LIVE UPDATES: Israel will no longer negotiate for cease-fire, cabinet decides

[Jefferson23]

North Gaza refugees allowed to return to homes ● Senior Israeli officer: Gaza tunnel network nearly destroyed ● Israeli soldier moderately wounded by sniper fire ● Netanyahu tells U.S.: Don't second-guess me ● U.S. Congress approves $225 million in emergency funding for Israel's Iron Dome ● IDF strikes Gaza targets.

By Haaretz | Aug. 2, 2014 | 4:22 PM

4:15 P.M. The security cabinet decided after a five-hour meeting Friday night that Israel will no longer attempt to reach a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip via negotiations with Hamas, senior Israeli officials said, adding that Israel does not intent to send a delegation to the Cairo truce talks as previously agreed in the course of the last cease-fire, before it was violated by Hamas.

The cabinet also agreed that instead of seeking a cease-fire, Israel will consider ending the operation and retreating from the Gaza Strip unilaterally, relying on the restored deterrence.

"If we feel that deterrence has been achieved we'll leave the Strip based on the principle of calm for calm," a senior official said. "If we feel deterrence has not yet been achieved, we'll continue the operation in the Gaza Strip, or leave and press on with aerial strikes."

Israel will also seek to reach understandings with Egypt, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the international community regarding the reconstruction of the Strip, demilitarizing Hamas and the supervision of goods entering the Strip. (Barak Ravid)

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.608426

[Jefferson23]

1. Top Israeli source: No truce, we'll decide when to pull troops

Israeli official tells Ynet that no delegation will head to Egypt for ceasefire talks, as Egyptian president reiterated need for talks, warned that lost time further complicated matters.

Roi Kais, Attila Somfalvi
Published: 08.02.14, 14:16

After Egypt's President Sisi reiterates the need for ceasefire talks, a source within Israel's Security-Cabinet spoke to Ynet and indicated that Israel plans to continue its Gaza operation until all of the terror tunnels are destroyed, and as of now has no intention to join ceasefire talks in Cairo.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday a ceasefire plan proposed by his country provided the only chance to end fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but warned that lost time further complicated matters.

Though Friday's ceasefire collapsed almost immediately, the Egyptians seem optimistic about the current attempt to get sides back to the table, and reports claimed a Palestinian delegation was making its route to Egypt.

An Israeli official close to the Israeli Security-Cabinet said that Israel has in the meantime decided not to send any delegation to the talks. Meanwhile, reports claim the Palestinian delegation is en route to Egypt.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4553620,00.html

[oberliner]

2. Does not intent?

Does anyone edit these things?

[Jefferson23]

3. Why Does Israel Keep Changing Its Story On Gaza? ( Video )

&list=UUV3Nm3T-XAgVhKH9jT0ViRg

[azurnoir]

4. the destruction of Gaza's 'terror tunnels' being nearly complete

is starting to remind me of a mini version of Iran will have the bomb in a few months, I've seen it so many times from the beginning of this operation

[Jefferson23]

6. Yes, but don't second guess Bibi. ( sarcasm tag not necessary ).

[Jefferson23]

5. Airstrikes level Gaza homes as Israel rejects new ceasefire talks

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Fifteen Palestinians were killed Saturday afternoon in a series of Israeli airstrikes on homes in Gaza as Israeli officials said a new ceasefire agreement was off the table.

"We're not talking about ceasefires anymore," a senior official told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

"Israel will act in its own interest. We will take action against attacks from Gaza, and will finish dealing with the tunnels."

Despite the Israeli delegation's refusal to participate, a Palestinian delegation left the West Bank en route to the Cairo talks around noon.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=717659

[Jefferson23]

7. Thousands march in Gaza solidarity protests in East Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Demonstrations against the ongoing Israeli assault the Gaza Strip continued in East Jerusalem Friday night as thousands of Palestinians marched in solidarity protests that have become a nightly occurrence across the region.

