MidEast

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Day 9: Israel Accepts UN Ceasefire; IDF Investigates Deaths; Startup Nation Goes to War

by TheTower.org Staff |

The ninth day of Operation Protective Edge is over.

Israel has committed to a five-hour United Nations-sponsored “humanitarian” ceasefire on Thursday. The Times of Israel reports:

The ceasefire, which was unilaterally agreed upon by Israel, will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the IDF said in a statement.

“This humanitarian window is meant to allow the civilian population of the Gaza Strip to engage in resupply for their humanitarian needs,” the statement said. “Should the humanitarian window be exploited by Hamas or other terror organizations for the purpose of launching attacks against Israeli civilian or military targets the IDF will respond firmly and decisively.”

Four boys were killed on a Gaza beach this afternoon. According to Haaretz, the IDF is looking into the circumstances of the tragedy.

IDF has launched an initial investigation into the incident in which four Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli bombing on Wednesday afternoon on a Gaza beach. Senior IDF officials told Haaretz that based on initial findings, it appears as though the children were killed by an air strike which targeted Hamas militants. The official said that the possibility that there was misinformation or that the strikes missed their target is being investigated.

Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, Israel has deployed three new Iron Dome batteries. Israel Hayom reports:

The Defense Ministry completed the deployment of the ninth Iron Dome battery on Tuesday. Throughout Operation Protective Edge the Israel Defense Forces has deployed the largest missile defense shield to date, with more Iron Dome batteries guarding the skies than ever before.

The seventh battery was assembled and deployed right at the beginning of the operation, launched on July 7. On Friday the Defense Ministry announced that the eighth battery was transferred to the Israeli Air Force — several months ahead of schedule. In recent days the eighth and nine batteries were deployed to deal with the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, which has reached further into Israel than ever before.

A report at the tech website Mashable discusses how war is affecting Israel’s startup sector. The article notes that Israel’s startups have an advantage because many entrepreneurs come from the military, thus “people here are more used to difficulties just by virtue of going through military service.” Still, many high-tech firms have critical employees who are young enough to be called up for military service, “creating staffing shortages.” The article tells the story of an entrepreneur, Benny Shaviv, who was traveling with his son when they heard an alert.

“We stopped on the side of the road and jumped into a ditch,” he says. Shaviv and his son, Roy, were about 500 yards from the Iron Dome, Israel’s anti-missile system on Route 4 near Tel Aviv.

“I said ‘Look Roy, here’s the Iron Dome. You know who built that? An engineer,'” Shaviv recalls. “He came home with a hell of an appreciation for what engineers do.”

A post at The Tower earlier today covered Quartet representative Tony Blair’s comment that the ceasefire plan rejected by Hamas yesterday was part of a larger plan to stabilize the situation in Gaza.

Another post covered today’s Washington Post editorial, which faulted Hamas for refusing yesterday’s ceasefire and “perpetuating the killing of its own people.”

The Tower also noted that even the “political” leadership of Hamas rejected the ceasefire: “Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh boasted that Israel’s eagerness for a ceasefire was evidence that the ‘Zionists’ were losing the war.”

Norway’s Foreign Minister experienced what Israelis do every day when he had to run into a shelter in Ashkelon due to incoming rockets.

Despite the ongoing hostilities, American support for Israel remains strong.

The IDF warned residents of northern Gaza to leave their homes in anticipation of upcoming attacks. Due to threats from Hamas, only about one-sixth of them left, validating this morning’s assessment of Hamas by the Washington Post.

[Photo: Israel Defense Forces / Flickr ]

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