2010 Statistics: Rocket and Mortar Fire from the Gaza Strip as of October 7th, 7 Oct 2010

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Israel Defense Forces

As of October 7th, 2010, 165 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip this year (107 Qassam rockets, 51 mortars, and 7 Grad rockets), including a Qassam rocket which was fired yesterday and a mortar launched on Friday (October 1st) from Gaza which landed in the Eshkol Regional Council. This year, September has been the month with the most rocket and mortar fire directed at Israel, as well as the month with the highest number of rocket attacks since April 2009.

However, 2010 has been the quietest year for Israel’s southern communities, which have suffered over 1,100 rocket and mortar attacks since 2002. The IDF will continue to operate against terror in order to protect the citizens of Israel. The IDF holds Hamas solely responsible for rocket fire and any other terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.

Complete statistics including the amount of rocket and mortar fire from the Gaza Strip since 2002, maps of rocket ranges and the targeted population, a comparison of rocket fire before and after Operation Cast Lead, and more are available in the Rocket Attacks section located under Facts & Figures.
source:http://idfspokesperson.com/2010/10/07/2010-statistics-rocket-and-mortar-fire-from-the-gaza-strip-as-of-october-7th-7-oct-2010/

Former Spanish PM: Israel vital for Europe

In an interview with Ynet, Jose María Aznar, who heads Friends of Israel initiative, says aim is to battle against de-legitimization

Yitzhak Benhorin
Published: 09.16.10, 08:57 / Israel News

WASHINGTON – Friends of Israel initiative, headed by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, goes to Washington. The former Spanish president said in an interview with Ynet that the residents of Israel need to know they have many friends around the world.

Aznar noted that the Israelis "are not alone" and that a decision has been made to raise awareness the common values and issues Israel shares with the Western world.

The former prime minister, who spoke in front of the the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in Washington, noted he was "worried about Israel's future" because there are people who deny Israel's right to exist, and being anti-Israeli was considered "politically correct."

Azner explained that Israel is part of the Western world, and shared its values. He stressed that most members of the initiative for Israel were not Jewish, and that the issue was not related to religion.

Aznar, 58, served as the Spanish prime minister between 1996-2004, and wrote many articles in which he claimed that "If Israel falls – Europe falls."

In his interview with Ynet, Aznar refused to comment on anti-Semitism in Europe, but said that part of the problem was with European countries' eternal politics, where a big voting public consisted of Muslim immigrants.

The former prime minister noted that the initiative has to be carried out through the long run, "Just as Churchill talked during the Second World War, we intend to talk and talk and talk."

During his speech at the Committee on Foreign Relations, Aznar said "we are not Likud or Kadima," adding that they have no intention of intervening with Israeli politics or the negotiations between Israelis and Arabs.

The project, he explained, was meant to battle de-legitimization against Israel.

"Israel is vital for our future. Protecting Israel is protecting our western values," he said.

Asnar stressed that Israel was presented in a very negative and unjust manner, and that the aim of the initiative was to develop a more normalized discussion about the Jewish State.

"In some cases we agree with Israel's policies, and in some cases we don’t – but we must not argue with Israel's right to exist," he concluded.
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3955059,00.html

Palestinian kids taught to idolize terrorists

The Palestinian Authority of "moderate" leader Mahmoud Abbas continues to teach local Arab children to idolize those who have given their lives in suicidal mass terrorist attacks against Israeli Jews.

Palestinian Media Watch reports that a number of summer camps that wrapped up this week in Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") were named after Dalal Mughrabi, the female terrorist who led the 1978 Coastal Road bus hijacking in which 37 Israelis were massacred.

Palestinian Authority official Yousuf Al-Aref remarked on a summer camp for girls in Bethlehem being named after Mughrabi, insisting that "naming such summer camps after the Shahida (martyr) Dalal Mughrabi strengthens the sense of belonging and citizenship among Palestinian girls."

The government controlled PA TV channel also enthusiastically reported on a Syrian summer camp that was named after Mughrabi where the youthful participants actually wore t-shirts with the terrorist's likeness printed on the back.

