Arlene Kushner on Support -- From Both Arab World And Europe -- For Israel To Remove Hamas

From Arlene Kushner:

July 31, 2014

“Potentially a Huge Turn-Around”

Today I am feeling a far greater certainty that our government is going to see through this war to its necessary end.  That our prime minister is working with resolve, looking first at the people of our nation and not over his shoulder at Obama, or the UN.

Another 16,000 reservists have been called up and more troops were deployed in Gaza today.  We are stepping up the pace of the fighting, and expanding the arena of battle, at the same time that we are seeking and destroying tunnels.

Credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90

We have sent a delegation to Egypt, where a ceasefire is being discussed.  But Netanyahu says ceasefire or no ceasefire, we will not stop our work.  He will not accept any ceasefire proposal that does not allow us to complete our work on the tunnels.

~~~~~~~~~~

In fact, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s words spoken before this morning’s Security Cabinet meeting suggesting that we are now aiming for the full demilitarization of Gaza (emphasis added):

Arlene Kushner on the Pressure on Israel for a Ceasefire -- And Why It's a Bad Idea

From Arlene Kushner:
July 30, 2014

Struggle All the Way

Let me begin with a video of something I described last night from the Shloshim ceremonies at the Great Synagogue.  This is Lt. Col. Shai Abramson, Chief Cantor of the IDF, singing with choir in prayer for the soldiers of the IDF:



For strength.  (And with thanks to Linda O.)

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I have joked about how I would have to put a posting out every two hours, in order to keep my readers abreast of events.  But, in truth, it is no joke.  At best, in a communication such as this one, I can only summarize. And so I ask, please, that you excuse any accidental omissions of significance.

A Timeline Of Hamas Ceasefire Violations

Israel's Operation Protective Edge is being carried out in Gaza in self-defense against the attacks of  Hamas. In clear violation of international law, Hamas -- as well as the other terrorist organizations in Gaza -- have fired thousands of rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilians. In addition, Hamas has dug terror tunnels from Gaza into Israeli territory in order to carry out terror attacks against Israelis.

During this time, while Israel has respected numerous ceasefires for the benefit of the residents of Gaza, Hamas has violated all the ceasefires. Hamas even violated a humanitarian ceasefire that they themselves initiated.

In addition, Hamas also violated the July 15 ceasefire that was initiated by Egypt and supported by most of the international community, including the Arab League -- and accepted by Israel. If Hamas had respected this ceasefire, Israel's ground operation would not have begun and much loss of life on both sides would have been avoided.

Here is a timeline of Hamas ceasefire violations:

Efraim Inbar: No Economic Aid to Hamas-Ruled Gaza

The following by Efraim Inbar is reposted here with permission of the Middle East Forum

No Economic Aid to Hamas-Ruled Gaza

by Efraim Inbar
BESA Center Perspectives
July 29, 2014

http://www.meforum.org/4764/no-economic-aid-to-hamas-ruled-gaza

_{EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The developing international consensus to offer Gaza economic aid in exchange for a ceasefire is a moral and strategic mistake. As long as Hamas rules Gaza, funds sent to Gaza are likely to be used for aggression against Israel and the personal use of Hamas leaders. The world should not be rewarding the most extreme Palestinians for violence and terror.}

With terror tunnels costing $3 million apiece and all the concrete it can put its hands on, Hamas has neglected providing for the needs of the people in Gaza.

The developing international consensus to offer Gaza an economic package in order to convince Hamas to agree to a ceasefire is immoral and a strategic folly. It is also unlikely to be effective.

One of the main reasons for Hamas harassing several million Israelis by launching thousands of rockets and sending terrorists into Israel by tunnels, apart from the desire to kill Jews, is to rock the boat in order to get out of its dire economic conditions. Getting paid for stopping to shoot at Israeli civilians looks like the "protection money" collected by the Mafia.

The morality of pouring money into Gaza so that their civilians can live better remains questionable for as long as Hamas does not stop its terrorism against Israel. Unfortunately, establishing a clear connection between economic aid and political compliance is not on the agenda of the "peacemakers".

Arlene Kushner on the Damage Obama and Kerry Are Doing To Israel

From Arlene Kushner:
July 28, 2014

How It Is

A true story told last week by Col. Richard Kemp: He was given the opportunity to meet with several of our soldiers, and in one special instance met with a pilot in our air force. This pilot had had 17 missions aborted because civilians were spotted.  “You must be very frustrated,” said Col. Kemp, “going out on missions and being called back so many times.”

“Oh, no, sir” replied the pilot.  “I was glad.  I wouldn’t want it on my conscience that I had killed innocent people.”

Col. Kemp calls our army the most moral in the world.

