Excavator attack nearly ‘much more serious’
Israeli authorities say the excavator attack that killed Rabbi Avraham Walles and wounded six others is nationalistically motivated and connected to the 2014 Gaza conflict, and that a quick response by security officials on the scene is the only factor that prevented more casualties. Ariel Tuito of the Nachshon unit of the Israel Prison Service is among security personnel that respond at the scene, and fires the fatal shot. Jerusalem police chief Yossi Pariente says that the response…
…averted a much more serious incident.
Excavator attack kills rabbi
In what is officially described as a terror attack, an excavator driven by Muhammed Naif El-Ja’abis, a 23-year-old Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, strikes and kills 29-year-old Rabbi Avraham Walles of Mea Shearim. Walles – also transliterated Walz and Wallis – is working for the Atra Kadisha organization as a mashgiach religious instructor overseeing the construction site on Shmuel Hanavi close to the Olive Tree Hotel in central Jerusalem, near the divide between the city’s east and west, to make sure that any graves found at the site are not disturbed. The excavator continues for several hundred meters before ramming into a mostly empty passenger bus and overturning it after several attempts, and then clawing at it with the excavator arm. Security forces at the scene, including police, respond and officer Ariel Tuito of the Nachshon unit of the Israel Prison Service fires a fatal shot, ending the attack with also leaves a total of six people injured, including the bus driver. The attack takes place near the Mir Yeshiva, one of the country’s biggest religious institutions, shortly after thousands of yeshiva students are dismissed from class early to prepare for the fast of Tisha Be’av, the ninth day of the month of Av when observant Jews mourn the destruction of two Jewish temples. The bus stop is normally crowded with yeshiva students. Walles is a member of the ultra-Orthodox Toldot Aharon Hassidic stream. A witness identified as Yossi, who lives near the site:
[Wallis was] working all day here as an inspector for Atra Kadisha, tending to the sites at which Arab workers were digging in places where there were graves. One of the neighbors, who witnessed the scene, saw that at a certain point the driver of the tractor turned the bucket towards him and hit him with it. I myself saw the incident from outside. I heard the shots and saw the police run into the construction site
Rockets are ‘defensive blessing’
A former chief commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says Hamas rockets fired at Israeli targets are the ‘blessing’ of a technology transfer. Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, Mohsen Rezaei, quoted by state Arabic channel Al-Alam:
Palestinian resistance missiles are the blessings of Iran’s transfer of technology […] We need to transfer defensive and military technology to Palestinians so that they can build weapons under the blockade and defend themselves
Revolutionary Guards have said in the past that Hamas’ Gaza Strip arsenal includes Fajr-5 missile rockets that are produced locally from technology supplied by Iran without requiring direct shipment. He says he has asked President Hassan Rouhani to provide air defense systems to allow Hamas to shoot down Israeli aircraft, and says kidnapping soldiers is an effective technique:
Getting their soldiers captured is the weak point of Israelis. Should two or three be captured, all Zionists will surrender
Hamas: Didn’t agree to ceasefire
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal tells CNN’s Nic Robertson the group did not agree to conditions of the 72-hour ceasefire that allowed Israel Defense Forces to remain in Gaza and continue operations to neutralize tunnels. The truce broke down after less than two hours as Israel bombarded parts of Gaza in response to the alleged kidnapping of a soldier. In an interview from Doha:
A truce is a truce, but the presence of the Israeli forces inside Gaza and destroying the tunnels means it’s an aggression. We did not deceive Mr. John Kerry, and we did not deceive the Israelis, we fight honorably. We told everyone that this is our position. … Therefore they are the ones who should be responsible for this.
#Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told me had not agreed to ceasefire including Israel's presence and destruction of tunnels in Gaza. exclusive
— Nic Robertson (@NicRobertsonCNN) August 2, 2014
Kidnapped soldier declared dead
The Israel Defense Forces says 2nd. Lt. Hadar Goldin has died in Gaza and is listed as a fallen soldier whose resting place is unknown. The decision to declare him dead is made according to the findings of a special board headed by IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier Gen. Rafi Peretz, which takes into account medical evidence and halachic considerations of Jewish law among other factors. The message is delivered to the family by Peretz, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, IDF Head of Personnel Major General Orna Barbibay. Goldin in an interview on completing officer training:
In life, you can choose to do things for yourself and you can choose to do great things.
