Levitt Letter Extra News

www.IsraelToday.co.il

Israeli aircraft struck targets in the Gaza Strip Wednesday night, January 28, in response to several Hamas violations of a ceasefire there during the preceding 48 hours.

The Israeli strikes focused on arms smuggling tunnels running under the Gaza-Egypt border and an arms depot in the border town of Rafah. An Israeli aircraft also attacked a wanted terrorist who was involved in Tuesday’s roadside bombing along the Gaza security fence that killed one Israeli soldier and wounded three others.

Following the roadside bombing, Hamas forces fired several mortar shells into southern Israel.

On Wednesday, evening, Hamas upped the ante and fired a missile at a Jewish town. Several more missiles hit southern Israel early Thursday morning.

Later Thursday morning, prime ministerial frontrunner Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel Radio that clearly the job was not finished in Gaza before Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire 10 days ago.

www.IsraelToday.co.il

During the recent Gaza war, while all eyes were on Israel, the United Nations heedlessly repeated Palestinian accusations that Israeli forces had fired on its facilities in the Hamas-ruled territory without provocation.

Now that the war is over, and fewer people are paying attention, UN officials are admitting otherwise.

Speaking before the UN Security Council on Tuesday, January 27, UN Humanitarian Affairs Chief John Holmes blasted Hamas for making “cynical” use of public civilian facilities across Gaza during the fighting.

“The reckless and cynical use of civilian installations by Hamas and indiscriminate firing of rockets against civilian populations are clear violations of international humanitarian law,” said Holmes.

Holmes also acknowledged that it is Hamas’s meddling that is largely responsible for humanitarian aid not reaching the people of Gaza.

Unsurprisingly, the mainstream international media brushed aside most of what Holmes had to say and focused only on his call for Israel to fully throw open the border crossings into Gaza.

www.IsraelToday.co.il

The Hamas terrorist organization has agreed to an Egyptian-brokered one-year ceasefire with Israel, according to Palestinian sources who spoke to the Arab television news network Al-Arabiyah on Sunday, February 1.

Hamas officials will reportedly travel to Cairo on Monday to hammer out the last few details of the deal, after which both the terror group and Israel will announce that they have signed on to the Egyptian agreement.

At first glance, the deal appears to fail to meet at least one of Israel’s demands during last month’s Gaza war.

While it does promise an end to the incessant rocket fire on southern Israel, the deal takes Israel out of the loop in regards to security along the Egypt-Gaza border. Hamas is expected to agree to allow the deployment of forces loyal to the rival Palestinian regime of Mahmoud Abbas to man the Rafah border crossing, so long as its agents are also present.

But the deal appeared set to collapse before getting off the ground as Gaza-based terrorists fired four rockets and several mortar shells into southern Israel on Sunday.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that his government had promised to respond disproportionately to any further attacks on southern Israel, and that’s just what he intends to do.

“We won’t give the terror groups warning as to when and how we’ll react, but Israel will respond and act at the time and place of its choosing,” said Olmert.

Such threats from the Olmert government have traditionally failed to translate into action.