Israel resumes airstrikes on Gaza as ceasefire ends

[azurnoir]

Source: Ma'an

Israeli warplanes struck several targets in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday after a 72-hour ceasefire agreement ended at 8 a.m.

Israel launched airstrikes in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood west of Gaza City at around 10:40 a.m., with another airstrike targeting northern Gaza.

Shortly afterwards, airstrikes targeted central Gaza, injuring one person, and another struck Gaza City.

Israel's navy also fired several shells at the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said.

Israeli army officials confirmed that the military was renewing airstrikes on Gaza after rocket fire by fighters in the besieged enclave.



Read more: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=719050

[Rhiannon12866]

1. This is completely beyond my comprehension

It is that awful. Meanwhile, I came home to hear about the terrible situation now in Iraq, so much killing and violence in that part of our world.

[The Magistrate]

2. This Is Just Stupid Spite By Now, Ma'am

It cannot be dressed up as sound and sensible policy....

"It is worse than a crime: it is a blunder."

[bemildred]

4. Crazy right down to the bone, it is. nt

[Fantastic Anarchist]

21. Who's quote is that?

I quite like it.

[The Magistrate]

23. To The Best Of My Recollection, Sir

Some diplomat of the Napoleonic period, M. Talleyrand, perhaps. I forget what it was, mind....

[Fantastic Anarchist]

24. Thank you!

[mvd]

27. You are right

And both sides must stop the bombing. I wish talks could get somewhere, and we should be impartial.

[The Magistrate]

29. Have Not Seen You In Ages, Sir

Hope all is well.

[mvd]

30. I don't post as much but I check in

I am ok. Hope you have been good! We haven't always agreed, but I respect your opinions.

[The Magistrate]

31. We Still Cripple On, My Friend

Morbid curiousity still gets me out of bed in the mornings, and they are managing some spectacular ways to cock it up further lately which well repay the effort....

"You can't make things fool-proof. They're too ingenious."

[LeftishBrit]

37. I agree.

[cpwm17]

3. They are some sick, sick, sick people

How can anyone rationalize treating your fellow man like this?

[R Merm]

5. From the NY Times "Cease-Fire in Gaza Expires With Rockets Fired Into Israel"

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-strip-conflict.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSum&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

[Duckhunter935]

6. they forget about that part

but firing rockets at Israel is fine by them

[Fantastic Anarchist]

22. If only the Palestinians can have the type of rockets fired at them ...

... that Hamas is firing at Israel. It would be a welcome relief. (Paraphrasing Russell Brand)

[MaggieD]

33. Israel has lied so much

What leads you to believe a single thing they say at this point?

[bemildred]

7. Opinion: Why Israel is its own worst enemy

(CNN) -- The streets of Ashkelon were half empty when I arrived on a Monday afternoon. The latest war was under way, and Haaretz had just published a critical article I'd written about Israel's air force pilots and the grave consequences of their bombardment of Gaza.

I came to this southern Israeli town, not far from Gaza, to chronicle the fear spreading throughout Israeli communities near the border. As a columnist for the country's leading liberal newspaper, I am quite used to people being hostile towards my views, but this was something new.

As I arrived in the town center for a live interview with Channel 2, a crowd of people immediately swarmed around me, cursing me with an aggression that I've never seen before. The bullies encircled me, jumping in front of the camera in an attempt to prevent the interview from going on. The show's host cut the broadcast off. The mob hurled insults at me, calling me "garbage" and a "traitor" and accused me of claiming that Israeli pilots were murderers -- something I never said.

