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2014 Gaza Conflict

2014 Gaza Conflict183 posts
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28 Apr, 2015

Defends Israel

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Cameron defends Israel over the 2014 Gaza conflict issue in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle.

What I’ve seen is the attacks that take place on Israel and the indiscriminate nature of them. As PM, putting yourself in the shoes of the Israeli people, who want peace but have to put up with these indiscriminate attacks – that reinforces to me the importance of standing by Israel and Israel’s right to defend itself.

13 Sep, 2014

‘Third world war’

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Pope Francis says that conflicts around the globe represent a third World War. During a Mass held at Italy’s largest war memorial, a Fascist-era monument where 100,000 soldiers who died in World War One are buried, the pontiff appears to be referring to the recent conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, Ukraine and Africa. The homily:

Humanity needs to weep and this is the time to weep … War is madness. Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction … War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: it seeks to grow by destroying. Greed, intolerance, the lust for power. These motives underlie the decision to go to war and they are too often justified by an ideology.

9 Sep, 2014

Video shows tunnel operations

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A video translated by the MEMRI monitoring service shows an Al-Jazeera Arabic reporter’s visit to the site of tunnel-digging operations by the armed wing of Islamic Jihad under the Israeli border. A tunnel worker:

We are now in one of the tunnels of the Al-Quds Brigades, on which work began as soon as the war on Gaza ended and the ceasefire was declared. We have begun work and we are continuing it regardless of the threats by the Zionist enemy. We will not be hindered by the threats of the enemy, or by the ban on importing cement and other building materials.

30 Aug, 2014

Report: 20 years to rebuild

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A housing assessment by Shelter Cluster, chaired by the Norwegian Refugee Council with the participation of the U.N. refugee agency and the Red Cross, says Gaza will take 20 years to rebuild. Most rebuilding is due to the housing deficit of 75,000 units. Cost estimates for the restructuring are more than $6 billion. The housing assessment derives from the present level of goods transferable from Israel to Gaza. The present blockade hinders rebuilding efforts, as construction materials have restrictions to limit tunnel production. The 20 year timeframe takes into consideration 100 truckloads of building materials on a daily basis. Currently there is no mention of plans to ease blockade restrictions.

29 Aug, 2014

Accuses Hamas

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Abbas blames Hamas for protracting the war in Gaza, doubting the continuation of the Unity government. After 50 days of fighting when a truce came about, Hamas still declares victory. Abbas:

It was possible for us to avoid all of that, 2,000 martyrs, 10,000 injured, 50,000 houses (destroyed). They (Hamas) have a shadow government, if this continues it means no unity. The test is coming soon. The government needs to do its job and handle everything. I’m not saying everything needs to come to an end in one moment, this is a seven-year split that needs months or years.

Israeli government:

The Egyptian formula was on the table on July 15th, it was backed by the Arab League, it was accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas then and now more than a month later has belatedly been accepted by Hamas. As the dust clears from the conflict I’m sure many people in Gaza will be asking why did Hamas reject a month ago what it accepted today, and if it had accepted then what it accepted now, how much bloodshed could have been avoided.

27 Aug, 2014

Hamas: ‘We defeated them’

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Hamas remains defiant as the ceasefire takes effect, claiming victory in the 2014 Gaza conflict. Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri:

Hamas is grateful to the people of Gaza who sacrificed their homes, children and money. We announce the victory today after achieving our goals … Netanyahu has failed to force Gaza to surrender. Yes, we defeated them by our standing and our resistance. We will stand by our people and we won’t leave them.

Over 2,100 deaths

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More than 2,100 people are reported to have been killed in Gaza, most of them civilians, including about 500 children. At least 11,000 people have been injured and more than 17,000 homes destroyed or badly damaged, while around a third of the territory’s 1.8 million residents have been displaced.

On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers have died along with six civilians, including a four-year-old boy, and hundreds of families have relocated from homes near the Gaza border.

26 Aug, 2014

Long term truce agreed

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A long term truce is agreed between Israel and the Palestinian Militants. It has ended seven weeks of fighting and came through as both sides continued to trade fire. The truce, brokered by Egypt begins at 19:00 local time or 16:00 (GMT). Moussa Abu Marzouk the Hamas deputy political leader said the deal represents a victory for the resistance. Indirect talks in which Israel calls for militant groups in Gaza to disarm will begin in Cairo within a months time. Palestinian officials say Egypt’s ceasefire proposal called for an indefinite end to all hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza’s crossings with Israel and Egypt, and an extension of the territory’s Mediterranean fishing zone.

23 Aug, 2014

Fresh talks urged

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Abbas calls on Hamas and Israel to attend fresh talks in Egypt. The previous brokered truce collapsed on Tuesday. Over 2,090 Palestinians and 67 Israelis have been killed in recent weeks. Israel says that over 525 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza since the latest ceasefire ended, with 69 of them being intercepted by its Iron Dome anti-missile defence system. 60 air strikes have been carried out over Gaza on Saturday said the Israeli Defence Force and more than 70 rockets and mortar rounds that were fired from Gaza struck Israel.

22 Aug, 2014

4-year-old Israeli boy killed

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daniel-tragermanFour-year-old Israeli boy Daniel Tragerman is reported killed by mortar fire while at home with his parents at Kibbutz Nahal Oz in the Sha’ar Hanegev region close to the border with Gaza. Sirens sound prior to the impact but his parents — Doron and Gila — are unable to get Daniel into a protected room in time, and he is killed by shrapnel from the explosion that strikes the house.

