Islamic Jihad official dismisses the deaths of thousands of Gazans as “the price of war” against the Jewish State.

By World Israel News Staff

Gaza-based terror groups know that their rocket launches towards Israel endanger Gazan civilians, but brush off those casualties as simply part of the cost of waging war against the Jewish State, a document published by the IDF reveals.

IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichai Adaree posted a transcript of a 2022 phone call between senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials, which discussed a failed rocket launch by the latter group which wounded civilians in Gaza.

“Even if a thousand are killed by friendly fire, that’s the price of war,” the Islamic Jihad official said.

The conversation demonstrated high tensions between the rival terror groups, as the Hamas official said he was infuriated that Islamic Jihad initially tried to blame the misfire on Hamas.

Islamic Jihad also complained that it had been “provoked” by Hamas during the course of the fighting.

“The document confirms Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s view of the residents of Gaza and their use of them as a tool of exploitation, as the two movements realize the danger of these rockets to the lives of the residents and consider them a ‘war tax’ directly or indirectly,” Adaree wrote on his popular X account, which is followed by Arabic-speakers throughout the world.

“This is also evident during the current war, as Hamas and Islamic Jihad persist in launching rockets from areas populated by civilians and even from humanitarian areas, which puts the people of the Strip at risk.”

Shortly after the outbreak of the current war, an errant rocket fired by a Gaza-based terror group struck a local hospital in the Strip.

Accepting dubious claims from Hamas as factual, international media blamed Israel, erroneously reporting that the IDF had intentionally targeted the hospital.

The IDF then released evidence proving that the hospital blast was a result of a misfire from within the coastal enclave.

The post Islamic Jihad: No problem if 1000 Gazans killed by rocket misfires appeared first on World Israel News.

Latest round of terrorist rocket attacks highlights the strain of war on young residents of the Gaza border region, experts say, calling for greater mental health care services.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Activists and psychologists are urging the Israeli government to invest more resources in mental health services for kids and teens in the South, who are traumatized by living under the constant threat of rocket fire originating from the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Doron Heyman, an educational psychologist who serves clients in the communities bordering the Strip, which most often come under threat from terror groups in the coastal enclave, said that younger residents are in desperate need of additional support.

Heyman told Ynet that during Operation Shield and Arrow, the government opened a handful of temporary “resilience” centers providing basic mental health services, but described the practice as “a Band-Aid on a bleeding wound.”

Because the centers are now being shuttered due to the end of this round of fighting, youth in the area are once again left “abandoned” without a long-term solution to help them cope with the trauma of life in the region and the destruction caused by rockets from Gaza.

There are no permanent mental health clinics specializing in the treatment of children and teens in the Gaza border region, forcing parents to transport children to larger cities for treatment, which can be a significant distance away.

“There are children who are dealing with depression… but there are no long-term therapists in the area,” Heyman told Ynet. “Children and youth have to travel outside the area, and are subject to waiting lists [for mental health treatment] that sometimes reach over a year.”

Heyman added that “for parents of an 11 or 12-year-old child who needs treatment, it is very difficult to drive him once a week to Beersheba or Ashkelon. The private psychologists are also in high demand, and cannot receive all the referrals.

“It’s very unfortunate. Some people simply don’t get treatment because of it. And then the [mental] damage keeps building.”

Dr. Rotem Sternberg, a social worker and lecturer at the School of Social Work at Sapir College in Sderot, told Ynet that “the struggles of the residents of the South get worse with each escalation, and some people even remain [traumatized] for life.”

She added that “every week, it feels like we are getting a more and more [mentally distressed] population.”

Sternberg noted that simply adding more psychologists to the area isn’t the answer, and that a long term solution to the conflict with Gaza is critical.

“It doesn’t matter how much we increase the number of therapists, as long as the security situation remains the way it is,” she said.

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“My wife called me, crying, and said that a rocket had fallen on our house,” said Avi Elkayam. “I rushed home, she said there had been an explosion and she panicked.”

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A man from the southern city of Sderot told Hebrew-language media that his family is seriously considering moving out of the region, after a rocket fired from the Islamic Jihad terror group caused enormous damage to their home.

“The entire garden, pergola, our cars, and living room were totally destroyed,” Avi Elkayam, the owner of the home, told Walla News. “There is serious damage here.”

Elkayam was at work when the rocket struck, he explained. He received a frantic phone call from his terrified wife, who was hunkered down with their children in the home’s bomb shelter.