To cap off a summer of honoring the Palestinians' most successful terrorist to date, Abbas' Palestinian Authority hosted an event in Ramallah where a song was performed that glorified the Coastal Road massacre as the most "heroic" event in modern Palestinian history.

Abbas continues to maintain that there is no incitement or encourage to practice anti-Israel terrorism under his regime.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21689

IDF Force Prevents Infiltration to Israeli Community Barqan

22 July 2010 , 15:47
Overnight an IDF force identified a number of Palestinians infiltrating the Israeli community of Barqan

Overnight an IDF force identified a number of Palestinians infiltrating the Israeli community of Barqan. A night-watch that was set by the IDF because of numerous attempts made to infiltrate the community in the past few weeks identified last night's attempt. The force identified the infiltrators, one of them suspected to be armed and opened fire. One of the infiltrators died as a result, and the other escaped. IDF soldiers have been searching the area.

Following the incident, the Head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai, contacted the commanders of the Palestinian organizations and called them to conduct a joint investigation into the incident. In addition, messages were delievered to senior Palestinian officials in order to avert tention in the region. The civil administrations' call for a joint investigation was accepted and a Palestinian representative has already arrived on site. Additional details of the incident are being reviewed.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/07/2201.htm

Israel captures 'most dangerous' Arab terror cell

Israeli security officials approved for publication on Monday the recent capture of a seven-man Israeli Arab terrorist cell from the northern town of Nazareth with close ties to Al Qaeda and Global Jihad.

A top police official who spoke to The Jerusalem Post called the group, which is made up of young Arabs all in their early twenties, "one of the most dangerous cells we have uncovered."

The seven confessed to the brutal murder of an Israeli taxi driver last year, as well as numerous smaller attacks. They were also planning a series of terrorist attacks in the near future, including the abduction of Israeli soldiers.

The cell was established two years ago using Al Qaeda propaganda and teachings as its foundation. Additional information on how to prepare weapons and carry out attacks was all gleaned from the Internet.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21410

Video of Flotilla passenger: “I want to be a shahid (martyr)”

03 June 2010 , 12:21

Elana Kieffer

A passenger on board one of the vessels participating in the Gaza flotilla is interviewed by PressTV before IDF soldiers intercepted. He speaks in English, explaining how he has tried twice in the past to be a shahid (martyr). He refers to a previous convoy that he joined in hopes of being killed for a cause, but to no avail, and expresses his wish that on board this flotilla, he will succeed. The Arabic term “shahid” literally means “witness”, but is a religious term in Islam used to honor Muslims who lay down their lives to wage war for Islam.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/06/0302.htm

Breaking Footage from Mavi Marmara interception

02 June 2010 , 14:53

Elana Kieffer

Video footage shows Shayetet Naval Special Forces attempting to intercept the Mavi Marmara ship which is part of the Gaza flotilla. Passengers on board are seen throwing chains, metal pipes and a stun grenade at the soldiers while attacking them with water hoses. The passengers later use the same metal pipes to beat the soldiers who boarded the Marmara. The soldiers can be seen armed with paintball guns, to be used as a means of riot dispersal.

Five other ships arrived to the area with the flotilla, however IDF interception took place with no incident. The passengers on board these other ships cooperated nonviolently with IDF soldiers and there were no injuries.

In a special meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet held on Tuesday (June 1), it was disclosed that approximately 40 people on the upper deck of the ship with no identification wearing bullet proof vests and using weapons against the IDF soldiers are considered mercenaries of the Al Qaeda terror organization. During this special meeting it became clear that while the civillian protestors were sent to the lower deck of the ship, this group of mercenaries split into organized cells in order to combat the IDF soldiers. The cabinet places full responsibility for the incident on those who started the violence which clearly placed the soldiers' lives in danger.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/06/0202.htm

How Obama is using flotilla raid to distance US from Israel

Public condemnation of Israel over its seizure of a terrorist-supported aid flotilla to Gaza has been led by Turkey, where the ships embarked from, and has been loudest in the halls of the UN. But US President Barack Obama, too, has used the incident as a means of further distancing his administration from the Jewish state.

