Nakba Day: The Violence Begins

'Nakba Day' violence strikes in W. Bank, W. Bank, Gaza, Lebanon

Some 45 Palestinian Nakba Day protesters were wounded when the IDF opened fire on the Gaza border on Sunday, according to Palestinian medics. The protesters had approached the border in northern Gaza.

Earlier Sunday, four Palestinians were arrested during a Nakba Day protest near Bethlehem. Protests were also underway in Beit Omar and Nebi Salah, and three Nakba Day demonstrators were arrested in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya for throwing stones. Police forces, with the aid of a helicopter, managed to disperse the stone-throwers who fled into the village.

Increased security in east Jerusalem and surrounding areas was expected to continue for the next few days.

Haniyeh on Nakba Day: Pray for an end to Israel

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh spoke to Muslim worshipers on Sunday morning, telling them to pray for an end to Israel.

"Palestinians mark the Nakba with great hope of bringing to an end the Zionist project in Palestine," Haniyeh told 10,000 people at Gaza City's al-Omari mosque, AP reported.

"To achieve our goals in the liberation of our occupied land, we should have one leadership," he reportedly said, praising the recent unity accord between Hamas and Fatah.

Haniyeh added that Hamas would not recognize Israel.

IDF: Northern border incidents are an 'Iranian provocation'

Four Syrians reported dead as IDF opens fire on Nakba Day rioters crossing border at Druse village of Majdal Shams; protester reportedly killed on Lebanon border; IDF spokesperson: "Iran-Hezbollah-Hamas axis very clear."

IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav "Poli" Mordechai described the incident in which pro-Palestinians demonstrators crossed from Syria into Israel as an "Iranian provocation"on Sunday.

"The radical axis of Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas is very clear," Brig.-Gen. Yoav "Poli" Mordechai told Channel 10 News.

A senior IDF officer told The Jerusalem Post that Israel views the Syrian government as responsible for the violent protests, and the IDF is trying to push back the infiltrators.

Another Israeli official said, "this is a cyclical and transparent act by the Syrian regime to create a crisis on the border with Israel in order to distract public opinion from the very real problems at home."

Hamas leader on Nakba Day: The Zionist project must end

Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip on Sunday affirmed the Islamist movement's hard-line principles in a speech to thousands of Muslim worshippers Sunday, as they commemorated the uprooting of Palestinians during the 1948 Independence Day War.

"Palestinians mark the occasion this year with great hope of bringing to an end the Zionist project in Palestine," Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza, told about 10,000 people at a Gaza City mosque.

Arab Rioters Threaten Jewish Homes During Funeral in Old City

Arab rioters attempted on Saturday to burst into several Jewish homes built in the Moscowitz housing project in eastern Jerusalem, hurling rocks and damaging Jewish property.

Hundreds of Arabs began rioting during the funeral for the teen on Saturday morning as they wound their way toward the burial ground near Jerusalem's Old City.

Nakba Day unrest continued into the later hours of the day and on into the evening. Palestinian Authority Arabs also hurled firebombs and rocks at Border Police posts near Rachel's Tomb on Saturday evening. No one was injured and no damage was reported.

Rioting continued Saturday night in eastern Jerusalem, where Arabs hurled rocks at police. Two officers who were injured were treated at the scene. Three Arabs were arrested for throwing rocks.

TA: 1 dead, 17 hurt in suspected truck terror attack

A truck driver on Sunday hit a bus and several cars in Tel Aviv, killing a 29-year-old man in what police said was a suspected terror attack.

Police said the truck struck vehicles for two kilometers from the Mesubim Junction along Bar Lev Street in Hatikva neighborhood in Tel Aviv. The man who was killed was identified as Aviv Morag and was apparently sitting in his car when he was hit by the truck.

Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld speaking at the scene of the truck rampage, said "Based on the level of destruction, and the number of people who have been injured and one person killed, it looks as if this was deliberate, but the investigation is still ongoing

The 22-year-old driver is a resident of the Arab village of Kfar Kassem.

