I/III. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/israel-vows-continue-bombing-gaza-201482154350149949.html Israel kills three top Hamas commanders
Hamas's military wing confirms air strike in Gaza's Rafah, saying that "Israel will pay the price". Last updated: 21 Aug 2014 15:06 Israeli aircraft have killed three top Hamas commanders in southern Gaza, inflicting a heavy blow on the movement's armed wing after failing to kill its top military chief. Thursday's attack, on a day when a total of 26 people were reported killed in Gaza, came a day after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel's offensive may be an extended operation. The Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, said Mohamed Abo Shamaleh, Raed al-Attar and Mohamed Barhoum had been killed in an Israeli attack in Rafah, the Reuters news agency reported. The raid came a day after Israel attempted to kill the brigades' leader Mohammed Deif. Dief's wife and baby son died in the attack. "The assassination... is a big Israeli crime, which will not succeed in breaking our will or weakening our resistance," said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, adding: "Israel will pay the price." Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from West Jerusalem, said Israel had turned to its historical tactic of targeting senior figures. "This could be seen as an acknowledgement that military tactics have not been delivering on several different levels," she said. Israel said on Thursday it was rotating 10,000 troops - meaning fresh soldiers were being prepared for future operations. At a news conference on Wednesday in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu pledged "a continued campaign" in Gaza aimed at restoring "calm and safety to Israeli citizens". "Operation Protective Edge is not finished, not for a minute, we are talking about a continued campaign," Netanyahu said, before adding he saw a "new diplomatic horizon for the state Israel" in the coming months. Hamas spokesman Zuhri denounced Netanyahu's speech as "a pathetic attempt to heal Israel's psyche". "The assassination threats ... reflects the extent of the occupation's violence and [Israel's] lack of seriousness in achieving a ceasefire," he said "These threats will not frighten Hamas leaders. We will continue to protect and defend our people in facing Israeli crimes or foolishness," he said. Al Jazeera's Jane Ferguson, reporting from Gaza, said the Hamas commanders killed on Thursday had been implicated in the kidnapping of its soldier Gilad Shalit, who was freed in 2011 under a prisoner swap deal with Hamas. She added that Hamas and other Palestinian factions were still open to talks, an "indicator of how both sides ... are aware that while they say they're prepared to fight, they also know that they need a political solution at some stage". Hamas is seeking an end to a seven-year Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has battered Gaza's economy, while Israel wants guarantees that Hamas will disarm. More than 40 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza since a week-long ceasefire collapsed on Tuesday, raising the total death toll to over 2,035 since the beginning of Israel's "Operation Protective Edge" on July 8. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies II/III. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.611949 LIVE UPDATES: Rocket fire resumes on Friday morning Five rockets and mortars fired since dawn; U.S. joins EU states' efforts at UNSC resolution to end war; Meshal may visit Cairo to meet with Abbas, Egyptian officials. Aug. 22, 2014 | 6:59 AM On Thursday, Twenty-nine Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, mainly in attacks on targets in vehicles and on motorcycles, Palestinian officials reported. The death toll in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge stands at over 2,050, while some 10,300 have been wounded as of yesterday afternoon, according to Gaza's health ministry. In Israel, the condition of a 33-year-old man wounded by mortar shrapnel in Eshkol worsened from moderate to serious as Gazan militants fired 104 rockets and mortar shells at the country, mainly toward the south but reaching as far north as the Samaria Regional Council in the upper West Bank. Eighty-four rockets exploded in open areas and 11 were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system. An Israeli strike late Wednesday killed <http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.611936> three Hamas commanders in Rafah, two of which, Raed Attar and Mohammed Abu Shamaleh, were regarded as the two top Hamas commanders in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Shin Bet. Germany, France and Britain have begun working <http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.611911?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter> on a UN Security Council resolution that would end the fighting in the Gaza Strip, a document obtained by Haaretz revealed. Later, the U.S. joined the European initiative, diplomats said. Snipped III. http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.611959 [Editorial] Netanyahu must prove his 'new diplomatic horizon' isn't empty talk The prime minister must resume negotiations with the Palestinians and release the prisoners he promised - otherwise, his statements will remain hollow and worthless, just like before. Haaretz Editorial <http://www.haaretz.com/misc/writers/haaretz-editorial-1.239> | Aug. 22, 2014 | 6:27 AM Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried on Wednesday to rip open a diplomatic window for Israel. At a press conference he convened together with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, he said that one of the goals he set for the fighting in the Gaza Strip is "achieving a new diplomatic horizon for the State of Israel." He boasted that it was now easier for Israel to explain its diplomatic considerations, referring to the changes that have taken place in the Middle East. "I'm interested in exhausting this possibility ... I will look forward to restarting negotiations with a Palestinian government committed to peace with Israel, to the end to terror," he said. What the prime minister said is true: The regional changes indeed call for a daring new diplomatic initiative on his part, in order to end the occupation and reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Without doing those two things, Israel has no chance of improving its diplomatic and regional standing, even if new temporary alliances have been created with several Arab states that oppose Hamas. These alliances won't hold water over time without a solution to the Palestinian problem. In the summer of 2009, Netanyahu gave a speech at Bar-Ilan University in which he voiced willingness to see a Palestinian state established. Since then, five years have passed, during which he did everything in his power to thwart this possibility. He lent a hand to more and more construction in the settlements and sabotaged the talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on various pretexts. Now, he has been granted a second opportunity, perhaps the last, to make his mark and advance a historic agreement. It's good that the prime minister said what he did precisely now, at the height of the fighting in Gaza, and at a time when he is under incessant attack by his colleagues on the right. But the burden of proof is on him. His statements about a new diplomatic horizon must not remain empty words. Netanyahu must imbue them with real content, and as quickly as possible. He must resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority -- including the Palestinian unity government, if it lasts -- and undertake a series of confidence-building measures, including the release of Palestinian prisoners to which Israel previously committed and freezing construction in the settlements. Without such steps, Netanyahu's statements will remain hollow and worthless, exactly like the words of his Bar-Ilan speech. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
