ISIS Spreading Its Influence Into Gaza.

ISIS in Gaza Has Israel on Watch

By Anav Silverman August 15, 2014 , 9:25 am

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“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)

Israel and the US may have to come to the aid of Middle Eastern countries in combating ISIS. (Photo: Facebook)

According to a recent Gatestone Institute publication, the presence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has begun to grow in the Gaza Strip, with both the PA and Israel convinced that followers of ISIS in Gaza have been responsible for some of the rocket attacks on Israel.

Last month, the Israel Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported that Salafist-jihadi operatives in the Gaza Strip uploaded a video clip to YouTube on July 8, documenting several instances of rockets being launched at Israel. The video clip, entitled “The Salafist-jihadi [movement[ in the Gaza Strip – lovers of the Islamic state [i.e. ISIS] launches rockets at the Jews.” The video showed at least 10 rockets being launched at Israel.

In addition, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported in late June that Egyptian security forces arrested 15 ISIS terrorists (known as ‘Daash’ in Arabic) who tried to infiltrate Sinai from the Gaza Strip. According to the report, the 15 who were arrested were instructed to begin the formation of an ISIS branch in Egypt among terrorist groups in the Sinai.

However, the Hamas Interior Ministry refuted the report, with Maan News Agency reporting that the ministry stated it was a lie and that “all tunnels between Gaza and Egypt have been closed completely after the Egyptian army destroyed them.”  Iyad Al Bezem, a Hamas interior spokesman, stated that “there is no presence of the ISIS in the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas has dealt with expressions of ISIS support in the Strip strongly. Gatestone reports that ISIS followers organized a rally on June 12 to celebrate the military victories of the ISIS in Iraq, with Hamas policemen dispersing the Rafah rally in response. In addition, Hamas prevented local journalists from reporting the event “as part of its attempt to deny the existence of ISIS in the Gaza Strip.”

At the rally, dozens of Islamists were reported chanting, “Khaybar, Khaybar, Ya Yahud, Jaish Mohamed Saya’ud!” (O Jews, Mohamed’s army will return) in reference to the story of the 629 CE battle by the Prophet Mohamed against the Jews of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia, where many Jews were killed and Jewish women and children taken as slaves.

Additionally, at a funeral for two terrorists that Israel killed for firing rockets at Israeli communities, on Sunday, June 29, the black ISIS flags were seen flying, and the terrorists’ coffins were reportedly draped in ISIS flags according to a World Net Daily report.

The radical jihadi ISIS, which recently changed its name to The Islamic State, proclaimed itself an Islamic caliphate on June 29, claiming religious authority over all Muslims in the world, and having ushered in “a new era of international jihad.” The group has exterminated at least 500 people of Iraq’s Yazidi Kurdish ethnic minority, while burying some of its victims alive. Some 300 Yazidi women were kidnapped as slaves and around 150,000 Yazidi Kurds, who have been entrapped by ISIS on Iraq’s Sinjar mountains, are currently homeless and starving.

Un-Invited Kerry Arrives In Egypt To Broker Deal But First Criticizes Israel For Killing Too Many Palestinians. Huh, Who Started This Whole Mis-Adventure?

Kerry Arrives in Middle East in Attempt to Broker Cease-Fire

By Lea Speyer July 22, 2014 , 11:00 am

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“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8)

(Photo: US Department of State)

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cairo Monday night in an attempt to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

The secretary’s trip, which his aides acknowledge does not have a high chance of succeeding, comes after US President Barack Obama strongly urged both sides to end the fighting, citing “serious concerns” about the increasing number of casualties in Gaza.

“It now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a cease-fire that ends the fighting,” Obama said at the White House on Monday. “Obviously it will not be easy.”

According to the White House, Kerry is seeking “an immediate cessation of hostilities based on a return to the November 2012 cease-fire agreement” and the protection of civilians “in Gaza and in Israel.”

Kerry’s latest attempt to broker peace in the Middle East is preceded by a controversy sparked by the secretary when he was caught questioning Israel’s methods on an open mic. Prior to an interview with Fox News on Sunday, regarding Operation Protective Edge, Kerry stated, “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation, it’s a hell of a pinpoint operation.”

