Showing posts with label Ismail Haniyeh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ismail Haniyeh. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Video - France 24 Exclusive: Hamas rocket launch pad revealed near Gaza homes
FRANCE 24 has exclusive footage of a Hamas rocket launching pad that appears to prove the militant group has been firing from areas heavily populated with civilians.HT: IMRA
Terrorist group Hamas Chief Declares Victory Over Israel.
Terrorist group Hamas Chief Declares Victory Over Israel.(Matzav).
“We won,” said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in his first statement since the ceasefire on Tuesday. ”The military victory by the resistance, and the legendary strength of our people will lead us to a lifting of the blockage on the Gaza Strip,” said the former prime minister of Hamas in the Strip in a formal statement released on the terror organization’s media outlets, according to Yediot Achronot.
The Hamas chief said that Palestinian unity helped reach the agreement in Egypt. “A unified people stood behind our delegation in Cairo. We complied with all the diplomatic procedures and contacted our brothers in Qatar and Turkey and, now, in Egypt in order to end the aggression.”
Haniyeh stressed that “what the enemy could not achieve on the physical battlefield it will not achieve in the diplomatic battlefield.
The leader of Hamas’ political bureau said: “I am confident that our Egyptian and Arab brothers all want to help lift the blockage permanently. We support the unified Palestinian delegation in order to produce the most appropriate diplomatic solution and to bring about a resolution that would reflect both the immeasurable sacrifices of our people and the work of the resistance. The delegation stuck to our demands.”
Yediot Achronot reported that he added that with the start of the ceasefire “the image of destruction seen by the world is the proof to the extent of the IDF’s defeat and its failure in fighting the brave resistance.”
The Hamas political leader said the organization “will be loyal to our people who were hurt by the brutal aggression. The blood spilled by the deceased and the injured is the leadership’s responsibility, we will not abandon them.”
Thursday, July 24, 2014
"Home Sweet Home" - Hamas leader's three sisters live secretly in Israel as full citizens
"Home Sweet Home" - Hamas leader's three sisters live secretly in Israel as full citizens.(Telegraph).
Israel regards Ismail Haniyeh, the Palestinian Hamas prime minister, as an enemy of state. But three of his sisters enjoy full Israeli citizenship, having moved 30 years ago to the desert town of Tel Sheva. Some of their offspring have even served in the Israeli army, the force responsible for decades of Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, an occupation that the Islamist movement, Hamas, was founded to fight.
The Daily Telegraph tracked down the Haniyeh sisters, Kholidia, Laila and Sabah, to a town in southern Israel. That they live in Israel is a closely guarded secret and nowhere is it guarded more secretly than Tel Sheva, a town inhabited mainly by Israeli Bedouin on the edge of the Negev desert.
Another member of the clan, Yousef Abu Ruqia, 50, who works as secretary in the municipal council, explained how the Haniyeh sisters came to Tel Sheva.
"In a small community like ours there were not enough women to go round, so some of the men would go and look for wives elsewhere,'' he said.
"The Haniyeh sisters were Palestinians living in Gaza. Back then it was possible for people to visit Gaza easily, so Kholidia was the first to be married and move to Tel Sheva, and then Laila and then Sabah.''
He said he remembered the time, 25 years ago, when their younger brother, Ismail, would come to visit his sisters. "There was another brother, Khaled, who came here to work laying tiles and each year, at the holiday after Ramadan, Ismail would come and visit his brother and sisters."Read the full story here.
Here's a confirmation of the story from Carl in Jerusalem dating to 2006 :
According to the Telegraph, who tracked down the sisters, some of their children have even served in the IDF
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Turkish Jews considering leaving Turkey after, demand to apologize for 'Israeli killing of Muslims'
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| A 'man' is known by the company he keeps. |
Turkish Jews considering leaving Turkey after, demand to apologize for 'Israeli killing of Muslims'(YNet).
A Turkish daily affiliated with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoganhas called on the country's Jewish community to apologize for the Palestinian casualties of the Israeli operation in Gaza."You came here after being banished from Spain," Yeni Akit correspondent Faruk Köse wrote Wednesday in an open letter to Hakham Bashi, the chief rabbi of Turkey's Jewish community. "You have lived comfortably among us for 500 years and gotten rich at our expense. Is this your gratitude – killing Muslims? Erdogan, demand that the community leader apologize!"
Under the hashtag #zulmesessizkalamam ("I will not keep quite in light of the persecution"), Turkey's residents are urged to boycott products such as Coca-Cola (as one of its owners, Warren Buffett, supports Israel by investing in companies like Iscar) and are provided with explanations on how to spot Israeli products in local supermarkets.
