Hamas announces Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel [Update Post #20]

[Abdullah719]

An early morning rocket, allegedly fired from the Gaza Strip, struck a home in central Israel on Monday, wounding seven people and prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short a trip to Washington.

The developments set the stage for a potential major conflagration, shortly before Israel's upcoming elections.

The rocket attack destroyed a residential home in the community of Mishmeret, north of the city of Kfar Saba, wounding six members of the family.

Israel's ambulance service said it treated seven people overall, including two women who were moderately wounded. The others, including two children and an infant, had minor wounds.

The sounds of air raid sirens jolted residents of the Sharon area, northeast of Tel Aviv, from their sleep shortly after 5am, sending them scurrying to bomb shelters. A strong sound of an explosion followed.

An Israeli military spokesperson said the rocket attack was carried out by Hamas, adding that the army was set to deploy two brigades and infantry units to the soutern Gaza area.

'Forceful response'
Netanyahu, in Washington to meet President Donald Trump, held emergency consultations with military officials back in Israel and decided to cut his visit short, cancelling a planned address to the AIPAC conference and meetings with congressional leaders.

"There has been a criminal attack on the State of Israel and we will respond forcefully," he said, "In a few hours I will meet with President Trump. I will return to Israel immediately afterward."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's incident. Al Jazeera reached out to Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip but received no response.

Witnesses in Gaza told AP news agency they saw Hamas officials evacuating government premises, anticipating an Israeli response to the alleged attack.

Hamas also announced that its Gaza chief, Yehiya Sinwar, had cancelled a scheduled public speech. Israel also shut down its main cargo crossing into Gaza.

Monday's attack came 10 days after rockets were fired from Gaza towards Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military at the time struck back and the sides appeared to be hurtling towards another confrontation. But Gaza's Hamas leaders said the rocket was fired accidently and calm was quickly restored.

Dire economic situation
Gaza has been under control of Hamas since 2007. The group won a decisive victory in parliamentary elections a year before, but western governments refused to recognise their win.

In June 2007, Hamas fought against a preemptive coup by its rival Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority, resulting in driving it out of the strip.

The same summer saw Israel and Egypt impose an ongoing land, naval and air blockade on the coastal enclave. Israel has also waged three offensives on Gaza since December 2008. The last such offensive was in 2014, in which more than 2,000 Palestinians - the majority of them civilians - were killed.

The 52-day war also severely damaged Gaza's already weak infrastructure, leading the United Nations to state that the strip would be "uninhabitable" by 2020.

The blockade against Gaza, combined with sanctions by the rival Palestinian Authority, have fueled a dire economic crisis in the enclave. Recently, Hamas has come under rare public criticism for the harsh conditions in the territory.

The latest outburst comes at a sensitive time for both sides. Israel is holding national elections in 15 days.

Netanyahu, who also served as defence minister, is locked in a tight fight for re-election and has faced heavy criticism from his opponents for what they say has been an ineffective response to armed groups in Gaza.

Egypt, Qatar and United Nations are trying to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas but that effort has yet to bring about an agreement.

At the same time, there has been an uptick in violence in the West Bank over the past week, with Israel killing two Palestinians it said attacked its troops.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019...et-attack-central-israel-190325041026437.html

 

[Madplayer]

They allowed it to fall i think. Satanyahu needs it for elections. Get ready for a slaughter of Palestinians. Some brigades of Israeli military have already reached the border.

 

[GBK_Fan]

They allowed it to fall i think. Satanyahu needs it for elections. Get ready for a slaughter of Palestinians. Some brigades of Israeli military have already reached the border.

Even if they “allowed it to”, why fire it now when Satanyahu was behind in the polls and needed something like this to win. This could be disastrous now, with even Trump cleared by the Russian probe. I expect a strong Israeli response

 

[Madplayer]

Even if they “allowed it to”, why fire it now when Satanyahu was behind in the polls and needed something like this to win. This could be disastrous now, with even Trump cleared by the Russian probe. I expect a strong Israeli response

Israel is a deceptive and paranoid state. Hamas was created by Israel itself to create division in Palestinian leadership. It isnt far fetched to think that some of the Hamas leaders work for Israel and dance to their tunes.

Even if this isnt the case, these rockets are just the oppressed trying to hit back with whatever they can. Israeli jets have been bombing Palestine since last many days if you followed these stories.