20 Aug, 2014

Netanyahu: We arrest our extremists

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Netanyahu tells Blitzer that the difference between Israel and Hamas is that Israel doesn’t glorify extremists, but puts them in jail. On the suspected killers of Palestinian teenager Mohammad Abu Khdeir in an apparent nationalist attack:

We don’t glorify these killers.  We put – we apprehended him in three – three days after the – that tragic killing, immediately put them in custody.  We’re putting them on trial.  They will serve a good chunk of their lives in jail.  That’s what we do with the killers.  We don’t name public squares after them.  We don’t glorify them.

He says that Hamas begins indoctrinating people with extremism from a young age:

We don’t educate our people, our children in suicide kindergarten camps, as happens in the Palestinian side. And you should see what Hamas is educating them to, no peace, no two-state solution, nothing, just jihad, more and more violence, more and more murder, and more and more bloodshed.  This is not our way.  We have – I think a society is tested not by the extreme fringes of that society, but how it takes care of them.  We take care of those extreme fringes.  We basically isolate them and ostracize them and punish them.

10 Aug, 2014

1.903 Palestinian deaths

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al-qassam-mosque-bodiesThe number of Palestinian deaths rises to 1,903 as five people are killed in fresh airstrikes after the 72-hour truce window ends. Israel says 65 rockets have been launched from the Gaza strip by Palestinian factions, and it has responded with 63 strikes. Three people were killed in an attack on a mosque in the Nusseirat refugee camp and two when a motorcycle was hit in the Maghazi refugee camp, Gaza’s Health Ministry says.

9 Aug, 2014

20% of rockets fall inside Gaza

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The Israeli government says that of a total of 61 rockets fired on the day of the ceasefire expiration, 13 of them fell inside the Gaza Strip.

Approximately 20% of the rockets yesterday, fell on the civilians of Gaza. Hamas’ addiction to terror is endangering civilians on both sides.

Palestinians ‘seeking reoccupation’

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Palestinian officials involved in the negotiating process are seeking either further concessions or a reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official says:

These people are trying to do two things: convince us to give them more, or if it fails, convince us that we should come in [to Gaza]. We don’t want to do it, because we don’t want to be responsible for Gaza

Israeli officials leave Cairo after negotiations to extend the ceasefire break down, while the Palestinian delegates remain and say they are willing to commit to new talks on a truce.

Threatens escalation

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Hamas threatens a ‘major escalation’ in the 2014 Gaza conflict after both sides resume fire after the 72-hour ceasefire expires, raising concern that violence could re-escalate to its levels prior to the ceasefire. Hamas deputy information minister Ihab al-Ghussein:

If on [Sunday] we have no response to our demands, our defensive measures will be intensified.

8 Aug, 2014

Egypt calls for return to negotiations

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Egypt calls on Israel and Hamas to extend the ceasefire and return to negotiations after the original 72-hour window expires at midnight Eastern Standard Time and Israel reports rocket fire by Palestinian factions and resumes airstrikes.  Foreign ministry:

Return immediately to the ceasefire and exploit the opportunity available to resume negotiations on the very limited sticking points that remain in the fastest possible time

An official:

There had been an agreement on the vast majority of matters that are important to the Palestinian people, but some limited points remained undecided, a matter that should have led to an acceptance to renew the ceasefire

Hamas is calling for a variety of conditions including an airport and sea port in the Gaza Strip but is primarily concerned with opening border crossings. Israel wants demilitarization of the Strip and disarmament of Hamas.

Airstrikes resume

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Gaza air strikeIsrael resumes air strikes as the 72-hour ceasefire ends with rockets fired across the border by Palestinian factions. Hamas has said that it will not seek to renew the ceasefire. Tens of thousands of people in Gaza who had returned to their homes during the ceasefire rush back to the UNRWA-run shelters. Nidal Sultan, 21, of Beit Lahiya:

We were in the school on the first day of the ceasefire and came back this morning. There were strikes and shelling in the last hour or so. It’s not safe, so we have to come to the school however bad it is. We will stay now until the war stops.

Dutch hotelier cancels reservation

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A Dutch hotelier cancels the reservation of an Israeli family:

Every day I get angrier and angrier when I see and read how much suffering and death and loss Israel is causing in Gaza. As long as this disproportionate violence of Israel continues, I will not accept guests from Israel.

However, he later apologizes and says he had a ‘moment of insanity’:

It is absolutely irrational. I am deeply ashamed that I ruined their vacation.

Ceasefire ends

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The 72-hour ceasefire ends at midnight Eastern Standard Time or 8 a.m. local time as Israel reports that Hamas, which has said it will not extend the truce, has fired at least 35 rockets, with at least one falling short and landing in Gaza. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum:

All the Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have agreed not to renew the ceasefire because [Israel] is refusing to accommodate our demands.

Newsweek cover

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newsweek-coverNewsweek devotes its cover story to Jewish emigration from Europe, which it says is being driven by anti-Semitism. Author Adam LeBor:

The mob howled for vengeance, the missiles raining down on the synagogue walls as the worshippers huddled inside. It was a scene from Europe in the 1930s – except this was eastern Paris on the evening of July 13th, 2014. LeBor says the 2014 Gaza conflict is partly to blame, but the rise in ‘the world’s oldest hatred’ predates the war:

One weekend in May seemed to epitomise the darkness. On May 24th a gunman pulled out a Kalashnikov assault rifle at the Jewish Museum in Brussels and opened fire, killing four people. The next day the results of the elections to the European parliament showed a surge in support for extreme-right ­parties in France, Greece, Hungary and Germany.

American Jewish journalist Jeffrey Goldberg:

At what point do the Jews of America and the Jews of Israel tell the Jews of Europe that it might be time to get out?