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A man who was seriously wounded by a Hamas rocket Thursday had been shielding children with his own body. The attack took place at about 10:20 a.m., at one of the communities in the Eshkol region. Magen David Adom (MDA) crews gave initial treatment to the man, who is 33. He was seriously wounded by shrapnel that struck his chest. MDA paramedic Oren Vacht, who treated the man before his evacuation to hospital, described him as having been hit in the chest by a shell fragment, “fully conscious and in great pain.” "Civilians who had been at the scene told...

An IDF soldier who was critically wounded in a rocket attack Tuesday evening in the Eshkol region has died. He has been identified as 18-year-old Yosef Fartuk of Emanuel. Fartuk was posthumously promoted from private to corporal. Israeli civilian Alayaan Salem al-Nabari was killed in a mortar shell attack in the Eshkol region at approximately the same time. Al-Nabari, an Israeli Bedouin, lived in the southern Negev desert. .....

"Rocket fire prompts IDF strike on Gaza" SNIPPET: "IAF targets two weapon caches in northern, southern Strip following ongoing rocket fire on Israel's south" SNIPPET: "Israel Air Force jets struck two Gaza targets overnight, following yet another day of continuous rocket fire on Israel's south. Fighter jets targeted two weapons warehouses in southern and northern Gaza in the early hours of Thursday morning. The IDF Spokesman's Unit said the pilots confirmed hitting their targets before safely returning to their base. No injuries were reported among the Palestinians at this time."

NOTE: THIS IS THE NEW ISRAEL-RELATED THREAD Note The following news brief is a quote: Report: IDF attacks targets in south, central Gaza Strip Published: 08.17.10, 23:45 / Israel News Palestinians reported that the IDF had fired towards open ground in Khan Younis and attacked the smuggling tunnels in the south of the Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported. Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded Tuesday morning from shells fired into the western Negev. (Ali Waked)

"Navy foils attack in waters near Gaza" SNIPPET: "As Gaza flotillas make headlines, Palestinian cell wearing diving suits attempts to launch attack from sea. IDF force spots cell members in waters of Nahal Aza area, opens fire. Al-Aqsa Brigades say four people killed, one missing. Shortly afterwards, IAF attacks rocket launching cell attacked in northern Gaza; one gunmen moderately hurt SNIPPET: "As the Gaza-bound flotillas continue to make headlines, the Israeli Navy thwarted an attack from the sea early Monday. According to the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's Unit, a Navy force spotted a cell in the waters of the Nahal...

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"Air Force strikes in Gaza" SNIPPET: "IDF retaliates for deadly Qassam attack: Air Force hits several Gaza targets, including metal foundry, smuggling tunnel; Vice PM Shalom says Israel to offer strong response to rocket attack that killed Thai worker Thursday" SNIPPET: "IDF aircraft struck at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said." SNIPPET: "Israel also sent a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Israel at the weekend,...

Israel's air force fired around 20 missiles at targets in Gaza City on Saturday, causing heavy damage, a Reuters witness said. The IDF has confirmed the report. (Hanan Greenberg and Reuters)

(IsraelNN.com) The cabinet has voted to accept a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza. Two ministers voted against the proposal and one abstained from voting.

(YNET NEWS.com) January 16, 2009 "THE GUARDIANS OF ISRAEL NEITHER SLUMBER NOR SLEEP" SNIPPET: "Israel and the US succeeded in preventing a United Nations announcement condemning the Jewish state for its strike on a UN compound in Gaza Thursday. The condemnation was proposed by Britain among other countries." SNIPPET: "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologized for the incident before UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, but stressed that IDF forces were attacked from the building before it was hit."

JANUARY 15, 2009...22:58 "IDF Targets Senior Hamas Leader, Summary of Today’s Events, 15 Jan 2009, 22:10 IST" SNIPPET: "January 15th, 2009 IDF Targets Senior Hamas Leader Said Siam Summary of Today’s Aerial Attacks In a joint IDF and ISA operation in Gaza City early Thursday evening, the IAF targeted a building in which the following senior Hamas operatives were residing – Said Siam, Ia’ad Siam and Salah Abu-Sharah. The forces reported a direct hit."

Note: Photo included. SNIPPET: "Mexico condemns the excessive use of force associated with the Israeli army operation in Gaza, " a statement from the Mexican Foreign Ministry said late Tuesday. It also condemned "the continued launching of mortars into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip". Latin American countries have largely condemned Israel over its launch of 'Operation Cast Lead' on Gaza on December 27. Immediately after Israeli warplanes attacked the strip, Cuba called the offensive an "act of genocide" and a "criminal military operation, the bloodiest one executed by Israel against the Palestinian people." Three day later, the Bolivian Foreign...

SNIPPET: "A North Texas imam is calling on Muslims to take up arms in defense of Palestinians in Gaza. Sheikh Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains in Lubbock, Texas, participated in an online chat, "Fatwas on Gaza," at the web site IslamOnline.net. El-Shinqiti encouraged readers to fight - or if they can't, to send money to those who are fighting - in response to six out of the eight questions posed to him in the online chat. When asked what can be done to help the people in Gaza, El-Shinqiti emphasized war over sending food...

"HAMAS MISSILES FOR ISRAELI FOOD" (Added January 12, 2009) VIDEO DESCRIPTION - QUOTE: IsraelMFA January 12, 2009 Israel gives food, medicine and electricity to Gaza citizens and gets rockets in return. Category: News & Politics Tags: Israel Hamas war rockets missile humanitarian aid children shield Gaza

"HAMAS AND THEIR SYSTEMATIC VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAWS (NOT TO MENTION BASIC HUMAN DECENCY)" "Video follows"

"IT'S NOT SO MUCH THAT THE HAMAS OFFICER WAS KILLED... ...it's that he was killed operating a mortar that his subordinates were not firing, because they refused to come out of hiding."

Note: See map inlcuded on this report. Note: The following text is a quote: JANUARY 9, 2009...17:54 Captured Hamas Intelligence, 9 Jan 2009, 16:26 IST Jump to Comments Confiscated Intelligence Map from Hamas Hamas turn a Gaza neighborhood into a warzone. This map, confiscated Wednesday (Jan. 7) by IDF paratroopers operating in the north of Gaza, shows how Hamas uses an entire neighborhood, rigging it with explosive devices and putting the entire civilian population at great risk. The map shows the al-Tatraa neighborhood in Gaza City divided into three areas of operation (red, blue and green). The dots on the...

SNIPPET: "The fundamental truth is that Hamas' road to Iran runs through the international Muslim Brotherhood, and has for two decades. What is often missing in the discussion of the Muslim Brotherhood is that Hamas, according to its own founding charter, is an integral and armed part of the Ikwhan, not separate from it."

"THE BRIEF LIFE AND EXQUISITE MARTYRDOM OF A HAMAS MORTAR CREW" Snippet: "Via Hamas' al-Aqsa TV station, said to be filmed in Jabaliya on 06 January 2008. At about 1'15" the crew is hit by an apparent Israeli counter-strike."

(IsraelNN.com) Head of Military Intelligence General Amos Yadlin warned Monday that Hizbullah may open up another front in the ongoing war. Yadlin warned that Hizbullah may fire Katushya rockets at Israeli cities in the coming days.