Notwithstanding the death of a child, serious injuries and increasing fire from Hamas coupled with rockets from the north, Israel vows to win the war on terror.
A man wounded by shrapnel is brought to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon Sunday morning. (Photo: Edi Israel/Flash90)
While the intensity of rocket fire from Hamas increases and a four-year-old child killed by shrapnel Friday evening was laid to rest Sunday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that the terror organization “is paying and will yet pay a heavy price for the crimes that it has perpetrated.”
It was not a peaceful Sabbath in Israel, as Hamas continued to send barrages of rocket fire from Gaza into southern and central Israel and terrorists began firing at the north from Lebanon and Syria.
On Saturday evening, a rocket from Lebanon hit a building in an open area in the Upper Galilee. Overnight between Saturday and Sunday, five rockets from Syria landed in open areas in the Golan Heights. Two children were lightly injured by shrapnel and four people suffered shock.
On Sunday morning, one person was moderately injured by shrapnel. Early in the afternoon, approximately 11 mortar rounds landed near the Erez border crossing; five people were injured, two critically. Another is suffering moderate to serious wounds.
Hamas Hinders Medical Aid to Gaza Patients
“Since the start of Operation Protective Edge hundreds of civilians, injured and sick patients have been transferred through the Erez Crossing by the Crossings Point Authority (CPA) of the Ministry of Defense as part of its humanitarian assistance efforts,” the Ministry of Defense stated, adding that on Sunday, a total of 50 people had been scheduled to cross. Due to “”fire purposely aimed at the crossing…a number of Israelis that came to provide humanitarian assistance were injured.”
Grandparents of four-year-old Daniel Tragerman mourn during his funeral in southern Israel on Sunday. (Photo: Hadas Parush/Flash90)
As a result of the fire, the director of the Crossings Point Authority of the Ministry of Defense, Kamil Abu Rokan, and the coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), General Yoav Mordehai, decided to close the Erez Crossing to traffic, except for life-saving action.
“Throughout the entire operation, the staff of the Crossing Points Authority has been working around the clock to provide humanitarian assistance to the residents of the Gaza Strip, in part by facilitating the crossing of hundreds of people to hospitals in Israel through the Erez Crossing, and the transfer of more than 5,000 tons of medical equipment through the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Hamas has hurt the transfer of patients from the Gaza Strip and the provision of medical aid,” according to a statement by the Crossing Points Authority of the Ministry of Defense.
IDF Determined to Complete Mission
“I call on the residents of Gaza to immediately evacuate any building from which Hamas is carrying out terrorist activity,” Netanyahu warned at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday morning. “Any such place is a target for us. In recent days we have proven there is no immunity for those who fire at Israel’s citizens. This is true in all sectors and regarding all borders. We are determined to complete the mission. We are patient. Operation Protective Edge will continue until its goals are achieved.
“I said on the first day of the operation that it could take time and we are prepared that this campaign might continue even after the start of the school year,” he said.
Netanyahu Pledges to Help Southern Residents
Southern communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip have been moving out of their homes and away from the area.
“We will do our utmost to help you through these difficult days. At the next Cabinet meeting, we will approve an extraordinary package of assistance for your communities. We are with you and we will stay with you until quiet is achieved, and afterwards as well,” Netanyahu stated, reiterating that the goal of Operation Protective Edge is to restore quiet and security and that the operation will not end “until this goal is achieved.”
World Beginning to Realize the Essence of Hamas, PM Says
“Many states in the region and in the West are beginning to understand that this is a single front, that Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas,” Netanyahu noted. “With every passing day the world understands more and more that Hamas operates like ISIS and that ISIS operates like Hamas.”
The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the civilized world in its war against extremist and violent Islam,” he declared.
Also on Sunday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon labelled the current round of rocket fire a “war of attrition.”
“If Hamas’s leaders think they will wear us out, or if they believe we are working according to a schedule, they are wrong,” he asserted. “We’re not in any hurry. We have patience.”
Ya’alon: We Know How to Get to Hamas
“Operation Protective Edge will stop only when there is complete quiet in the south, and when rockets and mortars are no longer fired at Israel,” Ya’alon affirmed. “Until then, we will continue pounding Hamas and its infrastructure, at this stage, from the air. We don’t plan to stop there, and we have a range of options to continue harming Hamas in other ways.”
“We take advantage of every intelligence and operational opportunity to harm terrorists and their commanders, even when they are in hide-outs and surround themselves with women and children,” he added. “We know how to get to them.”
Written by: United with Israel Staff