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Gaza Under Attack — The Ceasefire Has Failed — Middle East News — Medium
Israel resumes Gaza attacks after Hamas rejects ceasefire
Published: July 16, 2014
Flames light up the night sky above Rafah (Gaza Strip), following an Israeli air strike / UPI
Israel’s military resumed operation Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza, six hours after accepting an Egyptian cease-fire proposal.
The resumption of operations in Gaza was announced at about 3 p.m. on Tuesday (July 15), after more than 40 rockets were fired from Gaza at southern, central and northern Israel in the hours after Israel halted attacks in observance of the cease-fire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned earlier Tuesday that he would order the intensification of operation against Hamas if it continued to fire rockets at Israeli civilians.
“As you know, Israel has accepted the Egyptian ceasefire proposal, a goal that was and remains putting an end to rocket fire from Gaza on our cities, providing the citizens of Israel with the peace and quiet to which they are entitled,” Netanyahu said at the start of a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “I know that you know that no country would sit idly by while its civilian population is subjected to terrorist rocket fire. Israel is no exception. If Hamas rejects the Egyptian proposal, and the rocket fire from Gaza does not cease, and that appears to be the case now, we are prepared to continue and intensify our operation to protect our people.”“Hamas has fired 47 rockets since we suspended our strikes in Gaza at 9am [local time]. As a result, we have resumed our operation against Hamas,” the IDF said in a statement. “Israeli forces are attacking again.”
A photo taken on July 15, 2014 from the southern Israeli Gaza border shows Israeli army flares falling into the Palestinian enclave. (AFP Photo / Menahem Kahana)
Late on Monday, Egypt proposed a truce between Israel and Hamas by establishing a 12-hour ceasefire at 06:00 GMT and launching negotiations in Cairo.
Israel announced it would agree to an Egyptian-backed ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the security cabinet has stated. However, the peace plan looks in ruins, with Hamas rejecting the initiative.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official rejected the proposal because it was deemed to be unacceptable. Previously, the al-Qassam Brigades had shown little interest in getting to the negotiation table.
“Our battle with the enemy continues and will increase in ferocity and intensity,” the group stated.
Israel sees in the Egyptian-proposed Gaza truce an opportunity to strip the Palestinian enclave of rockets but is prepared to redouble military action there if the cross-border launches persist, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
“We agreed to the Egyptian proposal in order to give an opportunity for the demilitarisation of the (Gaza) Strip — from missiles, from rockets and from tunnels — through diplomatic means,” he told reporters.“But if Hamas does not accept the ceasefire proposal, as would now seem to be the case, Israel would have all international legitimacy to broaden the military operation to achieve the required quiet,” Netanyahu added.
The Hamas’ rejection give Israel the diplomatic cover for further escalation.
Smoke from rockets fired from Gaza City are seen after being launched toward Israel, on July 15, 2014. (AFP Photo / Thomas Coex)
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel on Tuesday (July 15) after the Israeli government accepted, and Hamas Islamists said they rejected, an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire.
Live television showed the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepting several rockets over the port city of Ashdod and sirens sounded in other parts of southern Israel.
Channel Two TV said 10 rockets had been launched. The Israeli military, which said it had stopped its attacks in Gaza, reported before the Ashdod strike that three rockets had been fired since the ceasefire deal was to have gone into effect.
At least 196 people — most of them civilians — have died as a result of air strikes since Israel’s Operation Protective Edge began on Tuesday (July 8)
The outbreak of violence follows the kidnappings and killings of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, and the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager in an apparent revenge attack.
The offensive is the heaviest fighting since a similar eight-day campaign in November 2012 to stop Gaza rocket fire.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, three rockets were fired from Egypt towards the southern Israeli resort of Eilat. Four civilians were injured, according to Israeli security officials. They added that they believed the rockets were fired by Islamist militants in the Egyptian Sinai in an attempt to derail Cairo’s efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Palestine and put an end to the week-long shelling of the Gaza Strip.
In response to the Egyptian proposal, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Monday that his movement would not accept any truce that excludes the conditions of the Palestinian groups and people, as quoted by Israeli media.
In a televised address, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praised the role of Hamas fighters and denounced the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
“The problem is not the truce, but the siege and starvation of Gaza Strip,” Haniyeh stressed. “The problem is not going back to the agreement on calm because we want this aggression to stop.”
What Hamas wants
Hamas seeks more than an end to strikes, according to numerous sources, including Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin, who helped establish a backchannel with Hamas in 2011. Those discussions led to the 2011 release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Those demands reportedly include:
The text of the proposal includes only a vague proposition to open the border crossings and “facilitate” the passage of persons and goods — “once the security situation becomes stable on the ground.” It’s not clear a cessation of rocket fire alone would qualify as stabilizing the security situation.
