Senior officials with the Israeli Defense Force has admitted to the Times of Israel that they underestimated the tenacity of Hamas and that they did not expect the conflict to last long.
“If you’d asked me two months ago, I wouldn’t assess that it’s going to take us 50 days,” the unnamed official said. “We thought it’s going to take them a shorter time to understand what happened, and we are mistaken here. It’s a tactical assessment mistake, but it’s a mistake.”
The official who demanded anonymity said that Hamas also had surprised the IDF with the power of their forces.
“They were in pretty good shape and pretty well trained,” he said, referring to amphibious commando-style raids.
“You can see for sure they were trained outside of the Gaza Strip,” he said. He also said that nothing surprised them militarily and that right now they’re believed to be in very bad shape.
The truce on August 26th continues to hold.
An open-ended truce in the conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas goes into effect tonight but it is not being billed as a cease-fire by the terrorists.
Hamas sent out a graphic of three Palestinian gunfighters pointing weapons at an Israeli soldier who was raising his hands in the air while holding a white flag. The caption on the graphic says “and so Gaza has triumphed.”
Hamas also had their members take to the streets after the beginning of the cease-fire to celebrate their “victory.”
Mosques throughout the Gaza strip were broadcasting messages of celebration and celebratory chants of “Allahu Akbar” while Palestinians who had been in shelters because of the conflict made their way outside.
Hamas launched a final barrage of rockets toward Tel Aviv just before the start of the cease-fire.
Israeli officials, however, say the deal does not include any of Hamas’ demands including an airport and a seaport. No prisoners were going to be released as part of the Egyptian-brokered agreement.
A Hamas barrage before the beginning of an open-ended cease-fire struck a home in Ashkelon and a playground in Ashdod.
Initial reports from emergency personnel say that 28 people have been injured in the barrage. The family in the home had just reached their safe room when the rockets struck the roof and were not injured. However, those in the area were wounded by debris.
At least one rocket made it through the Iron Dome defense system and struck the middle of a kindergarten playground. No children were harmed in that attack.
Hamas claims the attack was in retaliation for the IDF destroying an apartment complex in Gaza Tuesday.
The IDF launched an attack before the cease-fire that targeted a boy’s school in Gaza City where Hamas launched a rocket assault that killed 4-year-old Daniel Tragerman. The IDF warned officials in Gaza of the attack so they could make sure no children were inside the building at the time of the attack.
Three times during the conflict Hamas was found to be hiding weapons inside UN schools in Gaza.
A four-year-old Israeli child is dead because of the terrorist group Hamas.
Doctors in southern Israel confirmed the death of Magen David Adom after he was brought into the hospital in “very grave condition.” The boy was struck by shrapnel from a mortar that was launched from the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Witnesses said they heard three explosions at the time the boy was wounded. No other reports of injuries or damage were reported as most were focused on rushing the boy to the hospital.
The rocket barrage from the terrorists seemed focused on children as at least one mortar struck near a pre-school Eshkol.
A barrage also struck a synagogue in Ashdod sending three people to the hospital.
IDF forces stepped up their air responses to the missile launches.
Israel responded to the Hamas breaking of a ceasefire by launching an assault on a building that was housing a group of Hamas leadership.
Hamas confirmed the deaths of the officials.
Mohammed Abu Shammala, Raed al-Attar and Mohammed Barhoum were inside a four-story building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike. The IDF said the home was targeted specifically as part of the response to the Hamas assault.
Palestinian Authority health officials in Rafah say that dozens of other people are still missing.
Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the situation during a public statement that Operation Protective Edge is not over despite the recent ceasefire. He said that the response is going to be a “continuous campaign.”
Hamas vowed revenge.
“The assassinations of the three Qassam leaders is a grave crime. But it will not break our people and Israel will pay the price for it,” a Hamas statement read.
The family of the leader of terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza strip were confirmed killed when an Israeli air strike destroyed the building they were living in.
