Terrorist Attack on Bus in Tel Aviv; Hamas Celebrates in Gaza.

Terrorist Attack on Bus in Tel Aviv; Hamas Celebrates in Gaza.(INN).A terrorist blew blown up a Dan local bus on Shaul HaMelech street in central Tel Aviv aroun noon. Five people suffered serious injuries, and two are in serious condition while three people are in moderate conditon. No one was killed. Twenty-one people have been evacuated to Icholov Hospital, most of them with lesser injuries. Others are being treated for emotional shock. Eyewitnesses said that that the terrorist boarded the bus, placed a suspicious package there and then fled. Police said arrested one suspect, but has denied any connection with the attack. Authorities said there was no advanced warning of a terrorist attack. No terrorist group has yet taken responsibility for the attack, but Islamic Jihad and Hamas have threatened to strike anywhere in Israel. Gaza Arabs celebrated the attack, and Hamas officials said it was carried out in revenge for Israeli aerial bombings in Gaza that killed several members of one family.Read the full story here.

Video - Clinton: Our Commitment to Israel is Rock Solid.

Video - Clinton: Our Commitment to Israel is Rock Solid.(INN).U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Israel on Tuesday night for meetings with officials, in an attempt to achieve a ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Gaza.
Clinton and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made statements to the press shortly before they met one on one.
Netanyahu welcomed Clinton to Jerusalem and noted that Israel was fighting against terrorists who fire barrages of rockets against innocent civilians.
"One of the things that we are doing is trying to resist and counter a terrorist barrage which is aimed directly at our civilians and doing so by minimizing civilian casualties, whereas the terrorist enemies of Israel are doing everything in their power to maximize the number of civilian casualties," Netanyahu told Clinton. "Obviously, no country can tolerate a wanton attack on its civilians."
Secretary of State Clinton said, “President Obama asked me to come to Israel with a very clear message. America’s commitment to Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering. That is why we believe it is essential to de-escalate the situation in Gaza.
“The rocket attacks from terrorist organizations inside Gaza on these (Israeli) cities and towns must end and a broader calm restored," said Clinton.
"The goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians alike," she added.
The Secretary of State praised Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi for taking an active role in trying to achieve a ceasefire. “We appreciate President Morsi’s leadership. As a regional leader, Egypt” has the opportunity to promote the ceasefire process, she noted.
Netanyahu told Clinton he was ready to agree to a "long-term solution" as long as the rocket attacks from Gaza stopped.
"If there's a possibility of achieving a long-term solution for this problem by diplomatic means, we prefer it. But if not, I'm sure you understand that Israel will have to take every action necessary to defend its people," he said.
On Wednesday, Clinton will visit Ramallah and meet with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Read the full story here.

Gilad Sharon: Israel Should Flatten Gaza Like Hiroshima.

Gilad Sharon: Israel Should Flatten Gaza Like Hiroshima.(Matzav).Gilad Sharon, the son of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, has called for Israel to ‘flatten’ Gaza as the US flattened the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 with an atomic bomb.
Writing in The Jerusalem Post Sharon, an activist for the opposition Kadima party, said: “The residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas. The Gazans aren’t hostages; they chose this freely, and must live with the consequences.

“We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima - the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too.“There should be no electricity in Gaza, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing. Then they’d really call for a ceasefire.”

Mr Sharon, who is also a major in Israel’s reserve forces, continued: “The images from Gaza might be unpleasant - but victory would be swift, and the lives of our soldiers and civilians spared.
“Either the Gazans and their infrastructure are made to pay the price, or we reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip. Otherwise there will be no decisive victory. And we’re running out of time - we must achieve victory quickly. This needs to end quickly - with a bang, not a whimper.”
He added: “If the government isn’t prepared to go all the way on this, it will mean reoccupying the entire Gaza Strip. Not a few neighbourhoods in the suburbs, as with Cast Lead, but the entire Strip, like in Defensive Shield, so that rockets can no longer be fired.”
Sharon’s remarks triggered a storm of hostile comments on Twitter with some questioning why the newspaper published the opinion piece.Read the full story here.

Gaza truce delayed as Israel needs to respond to proposals: Hamas.

