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Israel Foils Hamas Plot to Take Over West Bank

“Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.”  (Isaiah 8:10)

Israel has thwarted a Hamas plot to topple the Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas, begin a third intifada uprising, and establish a second front against Israel during Operation Protective Edge. Israel’s internal security, the Shin Bet, uncovered the plot during May and June, in the process of arresting over 90 Hamas operatives, confiscating guns and other weapons that included 24 M-16 rifles, six handguns, seven missile launchers, magazines, and ammunition.  They also seized more than $170,000 funnelled into the West Bank from Jordan to fund the attacks. More than 70 indictments were served in recent days at military tribunals in the West Bank in connection with the plot. “The terrorists planned to undermine security and launch a third intifada.  They planned disturbances on the Temple Mount to rile the Palestinian masses.  They were waiting for talks between Israel and PA to collapse,” a Shin Bet source said. The terror cells, consisting of mostly Arab students of math, chemistry and engineering living in Judea and Samaria, were set up by Turkey-based Hamas leader, Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri. The Shin Bet said that terrorist cells were set up all over Judea and Samaria including such places as Jenin, Nablus, eastern Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Hebron. On Wednesday, Israel’s Channel 2 aired a recording of al-Arouri claiming responsibility for the kidnapping and murder of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrach on June 12. “I praise the brave action that the al-Qassam Brigades carried out, the kidnapping of the three settlers to Hebron,” al-Arouri said.  He also said the three Israelis were killed in response to the hunger strikes by Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons.

 

Naftali Frenkel, 16, Gil-Ad Shaar, 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19, were on their

way home for Shabbat when they were murdered simply because they

were Jewish.

The revelation of the planned military coup has led Abbas to start a probe into the affair.  He said that the implications of the revealed plot “will be serious for the Palestinian and regional situation, especially after Israeli officials published a list and pictures of confiscated weapons.”  Repeatedly referring to Hamas as being behind the plot to overthrow the Palestinian government, Abbas said that this could pose a serious threat to the future of any Palestinian unity government. The plot leaders had hoped to open a second front during the current Operation Protective Edge by overthrowing Abbas and beginning a new round of violence in Israel.The security authority said that Hamas planned to use a third intifada to cover up a military coup in which it would seize control of the Palestinian government in Ramallah and place Mohammed Deif in control. Deif commands the terrorist group Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas terror organization, which was founded in part by al-Arouri.

Gershon Baskin, the founder and co-chairman of the

Israel Palestine Creative Regional Initiatives (IPCRI).

Israeli Surplus Potato Crop Destined for Hungry Gazans

“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.”  (Proverbs 25:21)

Gershon Baskin, the founder and co-chairman of the Israel Palestine Creative Regional Initiatives (IPCRI), has raised $93,000 to be used to buy surplus Israeli potatoes for Palestinians in Gaza who are hurting due to the aftermath of the Hamas bombing of Israel. In 2006, Baskin unofficially, without governmental authorization or support, opened back channels with Hamas to help negotiate the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. When he learned that the Israeli Vegetable Growers’ Association had a 5,000 ton surplus of potatoes slated for destruction, he immediately thought of the Palestinians suffering without electricity, food, and homes. Instead of the government paying the farmers half a shekel a kilo to destroy the crop, he reasoned, why not raise the money and pay the farmers for the surplus crop so the potatoes could help the hungry in Gaza? It could be a win-win situation, he thought.  The farmers can’t sell the produce anyway and they would get the same money they would receive from the government for the crop.  The people in Gaza who haven’t been able to grow crops because many fields have been bombed out will receive much needed food.

Men stock the shelves with potatoes in a market in Jerusalem.