 

[GBK_Fan]

Israel is a deceptive and paranoid state. Hamas was created by Israel itself to create division in Palestinian leadership. It isnt far fetched to think that some of the Hamas leaders work for Israel and dance to their tunes.

Even if this isnt the case, these rockets are just the oppressed trying to hit back with whatever they can. Israeli jets have been bombing Palestine since last many days if you followed these stories.

Now if your theory holds true and if this was indeed done by a compromised unit of Hamas shouldn’t this expose them to the public or say the leaders true to the cause? If all the Palestinian leaders are compromised, you should probably stop worrying about them as they seem too stupid to see through the charade.

Anyone with a working internet connection knows this was not the time to do a symbolic rocket hit on Israel. This will only bolster the right wing and more hardships on Palestinians. When you cannot win in a fight, how about fighting smart for a change?

 

[troodon]

The world should be scared of Israel. They are the chosen people of God.

 

[troodon]

Now if your theory holds true and if this was indeed done by a compromised unit of Hamas shouldn’t this expose them to the public or say the leaders true to the cause? If all the Palestinian leaders are compromised, you should probably stop worrying about them as they seem too stupid to see through the charade.

Anyone with a working internet connection knows this was not the time to do a symbolic rocket hit on Israel. This will only bolster the right wing and more hardships on Palestinians. When you cannot win in a fight, how about fighting smart for a change?

I guess Palestinians are too stupid to realize that they cannot win a fight against Israel by firing a few rockets. I expect a stringent response from Israel.

 

[a_tahir]

Innocent people are going to get killed in the end and most (most likely all) will be in Gaza.

 

[a_tahir]

Look at these indians talking about gaza like they give a sh*t
They'll go with anyone whom is against muslims.
I'm really starting to hate indians now.

 

[GBK_Fan]

Look at these indians talking about gaza like they give a sh*t
They'll go with anyone whom is against muslims.
I'm really starting to hate indians now.

Nice generalisation bro. Maybe one day when you can keep your biases aside and talk intelligently, people will take you seriously.

 

[a_tahir]

Nice generalisation bro. Maybe one day when you can keep your biases aside and talk intelligently, people will take you seriously.

Sorry forgot the word "some".
Btw IAF attacks on Gaza have begun.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Every year just before Ramadan and during Ramadan there will be attacks on Gaza. It has been a routine for this Satanyahu Israelis.

They will retaliate with 100s getting killed especially children.

 

[in_cutter]

Israel has launched a military response.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Wow what a time we live in. A home made rocket hits Israel killing nobody and a thread is started. Gaza is bombed senseless which will result in many deaths inc children but no thread.

 

[jaf348]

Wow what a time we live in. A home made rocket hits Israel killing nobody and a thread is started. Gaza is bombed senseless which will result in many deaths inc children but no thread.

Double standards are everywhere. 85,000 children have died as a result of starvation and disease because of the Saudi led genocide on Yemen yet there is hardly any coverage, sympathy or assistance from other Muslim countries.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Double standards are everywhere. 85,000 children have died as a result of starvation and disease because of the Saudi led genocide on Yemen yet there is hardly any coverage, sympathy or assistance from other Muslim countries.

A terrible conflict which also exposes the hypocrisy of those who supply, train and support Saudi's in their killings of Yemenis.

This thread is about Palestine and the difference with Yemen is , this is an occupation of land which continues, aparthied, torture, imprisonment and even theft of fruits and nuts. Let's not compare and stick to the topic. An Israeli life has no more value than a Palestinians.

 

[Pakpak]

Wow what a time we live in. A home made rocket hits Israel killing nobody and a thread is started. Gaza is bombed senseless which will result in many deaths inc children but no thread.

Israel has an official Daniya doctrine, which states they can go and criminally bomb 'any civilian infrastructure from the place where the 'terror' threat originated from'.

And apparently this is all allowed and above board while hundreds die.

 

[MenInG]

Israel has carried out strikes on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, hours after a rocket hit a house north of Tel Aviv.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the office of Hamas's political leader and the group's military intelligence headquarters were among the targets.

Gaza's health ministry said seven people were injured in the strikes.

Air strikes continued overnight. Dozens of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, Israel said, and air raid sirens sounded across southern Israel.

