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An Indian TV crew says it was able to film Palestinian militants setting up a rocket launcher outside a Gaza hotel on Monday.
The video released by India's NDTV appears to show a three-man Hamas rocket team setting up shop in a heavily populated Gaza neighborhood. NDTV reporter Sreenivasan Jain calmly explains from the window of his hotelroom how the emergence of a blue tent became the site of suspicious activity, with men running wires within.
Jain explains that the tent disappeared after an hour and its content was seemingly covered with various bits of camouflage. The next morning Jain reports the team heard a "loud explosion and a whooshing sound" coming from the site just minutes before a 72-hour ceasefire took effect.
Throughout four weeks of fighting, Israel has said Gaza militants fired rockets from densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip, endangering the enclave's population. Though militants have launched thousands of rockets towards Israel in this conflict, both the danger related to being in the vicinity of the launchers and the clandestine manner in which they are assembled have made the sites hard to report on. The sites from which militants fired at their foe therefore often remained well-hidden. As The New York Times photojournalist Tyler Hicks explained in a recent interview about the two weeks he spent in Gaza, he never saw a launching device. "It’s as if they don’t exist," he added.
This is why it's so remarkable that the Indian crew was able to capture the site on tape. "Just as we reported the devastating consequences of Israel's offensive on Gaza's civilians, it is equally important to report on how Hamas places those very civilians at risk by firing rockets deep from the heart of civilian zones," the crew said in its report.
Head over to NDTV for more details of the report.
The White House on Friday urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume talks and do what they can to protect civilians after Egyptian-mediated negotiations failed to extend a ceasefire and rocket fire resumed.
"The United States is very concerned about today's developments in Gaza," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
"We condemn the renewed rocket fire and we are concerned about the safety and security of civilians on both sides of that conflict," he said.
Five Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since a ceasefire fell apart on Friday, a Palestinian medical official reported to Agence France Presse.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said Palestinian militants fired 35 rockets into Israel on Friday, injuring a soldier and a civilian.
The father of a ten-year old Palestinian boy, who was killed in an Israeli air strike on the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in northern Gaza City, mourns at the city's Al-Shifa hospital, on August 8, 2014. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)
Palestinian factions will remain in Cairo and press on with Egyptian-mediated talks despite the end of the ceasefire in Gaza, the head of the delegation, Fatah official Azzam Ahmed, said on Friday.
"We are not for escalation. We are ready to continue through our Egyptian brothers in negotiating to reach a final agreement that would return the rights to their owners," Ahmed said. "I mean here lifting the blockade of Gaza."
Ahmed said Palestinian negotiators were due to meet Egyptian intelligence officials, who have been mediating the talks, later in the day. He said Palestinian factions were united in their decision not to extend the 72-hour truce that ended at 0500 GMT and had been clear about their basic demands to end the conflict.
Reuters reports:
Egypt called on Friday for an immediate resumption of the ceasefire in Gaza and a return to the negotiating table, saying that only a few outstanding issues remained in negotiations it was mediating between Israel and the Palestinians.
"The foreign ministry calls on all sides to rise to their responsibilities ... and to return immediately to the ceasefire commitment and exploit the opportunity available to resume negotiations on the very limited sticking points that remain in the fastest possible time," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
BREAKING: Israel says it's resumed strikes on Gaza in response to rocket fire, after end of 3-day truce.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 8, 2014
A 72-hour cease-fire expired at 8 a.m. today, and not long after, Gaza militants began firing rockets at Israel, The Associated Press reported.
The Israeli military said at least 10 rockets had been fired at Israel since the truce ended. Prior to the attacks, a senior official for Hamas said the militant groups would not extend the cease-fire.
For more, click here.
Israel has conditionally agreed to extend a ceasefire that ended a month of fighting in Gaza beyond a Friday deadline, an Israeli official said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official did not say for how much longer Israel had agreed to extend the truce, only that: "Israel has expressed its readiness to extend the truce under its current terms," referring to the deal brokered by Egypt that took effect on Tuesday.
Hamas had no immediate comment.
IDF confirms rocket sirens in southern Israel were false alarm http://t.co/QN677jtlXE
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) August 6, 2014
ABC Foreign Editor Jon Williams reports that the IDF have confirmed the rocket sirens are sounding, but are checking to see if it is a false alarm.
