Israeli officials issued an order Thursday for the demolition of a terrorist’s home in east Jerusalem.
The terrorist, Muhammed Naif El-Ja’abis, is the man who ran over a pedestrian and then ran an excavator into a bus. He was shot dead by police as he carried out the bus attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the resumption of the policy of destroying homes of Palestinian terrorists in response to the increasing tension in Jerusalem and the vows of Palestinians to continue their attacks on Israelis.
The policy of destruction of the homes had been discontinued a decade ago with the exception of the homes of the Hamas members who abducted and killed three Jewish teens in June.
Jerusalem’s mayor voiced his support for the order saying that all legal measures need to be used to prevent terror attacks.
The Supreme Leader of Iran has published a document that outlines a 9-step plan to eliminate Israel.
The 9 steps were also posted to the Twitter account of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The only means of bringing Israeli crimes to an end is the elimination of this regime,” Khamenei wrote. “And of course the elimination of Israel does not mean the massacre of the Jewish people in the region. The Islamic Republic has proposed a practical and logical mechanism for this to international communities.”
The statements come as Iran is negotiating with western countries regarding their nuclear program.
“Up until the day when this homicidal and infanticidal [sic] regime is eliminated through a referendum, powerful confrontation and resolute and armed resistance is the cure of this ruinous regime,” the supreme leader writes. “The only means of confronting a regime which commits crimes beyond one’s thought and imagination is a resolute and armed confrontation.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called on the western countries negotiating with Iran to step back and realize this is the goal of Iran and that under no circumstances can that nation be allowed to continue on any path that would allow them to create an atomic bomb.
In their first meeting since the 50-day Israel-Hamas war, President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a cordial tone.
Netanyahu praised President Obama for his commitment to destroy the Islamic terrorist group ISIS and his willingness to stand with Israel against Islamic terror. Obama said that Israel was dealing with a “turbulent neighborhood.”
Obama said there needs to be new and different efforts to end violence in the region.
“We have to find ways to change the status quo so that both Israeli citizens are safe … but also that we don’t have the tragedy of Palestinian children being killed as well,” Obama said.
Netanyahu also took time to praise Obama and the U.S. Congress for their support of more funding for the Iron Dome rocket defense system. The PM said the system saved “so many lives” during the conflict with Hamas.
However, the PM took a more aggressive tone when he said that further steps need to be taken to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called out the hypocrisy of world leaders in condemning and attacking the Islamic terrorist group ISIS while not seeing the similarities between ISIS and Hamas.
Netanyahu spoke to the general assembly of the United Nations on Monday.
“Last week, many of the countries represented here rightly applauded President Obama for leading the effort to confront ISIS, and yet weeks before, some of these same countries, the same countries that now support confronting ISIS, opposed Israel for confronting Hamas. They evidently don’t understand that ISIS and Hamas are branches of the same poisonous tree,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu laid out the similarities between the groups including their expressed desire to destroy the nation of Israel.
“As Hamas’ charter makes clear, Hamas’ immediate goal is to destroy Israel, but Hamas has a broader objective. They also want a caliphate. Hamas shares the global ambitions of its fellow militant Islamists, and that’s why its supporters wildly cheered in the streets of Gaza as thousands of Americans were murdered in 9/11, and that’s why its leaders condemn the United States for killing Osama bin Laden whom they praised as a holy warrior,’ Netanyahu explained.
Netanyahu said that ISIS must be destroyed and that Israel will back the effort to eliminate the extremist group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will step up and be a part of the international coalition to destroy the Islamic terrorist group Islamic State.
Netanyahu addressed the statements of President Obama in an address where he also warned Iran against acquiring nuclear weapons. Netanyahu said that Islamic State is no different than terror groups like Hamas, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and al-Shabab.
“These groups must be fought. They must be rolled back and they must ultimately be defeated. That’s why Israel fully supports President Obama’s call for united actions against ISIS,” Netanyahu said.
“All civilized countries should stand together in the fight against the radical terrorism currently sweeping the Middle East, Netanyahu added. “And we are playing our part in this continued effort. Some of the things are known; some of the things are less known.”
Netanyahu said to the Muslims around the world they need to realize that Israel is an ally against Islamic extremism and that perhaps some Arab nations need to re-evaluate their relationships with Israel.
“They understand Israel is not their enemy but their ally in the fight against this common enemy. I believe that presents an opportunity for cooperation and perhaps an opportunity for peace.”
Israel’s Channel 2 is reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a line before the start of Operation Protective Edge regarding the release of prisoners in peace deals with the terrorist group Hamas or anyone negotiating on their behalf.
Netanyahu said anyone convicted of terrorist acts would not be eligible for release from prison in any negotiation.
Netanyahu’s reasoning said despite the public statements by Palestinian leaders condemning the killing of three kidnapped Israeli teens, the celebratory welcome given to terrorists released as part of a previous peace deal conflict with the words.
The edict of the Prime Minister is expected to make peace negotiations more difficult over the next few months. Prisoner releases along with a freeze on construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank were demands of Palestinians for peace talks.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly is going to seek approval from the Arab League to offer a nine-month negotiation process to create a Palestinian state.
Israel responded to the Hamas breaking of a ceasefire by launching an assault on a building that was housing a group of Hamas leadership.
Hamas confirmed the deaths of the officials.
Mohammed Abu Shammala, Raed al-Attar and Mohammed Barhoum were inside a four-story building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike. The IDF said the home was targeted specifically as part of the response to the Hamas assault.
Palestinian Authority health officials in Rafah say that dozens of other people are still missing.
Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the situation during a public statement that Operation Protective Edge is not over despite the recent ceasefire. He said that the response is going to be a “continuous campaign.”
Hamas vowed revenge.
“The assassinations of the three Qassam leaders is a grave crime. But it will not break our people and Israel will pay the price for it,” a Hamas statement read.
The terrorist group Hamas has once again broken a ceasefire, the eleventh that the group has either rejected or violated.
Rockets from the terrorists rained down on Beersheba during the mid-afternoon local time. Explosions were also seen near Ashdod and Ashkelon within an hour after the initial attack on Beersheba.
“Today’s rocket attack on Be’er Sheva is a grave and direct violation of the ceasefire to which Hamas committed itself,” Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Netanyahu, posted on Twitter. “They shoot rockets into Israel yet demand a more normal relationship? They must first commit to non-violence.”
The Israeli Defense Forces were organizing a response that was scheduled to begin toward the evening hours on Tuesday. Initial reports showed movement toward the northern part of Gaza and at vessels in the waters near northern Gaza.
The negotiating team in Cairo has been recalled to Israel because of the attack according to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office.
Sources close to the Cairo negotiations between Israel and terrorist group Hamas indicate that the current cease-fire is being extended for a few days rather than a long-term peace deal.
The move is being pushed by the Palestinian Authority in an attempt to keep Hamas from launching a new round of terror attacks on Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not comment on the details of the negotiations or the possibility of an extension of the current cease-fire. However, he did say that if Hamas were to start a new round of hostilities that Israel would respond with their strongest actions to date.
“We are preparing for any outcome — the Israeli team was instructed to insist firmly on Israel’s security needs, and the IDF is gearing up for a very forceful response if the fire resumes,” he says.
The Israeli Defense Forces moved additional troops into the southern territory in an apparent move to be ready for a quick strike should Hamas resume terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process is appealing to Gaza residents to back the Palestinian Authority.
“Right now, Gaza urgently needs houses, hospitals and schools – not rockets, tunnels and conflict,” Robert Serry told reporters.
