Palestinian Rock Throwers Destroy Child’s Life : Kerry should listen to this before he listens to the whining of Abbas

A few days ago, Adva Biton testified at the trial of a Palestinian man accused of throwing the rocks that put her three year-old daughter Adele in hospital until today. Her life, she told the court, changed dramatically on that tragic night.

Rock throwers disabled three-year-old Adele Biton.

In March 2013, Adva Biton was driving with her three daughters on her way home near Ariel. As she was driving, a Palestinian minor threw rocks at the truck in front of her car. The truck stopped suddenly and Adva did not have time to react. She collided directly with the truck. Adva’s five- and four-year-old daughters were lightly injured, but her three-year-old old daughter Adele was injured critically.

“All her joy, all her life was taken from her at the age of three,” Adva said during her testimony in court.

Palestinian rock throwers kill.

Her baby remains in the hospital until today, and requires the constant presence of Adva or her husband. “I am not home anymore, I am not available for my three kids,” she said. “I’m supposed to be a mother but I live in Levenstein Hospital. My husband has not really been home in over 10 months. He doesn’t sleep at home at all. It’s like you have no family.”

“To see a child connected to a million pipes is very difficult. Her life has been destroyed because of rock throwing. It is difficult for me to cope with the fact that my daughter will be handicapped in every way because of such an act. It’s a daily trauma when you see your child gasping with her head hanging down and you can’t do anything.”

United with Israel 

THE TRUE FACE OF IRAN: Explosion in Golan Heights

Mortar shells exploded in the Golan Heights following the Israeli PM’s visit to an IDF field hospital treating Syrian civilians. The violence in the region shows the “true face of Iran,” Netanyahu said.

Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Syrian patients at IDF field hospital in Golan Heights. (Photo: GPO)

Two mortar shells exploded in the Golan Heights at the Israeli-Syrian border on Tuesday shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had visited the area with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and IDF Chief Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz.

No injuries were reported.

The Israeli dignitaries were visiting a field hospital where IDF medics and soldiers risk their lives to treat wounded Syrians caught in the brutal fighting between the Syrian army and the rebels.

“I visited today the base where people who have been wounded in the fighting in Syria are being treated,” Netanyahu said. “On the day when talks between the major powers and Iran are being opened in Vienna, it is important that the world sees the pictures from this place, which divides the good that is in the world from the bad.

IDF field hospital treats wounded Syrians. (Photo: IDF blog)

NETANYAHU: ‘THIS IS THE TRUE FACE OF IRAN.’

“The good part is that Israel is saving the lives of those who have been wounded in the daily slaughter that is being perpetrated in Syria,” he continued. “This is the true face of Israel. The bad part is that Iran is arming those who are carrying out the slaughter. This is the true face of Iran.”

“All of the children who have been injured, to say nothing of those who have been killed, were injured as a result of Iran’s arming, financing and training the Assad regime in the massacres that it is perpetrating,” the Israeli leader stated.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (L) and Netanyahu at the Israeli-Syrian border. (Photo: Ariel Hermoni/FLASH90)

“From here, I would like to tell the world, today, as the talks between the major powers and Iran are being resumed, that Iran has changed neither its aggressive policy nor its brutal character. Iran is continuing to support the Assad regime which is slaughtering its own people. This is the true face of Iran. The world cannot forget this.”

United with Israel 

Two more rockets fired at Israeli women and children as IDF clash with rioters

No injuries reported in attacks on Hof Ashkelon, Eshkol Regional Council; IDF fires, injures Palestinians protesting near border on second day of increased violence.

2 rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel on Friday evening, the IDF Spokespersons office reported.

No injuries were reported in either attack, and the IDF was searching for the remnants of the rockets.The first rocket landed in Hof Ashkelon and later on in the evening a second rocket landed in the Eshkol Regional Council.

Earlier Friday, the IDF fired into Gaza as a group of Palestinians were protesting near the border with Israel.

An unknown number of Palestinians were injured in the incident.

On Thursday, IDF soldiers fired on Palestinian suspects who approached a closed security zone on the border between northern Gaza and Israel and attempted to damage the fence.

Palestinian sources said that one man was killed and another wounded in the incident.

Jerusalem post

Kerry slammed by right for 'encouraging' Israel boycott

US Secretary of State says status-quo between Israelis, Palestinians is unsustainable, warns of de-legitimization of Israel.

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett slammed US Secretary of State John Kerry Saturday night, saying he should be supporting Israel rather than encouraging boycotts against it.

