Netanyahu: 'The Gloves Are Off': Israeli Army Instructed To 'Go All The Way' In Gaza. Hamas Warns Israel

Have we finally reached the first tipping point in the Middle East? We should have our answer fairly rapidly as things are progressing that fast in the region: 

Israeli Army Instructed To 'Go All The Way' In Gaza

With airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and rocket fire at southern Israel showing no sign of abating Tuesday, Israeli leaders warned that if the attacks didn’t stop, the IDF could launch a land invasion against Hamas, which they blame for the recent escalation in violence.

Following a meeting with the heads of Israel’s security establishment in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The gloves are off.”

“Hamas chose this escalation and will pay a heavy price,” he added.

Officials in Jerusalem told The Times of Israel that Netanyahu had therefore instructed the army to launch a “continuous, methodological, and forceful campaign” against the terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.

“The directive to the Israel Defense Forces is to be ready to go all the way,” the sources said, adding that even a ground operation was on the table.

It is likely that the IDF will call up additional reservists to prepare for a possible invasion of the strip, the sources said.

The purpose of Operation Protective Edge is to “is exact a heavy price from Hamas, to hit it hard, and to create a significant attack that that will lead to deterrence,” the sources said.

The IDF has the authority to do whatever necessary to restore quiet to the south, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch noted.

“The IDF has a free hand to act with whatever steps it determines,” he said. “The political leadership has effectively authorized everything the IDF has requested.”

“We are preparing for a campaign against Hamas which will not end within few days,” Ya’alon said at a security assessment Tuesday. “Hamas is guiding the current clash to a place where it is able to exact a price from our home front. There is a need for perseverance. Proper civilian conduct has a decisive role in our ability to avoid civilian casualties, and [do] listen to Home Front Command orders regarding proximity to and entry into safe rooms.”

As Israel continued its air offensive against targets in Gaza, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas released a statement calling on Israel to end what he called “a dangerous escalation.”

“Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas demanded Israel immediately stop its escalation and the raids on Gaza,” said a statement from his office published by the official WAFA news agency.

Israel Eyes Ground Op In Gaza; Netanyahu: 'The Gloves Are Off'

Israel launched a major operation against Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday morning, dubbed Operation Protective Edge, following heavy Hamas rocket fire over the preceding days. The fast-escalating situation in the south comes in the shadow of spiking Jewish-Arab tensions in Israel over the brutal killings of four teenagers — three Jews and one Arab — by extremists. Stay with The Times of Israel’s liveblog for updates throughout the day.

Whether or not Israel will launch a ground operation in Gaza will depend on Hamas, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni says.

“It is our duty to provide security to our citizens. The question is what’s the right way to do that. It very much depends on the extent to which Hamas will not allow Israel’s citizens to live in peace,” she declares at Haaretz’s peace conference.

Livni refuses to say whether the security cabinet, of which she is a member, currently favors a ground operation, saying merely that it is not the government’s “first choice” but that it will be weighed if need be.

Hamas Warns Israel: You Will Pay A Heavy Price

Hamas has no intention of caving in to Israel and allowing the Jewish state to “impose conditions on the Palestinian people”, its spokesman said on Monday evening.
Directly addressing Israeli citizens, the spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said, “Our people will not give in to your crimes. You will pay a heavy and painful price.”

He continued by saying that the rocket attacks from Gaza on southern Israel were a natural response to the “Israeli aggression.”
"Your threats do not frighten us and we will respond to all the crimes you have committed if you do not stop your actions," said Abu Zuhri, who added, "Israel must understand that message and internalize it."

The comments come in the wake of yet another escalation in the rocket fire from Gaza. As of 10:30 p.m., the number of rockets that were fired towards Israel stood at over 80, including over 30 rockets that were fired in a ten-minute period between 8:00 p.m. and 8:10 p.m.

New Causes For Concern At Home, In The West Bank And Facing Gaza

Israel needs to be acutely concerned about several developments over the last few hours.

First, late Sunday saw the continuation of demonstrations and violent clashes in several Arab towns and villages throughout the country. Sunday was the third successive night of Arab protests within Israel, and they’re getting worse. Carefully timed demonstrations, especially in the south — close to Omer, for example — are starting to look like rather more than spontaneous outbursts.

