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Explosion,
air raid sirens heard in Tel Aviv for first time since Gulf War
A
rocket has hit Tel Aviv. The sound of an explosion and air raid
sirens were heard throughout the city. There are no reports of
injuries or damage. It was the second rocket to land in the greater
Tel Aviv area on Thursday.
RT,
15
November, 2012
A
siren warning residents of incoming rockets was heard in the Tel Aviv
area at around 6:45pm on Thursday. An explosion was reportedly heard
shortly after.
RT
correspondent Tom Barton said he heard the sirens and the explosion
while reporting from central Tel Aviv.
“The
sirens sounded, much to our disbelief. We didn’t expect sirens to
be heard this far away from Gaza. It’s never happened before,” he
said.
The
rocket landed in the sea in front of Jaffa Beach, south of Tel Aviv.
Islamic Jihad has already claimed responsibility for the attack,
Ynetnews reports.
Today
marks the first time air raid sirens were set off in Tel Aviv since
the 1991 Gulf War.
The
news comes shortly after a rocket from Gaza hit Rishon LeZion, a city
located just nine miles from Tel Aviv.
No
injuries were reported from the previous strike.
Rishon
LeZion, a city of 200,000 people, is Israel's fourth largest city.
The
rocket reportedly set off an air raid siren in the city.
The
area is located just nine miles from Tel Aviv, and is Israel's fourth
largest city.
The
Israeli Defense Forces confirmed the strike on its Twitter account.
Israel
and Hamas have exchanged fire for a second day in a row, after Israel
opened strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, killing the commander of the
Hamas military wing.
Since
then, Israel has reportedly hit more than 200 targets in Gaza. Hamas
has responded by firing rockets at Israel.
The
exchanges have resulted in a number of casualties on both sides.
Three people have been killed and several dozens injured in Israel
while in Gaza, at least 13 people have been killed and over 100
injured.
The
strike comes some 17 hours after Hamas’ armed wing claimed to have
shelled Tel Aviv.
Israeli
Defense Forces denied the report.
Israel
Warns of Escalation After Tel Aviv Missile Firing
Israeli
Defense Minister Ehud Barak signaled that Israel is ready to escalate
its military operations against Gaza after at least one long-range
missile was fired at Tel Aviv by Palestinian militants.
16
November, 2012
The
missile attack “and the volume of fire in general towards Israel is
an escalation and there will be a price to pay,” Barak said on
Channel 2 television today.
Israel
Army Spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai told the same channel
that the military was calling up 30,000 reservists hours after Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was ready for a
“substantial expansion” to stop rocket attacks.
Israel
yesterday began a military operation termed Pillar of Defense against
militants in the Gaza Strip. At least 13 Palestinians have been
killed in Israeli military strikes, including the leader of the Hamas
military wing, and three Israelis died in one of 200 rocket attacks
launched from Gaza in the past 24 hours.
The
rocket fired at the Tel Aviv area of Gush Dan, home to about 1.3
million people, probably fell in the sea, said police spokesman
Mickey Rosenfeld, noting there was no damage and no injuries
reported.
Launching
the long-range Fajr 5 rockets at Tel Aviv shows “maturity and
wisdom,” Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of the Lebanese
Hezbollah militia said on Manar television today. Hamas leader in
Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said, in reference to the death of the group’s
military commander, that “pure blood will not go in vain.”
Tanks
Deployed
Barak
said earlier this week that Israel may carry out a ground operation
in Gaza. In December 2008, Israeli tanks and soldiers entered Gaza
and more than 1,100 Palestinians and 12 Israelis were killed in the
subsequent fighting.
Tanks
were shown on Israeli television today heading south on Israeli
highways toward the Palestinian coastal territory.
Army
spokesman, Mordechai, when asked about a possible ground assault,
said “all options are on the table.”
Looming
over the bloodshed was the possibility of a wider conflict and an
immediate test for Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt. Hamas, an
Islamist movement considered a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S.
and the European Union, has appealed for help from Egypt’s Muslim
Brotherhood leaders.
President
Mohamed Mursi has recalled Egypt’s ambassador to Israel for
consultations. The Arab League is scheduled to meet to discuss the
violence Nov. 17. Egypt’s Prime Minister Hisham Qandil plans to
lead a high-level delegation to Gaza tomorrow to show solidarity with
Palestinians, Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency reported
today.
