Tag Archives: Rockets

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Fired Rockets Near U.S. Warships in Gulf: U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iranian Revolutionary Guards launched rockets near the U.S. aircraft-carrier Harry S. Truman and other warships as they were entering the Gulf on Saturday, giving only brief notice in a “highly provocative” act, a U.S. military spokesman said on Tuesday.

NBC News, citing unnamed U.S. military officials, said the Guards were conducting a live-fire exercise and the Truman came within about 1,500 yards (meters) of a rocket.

“The rockets were not fired at the Truman and other ships, only near them,” the network said.

Several Revolutionary Guard vessels fired the rockets “in close proximity” of the warships and nearby merchant traffic “after providing only 23 minutes of advance notification,” said Navy Commander Kyle Raines, spokesman for the U.S. Central Command.

“These actions were highly provocative, unsafe, and unprofessional and call into question Iran’s commitment to the security of a waterway vital to international commerce,” Raines said in an email.

The Truman, accompanied by two warships from the U.S.-led coalition supporting air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, was entering the Gulf through the Hormuz Strait on a routine transit when the incident occurred, he said.

NBC News said the U.S. destroyer Buckley and a French frigate were in the area where the rockets were fired.

“While most interactions between Iranian forces and the U.S. Navy are professional, safe, and routine, this event was not and runs contrary to efforts to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime safety in the global commons,” Raines said.

Iranian and U.S. forces have clashed in the Gulf in the past, especially during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Tehran and six world powers including the United States clinched an agreement in July that would curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting economic sanctions.

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Israel Launches Airstrikes in Gaza in Response to Palestinian Rocket

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched a series of airstrikes in the Gaza strip after the Palestinian enclave shot a rocket that was heading for the Jewish nation. The Palestinian rocket was stopped by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Palestinian sources told Ynet that the IAF hit 4 “terror targets” inside Gaza, and at least two of the targets belonged to Hamas.

While many citizens heard explosions and reported them on social media, there were no immediate reports of injuries. Israel also had no reports of injuries from the rock that had been intercepted by the Iron Dome near the city of Ashdod.

Israel Defence Force (IDF) spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner stated: “This evening, the third day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, a rocket was fired at southern Israel sending the residents of Ashdod as well as several surrounding communities to nearby bomb-shelters. Hamas is responsible and will be held accountable for every attack emanating from the Gaza Strip. The IDF will continue defending all Israelis who are repeatedly attacked by such blatant acts of aggression.”

Sheikh Omar Hadid, and ISIS affiliated Salafist group, used social media to claim responsibility for the rocket attack. The group stated that the rocket was a response to the fatal shooting of Hadeel al-Hashlamon, an 18-year-old woman who was killed at the checkpoint in the West Bank last week. The arrest of an Israeli Arab women for allegedly joining ISIS was another stated reason for the rocket attack.

Rockets Fired Into Israel

Rockets were fired toward Ashdod and Lakhish on Tuesday night.

An army source told the Jerusalem Post said that sirens went off in the areas before the rockets headed toward the cities.

Various Israeli media outlets reported five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward the country but that only one rocket actually landed inside Israeli territory.  Initial reports had said that three had landed inside the country.

Sources in Gaza told the Times of Israel that Islamic Jihad fired the rockets toward Israel.  There are disputes inside the organization that led to kidnappings in northern Gaza and ended with the rocket launches into Israel.

The IDF said they are investigating the launch and attempting to confirm the launches were the result of in-fighting among Islamic Jihad.

Hamas Rocket Hits Ashkelon Home; 28 Injured

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.

Israeli Defense Forces Launch Website For Operation Protective Edge

The Israeli Defense Forces have launched a website for those around the world to stay informed about the ongoing conflict with the Hamas terrorists.

The website, called “Special Report Operation Protective Edge”, shows a history of the conflict, tactics used by Hamas and other information regarding the IDF, their operation and the impact the terror attacks are having on Israeli citizens.

IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner announced the site on Twitter Wednesday when he updated the daily total of rockets fired into Israel in the last 24 hours.  (137 rockets launched, only 24 intercepted by Iron Dome.)

The site provides photo and video proof of Hamas using different terror tactics and “cowardly defensive actions” such as using women and children as human shields to protect their male terrorists or weapons.

The site also outlines how Hamas violates international law on a consistent basis and their flaunting of ceasefires.

The site is available at http://www.idfblog.com/operationgaza2014

Hamas Breaks Ceasefire

The terrorist group Hamas has once again broken a ceasefire, the eleventh that the group has either rejected or violated.