John Kerry Caught on Fox News Hot Mic Criticizing Israeli Strike

Kerry appeared to be expressing his frustration over the increasing ground invasion into Gaza, which the IDF has said is focusing on eradicating Hamas’s terror tunnel and weapons infrastructure.

“We’ve got to get over there. Thank you John. I think John; we ought to go tonight. I think it’s crazy to be sitting around,” Kerry said.

In the interview later with Fox News, Kerry urged Hamas to be “reasonable and understand that if you accept the cease-fire, you save lives.” He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Hamas’s indiscriminate attacks on Israel are “unacceptable by any standard anywhere in the world” and that Israel has every right to defend and protect its citizens.

“They’ve [Hamas] been offered a ceasefire, and they’ve refused to take the ceasefire. Even though Egypt and others have called for that ceasefire, they’ve just stubbornly invited further efforts to try to defuse the ability to be able to rocket Israel,” Kerry stated.

Kerry’s relationship with Israel has considerably cooled since his last peace-making efforts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority failed abysmally. Efforts collapsed completely when PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would be joining forces with Hamas in a new Palestinian unity government.

Declassified photo: Gaza terrorists used a mosque located near Palestinian homes as a place to hide rockets and gather militants. Terrorist organizations systematically use mosques to conceal weapons and create underground tunnels within populated areas. (Photo: IDF)

Former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren told Channel 2 on Monday that the secretary was “not invited” by Israel to broker any type of cease-fire.

Hamas officials have even expressed their skepticism towards a Kerry cease-fire that would be agreeable to the Gaza-based terror group.

“John Kerry wants to rescue the Israelis. Hopefully he will achieve something towards a cease-fire but it would only be for the Israeli interests, said Ehab Al Ghussain, a Hamas spokesman.

Prior to flying to the Middle East, Kerry announced that the US is pledging $47 million in humanitarian aid in Gaza, AFP reported. The US will provide $15 – $60 million in an emergency appeal fund from the UNRWA, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency.

The UNRWA has come under fire recently by Israel when it supposedly handed back some 20 rockets hidden in one of its locations by Hamas to the terror group.

It is not clear yet whether Kerry will be traveling to Israel. Upon arrival in Egypt, Kerry met with UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon. Moon said that while Hamas “should immediately stop firing rockets,” he criticized Israel for its military response.

“There is a proportionality and…most of the death toll has been Palestinian people,” Ban added. The Secretary General is set to arrive in Israel Tuesday afternoon and meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.

Kerry is expected to meet with Egyptian President Sisi and the Secretary General of the Arab League.

Drones Over Israel. Some Are Shot Down.

Terror Drone Shot Down by IDF Over Coast of Israel

By Lea Speyer July 14, 2014 , 3:11 pm

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“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.” (Psalm 138:7)

The Hermes 450 is a medium size UAV typically used by the IDF that provides real time intelligence to ground forces. and was designed for tactical long endurance missions. The Hermes 450 is effective for ISTAR, SIGINT, communication relays and other missions for Division to Corps levels. (Photo: Elbit via Tsahi Ben-Ami / Flash 90)

An unmanned drone which originated from the Gaza Strip was shot down by Israel Monday morning as it crossed into Israeli airspace.

The drone, which came over the coast of Ashdod, set off air raid sirens along the southern coastal city before it was downed by a Patriot surface-to-air missile launched from the center of the country.

It is believed that the drone was launched by Hamas which is estimated to have a small fleet of drones. While the size of the drone could only carry a small amount of explosives, the drone itself has the potential to cause serious damage or injury.

Hamas claimed that it launched six drones into Israel on Monday. The terror group stated that it built three different types that are able to carry out surveillance missions and carry explosive payloads to evemy targets.

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed military wing, said that one of the drones managed to penetrate as far as Tel Aviv and hover of the IDF Headquarters in the Hakirya complex. The IDF has refuted these claims.

Monday morning, the Israeli Air Force carried out targeted strikes against 40 terror targets after a barrage of rockets rained down upon Israel’s southern region.