However, there are conflicting reports about whether the strike also cut off the head of Hamas’ leadership in Gaza. Hamas denies that Mohammed Deif was hit while several Israeli sources say he perished in the attack.
The attack was in response to Hamas breaking the cease fire and launching a series of terrorist rocket attacks into Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned Hamas that the IDF was prepared to “strike back hard” if the ceasefire were to be broken and the operation against Deif’s headquarters is believed to have been one of the items referenced by the Prime Minister.
Middle East analysts say that if Deif was killed in the attack it will likely cause Hamas to launch more assaults and refuse to enter back into negotiations to end the hostilities.
The Israeli Defense Forces recalled 2,000 soldiers after the breaking of the ceasefire to provide support for the IDF response.
Egypt has issued a call for both sides to return to the negotiating table in Cairo. Israel had recalled their delegation after Hamas broke the latest ceasefire.
Israeli’s Shin Bet security service has released the details of a shocking Hamas plot that would have combined terror attacks on Israeli citizens with the overthrow of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The goal was to have a “third intifada uprising.” The plot would have opened a second front against Israel during Operation Protective Edge.
Shin Bet said that 90 Hamas operatives have been arrested in connection to the plot. Hundreds of weapons were seized along with $170,000 that was designated to fund the attack either through payments to security officials or payments to homicide bombers.
The attack within Israel was to have a centerpiece of the Temple Mount. The plan was so detailed that it had a flowchart of Hamas operatives who were in charge of the operation and those directly under them as if it was some kind of corporate organization.
The plot also focused on recruiting students, especially those who had been studying chemistry or engineering, for plotting bomb attacks on structures aimed to cause building collapse.
The mastermind of the plot is Hamas terrorist Salah al-Arouri who is in hiding in Turkey. According to the Times of Israel, authorities within the IDF have evidence that al-Arouri plotted the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers before the current Hamas-Israel conflict.
Sources close to the Cairo negotiations between Israel and terrorist group Hamas indicate that the current cease-fire is being extended for a few days rather than a long-term peace deal.
The move is being pushed by the Palestinian Authority in an attempt to keep Hamas from launching a new round of terror attacks on Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not comment on the details of the negotiations or the possibility of an extension of the current cease-fire. However, he did say that if Hamas were to start a new round of hostilities that Israel would respond with their strongest actions to date.
“We are preparing for any outcome — the Israeli team was instructed to insist firmly on Israel’s security needs, and the IDF is gearing up for a very forceful response if the fire resumes,” he says.
The Israeli Defense Forces moved additional troops into the southern territory in an apparent move to be ready for a quick strike should Hamas resume terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process is appealing to Gaza residents to back the Palestinian Authority.
“Right now, Gaza urgently needs houses, hospitals and schools – not rockets, tunnels and conflict,” Robert Serry told reporters.
The attack was scheduled to happen on Rosh Hashana.
Hamas had built tunnels that opened into residential neighborhoods, a kindergarden and various hospitals.
The plan? Massive terror attacks from all the tunnels at the same time. Kill women. Kill children.
A report released by the Israeli Defense Forces outlines the details of a Hamas plan to launch the massive terrorist attack. The plot was discovered after the IDF moved into Gaza following the kidnapping and killing of 3 Israeli youths by the Islamic terrorist group.
According to the study, Hamas spent nearly $130 million building the concrete tunnels from the Gaza strip miles into Israel. The money was taken from humanitarian relief sent into the region for the purpose of rebuilding after the last conflict with Israel.
The report also shows that Hamas used children to build the tunnels and that at least 150 children died during tunnel construction from cave-ins and accidents. The children were taken from their families without their parent’s consent to be used in the tunnel construction.
According to the Times of Israel, most of the tunnels were lined with uniforms made to resemble uniforms of the IDF. The report says the goal was to confuse forces responding to the attack and make them unable to quickly stop the assault.