In what is likely an attempt to strengthen their hand before talks with Israel in October, Islamic groups in the Gaza strip have agreed to allow a unity government to take control of the region.
The ceasefire that had been struck in August between Israel and Hamas called for the Palestinian Authority to take over as civil administration for the region. The deal with Hamas and Fatah announced today in Cairo calls for the unity government to take over immediately.
The deal was brokered by Egyptian intelligence services.
“All civil servants will be paid by the unity government because they are all Palestinians and it is the government of all Palestinians,” said Azzam Ahmed of Fatah on Thursday.
The groups reportedly have agreed to eliminate “all the obstacles” to a national unity government. They will also negotiate with the UN and Israel over border crossing access.
However, in what might be a blow to potential talks, the leaders of the unity government said they want Israel tried for war crimes.
The head of the Israeli Navy has stated that he will put his ships everywhere if that’s what it takes to defend the nation of Israel.
“We will guard, protect and act in any enemy coast, and fight bravely for the nevy and the state of Israel,” Admiral Ram Rothberg said during a memorial ceremony.
The ceremony was to remember the INS Dakar and held on the INS Tanin.
“Without a doubt, this power, operationally and strategically, is very important for Israel, the IDF and the navy,” Adm. Rothberg stated. “More than four decades passed since INS Dakar’s last voyage… Although the threats have changed, and today you have the most modern equipment, the most advanced technologies, and the most quality means, the mission remains the same mission that the INS Dakar personnel were sent on, and the responsibility is the same. To protect the Israeli coast, sea waters, and working with all of the IDF’s branches to achieve the relevant goals.”
The Admirals in attendance at the event said the new submarines will allow them to gain intelligence in places they have been unable to visit in the past.
A video smuggled out of a mosque in the Gaza strip shows a Muslim sheikh wielding a rifle and calling for violence against Israel as the only way to establish a Palestinian state.
Sheikh Lyad Abu Funun is shown in the video released by Middle East Media Research Institute. In the speech, he declares that Israel did not succeed on any level during the 50-day war for disarming Hamas terrorists.
“The Israelis came to conquer the Gaza Strip. Did they succeed in doing so? No, they did not. They came to take these weapons away from us,” Funun yells. “Do I still hold this weapon or not? They came to take these weapons away from us. Did they succeed?”
Those attending the event chanted “Allah Akbar” while the sheikh gave his rant.
The video also shows another part of the sermon where Funan says the weapons are the only way.
“This war has proven that these weapons are our only means to liberate our land,” Funan said. “These weapons are our only means to liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque. These weapons are our only means to establish the Islamic state. These weapons are our only means to reestablish Muhammad’s caliphate. These weapons are our only means to instate the law of Allah.”
The Islamic terrorist group ISIS announced plans to attack Israel and eventually the U.S. in a magazine they produced called “Dabiq”.
The terrorists say the conflict with Hamas has made Israel a target for their campaign of violence.
“As for the massacres taking place in Gaza against the Muslim men, women and children, the Islamic State will do everything within its means to continue striking down every apostate who stands as an obstacle on its path toward Palestine,” one article states. “Our actions speak louder than its words and it is only a matter of time and patience before it reaches Palestine to fight the barbaric Jews and kill those of them hiding behind the gharqad trees — the trees of the Jews.”
The magazine was named for a town where the terrorists believe Muslims and Westerners will fight before the apocalypse.
The magazine ends with the group telling their followers that they wlll eventually conquer the entire Arabian Peninsula, Rome and then will defeat the anti-Christ.
“ISIS’s tactics span all media, with devoted Twitter accounts and YouTube channels, including ones that showed the horrifying — and slickly shot — execution of photojournalist James Foley,” Josh Kovensky of the New Republic writes. “… much of Dabiq’s content focuses on a coming apocalypse, while pulling out the same glossy stops that one would expect from an American magazine.”
A Senator speaking at an event that was alleged to be a gathering of Middle East Christians and their supporters left the stage after being booed for his support of Israel.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz was on the list of speakers for the inaugural “In Defense of Christians” event in Washington, D.C. Cruz was scheduled to speak to the crowd on Wednesday night as part of a series of speakers discussing the need for unity to stand against Islamic terrorism in the region.