Ground
Assault
The
Egyptian visit and attempts to build a cease-fire “would probably
take place prior to any very large scale entry of the Israeli
military into the Gaza Strip,” said Jonathan Spyer, political
scientist at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.
“Only
if that fails, if it’s clear that’s not going to achieve a
cease-fire in the next days, then there could be a real possibility
of a ground entry.”
There’s
“no justification” for such violence by Hamas, White House
spokesman Jay Carney told reporters traveling with President Barack
Obama to New York. Hamas “bears principal responsibility” for the
fighting, Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague said in an
e-mailed statement today, while urging both sides to avoid actions
that might escalate the crisis.
Israel’s
January election may have influenced the decision by Netanyahu and
Barak to strike now, even as they tried to assure the million
citizens within range of rockets fired from Gaza that they will be
protected, said Yoram Meital, chairman of Ben Gurion University’s
Herzog Center for Middle East Studies in Beersheba.
Political
Support
Most
of Netanyahu’s political rivals have expressed support for his
actions. “This operation is a change in the government’s policy,
and I support the decision and its execution,” Shaul Mofaz,
chairman of the opposition Kadima party, told Israel Radio today.
Israeli
bonds sank the most in almost two months and stocks plunged as the
fighting intensified. The benchmark TA-25 Index (TA-25) fell as much
as 1.9 percent, the steepest drop in intraday trading since July 23,
and closed down 0.6 percent today. Twenty of the 25 stocks trading in
the index declined, with Delek Drilling-LP falling the most, dropping
2.7 percent to 12.18 shekels.
The
yield on the Mimshal Shiklit benchmark 10-year bond rose 3 basis
points to 4.01 percent, the highest since Oct. 29. The cost of
protecting Israeli bonds against default surged to the highest level
in two months and the shekel tumbled after the rocket was fired at
Tel Aviv.
Hamas
Control
Oil
fluctuated on concern that escalating Middle East tension will
disrupt supplies.
Hamas
seized control of Gaza from Abbas’s Fatah party in 2007, ending a
partnership government a year after winning parliamentary elections.
The group refuses to recognize Israel or any prior deals signed with
it.
The
group’s political leader Khaled Meshaal said at a Islamic
conference in Sudan today that “Israel’s days in Palestine are
numbered.”
Israel’s
Iron Dome anti-missile defense system has intercepted about 100 of
the more than 200 rockets from Gaza, the army said. The military
advised in a post on Twitter that “no Hamas operatives, whether
low-level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the
days ahead.”
Missiles
fall near Hamas PM’s house as Israel intensifies attacks on Gaza
RT,
16
November, 2012
A
targeted missile strike launched from an Israeli Navy warship has hit
a vehicle near the home of Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail
Haniyeh, according to Israeli media. This comes as Israel intensifies
its attacks on Gaza.
Residents
say the strike also destroyed an electricity generator near Haniyeh’s
house. It was unclear whether he was at home at the time of the
assault. No casualties have been reported in the latest attack.
Meanwhile
Israeli Defense Force spokesperson has said in an officil Twitter:
“During the past hour, the IDF targeted approx. 70 underground
medium range rocket launching sites in Gaza. Direct hits were
confirmed.”
Netanyahu
hides in bunker as Gaza rockets rain on Israel
15
November, 2012
Israel's
Channel 10 says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hidden in an
underground bunker as Palestinians intensify their rocket attacks
against Tel Aviv.
Israel
Army officials claim Israel's Iron Dome missile system has
intercepted one-third of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip since
Wednesday
- There have been reports of a very large explosion in Gaza City. Hamas is resisting attacks by the Israelis
- A huge attack on the A2 area of Gaza city
- Unconfirmed reports that Palestinian resistance fighters have downed 2 Israeli drone
- Harry Fear has relayed reports of a simultaneous ground invasion of Gaza and the West Bank. After that he went offline - he may have been removed.
- Harry relayed warnings to Palestinians not to answer calls from unknown numbers as Israeli intelliegence officers might be trying to get location
No electricity, internet, light. Drones low overhead in West Gaza City by the coastline.
2
more explosions in Gaza City heard in the last minute. F16s overhead.
I feel evil is invading Gaza.
God
help us and protect us from the Israeli insanity. Nowhere is safe in
Gaza tonight. My stream is off as we have no electricity or internet
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