The Egyptian proposal also does nothing to address Hamas concerns about its reconciliation with Abbas’s Fatah party, ending a seven-year split. Just after the two factions agreed to a new government in early June, clashes broke out in Gaza when Abbas refused to pay overdue salaries for Hamas employees. And Abbas angered Hamas by insisting on continued security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank, even as Israeli security forces arrested about 400 Hamas members in connection after the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens.
Why Israel and Egypt have teamed up
Both Israel and Egypt have a strong interest in weakening Hamas, which they see as a terrorist offshoot of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. The cease-fire, reportedly the result of direct coordination, combines their considerable power to force Hamas even farther into the corner.
Such an effort wouldn’t have been possible during the November 2012 conflict. Back then, Egypt was led by President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas was riding the tide of rising Islamist fortunes from Tunisia to Egypt to Turkey. The smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Israel became a virtual “highway,” as one Israeli official described it, enabling Hamas to bolster its supplies of weaponry and fuel its rocket factories.
But after Egypt’s military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Mr. Morsi a year ago, Mr. Sisi cracked down hard on the tunnels, destroying an estimated 90 percent of them and cutting off Hamas’s main artery for commercial goods, military supplies, and government revenue.
Now, Sisi is wielding his power as president to weaken Hamas. So far, Hamas is pushing back, but its ability to leverage the conflict for its own interests appears dubious at best.
“I cannot condemn strongly enough the actions of Hamas in so brazenly firing rockets, in multiple numbers, in the face of a goodwill effort [to secure] a ceasefire,” US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Vienna.
He added that currently there is “potential of an even greater escalation of violence” as Israel has “the right to defend itself.”
At least 196 people — most of them civilians — have died as a result of air strikes since Israel’s Operation Protective Edge began on Tuesday (July 8)
The outbreak of violence follows the kidnappings and killings of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, and the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager in an apparent revenge attack.
The offensive is the heaviest fighting since a similar eight-day campaign in November 2012 to stop Gaza rocket fire.
Peace between Israel and its neighbors remains a long shot, but it has no chance as long as Hamas is seen as a strong and quasi-legitimate political player.
Gaza Under Attack — The Ceasefire Has Failed — Middle East News — Medium
Israel resumes Gaza attacks after Hamas rejects ceasefire
Published: July 16, 2014
Flames light up the night sky above Rafah (Gaza Strip), following an Israeli air strike / UPI
The resumption of operations in Gaza was announced at about 3 p.m. on Tuesday (July 15), after more than 40 rockets were fired from Gaza at southern, central and northern Israel in the hours after Israel halted attacks in observance of the cease-fire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned earlier Tuesday that he would order the intensification of operation against Hamas if it continued to fire rockets at Israeli civilians.
“As you know, Israel has accepted the Egyptian ceasefire proposal, a goal that was and remains putting an end to rocket fire from Gaza on our cities, providing the citizens of Israel with the peace and quiet to which they are entitled,” Netanyahu said at the start of a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “I know that you know that no country would sit idly by while its civilian population is subjected to terrorist rocket fire. Israel is no exception. If Hamas rejects the Egyptian proposal, and the rocket fire from Gaza does not cease, and that appears to be the case now, we are prepared to continue and intensify our operation to protect our people.”“Hamas has fired 47 rockets since we suspended our strikes in Gaza at 9am [local time]. As a result, we have resumed our operation against Hamas,” the IDF said in a statement. “Israeli forces are attacking again.”
A photo taken on July 15, 2014 from the southern Israeli Gaza border shows Israeli army flares falling into the Palestinian enclave. (AFP Photo / Menahem Kahana)
Late on Monday, Egypt proposed a truce between Israel and Hamas by establishing a 12-hour ceasefire at 06:00 GMT and launching negotiations in Cairo.
Israel announced it would agree to an Egyptian-backed ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the security cabinet has stated. However, the peace plan looks in ruins, with Hamas rejecting the initiative.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official rejected the proposal because it was deemed to be unacceptable. Previously, the al-Qassam Brigades had shown little interest in getting to the negotiation table.
“Our battle with the enemy continues and will increase in ferocity and intensity,” the group stated.
Israel sees in the Egyptian-proposed Gaza truce an opportunity to strip the Palestinian enclave of rockets but is prepared to redouble military action there if the cross-border launches persist, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
“We agreed to the Egyptian proposal in order to give an opportunity for the demilitarisation of the (Gaza) Strip — from missiles, from rockets and from tunnels — through diplomatic means,” he told reporters.“But if Hamas does not accept the ceasefire proposal, as would now seem to be the case, Israel would have all international legitimacy to broaden the military operation to achieve the required quiet,” Netanyahu added.