Even Gaza farmers that were spared the rocket attacks of the latest conflict are suffering from a lack of water and electricity.  One farmer explained to the Jerusalem Post that these factors combined with the risks of working in an open field have all but totally destroyed this year’s crop.  He added that the strawberry crop was particularly affected due to a lack of water. The case is similar for Israeli farmers located near the Strip who also have been unable to work their fields.  While Israel’s government has already set up a compensation package to help these farmers, it remains unclear if Hamas will offer anything similar to its people. Possibly reflecting the feelings of other farmers in the Gaza Strip, the farmer interviewed by the Jerusalem Post said that “the war is very bad” and that “all the people here are very sad.”  He added, “I hope that in the future everything will be solved between our friends.” To purchase the surplus potatoes for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Baskin figured that he needed a total of $750,000, so he turned to the Internet to start raising funds. “Within minutes I got 20 or 30 emails from people who said they were willing to contribute,” he said.  “So I just said, yalla, let’s do one of those crowd-sourcing campaigns.” Although he didn't reach his goal by the cut-off date for the campaign, Baskin was impressed with the response that his effort did receive. “It was all kinds of people,” he says of the donors.  “There were a lot of Jews, both in Israel and America and Britain.” Despite the shortfall of money, Baskin said he will overcome the difficulties in getting the surplus potatoes to those in need in the Gaza Strip. The situation continues to be dire here in Israel.  People have just seconds to get to safe rooms, as Hamas mercilessly fires on civilians without warning. No other nation on earth would tolerate being placed in such a position, and yet so many international leaders are insisting that Israel show restraint in defending herself, which she has done by warning Gaza civilians of impending attacks on Hamas targets lodged in civilian houses, mosques, schools and hospitals.

At such a time as this, your continued support in prayer for Israel and the Jewish People is really making a difference!

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Hamas Executes Suspected Collaborators with Israel in "Operation Strangling Necks"

"For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”  (Ezekiel 18:32)

In recent days, Hamas operatives have executed at least 25 Gazans suspected of collaborating with Israel in what Hamas calls "Operation Strangling Necks."  (JP) Last days, 11 alleged informants were shot at the Gaza City police headquarters.  Two of the 11 were women. Later in the day, masked gunmen wearing black openly shot seven alleged informants, lining them up against a wall with their heads covered with bags.  They then sprayed them with automatic rifle fire in front of worshipers emerging from the al-Omari Mosque. “The execution of Gaza residents, men and women, is cruelty that its purpose is to deter the populace,” Member of Knesset Moti Yogev said.  “There is nothing behind it in terms of real intelligence.” “Many of these killings are nothing more than Hamas settling the score in incidental feuds or disputes that are completely unrelated to Israel,” he said. Mordechai Kedar, a professor of Arabic literature at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, a city in the Tel Aviv district, said the executions are an example of the inhumanity of Hamas. “Whoever is suspected is executed without any judicial process.  Even Amnesty International criticized them very severely,” Kedar stated.  “And Amnesty is not at all a pro-Zionist organization.”

An Israeli first-grade student waits for his first lesson on the first day

of school.

School Year Opens in Israel Despite Gaza Rockets

Despite the continued barrage of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza, the school year will start on September 1. In order to help students who are suffering from the stress of continually being bombed by Hamas, Israel’s teachers have been directed to lead discussions in which students talk about what they have experienced during the ongoing Gaza conflict.  Especially for those schools in the south of the country, the Ministry of Education has decided to focus on the summer events in order to deal with the possible emotional suffering among students and to help strengthen their capacity to deal with the continuing crisis. During the discussions, students will be encouraged to describe their expectations and dreams. Guidance counsellors will also be involved and kindergarten teachers have been instructed to closely observe their children and to look for signs of special needs. Teachers have been told to help their students to process what they have been experiencing and to seek out those who are having difficulty in returning to their routines. Various activities have been planned to assist students in regaining a sense of normality such as participation in field days, tours, visits to historical sites, other youth activities, days devoted to music and culture, debates, talent shows and producing videos. 