The IDF had earlier blamed Hamas, which controls Gaza, for the launch of the rocket that hit the Israeli community of Mishmeret, injuring seven people.

"Israel will not tolerate this, I will not tolerate this," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters during a ceremony in Washington at which US President Donald Trump formally recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

"Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression," Mr Netanyahu added. He later cut short his US visit and returned to Israel.

Mr Trump denounced the attack as "despicable" and said the US "recognises Israel's absolute right to defend itself".

So far no Palestinian militant group has said it fired the rocket. One unnamed Hamas official said it had "no interest" in doing so.

What is the latest?
On Tuesday morning the IDF said it had launched 15 attacks in the northern Gaza Strip in retaliation for rockets being fired into Israeli territory.

It said earlier that about 30 rockets had been fired into Israel since 22:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on Monday.

One house in the southern Israeli town of Sderot was damaged on Monday evening but no injuries were reported. Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system shot several rockets down and the majority fell in open fields, officials added.

Schools in Israeli communities near the Gaza border were closed on Tuesday, reports said.

Hamas officials had said that a ceasefire had been reached with the help of Egyptian mediators but Israel did not comment on the claim.

A rocket launched from the Rafah area in southern Gaza hit a house in Mishmeret, about 120km (75 miles) to the north, causing severe damage to the building and setting it on fire.

The Israeli ambulance service treated two women who were moderately wounded and five other people, including an infant, a three-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, who had minor wounds.

The house belonged to Robert and Susan Wolf, two British-Israeli dual nationals, who had been at home with their son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

"I nearly lost my family. If we had not got to the bomb shelter in time I would now be burying all my family," Mr Wolf told reporters.

The blast also caused damage to at least one nearby home and several vehicles.

It was the furthest a rocket has reached in Israel since the 2014 conflict in Gaza.

IDF spokeswoman Major Mika Lifshitz said Hamas - which has fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the US, EU and UK - was to blame for the launch.

"It's a Hamas rocket, itself made by Hamas," she said. "It has an ability to reach more than 120km."

"We see Hamas as responsible for all that happens in the Gaza Strip," she added.

What has Israel struck in response?
Palestinian security sources, media outlets and witnesses said there were strikes across Gaza on Monday evening.

The IDF and Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV said the office of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniya in Gaza City's Rimal district was bombed. It was not clear whether he was inside at the time.

The IDF also said its fighter jets targeted the offices of Hamas' Internal Security Service, as well as a three-storey building in the Sabra district in eastern Gaza City that served as the "secret headquarters" of Hamas's General Security Forces, and its General Intelligence and Military Intelligence agencies.

The official Palestinian news agency meanwhile reported that Israeli jets fired missiles at two locations in central Gaza City and in the eastern Shujaiya district.

A spokesman for the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra, said on Twitter that seven people were injured, including three in northern Gaza.

Before launching the strikes, the IDF deployed two additional brigades to southern Israel and began what it called a "very limited" call-up of reservists.

Israeli authorities also closed roads near the boundary fence with Gaza, suspended agricultural work in the area, postponed major events in the southern coastal town of Ashkelon, and opened bomb shelters.'

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47698428

 

[Abdullah719]

Hamas announces Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel

Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip, said it reached an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel after an exchange of fire, but explosions in the enclave could still be heard early Tuesday.

"Egyptian efforts succeeded with a ceasefire between the occupation and the resistance factions," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.

Israel had yet to comment.

The reported truce comes shortly after multiple rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel on Monday evening, according to a joint statement issued by Gaza's armed groups, in response to Israeli air strikes that pounded Hamas positions across the Palestinian territory.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza said they fired projectiles across the border and warned they would escalate attacks if the Israeli army continued its air raids.

Sirens sounded in multiple places in southern Israel close to the border, the Israeli army said.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli warplanes launched air strikes against Hamas positions across the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for a rocket from the Palestinian enclave that hit an Israeli home, wounding seven people.

As the Israeli assault began, residents in the northern part of the Gaza Strip reported hearing the sounds of explosions earlier on Monday evening. Local media reported air strikes landed in an agricultural area east of Khan Younis in Gaza's south.

Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from the Gaza-Israel border, said several empty buildings associated with Hamas were hit.

"We've seen several plumes of smoke coming up from the Gaza skyline behind us and we've seen confirmation from the Israeli military that these strikes have begun.