“She called me, crying, and said that a rocket had fallen on our house. I rushed home, she said there had been an explosion and she panicked.”

Elkayam, who said his family has been living in the city situated less than a mile away from the Gaza Strip for more than 25 years, recalled the trauma of living under rocket fire during previous conflicts.

After so many years of hearing incoming siren alerts and running to their home’s bomb shelter, the family is constantly on edge, waiting for the next volley, he said.

“We get scared by any noise, anything. If the garbage man slams the lid too hard, we get startled,” he told Walla.

“But until now, we didn’t think about it too much. In the past, there were times that rockets fell 200 meters [650 feet] away from our house, but you get used to it.”

However, Elkayam said, the fact that a rocket struck their yard and damaged their home has made them reconsider their commitment to living in the town that they love.

“It’s a small city, like a family, everyone knows everyone,” he said, explaining that despite the benefits of living in the close-knit community, his family is seriously weighing moving out of the area.

He said that his family was “traumatized” from the incident and still planning their next steps.

The post ‘Serious damage, we’re traumatized’ – Sderot man whose home was hit by rocket speaks out appeared first on World Israel News.

“The IDF considers the Syrian state responsible for everything that happens on its territory and will not allow attempts to violate Israel’s sovereignty,” said a military spokesman shortly after the strikes were carried out.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israeli Air Force launched retaliatory airstrikes on targets in Syria, after six rockets were fired from the country towards Israel’s northern Golan Heights region.

In two separate barrages several hours apart, rockets were launched towards communities in the Lower Galilee, causing air raid sirens to wail and residents to seek shelter.

There were no casualties or property damage reported to be caused by the rockets.

At least one of the rockets exploded in an open area near the communities of Avnei Eitan and Natur at around 3 a.m. early Sunday morning.

One rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, while several others fell short in Syria. At least one rocket ended up landing in an open area near an unpopulated area in Jordan.

Shortly after the second salvo of rockets, the IAF attacked the sites in southern Syria from which the rockets had been launched in Syria.

The Jerusalem Brigade, a relatively unknown Palestinian terror group, took responsibility for firing the rockets, according to Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news outlet Al-Mayadeen.

Both Israeli and Syrian officials noted that the IAF also struck targets near Damascus.

“The IDF considers the Syrian state responsible for everything that happens on its territory and will not allow attempts to violate Israel’s sovereignty,” read a statement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit shortly after the strikes were carried out.

The rocket launches from Syria on Saturday marked the third front from which Israel had been attacked in as many days.

On Thursday – the day of the Passover holiday – Israel faced an unprecedented barrage of rockets fired on northern towns from Lebanon. It was the largest salvo of rockets originating from Lebanon since the 2006 war.

That same day, Gazan terror groups bombarded southern Israel communities with rockets launched from the coastal enclave.

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As IDF planes bombed a reported Hamas-run weapons and rocket manufacturing site, members of the terror group fired missiles at the jets, causing air defense sirens to wail throughout communities in southern Israel.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Hamas used anti-aircraft and surface-to-air missiles to target Israeli Air Force jets carrying out airstrikes on a rocket-making site in the coastal enclave, sparking concerns that an escalation between Israel and the terror group may be on the horizon.

After Israeli anti-terror raids in Jenin left several prominent terrorists from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group dead, officials from PIJ warned that Israel would “pay a price” for the operation.

Late Saturday evening, several rockets were fired from the southern Rafah region in the Strip towards civilian areas in Israel, sparking a retaliatory strike by the IAF on Hamas assets in Gaza.

Although a different Gaza-based terror organization, likely PIJ, is believed to have been behind the launch, Israel has repeatedly said that it holds Hamas responsible for all violence emanating from the Strip.

As the planes bombed a reported Hamas-run weapons and rocket manufacturing site, members of the terror group fired missiles at the jets.

These attempts to bring down IAF jets were unsuccessful, though the launching of the missiles did cause air defense sirens to wail throughout Israelis communities adjacent to the Strip.

In a statement, the IDF confirmed that the site targeted by the airstrikes was a “workshop… used as a main site for making most of the group’s rockets in the Strip.”

The strike accomplished its goal of “progress to impede” the “build-up” of Hamas’ weapons cache, the statement added.

The rocket launches come just days after Hebrew language media reported that Qatar, a major funder of Hamas and source of financial aid to Gaza residents, had pressured terror groups not to escalate with Israel.

