THE ISRAEL-GAZA CONFLICT
LATEST 10 UPDATES
Quote:
4:23 A.M. EST
Almost one and a half hours after the proposed ceasefire, Hamas sends a heavy barrage of rockets into southern Israel, sending residents in more than 10 cities back to their bomb shelters. 1 rocket was intercepted and one landed in a yard in Ashdod.
11:54 P.M. Sources in Habayit Hayehudi party say Economy Minister Naftali Bennett will vote against a cease-fire in the cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning. (Barak Ravid)
11:39 P.M. 10-year-old Maram Wakili remains in critical condition after being wounded by a rocket in Lakiya in the Negev.
Her sister Atir is now in light condition. An 83-year-old man seriously injured in Be'er Sheva when falling on his way to a secure area in now in light condition, as well. (Shirly Seidler)
11: 32 P.M. Hamas deputy political chief Ismail Haniyeh said yesterday that contacts for a potential cease-fire exist, yet Hamas is yet to receive a formal proposal.
In the speech aired Monday on Al-Jazeera, Haniyeh clarified Hamas did not seek escalation, blaming Israel for violating the previously-established cease-fire following 2012's Operation Cast Lead. (Zvi Barel)
11:14 P.M. Israel's security cabinet will meet Tuesday morning to discuss the Egyptian cease-fire proposal. A senior Israeli official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts the Egyptian offer and will bring it to a vote in the meeting that will take place on Tuesday at 7 A.M.
Another official said Tuesday that the Egyptian cease-fire offer is an accomplishment for Israel since it restores quiet to the area with a weakened Hamas. The official also said that the Egyptian initiative calls for an unconditional cease-fire and does not address Hamas’ demands such as paying the salaries of tens of thousands of Gaza civil servants or releasing prisoners arrested in the West Bank after the abduction and murder of three Israeli teens. (Barak Ravid)
10:57 P.M. Rocket fired from Lebanon explodes in an open area in western Galilee; no injuries or damage reported. IDF responds with artiliery fire. (Gili Cohen)
10:29 P.M. Sources in the Egyptian Foreign Ministry say Egypt has proposed a cease-fire outline to Israel and Gaza: The cease-fire will start at 9 A.M., meaning Israel will stop aerial, naval and ground operations against the Gaza Strip and promise not to engage in a ground offensive or harm civilians. At the same time, all the Palestinian factions will hold their fire.
Crossings between Gaza and Israel will be reopened, and restrictions on the passage of commodities and people will be eased, in return for a halt to hostilities.
Within 48 hours after the cease-fire, Israeli and Palestinian delegations will arrive in Cairo for continued indirect talks to discuss the details of the truce and its implementation. Egypt will receive guaranties from both sides, and promises to implement the outline. (Jack Khoury)
10:33 P.M. Sirens sound in Rosh Hanikra and other areas in Israel's northern Galilee region.
10:08 P.M. Death toll from Israeli army strikes in Gaza Strip rises to 178. (Jack Khoury)
9:45 P.M. Hamas hijacks into Israeli TV broadcasts for several seconds, airing a threatening slide instead of channels 2 and 10's primetime news editions. The hijacking only affected the broadcast fed by the Amos satellite, and thus reached only tens of thousands of viewers, and not the majority of Israelis. (Gili Izikovich)
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THE CONFLICT
What is Gaza and who controls it?
The Gaza Strip is a Detroit-sized area on the border with Egypt up against the Mediterranean Sea that is one of the most densely packed places on Earth. Technically part of the Palestinian Authority, it has been governed since 2007 by the militant group Hamas.
Hamas, which rejects the existence of Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, recently agreed to form a unity government with the other main Palestinian political faction, Fatah. But the outbreak of current hostilities pitting Hamas against Israel has left the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority on the sidelines.
What sparked this violence?
Tensions were ignited in June when three Israeli teenagers, one with American citizenship and all seminary students, were kidnapped while hitchhiking in the West Bank and killed. They were kidnapped on June 12 and their bodies were discovered June 30. Within days, Israel arrested more than 300 Palestinians, many of them members of Hamas. Hamas warned Israel it had "opened up the gates of hell" with its actions.
On the night the boys' bodies were found, a barrage of rockets were launched from Gaza at Israel and Israeli warplanes carried out numerous air strikes in Gaza.
On July 2, a Palestinian teenager was kidnapped and burned to death in apparent retaliation. The death triggered riots in East Jerusalem, a largely Palestinian area. Three Israelis have been arrested and charged with his death.
The attacks quickly escalated. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have fired rockets with a reach that Israel had not previously seen, with air raid sirens going off as far away as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Many of the missiles have landed in desert areas or been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. No Israelis have died from the rocket attacks. There have been reports of several Israeli injuries, including one teenage boy who was seriously wounded from a shrapnel blast.
According to the Israeli Defense Forces, Israel has carried out more than 1,400 air strikes in Gaza as part of Operation Protective Edge. The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 170 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 1,300 have been injured since the operation began. The IDF claims more than 1,000 rockets have been launched at Israel in the last week, 754 of which have hit Israel and some 200 were intercepted by the Iron Dome.
Israel has called up more than 40,000 reservists and massed tanks and troops along the border with Gaza, but so far a full-scale ground offensive has not taken place.
Who are the key players?
Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and is considered a terrorist group by Israel and the U.S.
The Israeli Defense Forces are the military arm of Israel and are well armed and exceptionally large given Israel’s population. Most Israeli residents must go through compulsory military service and are automatically enrolled in the IDF’s reserve forces.
Benjamin Netanyahu is the prime minister of Israel. After the Israeli teens were found dead, he said they were victims of "terrorists" and "human animals." When the Palestinian teen was found murdered, he telephoned the boy's father and said the murder was "abhorrent." Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev said that they followed through with their promise to find and punish the perpetrators.
"Israel stands thoroughly against this. We promised to investigate. We promised to bring the perpetrators of that crime to justice and guess what? We delivered. We've done exactly that," Regev said.
What is notable about this outbreak of violence?
The current fight comes after almost two years of relative calm between Israel and the Palestinians and just months after the latest round of peace talks collapsed.
The technology being used by both sides is more advanced than in earlier periods of violence. Hamas has publicly claimed responsibility for the drone, and went on to say that they actually have two types of drones: one to gather intelligence and another to fire munitions. Hamas has been able to reach cities that are much further north in Israel than they ever have before, instilling a new fear for Israeli residents. Israel claims some 5 million people now live within striking distance of Hamas’ newest rockets.
Hamas has also launched home-made, unmanned drones to fly over Israel, and the militant group claimed to have drones that are armed. Israel shot down an unarmed drone on Monday off the coast.
I hope the conflict ends soon.