"I have never felt as threatened as I have in the past year," says Linet, a textile importer. "The government is inflaming the hatred and anti-Semitism and we are simply living in fear.
"Many of those who have not left yet – and the vast majority of Jews immigrated to Europe and Israel a long time ago – are weighing their options," she adds.Hmmmm......Better leave before Erdo finds his own 'final solution'. Read the full story here.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Obama's BFF Erdogan advocates keeping terror group Hamas in Palestinian Unity Government.
Obama's BFF Erdogan advocates keeping terror group Hamas in Palestinian Unity Government.(HD).
Ankara has been attempting to mediate a cease-fire between Palestinian groups and Israel, with Foreign Minister Davutoğlu holding talks with his U.S. and Qatari counterparts, along with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Turkey is conducting “intense diplomacy” to reach a truce that will include “all players - Hamas and other Palestinian groups,” Davutoğlu said yesterday in a televised interview, criticizing the Israeli administration for not contacting the Palestinians over their unilateral cease-fire offer.
Citing his phone conversations with Abbas and Mashaal, Davutoğlu said the Palestinian side demanded a comprehensive “real” truce, negotiated with all parties and consisting of “elements of the 2012 deal, and the Gilad Shalit deal,” he said.
Davutoğlu noted that he had phone conversations with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry late on July 15, during a meeting with Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Davutoğlu also talked to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
He again urged for the opening of the Gaza port, under the monitoring of the international community, including the U.N.
“I told both Abbas and Mashaal that they should not break the unity government under any circumstances. I told them that this [Israeli campaign] was an act to destroy the unity government. They will preserve the unity government,” he stated.
Davutoğlu criticized the Europe and U.S. of taking a “pro-Israel” stance. “Europe is wary of making statements due to feelings of guilt,” he said, before also citing the influence of the “Jewish lobby in the U.S.”
He claimed that Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip were an effort to “eliminate Hamas,” adding that “if Israel thinks it can get rid of Hamas and establish an administration closer to it, then it is mistaken.” He noted that Turkey conveyed to Israel that relations between the two countries could not be normalized if “this policy of Israel continues.”Read the full story here.
US blocked 'Muslim Brotherhood den' Qatari's funds intended for Hamas employees.
"Khaled Mashal & Sheikhs attend a lavish breakfast party in #Qatar." So, this is what Marshal is doing. #PrayForGaza pic.twitter.com/DSwBSL0REW
— Dylan (@ProSyriana) July 15, 2014
US blocked 'Muslim Brotherhood den' Qatari's funds intended for Hamas employees. (TOI).A diplomatic source in the Gulf state, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Qatar had transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to Arab Bank for the salaries of some 44,000 Hamas civil servants.Those civil servants — employed by Hamas in Gaza since its takeover of the Strip in 2007 – were rendered jobless by the unity agreement with Fatah last month.
But the money was never processed by Arab Bank and delivered to Hamas, the source told The Times of Israel, due to pressure from the Americans, who consider Hamas a terror organization.
“This is strange, since funds from Qatar have never been blocked in the past,” the source said, referring to the $400 million aid package pledged by Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa during his visit to Gaza in October 2012.
Hamas’s deputy political bureau chief Moussa Abu Marzouk lambasted Arab Bank for neglecting to process the funds in comments posted on his Facebook page June 28.
“Our thanks to Qatar, which has transferred the funds to Arab Bank,” wrote Abu Marzouk, adding sarcastically that “with excessive Arabness Arab Bank has refused to receive the money.
PA President [Mahmoud Abbas] and the national unity government continue to discuss the mechanism, but there are those who continue to insist on receiving orders from the outside or implementing them before they are spoken.”
The US State Department and the Arab Bank did not respond to requests for comments on the matter.Hmmmm.....Tweet Above....You think he went to pick up the 'wages' himself? Read the full story here.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Emir of Qatar to Hamas: 'If you want my support, cut off relations with Iran, recognize Israel, give up on Jerusalem'.
Emir of Qatar to Hamas: 'If you want my support, cut off relations with Iran, recognize Israel, give up on Jerusalem'.HT: IsraelMatzav.
According to a report in a French magazine, quoting the Lebanese Al-Manar TV chain, last month's meeting between Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa,wasn't quite as cordial as the 'Palestinians' have cracked it up to be. According to the report, Khalifa told Haniyeh that if he wants support from Qatar, he must give up his alliance with Iran, and recognize Israel with a united Jerusalem (including 'east' Jerusalem). This is from an English Google translation of the French report.
