Middle East Experience

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers to have the IDF responsible for the decision to end the fighting against Hamas, instead of admitting he caved into pressure by US President Joe Biden.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Netanyahu: Gaza cease-fire agreed following IDF recommendations

Emergency workers on Friday recovered five bodies and rescued around 10 survivors from the rubble of what appeared to be a tunnel in Gaza hit by Israeli bombardment, medics and witnesses said.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Raed al-Dahshan, deputy head of Gaza’s civil defense, said they were still sifting through the rubble to find more bodies, hours after a ceasefire ended 11 days of Israeli air strikes on the besieged coastal enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas.Read more:China welcomes Gaza ceasefire, calls for return to peace talksEU welcomes Gaza ceasefire, urges ‘political solution’Israel approves Gaza ceasefire after nearly two weeks of violence
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Five bodies, about ten survivors rescued in Gaza tunnel: Officials

Eleven days of relentless Israeli attacks has caused heavy damage to Gaza's factories and farmland.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Israel bombs ice cream factory in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers against any further rocket attacks following a cease-fire.In a speech hours after the truce took effect on Friday, he said, “if Hamas thinks we will tolerate a drizzle of rockets, it is wrong.” He vowed to respond with “a new level of force against any expression of aggression against communities around Gaza and any other part of Israel.”For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Israel and Hamas fought an 11-day war, their fourth since the Islamic militant group seized power in Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.Netanyahu hailed Israel’s 11-day bombardment of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza as an “exceptional success,” after a ceasefire to end the deadly conflict took effect.“We achieved our goals in the operation,” Netanyahu said, describing the campaign against Hamas and Islamic Jihad as “an exceptional success."Meanwhile, Palestinians rallied by the thousands early Friday after a cease-fire took effect in the latest Gaza war, with many viewing it as costly but clear victory for the Islamic militant group Hamas over a far more powerful Israel.The 11-day war left more than 200 dead — the vast majority Palestinians — and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. But the rocket barrages that brought life to a standstill in much of Israel were seen by many Palestinians as a bold response to perceived Israeli abuses in Jerusalem, the emotional heart of the conflict.Thousands took to the streets of Gaza as the cease-fire took hold at 2 a.m. Young men waved Palestinian and Hamas flags, passed out sweets, honked horns and set off fireworks. Spontaneous celebrations also broke out in east Jerusalem and across the occupied West Bank.An open-air market in Gaza City that was closed throughout the war reopened and shoppers could be seen stocking up on fresh tomatoes, cabbage and watermelons. Workers in orange traffic vests swept up rubble from the surrounding roads.“Life will return, because this is not the first war, and it will not be the last war,” said shop owner Ashraf Abu Mohammad. “The heart is in pain, there have been disasters, families wiped from the civil registry, and this saddens us. But this is our fate in this land, to remain patient.”There was little to celebrate in the hard-hit northern town of Beit Hanoun, where residents, many of whom had lost loved ones, surveyed the wreckage of their homes.“We see such huge destruction here, it’s the first time in history we’ve seen this,” said Azhar Nsair. “The cease-fire is for people who didn’t suffer, who didn’t lose their loved ones, whose homes were not bombed.”The mood was also somber in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced angry accusations from his right-wing base that he had halted the war too soon.Like the three previous wars between the bitter enemies, the latest round of fighting ended inconclusively. Israel claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on Hamas with hundreds of bruising airstrikes but once again was unable to halt the rockets.Hamas also claimed victory, despite the horrifying toll the war took on countless Palestinian families who lost loved ones, homes and businesses.It now faces the daunting challenge of rebuilding in a territory already suffering from high unemployment and a coronavirus outbreak.At least 243 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children and 39 women, with 1,910 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into fighters and civilians. Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl, were killed.In Gaza, rescue workers were still recovering bodies from areas that had been too dangerous to enter. The Red Crescent emergency service said it recovered five bodies in the southern town of Khan Younis on Friday, including the body of a three-year-old child.The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound, and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.The competing claims to Jerusalem lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have repeatedly triggered bouts of violence in the past.The cease-fire was brokered by neighboring Egypt after the US pressed Israel to wind down the offensive. Netanyahu announced that Israel had accepted the proposal late on Thursday, while emphasizing that “the reality on the ground will determine the future of the campaign.”US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to visit the region in the coming days “to discuss recovery efforts and working together to build better futures for Israelis and Palestinians.” the State Department said.Hamas and other militant groups fired over 4,000 rockets at Israel throughout the fighting, launching the projectiles from civilian areas at Israeli cities. Dozens of projectiles flew as far north as Tel Aviv, the country’s bustling commercial capital.Israel, meanwhile, carried out hundreds of airstrikes targeting what it said was Hamas’ military infrastructure, including a vast tunnel network.The United States, Israel’s closest and most important ally, initially backed what it said was Israel’s right to self-defense against indiscriminate rocket fire. But as the fighting dragged on and the death toll mounted, the Americans increasingly pressured Israel to stop the offensive.Biden welcomed the cease-fire. He said the US was committed to helping Israel replenish its supply of interceptor missiles and to working with the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority — not Hamas — to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.Netanyahu faced heavy criticism from members of his hawkish, nationalist base. Gideon Saar, a former ally who now leads a small party opposed to the prime minister, called the cease-fire “embarrassing.” Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, tweeted that the cease-fire was “a grave surrender to terrorism and the dictates of Hamas.”In a potentially damaging development for the Israeli leader, the Palestinian militants claimed Netanyahu had agreed to halt further Israeli actions at the Al Aqsa Mosque and to call off the planned evictions of Palestinians in the nearby Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.An Egyptian official said only that tensions in Jerusalem “will be addressed.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes negotiations and provided no details.Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group both appear to have suffered significant losses. The two groups said at least 20 of their fighters were killed, while Israel said the number was at least 160 and probably higher.Some 58,000 Palestinians sought shelter in crowded United Nations schools at a time of a coronavirus outbreak. Thousands returned to their homes as the truce took hold.Since the fighting began, Gaza’s infrastructure, already weakened by a 14-year blockade, has rapidly deteriorated, and airstrikes have damaged schools and health centers.Medical supplies, water and fuel for electricity are running low in the territory, on which Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas seized power from the Palestinian Authority in 2007. Since then, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has governed autonomous areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has limited influence in Gaza.Read more:Israel approves Gaza ceasefire after nearly two weeks of violenceFive bodies, about ten survivors rescued in Gaza tunnel: OfficialsUS President Biden publicly addresses Palestine-Israel violence for first time
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Netanyahu warns Hamas against further attacks, as Palestinians take out rally