Israeli high school students

In line with this special approach to the conflict, the Ministry has encouraged history teachers to use the example of Joshua from the Bible in teaching students to be “Jewish fighters.”  The idea came from the eulogy given by the father of one Israeli soldier who fell fighting in Gaza when he said:  “Do as he did.  Take the Torah with you day and night and be Jewish fighters.” Some teachers are objecting to the incorporation of the Bible into history lessons. “Must we now strengthen the students’ desire to be ‘Jewish fighters’?” asked one history teacher at a Jerusalem school.  “Must the Bible and divine imperatives be our guides?” Meanwhile, a recent poll reveals that 43 percent of Israeli parents say that they will not send their children to a school that is not fortified against rocket attacks.  For those living in the south of the country this figure rises to 55 percent. The poll reports that only about a fifth of those responding (20.4 percent) said that they were willing to send their children to unprotected educational institutions. Reports also suggest that Gaza students are afraid to go back to school, fearing that the school will be bombed. One 8-year-old girl said, “I’m frightened of going to school and that they’ll start bombing,” adding, “My friends were killed, my house was destroyed.” 

 

Hamas terrorists parade their rockets while a youth sits underneath them

in the open bed of the pickup truck.

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A 4-year-old Israeli boy Daniel, killed by Hamas bomb, kindergarten and synagogue hit

Four-year-old Daniel Tragerman was killed by a Hamas rocket on Friday afternoon as

he played inside his home.

  

Four-Year-Old Israeli Murdered by Hamas Laid to Rest

"May God console you among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."  (traditional Jewish farewell when taking leave of someone in mourning)

Daniel Tragerman, the four-year-old victim of Hamas' Fridayafternoon rocket attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz was laid to rest. Daniel was critically wounded by rocket shrapnel in his family home as he ran to the safe room when the code red siren sounded.  With only seconds to reach the room, he didn't make it.  He died shortly after. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Hamas terrorists from the "military wing" of the Al-Qassam Brigades fired the deadly mortar shell from a site "adjacent to the Jafar Ali Ibn Taleb school in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City."  (Arutz Sheva) "Daniel was a smart, kind, sensitive child," Daniel's mother, Gila, said on Friday.  "We wanted to see him growing up with his brothers and fulfilling his potential." Hundreds attended his funeral at the Hevel Shalom cemetery in the Eshkol Regional Council in the northern Negev. “We were the happiest family in the world, and I just cannot come to grips with it,” his mother said during the service.“We are with you in deep mourning,” said Alon Shuster, head of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council at Daniel's funeral.  “Here in this painful place, we are waiting for another day, a day where children can play in their yard and bomb shelters can be just another room.  So many children made it to the bomb shelter and Daniel didn’t make it; we will do all that we can so that life will go on.” The Tragerman's had only returned to their home in the south a few days before.  They had left because of the constant rocket fire from Gaza, but decided to return on the promise of security officials that residents of the south would be safe. When Hamas bombing resumed, they packed their bags and got ready to leave.  Sadly, before they could, Daniel was killed.

 

The third Hamas rocket attack against an Israeli kindergarten occurred

on Friday.

  

 Hamas Hits Israeli Kindergarten and Synagogue

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, from this time forth and forevermore.”  (Psalm 125:2)

Hamas rockets continue to pound Israel.  Hamas began firing again on Israel on Tuesday, violating a temporary truce during the Egyptian-mediated negotiations.Since then, the news of red alert sirens and bomb blasts are filling Israel’s media, and people are once again living in their bomb shelters.  Many who live near Gaza's border, who had returned during the truce negotiations, are leaving their homes once again. What began with three Gaza rockets on Tuesday hitting Be’er Sheva and Netivot escalated to about 70 by 9 a.m. Wednesday morning. A civilian home was hit Wednesday afternoon.On Thursday morning, a 33-year old man who shielded children with his body was seriously hurt in Eshkol.  An empty kindergarten was struck and several cows were also killed when a rocket hit a cowshed.  By Thursday evening, Hamas had unleashed more than 300 rockets.

Shortly before evening prayers on Friday, a

rocket fired from the Gaza Strip made a direct

hit on a synagogue in Ashdod, causing

significant damage to the building.  Two men,

25 and 26, and a woman, 40, were injured

by shrapnel.

