Within the past hour, two rockets have been fired on Israel from an area of the Sinai desert controlled by the Islamic State terror group. Both rockets fell in open areas.
The rockets landed in the Eshkol Regional Council, according to
an initial statement released by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. No
injuries or damages were caused.
A Red Alert was not sounded, the statement said, due to the fact that the rockets were fired into open space.
Where are the UN 'peacekeepers' when you need them? Hiding out as usual. A rocket from the Sinai was fired into Israel after the Sabbath started.
Militants in
Egypt's Sinai peninsula fired a rocket into southern Israel on Friday in
an incident that appeared linked to fighting between Islamist
insurgents and Egyptian security forces, an Israeli military source
said.
"Yes, the rocket was
fired from Sinai," the source said, confirming an Israeli Army Radio
report that the missile was launched from the desert region bordering
Israel and Gaza.
Israeli police said they had found rocket remnants in an open area. No damage or casualties resulted.
It was possible the launch was linked to the fighting in Sinai, the military source said.
Or maybe it wasn't an accident. And maybe we have another source of rocket fire into Israel. What could go wrong?
Obama may consider himself Jewish but that doesn't make him Israeli
Some of you might recall that Times of Israel editor in chief David Horovitz once told me that he could not live in Israel if he believed there was no chance of 'peace' with the 'Palestinians.' But David isn't as naive as that statement might make you think, and he has been a vocal critic of President Obama. In a devastating piece in Wednesday's Times of Israel, he blasted Obama's claim that he 'knows how we feel.'
What you so evidently haven’t fully
internalized, however, is the extent to which we Israelis in the middle
ground — the non-zealots, the ones who don’t want to annex the West Bank and subvert our democracy, and who don’t
want a single binational entity between the river and the sea that puts
an end to Jewish statehood — have been battered by recent history, and
continue to be battered by the events unfolding all around us.
You seek to assure us that this deal with Iran
is in our own best interests when we know that Iran — which almost
daily calls for our destruction — will paint any agreement as a victory
and a vindication, and will utilize that ostensible victory to step up
its efforts to harm us, via terrorism and via its proxy armies in
Lebanon and Gaza, while also continuing to do its utmost to cheat and
bully its way to the bomb. We know that the deal will cement this
bleakest of regimes in power in Tehran, and that it was your negotiators
who blinked, who never forced the regime to choose between survival and
its nuclear program, when the financial leverage was available to
impose that choice.
You implore us, again and again, to give more
thought to the plight of the Palestinians, to turn away from leadership —
in the seemingly ever-present shape of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu — that peddles the politics of fear, and instead to choose the
path of optimism and opportunity. But Israel just elected Netanyahu
again, ignoring your entreaties, because the evidence of danger outweighed the evidence upon which to build hope. And here’s the irony, Mr. President: Your policies and your rhetoric haven’t helped.
You complained in the interview that there are
lots of “filters” between you and the Israeli people, who therefore are
not getting your message directly. (This, amusingly, in an interview
conveyed verbatim into the living rooms of the people of Israel, in
prime time, on our most-watched television channel; the full interview is also online here.) Believe me, Mr. President, the problem is not with the messenger. The problem is with the message, and the actions.
...
Have you truly internalized the fact that five years ago, Israel was
contemplating relinquishing the Golan Heights, the high strategic
ground, for a peace deal with Bashar Assad. Where would that have left
us now? Utterly vulnerable to the brutal spillover of anarchic violence
across that border.
Have you really, truly internalized that
Israel left southern Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005, to the applause
and reassurance of the international community, only to see the vicious
terrorist armies of Hezbollah and Hamas fill the respective vacuums?
Have you really, honestly, utterly internalized that Hamas booted out
the forces of the relatively moderate Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza in a
matter of hours in 2007, and that there is every reason to believe that
Hamas would seek to do the same in the West Bank were Israel to do as
you wish, and pull out? And Hamas in the West Bank would entirely
paralyze this country. A single Hamas rocket that landed a mile from the
airport last summer prompted two-thirds of foreign airlines to stop
flying to Israel for a day and a half — including all the major US
airlines. A single rocket. Hamas rule in the West Bank would close down
our entire country.
