance that it is alright [for Hamas] to fire
without limits, and without a response, before the ceasefire goes into
force, is a very grave matter. We demand that the Israeli government and
the IDF stand behind their commitment to respond in a meaningful way to
any fire.”
Itamar Shimoni, Mayor of Ashkelon, said that any conmpromise with
Hamas is a surrender to terror. “The residents of Israel and the south
wanted to see a decision in this campaign, but this will apparently not
happen,” he stated.
"We wanted to see Hamas defeated and begging for its life; instead we
see Israel running to the negotiating table at every opportunity,” he
added. “We did not lose 64 fighters and five civilians, including a
four-year-old boy, for this 'achievement'. We did not sit in the
shelters and protected spaces for almost two months for this
'achievement'. We did not take a harsh economic blow, in which
businesses collapsed, for this 'achievement'. We expected a lot more
than this.”
"Hamas raised demands through violence, and it seems they can expect
to get what they wanted. The conclusion is that the path of terror pays
off, and therefore the next round of fighting is just a matter of time.
As far as I am concerned, a ceasefire agreement in this reality means
starting to prepare the systems in Ashkelon for the next round, and it
will be more grave and lethal than anything we have known up to now.”
The head of the Eshkol Council, Haim Yelin, said that he will not ask
the residents of his region to return to their homes. “In Jerusalem
there appears to be a ceasefire. I don't know what they are talking
about,” he told Channel 10 news. “In Jerusalem they feel safe, and in
some neighborhoods of Gaza they feel safe, but not us. We went into a
war of attrition in which we paid with the lives of families and deep
pain of the wounded. The government was unprepared for this war.”
Just as half of the cabinet ministers were opposed to the cease-fire, many in the coalition expressed similar opinions.
Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) said “any agreement that doesn’t include eliminating the rocket threat on residents of Israel and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip is less than half of what is necessary.
“In this reality, the defense establishment will have no choice but to prepare for the next round, which will be soon,” Ariel added.
According to MK Danny Danon (Likud), in the Middle East, restraint is seen as weakness.
“Despite the heavy price Hamas paid, we did not defeat Hamas,” he said. “Fifty days of fighting, 64 soldiers killed, five civilians killed, 82,000 reservists called up, and in the end we’re back to the agreement from Operation Pillar of Defense.”
Danon said a defeat was necessary to broadcast to the whole Middle East, including Hezbollah, Islamic State and Iran, that “they should not mess with the people of Israel.”
“I am concerned we did not succeed enough. Now is the time for national introspection. The policy of restraint and hesitation hurt Israel’s deterrence,” he added.
MK Eli Yishai (Shas) said that a cease-fire without Gaza being demilitarized means Israel may as well pencil in the next round of fighting in its calendar.
“This will be time for Hamas to resupply itself with weaponry to use against Israel,” he said. “Not demilitarizing Gaza will bring Israel to another round of fighting that will be even worse.”
On the Left, lawmakers called for the government to take initiative and launch diplomatic negotiations.
Government ministers Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Lieberman, Yitzhak
Aharonovich and Gilad Erdan, who were against the deal, complained that
they had merely been informed of the details of the agreement and were
not given the opportunity to vote on it.
Economy Minister Bennett
demanded that a vote be held on Wednesday but was informed that Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had received a legal opinion that a vote was
not required.
A senior official in Jerusalem said on Tuesday
night that Israel had informed Egypt that it accepted the proposal for a
cease-fire without time limitation. The response was given only after
all the ministers in the cabinet had been updated, the source said.
According
to the official, the agreement does not meet Hamas' demands for a sea
port, an airport, the release of prisoners and a solution to the issue
of funding salaries for Gaza officials.
Each of the sides will
raise its demands during the negotiations following the cease-fire;
Israel will demand the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
Humanitarian
aid, including equipment and materials to repair the damage in the
Strip, will be allowed to enter Gaza through the crossings controlled by
Israel. Entrance of the materials will be controlled. It is also
possibly that the Gaza fishing zone will be extended.
Justice
Minister Tzipi Livni responded earlier to reports of the imminent
cease-fire in Gaza and says that the end of the operation should not
include "any significant political achievements for Hamas, which is a
terrorist organization which doesn't accept our existence here."
I'll have more on this later, but let's put it this way: It takes three months to hold elections in Israel. I predict we will have them and we will have a new Prime Minister within six months. Write it down.
The Defense Ministry has closed the Kerem Shalom crossing point through which 'humanitarian aid' is provided to Gaza after a direct mortar hit on the crossing point that nearly hit a fuel truck.
"After continuous and deliberate fire at the Kerem Shalom crossing,
which almost hit trucks carrying flammable materials to Gaza, we reached
the unusual decision to close the passage, in order to protect the
workers and the merchants,” said the Crossings Authority. “The crossing
remained open throughout the despite incessant fire in its vicinity, and
was an exclusive artery for passage of goods and essential humanitarian
equipment for Gaza.”