The rallies and protests came after Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in solidarity marches Friday afternoon, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the Israeli assault on Gaza began to 15.

Witnesses said clashes with Israeli forces broke out in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Shufat refugee camp, al-Issawiya, Silwan, al-Tur, Al-Suwwana, Abu Dis, al-Eizariya, al-Ram, Qalandia, and Anata.

A young man was struck in the abdomen by a bullet in Abu Dis while many others across East Jerusalem were hit by rubber-coated bullets, including a baby girl sitting in her home.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=717530

[Jefferson23]

8. Israel seeks to end Gaza operation unilaterally

After a five-hour meeting Friday, cabinet decides against further cease-fire negotiations, relying instead on restoring Israel's deterrence.

By Barak Ravid | 18:00 02.08.14

Israel's security cabinet decided after a five-hour meeting Friday night that Israel will no longer seek a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip via negotiations with Hamas, senior Israeli officials said. Therefore, Israel does not intend to send a delegation to the Cairo truce talks as previously agreed in the course of the last cease-fire, before it was violated by Hamas.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.608462

[bemildred]

10. Now, I would say they are startng to grasp the situation. nt

[Jefferson23]

12. It's starting to look that way..I hope you're right. All is quiet from Nasrahalla too, as

far as I know.

[bemildred]

18. No, he won't interfere now. nt

[Jefferson23]

20. I imagine that will stay that way as long as he believes Hamas can manage what is coming

next,considering it seems far-fetched the tunnels are in fact neutralized as Bibi seems
to be claiming.

[IronGate]

9. WTH should they continue to negotiate for a cease fire?

Every damn time Israel thinks they have a cease fire in place, the terror org Hamas violates it, so, on that basis, why would Israel think that the terror org Hamas would honor another one?

[bemildred]

11. LIVE UPDATES: IDF to complete demolition of Gaza tunnels in 24 hours

---

7:18 P.M. In the next 24 hours the IDF will announce that all known tunnels reaching from Gaza into Israel have been demolished. The Israeli army has been demolishing tunnels over the weekend, and several additional tunnels will be demolished in the coming hours.

By then, the IDF believe, the mission of destroying Hamas' "attack tunnels" will be accomplished. The defense establishment knew of 31 such tunnels before the operation, and additional tunnels were uncovered during the ground offensive.

Following the destruction of the tunnels, the IDF intends to withdraw the troops from the Strip's built-up areas, and re-deploy them several hundred meters beyond the border fence, inside Gaza's territory. The re-deployment is meant to secure Israel's Gaza vicinity communities in case of breaches, and in readiness of possible future missions. Some troops will withdraw from Gaza into Israel, and will be redeployed in staging areas several kilometers outside the Strip. (Gili Cohen)

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.608426

[Jefferson23]

13. They know they would take great risks going further in..how much they effectvely

destroy the tunnels to their satisfaction is questionable..from what I understand.

[bemildred]

19. Wait a day or two.

Once the shooting stops, there will be lots more information coming out.

[bemildred]

23. It's a touchy situation.

He's spending money and ammo at high rates, and has taken casualties.
He has a lot of troops and reservists called up.
It's not clear that Hamas is willing to stop shooting rockets.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is going to get a lot uglier fast, and real publically.
Meanwhile he has nothing to show for it but a lot of destruction.
You have to remember the original goal was to discredit/destroy Hamas and keep the Palestinians divided and submissive.
He has threatened the President of the USA.
And it's been a PR disaster.
I can go on ...

So it's no surprise he is flopping around.

[Jefferson23]

25. Oh I agree and then some. The talking points to cover for this atrocity has only just touched

the tip...

I think his goal which was to have the Palestinians so stunned and devastated they would
give up on Hamas and fully submit...absolutely agree. I have yet to read anything that confirms
anything even close to that being accurate. I will add there will undoubtedly be different responses
that will come to be, as human nature's reaction to such horrific collective punishment is not
a science...not something he nor anyone should bet on to go in their favor.

