17 Dead, Over 100 Hurt as Israel Attacks Gaza and Hamas Shells Haifa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv

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Israeli warplanes killed 15 Palestinians and wounded at least 100 Tuesday, pounding the Gaza Strip in a new campaign to stamp out Hamas rocket fire as the two sides slid toward another major conflict. 

In the most serious flare-up over Gaza since November 2012, it comes as Israel struggles to contain a wave of violence in Arab towns over the grisly murder of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists. 

In the evening, the armed wing of Hamas claimed that it fired several rockets at Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.

"For the first time, the (Ezzedine al-) Qassam Brigades strike Haifa with an R160 rocket, and strike occupied Jerusalem with four M75 rockets and Tel Aviv with four M75 rockets," a statement said.

Earlier, three loud explosions rocked Jerusalem shortly after air raid sirens wailed across the city, Agence France Presse correspondents said.

The sirens sounded at about 1900 GMT, with at least four bright flashes lighting the sky southwest of the city, a correspondent said.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the attack. Media reports also spoke of sirens sounding north of Tel Aviv for the first time as Hamas militants stepped up their battle against Israel.

Also in the evening, Israeli forces killed four Palestinian militants who landed on a beach in southern Israel a short distance from the Gaza Strip and attacked a military base, the army said.

"A number of terrorists came out of the ocean and attacked the base with Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades," spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said.

Soldiers at the base, near the Zikim kibbutz, responded. Ground troops killed two of the attackers, air raids a third and naval forces the fourth, Lerner said.

One soldier was lightly wounded, he added.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist group Hamas, reported the attack. It said nothing of losses among its own forces but claimed heavy Israeli casualties.

Al-Qassam also said it fired a rocket barrage at two Israeli army bases on Tuesday, shortly after its militants attempted to infiltrate Israel by sea.

It said it fired "10 Katyusha rockets" at the bases, one of which it said was at Zikim, on Israel's southern coast where the infiltration attempt occurred.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded that Israel "immediately stop" its air campaign, dubbed Operation Protective Edge, and asked the world to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

But Netanyahu was expected to order a "significant broadening" of the operation and instruct the army to "take off the gloves," army radio said, quoting a source close to the premier.

After nearly four weeks of intensifying rocket fire on the south, Israel appeared bent on dealing the Islamist Hamas movement a heavy blow, with the cabinet reportedly authorizing the call up of some 40,000 reservists. 

In central Gaza, one man was killed near Nusseirat refugee camp, medics said. Witnesses said he was a member of Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

Shortly afterwards, another four people were killed when a missile slammed into a car in Gaza City, medics said. 

Relatives told Agence France Presse the victims were all Hamas militants. One was identified as Mohammed Shaaban, 32,who ran the Brigades' naval unit.

Seven more people were killed and at least 25 wounded when a missile struck a house in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, medics said. There was no immediate word on their identities.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned Israel was "playing with fire" and would pay for its ongoing operations. 

Later on Tuesday, Abu Zuhri said that "all Israelis" would be targeted after the deadly strike on the Khan Yunis house.

"The Khan Yunis massacre... of children is a horrendous war crime, and all Israelis have now become legitimate targets for the resistance."

Witnesses said a drone launched a warning flare, prompting relatives and neighbors to gather at the house as a human shield, but shortly afterwards an F-16 fired a missile which leveled the building.

Two teenage boys were among those killed, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

Shortly afterwards, two Palestinians were killed in an air strike in Shejaiya, east of Gaza City, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP.

A further two separate air strikes killed two people, including a teenager.

One hit a tuktuk (motorized rickshaw) in Beit Lahiya in the north of Gaza, killing a "young man," and one west of Gaza City killed a 16-year-old boy, Qudra said.

Earlier, three people were killed when a missile struck a car in the Daraj neighborhood in the center of Gaza City, he said, correcting an earlier toll of four fatalities.

Hamas' al-Aqsa TV showed gruesome images of charred body parts being loaded onto ambulance stretchers.

The Israeli army was preparing all options to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza, including a ground assault, a senior official told AFP. 

