UPDATED: Hamas Allegedly Captured IDF Soldier During Cease Fire; Cease Fire Over After Mortars, Rockets Fired At Israel

The 72-hour humanitarian case fire put in place by the US and UN yesterday and which began at 8:00 am was violated at 10:03 am by a mortar fired from Gaza at Israel. Within an hour, another mortar was fired at Israel and rocket fire apparently began, as well, causing Israel to respond with shelling.

 

Cease Fire Over After Mortars, Rockets Fired At Israel
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

The 72-hour humanitarian case fire put in place by the US and UN yesterday and which began at 8:00 am was violated at 10:03 am by a mortar fired from Gaza at Israel, Ha'aretz reported.

About 40 minutes later another mortar was fired at Israel from Gaza and the IDF apprently responded by shelling parts of Gaza as gun battles reportedly eruped in Gaza, as well.

Hamas also has been firing rockets into Israel, but is not yet clear when that rocket fire resumed.

An unnamed senior Israeli official reportedly told the UN within the past hour that the cease fire is over.

"This is once more that Hamas and terror organizations in Gaza are grossly violating the agreed-upon cease-fire, this time before the U.S. secretary of State and the UN Secretary General," an unnamed source in the Prime Minister's Office told Ha'aretz.

Hamas is reportedly accusing Israel of breaking the cease fire.

Update 5:10 am CDT – CNN is reporting that Israeli tanks in Gaza began to move and then shelled positions in Gaza without any visible provocation, but if true this IDF could have been ordered after the mortars were fired at Israel. Israel apparently insists the tanks were fired at.

Meanwhile, Egypt has reportedly dis-invited some of the Hamas factions from the long-term cease fire negotiations with Israel, the US, and other players that were set to begin in Cairo. Hamas denies this.

Hamas also says it it still committed to the cease fire and says it did not fire any rockets at Israel, but it claims other militant groups may have, although it is not sure. It also says it did not know Israel was allowed to take defensive actions during the cease fire and blow up Hamas terror tunnels it has already captured.

Update 5:30 am CDT – Israel says Hamas attacked an Israeli unit inside Gaza near Rafah, apparently as it was destroying a Hamas tunnel it had previously captured. Israel said deadly force was used but would not yet say how many IDF soildiers were wounded, if any. Israel responded to that attack in order to protect those IDF solders. This appears to be the main incident that ended the cease fire.

"Hamas has destroyed the opportunity to have a humanitarian cese fire," Mark Regev, the spokesman for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, just told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Israel is also saying that since the cease fire began, it has only fired in self defense. Hamas is saying Israeli fire has killed more than a dozen Palestinians.

Update 5:36 am CDT – CNN is reporting the Palestinian Health Ministry is claiming 35 killed and 100 wounded by Israeli shelling in Rafah. It is also reporting that incident began at approximately 9:30 am.

Update 5:47 am CDT – Hamas apparently kidnapped an Israeli soldier at 9:30 am in Rafah as his unit was destroying a Hamas terror tunnel it previously captured, provoking Israel's response, CNN just reported.

Update 5:54 am CDT – Hamas announced it carried out a "unique operation" at a border crossing near Rafah where humanitarian aid was being brought into Gaza. This appears to be the capture of the IDF soldier.

If the soldier was captured during the cease fire, my opinion is that Israel won't stop fighting until Hamas is crushed, and I also think the US Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama have now lost almost all friendly influence they once had on the Israeli body politic.

Update 6:08 am CDT – Gershon Baskin, a far left American-Israeli with very close ties to Palestinians, is the man who opened the back channel that led to the negotiations between Israel and Hamas that led to the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in a very lopsided prisoner exchange.

Baskin was on CNN with Wolf Blitzer a couple minutes ago and gave the best explanation I've heard about what is likely to happen – and one of the best (and most honestly positive) explanations of Israeli motivations I've ever heard. He believes the IDF will now occupy all of Gaza and destroy Hamas.

Meanwhile, the IDF is saying that its soldiers were "decommissioning" a tunnel near Rafah at about 9:30 am when terrorists attacked them. One terrorist was a suicide bomber who blew himself up. The IDF believes the rest of the terrorists captured an Israeli soldier and took him back down the tunnel.