Gaza truce delayed as Israel needs to respond to proposals: Hamas.(AA).A Hamas official said on Tuesday that Egyptian efforts to broker a truce with Israel had been held up because the Israeli government had yet to respond to proposals, indicating there would be no ceasefire until Wednesday at the earliest. “The Israeli side has not responded yet, so we will not hold a (news) conference this evening and must wait until tomorrow,” Ezzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas leader, told Reuters.
“The truce is now held up because we are waiting for the Israeli side to respond,” he added in a short telephone interview. Previously, Hamas official Ayman Taha said Israel and Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that will come into force at midnight local (2200 GMT). "An agreement for calm has been reached. It will be declared at 9.00 p.m. and go into effect at midnight," Taha said. While Hamas earlier indicated that a truce could start later Tuesday, there was no confirmation from the Israeli side. But Israel said it will put a “temporary hold” on Gaza ground operation. 
On Tuesday, the Israeli army gave Gaza City residents leaflets ordering them to evacuate “immediately,” heightening fears that a ground invasion might be imminent. A Hamas official said chief Khaled Meshaal and his negotiators were currently in a meeting with the intelligence chief. “But it’s no secret we’re on the verge of an agreement,” he said.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will leave Asia on Tuesday to visit Israel, Egypt and Ramallah, stepping up U.S. efforts to avoid a worsening of the Gaza crisis, an official said. Clinton will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discuss the crisis with Egyptian and Palestinian leaders, after leaving President Barack Obama’s trip to Southeast Asia, said senior Obama aide Ben Rhodes. Obama made the decision to send Clinton after speaking to Netanyahu and twice to Mursi, after leaving East Asia summit meetings on Monday night, said Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser. News of Clinton’s trip came as Israeli leaders Tuesday discussed an Egyptian plan for a truce with Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant group, and after the death toll from Israeli raids on the enclave rose to more than 100. Senior Israeli ministers decided overnight to delay any ground invasion of the Gaza Strip to give Egyptian-led truce efforts a chance to work. Palestinian officials said Clinton would visit Ramallah in the West Bank on Wednesday morning for talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Read the full story here.

Netanyahu: Our Hand Grasps the Sword of David.

Netanyahu: Our Hand Grasps the Sword of David.(INN).Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu invoked King David in a statement Tuesday evening – signaling that he is serious about ordering an intensification of the attack on the terrorists of Gaza.

"Our hand is outstretched in peace to those of our neighbors who want to make peace with us," Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office, "and the other hand is firmly grasping the sword of David against those who wish to uproot us from this country."

This is not the first time Netanyahu has invoked King David in a statement to the world. The last time was in his pivotal "red line" speech at the UN General Assembly in September, in which he warned against letting Iran achieve nuclear weapon capability.
About two hours after a rocket fired from Gaza crashed south of Jerusalem, causing no injuries, Netanyahu said that constant pounding by the Israeli air force had exerted a heavy toll on the Hamas arsenal.
"We have already destroyed thousands of rockets and missiles aimed at Israeli citizens, including most of the long-range rockets," he said. "We continue to attack Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the rest of the terror groups."
He later met U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
AFP reported that Israeli ministers earlier decided to hold off from launching a ground incursion into Gaza to give Egyptian-led truce efforts a chance to work, according to a senior Israeli official.
"A decision was taken that for the time being there is a temporary hold on the ground incursion to give diplomacy a chance to succeed," the official said after an overnight meeting of Netanyahu's key ministers, the Forum of Nine."They discussed both the state of the diplomacy and the military operation," he said on condition of anonymity.Hmmm......."there is a temporary hold on the ground incursion."Read the full story here.

Breaking - Israel and Hamas agree to Egyptian-brokered ceasefire to begin at 22:00 GMT Tuesday.

Breaking - Israel and Hamas agree to Egyptian-brokered ceasefire to begin at 22:00 GMT Tuesday.(RT).Arabic news sources cite Hamas official Ayman Taha as saying an Egyptian brokered truce is set to be declared in Gaza at 19:00 GMT, and will go into effect at 22:00 GMT. Israel is yet to confirm that such a ceasefire deal has been brokered.

Related: ‘Ceasefire by Tuesday Night’- Sources in Israel, Egypt, Gaza say ceasefire will be declared within hours. Sources in Israel, Egypt and Gaza have said that a ceasefire will be declared in Gaza and Israel within hours. Meanwhile, the IDF's deployment and actions appear to signal an imminent ground assault into Gaza. Israeli sources said the ceasefire will be declared Tuesday night during a visit from United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The ceasefire deal will be enforced by the U.S. as well as Egypt and Israel, they said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle were involved in negotiations, they added. Meanwhile, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi told state media that Israeli “aggression” in Gaza would end Tuesday. “The farce of the Israeli aggression will end today, Tuesday, and the efforts to reach a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israelis will produce positive results within a few hours," the AFP news agency reported Morsi as saying. A Hamas official backed his words, saying, “It’s no secret we’re on the verge of an agreement.” Hamas is demanding that Israel completely lift its blockade of Gaza, he stated. Israel has opened its crossings into Gaza for the transfer of goods, but continues to impose a naval blockade on the region under agreements with the Palestinian Authority. The Islamic Jihad terrorist group also said a ceasefire would go into effect by Tuesday evening. For the time being, the IDF continues to gather reservists outside Gaza and to hit terrorist targets in the region, and Hamas continues to fire on Israeli civilians. The statements and leaks regarding a possible ceasefire could turn out to be intentional disinformation.Read the full story here.