...
But here’s where, with the greatest respect,
you’ve failed us thus far, Mr. President. You got the settlement freeze
six years ago, you got the prisoner releases in 2013, but what did you
wrest from Abbas? Did he stop the incitement against Israel? Did he
moderate his positions on the “right of return”? You fault Netanyahu for
his bleak wordview, but did you castigate Abbas for entering a
governing partnership which gives Hamas veto power over his ministers?
Did you tell him, sorry, that’s not going to work for us? No. You said
you’d keep right on dealing with him.
You berate Netanyahu for ruling out
Palestinian statehood on election eve, dismiss his subsequent
re-endorsement of a two-state solution as full of “so many caveats” as
to be unrealistic, and warn that Israel is consequently losing
international credibility, and that this makes it harder for you to
defend us internationally. But love or loathe Netanyahu, his concerns,
Mr. President, are compelling. Hamas did anticipate reducing Israel to rubble last summer, and only the extraordinary performance of Iron Dome prevented this. Hamas would try to take over the West Bank if we pulled out — and then to tunnel under and fire rockets over our borders.
Abbas has not encouraged his people to
internalize Jewish sovereign legitimacy in this part of the world. And
along with that hope you espied for a better future there is hatred,
too, in so many young Palestinian faces. Think of the toxin that must
have been absorbed by the 16-year-old Palestinian who stabbed to death
an 18-year-old Israeli soldier, Eden Atias, asleep next to him on a bus
in Afula, northern Israel, in November 2013. Think of your daughters, of
around that age, as I think of my children, and recognize how remote
from their most basic, decent, humane instincts is an act such as that,
and how systematic and relentless the climate of anti-Israel hostility
must be in the Abbas-controlled West Bank to have produced that killer
and others like him. The expansion of settlements discredits moderates,
and makes it easier for terrorist groups to recruit, but that’s not the
root of the hatred, the root of the conflict. At its heart, the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict marches bloodily on because the Palestinian
leadership refuses to acknowledge that the Jewish nation has any
legitimacy here.
And you, Mr. President, so ready to fault us
for failures, ready even in your interview to cite American failures and
mistakes and lost values, have failed to insist on a similar
self-reflection, and morality, and assertion of humane values from the
Palestinians and their leadership.
Yes, we are mighty Israel, a military force to
be reckoned with, an economic powerhouse, and they are the poor
Palestinians, ostensibly only seeking statehood. But take a step back
and we are a tiny sliver of land, nine miles wide at our narrowest
point, on the western edge of a vast landmass filled with hundreds of
millions of people largely hostile to the very fact of our existence. If
our enemies were to lay down their weapons right now, Mr. President,
there would be peace. If we were to lay down our weapons, our country
would be destroyed. And therefore, Mr. President, we will need a great
deal more reassurance before we dare to hope.
Read the whole thing. Obviously, I don't agree with everything he said, but this will give you some idea why the Right keeps winning elections in this country.
Translation: You can breathe a sigh of relief. From today, smoking is prohibited in UNRWA facilities. Okay, fire near missiles is definitely dangerous to health.
How the map would change if there were a 'Palestinian state' in Judea and Samaria
Unfortunately, I only have this in Hebrew.
On the right, is the missile alert map that was issued last summer in connection with Operation Protective Edge. The map shows how much time you would have to reach a shelter in the event that you are in a given area when a rocket is fired.
For the Hebrew impaired, the top time is 'immediate,' the next three times are 15, 30 and 45 seconds, and the last three times are a minute, a minute and a half and three minutes.
The map on the left is what our warning times would look like in the event that a 'Palestinian state' is established in Judea and Samaria. Notice how much of the country goes from a minute and a half to 45 seconds or less....