I am curious of course as to what Abbas will be doing in the aftermath..the leader
who was willing to include the "terrorists" in a unity government.

What a fucking mess.

[Jefferson23]

14. Hamas: Unilateral Israeli withdrawal does not 'commit' us to anything

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said on Saturday that a unilateral Israeli withdrawal would not "commit" the group to anything, stressing that Hamas was ready to continue fighting if necessary.

The comments come after top Israeli officials said that they were no longer willing to take part in negotiations, stressing that any decision on the assault on Gaza would be taken unilaterally.

Abu Zuhri, however, said in a statement that an Israeli unilateral retreat would not "commit" the group to anything, highlighting that the situation in the "field" would determine how Hamas responds to such a move.

"The resistance could fight on despite that they have been fighting for 27 days," Abu Zuhri added.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=717674

[Jefferson23]

15. West Bank Palestinians raise money for Gaza

A burly man driving a Land Rover ran quickly into the Greenland supermarket and asked for 10 large boxes of bottled water. When the owner of the store, where I happened to be at the time, asked what the water was for, the man answered that it was a contribution to Gaza. Without a blink, the storeowner ordered one of his staff to add five more boxes as a contribution. At the entrance of the store in this Ramallah suburb of Tireh, I saw two signs calling on customers to contribute to Gaza. “Your small contribution will go a long way,” said an ad, signed by the Latin Church in Ramallah.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/west-bank-gaza-raise-money.html##ixzz39Fuxwjgt

[Jefferson23]

16. Photo Gallery: The Gaza Conflagration

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/photo-gallery-the-gaza-conflagration-fotostrecke-117195.html

[ladjf]

17. Why should they discontinue the genocide? As long as there is no one to stop them,

they will continue to carry out their plan to rid Gaza of all Palestinians.

[Jefferson23]

21. It’s All Hamas’ Fault, Right Israel?

I’m no fan of Hamas, quite the contrary. But Israel’s attempt to put all the blame on Hamas is outrageous.

Gideon Levy


It’s so easy to be an Israeli; your tender conscience is pure as the driven snow: Everything is Hamas’ fault. The rockets are the fault of Hamas; that can be taken for granted. Hamas started the war, for no reason; that, too, “goes without saying.” Hamas is a vicious terrorist organization, beasts in human form, born to kill, fundamentalists—and apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

Some 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced. More than 1,200 have been killed, about 80 percent of them civilians, half of these women and children. Around 50 families have been obliterated, their homes bombed with them inside. It has reached the dimensions of a real massacre. But Israelis’ hands are clean and their consciences are quiet—so quiet you could cry. It’s Hamas’ fault.

We’ll leave the root causes of this cursed repression and denial to the psychologists. Since the days when Israel accused the Palestinians of killing their own children by means of the Israel Defense Forces, we haven’t seen such denial. After incubating for years, the disease is now a raging epidemic whose carriers are now symptomatic. The national conscience hasn’t moved a muscle in response to this atrocity, and there are forces working to keep it that way.

But even through the malignant cloud of denial, even understanding how easy it is to blame everything on Hamas — Israel has never had such a convenient enemy, which can be framed for all its sins—we must ask whether everything really is the fault of Hamas. Is Israel genuinely completely innocent? In the face of bleeding, ruined Gaza, the work of Israeli hands, such denial is incomprehensible.

http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Its-All-Hamas-Fault-Right-Israel/291575

[Jefferson23]

22. In photos: Israeli bombs destroy historic al-Omari mosque in Jabaliya

Israeli forces bombed the historic al-Omari Mosque in the northern Gaza City of Jabaliya on Saturday morning.

The mosque, which is believed to have stood on the same site since 647 AD, was almost completely destroyed in the bombing.

The portico and minaret dated back to the medieval Mamluk period, or at least 500 years.

