As a result of the fighting on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, the level of alert was raised on the Israeli side, an army spokesperson said Thursday, without confirming that it had been increased to the highest level.
Al Qaeda’s Syria wing Nusra Front and other Islamist fighters have taken control of a border crossing on the line dividing Syria from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a group monitoring the Syrian conflict said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Netanyahu met in secret with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan before the Gaza ceasefire was announced Tuesday.
As a ceasefire has been holding overnight, Hamas claimed victory in the recent conflict as Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Palestinians would build their own airport and seaport without asking for anyone’s permission to prepare for the “project of liberation” of all of Palestine.
Iranian military leaders on Tuesday vowed that Tehran would take military action against Israel in response to an alleged Israeli drone that was shot down in Iran on Sunday, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
A rocket fired from Lebanon crashed into Israel Monday night, in which Israel retaliated by firing artillery in the location of the source of the rocket attack. It marked the third day in a row which rockets landed in Israel, either from Lebanon or Syria.
Despite continuing rocket fire, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have reportedly accepted the language of an Egyptian ceasefire proposal.
Islamic Jihad was willing to accept an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, however Hamas refused to accept the short term truce as fighting continued overnight. Over 120 rockets were fired into Israel overnight from within the Gaza Strip, while the IDF continued to target Hamas’ leadership.
Palestinian officials said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will propose to the U.N. Security Council to set a deadline for an Israeli withdraw to the pre-1967 borders, to pave the way for a Palestinian State as part his “day after” plan following the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas defiantly vowed, after the killing of three of its senior commanders by Israel, that it would be “strengthened” in its quest “to lift the siege on Gaza” and “liberate Jerusalem and Palestine from the neo-Nazi occupier who destroys houses and kills women and children.” Meanwhile, Israel is closer to a full-scale ground operation than any point since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, an Israeli minister told Israel’s Army Radio.
Talia, a red heifer, which was birthed a few months ago in the United States has become disqualified for use due to a change in pigmentation in a patch of skin, as well as the appearance of white hairs in the affected area, the Temple Institute said.
Israel killed three of Hamas’ senior commanders in overnight strikes as at least 168 rockets were launched at Israel since midnight breaking the previous high of 154 rockets fired in a day. Meanwhile, Israeli ministers called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to wage a ‘war of attrition’ with Hamas, but to overwhelm the terrorist organization with military force.
Hamas violated an extended ceasefire some 8 hours before it was set to expire by firing over 50 rockets into Israel on Tuesday evening. Israel responded by killing a Hamas military chief and destroying some 30 terror targets in Gaza. Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said Israel had ‘opened the gates of hell on itself’ by the killings and warned that the Jewish state would pay for its crimes. Israel recalled 2,000 reservists, as it prepares for a possible ground operation into the Gaza Strip.
A five-day ceasefire in Gaza which ended last night was extended by another 24 hours, at Egypt’s request.
Israeli and Palestinian delegations restarted indirect talks in Cairo over the weekend, however Israeli officials were skeptical a truce could be reached by Monday’s midnight deadline. Over the weekend, Hamas threatened a “war of attrition” if its demands were not met. Meanwhile, Israel threatened “harsh strikes” if Hamas broke the ceasefire with any type of fire against the Jewish state and Israeli officials said “quiet and security’ will be restored ‘one way or another.’
The security cabinet convened in Tel Aviv on Friday morning to discuss the cease-fire agreement and negotiations taking place between Israel and the Palestinians in Cairo, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Amidst rocket attacks and Israeli retaliatory strikes within the Gaza Strip, both sides agreed to extend a three-day truce by an additional five days.
Egypt presented a proposed cease-fire to Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the month-long war, Palestinian officials said early Wednesday after negotiators huddled for a second day of Egyptian-mediated talks aimed at ending the crisis and bringing relief to the embattled Gaza Strip.
The head of the UN’s Gaza probe, Canadian legal expert William Schabas, said he would investigate possible Israeli human rights violations in Operation Protective Edge, but balked on Tuesday at clarifying whether his mandate included Hamas.
While reports from Palestinian media outlets say a long-term ceasefire could be reached by Wednesday, Israeli officials contend that the “gaps are still very wide, there has been no progress in the negotiations.” The blockade and the demilitarization of Gaza remain as points of contention between the two sides.