From the BBC:
“Israel-Gaza: Netanyahu says
militants 'set back by years'”
Israel's nine-day bombardment of
Gaza has "set Hamas back by many years", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has said. Two foreign farm workers were killed by rockets fired by
Palestinian militants into southern Israel on Tuesday. Israel continued its air
strikes on Gaza. In the West Bank, at least three Palestinians were killed by
Israeli police during protests near Ramallah. Diplomatic efforts to end the
violence have met with little success. France has filed a draft resolution with
the UN Security Council, in co-ordination with Egypt and Jordan, calling for a
ceasefire. Earlier on Tuesday, Israel briefly opened a border crossing into
Gaza to allow a convoy of aid to enter. However, the crossing was closed again
after it came under fire from Palestinian mortars and rockets.
What did Netanyahu say? Mr
Netanyahu said Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, had been
dealt "unexpected blows" and that operations would "continue for
as long as it takes to restore calm" for all Israeli citizens. At
least 215 people, including almost 100 women and children, have been killed in
Gaza so far, according to its health ministry. In Israel 12 people,
including two children, have been killed, its medical service says. On
Tuesday Israel said at least 150 militants were among those killed in Gaza.
Hamas does not give casualty figures for fighters.
What happened in the West
Bank? Many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem took
part in a general strike to protest at the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Areas
inside Israel with an Israeli Arab majority, such as Haifa, also joined the
strike. Public services, schools and many businesses were closed. There
were clashes in several locations. In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Israeli
police said they were fired on during a "violent riot" and returned
fire. Three Palestinians in the area were killed, the health ministry
said. Another Palestinian was killed after he attempted to attack soldiers in
Hebron, the Israeli army said. There were also scuffles at the Damascus
Gate in Jerusalem, where Israeli troops made several arrests.
What happened at the border
crossing? Earlier on Tuesday, Israel opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to
allow aid into Gaza. The UN welcomed the decision, but also urged Israel to
open the main Erez crossing, so that humanitarian workers, as well as supplies,
could get in. However, as the convoy of aid lorries entered Gaza,
Palestinian militants fired mortars at the area. Two Thai nationals working on
a farm 14km (nine miles) from the border were killed. As a result,
Israel closed the crossing again. An Israeli soldier near Erez was slightly
injured, the military said. Meanwhile at the Rafah crossing with Egypt,
the only entry point to Gaza not controlled by Israel, a separate convoy of 15
lorries carrying fuel and 18 loaded with food and medicine entered the
territory. The UN humanitarian agency Ocha said 52,000 people in Gaza
had been displaced, of whom 47,000 had fled to UN schools.
Diplomatic deadlock In a
statement, France said its draft Security Council resolution was compiled
during a video-conference with Egypt's leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's
King Abdullah II. The US has blocked previous attempts to issue a joint
Security Council statement calling for an immediate ceasefire. The US,
the EU and other powers have called for an end to the conflict. Egypt has been
seeking to mediate between Israel and Hamas. However, Israel has said it
will continue its offensive for now, in an effort to destroy the capabilities
of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Israel estimated that at the start of the
conflict, the two Palestinian militant factions had an arsenal of about 12,000
rockets or mortars in Gaza. As of 15:00 GMT on Tuesday, militants had
fired some 3,300 rockets at Israel, of which 450 to 500 fell short, causing
casualties in Gaza, an Israeli military spokesman said. The UN Security
Council held a brief meeting on Tuesday but broke up after less than an hour.
What caused the violence? The
fighting between Israel and Hamas was triggered by days of escalating clashes
between Palestinians and Israeli police at a holy hilltop compound in East
Jerusalem. The site is revered by both Muslims, who call it the Haram
al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), and Jews, for whom it is known as the Temple
Mount. Hamas demanded Israel remove police from there and the nearby
predominantly Arab district of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face
eviction by Jewish settlers. Hamas launched rockets when its ultimatum went
unheeded. Palestinian anger had already been stoked by weeks of rising
tension in East Jerusalem, inflamed by a series of confrontations with police
since mid-April.
What makes Jerusalem so holy? It
was further fuelled by Israel's annual celebration of its capture of East
Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, known as Jerusalem Day. The fate
of the city, with its deep religious and national significance to both sides,
lies at the heart of the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict. Israel in
effect annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 and considers the entire city its
capital, though this is not recognised by the vast majority of other countries.
Palestinians claim the eastern half of Jerusalem as the capital of a
hoped-for state of their own.
^ Sadly, the Palestinians in The West Bank and the Palestinians in Jerusalem united in support of the Palestinians in Gaza today. That means they are officially supporting the Hamas Terrorists and so all other statements I made about the Palestinians in The West Bank and the Palestinians in Jerusalem do not hold-up anymore.
The Israeli
retaliatory attacks on Gaza (and on any Hamas supporters) should only stop
after Hamas and the Palestinians stop firing over 3,000 missiles into Israel.
The different countries of the world, the US, the UN, the EU, etc. should be focusing
their attention on Iran, Syria, Lebanon and other countries that are supporting
Hamas and Gaza.
Israel is now dealing with a 6
Front Intensive War:
1st Front: Hamas/Palestinians in
Gaza firing over 3,200 missiles into Israel in the past 9 days.
2nd Front: Palestinians in Syria
along with Syrians firing rockets into Israel from Syria.
3rd Front: Palestinians in Jordan
along with Jordanians throwing bombs into Israel from Jordan and trying to
breach the land border.
4th Front: Palestinians in
Lebanon along with Lebanese throwing rockets into Israel from Lebanon and
trying to breach the land border.
5th Front: Fighting in the
Quasi-War with Iran (who has bombed Israeli shipping in the past few weeks.)
6th Front: Palestinians in The
West Bank, Palestinians in Jerusalem and Israeli Arabs throwing Molotov
Cocktails, bombs, ramming their cars, etc. at Israeli Soldiers, Police and
Civilians for the sole purpose of killing them.
If you don't support Israel's
right to protect itself and the continued use of retaliatory attacks until
Hamas, the Palestinians, the Syrians, the Lebanese, the Jordanians and the
Iranians stop their attacks then you are an Anti-Semite. ^
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