In his public rhetoric, Obama has refrained from condemning Israel outright, though he has leveled veiled criticism, but his actions speak far louder than his words.

The first action that demonstrated whose side Obama was taking in the matter was the canceling of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House scheduled for the day after the flotilla raid took place.

As the news of the raid broke, Netanyahu at first announced that he would remain in the US and finish his North America diplomatic tour, including his meeting with Obama. But just hours later, the Israeli leader abruptly changed his plans and said he would be returning home to "deal with the crisis."

There was no reasonable explanation for canceling the meeting, though Obama and Netanyahu tried to offer some, except for that Obama didn't want Netanyahu to use the White House as a podium from which to explain Israel's position, as that would upset those of Israel's enemies the Obama Administration is trying to make nice with.

Diplomatic sources in Washington and Jerusalem acknowledged as much to the Israeli financial newspaper Globes when they revealed that the Obama team told Netanyahu, "Don't come."

The second way in which Obama discreetly used the flotilla incident to move the US away from its traditional support of Israel was in his handling of the emergency UN Security Council session called in the wake of the confrontation.

Displaying its double standard toward Israel, the UN moved with lightning speed to set up the session and draft a resolution condemning the Jewish state. The UN's Muslim states wanted to get the session underway while Lebanon was still the acting president of the Security Council. Lebanon was scheduled to be replaced by Mexico at 12 PM on the day of the flotilla incident.

In that short space of time, the Security Council met, discussed the matter and unanimously approved a resolution that laid the blame for the almost solely on Israel. In the past, Washington has used various methods to block the Security Council from fast-tracking hostile resolutions against Israel in the aftermath of such incidents.

The Obama Administration also raised no objections when the UN Human Rights Council decided to suddenly amend its procedural rules and hold its first-ever "urgent debate," which naturally concluded with a strong condemnation of Israel.

Israeli observers and the Jewish state's true friends in America noted that while Obama did not produce any direct condemnations himself, it was his actions that enabled the international media and the UN to really skewer Israel. It is difficult to believe Obama didn't know what he was doing.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21214

Report: Gaza aid ship had Al Qaeda crew

Wednesday, June 02, 2010 Israel Today Staff

Israeli intelligence revealed during a security cabinet meeting on Wednesday that most of those who attacked the Israeli boarding party on the Miva Marmara aid ship on Monday were Al Qaeda mercenaries.

Israeli officials said that a group of 40 of the more violent passengers were found to have no identification papers when they were arrested upon arrival in Israel. Nearly all members of that particular group were equipped with bullet-proof vests, night-vision goggles and various light weapons. Each also carried the same exact amount of money as the others in his pockets.

Intelligence officials were able to determine, either through previous intelligence or through interrogation, that the 40-man group was either aligned with or was an active part of Osama bin Laden's global terrorist network.

That did not surprise the Israeli cabinet much, since it had already been discovered that one of the organizations behind the so-called "aid" flotilla was the Turkish IHH, a movement that for years has supported anti-Western and anti-Israel terrorist organizations. At certain points in the past, the IHH has aided Al Qaeda.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21215

Indictment: Terrorist charged for planning a suicide attack on a bus

11 March 2010 , 18:57

Hamas terror operative Ali Said is being charged for extensive planning of terror attacks

Tamir Yaniv

A major charge was filed recently at the Samaria Military Court against Ali Said, a Hamas activist who is blind. Said has been serving an active prison term for the past eight years. During the period of this sentence he has tried to implement a number of terror attacks with the help of his wife, who mediated by various means – letters that contained coded messages, as well as the use of mobile devices, and others – between him and the outside world. This serious affair was exposed recently through the arrest of his wife by security forces.

Some time ago, Ali Said was sentenced for ten and a half years of imprisonment, for offenses relating to his involvement in a terrorist organization, planning terrorist attacks, and manufacturing and depositing explosives. The current investigation found that he was responsible for a number of attempts to harm Israeli civilians, following which the new indictment was filed. The Military Prosecution in Samaria indicted Said for planning a suicide attack, in 2001, on a bus full of soldiers in the Shavei Shomron area, and for organizing the transfer of funds for loading a vehicle with explosives.

