IDF opens fire at northern Gaza

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More than an hour after the humanitarian ceasefire ended between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, IDF forces opened massive fire at the northern Gaza Strip.


Earlier Thursday, some 13 Hamas terrorists attempted to enter Israel through a secret tunnel connecting between Israel and Gaza. The IDF attacked the tunnel's pier and according to the Palestinians at least one was killed.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4545320,00.html

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1. Rocket Fire Resumes After Gaza Cease-Fire Ends

JERUSALEM — Rockets from the Gaza Strip soared into Israel starting at 3 p.m. Thursday, precisely marking the designated end of the five-hour halt to hostilities both sides had agreed upon to provide a “humanitarian window” to residents after nine days of fighting.

The Israeli military said one rocket hit the southern city of Ashkelon and another fell short and landed inside Gaza, as the all-too-familiar sirens again sounded repeatedly across southern Israel. A military spokesman said Israel had not immediately resumed strikes on Gaza.

The pause, requested by the United Nations, came after Israel foiled a predawn attack in which about 13 Palestinian militants emerged from a tunnel near a kibbutz, and as negotiations toward a Cairo-brokered cease-fire deal continued. It was interrupted by a brief flurry of mortar fire that fell in open ground near the Gaza border, but otherwise the quiet held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., allowing Gaza residents to safely come out of their homes to shop and survey the damage the battle had wrought.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-strip.html

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2. Harrowing images capture Palestinian boys fleeing beach moments before they were killed by Israeli

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/harrowing-images-capture-palestinian-boys-3873689

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3. Palestinian lawmaker Zoabi ambushed in Israeli hospital

Ramallah: The Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, Haneen Al Zoabi, had a narrow escape on Wednesday night after several Israeli far right and ultraorthodox colonists attacked her in Soroko Hospital in Beer Al Sabe’a (Bir Sheba). At the time the parliamentarian was visiting three Palestinian-Israeli girls who had sustained light injuries from a rocket fired from Gaza.

The colonists could not attack Al Zoabi physically but a hot argument erupted between the parliamentarian and the colonists before Al Zoabi was taken out of the hospital. Al Zoabi was attacked verbally with racist and discriminatory comments, including being told the colonists were wishing and praying a rocket would fall on her head.

The attackers told the Israeli daily Yedoit Ahranoth that they had known about the planned visit of Al Zoabi to the three hospitalised Palestinian girls and the colonists decided to attack her there.

Palestinian citizens of Israel are those who were not forced to leave their native lands when the Israeli regime was established in 1948. They lived under military rule for almost two decades and continue to face systematic discrimination. They are, however, allowed to vote and run for elections.

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/palestinian-lawmaker-zoabi-ambushed-in-israeli-hospital-1.1361104

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4. No safe haven for those living near Israel's Iron Dome

When the sirens ring out in Tel Aviv all but the most defiant residents tend to head for the nearest bomb shelter or stairwell, but in ramshackle Kfar Shalem that is not an option.

It lies just a few blocks away from a battery of Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system, but there are no shelters in this dirt-poor neighbourhood, where concrete bungalows and corrugated iron shacks make up the housing stock. When shrapnel fell on Wednesday, residents simply went outside and lay on the ground.

"Lots of people are unhappy that we have no bomb shelters," said Dudu Lanardo, a 35-year-old who has lived in the neighbourhood his whole life, as did his father and grandfather before him.

The residents have been fighting an ongoing battle with the authorities since the 1960s, with the Tel Aviv government arguing that as Kfar Shalem was built on private land outside city limits the government has no obligation to provide services. Residents with longer ties to the area, such as Lanardo, say that Israelis who have moved in from outside the area and built homes in empty lots have compounded problems with the authorities.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/no-bomb-shelters-residents-israel-iron-dome-missiles

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5. Gaza LIVE: Israeli jets first to strike soon after the end of ceasefire truce

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/gaza-live-israeli-jets-first-to-strike-soon-after-the-end-of-ceasefire-truce_948034.html

[Jefferson23]

6. No words fit any longer. n/t

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7. UN agency finds 20 rockets at vacant Gaza school

Foreign media says agreement reached in Egypt to go into effect at 6 A.M., Hamas official: Progress made, but cease-fire not yet reached; Lieberman: Report from reality; mortar shells fired from Gaza two hours into temporary truce; IDF thwarts infiltration attempt.

By Haaretz | Jul. 17, 2014 | 4:28 PM |

An Israeli official has said that a comprehensive cease-fire agreement was reached during deliberations in Egypt and would go into effect at 6 A.M. on Friday morning, according to reports in the foreign media. A member of the security cabinet told Haaretz that no such agreement has been brought for approval yet.

A temporary humanitarian cease-fire between Israel and Hamas went into effect at 10 A.M. on Thursday and was scheduled to last until 3 P.M. Three rockets were fired at southern Israel just two hours after the cease-fire went into effect, and another round was launched exactly two minutes expired. A round of

The cease-fire was requested by Robert Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East, in order to allow aid into the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces struck 37 targets overnights in the Gaza Strip; the death toll in the coastal territory has reached 230. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have fired more than 1,215 rockets and mortar shells into Israel since the hostilities began, reaching the length and breadth of the country. One Israeli has been killed, several wounded and millions of lives disrupted. Of the missiles fired, 38 have exploded in built-up spaces and 231 have been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.605590

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8. Demented. nt

[Jefferson23]

9. Israel launches ground incursion in Gaza Strip

As Israel expands offensive, Gaza militants fire rockets barrage at Israel's south, center and Coastal Plain; Hamas: 'Ground operation a dangerous, costly step, occupation will pay heavy price'

By Haaretz | Jul. 18, 2014 |

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon ordered the Israel Defense Forces to launch a ground incursion in the Gaza Strip Thursday night, in order to "damage the underground tunnel terrors constructed in Gaza leading into Israeli territory."

Earlier, Israel resumed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip at 3:00 P.M. after a six hour temporary cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza residents. The cease-fire began at 9:00 A.M. on Thursday morning, though Hamas fired rockets at Israel roughly two hours later.

Since the end of the ceasefire, over 100 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel, including large barrages aimed primarily at the south, but some have also reached central Israel. Israeli airstrikes killed four Palestinian children, three in Zeitoun and one in Khan Yunis.

Also on Thursday afternoon, representatives from UNRWA, the UN agency caring for Palestinian refugees, found roughly 20 rockets hidden in a vacant UNRWA school in the Gaza Strip.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.605590