"The army is preparing for all possible scenarios, including an invasion or a ground operation," he said.

Military spokesman General Moti Almoz told the radio "we have been instructed by the political echelon to hit Hamas hard,"  saying the operation would take place "in stages." 

He also confirmed Israel was preparing for a possible ground offensive. 

"All options are on the table; all these steps are being considered. Two brigades, which are currently stationed around the Gaza Strip, are prepared and ready, and in the coming days, more will arrive," he said.

In a related development, Israel's security cabinet authorized the military to call up 40,000 reservists.

"The security cabinet has voted to call up some 40,000 reservists in preparation for a possible ground operation in the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Protective Edge," the Ynet news website said.

Contacted by AFP, Israeli officials refused to comment.

Around Gaza, dozens of tanks and soldiers could be seen massing along the border, AFP correspondents reported. 

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon warned it was likely to be a protracted campaign. 

"We are preparing for a campaign against Hamas, which will not end in just a few days," he said in a statement which defined the aim as being "to exact a very heavy price from Hamas." 

Since June 12, when the current round of tit-for-tat violence began, more than 250 rockets have hit southern Israel, with another 40 intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system. 

So far no Israelis have been killed. 

Since midnight, militants have fired more than 100 rockets, an army spokeswoman told AFP, saying only around 33 of them had hit Israeli territory. 

All schools and summer camps were canceled within a 40 kilometer (25 mile) radius of Gaza, except those being held in protected spaces, army radio reported. 

"We have to hit Hamas because our power of deterrence has been reduced," Interior Minister Gideon Saar told public radio. 

"No one is enthusiastic about the idea of a military confrontation, but we cannot hesitate any more. 

"We cannot restore the calm without proving to Hamas that it is absolutely in its interest to halt attacks on Israel, but to do that, we must hit it sufficiently hard."

The rocket fire drew a strong reaction from Washington and Brussels.

"We strongly condemn the continuing rocket fire into Israel, but we also support Israel’s right to defend itself against these attacks," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. 

On a visit to the south, EU Ambassador Lars Faaborg Andersen also denounced the ongoing fire, expressing the bloc's "unreserved solidarity" with those living there.

"Indiscriminate shooting of rockets against innocent civilians can never be a legitimate response," he said in remarks broadcast on army radio. 

"It must stop. The situation must be de-escalated."

The latest flare-up comes as Israel arrested six Jewish extremists in connection with the grisly kidnap and murder of the Palestinian teenager, burned alive in a suspected revenge attack the killing of three Israeli youths in the occupied West Bank.

Three of them have confessed, an official told AFP. 

The killing sparked five days of clashes between protesters and riot police in annexed east Jerusalem and Arab towns across Israel.

Police arrested another 39 people overnight, raising the overall number of people detained to 299.

Comments 51
Missing greatpierro 08 July 2014, 07:42

The only way Hamas can exist politically is through perpetual aggression against Israel. Otherwise, Hamas extremist political stance would give way to the palestinian moderates political forces. As always, the poor gazzaoui will pay the price.

Missing phillipo 08 July 2014, 16:56

Yasser Arafat refused to accept 98% of the territory occupied in the 6 day war from Egypt and Jordan. His successor does exactly the same.

Thumb chrisrushlau 08 July 2014, 16:59

Israeli warplanes killed 12 Palestinians Tuesday, pounding the Gaza Strip in a new campaign to stamp out Hamas rocket fire as the two sides slid toward another major conflict.
Also in the news, a man delivered the pulverized body of his wife to a hospital in an unnamed city in Lebanon today, saying that she was a failure as a wife, couldn't take a punch, and should get well soon so she could come home and take care of him properly. A hospital official said the management of the hospital was working to restore peace between the two sides.

