Hamas
Givati Brigade Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi, 21, from Petach Tikvah, was shot by a Hamas sniper on Friday, becoming the first IDF fatality since “Operation Protective Edge” • A sniper’s round had penetrated Levi’s bulletproof vest, inflicting a critical chest wound.
Hamas has rejected the United States in its moves to foster peace between Gaza and Israel, despite U.S. agreement to work with the organization if it renounces terrorism.
The very issue that caused Hamas to escalate tensions in the first place—Gaza’s isolation and faltering economy, and Hamas’s desire to change these things—remain in place, meaning that conflict could flare up even more in very little time.
Deliveries through Kerem Shalom cargo crossing suspended until next week • Move will not impact deliveries of food, medical supplies, Defense Ministry says • Hamas denounces sanctions, says Israel will be held responsible for crimes against Gaza.
According to the IDF, it struck more than 40 terror targets in the Gaza Strip, including two terror tunnels, two large logistic centers and a Hamas Battalion HQ in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
Both sides have stopped short of going to war. Hamas is sticking to short-range fire, and Israel’s airstrikes have destroyed tunnels, command posts and other military targets, but did not target senior Hamas members.
“An IDF officer was moderately injured by a grenade that terrorists from Gaza threw at him during violent riots along the security fence,” the IDF Spokesperson Unit said in a statement.
If Hamas leaders chose to escalate tensions on Israel-Gaza border, “they will find the price we exact from them is unbearable,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says at memorial for soldiers killed in 2014 military campaign • Families of soldiers held by Hamas demand action.
The resolution was specifically aimed as Hamas, which has used human shields, including women and children, during its conflicts with Israel.
Red Alert warning sirens rang out in Eshkol, Sha’ar HaNegev, Sdot Negev and Hof Ashkelon multiple times from 1:45 a.m. to 4 a.m.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, aide to PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, issued a statement warning Arab nations not to cooperate with America, whose intent, he said, was to create a divide in Palestinian society.
