The Israeli Defense Forces says it has no intention to escalate conflict in Gaza after air and artillery strikes hit dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Monday in response to earlier rocket fire from the coastal enclave into Israel.
A leading Republican senator is calling on the Obama administration to launch a formal investigation into the potential diversion of U.S. taxpayer funds to organizations that have reportedly been infiltrated by the Hamas terror organization, according to new documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
It has been two years since the July 2014 Gaza War, which killed over 2,000 Palestinians and 70 Israelis.
According to IDF estimations, the likelihood of Israel initiating a war in the next year remains low, both due to the turmoil in the Middle East which is keeping many of Israel’s enemies busy, and because of Israel’s current deterrence abilities. Even so, the likelihood of a severe incident leading to an escalation and even a war has increased, and is being described by the IDF as ‘moderate.’ This is due to the tension along Israel’s borders, especially the ones in the north and near the Gaza Strip.
Turkey is demanding that Israel permit unfettered access to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip as one of the conditions before it renews diplomatic ties with Israel, according to a report in Saturday editions of the Hurriyet Daily News.
Hamas and Hezbollah officials discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian and Lebanese arenas in Beirut on Sunday, as well as ways of coordinating their moves against Islamic State.
Israel struck two Hamas terrorist infrastructure sites Wednesday morning in response to an earlier rocket attack that targeted the country’s South.
The Israel Air Force struck two Hamas targets in southern Gaza a few hours after a rocket hit southern Israel. The IDF Spokesman said the air strikes were a response to the missile attack, and that it views Hamas as being responsible for all terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip.
Hurricane Joaquin is rapidly intensifying. Joaquin reached Category 3 status late Wednesday evening. The storm is now expected to strengthen into a Category 4 storm sometime late Thursday or Thursday night.
The Israel Air Force attacked four Hamas military installations Wednesday morning in response to a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip the previous evening.
Militants in Gaza attempted to fire a rocket at the Ashkelon region Tuesday morning, triggering Israel’s rocket alarm system.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday reiterated its support for Hamas and other anti-Israel terrorist groups and said that aiding those who “stand against the Zionist regime is a principle of Iran’s policy.”
The Israeli military carried out an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip Wednesday night, in response to a Palestinian rocket attack earlier.
Fatah officials in the West Bank on Monday expressed deep concern over reports that Hamas and Israel are close to signing a long-term truce.
Israel police and Shin Bet operatives arrested early in July Ibrahim Adel Shehadeh Shaer, a 21-year-old resident of Rafah and Hamas fighter with significant knowledge of Hamas’ activities, Ynet News reported.
A year after a bitter 50-day war, Hamas has again dug numerous attack tunnels from Gaza into Israeli sovereign territory, and is gearing up with major Iranian assistance for another conflict, a TV report said Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal met in Doha, Qatar, this week to discuss ways to implement a Palestinian state.
Islamic State insurgents threatened on Tuesday to turn the Gaza Strip into another of their Middle East fiefdoms, accusing Hamas, the organization that rules the Palestinian territory, of being insufficiently stringent about religious enforcement.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that Hamas has until Tuesday to join a new unity government.
Hamas said Wednesday it rejected any unilateral dissolution of the Palestinian unity government after senior officials reported that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the government would resign.