Displaying items by tag: Hamas

After twelve days of closure, the border crossing from the Gaza Strip into Israel was reopened at dawn on 28 September, causing thousands of Gazans to sleep overnight as they awaited the chance to resume the work for which they are authorised. It was the news which Amjad Hassan, a builder who is the sole breadwinner for 13 relatives had been praying for. ‘We work on a daily wage; if we don't work, we don't feed our families’, he explained. The border closure followed renewed demonstrations as young Palestinians have confronted Israeli soldiers, with the approval or even encouragement of Hamas, which controls the enclave. Protesters have burnt tyres, thrown stones and explosive devices, and released incendiary balloons and kites into southern Israel, There is a perception that Hamas is trying to distract attention from its own economic woes and also to gain leverage in indirect talks with Israel, being led by Egypt, Qatar, and the UN.

Following two nights of violence between police and ‘agitators’ at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, 34 rockets were launched into Israel’s civilian population from southern Lebanon terrorists. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said 25 of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system. See Israel’s military then carried out air strikes on Hamas targets in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Gaza retaliated with dozens more rockets. IDF warplanes struck Hamas’ infrastructures in Lebanon and Gaza, including an underground shaft to construct weapons, three weapons workshops and an underground terrorist tunnel. Another 44 rockets from Gaza towards southern Israel were intercepted. See On Good Friday, two British-Israeli sisters were killed and their mother later died after being shot in the West Bank. The next day, an Italian tourist was killed and seven others injured in a Tel Aviv car-ramming. Benjamin Netanyahu has called up army and police reservists.

Israel and Turkey have announced the return of full diplomatic ties between the two nations, including the reinstatement of ambassadors and consulate generals. This constitutes an important asset for regional stability and very important economic news for Israelis. Their relationship had deteriorated over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Erdogan has been a harsh critic of Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians. Turkey has also hosted several Hamas leaders, which further strained relations between the two nations. Many believe Erdogan’s wish to renew these relations is a result of Turkey's economy floundering and his popularity dipping as a result.

Iranian-backed Hamas and PIJ are the two largest groups in the Gaza Strip, but they are not trying to improve the living conditions of their people. They have brought war and destruction on the strip by firing rockets towards Israel, forcing Israel to strike back to defend itself. Instead of building schools and hospitals, the leaders have invested tens of millions of dollars in a tunnel network along the border to attack and kill Jews. Hamas and PIJ leaders don’t live in Gaza; they lead luxurious lives in Doha, Istanbul, and Beirut, and call Palestinians to pursue the fight against Israel from their gyms, jets, and jacuzzis. Some have finally realised that their leaders care only about their personal interest and the well-being of their families and are enjoying the good life. Pray for Palestinians to remove their leaders and move forward with their lives.

A Christian journalist in Bethlehem said the unrest between Israel and Gaza is a ‘spiritual battle’. In Genesis God tells the Jews, ‘I will give you this land’. Muslims believe that ‘a Messiah is coming soon and will free Jerusalem and give Israel and Palestine to them’. In his opinion this is making for a spiritual battle in the Holy Land - a view partly echoed by a Canon of St George's Cathedral in Jerusalem, Rev David Longe. ‘I think it's quite clear that elements within each of the warring factions will see it as a spiritual battle, because they will actually look to Scripture to give them the grounding for the reasons why these actions are happening.’ Rev Longe is desperately concerned for both sides in the violence, and believes it is vital for people across the world to continue to pray for peace in the region.

Parents with Covid, unable to look after their children and living in Gaza, have problems bigger than childcare arrangements. One such couple sent their children to their grandparents' apartment, then two days later the worst violence in years erupted on their doorstep between Israel's military and Palestinian militant group Hamas. Rockets and mortars flew everywhere. The couple have no access to health services, despite their worrying symptoms, and they are struggling with the separation from their children as Israeli airstrikes pound nearby. Less than 2% of Gaza's population had received a dose of Covid-19 vaccine by the end of April, and thousands are evacuating to shelters, the above couple included. Medical staff and humanitarian agencies are worried the enclave could be hit by a third wave of Covid-19 as dozens of schools are transformed into shelters. The health ministry believes the wave has already started, with 30% of people being tested proving positive and over 100 in intensive care units.

Sirens blare, the ground shakes and many now spend the night in bomb shelters as rockets launched in Gaza rain down nonstop. Clashes between Israel and Hamas puts them on the brink of full-blown war. Previously Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) only fired rockets into southern Israel. Now they are sending dozens of rockets into the heart of Jerusalem. In response, Israel launched a military campaign in the Gaza Strip, demolishing Hamas news outlets, targeting Hamas headquarters, and killing PIJ and Hamas commanders. Hamas and PIJ have fired 1,000+ rockets at Tel Aviv and central Israel. The international airport has had to relocate to Eilat. Israel signed normalisation agreements with Arab states last year including the UAE, which has called on Israel to stop the violence and respect ‘the Holy al-Aqsa Mosque.’ Tensions began when Israeli police cracked down on Palestinians protesting at the mosque - followed by Hamas’s call to bomb Tel Aviv and kill Jews.

Palestinians have resumed launching incendiary and explosive balloons towards Israel. Israel has responded by bombing Hamas military sites in the Gaza Strip, closed the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing, stopped all fuel imports into Gaza, and reduced the fishing zone off the Gaza Strip from 15 to 8 nautical miles. Pray for the safety of innocent Palestinians living in the vicinity of Hamas military bases, underground infrastructures, and observation posts that are being targeted. Hamas said the latest Israeli actions amount to ‘a dangerous act of aggression and an uncalculated step for which the occupation will not be able to bear the consequences.’ Many believe fire balloon tactics are a way to force Israel to implement truce understandings reached through Egyptian, Qatari and UN mediation in 2018.

Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have rejected Donald Trump’s peace plan which was unveiled on 28 January. Many Palestinians protested in the West Bank, and the US embassy warned of potential terror attacks. The plan calls for a two-state solution with detailed maps of territory showing territory currently under Palestinian control more than doubled, while recognising Israeli sovereignty over major West Bank settlement blocs. Palestine’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, had a rare phone call with Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh in which they agreed to work together against the plan, even though Abbas’s Fatah faction has been at loggerheads with Hamas for over a decade. Palestinian demonstrators at the entrance to Ramallah City burnt tyres, chanting, ‘We will resist the occupier and we announce our rejection of the deal of the century. We won’t accept any substitute for Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.’ Trump’s plan enshrines Jerusalem as Israel’s ‘undivided’ capital.

On 26 December the Knesset disbanded and called elections for 9 April. The same day, Mahmoud Abbas disbanded the Palestinian legislature, with a view to 2019 elections. Many say it is hard to see how new parliamentary elections can take place in the West Bank and Gaza at the same time. ‘When Abbas dissolves the Palestinian parliament and the Knesset dissolves itself in the same week, Hamas smells trouble’. There is concern that Israel will block Qatari financial aid and seek an excuse to suspend the cease-fire deal. The Zionist Union, a joint list of the Israeli Labour party and the Hatnuah party, has broken up ahead of the Knesset elections. At the same time the Labour party, which has dominated Israeli politics for the past thirty years, is declining in popularity: see https://worldisraelnews.com/zionist-union-party-dissolves-ahead-of-elections/ An Israeli defence source told Al-Monitor that Israel assumes Hamas is gearing up for another round of widespread violence. The relative calm could end at any moment.