Qatar, which is currently hosting the World Cup, was reportedly concerned that a clash between Gaza-based terror groups and Israel could embarass the oil-rich Gulf Kingdom on the world stage, as it contends with negative publicity around its human rights record, accusations of bribery and corruption, and logistical errors in preparing for the soccer tournament.

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The immediate suspect is the Hamas presence based in Lebanon, though it could also be Fatah or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

By Yaakov Lappin, JNS.org

A pre-dawn rocket attack from Lebanon shattered the pastoral quiet of Israel’s northwestern Galilee region on Monday with the projectile exploding in an open area, not far from the Jewish communities of Shlomi and Matzuva.

The Israel Defense Forces responded with an artillery barrage in the direction of the source of fire, south of Tyre in Lebanon.

No entity has claimed responsibility for the attack, which came three days after a Palestinian terrorist faction, also unnamed, fired two rockets in Israel’s direction from the Gaza Strip.

So who is behind the latest attack from Lebanon, and was Israel’s response sufficient?

Possible clues include a message by a senior Hamas official in recent days, who warned that should a new conflict erupt between it and Israel, “a front will also be opened from Southern Lebanon.”

Whichever organization did fire from Lebanon, it was most likely a Palestinian terror faction an Israeli military spokesman said after Monday’s attack.

Maj. (res.) Tal Beeri, head of the research department at the Alma Center, a defense research center in northern Israel, has been closely monitoring the building up of rocket capabilities by Hamas in Lebanon in recent years.

“Hamas in Lebanon is the immediate suspect. However, it is worth remembering that other Palestinian factions, such as Fatah or the PIJ, can also shoot Grads,” he said.

Out of the Palestinian factions that are active in Lebanon, Hamas by far has the most ambitious force build-up program, according to Beeri’s research. In 2021, the Alma Center exposed a secret Hamas plan to build GPS-guided rockets with a range of 20 kilometers (12 miles), as part of a “first stage.”

Hamas’s goal is to be able to fire 200 rockets at Israel from Lebanon in two rounds of fighting, the research uncovered.

“Until now, only Hezbollah had such capabilities. It is unheard of for another organization in Lebanon to deploy such firepower,” noted Beeri.

But while Fatah and PIJ don’t come close to that level of terrorist infrastructure, they do have their own smaller arsenals of weapons in Lebanon, which include Grad rockets, and they have independent launch capabilities, he said.

Beeri noted that after Friday’s rocket attack from Gaza, Hamas responded by arresting members of smaller terror factions, including PIJ, the second-largest armed organization in Gaza after Hamas.

“It is not certain that Hamas was interested in the firing at Israel from Gaza (last week), or it is responsible for firing from Lebanon,” he assessed. If Hamas is the entity that fired the rocket from Lebanon, added Beeri, this could be an attempt to avoid attracting more Israeli firepower against targets in Gaza, by operating out of a different arena—a tactic Hamas has used repeatedly in 2021.

‘Things do happen under Hezbollah’s nose’

If it was indeed Hamas, said Beeri, one motivation behind the attack could be the sending of a signal following Israel’s decision on Saturday to seal the Erez border crossing with the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket fired from the Strip on Friday. The decision places Gazans who had grown used to working in Israel under economic pressure, and Hamas is feeling that pressure, too.

Beeri also cautioned against what he described as the “prevailing” wisdom, according to which, “everything that happens in Southern Lebanon is with the knowledge and approval of Hezbollah. This is not the case. Things do happen under Hezbollah’s nose,” he said, citing Hamas rocket fire from Lebanon at Israel last May and August.

On May 15, Lebanon is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections, an event that is likely acting as a restraining influence on Hezbollah in terms of its actions against Israel, in Beeri’s assessment. However, that wouldn’t prevent Palestinian factions from firing more rockets at Israel until the end of Ramadan or until the elections are held, he warned, adding “in any case, Israel should treat Hamas’s presence in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon as one front.”

The fact that Palestinian factions can, on their own, create multiple attack fronts from the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon—and activate them one after the other—should give the Israeli defense establishment pause.

As IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav noted on Monday, Israel currently faces a “certain type of multi-arena campaign in Jenin, in the cities of Judea and Samaria, the Seam Line, on the Temple Mount, of course, during Ramadan, and in the Gaza Strip.”

While this time around, the rocket was aimed at an open area, the next incident could result in harm to civilians, potentially sparking a chain reaction that could conceivably drag Hezbollah into an escalation, whether it intended to take part or not.

The post The Lebanon rocket mystery: Who fired on Israel? appeared first on World Israel News.