The money was used for the purchase of four explosives weighing 60 kg each, which were inserted into a vehicle. At the same time a suicide bomber was recruited. The defendant received intelligence information on the bus time-table, and informed the suicide bomber, who entered the explosive laden vehicle hidden before. A look-out, who stayed at a position near the road, called the terrorist and informed him of the approaching bus, but due to a malfunction with the vehicle he was delayed and was only able to start the explosive laden vehicle as a bus carrying schoolchildren drove by. The explosion caused serious damage, but the children were not injured. After the attack, the terrorist organization took responsibility for the bombing in the media.

Said tried several more times to implement terrorist attacks, while under arrest, as stated before. For this purpose, he passed on coded messages hidden in groceries, which were handed to his wife when she came to visit him in prison. Mobile devices were also used similarly.

The responsible judge at the Samaria Military Court, Maj. Dalia Kaufman, ordered the arrest of the accused until the end of the proceedings, and stated: "I found that the current crimes of which the defendant is accused prove themselves the danger of the defendant's intensive and feverish activities for the purpose of initiating the implementation of terror attacks, and even organizing funding for the planned activities."

The stage of the trial during which evidence is disclosed, is expected to begin in April 2010.
source: http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/03/1101.htm

IAF Attacks Terror Squad Preparing to Launch Rockets

The IAF struck a terrorist squad who were ready to fire rockets into Israel from Gaza. The operation was carried out jointly by the IDF and the ISA.

On Sunday (Jan. 10), in a Joint IDF and ISA operation, the IAF targeted and identified hitting a squad of terror operatives who were preparing to fire rockets from the central Gaza strip into Israel.

More than 300 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel since the end of Operation Cast lead. This is in comparison to over 3300 rockets and mortars that were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip in the whole of 2008, prior to the operation.

The IDF will not tolerate the firing of rockets by terrorist organizations at Israel and will continue to respond against any attempt to disrupt the calm in Israel's southern communities
source: http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/01/1101.htm

IAF Hits Terrorist Tunnels in Gaza Strip

03 January 2010 , 12:29

On Friday night (Jan. 1), the Israel Air Force successfully targeted two terrorist smuggling tunnels leading from the northern and southern Gaza Strip towards Israel in a joint IDF-ISA operation. The tunnels originated from a distance of approximately one kilometer from the Gazan-Israeli border, and were intended for terror operatives to enter Israel and execute a terror attack against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.

The operation was carried out in response to the firing of a rocket at the city of Netivot on Thursday evening. More than 280 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel since the end of Operation Cast Lead and more than 750 hit Israel in the whole of 2009. Throughout 2008, prior to Operation Cast Lead, over 3300 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

The IDF will not tolerate the firing of rockets by terrorist organizations at Israel and will continue to respond against any attempt to disrupt the calm in Israel's southern communities.

source: http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/01/0301.htm

USAID helping facilitate Palestinian terrorism

Billions of dollars of US taxpayers' money have been used to advance the cause of Palestinian terror groups against Israel by raising a new generation of young Arabs ready to be recruited for "martyrdom."

In an interview with Arutz 7 Radio, journalist David Bedein said his recent investigations had revealed that Palestinian school textbooks continue to praise the use of terrorist violence against Jews and to deny the legitimacy of the State of Israel.

Those textbooks and the schoolhouses where they are used have been largely paid for by USAID, an American government-funded international aid program that has pumped $2.4 billion into the Palestinian Authority over the past decade.

According to USAID, those funds have been used to "reduce poverty, improve health and education, create jobs and advance democracy." But a USAID official admitted to Bedein that his agency does not check the PA school curriculum it is funding to make sure it complies with the terms of the US-backed peace process.

Incitement to hatred and the encouragement of violence in school textbooks is a violation of Israel's existing agreements with the Palestinians and the US-authored "Road Map" to peace.

