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.
The Israel Air Force attacked four Hamas military installations Wednesday morning in response to a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip the previous evening.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon are set to announce Sunday the start of a multi-billion-shekel effort to construct a sensor-laden fence on the southern border with Jordan, the news site Ynet reported.
The IDF has already prepared plans to attack Syria in light of a recent military assessment that Iran has opened a new front against Israel on the Golan Heights.
Thousands of Israel Defense Forces reservists were required to present themselves to their units in a surprise emergency drill starting Monday that simulated rocket attacks from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip as well as cyber attacks. The drill will end on Wednesday.
The IDF is seeking government commitment to a multi-year defense spending plan – a commitment that has been absent for the past several years – as it prepares to deal with the possibility of a covert Iranian attempt to break through to nuclear weapons production.
The Hebrew-language Walla! reported Tuesday that it has learned from a foreign source that IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot has appointed Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan to head a special team tasked with examining the military options against Iran.
Last November, a senior IDF officer warned of the implications of a Third Lebanon War. His name is Yair Golan, and he was at the time ending his stint as GOC Northern Command and transferring to Tel Aviv to serve as deputy chief of staff, Ynet reported.
Hezbollah may implement its plan to invade northern Israel if a third Lebanon war breaks out, according to an estimate by the IDF Northern Command. Sources in Israel have identified a change in the Shiite terror group’s policies, which Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has defined as “breaking the silence.”
Just 10 days after a ceasefire ended a 50-day Israel-Hamas conflict, the Israeli army is “making plans and training” for “a very violent war” against Hezbollah in south Lebanon, an Israeli TV report said Friday night, without specifying when this war might break out.
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.
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.
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.’
Israel withdrew its diplomatic team from Egypt, after Hamas launched 20 rockets at Israeli cities, saying it will not negotiate under fire. Israel Defense Forces struck terrorist sites throughout the Gaza Strip as fighting has renewed.
Israel has reportedly agreed to extend the current ceasefire in Gaza Strip Wednesday as indirect Israel-Palestinian negotiations over extending a truce in Gaza got underway in Cairo. However, Hamas was quick to deny the reports, saying it will renew fire at Israel as soon as the current lull has ended, Ynet News reported. Meanwhile, EU powers proposed Gaza rehabilitation in exchange for disarmament.
As Operation Protective Edge enters its fifth week, Israel and Hamas have agreed to an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire beginning Tuesday morning.
Over the weekend, Israel completed its demolition of Hamas terror tunnels and began withdrawing its troops from the Gaza Strip ahead of Tisha B’Av, which begins Monday night. Meanwhile, the U.N. condemned Israel for not sharing its Iron Dome technology with Hamas, saying Israel committed war crimes by not “protecting” Gazan citizens from misfired Hamas rockets that land within the Gaza Strip. Last week, there were scores of misfired rockets by Hamas that killed dozens of Palestinian citizens. On the diplomatic front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the White House not to ‘second guess’ him on dealing with Hamas.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire beginning Friday morning. While Israel has said it will observe the ceasefire, the IDF will continue to destroy terror tunnels. Meanwhile, three IDF soldiers were killed Wednesday morning in an explosion at a booby-trapped United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) health clinic. However, UNRWA claims the building was not registered leading to speculation Hamas stole UNRWA signs and placed it throughout the building. Gazan health officials place the death toll at over 1,400 while the IDF casualty toll grew to 61.
Tensions intensified internationally as a U.N. run school was caught in the midst of a battle that left 19 Palestinians dead, and scores more injured. Nevertheless, Israel called up another 16,000 reservists as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) pressed forward with its campaign against Hamas vowing to destroy every terrorist tunnel. Meanwhile, the U.S. allowed Israel to resupply its grenades and mortar rounds from a U.S. munitions store located in Israel.