"From our colleagues inside Gaza, we're hearing that so far, the targets seem to have been empty training camps associated with Hamas' military wing ... also a sea base as well," Fawcett said.

Later he said a building "right in the middle of densely populated Gaza city" had been "entirely destroyed".

Ambulances were on the scene, but there had four small warning explosions prior to the largest one that flattened the building that may have allowed people to get out of the area.

Israel said it had destroyed Hamas's military intelligence headquarters.

Gaza's health ministry said seven Palestinians were wounded in the attacks.

Asked whether the group was responsible for the rocket fire Hamas spokesman Abdullatif al-Kanoo told Al Jazeera: "The Israelis continue to impose a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip and practise all kinds of aggression against Palestinians… Therefore, the Israeli occupation should bear the consequences of its actions against our people in Gaza and the West Bank and in Jerusalem, as well.

"Hamas will not leave our people undeterred … the resistance will strike back if needed."

He condemned the Israeli response.

"The current Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip reflects its criminal nature. The Palestinian resistance will not allow the occupation to oppress its people."

Warnings to civilians
Hamas political chief Ismail Haniya called for unity to address Israeli attacks

"The Palestinian cause is being attacked on various fronts - in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, as well as inside Israeli jails.

"We must face this onslaught with a united national front, and in coordination with our Arab allies ... Our people and the resistance will not surrender if the occupation crosses red lines".

Ashraf al-Qudrah, spokesperson for Gaza's health ministry, said hospitals and medical points across the strip are ready and on high alert.

The health ministry has also called on residents to take precautions as Israel begins to launch attacks across Gaza.

Israel issued a similar warning about an hour before the raids began, telling Israeli residents to open bomb shelters in the expectation of potential rocket fire coming from inside Gaza in response.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "gravely concerned" by the recent developments in Israel and the Gaza Strip and urges all sides to exercise maximum restraint, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

'Uninhabitable'
The escalation comes 10 days after rockets were fired from Gaza towards Tel Aviv - in which Hamas denied responsibility. Israel has long said it holds Hamas responsible for all violence from Gaza, controlled by the group since 2007.

It was the first time the city had been targeted since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.

At the time, Israel said it had targeted 100 Hamas positions in the besieged Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians.

Israel has also waged three offensives on Gaza since December 2008, a year after Hamas assumed control of the coastal enclave.

The last war of 2014 severely damaged Gaza's already weak infrastructure, prompting the UN to warn that the strip would be "uninhabitable" by 2020.

Tensions have been high for the past year along the Israel-Gaza frontier since Palestinians began popular protests near Israel's fence west of the Gaza Strip, protesting their right of return and demanding an end to the 12-year-siege.

The siege has devastated the local economy, severely restricting food imports and access to basic services. It has also stopped the flow of construction materials.

Since the start of the protests, dubbed the Great March of Return, nearly a year ago, the Israeli military has killed more than 200 Palestinians.

About 60 more have died in other incidents, including exchanges of fire across the fence. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed by Palestinian fire.

Meanwhile, Egypt, Qatar and the UN are trying to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, but that effort has yet to bring about an agreement.

US-Israel ties 'unbreakable'
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu appeared alongside US President Donald Trump in a press conference at the White House shortly after the raids began.

Netanyahu said Israel was "responding forcefully" to what he called "wanton aggression".

"We will do whatever we must do to defend our people and defend our state," he said adding that he will cut his meeting short to return to Israel.

Trump called the attack on Tel Aviv "despicable" and said that the United States "recognises Israel's absolute right to defend itself", describing the alliance between the US and Israel as "unbreakable".

During the press conference, Trump signed a proclamation formally recognising Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, a move that reversed decades of US policy.

The recognition is expected to come as a boost to Netanyahu, who is running for re-election in Israel's presidential elections next month.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019...rokered-ceasefire-israel-190325193456277.html

 

[giri26]

Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds amid tense calm in Gaza Strip

Gaza City - A Palestinian rocket struck Israel and the military responded with an air strike despite a ceasefire announced by Hamas, but the exchange of fire appeared to end overnight on Wednesday.

There were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties from the latest rocket fire, which the Israeli army said was launched at around 8pm (18:00 GMT).

