International [Arab-Israeli Conflict, v4] Israel Sets Goal of Doubling the Jewish Population on the Golan Heights

Biden calls Netanyahu, says Israel ‘has right to defend itself’ against Hamas rockets
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately with Netanyahu to reaffirm U.S. support.
By Steven Nelson , Mark Moore | New York Post



President Biden on Wednesday spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reaffirm U.S. support for Israel after a night of bloodshed with civilians in Tel Aviv sheltering from Hamas rockets.

"I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu not so long ago. I’ll be putting out a statement very shortly on that," Biden told reporters at the White House.

"My expectation and hope is that this will be closing down sooner than later. But Israel has a right to defend itself against thousands of rockets flying into your territory."

Israel has launched airstrikes against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to target what it says are caches of rockets stored by the Islamist group close to where civilians live.

Both sides in the conflict have reported civilian casualties.

Biden told reporters that "my national security staff and defense staff has been in constant contact with their counterparts in the Middle East — not just with the Israelis but also with everyone from the Egyptians to the Saudis to the Emiratis, etc."

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately with Netanyahu to reaffirm U.S. support.

The State Department said that Blinken "expressed his concerns regarding the barrage of rocket attacks on Israel, his condolences for the lives lost as a result, and the United States’ strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself."

"[Blinken] emphasized the need for Israelis and Palestinians to be able to live in safety and security, as well as enjoy equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity, and democracy," the State Department said.

Israel was able to shoot down many rockets from Gaza using the U.S.-subsidized Iron Dome missile defense system.

Biden had earlier taken heat over his down-the-middle, approach to the escalating situation in Israel.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called on the president to get fully in Israel’s corner.

"Israel must know that their friends and allies in the United States stand with them. We support Israel’s right to peace and security. We support their goal of restoring deterrence," McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a Twitter posting Wednesday morning.

"The Administration must not relax our efforts to hold terrorists and their supporters to account," he said.

And the Republican National Committee slammed the Biden administration for its lax support for Israel.

"These attacks prove that the Biden administration’s weak leadership is reversing the historic progress the Trump administration made toward peace in the region and has signaled to know terrorist organizations, like Hamas, that they can get away in attacking our nation’s strongest ally in the Middle East," Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted Wednesday.

Both White House press secretary Jen Psaki and State Department spokesman Ned Price have fielded questions about the escalating conflict in recent days and refused to condemn either side, instead urging both groups to work toward de-escalation.

"The president’s support for Israel’s security, for its legitimate right to defend itself, and its people is fundamental and will never waver. We condemn ongoing rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups, including against Jerusalem. We also stand against extremism that has inflicted violence on both communities," Psaki said on Tuesday to lead off the White House briefing.

"Jerusalem, a city of such importance to people of faith around the world, must be a place of coexistence. It is up to the officials, residents, and leaders to restore the city to a place of calm," she said.

But Psaki on Wednesday said the talks were continuing.

"We’ve had more than 25 high-level calls and meetings by senior U.S. officials with senior officials from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and our partners and other stakeholders," she said.

Price at a State Department briefing responded to criticism that the administration is taking a "half-hearted" approach to the violence unfolding in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

"I would respond to that criticism by noting that the United States is doing what we can, knowing that our ability in certain situations is going to be in some cases limited," Price said on Tuesday.

He said the U.S. is reaching out to its Israeli partners, Palestinian officials and the global community to defuse the escalating violence.

"I think the international community by and large is calling for precisely what we are calling for, doing precisely what we have attempted to do and to urge calm, de-escalation, and restraint on both sides," he said.

Former President Donald Trump, who is considering a rematch against Biden in 2024, faulted Biden for the violence that began with clashes in Jerusalem, saying it happened as a result of "Biden’s weakness and lack of support for Israel."

The Trump administration recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem following a decades-long reluctance due to Arab claims to the city. Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner led an effort that brokered diplomatic relations between Israel and four Arab countries.

"When I was in office we were known as the Peace Presidency, because Israel’s adversaries knew that the United States stood strongly with Israel and there would be swift retribution if Israel was attacked," Trump said.

In April, Biden reversed the Trump administration’s policy toward the Palestinians and began restoring as much as $253 million in aid.

Trump cut ties with the Palestinian Authority in 2018 after he moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Republicans criticized the resumption of aid and expressed concern that the funds would eventually end up in the hands of militant groups who would arm themselves and launch a new round of attacks against Israel.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) referred to the payments as "support of pay to slay."

