Tuesday - July 08, 2014

Escalation In Israel

Amid barrage of rockets, Iron Dome makes 2nd interception over greater Tel Aviv

For second time on Tuesday evening, Gaza terrorists launch rocket at central Israel; air raid sirens sounds in Jerusalem, central Israel; Tel Aviv opens public bomb shelters; no injuries reported.

Israel came under a heavy barrage of rocket fire on Tuesday night, with code red sirens sounding off in central Israel, the Jerusalem area and as far North as Binyamina.

More than 40 rockets were fired into Israel in the biggest ever salvo of long-range fire from Gaza.

The Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted a number of rockets and no significant injuries have been reported in the attack.

An Iron Dome battery intercepted a projectile over the greater Tel Aviv area for the second time on Tuesday evening.

Two loud thuds were heard by residents in downtown Jerusalem shortly after a rocket siren went off in the capital at approximately 10 p.m. Thousands of city residents promptly entered bomb shelters, while others remained outside and in area cafes.

According to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld none of the rockets fired from Gaza landed directly in the city of Jerusalem, although two rockets likely landed just outside the city.

Air raid sirens were also activated in cities including Rishon Lezion, Bat Yam, Holon and Bnei Barak, but sirens were not sounded in Tel Aviv.

The Israel Air Force struck 50 targets in Gaza in past two hours as part of its ongoing Operation Protective Edge.

Earlier on Tuesday evening, the Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted a projectile near Tel Aviv over the city of Rishon Lezion, as air raid sirens sounded in central Israeli cities for the first time amid recent escalations.

No injuries or damage were reported in the attack, which marked a widening of the range of rocket fire the Gaza Strip.

Siren sounds in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem; 16 killed in IDF strikes in Gaza

Netanyahu: The operation in Gaza could take some time; U.S. condemns rocket fire toward Israel; five armed Palestinians shot dead after crossing border into Israel; Israeli government approves call-up of 40,000 reservists.

Israel launched a series of airstrikes on Gaza militants early on Tuesday, dubbing the offensive “Operation Protective Edge.” More than 50 targets were hit in the offensive.

Meanwhile, rocket fire on Israel’s south continued. According to the IDF, eight projectiles were launched between 2 and 6 A.M.

Militants in Gaza fired more than 85 rockets toward Israel on Monday evening, with Hamas openly claiming responsibility for some of the launches for the first time since the current round of fighting began. The rockets hit several major cities in the south and, also for the first time in the current fighting, caused alarms to go off in central Israel and Jerusalem. The barrages lightly wounded two Israelis and caused property damage.

The Israel Defense Forces called up 1,500 infantry and Border Police reservists in preparation for further escalation, after the security cabinet decided on Monday afternoon to intensify attacks against Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip. A senior official said the ministers want to refrain from a large-scale military operation for now, but they instructed the army to prepare for significant expansion of its current operations.

Palestinian officials said Gaza was bracing for further Israeli attacks. They said Hamas had evacuated likely targets and its leaders had gone underground lest Israel attempt to assassinate them. Hamas also issued a statement on Monday night demanding that the Palestinian Authority take action against Israel, saying “national unity sometimes requires paying a price.”

Israeli television reported Tuesday that a rocket aimed at Tel Aviv was intercepted by its “Iron Dome” defense system after the country carried out airstrikes on at least 100 sites in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip as part of a new offensive aimed at halting rocket attacks by militants.

The apparent rocket attack would be the deepest strike by Palestinian militants since Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Air raid sirens went off in the city, which is Israel’s commercial capital and about 45 miles north of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military didn’t immediately confirm the report, but an explosion was heard shortly afterward.

The earlier strikes prompted President Obama to urge both sides to exercise restraint.

But the Israeli military said the strikes would help “retrieve stability to the residents of southern Israel, eliminate Hamas’ capabilities and destroy terror infrastructure operating against the State of Israel and its civilians.”

The airstrikes resulted in five Palestinian deaths and over a dozen injured, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

“We have repeatedly warned Hamas that this must stop and Israel’s defense forces are currently acting to put an end of this once and for all,” said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli military said “Operation Protective Edge” looks to strike the Islamic Hamas group and end the rocket fire that has reached deeper into Israel and intensified in recent weeks.

The attacks come as tensions have soared over the killing of three Israeli teenagers and the apparent revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager by three Jewish suspects.

Nearly 300 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel in recent weeks, including a barrage of close to 100 projectiles on Monday alone, the military said, a huge surge after years of relative quiet that followed a previous Israeli campaign to root out Gaza rocket launchers.

Israel had signaled that it would not launch a larger offensive if the militant group Hamas ceased the rocket fire. But the same time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the military to prepare options for every scenario.

Naturally, our Godking pResident Obama has high praise for Hamas, but none for Israel.

President Barack Obama offered strong praise for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an opinion piece published Tuesday in an Israeli newspaper, but had little to say about the other key player in the crisis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“In President Abbas, Israel has a counterpart committed to a two-state solution and security cooperation with Israel,” Obama wrote in the daily Haaretz. The president offered no parallel praise for Netanyahu, who is only mentioned by name once in the piece.

Obama’s comments, published in Hebrew, Arabic and English, were his first public comments on Middle Eastern affairs since the murder of three Israeli teenagers last month touched off a new round of regional violence and deepening mistrust.

Link: 40,000 troops called up
Link: Hamas declares all Israeli citizens are now valid missile targets

This is going to get much worse before it gets any better.

Posted by Drew458     on 07/08/2014 at 02:35 PM   
Filed Under: • Israel • War On Terror •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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