Bennett’s post – coming weeks after Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was quoted as calling Kerry “obsessed” and “messianic” about the Israeli- Palestinian conflict – was in response to comments that the secretary of state made Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.“Let’s make clear to all those giving advice: A nation has not been born – including us – that will give up its land because of economic threats,” Bennett said in a Facebook post. “The Jewish people is stronger than the threats against it.”

“Today’s status quo, absolutely to a certainty, I promise you 100 percent, cannot be maintained,” Kerry said of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “It is not sustainable. It is illusionary.

You see for Israel there is an increasing delegitimization campaign that has been building up. People are very sensitive to it, there is talk of boycott and other kinds of things. Are we all going to be better with all of that?” Kerry’s comments were similar to ones he made during a television interview during one of his visits in November, though this time he did not warn, as he did then, of the outbreak of a third intifada.

Bennett, on his Facebook page, said that only security would bring economic stability, not a terror state next to Ben-Gurion Airport.

“We expect our friends in the world to stand by our side against anti-Semitic boycott efforts against Israel, and not be their trumpet,” he said.

“Either way, we knew in the past, and will know today, how to remain strong.”

Kerry, during his comments, made an allusion to Ya’alon’s comments last month.

“I’m a little surprised at some of the articles that tend to write about an obsession or fanatical effort to try to achieve this,” he said. “We are just working hard, because the consequences of failure are unacceptable.”

He said he remained hopeful that the Obama administration’s effort to broker a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians could succeed.

“I believe in the possibility or I wouldn’t pursue this,” he said. “I don’t think we’re being quixotic.

Ya’alon was also in Munich for the conference, and met with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

“The US is Israel’s best friend, and our appreciation is great,” Ya’alon said. “We have common values, interests, and deep ties that overcome disagreements, when they appear.”

The defense minister, who has expressed deep skepticism about chances of success in the Kerry-led negotiations, said that “despite the gaps, we support a continuation of negotiations with the Palestinians.”

Last week, Bennett lashed out at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for suggesting that some settlers would live in a Palestinian state following a peace deal, and while the criticism nearly caused a coalition crisis, it found support on the Right. Likewise, Bennett was not alone when he turned his sights on Kerry for mentioning a threat of boycotts.

“The only fantasies are the slogans of peace Kerry is trying to sell to Israel,” Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) said. “These slogans are trying to cover up an existential threat on the State of Israel. The Palestinians do not believe their luck at receiving such a ‘fair’ mediator.”

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said that while Israel respected Kerry, there could not be negotiations “with a gun to our heads.”

“Friends don’t make ultimatums about the security of the State of Israel,” Danon stated. “We will make decisions that protect our interests. If we would make decisions according to predictions of boycotts, we wouldn’t be here today. We’ve seen in the past that terror arrives in any place the IDF doesn’t have a presence.”

And Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud Beytenu) added, “Kerry’s unprecedented threats of a boycott are an attempt to terrorize Israel and force it into an agreement that opposes the government’s position. Such an agreement would endanger Israel more than any economic boycott.”

Meanwhile, the fog thickened over the weekend regarding what exactly is and is not being discussed between the sides and the US regarding the document Kerry is expected to present that will form a basis for continued negotiations. Israel and the Palestinian negotiators have not met for a number of weeks, and all the talks now are between the sides separately with the Americans.

The State Department on Friday issued a clarification regarding an off-record telephone briefing that US envoy Martin Indyk gave Jewish leaders on Thursday, saying the description Indyk gave of a possible US-drafted framework was not final.

“During an off-the-record briefing with Jewish leaders, Ambassador Indyk reiterated the well-known United States position in support of 1967 borders plus swaps as a part of a broad discussion on ideas being discussed for a framework,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. “But given this is an ongoing process and these decisions have not yet been made, at no point did Ambassador Indyk make a prediction of the final contents of a framework.”

In the call, Indyk detailed security arrangements on the Jordan-West Bank border, the terms for mutual recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jews and Palestine as the nation state of the Palestinians, land swaps, and the settlement of the refugee question, including, for the first time in a formal document, compensation for Jewish refugees from Arab lands.

“I hope that Jewish refugees, who suffered greatly under physical persecution, will get reparations,” Knesset Caucus for Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries chairman MK Shimon Ohayon (Likud Beytenu) said. “This is an opportunity to learn and recognize the story of their exit and expulsion.”

According to Ohayon, the progress on this front is a result of the Foreign Ministry putting Jewish refugees from Arab countries on its agenda.

State Department officials said that there was no expectation that the framework would be completed in “weeks,” although Indyk had said it was his hope that it would.