"I am deeply troubled by recent decisions from the Biden administration to turn a blind eye to behavior by the Palestinian Authority," Graham said in a statement at the time.

"A willingness to make concessions to the Palestinians without demanding anything in return is deeply troubling and should worry us all."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bi...-right-to-defend-itself-against-hamas-rockets
 






Lod: Why an Israeli town's mayor is warning of civil war
"Civil war has broken out in Lod."

That is how Mayor Yair Revivo described the situation after violence exploded in the mixed Arab-Jewish Israeli town, lying 15km (9 miles) south-east of Tel Aviv.

Protests by Israeli Arabs in the town turned into full-scale riots on Tuesday night. Demonstrators clashed with police and set cars and buildings ablaze, the day after a funeral for a man allegedly shot dead by Jewish residents.

"This is a complete loss of control," Mr Revivo told Israel's Channel 12 News. "Synagogues are being burned. Hundreds of cars set alight... The situation is incendiary."

Violence also flared in other cities and towns with sizeable Arab populations - including neighbouring Ramle, Acre, Jaffa, Jisr al-Zarqa and Umm al-Fahm. Police arrested 270 people.

"The sight of the pogrom in Lod and the disturbances across the country by an incited and bloodthirsty Arab mob, injuring people, damaging property and even attacking sacred Jewish spaces is unforgiveable," President Reuven Rivlin said on Wednesday.

He added: "The silence of the Arab leadership about these disturbances is shameful, giving support to terrorism and rioting and encouraging the rupture of the society in which we live and in which we will continue to live once all this has passed."

A number of Israeli Arab politicians have called for an end to the rioting.

"Protests in Arab society are moving in a very dangerous direction, as popular protests have escalated into violence," Raam party leader Mansour Abbas was quoted as saying in Haaretz newspaper on Wednesday. "I call on everyone to behave responsibly and to adhere to the rule of law."

The unrest follows days of high tensions in Jerusalem, with clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at a key holy site, and escalating hostilities between Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and the the Israeli military since Monday night that have left more than 50 people dead.

What happened in Lod?

In recent days, Israeli Arabs have staged protests in sympathy with Palestinians in Jerusalem and Gaza.

During protests on Monday in Lod - a third of whose population is Arab - an Arab resident in his 30s, Musa Hassuna, was shot dead and another person seriously injured.


Haaretz cited a Jewish resident as saying an "Arab crowd tried to break into the neighbourhood", and that his neighbours "were forced to shoot in the air" because they felt in danger.

Mr Hassuna's father said his son had not gone to protest and that he had been passing through the area when "they shot him at point-blank".

Police arrested three suspects, who said they had acted in self-defence.

Hundreds attended Mr Hassuna's funeral on Tuesday. Clashes soon broke out with the police, with Israeli media reporting that two officers were injured and a police car was set on fire.

As night fell the violence escalated and synagogues and businesses were attacked. Reuters news agency said there were also reports of Jews stoning a car driven by an Arab.

Social media footage allegedly showed protesters firing on police with an automatic weapon. Officers responded with live rounds.


"This is the first time we've seen local residents using weapons, opening fire, and the response from our units has been also using live fire in order to prevent anyone from being killed," police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.

Haaretz newspaper reports that 12 people were injured in the unrest, with one in a serious condition.

Separately, a 52-year-old father and his 16-year-old daughter were killed when a Palestinian rocket fired from Gaza hit their car in Lod. Khalil and Nadin Awad were both Israeli Arabs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now declared a state of emergency in Lod, granting police more powers there. It is reportedly the first time since 1966 the government has used emergency powers over an Arab community.

"It's anarchy from rioters and we cannot accept it," Mr Netanyahu told reporters on a visit to the town early on Wednesday, vowing to "restore law and order with an iron fist".

"I don't feel safe exiting my home," Jewish resident Lior Benisti told Channel 12. "We wanted to go to my sister, we have two small daughters and we decided to stay in tonight even though we don't have a rocket-proof room. Better take the risk of rockets than the mayhem outside."

Who are the Israeli Arabs?
In total, about 21% of Israel's population are Israeli Arabs - about 1.96 million people, according to a December report by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.

During the war that surrounded the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Arabs were forced from or fled their homes. Those who stayed in what became Israel, and their descendants, have been granted citizenship and are known as Israeli Arabs.