~~~~~~~~~~

It seems as if we stand alone among the nations of the world.  Yes! there are individual people – very good people - with us. Some of them write to me.  Yet we face situations that are not just severely unacceptable, but unbelievable.

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Growing Call For Hamas To Be Disarmed

It is becoming increasingly clear that the kind of ceasefire agreements between Hamas and Israel that brought temporary quiet in the past just won't do anymore. Given the range of missiles that Hamas has launched against civilian targets in Israel there is an increasing insistence that this time Hamas must be disarmed:

• The EU (EU calls for disarmament of terrorist groups in Gaza)
  

  "The EU calls on Hamas to immediately put an end to these acts and to renounce violence. All terrorist groups in Gaza must disarm."
  

Anne Bayefsky: Depravity at the UN Human Rights Council

For Immediate Release: July 24, 2014

Contact: info@humanrightsvoices.org Follow us on Twitter

Depravity at the UN Human Rights Council This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on The Jerusalem Post. The UN Human Rights Council held a special session in Geneva on July 23, 2014 to declare effectively that Israelis do not have human rights. The vote was 29 in favor, 1 against and 17 abstentions. The Obama administration voted against – after joining and legitimizing the virulently anti-Jewish Council for the past five years, and now feigning disappointment for American cameras. The Europeans abstained because they did not want to upset their violent Muslim minorities, and because their sordid past didn’t leave the resolution’s message too foreign in any case. A few cowardly countries that Israelis have magnanimously befriended over the years also abstained. But the majority of the UN world cheered – literally. Speakers during the procession of hatemongers at the Council were greeted with applause. As is their wont, CNN, the New York Times and company derived from this spectacle the lesson that Israel is pathetic, isolated and doomed. But the real takeaway is the polar opposite.

Arlene Kushner: Israel Cannot A Ceasefire Until The Threat of Hamas Terror Tunnels Is Neutralized

(Note: the post begins with the FAA ban, which has since been suspended)

From Arlene Kushner:
July 23, 2014

Hold On, Hold On!
 

We buried another lone soldier today.  Max Steinberg, 24, a Golani soldier who came from Los Angeles just a couple of years ago.  Again, a call went out for people to come to the funeral, held at the national cemetery on Har Herzl, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said: “Over 30,000 people came to give you the honor of a hero. The strength of the Jewish people lies in people like you.”

There are tears that do not go away.


Credit: LoneTreeBeer

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Anne Bayefsky: Ban Ki-moon's Shameful Message in Israel's Hour of Need