Arab Knesset member Ahmad Tibi said on Monday morning that these are protests by young Arabs consumed by frustration and anger, but it may well be that they are in fact being orchestrated. Anti-Israel incitement in the mosques of the Negev on Sunday appeared to have been deliberately engineered  by the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, which is close to Hamas, designed to whip up anger among the Arabs in Israel and cause protests similar to those of October 2000, at the start of what became the Second Intifada.

The second area of concern relates to the West Bank. Sunday night saw substantial protests for the first time in there too — at Al -Arub, near Hebron, at Joseph’s Tomb, near Nablus, and close to the industrial area on the outskirts of Tulkarem.

East Jerusalem...was inflamed — not just Abu Khdeir’s Shuafat neighborhood, but other neighborhoods and villages too. On Sunday night, however, the protests did spread to the West Bank. Most Palestinians in the West Bank do not want a third intifada; the Palestinian Authority, and its security forces, certainly don’t. Therefore, one must hope that the PA will be able to contain the demonstrations and maintain calm.

Third and last, we come to the relentless deterioration of the situation with Gaza. Rocket fire on the south is now routine. The slogan “quiet in return for quiet” has proved empty. Israel is doing its best to prevent escalation, responding quietly to a fairly major rocket onslaught — 30 rockets fired on the south in the course of Sunday alone.

But what changed on Sunday night was the deaths of seven Hamas fighters in the collapse of a tunnel in the Rafiah area. Hamas claims that Israel blew up the tunnel, causing the seven fatalities. But Tal Lev Ram, Army Radio’s military correspondent, reported on Monday morning that the seven were killed in a “work accident”: they entered the tunnel, which had been blown up several days ago, and while they were assessing the damage it collapsed on them.

The problem is that even if there was no Israeli strike, Hamas still insists that Israel is responsible for the deaths of its seven operatives. And the Hamas military wing consequently sees itself as obligated to escalate its response against Israel.

The journey from here to a major escalation, one that neither side actually wants, is perilously short.

U.S. Border Crisis Could Provide Cover To ISIS Operatives

The border crisis could be the perfect opportunity for Islamic terrorists looking to sneak sleeper cells into the U.S., say experts. 

Patrols on the Mexican border have been stretched to the breaking point in recent weeks by a tidal wave of immigrants from Central America. Among the estimated 60,000 people who have streamed across is a small percentage of what agents term "Special Interest Aliens," or SIAs. Terrorism experts say airport security is effective at keeping dangerous jihadists out, but the border breakdown could be America's Achilles heel - providing an entry point for groups like ISIS.

“It's impossible to say that ISIS will soon be active on our border, but some groups will be,” said retired Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, a security and defense analyst and Fox News contributor. “The one thing that all of the squabbling jihadi groups in the Middle East and North Africa have in common is that they want to strike the U.S., both for what they view as vengeance and because, in terrorist circles, striking the U.S. is how you confirm that you're a major player.”

“If you pay the cartels enough, they will sneak you across or assist in getting anything you want across the border."

- Shawn Moran, vice president and spokesperson for the Border Patrol Council

Deadly Ebola Virus 'Out Of Control' As Potential Victims Remain Untreated

IT’S a deadly virus spreading out of control and doctors fear it may travel further as hundreds of potential victims fail to come forward for help.

The current Ebola outbreak in Guinea has claimed nearly 500 lives as the UN struggles to contain it, and panic sets in across neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The UN has warned the virus, which is spread by exposure to infected bodily fluids and other secretions, has the potential to cross borders unless urgent action is taken to halt the outbreak.

Doctors say a mistrust of Western medicine and difficulty in accessing remote areas means potential sufferers are going untreated.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told the UK Telegraph that at least 1500 people who may have come into contact with infected patients have not be properly traced by authorities.

It is the first time the virus has been seen on the western edge of the African continent, with earlier Ebola outbreaks confined to central nations such as Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

MSF said the deadly virus was “out of control” in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and could soon spread beyond West Africa.

Ebola can kill within days, causing severe fever, muscle pain, weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea — and in some cases, the shutting down of organs and unstoppable bleeding.

The virus also remains contagious even if the infected person dies. It can also be passed on by unprotected handling of infected corpses.

No medicine or vaccine exists for the disease, but doctors say chances of survival are increased with early medical intervention.

Nearly 90 per cent of people who become infected with Ebola virus die as a result of exposure to the highly contagious virus.

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