About 80% of Israeli Arabs are Muslim, with the rest identifying as either Christian or Druze. Most identify strongly with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, with many calling themselves "Palestinian citizens of Israel".

Israel's government says its Arab citizens have equal social and political rights, although they are exempt from compulsory military service.

But Israeli Arabs themselves say they are treated as second-class citizens who face legal, institutional and social discrimination.

Authorities in Lod built a 3m-high (10ft) wall through a part of the town in 2010, separating the Jewish and Arab communities. Officials said it was to reduce crime, but Israeli Arabs said it was an attempt at enforcing segregation.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-57085023
 
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Who was firing those missiles yesterday into Israel?

Israel is internationally recognized as an apartheid state. The Palestinians are an occupied people facing extreme oppression at the hands of the Israelis. If they do nothing except complain and seek justice in the world court nobody listens and the Israelis continue their slow but brutal march to crush, expel and eliminate the Palestinians not just from their land but from history itself. It is the right of an occupied people to rebel and when the Palestinians do so they play into Israeli hands and are accused of terrorism. It is exactly what is playing out today. This line of reasoning is aided and abetted by the Western powers where the Jews wield enormous power to make sure their propaganda is well disseminated and where they have they have a large percentage of politicians in their pockets or at the very least terrified of their power.

The Israeli oppression of the Palestinians was ratcheted up a notch last week. The Palestinians react and now they are declared terrorists that can be slaughtered at will. They have little to no capacity to harm Israel and they know it. They fire little rockets as acts of desperation knowing full well they will be bombarded in return. That the ratio of destruction will be 1:100 against them but still they rebel and resist. The average American is too brainwashed to see that they should support the Palestinian cause for freedom from their occupier. That the violence employed by an occupied and oppressed people is not terrorism. Self-determination is a difficult, costly march for the occupied. In Palestine, no matter what the weapon of choice - whether voice, pen or gun - there is a steep price to be paid for its use. I believe in the right of Palestinians to resist their occupiers.
 
Hamas sends rockets deeper into Israel after Gaza airstrikes as conflict spirals
Sirens sound in Jezreel Valley as death toll rises and Israel vows to continue military operations in Gaza until there is ‘complete quiet’

Hamas has launched rockets deeper into Israel after Israel’s defence minister vowed to continue the military operation in Gaza until “complete quiet” had been achieved.

Thousands of Israelis went into shelters early on Thursday after warning sirens sounded in the economic capital Tel Aviv in the middle of the country, but also in Jezreel Valley in the north, the first time it has happened since the unrest escalated this week, the army said. There was no immediate word of any casualties from the pre-dawn salvo.

“All of Israel is under attack. It’s a very scary situation to be in,” said Margo Aronovic, a 26-year-old student in Tel Aviv.

Israel continued carrying out airstrikes on Gaza early on Thursday, according to an Agence France-Presse journalist. Since Monday, the Israeli military has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Gaza, killing four senior Hamas commanders and a dozen more Hamas operatives. Two high-rise buildings containing flats and offices in Gaza City were targeted.

At least 67 people have now been killed in Gaza since the violence escalated on Monday, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Seven people have been killed in Israel, medical officials said.

As the crisis continues to spiral, US energy corporation Chevron said it had shut down the Tamar natural gas platform off the Israeli coast as a precaution. Israel said its energy needs would continue to be met.

At least two US airlines cancelled flights to Tel Aviv on Wednesday and Thursday. Israel, which briefly suspended operations at Ben Gurion airport on Monday after a rocket barrage on Tel Aviv, said national airline El Al stood ready to provide supplemental flights.

Thursday’s barrage on Tel Aviv prompted Israel to reroute an El Al flight from Brussels away from Ben Gurion, its intended destination, to Ramon airport in the south. It appeared to be the first time Israel had used Ramon as an alternative to Ben Gurion due to conflict. A flight was previously diverted there due to bad weather, according to aviation tracker Avi Scharf.

The latest unrest took place after US president, Joe Biden, spoke to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden voiced hope the recent upsurge in violence would soon end, saying: “My expectation and hope is this will be closing down sooner than later, but Israel has a right to defend itself.”

Biden did not explain the reasons behind his optimism. Netanyahu’s office said he told the US president that Israel would “continue acting to strike at the military capabilities of Hamas and the other terrorist groups active in the Gaza Strip”.