Fairfax cartoon withdrawn
Fairfax Media apologizes for a cartoon considered anti-Semitic by Jewish groups that the Sydney Morning Herald published in its daily and online editions, and withdraws the online version. The cartoon, which showed an old man sitting alone in an armchair wearing a kippah skullcap and controlling the 2014 Gaza conflict by remote control, drew criticism from the New South Wales Board of Jewish Deputies due to its use of Jewish symbology and the fact that the old man has an unusually large nose, a genetic trait often associated with Jews. SMH:
It was also significant that the cartoon had its genesis in news photographs of men seated in chairs and lounges, observing the shelling of Gaza from the hills of Sderot. One of those photos depicted an old man, wearing a kippah, reclining casually as part of a group – with Mr Le Lievre seeing comparisons between this and someone watching their television
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies say the editorial ‘unreservedly apologising for the publication of an antisemitic cartoon’ means the matter is now closed.
Editorial cartoon
An editorial cartoon in The Australian newspaper draws strong reaction from readers as it depicts a militant endangering a child in order to win the battle for public opinion in the 2014 Gaza conflict:
https://twitter.com/MariamVeiszadeh/statuses/495775041976401920
British aid worker reported killed in IDF strike
The UK government and Foreign Office are investigating reports that Rochdale man Kadir Islam has died following an Israeli airstrike in the southern city of Rafah. Friends say he was killed while delivering medical supplies to a hospital, but it isn’t known which agency he was working for. Prime Minister Cameron:
I’m extremely concerned about these reports and we are doing everything we can to get to the bottom (of them) and find out exactly what has happened. I don’t want to say anything before we’ve been able to do that but this only reinforces the need for an immediate unconditional humanitarian ceasefire observed properly by both sides. This slaughter, this killing has got to end.
Thousands attend soldier’s funeral
Thousands attend the funeral of 23-year-old IDF Second Lt. Hadar Goldin at the military section of the Kfar Sava cemetery, with only those on a list created by the family admitted to the cemetery and the rest of the crowd gathering outside the gates. The fiancee, mother and twin brother of the Givati Brigade reconnaissance soldier, initially believed kidnapped by Hamas and later confirmed dead, express their regrets along with two family rabbis while his father urges the crowd to ‘live righteously.’ Simha Goldin:
You who came en masse, live righteously and don’t hate one another. Hadar wanted to be a Jewish fighter. Do the same as he did. Take the bible with you and become Jewish fighters. I thank the crowds who came from far and wide to be with my family.
US ‘appalled’ at UN school strike
The U.S. says it is appalled by a strike that kills at least 10, including children, at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency school where around 3,000 are sheltering, apparently in response to militant actions near the UNRWA facility. The comment is the State Department’s strongest criticism yet of Israeli actions during Operation Protective Edge. Spokesperson:
The United States is appalled. The coordinates of the school, like all UN facilities in Gaza, have been repeatedly communicated to the Israeli Defense Forces […] Israel must do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties. The suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians.
Another attack near UN-run school
0 CommentsAnother attack takes place close to a U.N.-run school in Gaza. During this attack, 10 people are killed and many other wounded. This school is being used by thousands of Gaza residents as a shelter who are escaping weeks of violence.
I can confirm a shelling incident has caused multiple deaths and injuries in the vicinity of a school. I am not saying it was a direct hit, and we are not confirming who it’s by yet. We hope to have more details later.
Denounces ‘ignorant’ Bardem, Cruz
Voight denounces the open letter signed by Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and others as ignorant and inciting anti-Semitism:
You have forgotten how this war started. Did Hamas not kidnap and kill three young teenagers for the sake of killing, and celebrated after the killing? What a travesty of justice. I am asking all my peers who signed that poison letter against Israel to examine their motives. Can you take back the fire of anti-Semitism that is raging all over the world now?
He says they are unaware of the genesis of the conflict:
They are obviously ignorant of the whole story of Israel’s birth, when in 1948 the Jewish people were offered by the UN a portion of the land originally set aside for them in 1921, and the Arab Palestinians were offered the other half. The Arabs rejected the offer, and the Jews accepted, only to be attacked by five surrounding Arab countries committed to driving them into the sea. But the Israelis won. The Arabs tried it again in 1967, and again in 1973, launching a sneak attack on the holiest Jewish holiday. Each time the Jews prevailed but not without great loss of life. And when Israel was not fighting a major war, it was defending itself against terrorist campaigns.