As the crowd's anger grew, I rushed to my car and drove out of the town center, the men's screams trailing off as I steered my way out of Ashkelon. But it wasn't just the street mobs. Leading figures in Israel have publically called me a traitor. Yariv Levin, a senior member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party, called on TV for me to be charged with treason during war time. Haaretz has hired a bodyguard to ensure my safety, and my life has been turned upside down by the incident.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/08/opinion/israel-own-worst-enemy-levy/index.html

[bemildred]

13. In defence of Palestine -- statement signed by Evo Morales, Mel Zelaya, Eduardo Galeano and many mor

Faced with the tragic events our Palestinian brothers and sisters are living through in Gaza, the Network in Defense of Humanity assumes our responsibility and expresses the following:

We take up as our own the words of companero Evo Morales, a founder of the Network in Defense of Humanity and president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, who has declared Israel to be a terrorist state.

We express our absolute repulsion at the genocide being carried out against the Palestinian people by a state founded on dispossession and the colonial occupation of Palestinian territories.

We pay recognition to, and express our solidarity with the Palestinian people and its resistance groups, especially in Gaza, in their heroic struggle against Israeli attempts to exterminate them and seize the small pieces that remain of what was once their homeland.

https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/57028

[Fantastic Anarchist]

25. More:

It is all about dehumanization. As long as Israelis don't perceive Palestinians as equal human beings, there will never be a real solution. Unfortunately, dehumanizing the Palestinians has become the best tool to strengthen the occupation, to ignore and deny its crimes and enable the Israelis to live in peace, without any moral dilemmas. If the Palestinians are not human beings, there is no question about human rights. This process climaxed in this war and this is the real basis for the moral blindness which has covered Israel.

[bemildred]

8. 10-year-old Gaza child killed in Israeli attack

GAZA CITY: An Israeli air strike killed a 10-year-old child in Gaza City on Friday, the first death reported since a 72-hour truce expired at 0500 GMT, Palestinian medics said.

A woman was wounded in the same attack, emergency services said.

Israel announced earlier it had targeted what it called terror sites in the Gaza Strip in response to 18 Palestinian rockets fired toward Israel.

Israel and militants resumed cross-border attacks, after a three-day truce expired and talks brokered by Egypt on a new border deal for the blockaded coastal territory hit a deadlock.

http://www.arabnews.com/news/middle-east/613351

[Fantastic Anarchist]

26. The boy wouldn't have died ...

... had he not have a Hamas militant using him as a "human shield." That's the only way he could have been killed. He would be alive if Hamas militants weren't nearby.

QED

[bemildred]

9. Israel won't negotiate while fire continues, boy dies in Gaza

JERUSALEM/GAZA, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Israel will not negotiate with the Palestinians about renewing a truce in the Gaza Strip as long as militants continue to launch rockets, an Israeli government official said on Friday.

A first Palestinian fatality was reported in the Gaza Strip after the ceasefire broke down earlier and a boy was killed and six others were wounded following an Israeli air strike near a mosque in Gaza City, Palestinian medical officials said.

http://www.trust.org/item/20140808091047-7lsrk/

[bemildred]

10. Gaza militants fire barrage of rockets at Israel

Gaza militants fired a barrage of rockets at Israel on Friday as Palestinian factions at talks in Cairo refused to extend a 72-hour ceasefire in the devastating month-long conflict.

But negotiations for a new truce were still ongoing in the Egyptian capital, as residents in southern Israel took shelter from the rockets and Gazans were fleeing their homes in fear of Israeli retribution.

The Israeli army said at least 10 rockets had targeted the south of the country, with one intercepted over the coastal city of Ashkelon. Police said they caused no harm or damage.

The projectiles were fired shortly after 0500 GMT, when the 72-hour ceasefire in four weeks of fighting in and around Gaza reached its end after Palestinian factions refused to extend it.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=67491

[bemildred]

11. Campaign: Save the Children publishes names of 373 children killed in Israel-Gaza conflict

Save the Children generated a powerful response this week with a campaign publishing the names of children and babies who had so far been killed in the conflict in Gaza.

The poster was printed as an advert in five national newspapers on Wednesday and received a huge reaction on social media, including encouraging thousands people to sign a petition calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Save the Children wanted to use the opportunity of a 72 hour ceasefire, which ended today, to remind people of the children who have so far died in the conflict.

