Hamas and Israel deny report of six month truce
Israel and Hamas have denied reports that a Gaza ceasefire understanding had been reached that would ensure six-months of calm.
Israel and Hamas have denied reports that a Gaza ceasefire understanding had been reached that would ensure six-months of calm.
Israeli security forces and communities near the Gaza border prepared for thousands of Palestinians to take part in Nakba Day demonstrations along the security fence surrounding the coastal enclave on Wednesday, though these were expected to be tamer than last year’s Nakba Day clashes in which protesters attempted to breach the security fence, threw explosives at Israeli troops and, in one case, shot at soldiers.
The US embassy in Israel issued a security alert late Monday evening, urging all American citizens in Israel to exercise caution and avoid travelling to areas affected by rocket fire in the latest deadly flare-up between Hamas and Israel. The warning comes ahead of the anniversary of US Embassy opening in Jerusalem – which coincides with the week-long Eurovision festivities.
Qatar pledged to send $480 million in aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, Qatar’s foreign ministry said overnight Monday.
While Israel absorbed as many as 700 rockets fired by the terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip over the weekend, the media turned the tables on the aggression and launched its usual assault on the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that it was ‘clear that this is not the end of the campaign,’ hours after a ceasefire to end a surge of deadly violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel took hold on Monday.
Energy Minister and Security Cabinet member Yuval Steinitz told Army Radio on Monday morning that ‘to get rid of Hamas, we have to conquer Gaza.’
A ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza terror groups went into effect at 4:30 a.m. Monday, ending two days of intense fighting that saw more than 600 rockets fired at Israel and four Israeli civilians killed, according to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups.
A rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli civilian on Sunday after a house in Ashkelon suffered a direct hit. The 58-year-old father of four is the first civilian casualty since 2014 Operation Protective Edge. Since Saturday, Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants fired more than 400 rockets at Israeli communities, the military said.
Over 90 rockets were launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip Saturday morning and Israel responded with strikes as a fragile ceasefire along the border again faltered.
Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched at least two rockets into southern Israel early Thursday, the military said. The projectiles fell in an open area, and no injuries were reported.
An architect of a still-secret U.S. plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict took to Twitter again on Wednesday to disclose another element that it would not contain – a confederation with neighboring Jordan.
A new public opinion survey showed the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are disillusioned with their leaders and desperate for presidential elections.
Israel has not ruled out the option of reoccupying Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday morning in an interview with KAN news.
Israeli defense officials on Monday warned that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad appeared to be planning to conduct a large-scale terror attack on the Gaza border in order to derail ongoing cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, according to two Hebrew media reports.
The Trump Administration will allow Israel to annex portions of the West Bank and split the Gaza Strip from the West Bank so that it can be a state of its own, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday.
Militants fired five rockets from Gaza into Israel early Sunday, the Israeli military said, following a day of Palestinian mass protests along the Israel-Gaza perimeter fence. Despite the rocket fire, the Kerem Shalom and Erez border crossings – which have been closed since last Monday when a Gaza rocket destroyed a house in central Israel – were reopened on Sunday morning.
Israel prepared for a broad military campaign in Gaza Thursday, as Egypt worked behind the scenes to ensure that Palestinians marking the one year anniversary of the Great March of Return this weekend do not spark a new IDF-Hamas war.
As the Israeli military continued its preparations for a possible outbreak of violence at protests along the Gaza border planned for Saturday, an Egyptian delegation reportedly told Hamas that any mistake it makes could lead to war.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and Hamas, which resumed late Tuesday evening, continued into early Wednesday, with Israeli military striking several Hamas military positions in Gaza, while air-raid sirens sounded in southern Israeli communities.