#IDF confirms rocket sirens sounding on #Gaza border as Netanyahu speaks here in Jerusalem. Officials checking to see if false alarm.
— Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) August 6, 2014
Reuters reports that Israel has arrested one of the suspects in the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank in June.
Hussam Kawasme, a 40-year-old resident of the West Bank city of Hebron, was arrested on July 11 in connection with the killing of Israelis Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah, who went missing on June 12 and were discovered dead a couple of weeks later.
Their kidnapping sparked a cycle of violence that led to the month-long conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
Kawasme's arrest was made public for the first time on Tuesday in a document from an Israeli court case over whether houses belonging to him and two other suspects - who remain at large - should be destroyed as a punitive measure.
The lawyers listed as representing Kawasme were not reachable for comment.
The court document said Kawasme had admitted to helping to organize the kidnapping - securing funding from the Hamas Islamist group in Gaza and purchasing weapons which he passed on to the two other suspects who carried out the attack.
Kawasme also helped to bury the bodies of the teenagers in a plot of land he had bought a few months earlier, it said.
Israel has named the other two suspects in the case as Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha.
India's NDTV has released footage that appears to show three Palestinian militants setting up a rocket launching site in a crowded area of Gaza. The rarity of the video is remarkable, as militants in the enclave are notoriously covert in their launching operations.
NDTV journalist Sreenivasan Jain describes the scene from his neighboring balcony, narrating as blurred figures move in and out of the suspected rocket site.
Read more here.
In an interview with HuffPost UK, former British Foreign Office minister Baroness Warsi explained why she dramatically quit the government on Tuesday.
Speaking exclusively to The Huffington Post UK in her first interview since resigning on Tuesday morning, the Tory peer accused the coalition of failing to act as an "honest broker" in the Middle East and called for an immediate arms embargo against Israel.
"The British government can only play a constructive role in solving the Middle East crisis if it is an honest broker," the former Foreign Office minister said, "and at the moment I do not think it is."
Read the full story here.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Jordan has circulated a revised U.N. resolution calling for a durable cease-fire in the Gaza war and condemning "all violence and hostilities against civilians."
Jordan's new U.N. Ambassador Dina Kawar said the draft resolution was submitted to the Security Council on Tuesday in a form that could be put to a vote.
"We are in consultation with all council members and we hope by the next day or two that we come with a product," she said.
The draft resolution calls for "the sustained reopening" of crossing points into Gaza and calls on the U.N. to establish a mechanism to monitor implementation of a cease-fire agreement.
It makes no mention of Hamas or its rocketing of Israel and is likely to face an uphill struggle winning U.S. approval.
Agence France Presse reports on an initial assessment of the cost of damage to the Gaza Strip after weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Palestinian deputy economy minister Taysir Amro said "direct damages" will cost Gaza at least -6 billion in damage, and that the number will rise once further assessment of the full scale of damage is possible, according to the news agency.
Read the full story here.
People are beginning to leave UNRWA shelters in #Gaza. 4 the 1st time there is a slight decrease in numbers: 267,970 in 90 UNRWA shelters RT
— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) August 5, 2014
Our concern is that people r leaving UNRWA shelters in #Gaza & returning 2 damaged & dangerous homes. Many homes feared destroyed RT
— Chris Gunness (@ChrisGunness) August 5, 2014
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said there was "clear evidence" of war crimes by Israel during its offensive in Gaza as he met International Criminal Court prosecutors on Tuesday to push for an investigation.
Malki visited The Hague shortly after Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement that rules Gaza entered a 72-hour truce mediated by Egypt in an effort to pave the way for an extended ceasefire.
Malki said the Palestinian Authority wanted to give the ICC jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes by all sides and had discussed a timeline with prosecutors to join the court. He did not provide details.
Shajaiyah in Gaza. Staggering level of destruction. Families having to rebuild....again. pic.twitter.com/fGfykUwA4K
— Jon Donnison (@JonDonnison) August 5, 2014
Sayeeda Warsi, senior minister of state at the British Foreign Office, has tendered her resignation because she can "no longer support" the country's policy on Gaza, BBC News reported.
Warsi took to Twitter to confirm the news:
With deep regret I have this morning written to the Prime Minister & tendered my resignation. I can no longer support Govt policy on #Gaza
— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) August 5, 2014
Click here for more.