Missing phillipo 08 July 2014, 17:02

It is Hamas who states repeatedly that they will never recognise Israel, not the other way round.
Israel and the Palestinian leadership have met many times to discuss peace, from the times of Yasser Arafat to Mohammed Abbas, they talk and then just walk away from the table.
Does the Palestinian leadership not realise just what an advantage peace would be for their people, economically, commerdcially, politically and any other way you can think of. What it does realise is that by keeping their people poor and a lot of them in refugee camps, it gains points on the international scene

Thumb _mowaten_ 08 July 2014, 17:08

israel should not be recognized, unfortunately hamas offered to do so repeatedly. israel couldnt care less, they need war to keep getting charity from the US and use it to steal more land.

in the mean time, now that hamas has turned on syria and iran at the first chance they got, who's going to support them now?
where is super caliph baghdadi? think he's going to come liberate palestine?

Thumb sevilla 08 July 2014, 17:17

why isn't nasrallah helping the palestinians? The Umma is in danger and is looking for his mighty resistance..

Thumb _mowaten_ 08 July 2014, 17:24

hezbollah helped palestinians for decades, when the oily kings were too busy counting their petrodollars and doing business with israel to notice. remember the men caught in egypt, who were helping gaza defend itself? all of the medium-range rockets that hamas have come from hezbollah/syria/iran, not from saudi, qatar and the US.

now that they turned against hezbollah, syria and iran the first chance they got, and chose to side with the takfiri useless bunch, they are going to have to bear the consequences of their choices.

having said that, i would still be in favor of HA resuming support to hamas, because in the end we should not forget who our real enemy is.

Thumb _mowaten_ 08 July 2014, 17:28

Quoting George Galloway:

"Will anyone, any Arab or Muslim leader stand up and lift even a finger to help the Palestinian people in this massacre? May God damn you. Where is Erdogan? The would be Ottoman Protector? Where? Where is Waleed bin Talal bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud, co-owner of Fox and Sky "News"? Where are the Kings and Emirs of the Arab world? So ready to pay for the murder of Arabs. Where is King Abdullah, "Custodian of the two Mosques"? Where is General Sisi, "the new Nasser"?
I address the Arab and Muslim leaders sincerely with this question. Have you no sense of shame? Judge yourselves before you are judged."

Thumb cash.puppet 08 July 2014, 18:28

yes sexy texy you are right. this war does not impact the region whatsoever. You are right. It is not connected to any of the other conflicts at all.

Thumb cash.puppet 08 July 2014, 18:29

philippo buzz off zionist scum. no shame

Thumb _mowaten_ 08 July 2014, 18:33

anonyme you sound like israelis, who carpet bomb the concentration camp known as gaza, and then blame it on hamas.
they have been bombing gaza for weeks now (actually, YEARS), the fact that hamas responded with a few home-made rockets is no justification to killing even more innocent people.

Thumb _mowaten_ 08 July 2014, 18:39

and ps: i dont care that they are moslems, and if you had been listening you'd know i am an atheist so i couldnt care less about their religion.
what matters to me is that they are arabs and palestinians, and we are all one people. as long as we let ourselves be divided are are fighting each other we will be weak and easy preys.
if you turn a blind eye when the ones across the street are getting killed and robbed, there will be no one there to hear you screaming the next day when it's your turn.

Thumb _mowaten_ 08 July 2014, 18:44

Galloway again, nailing it:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=585909681480501

Missing imagine_1979 08 July 2014, 19:36

And please mowaten hezbollah, iran, syria hurted palestinian resistance as much if not more than israel, framented plo, fateh/fateh el intifada, fplp/fplp general comand, islamic jihad..just so they can prove there own existance, sick fanatics..
Go have some chupachups mowaten, really...

Thumb _mowaten_ 09 July 2014, 11:02

anonyme: why divert the conversation with propaganda that is over 25 year old? of course i condemn it, but what do you expect? to be still hung on it today and filled with hate and foaming from the mouth each time i see or hear about syria?
you cant go back to the civil war each time you need to justify your various hatreds today. but if you insist on it, start by remembering what the Kataeb and LF did, you cant cherry-pick just the events you want

imagine: habibi your chupachups obsession was cute for the first days, weeks, months or even years.. but now the only thing it does is makes you sound like a retard who never got over his oral phase.

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 09 July 2014, 12:46

Contrary to some here, Hamas had set out several feelers that they are willing to accept peace if Israel withdraws from occupied territories and accept a just solution to the Palestinian refugees. It is Israel that consistently refused.