After months of quiet on the southern front, Gaza terrorists launch rocket at Israeli communities, but Hamas reportedly not behind the attack.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Gaza-based terrorists launched rockets at civilian communities in southern Israel on Monday evening, breaking a months-long period of calm near the Strip’s border and triggering a retaliatory airstrike from the Israeli air force.

Residents of Gaza-adjacent communities of Kissufim and Ein HaShlosha were sent running to bomb shelters by air raid sirens at around 8:20 p.m. The rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, and Israeli authorities reported no damage or casualties in the incident.

Notably, multiple media reports maintained that the rockets were likely launched by either Palestinian Islamic Jihad or an independent terror group not affiliated with Hamas.

Reports over the weekend indicated that Egypt had brokered a deal between Hamas and Israel, which would see the terror group refrain from firing rockets after mass arrests on Friday at the Al Aqsa Mosque, in exchange for the the release of some 400 detained rioters.

Hebrew-language Kan News reported that after the rocket was intercepted, Hamas contacted Israeli officials via a third party negotiator to express that it was not interested in escalating tensions further and clarifying that the group was not behind the launch.

תיעוד ממקורות פלסטיניים של התקיפה הישראלית בדרום הרצועה pic.twitter.com/WYlk9dsvg6

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 18, 2022

But despite Hamas apparently not being behind the rocket launch on Monday, the Israeli air force struck several of the terror group’s assets in the Strip, including weapons manufacturing and storage site, in retaliation.

“The IDF considers Hamas responsible for what unfolds in the Gaza Strip,” the army said in a statement explaining why it targeted the terror organization’s sites.

Hamas said in a statement that it had “responded to Zionist warplanes in the skies of the Gaza Strip with surface-to-air missiles at exactly 01:35 local time (10:35 GMT) Tuesday morning.”

No damage to Israeli air force planes was reported.

On Sunday, sirens sounded in the Gaza border community of Nahal Oz, which the IDF called a “false alarm.”

However, residents of Nahal Oz reported hearing large explosions. Gaza-based terror groups said they launched mortar shells at the community, suggesting that the deadly projectiles landed within the Strip.

The post Israel strikes Hamas weapons site after rocket launched from Gaza appeared first on World Israel News.

According to the IDF, the individual was a regular presence at the southern Lebanese border fence during May 2021’s Operation Guardian of the Walls.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The Israeli Defense Forces revealed the name of the Hezbollah terrorist responsible for firing 19 rockets towards Israeli territory last Friday.

Ali Kajak has been documented near the Israeli-Lebanese border several times in the past in civilian clothing.

Kajak was brutally beaten by scores of Druze Lebanese men after he fired a rocket at Israel from an open area near their village.

In a video that went viral on social media, Ali Kajak is seen being pummeled by Druze residents of Chouya, a small town in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel.

Kajak and a number of other Hezbollah-affiliated terrorists were traveling through the village after launching some 10 rockets at Israel from a nearby valley, Israel Hayom reported.

The pickup truck in which Kajak was traveling, which contained a rocket launcher, was stopped and surrounded by angry villagers.

They are seen pulling Kajak from the vehicle and punching him, while preventing the other terrorists from fleeing the area. Another truck in which Hezbollah terrorist were traveling had its windows smashed in with rocks.

The villagers kept the terrorists at the scene until Lebanese security forces arrived.

They told local media that they feared that the IDF would return fire and strike their village, due to Hezbollah launching rockets in close proximity.

Kayak, the IDF said, was a regular presence at the southern Lebanese border fence during May 2021’s Operation Guardian of the Walls.

The IDF’s Arabic language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, noted on Twitter that Kayak was spotted “near the Israeli border a short while ago in civilian clothes – as is typical for Hezbollah terrorists, wearing civilian clothes – in order to violate international resolutions that bind the Lebanese state.”

By dressing in civilian clothes, Hezbollah terrorists are able to slip under the radar and carry out operations without being held to account by the Lebanese military or other security forces in the country.

Lebanon is currently in the midst of an intense financial and political crisis.

Since the resignation of the government on the heels of the Beirut port explosion, the country has not had a functioning cabinet for over a year.

Inflation has reached a record high, there are widespread electricity outages, and some analysts say a water shortage may be on the horizon.

The post IDF names Hezbollah terrorist behind rocket barrage towards Israel appeared first on World Israel News.

One hundred and thirty rockets were fired at Tel Aviv and surrounding cities. Direct hits in Holon and Givatayim.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News Staff

Explosions shook central Israel Tuesday night as scores of Iron Dome rockets launched to intercept a barrage of 130 rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza at the most heavily populated part of the country.