Good morning to all of you from snowy Boston where, at least from looking out my window, the storm does not appear to be overrated. My boots are arriving tomorrow (I do have rubbers for my shoes in the meantime).
The IDF is reportedly digging trenches on the Golan Heights to prevent infiltration from Syria. That won't stop rocket fire like what happened this morning (see below), but at least it will keep Hezbullah outside the border.
The IDF has begun digging trenches along the border with Syria, Walla! News reports Monday night, amid fears of real escalation between Israel and Islamists in neighboring Syria and Lebanon.
The mechanical engineering company of the IDF's Northern Command has
employed tractors and borders to dig the trenches, a source told the
news site, amid specific concerns regarding terrorist infiltrations by
car via border crossings.
"The trenches are being dug along vulnerable spots on the border,
after a thorough analysis [of the risks], to prevent free traffic in the
area and reduce infiltration," the military source stated. Outposts
near the Syrian border are not far from rebel positions from the
Al-Nusra Front and the Free Syrian Army, who patrol the border regularly
in cars and motorcycles.
In addition, Western diplomatic officials said that Israel has
imparted to Lebanon a stronger warning than before, emphasizing that
Jerusalem will respond to any attack on Israel or Israeli institutions
anywhere in the world.
This was conveyed today the Arabic Al Hayat newspaper,
published in London, which claimed that Israel has given warning,
through foreign ambassadors, that Hezbollah would be perceived as
responsible for any harm to Israeli targets, "even at the other end of the world."
Pigs fly: Shimon Peres (SHIMON PERES!) tells the Beeb he has 'problems' explaining support for Gaza expulsion
Shimon Peres has told the BBC that he has 'problems' explaining why he supported the Gaza expulsion (although the media STILL insists on calling it a 'pullout') nine years later.
While later taking a more supportive tack, in 2006, Peres publicly
upbraided residents of Sderot, who live about three kilometers from Gaza
- as “crybabies,” for complaining about 14 years of incessant
Palestinian terrorist rocket attacks on their town.
“I don’t understand what the hysteria is about. Kiryat Shmona was
shelled for years,” Peres said, referring to Israel’s northernmost town,
on the Lebanon border, Ynet News reported at the time.
“This hysteria over the Qassams must end,” he told journalists at the
Knesset, according to the report. “We’re just adding to the hysteria.
What happened? Kiryat Shmona was shelled for years. What, there weren’t
missiles?”
Yes, Kiryat Shmona was (and still occasionally is) shelled. But not with the consistency or the length of time that Sderot is shelled. I never heard that Kiryat Shmona residents had only 15 seconds to make it into shelters.
One day, God Willing, those who brought the Gaza debacle on us will pay a political price. One quarter of the Jews expelled from Gaza still don't have a place to live nine years later. And whatever money they received to 'compensate' them for losing their homes and businesses is long since gone. Most of them are broke. And a lot of the money went in the early years when they were forced to live in hotels - and to pay for them. .
The entity that was set up to 'resettle' them spent a huge amount of its budget on public relations to garner support for the expulsion. Government corruption at its worst. Simply disgraceful.
StandWithUs posted this video. It is a home video from Rachel Brilleman who was driving to work on Wednesday when Hamas decided to fire rockets at Tel Aviv.
Watch as she shares the experience millions of Israelis have had multiple times a day in the last 10 days.
Let's go to the videotape.
As I understand the instructions, once you reach a safe place you are supposed to lie down on your tummy with your hands protecting your head. The greater danger isn't being hit by a rocket God Forbid - you have a better chance of being hit by lightning. The bigger danger is being hit by shrapnel. But to put this in perspective, people in the south have been going through this multiple times a day off and on for years. It's no way to live.
The IDF Spokesperson's Office said on Tuesday morning that 50 targets
in Gaza were hit, including the homes of four Hamas officials.
