Gaza Strip
“This week has been a clear reminder that wherever anti-Zionism goes, anti-Semitism quickly follows,” said Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism.org.
Shortly after midnight on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces appeared to give the impression that a ground offensive was underway, sending Hamas operatives into tunnels and the direct path of a massive wave of Israeli airstrikes.
The envoy aims to “reinforce the need to work toward a sustainable calm, recognizing Israel’s right to self-defense.”
The air-defense system has maintained an interception rate of more than 90 percent, despite the heavy barrages directed at Israeli cities by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“We want to show the world that we care,” said Sigal Sidi from Maryland, “that the news that they get is not always the truth, and we support Israel 100 percent on her ability and her right to protect our citizens. That’s why we are here.”
As the current firepower of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad demonstrates, Gaza’s factions have not been resting on their laurels in recent years, exploiting a period of quiet to create a domestic industry of weapons production.
Anticipating a response by Hamas, the military ordered Israelis living within four kilometers of the border to remain in their bomb shelters.
“One of the things I’ve seen thus far is that there has not been a significant overreaction,” said U.S. President Joe Biden to a reporter.
“Hamas uses the civil platform to shoot at us. It doesn’t distinguish between civilians and the Israeli army. But we are doing all we can to distinguish between the two components,” the official told JNS.
In a letter, they said: “It’s not only that these terrorists started this latest round of confrontation. Hamas and Islamic Jihad commit the double war crime of murdering Israeli civilians while using their own population as human shields.”
Rabbi Josh Weinberg: “Israel does not want to enter Gaza, nor does it want to punish innocent Palestinians. It does, however, have an obligation to protect its citizens and must eradicate the sources of rocket fire from deep within the most densely populated area in the world.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the United Kingdom “is deeply concerned by the growing violence and civilian casualties, and we want to see an urgent de-escalation of tensions.”
