Israel Seeks to Gain Advantage by Reversing Course in Gaza

[Jefferson23]

Walking away from a cease-fire deprives Hamas of a PR victory, and leaves Israel with options on how to proceed
Palestinian carries a wounded boy following what witnesses said was an Israeli air strike at a United Nations-run school, where displaced Palestinains take refuge, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip

The war continues and there is no victor, but Israel is gradually pulling most of its troops out of the Gaza Strip in a sign that in the course of a weekend, it decided to take a completely different tack in its war with Hamas.


After four attempts at a humanitarian cease-fire over the past few weeks, including a much vaunted one Friday that was supposed to last for 72 hours but instead collapsed after two, Israel decided that it was no longer pursuing a truce with Hamas. Instead, it opted for a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, save a new buffer zone it is carving out along the border, in the belief that there was more to be gained from walking away from what had begun to seem like a merry-go-round of failed cease-fires.

On the one hand, the decision is a stunning reversal from what many had begun to expect from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose more hawkish Cabinet members have been calling for a reoccupation of the Gaza Strip. On the other, the decision to pull back ground troops while declaring, as Netanyahu did Saturday, that the operation continues, is a formula for the blood-soaked Israel-Hamas war to plod on while the world watches the death toll in Gaza rise and international diplomats grow increasingly befuddled by the question of what to propose next.

http://time.com/3076594/israel-gaza-cease-fire-hamas-netanyahu/

[COLGATE4]

1. Damned if they stay. Damned if they leave. nt

[King_David]

6. It "deprives Hamas of a PR victory"

Good

[COLGATE4]

7. Not for some of the Hamas admirers. nt

[Jefferson23]

2. Police kill driver of excavator after 'attack' leaves Israeli dead

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian man who rammed an excavator into a bus in East Jerusalem Monday, knocking the bus on its side and running another man over, medics and police said.

They said the man who was run over by the excavator was killed as well.

"A 25-year-old man was run over by the excavator and killed, and the bus driver was moderately to lightly injured," emergency services spokesman Zaki Heller told AFP, saying another four people were lightly hurt in the incident which police described as a "terror attack."

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted: "One person confirmed dead in terror attack in Jerusalem. Terrorist also shot and killed at scene. Forensics working at scene."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=718135

[Jefferson23]

3. Israeli strike kills 8-year-old girl despite truce

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces targeted a home in Gaza City early Monday, killing a young girl and injuring dozens of Palestinians just minutes after a humanitarian ceasefire came into effect, health officials said.

Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said an airstrike hit the home of the al-Bakri family in al-Shati camp, killing eight-year-old Aseel Muhammad al-Bakri and leaving 30 people injured.

The wounded, among them children, were taken to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Witnesses and several AFP correspondents reported hearing the whistle of a missile fired from an F16 warplane before it crashed into a house wedged between two tall buildings inside the camp.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=718005

[Jefferson23]

4. Rocket fire, attacks on Gaza amid ceasefire

Hours before a humanitarian ceasefire was to come into effect, rocket fire continued on southern Israel; IDF hits over 100 targets in Gaza overnight, killing senior Islamic Jihad commander.

Yoav Zitun
Latest Update: 08.04.14, 13:20

Rockets were intercepted over Ashdod and Ashkelon Monday morning with additional rockets hitting southern Israeli communities, hours before a humanitarian ceasefire was set to come into effect. Additional rockets hit Israel after the deal came into effect.

Palestinians immediately accused Israel of breaking the ceasefire by bombing a house in Gaza City, however the IDF claimed that the attack took place before the ceasefire came into effect.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4554464,00.html

[bemildred]

30. Israel's seven-hour Gaza truce ends; violence hits Jerusalem

(Reuters) - A brief Israeli truce to allow aid to reach Palestinians ended on Monday amid accusations of strikes by both sides, while Jerusalem was rocked by two attacks that appeared to be a backlash against the war in Gaza.