Those officials include:
1. Iyad Sahikh - senior Hamas official in Gaza city directly responsible for rocket fire on Israel;
2. Abdullah Khashash - "repeat offender" in facilitating rocket fire against Israel, living in Rafah;
3. Samer Abu Daka - senior Hamas official in Khan Younis, active in facilitating terror against Israel [in general]; and
4. Hassan Abdallah - Hamas official in Khan Younis responsible for the current round of rocket fire on Israel.
Meanwhile, Hamas’s “military wing”, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam
Brigades, threatened to cause “an earthquake” and expand the range of
its rockets following Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza.
A statement by the group said that the attacks on homes in Gaza
“crossed all the red lines” and added, “We will respond by expanding the
range of our targets.”
The IDF struck 50 targets throughout the Gaza Strip late Monday night
and early on Tuesday, marking the start of Operation Protective Edge,
launched to extinguish Hamas rocket fire on Israel. Forty seven targets
were hit by Israel Air Force aircraft, and an additional three were hit
by Israel Navy ships off the coast of Gaza.
"We are entering
into a long operation," a senior IDF source said. "We are only at the
start. Patience is required. We are preparing further steps and a
gradual expansion of our order of battle," the source said, referring to
a growing presence of Ground Forces deployed to the Gaza Border. The
operation is being led by the IDF's Southern Command.
During the overnight strikes, the IDF hit 18 underground rocket
launchers, dozens of homes belonging to Hamas members, three Hamas
command and control facilities, and then targets described by the source
as "infrastructure." Most of the air strikes targeted Hamas, though
some targeted other terror groups that have been involved in recent
projectile fire on Israel.
The IDF is currently gathering
intelligence ahead of its next wave of strikes, according to the source.
In recent hours, Hamas fired rockets at Kiryat Malachi, and at Kibbutz
Ein Hashlosha in the Eshkol region.
"We are preparing to add to
our two special infantry formations that are on the Gaza border, and
which are now busy with efforts against [cross-border] attack tunnels,"
the source said.
"We have fully deployed Iron Dome batteries. And we are
moving towards a significant phase of the operation, in terms of
attacks on targets," he added.
It's time to eliminate Hamas. It's long past time.
About twenty minutes ago, a Code Red warning went off in Beit Shemesh according to someone who posted on Facebook. It sounds plausible. Hamas shot 30 rockets in 10 minutes this evening and Code Red signals went off in Ashdod, Rehovot... and Tel Aviv.
Hamas fired over 30 rockets in a ten-minute period into Israel on
Monday, with hits reported in Sha'ar HaNegev, the Eshkol Region,
Netivot, Sderot, and Be'er Sheva between 8:00 - 8:10 pm IST.
No buildings were reportedly damaged. One Ashkelon resident is being treated for shrapnel injuries.
"Code red" sirens have reportedly been sounded as of 8:30 pm as far
as Tel Aviv and in Gush Etzion; rockets could be seen from as far away
as Beit Shemesh, just West of Jerusalem, eyewitnesses told Arutz Sheva.
The barrage follows the Security Cabinet decision to prepare for escalation in the South, including a possible military campaign.
Time to root the vermin out. To hell with Obama and Kerry.
UPDATE 8:59 PM
Within minutes of posting this, I got back tweets claiming that the sirens in Jerusalem and Mevasseret (which I did not report) were a false alarm, and another from someone claiming not to have heard anything in Tel Aviv. See the report above.
As you all know, I am in the US right now. I am leaving back to Israel tonight, and will be there tomorrow.
Forgotten people: Half a million Israelis in shelters and the world's reaction...
Let's go to the videotape.
There are half a million Israelis hiding in bomb shelters from a blizzard of rockets being shot by Hamas from Gaza. Pathetically, Prime Minister Netanyahu is being restrained from going after them by the Obama-Kerry junta, at the request of 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen. And the world's reaction is best described by the video at the top of this post.
