Israel on Wednesday accepted a UN proposal for a five-hour unilateral humanitarian pause in the fighting to allow for relief aid into Gaza, less than two days after it accepted a more comprehensive cease-fire proposal that was answered by continuous rocket attacks from Gaza.

It started at 10 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. During the 5 hour cease fire Hamas terrorists fired 3 mortars into Israel of which the IDF did not respond.

At 2:59 p.m. Hamas terrorists fired the first rocket to end the cease fire, directed at Ashkelon. Within three hours more than fifty rockets had been fired from Gaza, 3 of them directed at Sderot.

For the past thirteen years the rest of the country and for that matter the rest of the world have watched and listened to the stories of the terrorist attacks on Isreal and in some cases have been detached until nine days ago.

No one in Israel is immune to running to a bomb shelter at the sound of the alarm as the Iron Dome takes out one incoming rocket after another.

Israel continues to endure a shower of rockets from Gaza.  Over 100 rockets have hit Israel just in the past 24 hours. Tseva Adom, Code Red, sirens go off constantly in Sderot and all the way into Jerusalem.

The Times of Israel said, “Hamas has goaded Israel into action—whether because of unpaid salaries, or hopes of fanning the flames of the unrest in Israel and the West Bank, or a need to stave off its rivals—Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the assorted Salafi organizations—or in-house disagreements between its political and military wings, or as an expression of its alienation from Egypt and Iran (and those are just a few of the current theories).”

Israel has been forced into air strikes.  Reservists are being called to duty.  People are running frequently to bomb shelters.

A forced, defensive, Operation Protective Edge has been initiated.

IDN Weekly reported:

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman called for the kind of operation that would enable reassertion of Israeli control over the Gaza Strip. Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday (July 7) refused to state his position over the air waves, but likely advocates a similar move (Times, July  8). The generals say such a large move would require massive reserves call-up, a lengthy operation in the Gaza Strip, including ground troops, and a prolonged toll on the Israeli civilian population. Researchers put the economic toll of such an action at $4.4 billion. It would also leave Israel in charge of 1.5 million Palestinians.

Retired Maj. General Amos Yadlin is advocating an offensive that targets the military wing of Hamas, the organization’s leaders, its firepower, and its weapons-production capabilities. Even that, he says, “might include damage to the fabric of life in Israel, the Israeli economy, and even fatalities. But it is necessary,” he concludes.

What Israel has done so far is being referred to as Operation Protective Edge.

Hamas has been trying to do as much dirty work as possible. In fact, they say they have tried to hit the Dimona nuclear reactor, but so far have been unsuccessful. Three rockets were fired at the town of Dimona. Two of them fell in open areas, while one was intercepted. Rockets have also been fired at Tel Aviv, and Iron Dome has taken out at least one of them. Rockets have also landed in open areas south of Haifa. Hamas now has weapons considerably more sophisticated than the homemade projectiles that were fired in previous clashes—presumably smuggled in from Iran. With many tunnels destroyed or closed from the Egyptian side, it is hoped that the remaining stockpile of weapons will be destroyed before they can do more damage. It is estimated that Hamas has around 10,000 rockets of varying strike-distance capability.

If forced into a limited war, the army will begin with a coordinated strike, probably against Hamas’ long-range rockets, which are less mobile than its leaders, who have probably gone underground at this point. From there the IDF will attempt to score maximum points in minimum time.

“But as former Mossad head Efraim Halevy said during a recent interview, one knows where a war starts, but never where it ends. ‘The fortunes of war are not predestined’” (The Times of Israel).

ISIS Poised to Invade Jordan

As of this writing, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has its sights set on Jordan, preparing to invade. It is clear that Israel does not want an ISIS state on its right flank across the Jordan, but whether it will be able to protect Jordan is not clear. Tied down by her war with Hamas, Israel might be limited in what she can do to help Jordan.

Israel’s intentions, however, are clear. Israeli diplomats have told their American counterparts that Israel would be prepared to take military action to save the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan if it came under attack by jihadist militants.

The chief concern is that an attack on Jordan would inevitably drag Israel and possibly the United States into the fighting. “Jordan could not repel a full assault from ISIS on its own at this point,” one senator was quoted as saying. Jordan “will ask Israel and the United States for as much help as they can get.”

Thomas Sanderson, co-director for transnational threats at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted as saying that both Israel and the U.S. view the survival of the Jordanian monarchy as a paramount national security objective.

“I think Israel and the United States would identify a substantial threat to Jordan as a threat to themselves and would offer all appropriate assets to the Jordanians,” he said (Haaretz June 28).

We all need to pray that Israel will be able to handle the multiple threats she is facing right now—with God’s help.

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation”  Psalm 91:14-167

The bodies of three Israeli kidnapped teenagers (Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Frankel) were found in a field near the Palestinian town of Halhul north of Hebron. They appeared to have been thrown into a field by their abductors after a hasty effort to conceal them. The whole nation of Israel has gone into mourning. These were not just three boys from three families—these boys belonged to every family in Israel, and their death is everyone’s loss. The bell tolls for the whole country.

The Israeli cabinet is in emergency session over this incident.

The suspected abductors are two Hamas activists, who went missing from their homes about the same time the boys disappeared. The Shin Bet security service has named them as Marwan Qwasmeh and Amar Abu Aisha, from Hebron. Both of them have done time in Israeli and Palestinian jails for terrorist activities and then were released.

The three teenagers disappeared on June 12 near Gush Etzion. After the boys had been missing for two days, authorities concluded they had been kidnapped. At one point one of the boys made a phone call to an emergency service in Kiryat Arba. He was heard whispering “I was kidnapped.” After that gun shots were heard and the cell phone was abruptly switched off. The police officer who received the call apparently passed it off as a prank. He and other officers in the region were later fired by the police commissioner (Debkafile, June 30).

