Gaza Strip
“The world needs to clearly and unambiguously recognize the nature and aims of Palestinian terrorist organizations, and specifically, their desire to wipe Israel off the map,” said American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris.
“Terror organizations in Gaza crossed a red line and attacked us with missiles at the entrance to Jerusalem. Those who attack us will pay a heavy price,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After being denied the opportunity for a new power grab through now-canceled elections in the West Bank, Hamas has changed course for an aggressive assault on Israeli civilians and to secure its image as “the defender of Jerusalem.”
Ongoing violence in Jerusalem and Gaza must stop,” tweeted British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab • European Union’s Ambassador to Israel Emanuele Giaufret was “extremely concerned.”
The retaliatory action comes on the heels of a similar incident and a renewal of incendiary balloon attacks from the terrorist-run enclave.
“Terror has consequences,” stresses the Israel Defense Forces, as riots continued along the southern border fence and in Jerusalem.
The month-long simulation, called “Chariots of Fire,” will see the IDF test its responses to combat scenarios in northern and southern Israel, as well as in Judea and Samaria.
“The fields mainly hit were wheat. In addition to limiting the loss of crops, we were also able to save many wildlife animals trapped by fire,” said Eshkol Council Security Officer Ilan Isaacson.
Hamas’s aspiration following its forceful 2007 takeover of Gaza is to seize the institutions of the P.A. and the PLO in the West Bank, “thereby achieving total hegemony on the Palestinian arena,” said Professor Boaz Ganor of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Herzliya.
The Israel Police and Border Police dispersed rioters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood after they hurled stones and bottles at them.
A drive-by shooting in the West Bank was likely unorganized, though the terror group that runs Gaza is seeking to leverage recent tensions to pressure both the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Talks focused on advances in Iran’s nuclear program, progress in Vienna nuclear talks • Gaza terrorists fire two rockets at southern Israel.