Indyk said in the call that there would be “no surprises” for the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and that Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would be expected to accept the agreement, with reservations, as the basis of continued negotiations.

Making it a US-drafted framework permitted the leaders to distance themselves from politically sensitive issues, Indyk said. “There may be things we need to say because they can’t say them yet,” he said, according to the notes of one participant.

On some sensitive issues – particularly the status of Jerusalem – the framework would be vague, Indyk said.

Regarding Indyk’s reference during the call to the expectation that land swaps would allow 75-80% of settlers to stay in Israel, the officials said that that arose not from the current talks but from previous estimates during the 20-year-long peace process. Indyk, during the call, said his impression was that Abbas was not averse to allowing settlers who want to remain to be citizens of the Palestinian state.

Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria head Dani Dayan disputed Indyk’s claim on Friday morning, saying Indyk was including east Jerusalem in the 80% of settlers that would stay under Israeli rule.

“Martin Indyk’s vision for the Jews of Judea and Samaria is extremely misleading,” Dayan said in a statement.

“When Indyk speaks of 80% of our communities remaining under Israeli rule, he is including eastern Jerusalem. Which would mean the forceful uprooting and eviction of up to 150,000 Israelis from their homes, which is morally repugnant and unacceptable to all,” he added.

In a related development, representatives of the Quartet – the US, EU, UN and Russia – met on the sidelines of the Munich conference and issued strong support for Kerry’s efforts. They reiterated, in a reference to the EU’s promise of upgraded relations with both sides if a deal is reached, that there would be unprecedented support for both Israel and the Palestinians if an accord was signed.

Jeruselam post

IDF: Dramatic increase in Gaza terror in January

Over 28 rockets were launched at Israel from Gaza this month, says IDF Spokesperson's Office.

There was a dramatic increase in terror activity from Gaza in January, according a press release from the IDF Spokesperson's Office put out on Friday.

Fourteen rockets landed in southern Israel, and five were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system as they were approaching the area surrounding Ashkelon, the statement said.

The Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes at three suspected terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip before dawn on Friday, an IDF spokesman said.

Seven Palestinians were injured in the strikes, reported Palestinian news agency Ma'an."In response to the rocket fire at Israel, IAF aircraft targeted overnight a terror activity site and a weapon manufacturing facility in the northern Gaza strip and a weapon storage facility in the southern Gaza Strip," the IDF said. "Direct hits were confirmed."

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, currently on a business trip in Germany, released a statement on the airstrikes.

"We will not tolerate rocket fire towards Israel or any attempt to return to the situation before Operation Pillar of Defense," he said.

The defense minister stressed that Israel holds Hamas responsible to everything that happens in the Gaza Strip, and that the organization will pay the price for any rocket shooting or terror attacks against Israel.

Earlier in January, the IAF struck and killed Islamic Jihad terrorist Ahmed Sa'ad and PLO terrorist Ahmed Za'anin, both of whom "were extensively involved" in the planning and carrying out of rocket attacks on southern Israel as well as other attacks on IDF soldiers, an IDF spokesperson said.

Three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were found next to the Gaza security fence in the last month alone. The IEDs were detonated with the aim of harming IDF soldiers in the area safeguarding Israeli communities close to the border, an IDF spokesperson said.

"Israelis cannot be held at the mercy of these hideous terrorists operating from Hamas Gaza Strip," the spokesperson continued. "The bases of Gaza terrorism and its industry of death will not be immune while our citizens are being attacked. It is our responsibility, right and obligation to defend Israel from Gaza-based aggression."

As the fake Palestinians show lack of respect they demand of Israel : IAF strikes Gaza in response to rockets fired on southern Israel

Palestinians fire 2 rockets at Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council near site of former prime minister's burial ceremony at Negev ranch; projectiles land in open areas; no damage, injuries reported.

The Israel Air Force struck on Monday evening two targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire on southern Israel earlier in the day, the IDF confirmed.

Both targets belonged to Hamas, which the IDF holds responsible for failing to prevent Monday's rocket fire.The targets hit were a military compound and a terror infrastructure site, said an IDF spokesperson, adding that both targets were accurately hit.

On Monday afternoon, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets at the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council shortly after the burial ceremony for former prime minister Ariel Sharon culminated at his nearby Sycamore Ranch.

The rockets landed in open fields and did not cause damages or injuries.

Earlier on Monday, Israel had beefed up securityfor Sharon's  funeral near the Gaza border and warned Hamas not to allow rocket fire during the ceremony, which many international dignitaries attended.