Reports seem to indicate that the boys were shot very soon after their kidnapping. IDF soldiers are now pursuing the kidnappers, while the Israeli cabinet seems to be weighing their options, and considering another major invasion of Gaza.

In a statement, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay.” He added that the teenagers “were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by wild beasts.”

MK Danny Danon called on the international community “to end all aid to the Palestinian Authority and its Hamas-backed government.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “cannot continue to claim to want peace with Israel, while at the same time partnering with Hamas as they kidnap and brutally murder teenagers.”

Tensions have been high between Israel and Hamas since the June 12 kidnappings, which came 10 days after Abbas and his Fatah Party that rules the West Bank formed a unity government with Hamas, which controls Gaza. Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group, strongly opposes the union.

Ambulance Carrying Boys’ Bodies Attacked

In a blog posted on FrontPage magazine, Daniel Greenfield says, “Our enemy is nothing if not consistent. [They are guilty of] utter and total hatred in life and death. The trouble is that we are the inconsistent ones.”

Palestinian Arabs attacked an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) ambulance humvee on Monday that was transporting the bodies of three Israeli boys, an Israeli source reported.

In a blog called “Muqata,” a picture of the ambulance was posted. In the picture, the ambulance’s windshield is shattered and splattered with paint.

ISIS Declares Caliphate

Emboldened by a weakened Iraqi government that is having a hard time stopping them, the radicals of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria declared over the weekend that they have set up a caliphate stretching across large areas of the two countries (CNN June 20). In a statement from the official spokesman of ISIS, the group called on Muslims to swear allegiance to the new caliphate. They say their flag now flies from Aleppo in Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq. They are reportedly changing the name of the area to simply “the Islamic State.”

Territorial control of the ISIS as of 21 June 2014 (CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikipedia)

ISIS now overshadows al Qaeda. Savage and brutal, they leave death and destruction wherever they go. In actuality they are giving the Muslim religion a worse name than it already had. As if the reputation of Islam were not already bad enough, the ISIS extremists have now made it worse.

“In a bold declaration of its ambition, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has laid claim to leadership of the global Islamist movement, calling on Muslims worldwide to swear allegiance to its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“By claiming such preeminence, ISIS is seeking to eclipse al Qaeda and its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in what analysts see as the most dramatic shift in militant jihadism since 9/11. But ISIS also makes the outlandish claims—if its words are taken literally—that it leads 1.5 billion Muslims and that the world, not just the deserts of Syria and Iraq, are its new stage”(CNN).

Map of expansion of Caliphate (an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader
known as a caliph – i.e. “successor” – to Muhammad)  (CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikipedia)

As noted in last week’s IND, some ISIS units are already in eastern Jordan, and they have their sights set on Israel. Israel, however, has already indicated that she may be ready to defend Jordan both because of the strategic importance of that country and also because Israel and Jordan have a mutual defense pact.

But Israel may be their ultimate goal. They have allegedly declared that they will break every border until they reach Jerusalem.

Excerpt from cfijerusalem.org.

The bible warns; Don’t divide Israel.

In the book of Joel, chapter 3 it states: “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.

The book of Zechariah declares this warning; Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.

Words from our President about his desire to divide Jerusalem:

“I think everybody understands the outlines of what a peace deal would look like, involving a territorial compromise on both sides based on ‘67 lines with mutually agreed upon swaps, that would ensure that Israel was secure but would also ensure that the Palestinians have a sovereign state in which they can achieve the aspirations that they’ve held for so long.”

Abbas thanked Obama “for the economic and political support that the U.S. is extending to the Palestinian state so that it can stand on its own feet.” A Congressional report published in October put the U.S. support for the PA, so far, at $5 billion in grants since the 1990s and about $500 million annually in recent years.

The President also said, “I would also like to affirm what you have said, that we are working for a solution that is based on international legitimacy and also the borders — the 1967 borders so that the Palestinians can have their own independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital and so that we can find a fair and lasting solution to the refugee problem.”

The UN met Monday in regards to dividing up Jerusalem:

The United Nations Human Rights Council debated five anti-Israel resolutions — including one that calls for a business boycott of West Bank settlements and Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem — during its Monday meeting in Geneva.

During the UNHRC’s entire 25th session this month, it is voting on only one resolution on Syria even though over 120,000 people have been killed in its ongoing civil war. Similarly there was only one resolution against the regime in Tehran which has executed over 80 people this year.

The non-governmental group UN Watch, has already published the texts of the anti-Israel resolutions in advance of a 1 p.m. deadline to submit them to the council for debate this afternoon.

Among the five anticipated resolutions that focus on Israeli human rights violations in east Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights, is one that speaks of the illegality of member states and businesses participating in settlement activity including in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem. It adds that such activity should cease.

The resolution calls on member states “to take appropriate measures to ensure that businesses domiciled in their territory and/or under their jurisdiction, including those owned or controlled by them, that conduct activities in or related to the settlements, respect human rights throughout their operations, by taking all necessary steps— including by terminating their business interests in the settlements—to ensure that their activities do not have an adverse impact on the human rights of the Palestinian people.”

The resolution adds that this should happen “in conformity with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the United Nations Global Compact and relevant international laws and standards.”

In addition, on Monday, the UNHRC Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk is delivering a report. He calls, in his report, on the UN to ask the International Court of Justice at the Hague to issue an advisory as to whether Israel’s “occupation” of Palestinian territories meets the legal standard of “colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing.”

A report authored by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will also be delivered to the council on Ban’s behalf, in which he calls on Israel not just to halt settlement activity but to “reverse” it.

In light of the Foreign Ministry strike Israel won’t be represented at Monday’s UNHRC meeting.