Amid reports that Egyptian mediators were attempting to broker a deal to end the fighting, Benny Gantz, the Israeli defence minister, said: “Israel is not preparing for a ceasefire. There is currently no end date for the operation. Only when we achieve complete quiet can we talk about calm.”

US secretary of state, Tony Blinken, condemned the rocket attacks during a call with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Wednesday, and emphasised the need to de-escalate tensions, the US state department said. Abbas is a Hamas rival whose authority is limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hady Amr, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for Israel and Palestinian affairs, is to travel to the region immediately to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders. A nominee for the empty post of US ambassador to Israel is to be made in the next few weeks, the White House said.

Since hostilities escalated on Monday evening, Hamas has fired around 1,500 rockets from Gaza into Israeli territory, according to the latest estimate by Israel’s army. The launch of around 350 rockets had failed, while hundreds more were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system, the army said.

The Israeli military said earlier it had killed four senior Hamas commanders in a “complex and first-of-its-kind operation” jointly with the Shin Bet security service. The dead included Bassem Issa, the Gaza City Brigade commander, the head of the cyber-command and the head of Hamas’s production network, said a security agency statement.

“We eliminated senior Hamas commanders and this is just the beginning,” Netanyahu said. “We will inflict blows on them that they couldn’t even dream of.” The Israeli military would use “increasing force”, he added.

Amid the airstrikes and rocket fire, towns with mixed Jewish and Arab populations have been struck by some of the worst communal violence that Israel has seen in years.

Late on Wednesday a mob of far-right Israelis dragged a man they thought was an Arab from his car and beat him until he lay on the ground motionless and bloodied.

Footage of the attack in Bat Yam, a Tel Aviv suburb, was broadcast live on television but police and emergency services did not arrive on the scene until 15 minutes later, while the victim lay motionless on his back in the middle of the street.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/13/israel-gaza-airstrikes-rockets-hamas
 
Israel is internationally recognized as an apartheid state. The Palestinians are an occupied people facing extreme oppression at the hands of the Israelis. If they do nothing except complain and seek justice in the world court nobody listens and the Israelis continue their slow but brutal march to crush, expel and eliminate the Palestinians not just from their land but from history itself. It is the right of an occupied people to rebel and when the Palestinians do so they play into Israeli hands and are accused of terrorism. It is exactly what is playing out today. This line of reasoning is aided and abetted by the Western powers where the Jews wield enormous power to make sure their propaganda is well disseminated and where they have they have a large percentage of politicians in their pockets or at the very least terrified of their power.

The Israeli oppression of the Palestinians was ratcheted up a notch last week. The Palestinians react and now they are declared terrorists that can be slaughtered at will. They have little to no capacity to harm Israel and they know it. They fire little rockets as acts of desperation knowing full well they will be bombarded in return. That the ratio of destruction will be 1:100 against them but still they rebel and resist. The average American is too brainwashed to see that they should support the Palestinian cause for freedom from their occupier. That the violence employed by an occupied and oppressed people is not terrorism. Self-determination is a difficult, costly march for the occupied. In Palestine, no matter what the weapon of choice - whether voice, pen or gun - there is a steep price to be paid for its use. I believe in the right of Palestinians to resist their occupiers.

Thank you for your perspective.

I would love for the Western world to completely stay out of this one.

They are humans at the end of the day and will have to come to some kind of compromise.

I don’t believe that Israel will kill every last Palestinian down to the children.
 
Palestinians report 21 killed in Israeli air raids on Gaza after Hamas rockets attack
By Linah Alsaafin, Arwa Ibrahim and Ted Regencia | 10 May 2021



At least 21 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids on the besieged Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian health ministry, after Hamas launched rockets from the coastal territory towards Israel.

The Gaza health ministry told Al Jazeera on Monday that 21 people, including children, had been killed in the attacks.



The attacks were carried out after Hamas fired several rockets at Israel, following the expiration of the group’s ultimatum demanding Israel stand down forces from the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.



Earlier on Monday tensions at the compound, the third holiest in Islam which is also revered by Jews, escalated with more than 300 Palestinians wounded when Israeli police stormed the mosque, firing rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas.