According to Palestinian sources, the meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, and the Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa, ended with a disagreement about the conditions imposed by Qatar to support the Palestinian cause. Cited yesterday by the Lebanese Hezbollah chain El-Manar, these sources have reported that the emir of Qatar has suggested: "If you want to obtain economic and financial aid, you must break your alliance with Iran, enemy of Islam and Muslims "- According to these sources, the conditions set by Hamad bin Khalifa Palestinian Prime Minister were also negotiate with the" Zionist entity "without preconditions, to recognize Israel, to accept that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and abandon the recovery of the eastern part as well as to announce the end of the armed resistance and begin negotiations as the only option for resolving the Palestinian question.If this one is true, it could be huge. Read the full story here.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Obama's BFF Turkish PM Erdogan accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing.
Obama's BFF Turkish PM Erdogan accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing.(HD).Israel is guilty of conducting ethnic cleansing against Palestinians with six days of air strikes that have killed around 100 people, mostly civilians, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said today. "I was in Egypt during the weekend. This was crucial at a time when Israel is continuing its bloody attack against Gaza. The world has to understand and seriously think about it. Israel is conducting ethnic cleansing in the region. It is occupying Palestinian soil step by step and Palestinians are using their right to defense,” he told the parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), adding that they were obliged to take action over the ongoing events in Gaza.
"We have to struggle either with our hand, either with our tongue or with our heart,” he said. "If we're going to die, we have to die bravely like a man." The prime minister also called on the West to do more. "I'm appealing to the West. Nobody can say Israel is conducting self-defense. Israel is terrorizing the Middle East. Is murdering a 4-year-old child self-defense?” Erdoğan asked, noting that reforms were needed on a U.N. Security Council that the prime minister said he no longer had any confidence in. Erdoğan further addressed peace organizations, asking why organizations had not appeared in Gaza while they were following the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey. “I am speaking to peace organizations in the world. People are talking about human rights. Do atheists come to mind when [people say] human rights?” Erdoğan said. “You follow the PKK in Turkey, you come [to Turkey] for them. Why aren’t you in Gaza? We have to ask this.” Read the full story here.
‘No Twitter for Terrorists’: pro-Israel group demands Hamas tweet ban.
‘No Twitter for Terrorists’: pro-Israel group demands Hamas tweet ban.(AA).A Christian pro-Israel group has kicked off an online campaign demanding that microblogging site Twitter ban members of Hamas from using the service.
The group, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), hoped to drum up support from more than its 1 million members amid an ongoing deadly conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
The latest violence has claimed more than 100 lives in Gaza. Israel launched a massive air campaign on the Strip since last Wednesday with the declared goal of deterring Hamas’ rocket attacks.
CUFI, the largest pro-Israel group in America, begun placing their names on a letter to Twitter that demands the company “observe both the United States law and your own Terms of Service by immediately banning Hamas, the Izzadeen Al-Qassam Brigades and any related entities from operating Twitter accounts (e.g. @AlqassamBrigade),” reported the U.S.-based WND news website.
Both the Israeli army spokesperson (@IDFspokesperson) and @AlqassamBrigade began trading insults over Twitter over the past week.
On Wednesday, the IDF announced its attacks on Hamas via Twitter: “We recommend no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead.”
The message prompted a response from Hamas, with the @AlqassamBrigade tweeting: “Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves).”
The tweet was reposted (retweeted) on the microblogging network over 600 times.
Meanwhile, CUFI warns that such messages should be prohibited, pointing at the U.S. designation of Hamas as foreign terror group, which they argue should make it illegal for any U.S. corporation to provide “material support.” “By allowing Hamas to have a Twitter account, you are providing it with an important ‘service’ and extremely effective ‘communications equipment’ which are central to its primary mission of terrorizing the Israeli people and using civilian deaths to score political points,” the CUFI said in the letter to Twitter which will also be sent to the local office of the United States Attorney, the report states.
The letter also notes that Twitter’s own Terms of Service limits the operations to those who “are not a person barred from receiving services under the laws of the United States.”Read the full story here.
Monday, November 19, 2012
U.S. sends warships near Israel in case evacuation needed.
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| USS New York (LPD 21) and USS Gunston Hall |
U.S. sends warships near Israel in case evacuation needed.(Imra).By Barbara Starr.Three U.S. Navy amphibious warships are returning to the eastern Mediterranean to remain on standby in the event they are needed to assist Americans leaving Israel in the coming days, according to two U.S. officials.
The officials stressed an evacuation remains an extremely remote possibility and the Obama administration is not currently planning for one. Americans who wish to leave the region now are able to do so using commercial airlines.
But the decision to send the ships even if the event is such a remote contingency underscores the growing concern about where the Israel-Gaza conflict could be headed.