Several high-ranking US congressional leaders as well as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have chided the Palestinians in the past over the venomous textbooks, but have thus far failed to take any punitive action, or to at least reduce pressure on Israel until the Palestinians comply with their peace commitments.

USAID says it plans to invest another $153 million in US taxpayers' money into the Palestinian education system in 2010.

source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=20002

Obama appoints anti-Israel senator to head intel team

Israelis were given yet another reason to view US President Barack Obama with suspicion last week when he appointed former senator Chuck Hagel as the new head of his Intelligence Advisory Board.

Hagel has long rubbed Israel and its supporters the wrong way, and last month he reiterated his antagonistic positions when addressing the liberal Jewish lobby group J-Street. Hagel told his audience that meeting Arab demands for a Palestinian state on ancient Jewish lands is "is central, not peripheral, to U.S. vital security interests in combating terrorism."

Israel has for years been trying to impress upon Washington to not play into the terrorists hands by allowing them to define Israel's existence as justification for their actions.

Hagel also said that while the US may have a special relationship with Israel, the Middle East's only true democracy, it "must not come at the expense of our Arab relationships."

Hagel's remarks came as no surprise to those who followed his actions as a senator in recent years.

Hagel strongly criticized former President George W. Bush during his first term for refusing to meet with Yasser Arafat, while at the same time questioning the loyalty of American Jews who pushed for the US to back Israel against its enemies.

Later, Hagel refused to join an effort to convince the European Union to declare Hizballah a terrorist organization, and was one of only four senators to not sign a declaration backing Israel at the outset of the second Palestinian intifada, better known as the "Oslo War."

Israel observers are concerned that the same man will now play such a central role in shaping intelligence information before it reaches Obama, and thereby exercise tremendous influence over the president's foreign policy decisions.

source: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=19891

Israeli planes strike Gaza in response to rocket attacks

Israeli warplanes attacked terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip late Wednesday night in response to recent rocket attacks carried out against southern Israel.

The Israeli strikes focused on an arms manufacturing plant and arms smuggling tunnels running under the Gaza-Egypt border.

The brief aerial assault came just hours after Palestinian terrorists operating out of Gaza fired a rocket into southern Israel. The rocket landed near an agricultural area, and did not cause any damage or injuries.

Gaza-based terrorists have fired 55 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel over the past three months.

Source: Israel today - http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=19805

Israel fears facing US-aligned terrorist army

Few of our readers will be surprised to learn that the very same Palestinian forces being trained, armed and funded by the US government often participate in or facilitate terrorist attacks on Israelis during times of strife.

In this way, Israel has been facing US-aligned terrorist forces for years already. But many in Israel fear that problem is set to become exponentially worse in the near future.

In an investigative report, the Jerusalem branch of the Center for Near East Policy Research noted that Congress has long tried to limit the amount and quality of military aid given to the Palestinians, aware that the Fatah-ruled Palestinian Authority is only nominally a peace partner and that it seeks reconciliation with the Hamas terrorist organization.

But US President Barack Obama is increasingly obsessed with forging a Middle East peace deal, and his answer to Israeli security concerns has thus far focused on upping American development of a PA fighting force. Obama and many in his administration have also signaled that while they may not like Hamas all that much, they are willing to accept the terror group as legitimate players on the regional stage.

When the PA finally reconciles with Hamas, which still holds a majority in the Palestinian parliament, Washington will only utter vague reservations. But when Hamas and other terror groups under its umbrella start attacking Israel and Israel responds militarily, the White House is expected to react with outrage that forces it trained and paid for are caught in the crossfire.

Even worse, if there is another large-scale eruption of Palestinian violence including Fatah forces, then Israel will have to fight directly against the US-trained Palestinian troops.

"Let's say that Israel wants to go after [Fatah] terrorists – there will be a sort of American veto, because the terrorists are affiliated with the Americans," NEPR Jerusalem chief David Bedein told Israel National News. "This has extremely serious implications."

Source:Israel Today - http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=19746