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 09 July 2014, 12:47

phillipo - what you are saying is absolute nonsense.

Thumb Mazen 08 July 2014, 11:08

Minorities unite! President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah, General Michel Aoun and the Israeli army shoulder to shoulder fighting the extremist Sunni terrorists.

Thumb _mowaten_ 08 July 2014, 17:17

dumbest comment ever. sunnis, christians, shias, alawites all share the same threat and hatred from israelis. when they were roaming the streets of palestine looking for people to lynch they werent yelling "death to sunnis" but "death to ARABS". they hate us all equally you can be sure of that

Missing phillipo 08 July 2014, 17:55

Ooops I forgot, in Ain el-Hilwah they don't go around shouting "itbah al Yahud", whoi are you kidding.

Missing imagine_1979 08 July 2014, 19:40

May i just coment one one fact iyhoud is a religion, not all the jews are good or bad the enemy is the zionists, not yehoud...
Like shia are not enemies, there are good patriotic shias and there is blind fanatics.. And so on for every religion, sect...

Missing MyNigga 09 July 2014, 04:43

(continued)

Now tell me which society values freedoms and liberties more? When Israel targets hamas' militia, Hamas says every Israeli civilian is a legitimate target.

People haven't learned, stop messing around with israel! Stop poking them because they will just do the same back 10 times harder. Remember 2006? Israel didn't do anything to lebanon for a years until Hezbollah decided to kidnap and kill their soldiers. What did israel (rightfully) do? Hit back, 10 times harder. Who paid the price? Not israel, they were well equipped not to take too much damage. Not hezbollah, because they got paid to fix their area. but the Lebanese people/government. We had to fix the bridges and airport at our own expense, who were killed? Lebanese people..

Same goes for Israel, Palestine and Hamas. When Hamas messes around, palestine pays the price.

Moral lesson: STOP POKING THE BEAST!

Missing MyNigga 09 July 2014, 04:43

Muslims, Christians and Jews are living peacefully in Israeli.. with equal rights to run for Prime Minister and President. Women have equal rights as well as men..

Now let's look at every other country in the area (including us), how much equality do women have to men? It is still legal for a man to beat his wife. How many jews (openly) live in Lebanon? Look at Christian and minority (whether it be sunni/shiia/kurds/jewish) persecution in Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran etc..

Missing phillipo 08 July 2014, 16:52

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded that Israel "immediately stop" its air campaign,
So what exactly does he expect Israel to do, sit quietly whilst 80 rockets a days are shot into its territory. Show me one other country in the world who wouldn't react.

Thumb chrisrushlau 08 July 2014, 17:01

You admire Israel for refusing to give the right to vote to a bunch of terrorists. You think Lebanon is safe because it follows the same policies. This, the current atmosphere, this is security and legitimacy. It is known technically as stability. Do you love it?

Thumb _mowaten_ 08 July 2014, 17:17

show me one country who wouldnt react to being invaded, occupied, ethnically cleansed and oppressed philippo.

Missing phillipo 08 July 2014, 16:54

"the region is doomed to eternal turmoil."
Just what does the ISIS attack in Iraq, the attempts of the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt, the terrorist attacks in Libya and Yemen or the Syrian civil war have to do with Israel ?

Default-user-icon hanoun (Guest) 08 July 2014, 17:03

ouain el 3arab ouain yelli 3am bidafe3 bi souria ou bil irak
but not even 1 word towards Israel

Thumb sevilla 08 July 2014, 17:20

The only people I believe who said they want to liberate Palestine are your hizballah and your sayyed hassan. Go do it ya shatir and stop your sectarian incitement.

Thumb _mowaten_ 08 July 2014, 17:26

so you agree casper, that the only ones fighting for palestine (besides palestinians themselves) are hezbollah?

Thumb cash.puppet 08 July 2014, 18:29

yup he agrees. He agrees that the so called Sunni rebels are out to get Shia and not to save themselves. They are paid and funded by the Zionist apartheid sstate.