On more recent history:
And yet Israel has always labored for a peaceful relation with its Arab neighbors. It voluntarily returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in return for peace, and gave the Palestinians all of Gaza as a peace gesture. What was the response? The Palestinians elected Hamas, a terrorist organization, and they immediately began firing thousands of rockets into Israel.
Scales back forces
Israel begins scaling back forces in Gaza, with eyewitnesses reporting tanks pulling back from urban areas towards the border. The drawdown is aimed at allowing Israel to regroup and plan its next course of action, with troops set to soon pull back from densely populated urban areas once tunnel destruction is completed, and decide over the next three days how to proceed with its goals. Netanyahu makes a televised speech:
We promised to return quiet to Israel and that is what we will do. We will continue to act until that goal is reached, however long it will take and with as much force as needed
‘Leave Gaza or destroy it’
The brother of an Israel Defense Forces soldier killed in Gaza says Netanyahu must decide whether to leave Gaza and pursue diplomacy, or destroy the territory. Omar Gotlib’s Facebook account:
I ask you to take the children out of Gaza and turn to diplomacy — or just stop being afraid of the world and turn Gaza into rubble. I’m not afraid of the boycott to come. My countrymen are more important than a few opinions in the faraway, distant world
The left-wing Meretz voter, who does not support Netanyahu’s Likud, says Gaza should be taken…
…if not pleasantly, then with full force — without soldiers, only bombs weighing ton upon ton. Just don’t let the erosion and attrition continue. Stop being a politician, and be a leader. Make a decision free of outside interests, just out of concern for the pure souls that are in that accursed place, which rivals the Dead Sea as ‘The Lowest Place in the World.’
‘Zionist enemy’ breaches truce
Hamas says Israel mobilized machinery and troops at 06:30 a.m. local time, 90 minutes before the midnight Eastern Standard Time commencement of the 72-hour ceasefire and penetrated up to 1.5 miles into Rafah before destroying homes on the pretext of searching for tunnels, and deploying rooftop snipers.
We in the Hamas Movement hold the Zionist enemy fully responsible for breaching the humanitarian truce more than once since early morning. We also hold it responsible for continuing to perpetrate heinous massacres against the children of our people. We would like to stress that we would be willing to abide by the truce so long as the Zionist enemy abides by it
Residents can return
The Israel Defense Forces says the 70,000 residents of the northern town of Beit Lahiya can return, signaling its offensive in the area is winding down. All-clear statement:
The residents are advised to beware of explosive devices Hamas has spread across the area
‘Very close’ to completing tunnel mission
Israel Defense Forces are poised to complete their mission to deal with cross-border offensive tunnels and will push on with the mission after ceasefire negotiations break down. A senior official:
We are very close to completing the mission of dealing with the tunnels […] There’s no point in promoting an agreement. We’re not talking about cease-fires anymore. Israel will act in its own interest. We will take action against attacks from Gaza, and will finish dealing with the tunnels
Israel will boycott truce talks
Israel’s security cabinet decides the country will not send a delegation to Cairo for truce talks after the planned 72-hour ceasefire designed to facilitate negotiations breaks down. Instead, it will seek to resolve the 2014 Gaza conflict unilaterally and reach understandings with Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and the international community on rebuilding the Gaza Strip, demilitarizing Hamas and supervision of goods. Senior official:
If we feel that deterrence has been achieved we’ll leave the Strip based on the principle of calm for calm. 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.
Video: Rocket launched from hospital
A video by France24 appears to confirm that Hamas is launching rockets from the Shifa hospital. The video uploaded to Youtube by the news channel’s Arabic service shows a correspondent reporting from the hospital, when a rocket is launched next to her at the end of her report.
Calls for unconditional release
Obama calls on Hamas to demonstrate that it can meet ceasefire commitments by releasing Israel Defense Forces 2nd. Lt. Hadar Goldin who has been dragged into a tunnel by militants 90 minutes into the 72-hour truce agreement:
If they are serious about resolving the situation, that soldier needs to be unconditionally released as soon as possible. I think it’s going to be very hard to put a ceasefire back together again if Israel and the international community can’t feel confident that Hamas can follow through on a ceasefire commitment.