For Immediate Release: July 22, 2014

Contact: info@humanrightsvoices.org Follow us on Twitter

Ban Ki-moon's Shameful Message in Israel's Hour of Need This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on The Jerusalem Post. It is hard to imagine two more unwelcome, uninvited visitors to Israel in the middle of a war against Palestinian terrorists than UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry. But even more unwelcome is that they are working together. Their common cause is that although Israel has a right of self-defense in theory, Israel ought to be prevented from exercising this right in practice. Events over the past week have provided an extraordinary demonstration of this reprehensible nexus. On July 16, 2014, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a report stating: “the Israeli military delivered text messages to virtually all the residents of Ash Shuja’iyya and Az Zaitun neighborhoods in eastern Gaza city, approximately 100,000 people, warning them to leave their homes by 8 am today (16 July), ahead of attacks to be launched in the area.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also made phone calls and distributed leaflets. OCHA then describes what came next: “Subsequently, the Palestinian Ministry of Interior in Gaza reportedly instructed the residents to…not flee the area.” As a result, OCHA admits: “the vast majority decided to stay.” This story tells us both that Israel adhered to the Geneva Convention demand of providing “effective advance warning” to civilians and that Hamas violated the rule forbidding parties to “direct the movement of …civilians in order to shield military objectives from attack.” What was Hamas trying to protect when it used Palestinians as human shields in Shuja’iyya? The IDF refers to Shuja’iyya as the Hamas’ “terror fortress” in the Gaza Strip. The IDF has found more than ten openings to tunnels in Shuja’iyya and since July 8, Hamas has fired over 140 rockets at Israel from this neighborhood alone. As IDF Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz put it: “Hamas has built a war machine in residential areas.” This is another violation of the laws of armed conflict. By deliberately locating its terrorist infrastructure in the midst of Shuja’iyya’s civilian population, Hamas violates the prohibition on “locating legitimate military targets within or near densely populated areas." Following the warnings, the IDF went into the Shuja’iyya neighborhood – and is still there – for the purpose of destroying the tunnels that have been designed and used to attack Israeli civilians. This is Hamas’ most basic war crime of all. In the words of the Geneva Conventions, civilians “shall not be the object of attack.” On the night of July 19, 2014 in separate incidents in the Shuja’iyya area, Israel lost 13 soldiers, more soldiers in a single night than Israel lost in the whole of the three week 2008-2009 ground offensive Operation Cast Lead. These soldiers died in an ambush. An anti-tank mine. Trapped in a burning building. The IDF affords us the context. They “encountered fierce Hamas fighting in the dense urban environment” as Hamas tried “to defend their tunnel infrastructure.” In these circumstances, Palestinian civilians who remained in Shuja’iyya – despite the warnings – died. Data on fatalities, in OCHA’s own words, are “preliminary and subject to change based on further verification,” so the number of civilian casualties is unclear. What is clear is the outrageous reaction of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. On July 20, 2014 he said: “dozens more civilians, including children, have been killed in Israeli military strikes in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood in Gaza. I condemn this atrocious action. Israel must exercise maximum restraint and do far more to protect civilians.” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon speaks at a joint news conference  with Qatar's foreign minister Photo: REUTERS Ban Ki-moon said nothing about Hamas having failed to protect Palestinian civilians. He said nothing about Hamas having put Palestinian civilians directly in harm’s way. In fact he said nothing about any “atrocious action” by Hamas. He also made no demand that Hamas “restrain” itself from fulfilling its stated goal, namely, that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” For the UN, no move that Israel makes short of surrender to the Palestinian mob, will ever be sufficient. When Palestinian civilians did heed Israel’s warnings and did not die, on July 16, 2014 OCHA complained “the relocation experience has been…traumatic…Women have reported stress due to their inability to maintain…modesty norms…[in] overcrowded spaces...” Five million Israelis have just seconds to run for a bomb shelter and save their lives. Older people have died from heart failure when the sirens go off. Small children flee rockets raining down on their kindergartens and spend hours trapped between four walls day after day. Let alone the parents and brothers and sisters of the 50,000 plus heroic young men and women on the front lines who spend every waking minute dreading a phone call, haunted by the prospect of kidnapping by very real monsters. The truth is the UN doesn’t give a damn about the suffering of Israelis. On July 18, 2014 the giant UN apparatus assembled in Geneva for the world press. There was OCHA, and the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA). Not one of these organizations said one word about Israelis. This is not merely indifference; it is gross negligence and collaboration. On July 17, 2014 UNRWA confessed to “discovering” rockets in one of their schools, then refused to make the photographs public, and promptly gave the rockets back to the rocketeers – or as UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness delicately called them, “the local authorities.” UNRWA had the audacity to claim “this incident is the first of its kind…” knowing full well that Hamas has directly involved UNRWA schools in its war crimes before – with video evidence over the past decade to prove it. Canadian reporter Patrick Martin happened to be visiting UNRWA’s Fakhoura School on July 15, 2014 and described the experience this way: “Heading toward the exit, we were overwhelmed by the jet-like sound of two rockets being launched from somewhere near the school. Hamas, or some militant group, clearly is hoping the Israelis won’t strike at the launchers…because they’re close to the school.” He adds that the kids were enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the weaponry; “as the Hamas-made missiles screamed off into the sky...the kids all cheered,” and one boy identified the make and model as the kind aimed at Tel Aviv. Israelis, by contrast, are not cheering Palestinian civilian deaths. On June 20, 2014, the UN Secretary-General gave a major speech on UN action on Syria and unashamedly declared: “Since June last year…the United Nations has not been issuing any statistics of death tolls. It is impossible and very sad and tragic to count all these dead bodies.” The UN does not count Syrian dead because it’s too sad, but throwing around unverified numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties serves a more palatable political endgame. When Ban Ki-moon comes knocking, therefore, his bona fides are non-existent. So why is Secretary Kerry by his side? On June 20, 2014, responding to a question from CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about Palestinian civilian casualties, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel is “trying to be as pinpointed as we can.” Shortly thereafter, Secretary Kerry was caught on camera by Fox News talking to an aide who was apparently briefing him on the CNN conversation. Kerry reacted “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation.” Set aside the 273 civilians across Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, who have been killed unintentionally during the Obama administration’s limited endeavors to reduce terrorism. Think back to the President’s speech on America’s right to self-defense in the context of Syria – a country not on the U.S. border and not posing an imminent threat to three-quarters of the American population. Addressing the nation on September 10, 2013, Obama declared “the United States military doesn’t do pinpricks.” One rule for Israel and another for everybody else, evidently appeals to both the UN and the Obama administration. A shameful scheme in Israel’s hour of need. Anne Bayefsky is director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust. Follow her@AnneBayefsky.