On Friday, four-year-old Daniel Tragerman was killed when a Hamas rocket landed near his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. As well, children in a western Negev kindergarten barely escaped injury when a salvo of rockets landed close to their packed Israeli kindergarten. Three civilians were also wounded when a rocket fired from Gaza directly hit a synagogue in the southern city of Ashdod, causing severe damage to the building.  A 54-year-old civilian in Be’er Sheva was moderately wounded and a civilian in Sderot was lightly injured by Gaza rockets on Friday as well. Rockets continued through the weekend and on Sunday, two people at the Erez Border Crossing with Israel were seriously injured by a mortar shell. The IDF closed the crossing after the attack.

On Sunday, the Erez Border Crossing with Gaza was closed after a Gaza

mortar attack seriously injured three Israeli Arabs.  Throughout Operation

Protective Edge, this crossing had remained open to transport injured

Palestinians to Israel for medical treatment.  (Photo credit: Avishai Teicher)

Because of the renewed firing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his negotiating team to leave Cairo. “If Hamas thinks that by a continuation of a drizzle of rocket fire we will make concessions, it is mistaken.  As long as quiet is not restored, Hamas will continue to take very hard blows,” Netanyahu warned. He added that the Israeli delegation at the Cairo negotiations have clear instructions to demand that any agreement will include assurances of the country’s security. “Only if there will be a clear answer to our security needs will we agree to any understandings,” he said. Netanyahu continues to convey the message to the Israeli people that there is a need for patience, that the Gaza operation is not yet completed and that more time is needed in order to achieve the goal of long-term security for the south.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits a soldier injured during

Operation Protective Edge.

Hamas’ sudden return to violence has several exasperated members of the Israeli cabinet calling for a renewed ground offensive and even the recapture of the Gaza Strip. Minister Uri Ariel told Israel’s Channel 2 News that “the actions until now did not bring quiet.  It’s clear there is no choice but a ground offensive.” Israeli Communications Minister Gilad Erdan told Israel Army Radio that the resumption of rocket fire from Gaza has Israel considering retaking the territory. “Will this happen tomorrow?  It’s not certain, since the price for this will be high, but we are closer today to a ground operation than we have been at any point since the start of the operation,” Erdan said.

 

In a combined overnight mission on Thursday, IDF and Israeli security

forces targeted senior Hamas terrorists in the Gazan city of Rafah.  The

operation killed Mohammed Abu Shamlah, Raed Attar and Muhamad

Barhoum, three commanders in Hamas’ military wing.

As the fighting goes on, Hamas’ supply of rockets continues to dwindle, and Prime Minister Netanyahu is resisting pressure to carry out another ground invasion or to give in to unreasonable Hamas demands. In response to Hamas' rockets, Israel has continued with a limited air campaign that has benefited from good intelligence, making it possible to keep collateral civilian deaths to a minimum and reduce international outrage. The Israel Defense Forces called up 10,000 reservists.  They will replace the reserve forces currently serving who are being sent home for some much needed rest. The troop deployment near the Israel-Gaza border was also bolstered and placed on defensive alert. The cabinet approved the measure after the air force carried out an overnight targeted assassination in Rafah of three Hamas terrorist commanders, Mohammed Abu Shamaleh, Raed Attar and Mohammed Barhoum.

 

A senior Hamas leader connected the group with the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank in June, an incident that helped spark this current conflict.

According to Israel, these three Hamas commanders had been instrumental in the expansion of Hamas military capabilities, including the digging of terrorist tunnels into Israel, training fighters and smuggling weapons into Gaza. “Hamas terrorists orchestrating attacks against Israel, launching rockets indiscriminately at our civilians and abducting our soldiers will not evade our intelligence and striking capabilities,” said IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner.  “This morning’s strike sends a clear message to those responsible for planning attacks:  We will strike those who have terrorized our communities, towns and cities, and we will pursue the perpetrators of abduction of our soldiers and teenagers.  We will succeed in restoring security to the State of Israel.” The Rafah attack came on Thursday, August 20, a day after Israel attempted to assassinate the top Hamas military leader, Mohammed Deif, in an air strike on a house in Gaza City. The whereabouts of Deif still remains unknown, but his wife and two children died in the strike.

 Hamas publicly executes people suspected of collaborating with Israel in

Operation Protective Edge.