However, Cruz was met with boos and harassment when he mentioned Israel.
“Christians have no greater ally than Israel,” Cruz said in his keynote address. Immediately, many Middle Eastern representatives in the crowd started yelling derogatory statements about Cruz and Israel.
“If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews,” Cruz said before leaving the podium, “I will not stand with you.”
The organization behind the event released a statement saying those in attendance who disrupted Cruz did not adhere to the principles of the organization.
“Tonight’s injection of politics when the focus should have been on unity and faith, momentarily played into the hands of a few who do not adhere to IDC’s principles,” stated In Defense of Christians President Toufic Baaklini. “Tonight’s events make clearer than ever, that In Defense of Christians is desperately needed in a world that remains divided to the point where even the most fundamental value of life and human dignity are cast aside.”
The Israeli Military Advocate General Corps announced investigations into five incidents connected to the 50-day battle between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
The most high profile of the cases involves the airstrike on a beach that resulted in the deaths of four Palestinian children. However, the IDF said none of the situations is being investigated under the guise of a “war crime.”
The MAG Corps speed at launching investigations is seen as a response to actions after the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza that had some incidents left without investigation years later.
The beach investigation will look into accusations from reporters that no Hamas military targets were in the area of the beach at the time of the air strikes. The strike took place near a hotel where foreign journalists had been staying and they observed the air strike.
An investigation that has already taken place regarding an Israeli rocket that struck a UN school has shown that while one Israeli rocket hit the school, no injuries were caused to anyone by the strike. Hamas had claimed children were injured as a result of the strike.
A major conference on the heavy increase in anti-Semitism around the world was held at the United Nations.
But the UN itself didn’t have a single thing to do in sponsoring it.
The UN Permanent Mission of Palau and the Aja Eze Foundation sponsored a lunchtime conference to address the outbreaks of anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence in the wake of the conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
“But why couldn’t the UN, founded on the ashes of the Jewish people, and presently witnessing a widespread resurgence in anti-Semitism, sponsor a conference on combating global anti-Semitism?” said Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust. “The answer is clear: Because the United Nations itself is the leading global purveyor of anti-Semitism.”
In July, 318 confirmed anti-Semitic incidents were reported by the UN, an increase of 381% from the same time period last year.
“Where is the outrage? Where are the universal condemnations?” Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor said. “The silence is very similar to the silence of the 1930s and we all have a responsibility to stand up and fight. Will you stand with those who fire rockets, kidnap girls out of classrooms, and cut off the heads of journalists? Or will you stand up for freedom?”
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.
Israel’s Channel 2 is reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a line before the start of Operation Protective Edge regarding the release of prisoners in peace deals with the terrorist group Hamas or anyone negotiating on their behalf.
Netanyahu said anyone convicted of terrorist acts would not be eligible for release from prison in any negotiation.
Netanyahu’s reasoning said despite the public statements by Palestinian leaders condemning the killing of three kidnapped Israeli teens, the celebratory welcome given to terrorists released as part of a previous peace deal conflict with the words.
The edict of the Prime Minister is expected to make peace negotiations more difficult over the next few months. Prisoner releases along with a freeze on construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank were demands of Palestinians for peace talks.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly is going to seek approval from the Arab League to offer a nine-month negotiation process to create a Palestinian state.
Former Cuban president Fidel Castro is blaming the United States and Israel for the creation of the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.
Castro says that Israel’s intelligence agency teamed up with U.S. Senator John McCain to create the terrorist entity. Castro made the claim in an article he penned for the Cuban state media and translated by Russia Today.
“Many people are astonished when they hear the statements made by some European spokesmen for NATO when they speak with the style and face of the Nazi SS,” Castro wrote. “Adolf Hitler’s greed-based empire went down in history with no more glory than the encouragement provided to NATO’s aggressive and bourgeois governments, which makes them the laughing stock of Europe and the world.”
The 88-year-old Castro has officially been out of power since his resignation but many western diplomats say that he is still consulted on any major decision for the country. His views on America and Israel likely will continue to be the stance of the nation until his death.