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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon ordered the Israel Defense Forces to launch a ground incursion in the Gaza Strip Thursday night, in order to "damage the underground tunnel terrors constructed in Gaza leading into Israeli territory." Earlier, Israel resumed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip at 3:00 P.M. after a six hour temporary cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza residents. The cease-fire began at 9:00 A.M. on Thursday morning, though Hamas fired rockets at Israel roughly two hours later. 11:54 P.M. Israeli army to request cabinet to green light the recruitment of 18,000 more reserves...

While Israel’s response to incessant rocket fire from Gaza drew the requisite condemnations from the Arab world and some in the international community, Arab media is increasingly open in criticizing Hamas for instigating the violence. Media in Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt blame Hamas’ actions for inviting Israeli counter attacks and prioritizing conflict over the safety of the Gazan population and criticized the leadership for waging war far from the conflict, a Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) report shows. After Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal criticized Egyptian inaction in Gaza, Egyptian columnists responded emphatically. “[Meshaal], we are tired of defending...

IDF fears that, without Hamas, Gaza could descend into a Somalia-like situation, in which dozens of gangs or clans would take over various parts of the strip. The next 48 hours in the Gaza Strip will likely bring more of the same: Israeli air strikes, murmurs about a limited Israel Defense Forces ground operation and continued rocket fire from the Strip to central and southern Israel. But there is also a slim chance of reaching a cease–fire agreement. Contacts aimed at achieving this are ongoing on two different fronts: one Egyptian, and the other Qatari-Turkish. The Palestinian Authority is maneuvering...

Former defense minister, inspired by success in Syria, believes Israel can spearhead international effort to strip Hamas of rockets. A former army commander and defense minister recently submitted a plan to the Prime Minister’s Office advocating for the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip as part of an international move constructed along the lines of the agreement that forced Syria to forgo its chemical weapons He presented the plan last week before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and earlier this week to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen. Shortly thereafter, on Tuesday, for the first time...

Op-ed: A land invasion is our last resort, but we might have to do it nonetheless; Hamas might compel us to. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign up! If we emerge from this round of conflict with an extended period of quiet, I will consider that to constitute success. Operation Cast Lead (winter 2008-9) gave us almost four years of quiet. Operation Pillar of Defense (November 2012) gave us 20 months. Longer, needless to say, would be better. In pursuit of that goal we are hitting Hamas hard. We...

With multi-million-dollar land deals, luxury villas and black market fuel from Egypt, Gaza's rulers made billions while the rest of the population struggled with 38-percent poverty and 40-percent unemployment. While the fighting is only expected to worsen the distress of the residents of Gaza, the Strip's economic outlook for the Strip was never good. The unemployment rate in Gaza stood at approximately 40% before the latest conflict, with a similar proportion being classed as living under the poverty line. But while most of the Gaza population tries to deal with the difficulties of daily life, it seems that one sector...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did what he had to do when he fired Danny Danon, who rudely and insolently attacked him and criticized the policy of his defense minister, Moshe Ya'alon. If it were possible, Danon would not be the only one Netanyahu would fire. If it were possible and would not jeopardize his government, he would also fire Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. We have probably never seen such a thing before, not even in wars with less national agreement than in the current operation: In the midst of a battle, while IDF soldiers are deployed on the outskirts of...

To Gaza’s innocent civilians: Demand a ‘Gaza Spring’ and rid yourself of Hamas’ violent theocrats and kleptocrats, who love Palestinian children less than they hate Israel. The real enemy of the innocent civilians of Gaza is Hamas, not Israel. Despite the fact that many Gazans voted for Hamas in the last Palestinian election, that terrorist organization has ill-served its constituents. When Israel ended its occupation of Gaza in 2005, it left behind farm equipment and other material capable of feeding the population. Donor countries promised support, both financial and political if Gaza would live up to its potential as a...

Analysis: Islamist organizations in Gaza are still negotiating over negotiations, while in Israel, defense chiefs are seeing start of unrest against Hamas. The negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza are complicated and are destined to be drawn out. This is mainly due to Hamas' determination to leave the battlefield with clear achievements for its military wing, especially in the eyes of the Gaza population. These achievements should be clear enough to justify to the Palestinian street – in Judea and Samaria as well - the escalation of the fire on Israel, which resulted in Operation Protective Edge. Also,...

A special delegation of firefighters from across the US arrived in Israel with one goal: To help firefighters from Israel's rocket battered south deal with ongoing rocket fire. Fire fighters in the south have been working ceaselessly to since fighting began ten days ago, and their mission include searching for the rockets as well as extinguishing the resulting blazes. Between the rockets attack from Gaza and rumors of ceasefire, little attention has been paid to the plight of Israel's firefighting forces in Sderot and other southern communities, however a group called Emergency Volunteer Project aims change that and work with...

