With talks of a ceasefire continuing to gain momentum, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas that “it’s not over yet” as rockets fired from the Gaza Strip continued to pummel Israel.
The fighting today in the Gaza Strip reached epic proportions as Israel flattened entire blocks of buildings including the 12-story Gaza Tower in an effort to root out the capability of Hamas to continue to fire rockets on the Jews. But as brutal as the bombing has been, rockets continue to be fired on Israel by the terror state of Palestine. Benjamin Netanyahu says there will be no ceasefire, at least not yet.
"Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them." Jeremiah 12:14 (KJB)
The fake news media is all up-in-arms today because the tower that the IDF took out in Gaza also housed the Associated Press and the Muslim news service Al Jazeera. But so what? Maybe this will teach groups like the AP to stop covering for Hamas, working alongside the terror outfit in Gaza, but I doubt it. The fake news media yawns and looks away after 1,600 rockets are fired on Israel, nothing to see there. But when Israel defends itself, suddenly everyone is a justice crusader, and calls for an immediate end to the hostilities. I agree with Netanyahu, and if I was the prime minister of Israel, I would make sure Hamas couldn't fire so much as a sparkler, much less a rocket.
Airstrikes continue to hit Gaza as ceasefire talks gain speed
FROM THE JERUSALEM POST: “I said we would strike Hamas and other terror groups with significant blows, and we are doing so,” Netanyahu said in a video statement on Friday. “In the last day we attacked underground targets. Hamas thought it could hide there, but it can’t.”
“Hamas leaders think they can escape from our grasp. They cannot escape. We can reach them everywhere, all of their people – and we will continue to do so. They attacked us on our holiday, Jerusalem Day, they attacked our capital, they fired missiles at our cities; they are paying and will continue to pay a heavy price for that,” he said. "It’s not over yet. We will do everything to restore security to our cities and our citizens."
Rockets continued to pound Israel on Friday and Saturday as the Israel military carried out large airstrikes in Gaza, striking dozens of targets belonging to terror groups in the coastal enclave. Among the targets, the IAF struck the homes of Hamas battalion commander Tisar Mabasher in Khan Yunis, and of brigadier general Azi Tama'a in Deir al-Balah, whose homes were both used as military infrastructure. The damage made to these infrastructures will have damaged the military capabilities of Hamas operatives.
The IAF also struck rocket-launching sites, including the long-range launcher used to fire rockets on Jerusalem that began the latest escalation of violence on Monday. Other targets included a number of surface-to-surface missile launch sites, terror cells, a Hamas intelligence center, observation posts on land in and at sea off of the southern Gaza Strip, and anti-tank missile launch sites and cells.
Aircraft also struck the house of deputy leader of Hamas in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya in addition to the operational office belonging to Hamas Head of Security Forces Tawfiq Abu Naim in Rimal, which was used as the military infrastructure command and control center, and two apartments belonging to Hamas naval force operatives Muhammed Abu Shala and Fares Abu Shukran that served as weapons storage warehouses.
In one strike on the Shati refugee camp, ten people including eight children were killed. The IDF said that the strike was against an apartment that “serves as terror infrastructure” for Hamas.
“The IDF takes precautions to minimize possible harm to civilians during its military activities,” the statement added.
Hamas later said it fired dozens of rockets towards Tel Aviv in response to "the massacre of women and children at the Shati refugee camp." The IAF also struck a high rise building in Gaza that housed several media outlets including Al Jazeera and the Associated Press on Saturday afternoon. The residents of the building, which also housed a number of apartments and other offices, were warned ahead of the strike to evacuate the building.
The IDF said that the building, which was hit by fighter jets, contained “military assets of the military intelligence” of Hamas.
“The building housed the offices of civilian media, which the terrorist organization Hamas hides behind and uses as human shields. The terror organization Hamas deliberately places its military assets in the heart of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement, adding that “prior to the attack, the IDF warned the civilians who were in the building and gave them sufficient time to evacuate.”
AP President and CEO Gary Pruit called the strike "an incredibly disturbing development" and said a dozen AP journalists and freelancers had been in the building and had been evacuated in time.
"We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza," he said in a statement.
"The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today." Hamas later warned the residents of Tel Aviv and central Israel to expect a response for that airstrike. IDF forces thwarted the launch of an explosive drone from Gaza in to Israel on Saturday afternoon in addition to striking 20 rocket launching sites that were aiming at central and southern Israel, the Spokesperson's Unit reported.
On Friday morning, Israel carried out one of the largest bombardments of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad since the fighting started. In a 40-minute-long air campaign which began around midnight, some 160 aircraft dropped about 450 missiles on 150 targets belonging to a network of tunnels dug by the terror group known as “the Metro” under Gaza city. READ MORE
No comments:
Post a Comment