Initial reports indicated one woman was killed and about a dozen injured, with those numbers expected to change as first responders reached areas where there were explosions.

The death was in the city of Rishon LeZion. The woman, 50, was reportedly hit by shrapnel, Channel 12 reported.

Seven were injured from a direct hit in Holon, just south of Tel Aviv. A passenger bus also burned in the street after it was hit by a rocket.

Ambulance crews evacuated three people to the hospital in moderate condition including a man, 50, a woman, 30, and a girl, 5, said Magen David Adom spokesman Nadav Metzer.

Four were lightly injured by a direct hit in Givatayim, a city bordering Tel Aviv to the east.

Flights heading to Israel were redirected to Cypress as Iron Dome interceptors were documented exploding over Ben Gurion International Airport, Channel 12 reported. The airport has been temporarily closed.

The attack came shortly after the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups in Gaza issued an ultimatum around 9:00 p.m. warning that they would attack Tel Aviv if Israel did not stop bombing buildings in the Gaza Strip.

Israel was retaliating for a massive rocket attack initiated by Hamas on Monday evening and which continued into Tuesday, claiming the lives of two Israeli civilians by afternoon.

“The building was shaking with every Iron Dome interception. They felt close,” said WIN’s managing editor David Isaac from his apartment building in Ramat Gan, a city to the east of Tel Aviv.

The first wave of rockets was launched at 10 minutes before nine, setting off air raid sirens from Ashdod in the south to as far north as Netanya and east to the city of Raanana, the entire area home to some 5 million Israelis.

In the northern neighborhoods of Tel Aviv the sirens began at 8:47 p.m., said WIN reporter Lauren Marcus.

“We expected it because of the 9:00 p.m. warning from Palestinian Islamic Jihad. There’s been a number of very loud booms from the iron dome interceptions – some of which shook the doors and windows pretty intensely. We have had three sirens as of 9:15,” said Marcus, showing there were at least three waves of rockets fired at the city.

“I would estimate we heard around 25 interceptions,” Marcus said, as the Iron Dome interceptor rockets blew up overhead to destroy the incoming rockets before they could reach their targets.

The attack was the heaviest rocket attack on Tel Aviv. Isaac’s neighbors said the previous major attack during the war with Hamas in 2014 “wasn’t anything like this.”

“Neighbors gathered in the stairwell for safety. One said he saw explosions over the neighboring town of Givatayim as he drove home,” Isaac added.

Although political analysts estimated that the current round of violence might end in the coming days, the massive escalation is a new development that will likely extend the hostilities as Israel weighs its response.

“Hamas is responsible for this dangerous escalation which is putting millions of children, women & men in Israel at risk,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry tweeted. “Israel has every right to protect its citizens from Hamas’ barbaric terrorism.”

Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Benny Gantz authorized a callup of 5,000 reserve soldiers and the IDF publicized it’s deployment of heavy artillery on the Gaza border in a blunt message to Hamas.

The post Unprecedented rocket barrage descends on central Israel, One dead, several wounded appeared first on World Israel News.

The IDF assassinated the head of the Islamic Jihad terror group’s rocket program.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

The head of the the Islamic Jihad terror group’s rocket unit was killed Tuesday in an IDF air strike, as were two other Islamic Jihad terrorists involved in firing rockets at Israel, the terror group announced on its website.

Sameh Fahim Hashem Al-Mamluk, 34, was the head of the missile unit in the northern region of the Al-Quds Brigades.

He along with other senior Islamic Jihad members were killed in a precision air strike on the location where they were hiding, Channel 12 reports.

Following the strike, a massive barrage of rockets was fired at the city of Ashkelon in which two rockets got through Israel’s missile defense and exploded in residential buildings, killing two women and wounding 40 other people.

Islamic Jihad identified the other two dead terrorists as Mohammed Abu al-Atta, 30, and Kamal Tayseer Salman Qureiqa, 34, both of whom were field commanders in the terror group’s rocket unit.

Al-Atta was the deputy commander of the Gaza Brigade and one of the heads of the special rocket unit. He is also the brother of Baha Abu al-Atta, a senior Islamic Jihad commander who was killed by Israel in 2019.

A statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Office said the attack on the terrorists was a joint operation by the IDF with the Shin Bet General Security Service (GSS), which had apparently tracked down the hiding place of the Islamic Jihad’s rocket team, responsible for the firing of hundreds of missiles at Israeli towns and cities since Monday.