Missing ArabDemocrat.com 09 July 2014, 12:48

ultrahabib - The ones fighting in Gaza are Sunnis. But morons like you like to inject sectarianism in everything.

Thumb beiruti 08 July 2014, 17:20

Hard to say why HAMAS would be lobbing rockets into Israel knowing that retaliation is sure to follow. Israel would like to clean up the fundamentalists to its West and in its back yard in order to focus in on what is happening to the East and this has given Netanyahu the opportunity that he has been looking for.
The Palestinians, like the Lebanese Christians, at times, are their own worst enemies.

Missing greatpierro 08 July 2014, 17:34

Wrong. As long as people like you refuse to comprise to reach peace there will be turmoil.

Default-user-icon +oua nabka+ (Guest) 08 July 2014, 17:46

Beiruti you are a despicable sectarian
running away is for cowards
standing up to their rights is for real men

Thumb lebpatriot2333 08 July 2014, 17:47

Spoken like a real Takfiri coward. Why don't you go blow yourself up in a hotel room somewhere. Just make sure no one is around.

Thumb lebpatriot2333 08 July 2014, 18:11

Right

Missing cedars 09 July 2014, 05:29

Is this the way you blow ho2333 when no one is around?

Thumb lebpatriot2333 08 July 2014, 17:52

For all the support Hamas received from HA and all the support the Palestinian militants received from HA in Lebanon, especially when Amal was ready to finish them off, and for the current wave of Unappreciative Palestinian terrorists planning suicide missions in civilian Shia neighborhoods, I say go ahead Israel and turn Hamas to dust.

Default-user-icon 116 (Guest) 08 July 2014, 18:14

Hammas did not exist back then, Amal was fighting the PLO

Missing imagine_1979 08 July 2014, 19:43

So pathetic, not because there are fanatics that u should generalise...
It's stupid, it's like saying bc iran has a fanatic senile man rule the country like in midle aged europe iranians are retaded....
Go have some chupachups lebpat

Thumb lebpatriot2333 08 July 2014, 20:18

Right....keep your delusions to yourself.,,there's no generalization...

Missing imagine_1979 08 July 2014, 21:07

So if hamas doesnot act like syria/iranian regime want; screw the all palestinians??
Great resistant countries syria and iran...
So pathetic same applies to u lebpat
No more chupachups for u today

Thumb lebpatriot2333 08 July 2014, 22:58

Read before you bla bla bla
I said let them wipe out the backstabbing Hamas

Missing imagine_1979 08 July 2014, 23:56

And u think dhelling the population will defeat has...
Extremism will just get stronger..
Poor civilians will pay the price
Go sleep lebpat

Thumb kanaanljdid 09 July 2014, 20:20

Hamas is not extremism?

Thumb cash.puppet 08 July 2014, 18:31

lame. So basically you love to take it from the Zionists? Haha. Great, we got your point coward.

Thumb kanaanljdid 08 July 2014, 19:39

Ok, call us when you have finished to kill to the last Israeli children still alive and we'll make a big party because there will be no more hatred, only nice peace-loving people.

Missing VINCENT 08 July 2014, 23:11

Considering most of the comments above, it could very well be an open window to an alien planet where the inhabitants are human like but common sense does not exist. So, all of a sudden some Palestinians thugs kidnap and kill three clueless Israeli teenagers! Really? Like people are so dumb that we didn't see what was coming next? Ya think Israel would not retaliate? Kind of deja vu of the 2006 alleged war, heh? Since the early 70s, just look back and see what these Palestinian have done to the Lebanese. How many of you lost family members by their hands? How many of you have now vacated your homeland and migrated to another country to start all over again? You mean we are going to allow these thugs not to accept their place in history and negotiating table to make peace with Israel and make us suffer?

Missing .karim. 09 July 2014, 05:08

Hamas and Israel are both enemies of Lebanon. To hell with them both.

Thumb kanaandian 09 July 2014, 14:04

give the ikhwan hell! as for hamas, if palestinians believe in civility, then eradicate these barbarians from their ranks. until then, i have no sympathy for a people who elect islamist slime.