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups said "the rocket that hit near Ashkelon was the work of an individual and the factions are committed to calm" - as long as Israel is.

A security source in Gaza said an air strike hit a Hamas military base in Khan Yunis following the projectile launched at Israel.

A fraught quiet has settled over the Gaza Strip after Israeli air raids on the besieged coastal enclave that began on Monday after a rocket strike on a home in central Israel.

An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, announced around 19:00 GMT on Monday, was confirmed by a Hamas spokesperson, but the exchange of fire between armed groups in Gaza and the Israeli military continued, residents in the strip said.

The latest flare-up took place after a long-range missile was fired from Gaza into the Israeli community of Mishmeret - 20km north of Tel Aviv - early Monday, wounding seven people.

No group from Gaza has claimed responsibility, but Israel blamed Hamas, the movement that rules the strip, and deployed tanks and reservists at the Israeli fence east of the Gaza Strip.

Throughout Monday night, Israeli warplanes targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad positions with air raids. Hamas leader Ismail Haniya's office was destroyed in the attack, as well as several residential buildings.

The Israeli army confirmed its warplanes carried out 15 bombardments in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, seven Palestinians were injured.

Sameh al-Ghazali, a Gaza resident, lost his home in Gaza City.

"We were shocked when we received a phone call from the Israeli army last night telling us to evacuate our home within seconds," the father of one told Al Jazeera.

The residential building he lives in, which consists of three floors, is owned by four Ghazali families and also hosts the al-Multazem Insurance Company. All the families living in the area evacuated their homes as well.

An F-16 missile levelled the building in a cloud of dust.

"I have no words," Sameh said. "I did not expect in my life that our house would be bombed. The whole family is in great shock. In one instant we lost memories and all of our hard work in life."

At least 10 children lived in the building. Now the family members are scattered among the homes of their relatives.

"What happened is the summary of our lives in Gaza," Sameh said. "You could lose anything or anyone in the blink of an eye."

Ceasefire holding
The ceasefire was announced after Gaza's armed groups launched a barrage of rockets towards Israel but, in a joint statement, the armed factions said they would stop firing rockets if Israel ceased its air raids.

"We affirm our response to the Egyptian mediation of the ceasefire and declare our commitment to calm if the Israeli occupation does as well," the statement said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut a visit to the United States short, where he was due to deliver a speech at the annual AIPAC conference in Washington, DC, vowing to "respond forcefully".

Yair Levin, a minister from Netanyahu's Likud party told Israeli news outlet Ynet: "It is clear there is no ceasefire. We are responding to every attack."

So far, on Tuesday, both Israel and armed factions in the Gaza Strip have stopped firing.

Netanyahu's rivals have accused him of being too soft on Hamas, and thus the recent wave of escalation, according to Gaza-based political analyst Mohsen Abu Ramadan, can be attributed to the upcoming Israeli elections on April 9, in which the prime minister is seeking re-election.

"[The air strikes] come within Netanyahu's attempts to prove himself to his rival candidates," Abu Ramadan said. "But to the Israeli public, he has not achieved that goal of delivering a blow to Gaza's armed factions, so we can expect Netanyahu to resort to another wave of attacks."

Another 'surge in confrontation' likely
Whether the Palestinian factions would stick to the ceasefire was unclear. Abu Ramadan said there was a "possibility" more rockets would be launched, given the timing of events.

On Saturday, Palestinians in Gaza will mark one year since the Great March of Return protests began. The weekly demonstrations, which kicked off in commemoration of Land Day, has witnessed Palestinians from all walks of life participating near the Israeli fence at five encampment points along the strip, demanding an end to Israel's 12-year blockade.

In their protests, they also call for the right to return to their ancestral villages and towns, most a few kilometres away on the Israeli side, which their grandparents were ethnically cleansed from in the run-up to the establishment of the state Israel.

More than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces during these protests, and tens of thousands have been wounded. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in the same time period.

Abu Ramadan said he expects another surge of confrontation between Gaza and Israel.

"There will likely be an escalation of the use of force by Israeli soldiers against the demonstrators," he said of the upcoming protest where tens of thousands of people are expected to participate.

"This increases the prospects of armed factions firing rockets as a response."

Al Jazeera has reached out to Hamas officials but received no response.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019...ds-tense-calm-gaza-strip-190326114821217.html