An Israeli security source said Israel had "passed the message" to Gaza authorities to prevent any rocket fire during the funeral. Gaza is governed by the Islamist Hamas movement, which has fought several rounds of violence with Israel over the past few years.

"It was made clear to them that tomorrow would be a very bad day for anyone there to test Israel's patience," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Security sources said Israel had deployed an Iron Dome rocket interceptor near Sharon's funeral site at his beloved Sycamore Farm, which had been hit by Gaza-launched rockets in the past.

On December 26, the Israel Air Force struck two targets in Gaza in response to the firing of two rocket on southern Israel within a 24-hour period. Earlier that week a mortar fired from the Strip laned in the Asheklon Coast Regional Council after a string of mortar fire failed to reach their desination, falling inside the Palestinian territory.

Jeruselam post 

Gaza rocket hits south of Ashkelon Israel as Hamas displays aggression against women and children

Projectile fired from Gaza Strip just after midnight Sunday lands in settled area near southeastern border. Sight of bomb squad early Monday morning causes panic among local Hof Ashkelon residents

On Sunday, just after midnight, the red alert siren went off in several communities in the southern regional council. Some of the residents in one of the areas reported hearing a large blast.

 

"I don't want to imagine what would have happened if there would have been children there," one resident said.

Police officers and the bomb squad unit from Lakhish Region immediately started searching for the rocket, and located it at dawn Monday.

 

Local residents say they do not remember such a significant blast since the IDF's Gaza operation Pillar of Defense ended in November 2012. And although not all of the residents heard the explosion, the sight of the sappers in the area caused panic.

 

"We were very lucky that it happened in the middle of the night, when no one's wandering in the streets," a resident said. "It completely caught us by surprise. We have become used to the quiet since Pillar of Defense."

 

Hof Ashkelon Regional Council Chairman Yair Farjon said the rocket startled the area, but life will go on. "We will continue to be on the lookout, but we will continue with our routine, being sure that the IDF knows how to locate the source of the rockets and to stop them from being fired."

In Egypt, a military representative told Palestinian news agency Ma'an that a rocket fired from Gaza during a Hamas experiment landed in Egyptian territorial water, a hundred meters from Rafah.

 

The source said that Hamas announced that it was a trial launch, and therefore it erroneously reached Egypt.

Ynet news

IDF Soldier Reportedly Killed by Lebanon Sniper as IDF troops return fire

An IDF soldier was reportedly killed by sniper fire from Lebanon a short time ago, according to reports in Al Arabiya, The Lebanon Daily Star and other Lebanese news sites. 

The soldier was reportedly shot near Rosh Hanikra, along the Northern border.

 In Lebanon they are claiming that the shooting was done by the Lebanese Army, or by someone wearing a Lebanon Army uniform. The IDF spokesperson confirms there was a shooting incident from Lebanon, a complaint was sent to the UN, and that Israel reserves the right to respond to it. 

There was no mention of an injured or killed soldier, or of an exchange of fire. 

According to a more recent IDF update, the soldier was driving a civilian car at the time of the attack. The IDF also confirms that the shooter was a member of the Lebanese Armed Forces. 

According to Nahariyah Hospital director Dr. Masaad Barhom, an IDF soldier was brought unconscious to the hospital at around 8 PM, after his car had flipped. 

He had holes in his upper body that appear to be from gunfire or possibly shrapnel. The doctors were unable to save his life. It would appear the soldier was possibly hit by gunfire, and his car subsequently flipped over. 

The UN is confirming that Israel did not breach the border ahead of the attack. 

There are reports that the IDF is shooting back into the area in Lebanon where the attack came from. Three days ago, there was a shooting incident from Lebanon, but no IDF soldiers were hurt in that attack.

Jewish press 

Palestinians fire three rockets at Israel from Gaza - And Obama and Kerry still think peace is within reach

Kassams land in open Gazan territory near border fence; no injuries or damage reported

Three Kassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at Israeli territory on Saturday afternoon, all landing in open Gazan territory, Army Radio reported.

There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Last week, sirens blared in the Ashkelon region signaling that residents should take cover, after a rocket was fired toward Israel from Gaza Strip. The rocket fell short of the border, in Palestinian territory.

The rocket fire followed a series of unsuccessful attacks on Israel in past weeks.

Last Tuesday, a Palestinian who crossed into Israel from Gaza was caught by Israeli security forces with a grenade in his possession.

Israel and Gaza last month marked the one-year anniversary since Operation Pillar of Defense, an eight-day offensive launched by Israel to stem rocket fire from the Strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touted a 98 percent drop in rocket fire since the operation.

