Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Over 971 rockets have been fired into Israel since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge as the military mission enters its seventh day.
Three rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel early Monday, landing in the Western Galilee region. The IDF responded to the rocket attacks with artillery fire. Investigation into the rocket attack was under way through the night in what is believed to be an isolated attack by Palestinian groups in Lebanon.
The man responsible for rocket attacks from Lebanon into Israel on Friday stated that he attacked Israel, “for Allah” adding that, “I don’t have any regrets and I am convinced that my actions were just. I support the people of Gaza who are being murdered by our enemy. The resistance is everyone’s prerogative.”
The Israeli Air Force hit over 75 targets in airstrikes overnight Sunday into Monday. The Army Radio confirmed all 75 targets were hit that including three training facilities for Hamas’s military wing. Palestinian media reported that three were killed in the airstrikes. An IDF statement released states that, “Among the terror targets struck overnight was an ammunition and weaponry storage facility concealed within a mosque in the central Gaza Strip,” the second weapons storage facility found hidden in a mosque during Operation Protective Edge.
Despite heavy raids by the IAF on Gaza, over 20 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza overnight. 12 of the rockets hit open areas, seven intercepted by the Iron Dome.
This week alone over 130 rockets were fired into Israel, 22 of them intercepted by the Iron Dome.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moom called for It is in the interest of both sides that steps toward dangerous escalation be replaced with immediate measures to end the fighting, thus preventing further casualties and greater risks to regional peace and security.”
His speech on Monday comes after the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs in Occupied Palestinian Territory reported that 80% of Palestinians killed in Operation Protective Edge have been civilians. Of the approximately 170 killed, 130 were civilians and 30 children.
The Palestinian representative to the UN, Ambassador Ibrahim Kraishi, stated in his address to the UN Human Rights Council that every rocket fired from Gaza into Israel is a “crime against humanity.”
He stated, “The missiles that are now being launched against Israel, each and every missile constitutes a crime against humanity, whether it hits or misses, because it is directed at civilian targets…Many of our people in Gaza appeared on TV and said that the Israelis warned them to evacuate their homes before the bombardment. In such a case, if someone is killed, the law considers it a mistake rather than an intentional killing because [the Israelis] followed the legal procedures.”
He then stated that, “As for the missiles launched from our side, we never warn anyone about where these missiles are about to fall or about the operations we carry out,” “settlements, the Judaization of Jerusalem, the checkpoints, the arrests, and so on are also considered war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
Turkey has sent humanitarian aid worth over $2.5 million to Gaza in coordination with the IDF. The Iranian Red Crescent has additionally offered to send humanitarian aid and medical supplies to Gaza.
Hamas has reported that the al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas military wing) will be launching “multiple unmanned aerial drones into Israel” promising that “details will follow”. The report came after Hamas announced a “surprise” for Israel on Monday morning. It later claimed it had launched six drones into Israel, claiming one was hovering above the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The IDF intercepted and destroyed a drone over Ashdod with a Patriot missile on Monday afternoon.
Several damages from rockets attacks occurred Monday afternoon. A rocket fired from Gaza hit a house in the Sha’ar HaNegev regional Council Monday afternoon causing sever damage. Additionally, an IDF solider was injured by from shrapnel from a mortar shell that hit southern Israel from Gaza, and an 8-year-old boy was lightly injured in a residential area in Ashdod.
In the West Bank, a Palestinian was killed by an IDF personnel near Hebron. The 22 year old Palestinian was throwing rocks at the reservist when he was shot by patrol. He died from his wounds in a hospital, according to Palestinian media.
The IDF has made over 25 arrests overnight in the West Bank, the mission to find the terrorists who killed Gil-ad Sha’ar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel still underway.
Amir Tsarfati is the founder and president of Behold Israel, a news site to correct the scarcity in trustworthy reportage on issues and events impacting Israel, and to resolve the uncertainty about who or what to believe.