Key elements of the campaign's success included the speed of its response, and its success in making personal the effects of the conflict.

http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/fundraising/indepth/case_studies/content/17965/campaign_save_the_children_publishes_names_of_373_children_killed_in_israel-gaza_conflict

[bemildred]

12. . nt

[riverwalker]

14. ISIL or Israel

was at work yesterday, running in and out of patients rooms with TV on, only picked up phrases "potential genocide" "massacre civilians, helpless, fleeing slaughter" "trapped without food and water"..."childen and women being killed". I realized I did not know if they were talking about the atrocities committed by ISIL, or our dear "ally" Israel.

[spixxen]

15. Huh......

I was under the impression that if you wanted to take out tunnels you went in and blew up or flooded the tunnels with gas or cement.

All I see on tv are missiles blowing up buildings.

Those are funny looking tunnels.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

28. They're "terrorist" tunnels.

They look a bit different from "normal" tunnels.

Perhaps, a few "terrorist" buildings, too.

That word really makes it easier to blow shit up without any guilt.

[bemildred]

16. Sources in Egypt say unofficial ceasefire agreed until 8 p.m.

CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Sources close to talks in Egypt told Ma'an Friday that an unofficial cessation to hostilities will be implemented until 8 p.m. as mediators attempt to reach an agreement between Palestinian and Israeli delegations.

Well placed sources in Cairo said that Palestinian and Israeli delegations have "agreed to almost all main points that need a solution" through indirect talks.

According to the sources, only "limited" disagreements remain and an agreement has been reached "on the majority of the subjects concerning the Palestinians."

The sources called for an end to military operations by both sides, but said negotiations could go on under fire until an agreement is reached.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=719099

[bemildred]

17. Gaza conflict: Hamas break 72-hour ceasefire in 30-rocket attack on Israel

---

"Moments ago, 2 rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel. Terrorists have violated the cease-fire", tweeted the official Israeli Defence Forces.

Then just minutes after the ceasefire expired, 21 more rockets were launched into southern Israel.

By midday, 33 rockets had been fired from Gaza with 26 of the missiles touching in Israel.

The Israeli army confirmed three of the 33 missiles were intercepted and four fell short in Gaza.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/393419/Hamas-launch-more-than-30-missiles-into-Israel-to-break-ceasefire

[bemildred]

18. 7 injured in clashes with Israeli forces in Safa near Ramallah

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Seven Palestinians were injured on Friday afternoon when Israeli forces opened fire on demonstrators in the village of Safa near Ramallah protesting on the anniversary of the killing of a local youth the week before.

The large rally in the central West Bank village began from the local mosque and moved toward the separation wall as it passes through the village, but marchers were stopped before reaching the area when Israeli soldiers used live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas canisters against them.

The youths responded by throwing stones, Molotov cocktails, and fireworks at the soldiers, who shot 10 youths over the course of the clashes.

The village protest came a week after Israeli forces shot dead Odai Nafiz Jabr, 19, with live bullets during a rally c

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=719117

[bemildred]

19. 40 injured in clashes with Israeli forces in Hebron

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- At least 40 Palestinians were injured in central Hebron on Friday afternoon as Israeli forces dispersed hundreds taking part in rallies condemning the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza as well as the Israeli occupation.

Sources at the Red Crescent said that 25 Palestinians had been shot with live fire and 15 with rubber-coated steel bullets during the clashes, and the injured had been taken to hospitals.

Dr. Hazem Shalalda, director-general of al-Mizan Hospital, said that Nader Idriss, 40, was undergoing complex surgery after being shot in the heart by Israeli forces during the clashes.