"This is due diligence. It is better to be prepared should there be a need," one official said Monday. Both officials said the ships would be used only for assisting Americans and not for any combat role.
The most immediate impact will be on the ships' crews and the estimated 2,500 Marines on board. They had been scheduled to return to Norfolk, Virginia, just after Thanksgiving; their homecoming will now be delayed several days depending on events, the officials said.
The ships involved are the USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall. At the end of last week the ships were west of Gibraltar, before the decision was made to turn them around and send them back to the eastern Mediterranean, where they will remain for now.
The U.S. military also maintains three to four ships off the coast of Israel that are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. That deployment has stretch for some months in the face of a potential ballistic threat from Iran.Read the full story here.
Watch: Hamas UAV that can reach Tel Aviv - IDF releases documentation of UAV test flight conducted by Hamas.
Watch: Hamas UAV that can reach Tel Aviv - IDF releases documentation of UAV test flight conducted by Hamas.(INN).The Israel Defense Forces Spokesman's Office released a filmed documentation of an unmanned aerial vehicle test flight conducted by Hamas on Friday.
This week, the IDF attacked a storehouse of this type of aircraft, which according to Hamas estimations, was likely to be used in the very near future.
IDF sources said that one of Hamas' most significant, strategic capabilities was destroyed following an extended period in which the Military Intelligence Directorate followed the Hamas' attempts to develop this.
The aircraft developers, like the one filmed in this clip, acquired the development and operation know-how in Iran and Syria, and Hamas invested greatly in this endeavor. The destroyed UAVs could have reached a distance of tens of kilometers from the Gaza Strip, including up to Greater Tel Aviv and north of it; covering the entire Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
The destroyed UAVs were in advanced development stages and capable of accurate attacks if equipped. They can also be used to gather high-level intelligence. The IDF called the success of this attack on the aircraft storehouse, one of Operation Pillar of Defense's most significant achievements and surprises. Eight UAV development and storage facilities were destroyed during the attacks.
Hamas invested great efforts and resources in the development of these aircrafts and called this capability a top objective. The Hamas recently conducted a test flight for one of the UAVs in an abandoned landing-field in the Gaza Strip. This is a painful intelligence-related blow to Hamas and the security establishment estimates that had the UAV not been destroyed, Hamas would have likely used it against Israel, even as a Saturday night.
The army said that this would not be the IDF's last surprise in Operation Pillars of Defense, and that additional achievements and attacks were expected.Read the full story here.
Obama puts onus on Turkey, Egypt to get Hamas to halt cross-border fire
Obama puts onus on Turkey, Egypt to get Hamas to halt cross-border fire.(HD). We're actively working with all parties in the region to see if we can end those missiles being fired without further escalation of violence in the region, Obama said during his first trip abroad since winning re-election on Nov. 6.
He noted that he had spoken regularly during the crisis with Netanyahu, with whom he has had a testy relationship.
But Obama was more pointed in talking about his conversations with Egypt's new Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, and with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who have been strongly critical of Israel's air assault on Gaza.
"What I said to President Mursi and Prime Minister Erdogan is those who champion the cause of the Palestinians should recognize that if we see a further escalation of the situation in Gaza then the likelihood of us getting back on any kind of peace track that leads to a two-state solution is going to be pushed off way into the future," he said.
With Netanyahu warning that Israel was ready to widen its offensive, Obama said his message to all leaders in the region was that Israel "has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory".
In Washington, senior U.S. lawmakers said they would be understanding of a potential Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
"If sending ground troops in is the only way they can clean out these nests of rockets being fired at them, you know, you can't blame them for doing it," Republican U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the "Fox News Sunday" program.
Asked whether Obama should put more pressure on the Egyptian government - including a threat to cut off aid - to get Hamas to stop firing rockets, Chambliss said: "He needs to exert every kind of pressure he can ... to try to make sure this doesn't escalate into a full-blown war between the Palestinians and the Israelis. And, you know, whatever that takes."
Senator Lindsey Graham, a key Republican voice on foreign policy, added a warning to Egypt.
Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" program, Graham said: "Egypt, watch what you do and how you do it. You are teetering with the (U.S.) Congress in having your aid cut off if you keep inciting violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians."
Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the United States needed to be heavily involved in the latest conflict.
"The United States obviously should be as heavily involved as it possibly can," McCain said on CBS's "Face the Nation" television show. "I'm not sure how much influence that this administration has," he said, following failed efforts in 2009 to help bridge differences between Israelis and Palestinians.
"The United States of America has got to push as hard as we can to resolve this Israeli-Palestinian issue. So many events are hinged on making that process go forward."Read the full story here.
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