TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Leehee Goldenberg was having lunch at an outdoor cafe in Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest metropolis, when an air-raid siren wailed. She and other diners knew the drill: They dashed inside the coffee shop and kept away from the windows. Then, from a distance, came the boom. Minutes later, everyone was back outdoors, chatting loudly. “It’s … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — The major operation Israel launched to stop Gaza rocket fire bears some striking similarities to a punishing three-week campaign it unleashed against Hamas militants four years ago. Both began with a sudden series of airstrikes that caught Hamas off guard, included a threat to invade the coastal strip and came shortly after an American election and before … Read More
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel killed the commander of the Hamas military wing in one of some 20 airstrikes on the Gaza Strip Wednesday, the worst barrage on the Palestinian territory in four years in retaliation for renewed rocket fire on southern Israel. Gaza’s health minister said 10 people were killed, two of them young children. The Israeli … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — The use of Nazi imagery at recent anti-Israel demonstrations across Europe has fanned the flames of anti-Semitism and incited violence against Jews, the head of Israel’s Holocaust memorial said Monday. Protests against Israel’s Gaza offensive have included signs and slogans comparing Israeli soldiers to German troops, the Gaza Strip to the Auschwitz death camp and the Jewish … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli aircraft pounded 50 Hamas positions early Saturday, keeping pressure on the Islamic militant group as the country’s top leaders prepared for a crucial vote on whether to end Israel’s punishing three-week-long campaign against Gaza’s rulers. The vote on the Egyptian-brokered truce proposal follows a signing of a “memorandum of understanding” in Washington between Secretary of State … Read More
RAMON AIRFORCE BASE, Israel (AP) – Apache helicopter pilot Capt. Orr, who has flown dozens of combat missions over Gaza the past few weeks, on Tuesday said he felt sorry for civilian casualties and had aborted missions to avoid them. He and his fellow fighter pilots are responsible for the vast majority of damage and casualties in Gaza, since Israel … Read More
JERUSALEM _ Plumes of smoke engulfed a neighborhood east of Gaza City on Wednesday as Israel’s leaders considered a peace plan put forth by France and Egypt on the 12th day of their campaign to stop rocket fire into Israel. Sounds of heavy gunfire engulfed the Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City and Israel said it struck 40 Hamas targets … Read More
EREZ CROSSING, Israel (AP) —Israel allowed several hundred Palestinians with foreign passports to flee Gaza on Friday, even as its warplanes bombed a mosque it said was used to store weapons and destroyed homes of more than a dozen Hamas operatives. The evacuees told of crippling shortages of water, electricity and medicine, echoing a U.N. warning of a deepening humanitarian … Read More
ASHKELON, Israel (AP) — Israel’s crushing aerial assault on Gaza has caused a significant shift in the country’s mood, replacing lingering helplessness and frustration over Hamas rocket attacks with a sense of might and vindication. Leaders who were unpopular only a week ago have suddenly surged in the public’s esteem. But that could change quickly if the fighting drags on … Read More
ASHDOD, Israel (AP) – As rockets from Gaza reach deeper into Israel than ever before, they may be weakening what has long been a cornerstone of Middle East peace efforts — the prospect of exchanging land for peace. Israeli hard-liners have warned for many years that any territory Israel vacates will be used to attack it. Now they can point to … Read More
SDEROT, Israel (AP) — This working-class border town has been pounded with several thousand missiles fired out of Gaza since 2001. Now anxiety is mixed with satisfaction that Israel’s military is finally getting even with its tormentors. “It’s about time,” said Victor Turjeman, a 33-year-old electrician. “We’ve been waiting for this for eight years.” In that time, rockets have killed eight … Read More
ASHKELON, Israel (AP) — The largest hospital on Israel’s southern coast has gone underground. Wary of a missile strike against it from the nearby Gaza Strip, Ashkelon’s Barzilai Hospital has moved its most essential departments into an underground bomb shelter. The threat is a real one: In February a rocket from Gaza landed adjacent to the hospital’s helicopter pad and … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) –Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip will pay a “heavy price” if they continue to target Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned today, as the Israeli military wrapped up preparations for a possible invasion of the coastal territory. In Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged Israel to show restraint in a meeting with visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi … Read More