The Hamas’ rejection give Israel the diplomatic cover for further escalation.
Smoke from rockets fired from Gaza City are seen after being launched toward Israel, on July 15, 2014. (AFP Photo / Thomas Coex)
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel on Tuesday (July 15) after the Israeli government accepted, and Hamas Islamists said they rejected, an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire.
Live television showed the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepting several rockets over the port city of Ashdod and sirens sounded in other parts of southern Israel.
Channel Two TV said 10 rockets had been launched. The Israeli military, which said it had stopped its attacks in Gaza, reported before the Ashdod strike that three rockets had been fired since the ceasefire deal was to have gone into effect.
At least 196 people — most of them civilians — have died as a result of air strikes since Israel’s Operation Protective Edge began on Tuesday (July 8)
The offensive is the heaviest fighting since a similar eight-day campaign in November 2012 to stop Gaza rocket fire.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, three rockets were fired from Egypt towards the southern Israeli resort of Eilat. Four civilians were injured, according to Israeli security officials. They added that they believed the rockets were fired by Islamist militants in the Egyptian Sinai in an attempt to derail Cairo’s efforts to mediate a truce between Israel and Palestine and put an end to the week-long shelling of the Gaza Strip.
In response to the Egyptian proposal, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Monday that his movement would not accept any truce that excludes the conditions of the Palestinian groups and people, as quoted by Israeli media.
In a televised address, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praised the role of Hamas fighters and denounced the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
“The problem is not the truce, but the siege and starvation of Gaza Strip,” Haniyeh stressed. “The problem is not going back to the agreement on calm because we want this aggression to stop.”
What Hamas wants
Hamas seeks more than an end to strikes, according to numerous sources, including Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin, who helped establish a backchannel with Hamas in 2011. Those discussions led to the 2011 release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Those demands reportedly include:
- Freeing 54 prisoners who were released in the Shalit deal but rearrested in response to the murder of three Israeli teenagers, as well as hundreds of others detained in the crackdown;
- Opening of Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt;
- Ending the siege on Gaza;
- Extending the fishing zone off the Gaza coast, currently set at three miles despite a 2012 agreement to double it;
- Pay the salaries of 40,000 Hamas employees of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.
The text of the proposal includes only a vague proposition to open the border crossings and “facilitate” the passage of persons and goods — “once the security situation becomes stable on the ground.” It’s not clear a cessation of rocket fire alone would qualify as stabilizing the security situation.
The Egyptian proposal also does nothing to address Hamas concerns about its reconciliation with Abbas’s Fatah party, ending a seven-year split. Just after the two factions agreed to a new government in early June, clashes broke out in Gaza when Abbas refused to pay overdue salaries for Hamas employees. And Abbas angered Hamas by insisting on continued security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank, even as Israeli security forces arrested about 400 Hamas members in connection after the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens.
Why Israel and Egypt have teamed up
Both Israel and Egypt have a strong interest in weakening Hamas, which they see as a terrorist offshoot of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. The cease-fire, reportedly the result of direct coordination, combines their considerable power to force Hamas even farther into the corner.
Such an effort wouldn’t have been possible during the November 2012 conflict. Back then, Egypt was led by President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas was riding the tide of rising Islamist fortunes from Tunisia to Egypt to Turkey. The smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Israel became a virtual “highway,” as one Israeli official described it, enabling Hamas to bolster its supplies of weaponry and fuel its rocket factories.
But after Egypt’s military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Mr. Morsi a year ago, Mr. Sisi cracked down hard on the tunnels, destroying an estimated 90 percent of them and cutting off Hamas’s main artery for commercial goods, military supplies, and government revenue.
Now, Sisi is wielding his power as president to weaken Hamas. So far, Hamas is pushing back, but its ability to leverage the conflict for its own interests appears dubious at best.
The US has condemned Hamas actions following Israel’s acceptance of the truce.“I cannot condemn strongly enough the actions of Hamas in so brazenly firing rockets, in multiple numbers, in the face of a goodwill effort [to secure] a ceasefire,” US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Vienna.
He added that currently there is “potential of an even greater escalation of violence” as Israel has “the right to defend itself.”
At least 196 people — most of them civilians — have died as a result of air strikes since Israel’s Operation Protective Edge began on Tuesday (July 8)
The offensive is the heaviest fighting since a similar eight-day campaign in November 2012 to stop Gaza rocket fire.
Peace between Israel and its neighbors remains a long shot, but it has no chance as long as Hamas is seen as a strong and quasi-legitimate political player.
Gaza Under Attack — The Ceasefire Has Failed — Middle East News — Medium