Israel's determination to demilitarize Gaza and Hamas' desire to shed Israeli blood could well mean IDF boots on the ground before calm is restored. Negotiations for a ceasefire moved into a serious stage on Wednesday night, but - absurdly – an IDF ground operation in Gaza seems closer than ever, and is apparently inevitable. This is down to the fact that Hamas is now trying with all its might, or rather last of its strength, to gain some kind of operational achievement, one that, if realized, could lead to the deaths of Israeli civilians and soldiers. On Wednesday night, the...

Israeli official says Netanyahu's security cabinet is still examining details of an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire; no immediate comment from Hamas, Palestinian groups on whether they had accepted permanent truce. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Thursday denied earlier reports that Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on a cease-fire that would put an end to the fighting as of Friday morning. Liberman's denial came minutes after Reuters quoted an Israeli official as saying that Israeli senior representatives at talks in Cairo had accepted an Egyptian proposal for a comprehensive Gaza cease-fire starting on Friday, but Israel's leaders still...

Ceasefire talks involving Hamas, Israel, and PA delegations in Cairo are stuck on two of the terror organization’s demands that Israel refuses to accept, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Thursday According to Al Youm A Sabe, Hamas demanded that all Palestinians rearrested in recent weeks who had been freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner swap be released. It also called for free entry for Gazans to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. It is those two demands that the Israeli delegation in Egypt — comprising Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s associate Yitzhak Molcho, and...

If the foreign minister thinks the prime minister is doing a lousy job, he should either shut up when outvoted or quit, not publicly undermine the PM at the height of a bitter conflict with Hamas. Israel is currently a nation at war. It has been targeted with some 1,300 rockets over the past eight days fired at its population almost everywhere in the country. Untenably, on Tuesday, Liberman sought to score points at the expense of Israelis’ faith in their leadership. Whether his prescription for Gaza is right or wrong — does Israel really want to reconquer Gaza and...

The IDF launched an investigation into the incident in which four Palestinian children were killed on a Gaza beach Wednesday afternoon. "The inquiry into the event by the IDF is ongoing at this time. Initial findings show that terror activists were in the area that was attacked and that it served as a launching point for terror activities." The IDF statement said that "it is a tragic event if innocent civilians were hurt in the incident." The military stressed that "it is important to remember the cynical use of Gaza Strip residents by Hamas who hold them as hostages has...

<p>The dismissal of Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon on Tuesday night had an immediate dampening effect on the right wing’s criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the offensive in the Gaza Strip.</p> <p>Danon was fired after publicly opposing the cabinet’s decision to accept a cease-fire with Hamas.</p>

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi on Saturday in a telephone call that has been kept secret until now, after Quartet special envoy Tony Blair urged the Egyptian leader to become more actively involved in promoting a cease-fire, diplomatic sources told Haaretz. Israel agreed to a cease-fire Tuesday morning and briefly halted its air strikes on Gaza. Hamas did not accept the terms of the truce, however, and continued firing rockets. Several hours later, Israel resumed its attacks as well. The Saturday conversation was the first between Netanyahu and al-Sissi since Israel's Operation Protective Edge began...

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi has thus far turned down appeals from Palestinians and other Arabs to work toward achieving a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian Authority [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas telephoned Sisi and urged him to intervene to achieve an "immediate ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas. Abbas later admitted that his appeal to Sisi and (other Arab leaders) had fallen on deaf ears. Sisi's decision not to intervene in the current crisis did not come as a surprise. In fact, Sisi and many Egyptians seem to be delighted that Hamas is being badly hurt. Some Egyptians are...

Palestinian and other Arab commentators are blasting Egypt's cease-fire offer this week in the Israeli-Gazan fighting, saying it was a gift to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accepted it, and a trap for Hamas, which rejected it. Azmi Bishara, the fugitive former Knesset member who now heads the Arab Center for Research and Policy in Doha, Qatar, wrote in the pan-Arab alaraby.co.uk that the offer gave no relief to Gaza, nor freedom for the Hamas members recently returned to Israeli prisons. "This Egyptian declaration represents a stab in the back to the resistance and the people of Gaza. … [T]his...

In its efforts to help arrange an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, the Palestinian Authority is set to propose to Egypt that it open the Rafah border crossing under the supervision of PA security forces, and deploy PA forces along the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign up! Israel does not oppose the idea of PA forces at Rafah, Israeli sources said. The proposal would mark a significant return of Mahmoud Abbas’s forces to positions of authority in Gaza, seven years after Hamas seized the Strip...