Some half a million Israelis spent much of their weekend running to bomb shelters, with school camps remaining closed in one city July 6 because of rocket fire from Gaza.
“The Ashdod municipality had said on Saturday night that
no classes or other planned activities would be allowed to open, except
inside bomb shelters.”
The Hamas terror organization, which controls Gaza, claimed it can
hit any city in Israel, under its slogan “all cities are close to Gaza.”
A picture depicting a heroic jihadist carrying a Grad rocket can be
seen on the homepage of the Hamas information website and other Hamas-affiliated websites.
There was a steep increase in rockets shot at Israel over the past four days.
“110 rockets
were fired into Israel, 80 of them exploded in urban areas in the
Negev. Ten rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome (defense system).”
Beersheba was targeted for the first time since 2012. Although rockets were fired at the city, they were intercepted by Iron Dome.
How much longer will the Israeli government put up with this?
Israel denies Islamic Jihad cease fire claim, continues to pound empty buildings
Israel is denying claims by Islamic Jihad that a 'cease fire' has been reached, and is continuing to pound empty buildings in Gaza.
The Air Force hit several terror targets in Gaza on Thursday afternoon, following a wave of rocket attacks
on southern Israel on Thursday morning. Israel denied Gaza terrorists'
claims that a ceasefire had been successfully negotiated.
IAF commanders reported that all warplanes involved had returned safely to their bases.
...
At the same time that the IAF announced it had carried out further
strikes, Islamic Jihad declared a ceasefire. A spokesman for the
terrorist group told AFP, “An Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect
at 2 p.m.”
However, Israel denied this claim. Israeli sources said only that "quiet will be answered with quiet."
'Terror targets' means the buildings and bases which the terrorists use, which are abandoned by the time the IAF shows up (unless they catch someone firing, which does happen from time to time). It's only civilians that the terrorists leave behind when they expect an attack.
I hope that the IAF at least got this contraption:
More than 60 rockets were fired at Israel on Wednesday, and there were at least another four on Thursday mornign. The IDF struck back... by hitting empty buildings.
The IDF responded to the attacks Wednesday evening, hitting two terror
locations in the northern and southern Gaza Strip with artillery fire. A
short time later, IDF aircraft struck more than 29 terror sites in
Gaza.
Yes, of course the terrorists know what's coming and those buildings were abandoned.
Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad released a video on Thursday morning that warns of deaths and kidnappings of Israelis if the IDF invades Gaza.
"Al-Quds Brigades is ready for your invasion and if you come there
will be no other option than for you to die or become prisoners," the
anonymous jihadist, laden in head-to-toe black, read from a piece of
paper.
"You wont ever have security in 'our' country. Don't
sacrifice your life for your leaders. We are inviting you to get out of
our country and search for a new country," he added.
...
“You haven’t yet seen the extent of our capabilities,” the al-Quds
spokesman said, additionally threatening longer-range projectile strikes
on Israel if the IDF retaliated.
But John Kerry keeps telling us that 'peace' is at hand. What could go wrong?
The footage, which was posted on a Hamas-linked Facebook page, shows
the challenges often faced by the Israeli military in responding to such
attacks whilst avoiding civilian casualties.
It illustrates what Israeli officials, including Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu, have often referred to as a "double war-crime": the
firing of rockets against Israeli civilians, whilst using the
Palestinian Arab civilian population in Gaza as cover, and in the hope
that any Israeli response will draw condemnation for striking a civilian
area.
Asymmetric warfare at its best.
By the way, if the fight is only being picked by Islamic Jihad, why was this posted to a Hamas Facebook page?
The IDF has sent tanks into Gaza over the past several minutes, and
have already eliminated two terror targets, in response to the barrage
of rocket fire on Israel.
At least 60 rockets slammed into southern Israel on Wednesday, hitting several Jewish communities.
Several were stopped by the Iron Dome; no injuries have been
reported. Thousands of Negev residents remain in shelters Wednesday
evening, however, until the attacks have subsided.
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