The UN Security Council held an urgent meeting on the unrest in Jerusalem, as world leaders urged the de-escalation of the tensions.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/10/israeli-forces-raid-al-aqsa-compound-live


Iron Dome interceptors filling the sky as more than 100 rockets rain down on Israel
May 11, 2021



The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a video of its Iron Dome air defense system filling the sky with interceptors as more than 100 rockets rained down on Tel Aviv and central Israel Tuesday evening, the latest in a string of rocket attacks over the past couple of days.

Tensions between Israel and Hamas soared this week as Palestinian militants began firing rockets at Israel on Monday evening and Israel conducted airstrikes on targets in Gaza in a serious escalation of violence.

The recent fighting appears to be some of the most intense since the 2014 conflict, and it has already left dozens dead, The Associated Press reported. While there have been losses on both sides, the majority of the casualties have been on the Palestinian side, and the dead include both combatants and civilians.

During the fighting on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike struck a high-rise office and residential building controlled by Hamas. Though occupants were warned to evacuate, an IDF spokesman said that "we expect that this powerful attack on the high-rise building, which shook all of Gaza, will lead to extensive shooting toward Israel," according to Haaretz.

"The Al-Qassam Brigades has launched the largest missile strike on Tel Aviv and its environs, with 130 missiles, in response to the enemy's targeting of civilian high-rises," Hamas said in a statement Tuesday evening, The Times of Israel reported.



Israel's Iron Dome is a short-range air-defense system designed to intercept rockets, artillery, and mortars. The system has been in use since 2011 and has helped reduce casualties from rocket attacks against Israeli cities.

The air-defense system was developed by the Israeli defense firms Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries with support from the US. It works alongside the David's Sling and Arrow interceptors, which are in place to counter medium- and long-range threats.

It is considered a very effective system, with a reported success rate of more than 90%, but it is not impenetrable. Some rockets have made it through and resulted in deaths.

The video posted Tuesday was not the first video of the Iron Dome defending against recent rocket attacks. On Monday, IDF posted on its official Twitter account video of its defense against a Hamas rocket attack on Ashkelon.

The recent escalation in violence, coming during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, is driven by a number of historic and immediate factors.

Long-standing territorial-control issues remain at the center of much of the animosity, but more recently, the planned evictions of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem has stoked tensions and sparked demonstrations.

Prior to the latest exchange of fire, Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, one of Islam's holiest sites. Police fired rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas in the compound, Reuters reported. While 21 officers were wounded, over 300 Palestinians were injured in the process, according to Palestine Red Crescent Society.

At least 28 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli airstrikes Tuesday, including ten children and a woman, The Associated Press reported. At least three Israelis have been killed by the rockets fired by militant groups in Gaza. Injuries from the fighting are reported to be in the hundreds.

"Any loss of civilian life is deeply lamentable, whether it is an Israeli life or a Palestinian life," Ned Price, a US State Department spokesman, stated Tuesday, adding, "That is why we continue to call for calm, continue to call on all sides to de-escalate and exercise restraint."

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Israel would "increase both the intensity of the attacks and the rate of attacks." In a later statement, he said Hamas "will pay a very heavy price for their belligerence."

https://www.businessinsider.com/video-israeli-iron-dome-interceptors-fill-sky-during-rocket-attack-2021-5


Who was firing those missiles yesterday into Israel?


Hamas?

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How far did you get through the OP, really?
 
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Why doesn't Israel stop building illigal settlements on Palestinian land and stop evicting Palestinians from their homes?
 
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The west shouldn’t interfere..
But at least my social media is already full of super original takes on this, surely with made by individuals with very deep and unbiased understanding of this decades long conflict.
I guess it’s only a matter of days until the politicians start grandstanding..
Oh boy
 
Why doesn't Israel stop building illigal settlements on Palestinian land and stop evicting Palestinians from their homes?

Because they wont face any opposition that can stop them. They have the US so deep in their pocket that the state department squirmed and weaseled their way into not answering questions about whether or not the palestinians have a right to self defence and wouldnt even give a clear answer to whether or not they condemned israel's killing of palestinian children.
 
Biden calls Netanyahu, says Israel ‘has right to defend itself’ against Hamas rockets
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately with Netanyahu to reaffirm U.S. support.
By Steven Nelson , Mark Moore | New York Post





https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bi...-right-to-defend-itself-against-hamas-rockets

Palestinians should stop begging the west to condemn Israel, it won't ever happen. Whether they are democrats or republicans...

The Zionist pockets are deep, and their sphere of influence is far reaching
 
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