While Israel says it destroyed much of Hamas’ underground network in the Gaza Strip, Gaza City’s mayor tells Al-Monitor strikes have destroyed roads, water stations and electricity installations.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Hamas downplays damage to tunnel network

Israeli police fired stun grenades towards Palestinians who threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at officers outside Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, just hours after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in Gaza.Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said stones were thrown at officers who were at one of the gates on standby. “Hundreds of people threw rocks and petrol bombs at police officers who responded at the scene and began dispersing the rioters,” Rosenfeld said in a statement.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“Units responded and entered the Temple Mount area. They are dealing with these disturbances in order to contain the situation,” he added.A Reuters eyewitness said Palestinians threw stones and Molotov cocktails towards police near the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, which sits atop the Old City plateau known to Muslims worldwide as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews as Temple Mount. Police also hurled stun grenades at a group of Palestinians marching through the grounds.The site is one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East conflict and a buildup of clashes there earlier in May touched off the Israel-Hamas conflict when the militant group began firing rockets from Gaza in response and Israel countered with air strikes.AFP reporters at the compound in Jerusalem’s Old City said clashes were ongoing.Police have fired rubber bullets and used stun grenades at the site, according to an AFP reporter.A ceasefire to end the Gaza hostilities appeared to be holding on Friday.Read more: Netanyahu warns Hamas against further attacks, as Palestinians take out rally
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Israeli police fire stun grenades at stone-throwing Palestinians in Jerusalem

Iran on Friday displayed a home-built combat drone that it said had a range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles), naming it “Gaza” in honor of the Palestinians’ struggle against Israel, state media reported.Iran has a large missile and drone program, regarding such weapons as an important deterrent and retaliatory force against the United States and other adversaries in the event of war.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The West sees Iran’s missiles both as a conventional military threat to regional stability and a possible delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons should Tehran develop them. Iran denies trying to build nuclear arms.The Revolutionary Guards said the new drone was capable of flying for 35 hours and carrying 13 bombs and 500 kg (1,100 lbs)of electronics equipment, the state news agency IRNA reported.The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, said the new drone was named “Gaza” in honor “of those in that land who stand today against the invasion and aggression of the Zionists (Israel”, the Guards’ website reported.Although leaders of Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have frequently praised Iran’s financial and military support, Tehran has usually not given public confirmation of its weapons supply.But Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last year hailed Tehran’s supply of arms to Palestinians.A truce between Israel and Hamas took hold on Friday after the worst violence in years.Read more: Israeli police fire stun grenades at stone-throwing Palestinians in Jerusalem
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran displays long-range drone, names it ‘Gaza’ in honor of Palestinians’ struggle

In a White House address, President Joe Biden pledged to rally international support for reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: World leaders react to Israel-Hamas cease-fire, pledge to rebuild

President Michel Aoun's letter on the government deadlock paralyzing the county was read out in Parliament Friday, but discussions over the dispatch were put off for 24 hours..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Parliament hears Aoun letter, discussions Saturday

The Israel-Palestinian ceasefire was a military success but not a political one, says Danny Ayalon..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: ‘Netanyahu rivals will use ceasefire against him’