For more human rights and United Nations coverage see www.HumanRightsVoices.org.

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Technorati Tag: Israel and Ban ki-Moon and Hamas and Operation Pillar of Defense.

Arlene Kushner: Update on Israel - Hamas War as Wagons of “Ceasefire” Are Circling

From Arlene Kushner:
July 21, 2014

“War Update”

Today was a day on which I had planned to skip posting. A busy day, starting with an event in the Knesset this morning (about which more in time). But I know I must write to update my readers, even if very briefly.

After I had written yesterday, news was released of 13 soldiers who died late Saturday night during the operation in Shejaia, near Gaza City. They were all from the Golani Brigade. Terribly painful news. Sad news, pulling at our entire nation.

http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Seven-Golani-soldiers-killed-in-Gaza-363528

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Arlene Kushner on Ceasefire Efforts -- and Whose Side Is Obama On?

From Arlene Kushner:

July 19, 2014

Motzei Shabbat (After Shabbat)

“Keep Going, Keep Going!”

I mentioned in my last post the intention to return to the issue of ceasefires, and I will do so below.  But I begin by noting that my greatest fear in this very necessary war we are waging now is that it should be terminated prematurely because of pressure for a ceasefire.  Yet, in spite of that persistent unease, I think not. It’s simply too blatantly clear that we must do now what should have been done years ago. 

Arlene Kushner on The Beginning Of Israel's Ground Forces Entering Gaza

From Arlene Kushner:
July 17, 2014

Ground Invasion into Gaza Begun
 

It is very very necessary, this invasion – which has been ordered by Prime Minister Netanyahu.


Credit: TimesofIsrael

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So let’s stop here for a prayer for the thousands of Israel’s soldiers who are now inside Gaza.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/15289#.U8g8IZvlrIW

“He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Forces...

“May the Almighty cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighters from every trouble and distress...and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor.”

Amen v’amen!

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Israeli Colonel Gives Background on Why Israel's Ground Invasion of Gaza Is Necessary

The Israel Project did a conference call earlier today with Israeli reserve Col. Miri Eisen, former deputy head of IDF's combat intelligence corps and former assistant to the director of Military intelligence, on this morning's tunnel attack by Hamas fighters -- where 13 Hamas fighters spilled out of an attack tunnel dug about 250 meters inside Israel. Their target was apparently Kibbutz Sufa, population approximately 150. They were carrying heavy weapons - 15 anti-tank weapons, Kalashnikovs with an enormous amount of ammunition, etc - with the intention of carrying out a mass casualty attack.