Palestinians said Israel had bombed a refugee camp in Gaza City, killing an eight-year-old girl and wounding 29 other people, in an air attack after the start of the truce.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said there had been no strikes since 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) (0800 am BST), when the seven-hour truce started. She said four rockets had been fired from Gaza later and two had crashed inside Israel. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

In Jerusalem, a Palestinian driving an excavator ran over and killed an Israeli and then overturned a bus, in what police described as a terrorist attack. Police shot the excavator driver dead; there were no passengers on the bus.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/08/04/uk-mideast-gaza-idUKKBN0FV04D20140804

[Jefferson23]

5. French FM: Israel rights don't justify 'carnage'

Associated Press
Published: 08.04.14, 15:28 / Israel News


Israel's right to security does not justify the "massacre" of civilians, France's foreign minister said Monday in unusually harsh language against a close ally. The French president said Gaza was among the wars that called into question any ability to remain neutral.


"How many more deaths must there be to stop what must be called the carnage in Gaza? The tradition of friendship between France and Israel is old and Israel's right to security is total, but this right does not justify the killing of children and the massacre of civilians," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4554754,00.html

[bemildred]

8. Notice how the focus is still on how things look, on "depriving Hamas of a PR victory".

And "options on how to proceed".

On maintaining the illusiuon of control and superiority.

[Jefferson23]

9. Yea, the words carefully chosen...who they imagine buys this shit is beyond me.

Maybe someone with an ounce of integrity will stop calling for another
round of "peace talks"..they never existed in the first place.

[bemildred]

10. Many Israelis buy it, they are the intended audience.

Not unlike the exceptionalist rhetoric we are subjected to here in the USA, in response our continuing array of foreign policy debacles abroad.

[Jefferson23]

17. True. The Sunday morning talking heads were giving it their all for Israel, yesterday. n/t

[bemildred]

11. Livni Slams Naysayers, Praises Success of Gaza Operation

Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni (HaTnua) had harsh words for the “sour spin”, as she put it, of the Israeli media on Operation Protective Edge.

"Take a look at the current situation and what we have achieved thus far," said Livni in an interview with IDF Radio Monday. "Their leadership is still burrowed in, and they don’t dare show their heads above ground ...they have 1,800 dead and have not attained even one of their goals."

"With them, there will always be the one who will stick his head out of his bunker to say ‘We won!’, and with us, there will always be someone who will rush to cry out, 'We lost!'" she added.

“However,” stressed Livni, “there is not anything that the military echelons set out to do that we did not give our approval for.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183706

[bemildred]

12. NSA Has 'Far-Reaching' Partnership With Israeli Intelligence Agency

Documents published Monday by The Intercept revealed the "far-reaching" extent of the U.S. National Security Agency's collaboration with Israeli intelligence services. The revelations came as the U.S. State Department criticized Israel for its "disgraceful" shelling of a U.N. school, and the death toll in the Israeli offensive in Gaza surpassed 1,800 Palestinians and 60 Israelis.

The documents, some from as recently as 2013, show that under agreements with the Israelis, the U.S. has provided cash, raw data and analysis, much of it directed against "Palestinian terrorism."

The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald wrote that the documents "underscore the indispensable, direct involvement of the U.S. government and its key allies in Israeli aggression against its neighbors. That covert support is squarely at odds with the posture of helpless detachment typically adopted by Obama officials and their supporters."

Several of the documents published center on the assistance the NSA provides to the Israeli SIGINT National Unit, the secretive signals intelligence organization also known as Unit 8200. The Israelis work together with the U.S., Britain and Canada to collect signals from throughout the Middle East.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/04/nsa-partnership-israel_n_5646263.html

[bemildred]

13. Irish government stance on Gaza ‘shamefully silent’ - Adams

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD has described the Irish Government’s stance on the Israeli assault on Gaza as “shamefully silent” and he accused it of hiding “behind the EU rather than speak out in its own right”.

Gerry Adams said:

“The Irish government’s response to the slaughter of civilians in Gaza was to abstain in a crucial vote at the UN Human Rights Council.

“This has been used by Israeli spokespersons as evidence of EU support for Israeli actions.

http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/31154

[bemildred]

14. Hamas Leader: We’re Not Firing From Civilian Neighborhoods

"We kill soldiers, they kill civilians"

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal dismissed claims in a new interview that the militant group in control of the Gaza Strip fires rockets into Israel from civilian neighborhoods and uses Palestinians as human shields.