More than 130 rockets were fired at Israel on Sunday, with 22 of them intercepted by the Iron Dome Missile Defense system. In response, the IAF struck several areas in Gaza. Army Radio confirmed that 75 terror targets were successfully hit.

Sunday’s barrage from Gaza were accompanied by some unexpected rocket fire from Lebanon Sunday night as well. Three rockets exploded in the western Galilee region, hitting open areas.

The rockets caused Red Alert sirens to go off in the region as the IDF responded with artillery fire towards the source of the rocket fire in Lebanon. This is the third time a rocket from Lebanon has been fired into Israel since Friday.

A rocket was also shot into Israel on Sunday evening from Syria in what IDF officials are calling a deliberate attack. The rocket landed in the Golan Heights and exploded in an open area. “The assumption is that it was not a stray,” an army spokeswoman told AFP.

News of the rocket attacks in the north, along with those from Gaza, were met by a report Monday morning out of Egypt in what officials are calling a foiled terror attack on Israel. Egyptian security officials thwarted late Sunday an attempt by terrorists operating in the Sinai Peninsula to launch two rockets into Israel.

Iron Dome fires in Israel’s southern region. (Photo: IDF)

Operation Protective Edge, which is now in its seventh day, is aimed at targeting Hamas’s leaders and terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon stated that Hamas will regret starting up with Israel.

“When Hamas’s leadership comes out of hiding, they will discover the extent of the destruction that we have caused their organization, and will regret having engaged Israel in this round of fighting,” he said in a statement.

While the government has yet to order an official ground operation into Gaza, the IDF declared an area north of the Strip as a closed military zone. The IDF is continuing to bolster its forces along the border, which in conjunction with the zone closure, indicates that the army is preparing for an imminent ground offensive.

Since the start of Operation Protective Edge on July 8, terrorists operating in the Gaza Strip have fired approximately 980 rockets into Israel. 200 of those rockets, which were headed in a straight trajectory towards Israeli cities, were intercepted by Iron Dome.

According to the IDF, air, naval and special forces have struck around 1,470 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including 770 rocket launcher, 210 terror tunnels, 69 “training bases and militant compounds,” and 63 weapons storage and manufacturing facilities.

More Rockets From Gaza Even Though "Unity Government" Promised Non Violence And Rejection Of Terrorism Against Israel. Should Israel Believe Them?

Code Red Alarms Sound after Rocket Fire from Gaza

Posted by: Lea Speyer June 9, 2014 , 11:57 am

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“Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.” (Isaiah 60:18)

A Palestinian militant from the Martyr Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigade of the military wing of Hamas during a training session in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 25, 2012. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash 90)

Terrorists from the Gaza Strip set of Code Red alarm sirens throughout Israel’s southern region after incoming rocket fired was detected.

Sunday night, a rocket was fired from Gaza towards Ashkelon. The rocket failed to cross into Israeli airspace and landed in open territory on the Gazan side of the security fence. No damage or injuries were reported.

Sunday night’s incident is the latest in a series of attacks launched by terrorists operating in the Strip. On Saturday, a rocket exploded in the Sha’ar Hanegev region in an open area.

The IDF reported that since the beginning of 2014, 108 rockets have been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Despite the Hamas-Fatah unity agreement formalizing a united Palestinian government that has stated it would uphold principles of nonviolence and the rejection of terrorism against Israel, Sunday night’s attack proves otherwise.

The rocket attack is an indication of growing Palestinian restlessness against Israel after a period of semi-quiet between Israel and the Palestinians. Over the last several weeks, Israeli security officials, including IDF soldiers and Border Police have come under attack by terrorists from Gaza, Judea and Samaria.

On Friday, before the start of the Sabbath, IDF forces apprehended a Palestinian terrorist who attempted to stab a soldier at the Azzun Junction in Samaria. Last week, security personnel thwarted two stabbing attacks against IDF soldiers in Judea and Samaria.

Last Monday, a terrorist opened fire on Israeli security forces stationed at the Tapuah Junction in Samaria. Soldiers returned fire and killed the terrorist. Three days before the shooting attack, a Palestinian suicide bomber was apprehended at the same location.