Here are some of the comments by Col. Eisen, which clarify the need for the ground invasion Israel has announced.

Are Muslims Turning Away From Islamic Extremism?

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

Muslims Turn away from Islamism

by Daniel Pipes
Jul 15, 2014
Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2014/07/muslims-turn-away-from-islamism

The Pew Research Center, a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, has the means to sample opinion with unique frequency and on a major scale. It has used its funds to track Muslim attitudes toward Islamism in general, toward specific terrorist groups in particular, and also suicide bombing over the past decade . The most recent study, "Concerns about Islamic Extremism on the Rise in Middle East," released on July 1, conducted among 14,244 respondents in 14 countries between April 10 to May 25, 2014, holds much interest. Pew summarized the overall results:

Arlene Kushner: Hamas Turns Down Ceasfire -- And Israel Dodges A Bullet

From Arlene Kushner:
July 15, 2014

PHEW!
 

What a rollercoaster ride the last 24 hours has been with regard to our war with Hamas.

Yesterday Egypt announced a proposal for a ceasefire: Both sides would stop firing, and then in 48 hours parties would convene in Cairo and – via an intermediary – discuss terms for a more permanent truce.  Kerry was said to be coming to Cairo to participate.

This really did not have a good feel to it, and there was anxiety in several quarters here regarding what appeared to be pending capitulation by our prime minister.  For word had come out that he was favoring acceptance of this proposal.  Was he going to say that we had done enough, and that it was now time for ‘quiet for quiet’?

Hamas Leadership Is Clear In Its Rejection of a Ceasefire

There should be no confusion over whether the ceasefire was rejected by Hamas as a whole or just its so-called "military wing".

The fact is that top Hamas leaders and spokespeople - including those from what is euphemistically called the Hamas "political wing" were quick and emphatic in the Hamas rejection of the Egyptian proposal:

Daniel Pipes on the Surprising Support for Israel, not Hamas

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

Surprising Support for Israel, not Hamas

by Daniel Pipes
Jul 11, 2014
Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2014/07/surprising-support-for-israel-not-hamas

The current Hamas assault on Israel has lured the predictable coven of Palestinian nationalists, Islamists, Leftists, and antisemites from the woodwork to bash the Jewish state. But, more surprisingly, Israel is getting support, or at least restraint and fairness, from unexpected sources:

Arlene Kushner on Miracles And Other Developments in Operation Protective Edge

From Arlene Kushner:
July 13, 2014

Faith and Struggle
 

I’ve written about the Iron Dome, which helps protect our citizens from rocket attacks, and about the shelters that are provided, as well as about the government guidelines that are released to keep people safe.

But there is a another significant factor – from my perspective and the perspective of many Jews both here in Israel and elsewhere – that I have not yet mentioned: The Almighty is watching over us and doing miracles for us.  We see it all around us.

Rabbi Lazer Brody, on his blog, gave an example of this.  On Thursday, a grad rocket was launched at Ashdod. It approached the vicinity of a whole complex of hi-rise apartments and then landed in the parking lot.

Arlene Kushner on the Need For an Israeli Ground Attack in Gaza

From Arlene Kushner
July 11, 2014

Slowly, Thoughtfully, Agonizingly

By now I had thought our ground forces would have entered Gaza, but the operation remains on the edge of happening.

As I approach Shabbat and find I still have many preparations to attend to, I want to share only a very brief overview of what is transpiring with regard to the pros and cons of going in and what we do once we start the ground war.  We’re Jews. So we have as many opinions on the subject as we have commentators and analysts.

Arlene Kushner on Human Human Shields and Latest Announcements and Analysis

From Arlene Kushner:

July 10, 2014

 

“Those Human Shields”

 

Yet another factor in the current conflict is the willingness – indeed the eagerness - of Hamas to promote a PR advantage by putting its civilians in harm’s way.