I guess all those Hamas employees for whom money was allowed into Gaza today aren't going to have any place to spend it anyway (link in Hebrew). For the last two months, Egypt had blocked the transfer of money into Gaza from Qatar for Hamas to pay salaries.
Another 72-hour 'humanitarian cease fire' is due to go into effect at Midnight Israel time, a bit less than three hours from now. If there is quiet overnight, Israeli negotiators will return to Cairo in the morning.
Israel agrees to open Gaza border crossings... with a big BUT
The 'Palestinian' Maan news agency is reporting that Israel has agreed to reopen the Gaza crossing points to unrestricted trade.
Israel has agreed to lift travel and import restrictions on Gaza, Egyptian sources told Palestinian news agency Ma'an Thursday - including the naval blockade and border crossing restrictions.
But Maan left out one small point.
However, according to the source material - in Al Quds Al-Arabi - Israel's
main condition for Hamas is the total demilitarization of Gaza -
something Hamas is unlikely to accept. Moreover, among Hamas's
unprecedented demands are a seaport and airport, conditions both Egypt
and Israel are unlikely to accept.
While Hamas continues its terrorist actions, the IDF continues to
transfer goods to Palestinians in Gaza. On August 3, the IDF transferred
186 truckloads of food, medical supplies, fuel and other goods into
Gaza via the Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Let's go to the videotape.
By the way, in case you missed it, the officer being interviewed, Major Bassem Hinu, is an Arab....
Hamas exploits the residents of Gaza by investing supplies in its
underground terror network, which it created to attack Israel. Hamas
invests in its terrorist infrastructure instead of civil infrastructure
for Gaza's residents.
With all that's going on, Israel is continuing to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing point. That means that no human shields will go hungry.
Despite the ongoing rocket fire by Gaza terrorists,
Israel has not halted the entry of trucks into Gaza – and on Thursday,
some 200 trucks carrying food and “basic supplies” entered Gaza. The
government said that the trucks were allowed to pass through for
“humanitarian purposes,” and were inspected and found not to be carrying
any items or equipment that could be used to attack Israel.
The trucks are said to be carrying a greater than normal
supply of food, officials said. According to sources, the IDF and
Defense Ministry officials urged the government's Coordinator of
Government Activities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, Yoav Mordechai, to
allow an increased amount of supplies into Gaza, so that residents would
have enough to eat in case the IDF begins a ground assault against
Hamas.
The trucks enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is
often targeted by Gaza terrorists for missile attacks. The workers at
the crossing are all Israeli, and have been given special safety
instructions by the Home Front Command, officials said. It should be
noted that one of the terror tunnels destroyed by the IDF several days
ago was located right next to the Crossing.
With that, officials said, the IDF has pulled two “gestures” granted after the conclusion of Operation Pillar
of Defense in 2012. Palestinian Arab farmers have been banned from
tending to their fields which abut the security fence around Gaza, and
cannot approach within more than a few hundred meters of the fence. In
addition, fishing boats have been restricted to within three kilometers
of the Gaza coast.
The IDF has also allowed 240 Palestinians with foreign citizenship to
leave Gaza, at the request of their governments. Among them are
citizens of the US, Sweden, Greece, Romania, and Serbia. They will be
allowed to leave the country, or to travel to Palestinian
Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria.
It goes without saying that the IDF has not taken steps to cut off
Gaza's electricity, which is supplied by Israel, as numerous ministers
and MKs have demanded. IDF officials said that among the reasons for
allowing the shipments to continue and the power to flow was to prevent
Hamas from painting a picture of a “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, in
which people have no food, water, or power.
According to former National Security Adviser Yaacov Amidror, the only way to stop the rocket fire is to retake Gaza.
"We’ve never had a crushing blow that hurt the other side’s the ability to launch missiles," Amidror told Channel 10 News,
adding that he believes the only way to achieve complete quiet is to
"retake Gaza and be there for six months to a year to clean it out."
Amidror, who in the past headed the Research Department of Israeli
military intelligence, explained that the extent of the IDF’s operation
in Gaza depends on “how much we are willing to pay for quiet in the
south.”
He estimated that an operation retaking Gaza would require three to
13 days. “Then we would have to remain there between six months and a
year, in order to clean up Gaza. Only then will we be in a situation
where they won’t fire at Israel,” said Amidror.
He stressed that the price of such a military operation would be
dozens of casualties, but added, "I think eventually there will be no
choice. If we cannot force Hamas to ask for a ceasefire by attacking
from the air, we may have to go into Gaza.”
Well, yeah, but it's not like they weren't shooting at all before we left Gaza either, although then most of the shooting was focused on the Jews who lived in Gaza. I'm not sure what he means by 'cleaning it up' but it's sure going to require a lot more than cleaning the streets.
So we have two choices: Rule Gaza or suffer from rocket fire from Gaza. Kahane was right. The only way to have real peace and quiet here is to pay the Arabs to leave. Maybe we need to admit that reality too.