The mosque stood at the center of Jabaliya and was known as the "Great Mosque" by local residents.

Israel said that their forces had bombed five mosques over night, claiming that "weapons caches and Hamas command and training facilities" were concealed within them.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=717666

[Bodhi BloodWave]

27. That excuse is starting to get rather thin i think

The whole 'claiming that "weapons caches and Hamas command and training facilities" were concealed within them. ' thing

In my mind it starting to remind me far to much of the story called 'The boy who cried wolf' only in this case the 'boy' is blowing things up and crying 'Terrorist weapons, Terrorist HQ, Terrorist Training location'

[Jefferson23]

28. I believe that ship has sailed, yes. Take a look, Bibi is not wasting time:

IDF puts together team to deflect war-crime allegations

Legal work is being done ahead of possible international investigations like those that followed the 2009 Gaza offensive and the Mavi Marmara incident.

By Gili Cohen | 03:12 03.08.14 | 0


The Israel Defense Forces has established a team to collect evidence on the fighting with Hamas in Gaza in case the army is accused of war crimes. The IDF reiterated yesterday that Hamas had committed crimes, not Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.608513

[bemildred]

24. Israel-Gaza conflict: What has Israel achieved in 26 bloody days?

As Gaza is devastated by a new paroxysm of violence, what has Israel achieved by its 26-day bombardment and ground intervention? The outcome so far is similar to that of past Israeli wars in Lebanon and Gaza: massive firepower is used to inflict heavy losses on the other side, the great majority of the casualties being civilians. But, as the war goes on, Israeli leaders find that Israel's military superiority is failing to produce comparable political gains.

Worse, from the Israeli point of view, it is the Palestinians and, in this case, Hamas, who are in a stronger position than they were a month ago. By its actions, Israel has put the Palestinian issue firmly back on the international agenda from which it had largely disappeared since the Arab uprisings of 2011. Only a few months ago, a friend sympathetic to the Palestinians lamented to me that, in his travels in the US, Europe and the Arab world, he had seldom heard the words "Palestine" or "Palestinians". Gaza, at horrendous cost to its people, has changed all that.

Usually, the sufferings of the four million Palestinians penned into Gaza and the West Bank are invisible to people in the rest of the world. But over the past month we have seen, night after night, pictures of Palestinian families, with their maimed and terrified children, vainly seeking safety amid shattered houses and hospitals. Israeli spokesmen sound shifty and heartless as they claim that there is no proof of Israel's culpability for the shelling of a UN hospital or a children's playground, suggesting that a Hamas rocket might have fallen short. These denials and evasions might work in a short war but, by the time 264 Palestinian children had been killed, as of Friday, they only serve to convince people that Israelis do not care how many Palestinians they kill.

Of course, we have been here many times before, the most notorious Israeli intervention being the invasion of Lebanon in 1982. I was in the Sabra and Shatila camps just after the massacre of 1,700 Palestinians by Christian militiamen who would not have been there but for Israeli actions. When I see pictures of the dead in Gaza, I feel I can still smell the sickly sweet stench of the dead bodies as they began to rot in the hot September sun. I remember the poverty of the dead, with their ragged clothes and plastic shoes, as they lay in the doorways of tiny shops or heaped up in alleyways. Out in the open, a donkey was lying dead between the shafts of a small cart carrying a barrel of water, and corpses were half-buried in a bank of sand, as if somebody had wanted to conceal them but had given up half-way through because there were too many bodies to bury.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/israelgaza-conflict-what-has-israel-achieved-in-26-bloody-days-9644508.html

[Jefferson23]

26. IDF determines 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, previously considered captured, is dead

LIVE UPDATES: Family notified by Minister Ya'alon, IDF officials; Israel scales back Gaza op; Netanyahu rules out further negotiations for truce; Hamas: Israel will be morally defeated soon.

By Haaretz | Aug. 3, 2014 | 1:53 AM

Live updates [Saturday]:

1:53 A.M. IDF determines 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, previously considered captured, is dead.