 

This is not a new tactic.  Israel goes to the extraordinary lengths of warning Gaza residents of a house that an attack on that house is about to take place, so that they can leave in time.  Most often it is done by phone calls with an Arabic message. But there is also something called “roof knocking” which is launching of a small explosive device to warn that a large attack is imminent. 

 

Hamas is encouraging the residents not only to stay, but to go up on the roof.  You see here an article about Sami abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas, admitting that they are doing this:

 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182729#.U75q45vlrIV

 

 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182716#.U75vBpvlrIU\

 

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Arlene Kushner on The Progress in Israel's Operation Protective Edge

From Arlene Kushner;
July 9, 2014

Proportionality and Other Matters

There is a widespread – but very erroneous – impression that if an enemy attacks, a proportional response means a nation can only return what was received and no more. That is, the mistaken impression is that if Hamas shot one rocket, we could only shoot one rocket back.

International law, however, defines proportionality very differently: it is a question of legitimate military goals and intentionality.  Put very simply, we would not be restricted to only shooting one rocket back at Hamas, but rather doing what is necessary (within certain defined limits) to ensure that Hamas does not shoot any more rockets.  That is a legitimate military goal.

Timeline: Does Everyone Remember That Hamas Rocket Attacks Preceded The Kidnapping Of the 3 Israeli Teens?

People who claim Israel's retaliation against the Hamas terrorist rocket attacks seem to forget that the Hamas attacks preceded the kidnapping of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah -- and those rocket attacks continued while the country-wide search went on to find the boys.

The rocket attacks continued on the day the bodies of the boys were found.
The rocket attacks preceded the tragic murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir as well.

The point is that the ongoing and escalating rocket attack on Israeli civilians is a deliberate effort by Hamas to heat up the situation in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip and has nothing to do with Mohammed Abu Khdeir.

And it is those attacks that are at the heart of Operation Protective Edge.

Here is the timeline:

Arlene Kushner: Analysis of Israel's Operation Protective Edge In Gaza

From Arlene Kushner

July 8, 2014

“WAR”

It took a long time in coming, but it’s very serious now.  The military action, called Operation Protective Edge, was announced in the wee hours of Tuesdaymorning. 

As I write, well over 140 sites in Gaza have been hit by the Israeli Air Force and some 14 people have died, including an Hamas official, and some 80 have been injured.

 

Credit:chron.com

Hamas Won't Stop Attacking Civilians Until Concessions by Israel -- And Egypt and Abbas!

While Hamas sends rockets raining down on Israel, it is also busy demanding concessions from anyone within reach:

Hamas won’t blink first this time if IDF threatens ground operation:

...It seems Hamas also has demands on Egypt and the Palestinian Authority: easing movement through the Rafah crossing, which has been almost completely closed, and the transfer of money to pay the salaries of Hamas government employees in Gaza. It seems Hamas’ financial and strategic woes are serious enough to risk an escalation, despite the chance that a direct confrontation with the IDF will exact a heavy price and that Egypt, now ruled by generals, won’t come to the rescue.

Videos: BBC Exposes Faked Images of Israel Attacks on Gaza -- Again

BBCtrending asks Are #GazaUnderAttack images accurate?

Graphic images are being shared on social media to show how people have been affected by the renewed tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

Over the past week the hashtag #GazaUnderAttack has been used hundreds of thousands of times, often to distribute pictures claiming to show the effects of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

A #BBCtrending investigation has found that many of these images are not from the latest conflict and not even from Gaza. Some date as far back as 2009 and others are from conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Here is the BBC video:

Arlene Kushner on Rush To Say Jews Killed Mohammad Abu Khdeir -- And Why It's Unlikely

From Arlene Kushner:
July 3, 2014

Obscene Rush to Judgment

On Tuesday night, according to eye witnesses, a black car stopped near Mohammad Abu Khdeir, 16, from the upscale Beit Hanina neighborhood of Jerusalem and then took off with the boy inside.  Some time later, the family reported him missing.

