Gaza Salvo Continues: Kibbutz Dining Hall Suffers Direct Hit

Gaza Salvo Continues: Kibbutz Dining Hall Suffers Direct Hit

On Friday, 4-year-old Daniel Tregerman was killed when a mortar exploded in his kibbutz in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. The fence-adjacent communities were targeted once again on Saturday, as a communal dining hall in a kibbutz in Sha'ar HaNegev suffered a direct hit from a Gaza rocket. Damage was caused to the structure, but fortunately there were no injuries.

Sirens sounded multiple times around noontime in the Sha'ar HaNegev, Sdot Negev and Eshkol Regional Councils. One rocket exploded in a small forest near one of the communities, causing a fire to erupt.

Five other rockets exploded inside communities in Eshkol, causing damage to property, including agricultural machinery, tractors and houses. One woman suffered from an anxiety attack after a rocket hit in the area. Another rocket was intercepted above Ashkelon.

Palestinian rocket attacks continued to pound southern Israel on Saturday morning, with six rockets landing in the Sdot Negev Regional Council area.   Iron Dome shot down one rocket above the council. 

On Saturday morning, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that the mortar that killed Tregerman was fired from a Palestinian Authority school that provides shelter for refugees in the Gaza Strip, and is close to an UNRWA facility.

Earlier Saturday, security officials stated that the mortar had been fired from within an UNRWA school in Gaza.

At least 130 rockets were fired at Israel on Friday in total, with one striking a road in the area of Ashdod, wounding four and putting another 25-year-old in critical condition.

Another Gaza rocket landed a direct hit on synagogue in Ashdod, lightly wounding two and putting one woman in moderate condition. Ten were treated for anxiety on the scene.

Abbas To Seek UN Deadline For Israeli 'Occupation'

Palestinian sources say PA President Mahmoud Abbas intends to ask the United Nations for a resolution that would set a deadline for the Israeli occupation. Media outlets in Qatar report that the move was discussed in meetings held in Doha between Abbas, Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani over the past two days.

The resolution that the Palestinians seek would set a timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calls for a swift resumption of the Cairo-mediated talks between Israel and the Palestinians that failed last week to put an end to the Gaza crisis.

"My main goal is for the truce talks to resume in Egypt as soon as possible to avoid more casualties and sacrifices," Abbas told a news conference after meeting Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi. 

Abbas stressed that the Egyptian proposalwill continue to serve as the basis for any such negotiations, and that Hamas has accepted the initiative.

Abbas also addressed the Palestinian bid to join the International Criminal Court, noting that the PA has already joined 15 international institutions and will continue to make efforts to access additional organizations, as has been agreed upon by the Palestinian factions.

The IDF says it has been cautioning residents of the Gaza Strip on Saturday to stay away from sites used for terrorism purposes. The military says it has been distributing the warning across the enclave via text messages, recorded messages, and leaflets.

"The IDF intends to attack terrorists and terror infrastructure across the Gaza Strip," the text of the leaflets says. "Hamas leadership, while remaining in underground hiding, disregarding the civilians' needs and wishes for tranquility, will be pursued.

"Israel is currently attacking, and will continue to attack, every area from which terror activities against Israel originate. Every house from which militant activity is carried out, will be targeted.

"For your own safety, prevent terrorists from utilizing your property for terror agendas, and stay away from every site in which terrorist organizations are operating. The IDF calls you to distance yourselves from where fire was directed at Israel.

"The IDF's campaign has not been concluded. Beware

West Poised To Join With Assad In Face Of Islamic State

Islamist forces are fighting their way into western Syria from bases further east, bringing forward the prospect of US military intervention to stop their advance. If Isis, which styles itself Islamic State, threatens to take all or part of Aleppo, establishing complete dominance over the anti-government rebels, the US may be compelled to act publicly or secretly in concert with President Bashar al-Assad, whom it has been trying to displace.

The US has already covertly assisted the Assad government by passing on intelligence about the exact location of jihadi leaders through the BND, the German intelligence service, a source has told The Independent. This may explain why Syrian aircraft and artillery have been able on occasion to target accurately rebel commanders and headquarters.

Syrian army troops are engaged in a fierce battle to hold Tabqa airbase in Raqqa province, the fall of which would open the way to Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city.

Further north, Isis has captured crucial territory that brings it close to cutting rebel supply lines between Aleppo and the Turkish border. The caliphate declared by Isis on 29 June already covers the eastern third of Syria in addition to a quarter of Iraq. It stretches from Jalawla, a town 20 miles from Iran, which the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga are trying to recapture, to towns 30 miles north of Aleppo.

The question of possible US military action in Syria, such as air strikes, jumped to the top of political agenda on Thursday when the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, General Martin Dempsey, said: “Can they [Isis] be defeated without addressing that part of the organisation that resides in Syria? The answer is no.”

He stressed that he was not predicting that the US was intending to take military action in Syria, but the US is very conscious that Isis can survive indefinitely if it has a large safe haven in Syria.

For the moment, the most pressing issue in Syria is not the elimination of Isis, but preventing its expansion after a series of victories in July and August.

The policy of the US, Britain and their allies in the region over the last three years has been to support “moderate” Syrian rebels who are supposed to fight Isis and other jihadists as well as the Assad government in Damascus.

But the Western-backed Free Syrian Army is increasingly weak and marginalised while jihadi groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham and the Islamic Front have been unable to halt the Isis assault.

Clashes Erupt In Liberia As Government Instates Ebola Quarantine

Four people were injured in clashes when soldiers opened fire and used tear gas on demonstrators in the quarantine zone in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. It’s as the world tries to contain the fatal outbreak and to find a cure for the deadly disease.

The death toll from the spreading virus mounted by 106 in just two days, and constituted 1,350 victims. In Liberia alone, 576 people have died from 972 cases, AFP reported.

The clashes broke out after the Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf quarantined the West Point and Dolo Town areas, to the east of Monrovia, and introduced a curfew.

Residents of West Point were outraged at the move, protesting, throwing stones and shouting at police. Witnesses also stated that the violence began after the security forces blocked roads to the neighborhood with tables, chairs and barbed wire. Locals told Al Jazeera they hadn’t been warned.

“I don’t have any food and we’re scared,” Alpha Barry, a local who has four children under age 13, said.

“It is inhumane,” resident Patrick Wesseh told AFP by telephone.

“They can’t suddenly lock us up without any warning, how are our children going to eat?” he added.

On Saturday, youths with clubs stormed an Ebola medical facility in West Point.

Liberia is one of the four worst-affected African countries, and fears are that the disease is spreading further: authorities in Asia said they had detained several people arriving from West Africa who are suspected to be ill with Ebola.

Currently, two Nigerian citizens who were going to Vietnam are undergoing tests in Ho Chi Minh City. In Myanmar, a local who arrived from Guinea was also being tested for Ebola.

On Tuesday, patients were also being tested for the deadly virus in the US and Spain.

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