In a wide-ranging sit-down with CNN that aired on Sunday, Mashaal called the group’s militants “disciplined” and disputed the idea that they intentionally fire on Israel from densely populated civilian neighborhoods in order to provoke Israel into killing civilians. “It is unfortunate that the U.S. administration and President Obama have adopted the Israeli narrative, which is a lie,” he said. “Hamas sacrifices itself for its people, and does not use its people as human shields to protect its soldiers.”

“Look at the results,” he added. “How many Israeli civilians did our rockets kill? Israel knows the number. Meanwhile, how many Palestinian civilians has Israel killed?”

http://time.com/3079252/khaled-mashaal-hamas-gaza-israel-war/

[bemildred]

15. Cornwall MP calls for Navy-led humanitarian mission to Gaza

A Cornwall MP who condemned Israel for "terrorising" civilians in Gaza has urged the Government to send a Royal Navy hospital ship to lead humanitarian relief efforts in the region.

St Ives MP Andrew George has written to Defence Secretary Michael Fallon to call for the immediate deployment of RFA Argus, which is currently based in Falmouth, Cornwall.

The MP last week sent an extremely strongly-worded letter to David Cameron describing the Israeli Government's military assault on Gaza as a "disproportionate act of cold blooded murder".

Mr George has also approached two Cornwall-based humanitarian aid relief organisations – ShelterBox and Tom Henderson's Beyond Disaster Relief – to enquire about capacity to mount a shelter relief effort, should that be necessary and the resource and intent of the UK Government is provided.

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Cornwall-MP-calls-Navy-led-humanitarian-mission/story-22067906-detail/story.html

[bemildred]

16. 2 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Khan Younis

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Mahmoud Zaki Laham, 35, and Ahmad Abu al-Halim Muhammad al-Astal, 26, were killed in Israeli attacks on Khan Younis on Monday, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=718124

[bemildred]

18. Child killed, dozens injured during 7-hour Gaza ‘ceasefire’

Despite the promise of a seven-hour ceasefire in parts of Gaza on Monday, a child was killed and 30 others wounded during a strike on a refugee camp in Gaza City, according to local medics.

Local witnesses and several journalists based at a nearby hotel reported hearing a missile fired from a warplane before it crashed into a three-story house in the Shati refugee camp. The strike killed an eight-year-old girl, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

A journalist in Gaza City said the strike hit at 0706 GMT, just six minutes into the ceasefire. The Israeli army said it was looking into the incident but gave no further comment.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli army announced a unilateral seven-hour halt to firing, to begin at 0700 GMT. The truce was called to ease the entry of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian strip.

http://www.france24.com/en/20140804-israel-declares-seven-hour-partial-ceasefire-gaza-strip/

[bemildred]

19. 10 journalists killed, 38 injured in Israeli attacks

Ten press members were killed and 38 others were injured in the four-week Israeli attacks on Gaza, Palestinian official sources said Monday.

More than 1,800 people, including 401 children and 238 women, were killed and around 9,500 were injured since July 7 in the Israeli attacks which did not discriminate between civilian and military targets.

Israel pounded many schools, hospitals, ambulances of United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), mosques, and press centers as well as the Anadolu Agency (AA) headquarters twice in Gaza.

Twelve press centers were targeted during Israeli strikes, while 16 journalists' homes were also shelled as the campaign enters its 28th day, according to numbers from the Union of Palestinian Radio and Television.

http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/368503--10-journalists-killed-38-injured-in-israeli-attacks

[Jefferson23]

22. Courageous good people:

The press members killed in the Israeli airstrikes are as follows:-

1- Sameh Al-Aryan - El-Aqsa TV

2- Rami Reyyan - Palestinian News Network

3- Ahid Zakkut - Palestine TV

4- Bahaddin Gurayb - Palestine TV

5- Muhammed Zahir - Risale Media Institution

6- Izzet Al-Diheyr - Menbar el-Hurriye Radio

7- Abdurrahman Abu Hin - Kitap Channel

8- Khalit Hamad - Continue Production Company

9- Hamid Sehab – Media 24

10- Necla Al-Hajj - Freelance Journalist and Activist

[bemildred]

20. David Cameron Stops Short Of Branding Gaza School Attack 'Criminal'

David Cameron has declined to say whether he believes Israel's actions in Gaza are "criminal" but said the United Nations had been right to condemn an its attack on a school, as a tentative ceasefire takes effect.