By early Wednesday morning, his burnt body had been found in the Jerusalem Forest area.

~~~~~~~~~~

What happened next should not surprise us, as infuriating as it it: assumptions are being made far and wide that this boy was killed by Jews in retaliation for the terrorist murders of the three students.

Unfortunately, we are seeing this even among some Israelis, who, imagining themselves righteous people, are thumping their chests in an ill-advised and premature “mea culpa.”

Palestinians Dislike Hamas -- But Not Their Methods

According to a Pew Research Poll, Palestinian Opinion of Hamas Declines

Overall, most people surveyed have an unfavorable impression of Hamas, a militant Palestinian organization that is in control of the Gaza Strip and designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. This includes people who live under its rule.

More than half in the Palestinian territories (53%) have an unfavorable view of Hamas, with only about a third (35%) expressing positive views. Negative views are higher in the Hamas-led Gaza Strip (63%), up from 54% in 2013. In the Fatah-led West Bank, 47% have an unfavorable opinion of Hamas.

Botched Kidnapping of Israeli Teens Force Hamas and Fatah Lies

Hamas and their fellow terrorists have a history of kidnapping Israelis

• 1989: Avi Sasportas and Ilan Saadon; kidnapped and murdered by Hamas
• 1992: Nissim Toledano; kidnapped and murdered by Hamas
• 1993: Yaron Chen; kidnapped and murdered by Hamas
• 1994: Nachshon Wachsman; kidnapped and murdered by Hamas
• 2001: Koby Mandell and Yosef Ishran; kidnapped and killed by Palestinian militants believed to be associated with Hamas
• 2006: Eliyahu Asheri; kidnapped and killed by the Palestinian Resistance Committees
• 2006: Gilad Shalit; kidnapped by Hamas, not released until 2011
• 2007: Alan Johnston; kidnapped by the Palestinian Army of Islam in Gaza City
• 2011: Vittorio Arrigoni; kidnapped and killed by Islamic extremists in Gaza

Since Hamas does not shy away from kidnapping -- let alone murder -- Elder of Ziyon explains Why Hamas denies the kidnappings

Hamas is denying the murders because it was a botched operation.

The goal was to kidnap a soldier or a "settler" to bargain for the release of prisoners. Hamas has made no secret of that desire, and even published handbooks on how to best accomplish a kidnapping.

The appearance of two more teens, the panicking over the phone call, and the murders in the backseat (from where it would have been nearly impossible for them to escape or fight back) were not planned. I'm not sure that the torching of the stolen car was planned either.

Fear of non-existent Israeli pursuit created a kidnapping attempt that ended in the Palestinian murder of 3 Israeli teenagers. Not the kind of feat that Hamas would have liked to brag about in order to increase its street creds in the Islamist world.

As Elder of Ziyon notes, Hamas is already on thin ice with Egypt -- which has accused it of being a terror group and then there is its unity government with Abbas not working out so well. Right now the last thing Hamas needs is to be associated in anyone's mind with ISIS and the outrages by Islamists in in Syria and Iraq

Meanwhile, on the other side of the "Unity Government", the Abbas regime in its own way has also played down the Palestinian terrorist attack as Fatah falsely depicts murdered teens as "soldiers":

Fatah posted photos of young Israelis mourning the death of the three students Naftali Frenkel, aged 16, Gilad Shaar, aged 16, and Eyal Yifrach, aged 19, and wrote:

"Israelis crying over the three killed soldiers, whose bodies, according to Israeli claims, were found this evening in Hebron, 19 days after they disappeared."

Fatah had been bragging about the kidnapping of the teenagers, but admitting that just teenagers -- not soldiers -- were killed by Palestinian Arabs might reveal the celebration over the deaths for what they are.

It remains to be seen when the would-be kidnappers are caught whether Abbas will be as generous in using US and EU funding to pay their stipend.

This has turned out to be an embarrassment to both Hamas and Fatah -- no relief to Israel that is in mourning over this terrible loss.

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Technorati Tag: Israel and Gaza and Hamas and Abbas.