And here we go again... Hamas launched three rockets at southern Israel this morning. Fortunately, this time they all landed on the Gaza side of the fence.
The rocket attack marks the first time Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have attempted to strike Israel for nearly two months.
No damage or injuries were reported.
The
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) ordered
the closure of the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Gaza and
Israel.
About 20 rockets have been fired by militant groups this year. Several
rockets were fired during US President Barack Obama’s visit in March.
The
rocket fire broke a months-long period during which the Hamas regime in
Gaza restrained elements in the coastal enclave, bringing about quiet.
Since Operation Pillar of Defense in November, there have been few
incidents of rocket fire.
The London-based pan-Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported last month that Hamas is actually trying to stop the rocket fire.
Last month, the London-based Arab language daily Asharq Al-Awsat
reported that Hamas replaced policemen at the Gaza Strip border areas
with fighters from its Kassam Brigades in an effort to stop rocket fire
at southern Israel.
The paper quoted a Palestinian source as
saying that Israel passed messages to Hamas through Egyptian mediators
threatening to launch another large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip if
the rocket fire didn't stop.
Hamas's Kassam Brigades have set up
fixed and mobile roadblocks and have begun searching cars in areas near
the border. They were also deployed to areas further away from the
border that were used in the past to fire rockets at Israel, the
Palestinian source told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Video: Rocket from Gaza hits during Holocaust memorial ceremony
Of course.....
Hamas in Gaza shoots rockets at Israel during the Holocaust Memorial ceremony on Sunday night, because they aim to finish what Hitler started.
Let's go to the videotape.
The rocket was one of three fired by the 'Palestinians' on Sunday - the other two landed in Gaza. As a result, Israel has shut the Kerem Shalom crossing point.
The IDF decided to close the Kerem Shalom goods border passage
between Israel and Gaza on Monday following the firing of three rockets
from the Strip on Sunday.
The Erez pedestrian terminal will remain open only for humanitarian crossings, Army Radio reported.
A
rocket landed in southern Israel on Sunday night while Holocaust
Remembrance Day ceremonies were being held. The rocket landed in the
Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. Palestinians fired another two
rockets, however the failed to reach Israel, landing within Gazan
territory.
No injuries or damage were reported in the attack.
Security
forces located the remains of the rocket after searching the area. A
red alert siren had sounded in the area prior to the rocket's landing.
Expecting cries that we're starving the 'Palestinians' in 4...3...2...1...
'Palestinians' attack border crossing that delivers humanitarian aid
'Palestinian' terrorists attacked trucks bringing humanitarian aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing point into Gaza on Monday. The trucks were on the 'Palestinian' side of the border.
This morning, Palestinian terrorists fired three mortars on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing. The mortars struck a truck and a van on their way to deliver goods to the people of Gaza. Following the shooting, activity at the crossing was suspended for just a few minutes. After evaluating the situation, it was decided to continue operations at the crossing, where goods continue to be transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip.
Yesterday, over 180 trucks of goods were transferred from Israel to Gaza. The IDF will continue to act in order to prevent terrorist attacks from the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the Israel Defense Forces will continue to distinguish between the terrorist organizations and the civilian population.
They'd rather starve than stop trying to murder Jews.
Video: Demonstrators block 'humanitarian aid' trucks from going to Gaza for Gilad Shalit's birthday
On Sunday, Gilad Shalit 'celebrated' his 6th birthday in captivity, turning 25 years old.
A group of demonstrators tried to block the 'humanitarian aid' trucks from entering Gaza (you can see for yourselves how many and how many there are) and tried to slip notes in Arabic to the people of Gaza inside the crates. They get roughed up by the truck drivers.
Let's go to the videotape.
It's outrageous that Israel continues to supply hundreds of tons of aid per day to these terrorists and their sympathizers, while Shalit has not had so much as a Red Cross visit in more than five years.
By the way, this is the same crossing point from which Shalit was kidnapped in 2006.
This video shows a sampling of some of the goods transferred on a daily basis to the Gaza Strip from Israel. This was not filmed on a particular noteworthy day, as many luxury items are often included among the goods transferred.
Included among the items shown in the video are hot tubs, LCD televisions, luxury cars, and frost-free refrigerators. Also transferred that day (not shown in the video) were mannequins and jewelery.
The still photos of Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai Tucson vehicles being transferred in the Gaza Strip are from an earlier date.
Israel (through COGAT and the Ministry of Defense) coordinates the daily transfer of roughly 250 to 280 truckloads into Gaza (equivalent to approximately 6,000 of tons of goods and materials)—via the Kerem Shalom land crossing. The goods are ordered in advance by Palestinian Authority officials, who have yet to maximize the crossing’s truckload capacity.
That's right - the reason the crossing point is not operating at its maximum capability is because the 'Palestinians' haven't ordered enough.
By the way, Kerem Shalom was the crossing point from which IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit was kidnapped five years ago.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