“The response to the crime of assassinating martyrs will be harsh and their blood will remain a lamp light for the mujahideen,” said an Islamic Jihad statement. “We will proceed with the resistance until the liberation of all beloved Palestine.”

As part of IDF operations, at least 150 Hamas and other terrorist targets have been attacked in Gaza including the offices of two senior Hamas military commanders, Hamas war rooms and observation posts, a weapons depot in the Hamas anti-tank training base, and military compounds.

In a sign of possible expansion of the Israeli operation, Defense Minister Benny Gantz authorized the call-up of 5,000 IDF reservists, and the IDF moved artillery batteries into position close to the Gaza border, the home of a Hamas battalion commander.

The Israeli retaliatory strikes come in response to the firing of a rocket barrage at Jerusalem on Monday evening and hundreds of rockets targeting communities surrounded the Gaza Strip.

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Six rockets fired at Israel as Hamas locks down Gaza due to virus outbreak.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

Terrorists in Gaza fired six rockets at Israel before dawn on Friday despite the Gaza Strip being under a lockdown imposed by Hamas due to a coronavirus outbreak.

In response, the IDF spokesperson’s office said Israel air force planes struck Hamas targets, warning “the terrorist organization Hamas bears responsibility for what is happening in and out of the Gaza Strip, and will bear the consequences of terrorist acts against Israeli citizens.”

The rocket attack coupled with scores of incendiary balloons launched at Israel daily have diverted some of the attention away from the economic and health crisis Hamas is facing in Gaza.

Since seizing power in Gaza 13 years ago in a military coup, Hamas has ruled over the enclave with a focus on its attempts to arm itself for a military victory over Israel.

With Israel and Egypt imposing severe border restrictions in a bid to keep weapons out, Hamas has preferred to let the Gaza economy collapse, and for the past several years has been dependent on monthly cash transfers from Qatar to keep a lid on public anger.

Those border restrictions had helped keep the corona pandemic out of Gaza, as quarantining prevented an outbreak. But earlier this week several cases were detected, and the military government imposed a lockdown to try and prevent a massive community spread of the disease.

That lockdown did not prompt Hamas to stop the rocket fire or launching of hundreds of incendiary balloons over the past few days, drawing the attention of the UN special representative to the Middle East, who has been trying unsuccessfully for years to mediate between Israel and Hamas.

“The situation in and around Gaza is rapidly deteriorating,” tweeted Nickolay Mladenov, adding that “life inside the Strip is unbearable.”

“With a failing health system, no electricity, unemployment soaring, continuing militant activity & closures, I am VERY concerned that escalation is imminent,” Mladenov said.

Mladenov called on Hamas to “immediately stop the launching of projectiles, [and] incendiary devices.”

Frustrated after 13 years of Hamas rule that has destroyed Gaza’s economy and left more than half the population unemployed, Gazans were angered earlier this week when electricity suddenly came back on after Hamas claimed it had run out of fuel for the one power plant there.

However, Gaza is also supplied with electricity from the Egyptian and Israeli electrical grids that together with the Gaza plant there is not enough for 24-hour service. Gazans are used to only four to eight hours of electricity daily, but the power had apparently been totally shut off as a bargaining tactic to lower some border restrictions with Israel.

When that didn’t work, the power got switched on again, and Gazans returned to getting about four hours of electricity a day in the August heat. In a widely circulated video, one Gazan ranted at the Hamas government for its 13 years of rule that had managed to provide the people with only four hours of electricity and a monthly $100 handout from the Qataris.

Gaza resident Ahmed Eissa makes only $7, but due to the pandemic lockdown he is unable to leave his house and can’t work.

“I don’t know what or how we will eat tomorrow,” Eissa told The Associated Press, complaining that he has not seen a serious plan from the Palestinian government on how to cope with the crisis.

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Erdan said unless UNIFIL changes significantly, “we will support its dissolution” next week.

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN said Sunday that unless the United Nations gives its peacekeeping force in Lebanon more power, Israel will support a U.S. veto next week to extend its mandate.

“Unless there is a significant change in UNIFIL’s powers including the authority to enter private homes to ensure that rockets and missiles are not deployed there, Israel will support the American veto that will in effect dissolve the UNIFIL force,” Erdan told Israel Army Radio.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was established in 1978 after the IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon where it had gone to counter terrorists who had been firing rockets at Israel.