BREAKING: 3-day truce between Israel, Hamas takes effect, sets stage for talks on sustainable cease-fire
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 5, 2014
BREAKING: Israeli military: All forces will have withdrawn from Gaza by start of cease-fire at 8 a.m.
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 5, 2014
A spokesman for Hamas told Reuters that the Islamist group also agrees to a Egyptian ceasefire proposal.
"Hamas told Egypt a short while ago of its acceptance of a 72-hour period of calm," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
An Israeli official says Israel has agreed to a temporary Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, Reuters reports.
#BREAKING: Israel agrees to Egyptian ceasefire proposal: Israeli official
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 4, 2014
Egypt is urging senior Israeli and Palestinian delegations to join in talks on a permanent ceasefire for Gaza in the Egyptian capital, Reuters reports. Cairo also calls on Palestinians and Israelis to accept a proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire that would start tomorrow morning.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that the Palestinian factions have agreed to an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire that would start tomorrow morning. While Palestinians officials have said Israel agreed to the truce as well, there is no official response from the Israeli government yet.
Read more here.
Egypt, Hamas, PIJ and the Palestinian authority all confirm Gaza ceasefire tomorrow morning. The Israeli government says silent
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) August 4, 2014
Palestinian factions are in Egypt for ceasefire negotiations. There is no Israeli delegation there, Israeli officials say. #CBC #Gaza
— Derek Stoffel (@DerekStoffelCBC) August 4, 2014
Britain is investigating the possible death of one of its citizens in Gaza, Reuters reports on Monday. The country's Foreign Office said it had received reports a British national was killed in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
(Reuters) - Britain is "urgently" investigating reports that a British national was killed in Gaza over the weekend, a spokesman for the British government said on Monday.
Britain sought to establish the man's fate as a brief Israeli truce to allow aid to reach Palestinians ended amid accusations of strikes by both sides, while Jerusalem was rocked by two attacks that appeared to be a backlash against the war in Gaza.
Citing friends of the man, British media reported that an aid worker from Rochdale in northern England had been killed on Sunday during an Israeli strike on Rafah while he was delivering supplies for a hospital.
"We are aware of the reports of the death of a British national in Rafah and are urgently looking into them," a spokesman for the Foreign Office said.
#BREAKING Israel says it has destroyed all known Gaza tunnels
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) August 4, 2014
The number of displaced Palestinians seeking shelter at UN facilities has topped 270,000.
BREAKING: The number of displaced Palestinian civilians in our shelters has risen to 272,987. Our 90 shelters average 3,033 people each.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 4, 2014
A spokesperson for the Israeli army reportedly told Agence France Presse that Israel is resuming its airstrikes in Gaza.
#Israel: IDF spokesman Peter Lerner has told AFP that Israel is resuming its strikes in #Gaza after a partial 7 hour ceasefire today
— Julia Macfarlane (@juliamacfarlane) August 4, 2014
In a statement released on Monday, Human Rights Watch accused Israeli troops of having opened fire and killing several fleeing civilians in the town of Khuza'a in southern Gaza. The international human rights group says the incidents took place between July 23 and July 25.
Human Rights Watch investigated several incidents between July 23 and 25 when, local residents said, Israeli forces opened fire on civilians trying to flee Khuza’a, but no Palestinian fighters were present at the time and no firefights were taking place.
On the morning of July 23, Israeli forces ordered a group of about 100 Palestinians in Khuza’a to leave a home in which they had gathered to take shelter, family members said. The first member to leave the house, Shahid al-Najjar, had his hands up but an Israeli soldier shot him in the jaw, seriously injuring him.
Israeli soldiers detained the men and boys over age 15 in an area close to the Gaza perimeter fence. Based on statements from witnesses and news reports, some were taken to Israel for questioning. Israeli forces released others that day, in small separate groups. As one group walked unarmed to Khan Younis, Israeli soldiers fired on them, killing one and wounding two others.
Read the briefing here.
A gunmen opened fire near Jerusalem's Hebrew University, hitting a soldier in the stomach. It was the second incident in the Israeli capital this morning. Earlier, a man drove a construction vehicle into a bus.
According to a preliminary investigation of the Mt. Scopus incident, a man dressed in black shot a 20-year-old soldier in the stomach, wounding him seriously, got on a motorcycle that was waiting for him and fled the scene. A security guard standing nearby shot at the suspect, but failed to hit him. Security forces are attempting to apprehend the attacker.
Read the full story here.