The prime minister was criticised by Ed Miliband over the weekend for failing to take a tough enough line with Tel Aviv over the crisis. The Labour leader said the UK needed to send a clear message that the military operation was "wrong and unacceptable". Downing Street accusing Miliband of attempting to use the bloody conflict to "play politics".

Nick Clegg has also been far more critical of Israel than Cameron. The Lib Dem leader has accused Israel of pursuing a "deliberately disproportionate form of collective punishment" in Gaza.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast earlier today, Cameron said UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon had been right to condemn an Israeli strike near a UN-run school in Gaza as "a moral outrage and a criminal act".

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/04/gaza-david-cameron-ed-miliband_n_5646918.html

[bemildred]

21. Anonymous declares war on Israel

Cape Town - Global cyber hacker group Anonymous on Monday declared a cyber war against Israel.

According to Gawker.com, the group took down the website of the Israeli government on Monday with a DDOS attack.

This attack is effective as it overwhelms targeted servers with requests and causes the server to crash.

Anonymous seems to have empathy for the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza which have been under Israeli bombardment since 8 July.

http://www.fin24.com/Tech/News/Anonymous-declares-war-on-Israel-20140804

[Jefferson23]

24. They have done this before, I think? n/t

[bemildred]

27. Yeah, it's basically vandalism, but annoying to the powers that be. nt

[azurnoir]

28. Israel murdered an #Anonymous. He was Legion. 1 of us: Tayyeb Shehadah RIP

One of them, Tayyeb Abu Shehada, was assassinated by a shot in the head in Huwwara, West Bank of Palestine near Nablus on Friday after both Israeli settlers and soldiers opened fire on demonstrators. He was killed by sniperfire with a shot beneath the eye as can be seen on the photo below slightly below the right eye on the Guy Fawkes mask he was wearing. he adored #Anonymous.

http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2014/07/25/today-israel-murdered-an-anonymous-he-was-legion-1-of-us-tayyeb-shehadah-rip/

[Jefferson23]

29. I was not aware of that...damn. n/t

[bemildred]

23. Gaza Crisis: British Aid Worker 'Killed in Rafah Air Strike'

The Foreign Office is "urgently" investigating reports that a British national has been killed in Israel's 'Operation Protective Edge' in Gaza.

The man, believed to be Kadir Islam from the Lancashire town of Rochdale, reportedly died in an Israeli air strike on the southern Gaza town of Rafah yesterday while carrying medical supplies to a nearby hospital.

"We are aware of the reports of the death of a British national in Rafah and are urgently looking into them," said a spokesman for the department.

There has been no official confirmation of a British aid worker's death as the Foreign Office investigation continues.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/gaza-crisis-british-aid-worker-killed-rafah-air-strike-1459678

[bemildred]

25. Questions of Weapons and Warnings in Past Barrage on a Shelter

Jabaliya: An examination of an Israeli barrage that put a line of at least 10 shells through a United Nations school sheltering displaced Palestinians here last week suggests that Israeli troops paid little heed to warnings to safeguard such sites and may have unleashed weapons inappropriate for urban areas despite rising alarm over civilian deaths.

Inspection of the damage, a preliminary U.N. review that collected 30 pieces of shrapnel, and interviews with two dozen witnesses indicate that the predawn strikes on Wednesday, July 30, that killed 21 people at the school, in the crowded Jabaliya refugee camp, were likely to have come from heavy artillery not designed for precision use.

Israeli officials have argued throughout their 27-day air-and-ground campaign against Hamas, the militant group that dominates Gaza, that it is the enemy's insistence on operating near shelters and other humanitarian sites that endangers civilians. But in the Jabaliya case, they provided no evidence of such activity, and no explanation for the strike beyond saying that Palestinian militants were firing about 200 yards away.

"It was clear that they were not aiming at a specific house, but fired lots and it fell where it fell," said Abdel-Latif al-Seifi, whose three-story villa just beyond the school's north wall ended up with two large holes in its roof.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/questions-of-weapons-and-warnings-in-past-barrage-on-a-shelter-570612?curl=1407160803

[bemildred]

26. . nt