UNIFIL was supposed to ensure that the government of Lebanon took control of the area, but a weak government in Beirut allowed the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group to move in.

Hezbollah terrorists have refused to allow the Lebanese armed forces to assert sovereignty in the area bordering Israel and Israeli leaders have for decades complained that UNIFIL has been powerless to carry out its mandate that includes keeping terrorists and their weapons out of south Lebanon.

The UN force’s mandate has to be renewed each year by August 31 and comes up for a vote in the Security Council next week.

On Friday, Erdan met U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and among the issues discussed was the U.S. voting against the renewal of the UNIFIL mandate unless the force was given the authority to do something about Hezbollah.

“The UNIFIL force of the UN allows Hezbollah in effect to control south Lebanon and turn it into a terror base for attacks on Israel,” Erdan said.

The Iranians have provided Hezbollah with over 150,000 rockets that the terrorists have installed in Lebanese towns and villages, often hiding them in civilian houses where UNIFIL says it has no mandate to inspect.

In one development that outraged Israeli officials, in late 2018 the IDF uncovered a series of Hezbollah military attack tunnels built from the Lebanese side of the border and ending in Israel. One of the tunnels was dug from a civilian building only a few meters from a UNIFIL position.

Erdan said the huge UNIFIL contingent of 11,000 soldiers was not just ineffective, it was allowing Hezbollah to operate freely.

“It’s not just that it’s doing nothing and is paralyzed, but right under its nose Hezbollah is digging tunnels, is placing rockets and missiles in homes in south Lebanon where UNIFIL is powerless and afraid to go in.”

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Israelis living less than a mile from the Gaza border, who for years have been experiencing rocket attacks as a way of life, express frustration following the quick IDF response to the missile that fell in the Sharon region Monday morning, just north of Tel Aviv.

The post WATCH: ‘What about us?’ Israelis in south frustrated over focus on attack near Tel Aviv appeared first on World Israel News.

Residents of Gaza-belt communities were again sent running when terrorists in the Strip launched a rocket into Israel, which exploded in a field without injuring any civilians.

By World Israel News Staff

The calm in southern Israel was pierced again Wednesday evening when a rocket launched from Gaza streaked into the Sha’ar Hanegev region, landing in an empty field with a loud explosion.

While no one was injured, this rocket marked the second reported launch of the night, with the first missile failing to enter Israeli airspace, landing instead inside the coastal enclave, Times of Israel reported.

Following the rocket attack, an Israeli tank fired on a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip, according to an IDF statement.

The latest provocations from the Hamas-ruled territory arrive amid attempts by Egypt and Qatar to persuade the terror group to desist from antagonizing Israel. Qatar, for its part, has provided millions of dollars in cash to Hamas to incentivize calm, following a prolonged campaign of violent riots on the border, airborne arson terror, and rocket attacks.

There are a number of terror organizations that operate in Gaza, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and ISIS affiliates, however, Hamas holds itself out as the enclave’s official government, and is thus held responsible by Israel for all attacks that originate in the territory.

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Leaders across the political spectrum blasted Israeli Cabinet Member Tzachi Hanegbi for saying rocket fire on the south wasn’t as serious as if it had been on Tel Aviv.  

By Jack Gold World Israel News

Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi was harshly criticized by politicians and public leaders across the political spectrum following his comment that there was a difference between rockets fired by Hamas at Israel’s south and at Tel Aviv.

Commenting on the violence, Hanegbi told IDF Radio on Thursday that Hamas’ attacks were “minor,” and that they were mostly focused on the area surrounding the Gaza Strip. “Firing at Tel Aviv has another meaning,” he said.

Hamas on Monday night and Tuesday unleashed a barrage of over 460 rockets from Gaza aimed at civilian targets, killing one man and wounding some 80 Israelis at various locations throughout the south. Twenty-three structures inside Israeli communities were hit by the rockets.

Israeli citizens in the south of the country took to the streets burning fire and venting their frustration after the Israeli government announced a ceasefire agreement with Hamas Tuesday.

Damage control

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hanegbi’s assertion, saying that “Hamas aggression is not ‘minor.’ There is no difference between the area surrounding Gaza and Tel Aviv, and there is no distinction between firing at southern communities and shooting at any other area in the state of Israel.”

Later Thursday evening, the prime minister issued a statement, blasting Hanegbi, despite his apology.

“This morning I heard an outrageous remark, and even following an apology, I have to put things straight,” he said.