Former State Department Middle East specialist Aaron Miller just said he thinks ISrael will now "pound" Gaza for weeks. He also said the Hamas military wing have been "driving" Hamas for teh past three weeks and they don't want a cease fire. He also said the capture of the Israeli soldier was a "well-planned" operation – meaning it was planned in advance and Hamas always planning on using the cease fire to capture Israeli soldiers.

Right now, I don't see how Kerry can have any street cred in Israel, Egypt and the relatively moderate Gulf states again, and likely the same is true for President Obama.

Update 6:26 am CDT – The UN says Israel told it that the IDF was blowing up a Hamas terror tunnel behind Israeli lines when they were attacked. Two Israeli soldiers were killed.

Although the UN doesn't say it, another IDF soldier was apparently captured.

Update 11:00 am CDT – The captured soldier is 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin. He has a twin brother who is also an IDF soldier.

US Secretary of State John Kerry harshly condemed the attack that killed the two IDF soldiers and saw Hamas caputure Goldin, calling it "an outrageous violation of [the] cease-fire negotiated over the past several days, and of assurances given to the UN and U.S."

He demanded that Hamas "immediately and unconditionally release the missing Israeli soldier," and asked for "those with influence over Hamas to reinforce this message."

Kerry also said that "the international community must now redouble its efforts to end the tunnel and rocket attacks by Hamas terrorists on Israel." 

Before Kerry's statement was issued, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest called the Hamas attack that led to Goldin's capture a barbaric violation of the Gaza cease-fire [by Hamas.]. 

Comments

[Yahoshua David]

Thank you Hashem! Now PLEASE exile them into egypt!! All of them! Don't let all these lives have been without justication. Killing civilians has got to stop. Just focus on evacuation at this point.

Here's a pic of a funeral from today in Israel. It's real crying trust me. Peoples worlds are falling apart. Their losing their minds. Every day funerals and people cant believe it.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/ap_israel_gaza_conflict_03_jc_140730_1_4x3t_384.jpg

And the Gaza side i cant bear to look at. Parents not letting go of their dead kids.. Its that bad its hard to even type it you dont want to see them losing their minds.

ISRAEL Make these lost lives lives have justification - COMPLETE THE MISSION AND EXILE THEM TO EGYPT. WOMEN AND CHILDREN, THE. DETAIN ALL MEN, JUST EVACUATE THEM FOR THEIR OWN GOOD AND YOURS... AND OURS.

[Milhouse]

Why do you thank Hashem?

[Garnel Ironheart]

Called it: we cease, they fire. And who's guilty? The Chareidim, of course.

[Edmond Dantes]

@Garnel Ironheart I haven't laughed harder at the irony. Well put.

[R Nash]

This would imply that Hamas used the ceasefire as cover to get a kidnapping, so that they could trade one for thousands. This type of character assassination of the humanitarian organization, Hamas, must cease if there is ever to be peace. Democratic representative, and hosue minority leader, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) agreed with the Qatari assessment that Hamas has been misjudged and is not terrorist, but in fact humanitarian. Hamas just wants Sudaten Palestine occupation to be lifted. It is the Israelis whose oppressive blockade keeps out critical materials like concrete, TNT, RPGs, missile triggers, thermite, for building desperately needed by civilians to build homes so they do not have to live in squalid refugee camps, where the Israelis have kept them for 65 years. We see that when concrete does trickle in, it goes straight into building housing for refugees. The UN has steadfastly been a barrier to the 4-5 terrorists in Gaza, by keeping the civilians safe, and the aforementioned building materials as well. It is a brilliant strategy to hide them right in plain sight so the Israelis will not find them and kill them, as the Israelis are constantly striving to do. Let's all do our part to support the UN and Hamas in their valiant humanitarian resistance efforts so that the civilians can get the critical supplies they need. That way, the exemplary UN members of the Human Rights commission, Venezuela, Cuba, China, Pakistan etc. can rest assured that the Israelis can be contained in their desires to kill as many Palestinians civilians as possible. War is necessary of course for defense and all that. But if they don't watch out, someone on the other side might get hurt.

[singlemalt]

G-d help the many innocents that will die as a result of the actions by Hamas. The burden of ridding the world of Hamas shouldn't fall solely on Israel, but unfortunately it has. The UN should be sending troops into Gaza to seize all weapons, arrest all Hamas operatives and demilitarize the territories. Until that happens Israel will have to do it.

[Yahoshua David]

singlemalt you (and others) are dreaming if you think that is a solution to this problem.i it's way bigger and more complecated than that.