“There is no doubt that significant deterrence has been achieved,” Netanyahu said at the time, adding that there had only been 35 incidents of rocket fire since the operation ended.

Times of Israel 

Israel will NOT "sit on its hands" while being attacked

Hamas is manufacturing and storing rockets in Gaza residential areas, and although Israel will strictly uphold international law, it will not “sit on its hands” in the face of terrorist threats, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.

Netanyahu’s words came during a visit to the IDF Gaza Division to mark one year since Operation Pillar of Defense, the eight-day IDF operation in Gaza last November brought on by a sharp uptick in Hamas rocket fire.

Netanyahu said that Hamas was prepared to fire on Israeli cities and hide behind civilians in Gaza, which amounts to “two war crimes at the same time.”

“It is our full legal and moral right to direct fire – that is as precise as possible – at those who fire indiscriminately at our people,” he said. “The responsibility for any collateral damage that is liable to be caused to the residents of Gaza lies squarely on Hamas’s shoulders.”

Netanyahu said Operation Pillar of Defense has significantly improved the security situation in the area. Since the operation, there has been a 98 percent decline in rocket and missile attacks from Gaza, he said.

“It seems that most of the firing has been ineffective; there have been 35 instances. There is no doubt that significant deterrence has been achieved,” he said.

Netanyahu said that despite the relative quiet, “we are not deluding ourselves.” He stated that Hamas was continuing to arm in various different ways and was trying to develop an “underground track,” through the use of tunnels, to carry out attacks on Israel.

He said that while Israel must find a response to those threats, in the final analysis “deterrence is achieved by the enemy’s knowing that we will not tolerate attacks on our communities and our soldiers, and that we will respond in great strength.”

Netanyahu said that in addition to deterring attacks from Gaza, the country has also succeeded – “even to an absolute degree” – in closing its border with Sinai. He said there has not been a single penetration of the Sinai border in the last three months.

Netanyahu was briefed on the situation in the South by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Deputy IDF Chief-of- Staff Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot and OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Shlomo Turgeman. 

Jerusalem post 

Israel files UN complaint over PA praise of terrorist

Israel's ambassador to the UN lodged a complaint with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday over a condolence letter sent by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the family of a terrorist killed by Israeli forces.

The IDF said Mohamed Aazi was among the planners of the bombing on the No. 142 bus in central Tel Aviv during Operation Pillar of Defense as the bus drove near the Kirya, the Israeli military's headquarters.
"When we talk about the troubling rise of incitement and its effects on the hearts and minds of young Palestinians," wrote Ambassador Ron Prosor, "there cannot be a more outrageous example than an incident that occurred last week. At the heart of this incident is Mohamed Assi, a terrorist responsible for the November 2012 bus bomb explosion that injured 29 civilians in the center of Tel Aviv."

Aazi was killed in an early morning clash with Israeli special forces, not far from the village of Bil'in, west of Ramallah in the West Bank, last Tuesday. The last of those alleged to have planned the bombing still on the loose, Aazi, 28, had been in hiding and was planning another attack against Israeli civilians or army forces, Israeli sources said.

After the incident, Abbas called Aazi a "dear son," according to a copy of the letter cited by Prosor. Prosor called the move "amazing, astonishing, and outrageous."

Times of Israel

Hamas Terror Cell Planned to Launch Explosive-Laden Drones at Israel

A Hamas terror cell was in the advanced stages of a plot to explosives-laden unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at Israel before Palestinian Authority (PA) officials uncovered and broke up the cell, according to PA officials who spoke to The Times of Israel.

During intensive activities near Hebron, in which PA security authorities arrested Hamas activists at the city's university, officers uncovered a terrorist network in the advanced stages of planning to launch a UAV into Israel. Multiple suspects were arrested and the plot was foiled. Investigation of the cell found that Hamas operatives had already run several test flights on the drone, and had intended to attach explosives to it in order to strike targets in Israel.

The news comes amid concerns that Hamas is making concentrated efforts to rebuild its terror infrastructure in the West Bank. Observers had already outlined how the Palestinian terror group – stymied by Israeli counterterrorism efforts along the Gaza Strip and prohibited by Egypt from operating inside the Sinai Peninsula – may try to use the West Bank as a staging ground for conducting a spectacular terror attack against Israel. Recent weeks have seen a general upsurge in violence in the West Bank, with three Israelis killed and a young girl shot outside her parents’ home. Early Friday a makeshift grenade was thrown at an Israeli school bus in the northern West Bank.