The march began after Friday Prayers at al-Husseini Mosque and moved toward central Hebron, where clashes erupted with Israeli forces in Baba al-Zawiya.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=719121

[bemildred]

20. Palestinians Attend Friday Prayers In Mosques Reduced To Rubble By Israeli Airstrikes

Palestinians have attended Friday prayers in mosques reduced to rubble by Israeli airstrikes. This collection of pictures show the result of a near month-long air campaign focused on Gaza City, a conflict that has claimed more than 1,900 Palestinian lives, many civilian, including women and children. On Friday, cross-border attacks were resumed after Gaza militants reprised rocket attacks on Israel. Hostilities returned after a three-day cease-fire, brokered by Egypt, ended after talks on ending the blockade of Gaza stalled. Israel hit back on Friday with a series of airstrikes, one that, according to AP, killed a 10-year-old boy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/08/palestinians-attend-friday-prayers-in-mosques-reduced-to-rubble-by-israeli-airstrikes_n_5662033.html

[tridim]

32. Sigh... They are not ever going to stop. nt

[bemildred]

34. Yeah, they will. Might be days, might be weeks, but neither side can do it forever.

[bemildred]

35. UK Jews mourn Gaza dead but anti-Semitic attacks surge

The Finchley Reform Synagogue has been far busier than usual this week, with Monday seeing the biggest-ever turnout for Tisha B’Av that Rabbi Miriam Berger can remember.

This year the Jewish day of mourning to remember the destruction of the Holy Temples in Jerusalem was laced with “sadness” over the situation in Gaza and “fear” over how Britain views its 260,000-strong Jewish community.

The Gaza conflict has cost the lives of more than 1,900 Palestinians, including many children, and has left British Jews facing widespread condemnation of Israel and a rising wave of anti-Semitic incidents here.

It’s no surprise then that the 34-year-old rabbi was expecting an equally big turnout out for Shabbat prayers on Friday night. “There’s real sadness,” she said. “My community believes Israel has the right to defend itself, but it’s filled with grief for the people of Gaza.” She added: “No Jew in Britain could possibly relish this loss of life, but we do say that Israel needs to defend its citizens from attack. What do you expect it to do?”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/uk-jews-mourn-gaza-dead-but-antisemitic-attacks-surge-9658038.html

[B2G]

36. Who fired first?

Hamas. Who ALWAYS fires first durning a ceasefire?

But by all means let's demonize Israel.

[Maedhros]

41. I do not agree with violent solutions, but it is easy to understand why Hamas "fires first."

Their country is occupied by a foreign invader. Even when Israel is not leveling city blocks with artillery and air strikes, they are causing harm to Gaza. I find it grimly amusing that so many people place the responsibility for the violence on the occupied country and not on the occupier.

The idea that occupied Palestine should just sit down, shut up and take it is misguided.

[onenote]

44. And how do you expect peace will be achieved

How does Hamas firing rockets rather than continuing the cease fire help Gazans? How does it further any peace process? I've seen it suggested that the Gazans firing rockets is an appropriate response to killing of children by the Israeli assault on Gaza. But firing rockets into Israeli territory (not at Israeli military targets) serves no military purpose and doesn't bring those children back, just as Israel's overreaction doesn't bring back the civilians killed by Hamas suicide bombers in the past. So long as both sides are more concerned about the past than the future, there can be no peace. A cease fire may not provide a long term solution, but it prevents the killing and ultimately is more conducive to a long term solution than the two sides punching and counterpunching for eternity.

[LeftishBrit]

38. This is one serious mess.

People may wish to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee Gaza Appeal:

http://www.dec.org.uk/

[bemildred]

39. +1. nt

[The Stranger]

40. Suppose the Israeli meme is right: "Hamas wants us to bomb them." Why give them the satisfaction?

It can only be intent, at this point, to make more children and babies die for no reason.

If your complaint is that Hamas is "making you do it," then show up Hamas and stop the massacre.

Show that you are better than them.

[Maedhros]

42. Hamas is playing the long game.

They're counting on the rage against Israel that results from the IDF's periodic ethnic cleansing to shore up their support.

[BillZBubb]

43. Bibi's back at making "telegenic" corpses.

Any excuse will do.