“Sderot is just like Tel Aviv. The security of the residents of the south is just as important as the security of the rest of Israel. We are in the middle of a campaign. Patience, cool and determination are necessary. We are preparing for what comes next.,” he stated.

Minister of Culture and Sports Miri Regev, tweeted: “Tzachi Hanegbi, my friend, you are wrong! As I said this week during a tour of Sderot and Sdot HaNegev: ‘The same rule applies to the communities surrounding Gaza and Tel Aviv.’ Any fire endangering the security of the citizens of the State of Israel anywhere must be met with a harsh and identical response.”

Avi Gabbay, chairman of the opposition’s Zionist Camp party, said “According to Tzachi Hanegbi, Hamas is forbidden to fire on the residents of Tel Aviv. On the residents of the south it is permissible to fire. According to the government – it is impossible to protect the residents of the south. A government that has no values, that distinguishes between the blood of Israel’s citizens must go home.”

Member of Knesset Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, a member of the Knesset’s Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, also criticized Hanegbi for his remark sand called on Netanyahu to fire him.

Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel called Hanegbi’s statement “inappropriate.” “How is it possible that a minister in Israel will express himself in such a way?” he asked, calling on Hanegbi to apologize immediately.

MK Bezalel Smotritz said on Twitter that if Hanegbi is not ousted from the Likud party today, then “the Likud has no more right to exist.”

Mayor of Ashkelon Tomer Glam, one of the cities hit by Hamas fire, condemned Hanegbi’s “scandalous statement.” He said that “the dust has yet to settle from the ruins of houses in the city” and yet Hanegbi is already passing judgment.

Hanegbi later issued a clarification and an apology, saying that he did not mean to differentiate between the lives of Israelis living in the south and those living in Tel Aviv, and expressed regret if his comments were misunderstood.

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Israeli residents of the communities surrounding Gaza are calling on the government to end their perpetuatal state of suffering.

By Jack Gold, World Israel News 

Israeli residents living in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip suffered another anxiety-filled night following the severe fighting between IDF Special Forces and Hamas terrorists inside the Gaza Strip.

Gaza-based terrorists fired 17 rockets at communities in the Eshkol region, repeatedly setting off sirens throughout the night. The constant exposure to danger and uncertainty is taking its toll.

Sharon Calderon, who lives in Kibbutz Sufa near Gaza, told Israel Hayom about the “inability to plan your day like everyone else because a flare-up can occur any moment.”

Discsussing the precarioius security situation, she recounted how her family had been enjoying a quiet evening outdoors on Sunday, and “then we started to hear explosions and planes and shooting and then the rocket fire and the sirens and the panic attacks.”

“Just as they [the government] have discounted us in the past 17 years, they disregarded us last night,” she charged.

In the past couple of week, residents of the Gaza periphery demonstrated in Tel Aviv and, for the third time, blocked the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday. High schoolers went on a five-day march, departing from Sderot, and arrived in Jerusalem on Thursday, where they held a demonstration in front of the Knesset.

“Our boys walked to Jerusalem in order to convey their desire to grow up peacefully, and then an evening like yesterday occurred, and that’s all but quiet,” Calderon stated.

“Another sleepless night, the kids are losing school again, I’m supposed to be at work this morning. I’m supposed to leave the kid alone at home? So it’s another day of vacation to take.”

Calderon, whose son joins the IDF in two weeks, called on Israelis to join their protest and demand “enough!”

She concluded by saying that they were now waiting “like ducks in a shooting range” to see what Hamas will do next.

Guy Teitelbaum, another resident of the Gaza area, called on the government to resign, saying that if they had handled the situation in “the right way, we would not be in this situation. The feeling is that the Israeli government has abandoned us.”

Rachel Avnit, a resident of Sderot, shared with Israel Hayom her fears.

“We were just wondering whether to go to Jerusalem tomorrow with the children to protest in front of the Knesset, and we are talking about it in all of our protest groups. The children sleep in the security room all year round.”

They experienced “feelings of stress and worry because no one really knows what happened” relating to Sunday night’s incident.

“It’s clear that sooner or later something will happen, and we do not understand what we are waiting for,” she said, adding that they will refuse to continue to “get instructions and carry them out like mice without any sense.”

MK Haim Yellin, a resident of the Gaza area, former head of the Eshkol Regional Council and a member of the opposition, accused the government of losing control and allowing Hamas to lead.

“This night, when war sounds are heard here in the Gaza vicinity, I support and rely on the IDF forces to carry out their mission for the security of the residents of the Gaza vicinity and the state of Israel,” Yellin said.

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