IDF: Unrest along Israel's northern border has Iran's 'fingerprints'

The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that the unrest that erupted along Israel's northern border as protesters tried to infiltrate was stained with Iran's "fingerprints".

At least eight people were reportedly killed on Israel's borders with Lebanon and Syria, after IDF troops opened fire on masses of protesters attempting to infiltrate.

The IDF confirmed opening fire as scores of Palestinian refugees spilled into the town of Majdal Shams, which runs along Israel's border with Syria. At least four people, apparently Palestinian refugees, were killed in the incident.

Mordechai had no details on the number of casualties, but varying reports cited four fatalities. He called Sunday's unrest a provocation by Iran, an enemy of Israel that supports militant groups fighting Israel.

Debka gives its summary of these events:

Palestinians, Syrians, Hizballah smash through three Israeli borders

Israeli forces on high alert for Nakba Day, Sunday, May 15, failed to seal three national borders on the Golan, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip against large-scale incursions. Dozens of Syrians and Hizballah invaders were able to overrun the Israeli Golan village of Majd al Shams and hoist Syrian and Palestinian flags in the main square; Hizballah-sponsored Palestinian demonstrators breached the Lebanese-Israeli border and damaged IDF installations; and hundreds of Palestinians battered the Erez crossing from the Gaza Strip.

On the Syrian border, Israeli snipers and helicopters belatedly opened fire to halt the thousands attempting to cross the border, but dozens got through to Majd al Shams. Some were killed or injured by Israeli fire. Three Israel civilians were wounded. Israeli tanks were speeded to the Syrian border to halt the incident.

DEBKAfile reports that despite the high IDF border alert for Nakba Day invasions from neighboring Arab countries, Israeli forces were not deployed in sufficient strength on the Golan border, even though DEBKAfile reported Saturday, May 14 that Damascus planned trouble on the border with Israel as a diversion from the rebellion against the Assad regime.

We also quoted Bashar Assad's cousin Ramy Makhlouf as threatening Tuesday, May 10, that if the Americans and Europeans did not stop backing the Syrian anti-regime uprising, Damascus would go to war on Israel and/or arm West Bank Palestinians and Israeli Arabs for action against Israel.

While attempting to block demonstrators at Ras a-Maroun from reaching Israel, the Lebanese army is also on high alert on the Syrian border. Fighting between Syrian forces and anti-regime protesters has escalated in Syrian border villages, centering on Tall Kalakh near Homs.
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And this:

Israel Blames Syria for Mass Infiltration into Golan

Israeli military and government officials have blamed Syria for intentionally allowing hundreds of Syrian Arabs to cross into the Golan Sunday. They called themselves “Palestinians.”

At least two people were killed -- an Israel citizen and a Syrian, who was killed on the Syrian side of the border.

Estimates of those who crossed the border ranged from hundreds to 2,000 or more. Some of them said their intentions were to reach Yafo (Jaffa) as part of the Nakba Day protests against the re-establishment of Israel as a Jewish state on May 15, 1948.

The IDF explained it restrained from using force that might exacerbate the situation but had “opened fire in order to prevent the violent rioters from illegally infiltrating Israeli territory.

At this point, the main question becomes whether or not this violence represents the beginning of a larger movement, or if it was just confined to "Nakba Day". It certainly reveals how quickly forces can be assembled on all of Israel's fronts - the northern border, Golan Heights, Gaza etc. - and all happening at once.

It is also interesting to see Hamas so outspoken about the fact that they only desire an end to Israel - completely - as they continue to call for the destruction of Israel, despite the fact that the international community expects Israel to make "peace" with them and give them yet more Israeli land under the premise of "land for peace".

We've seen how the "land for peace" situation has worked out in Gaza - as missiles continue to be launched into civilian areas of Israel from Gaza. Of course these daily missile attacks are ignored by the international community - just as the repeated calls for Israel's destruction by Hamas are ignored.