A statement issued by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that a special panel led by IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Rafi Peretz arrived to the conclusion, based on evidence found at the scene of the attack. It added that prior to the decision, religious, medical and other relevant issues were taken under consideration.

The IDF said that the soldier's family was notified of the decision by the Head of the IDF Personnel Directorate Maj. Gen. Orna Barbivai and the Chief Military Rabbi, Brig. Gen. Rafi Peretz. (Gili Cohen)

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.608426

[bemildred]

30. Who broke the ceasefire? Obama blames Hamas against the evidence

A beleaguered-looking President Barack Obama appeared before the Washington press corps on August 1 to lash into Hamas for supposedly violating the 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire that his Secretary of State John Kerry and the United Nations had labored so tirelessly to secure. “I have unequivocally condemned Hamas and the Palestinian factions that were responsible for killing two Israeli soldiers and abducting a third minutes after a ceasefire was announced,” Obama said.

But evidence supporting Obama’s claim of Hamas responsibility has been difficult to come by. Indeed, even the Israeli Army news desk was unable to provide Mondoweiss with a clear narrative or substantial evidence regarding the incident in question. Moreover, accounts published in Arabic by Hamas’s military wing along with details provided by the PLO indicate that the killing of two Israeli soldiers and disappearance of another actually occurred before the ceasefire went into effect — when Israel was assaulting Rafah.

“Today at 9:30, terrorists executed an attack from which two soldiers were killed and an additional is now missing and therefore he is suspected to have been abducted,” an Israeli army spokesperson told Mondoweiss. The army spokesperson went on to state that Hamas and the army “exchanged shelling,” yet they were unable to provide details on the source of the Palestinian fire. “They used several forms of fire simultaneously,” was all the spokesperson could divulge.

“I cannot confirm at the moment as we are still looking into it, but it may have been live bullets and a suicide belt,” which killed the soldiers, the army spokesperson said.

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/08/ceasefire-against-evidence.html

[Jefferson23]

31. No words, I feel so ashamed for them...we'll see what develops from the investigations. n/t

[sadoldgirl]

29. So, the lawn has been mowed,

the destruction was sufficiently agreeable, the next start will have to wait a few years. The money and support of the US has been secured, and investigations can always be detoured or delayed. Right, okay, now what about the DMZ? Is Gaza getting those stretches back?

"calm for calm" implies total submission? Oh, how generous of the Israeli government!

[Jefferson23]

32. Palestinian factions release demands for Gaza ceasefire

Draft document conditions include immediate ceasefire, end to blockade, establishing airport, releasing fourth wave of security detainees promised to PA.

Roi Kais
Published: 08.03.14, 16:28

Representatives of the Palestinian factions in Gaza arrived in Cairo on Sunday to present a united front on negotiations for a ceasefire. One PLO delegation member, Maher Taher, said the Palestinian demands were drafted earlier in the day and were presented to the Egyptian mediator.

The draft document demands:

Immediate ceasefire and Israel withdrawal from the Gaza Strip
End to blockade and opening of crossings for people and merchandise
Extending the freedom of movement for sailors to 12 nautical miles
Cancelling the 'safety strip' around the Gaza border
Establishment of an airport and a seaport in Gaza
Rehabilitation of the Strip and a promise of emergency aid with the help of an international committee of donors to be convened by the Palestinian unity government
The release of the fourth wave of Palestinian security detainees originally promised by Israel to PA
Release of Shalit deal prisoners who were rearrested during IDF Operation Brother's Keeper and the release of Palestinian Legislative Council members also arrested in the op


Lebanese TV network Al Mayadeen also reported on the document, but did not note the clause about releasing the Shalit deal prisoners. The demands drafted by the Palestinian factions show that the deliberations in Cairo are futile without Israel's participation, as most of the document's principles require Israel's agreement.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4554208,00.html