Rockets from the terrorists rained down on Beersheba during the mid-afternoon local time.  Explosions were also seen near Ashdod and Ashkelon within an hour after the initial attack on Beersheba.

“Today’s rocket attack on Be’er Sheva is a grave and direct violation of the ceasefire to which Hamas committed itself,” Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Netanyahu, posted on Twitter.  “They shoot rockets into Israel yet demand a more normal relationship?  They must first commit to non-violence.”

The Israeli Defense Forces were organizing a response that was scheduled to begin toward the evening hours on Tuesday.  Initial reports showed movement toward the northern part of Gaza and at vessels in the waters near northern Gaza.

The negotiating team in Cairo has been recalled to Israel because of the attack according to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office.

Hamas Threatens To End Current Truce

Hamas has announced they will not extend the current cease-fire unless they see “real progress” during negotiations in Cairo.

Hamas did not make clear what they would consider “real progress.”

Egypt had presented a revised draft for a long-term cease-fire that would be implemented in two steps by early 2015.  Hamas rejected the deal outright.  It would have called for Israel to open border crossings and withdraw troops from the buffer zone in the Gaza strip.  Deals for prisoners, an airport and seaport would be delayed for a month in negotiations.

The current cease-fire ends at midnight.

Meanwhile, a reporter for the Associated Press was killed along with a translator working for AP when a rocket shot into Israel from the IDF exploded as technicians were disarming it.  Simone Camilli, 35, had been working with AP since 2005.  An AP photographer, Hatem Moussa, was one of four people seriously injured in the blast.

Camilli is the first foreign journalist to die during the current Gaza conflict.

Hamas Breaks Cease-Fire With Rocket Launch Into Israel

Islamic terrorist group Hamas lived up to their threat and broke the 72-hour cease-fire Friday by launching rockets toward residential areas of Israel.

According to sources within the Israeli Defense Forces, Hamas terrorists fired over 45 rockets Friday morning.  The “Iron Dome” defense system only stopped two of the rockets from striking within Israel.

IDF spokesman said that Israel has resumed air strikes at rocket launching sites in response to the Hamas attacks.

“We will continue to strike Hamas, its infrastructure, its operatives, and restore security for the State of Israel,” Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said in a statement.

Egyptian negotiators have called for a resumption of the cease-fire because negotiations are close to reaching a solution.  However, Hamas has refused to agree to stop their assaults because they demand all of their demands be met.

Israel Pulls All Troops From Gaza

A spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces said that all ground troops had been pulled out of Gaza Tuesday morning as part of a 72-hour cease-fire agreement.

The two sides in the conflict have now sent representatives to Cairo where an Egyptian mediator will shuttle between the two sides to try and work out some kind of deal to bring a lasting peace in the conflict.

Israel had said they would not agree to a cease-fire or any deal until all the Hamas tunnels into the country were destroyed.  IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said that the destruction of 32 tunnels was completed late last night.

Lerner also told reporters that at least 3,500 rockets from Hamas had been fired into Israel at the time the cease-fire went into effect.  He said that Israeli troops were able to destroy at least 3,000 rockets being held in storage during the ground incursion into Gaza.

Hamas has said their demands now include international funding for the rebuilding of Gaza.

Iranian Leader: Only Solution Is Israel’s Destruction

Iran’s supreme leader has been reported by Iran’s official news agency as saying the only way to achieve peace in Gaza is to destroy Israel.

The declaration came the same day that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said they have a new missile system that can completely destroy Israel’s Iron Dome system and leave them vulnerable to rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a group of college students Israel’s existence is the reason for the conflict in Gaza.

“These crimes which are beyond imagination and show the true nature of the wolfish and child killer regime, which the only solution is its destruction,” the ayatollah declared to his audience. “However, until that time, the expansion of the armed resistance of the Palestinians of the West Bank is the only way to confront this wild regime.”

He then attacked the U.S. and England for supporting Israel.

“We believe that the West Bank needs to be armed just like Gaza and those interested in the future of Palestine must become active in this field [guerrilla warfare] so that the suffering of the Palestinian people through their strength and their weakness due to the Zionist regime is reduced,” he said. “Some Western countries including America and filthy England defend with clarity the crimes that no ordinary person would. The President of America in the face of these child killings, destruction, torture and suffering of the people in Gaza, with a comical logic states that Israel has the right to defend itself! Don’t the Palestinians have the right to defend their lives and security?”