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1. 'Rabbi Covered Wife with Tallit'
by Gil Ronen
Details of the tragic aftermath of the terrorist massacre in Mumbai's Chabad House have become available.
WARNING: some readers may find the descriptions disturbing.
The bodies of Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, and kashrus inspector Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum, were found in the Mumbai Chabad House library, with holy books in front of them. According to ZAKA emergency service, the body of the Rabbi's wife Rivka was found covered with a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl), which her husband had managed to cover her with.
The bodies of the two other women who were killed along with Rivka Holtzberg were found tied with telephone cables. The women had apparently been bound before they were killed.
Rabbi Holzberg in Mumbai (2nd from right)
Flash 90
ZAKA volunteers in Mumbai Chabad House
ZAKA
ZAKA prevent autopsies
"After security forces completed the takeover of the Chabad House, ZAKA volunteers undertook the task of locating and extricating the bodies of the missing," ZAKA announced. "Six bodies were located and extricated during the course of the Sabbath. The operation was undertaken among the ruins despite risk of life, and the danger from exposed grenades," the hareidi-run group said.
ZAKA emissaries reportedly struggled through the Sabbath to prevent the bodies of the Jewish victims from being taken by local authorities for autopsies.
The sole terrorist who survived the Mumbai attacks told police that the attack on Chabad House was part of the squads' original plan. The terrorists planned to take hostages from the hotels and Chabad House and then use them to bargain for safe passage out of Mumbai, according to the Times of India.
Israeli pathologist being sent
Israeli officials said Saturday night that it appeared that Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife Rivka were killed during the first hours of the takeover of Beit Chabad by terrorists.
Voice of Israel Radio reported that nine bodies were found in Mumbai's Chabad House, and apparently seven were Israeli. Three have not yet been identified. Israel is sending a forensic pathology specialist to Mumbai to assist in the identification.
Comment on this story
by Gil Ronen
Details of the tragic aftermath of the terrorist massacre in Mumbai's Chabad House have become available.
WARNING: some readers may find the descriptions disturbing.
The bodies of Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, and kashrus inspector Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum, were found in the Mumbai Chabad House library, with holy books in front of them. According to ZAKA emergency service, the body of the Rabbi's wife Rivka was found covered with a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl), which her husband had managed to cover her with.
The bodies of the two other women who were killed along with Rivka Holtzberg were found tied with telephone cables. The women had apparently been bound before they were killed.
Rabbi Holzberg in Mumbai (2nd from right)
Flash 90
ZAKA volunteers in Mumbai Chabad House
ZAKA
ZAKA prevent autopsies
"After security forces completed the takeover of the Chabad House, ZAKA volunteers undertook the task of locating and extricating the bodies of the missing," ZAKA announced. "Six bodies were located and extricated during the course of the Sabbath. The operation was undertaken among the ruins despite risk of life, and the danger from exposed grenades," the hareidi-run group said.
ZAKA emissaries reportedly struggled through the Sabbath to prevent the bodies of the Jewish victims from being taken by local authorities for autopsies.
The sole terrorist who survived the Mumbai attacks told police that the attack on Chabad House was part of the squads' original plan. The terrorists planned to take hostages from the hotels and Chabad House and then use them to bargain for safe passage out of Mumbai, according to the Times of India.
Israeli pathologist being sent
Israeli officials said Saturday night that it appeared that Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife Rivka were killed during the first hours of the takeover of Beit Chabad by terrorists.
Voice of Israel Radio reported that nine bodies were found in Mumbai's Chabad House, and apparently seven were Israeli. Three have not yet been identified. Israel is sending a forensic pathology specialist to Mumbai to assist in the identification.
Comment on this story
2. 'Bring Our Mumbai Martyrs Home'
by Hana Levi Julian
Foreign Ministry officials say the bodies of Rabbi Gavriel and Rebetzen Rivka Holtzberg are not being delayed at this point by anything other than typical flight scheduling problems. "A plane already left Mumbai today," said spokesman Yossi Levi. "We are not sure it will be possible to arrange for another one later in the day. We are trying, but we will see."
The families of the Holtzbergs had requested that Indian and Israeli authorities expedite the return of their loved ones' bodies so they may be buried promptly in accordance with Jewish law.
Both were savagely murdered last week by Islamist terrorists along with six other Jews in the Chabad House they ran in Mumbai, India.
The attack, part of a multi-site massacre that targeted 10 different sites in the city, left at least 174 dead and more than 300 wounded, including at least eight Jews, six of whom were Israelis. Four Israelis still remain unaccounted for, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi.
Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman, Rivka's uncle, spoke with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, asking her to take action to ensure a speedy return of his niece's body and that of her husband, as well as those of the others who were murdered. "Our family requests that you do not wait," he said. "The plane should return with the bodies of the martyrs immediately."
Rivka's parents, Rabbi Shimon and Rebetzin Yehudit Rosenberg, are both currently in India with their small grandson, Moshe Tzvi, who was rescued from the pogrom by his nanny, Sandra Samuel.
"We Jews believe that it is forbidden to delay a funeral," the Rosenbergs explained to media in India. "We ask that they be brought to burial in Israel immediately.
Amidst the Preparations, Moshe Tzvi Needs His Nanny
While preparations and travel plans are being debated and made, two-year-old Moshe Tzvi wants only his nanny.
The toddler responds only to the Indian babysitter in whose arms he escaped the shattering bloodbath and bullets that transformed his world last week. "In the evening his mother always puts him to sleep and now he doesn't understand what's going on," explained Samuel to reporters. "It was terrible, there were explosions everywhere, gunfire… they tried to shoot me."
Traumatized and bereft of his mother and father, Moshe is unwilling to be separated from the only person left with whom he has a connection to his former life.
His grandparents and the rest of his family agree, as does the Chassidic movement his parents represented in Mumbai when their Nariman Chabad House was attacked by Islamist terrorists.
Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman Rabbi Menachem Brod said in a statement that the grandparents on both sides feel that Moshe Tzvi's nanny should be allowed to accompany him back to Israel. "But there is paperwork to arrange," he pointed out. "We ask the government to work towards bringing her here."
The Foreign Ministry told Israel National News that it was preparing its response to the question of whether the nanny would be allowed to come to Israel and would have an answer shortly.
Comment on this story
by Hana Levi Julian
Foreign Ministry officials say the bodies of Rabbi Gavriel and Rebetzen Rivka Holtzberg are not being delayed at this point by anything other than typical flight scheduling problems. "A plane already left Mumbai today," said spokesman Yossi Levi. "We are not sure it will be possible to arrange for another one later in the day. We are trying, but we will see."
The families of the Holtzbergs had requested that Indian and Israeli authorities expedite the return of their loved ones' bodies so they may be buried promptly in accordance with Jewish law.
Both were savagely murdered last week by Islamist terrorists along with six other Jews in the Chabad House they ran in Mumbai, India.
The attack, part of a multi-site massacre that targeted 10 different sites in the city, left at least 174 dead and more than 300 wounded, including at least eight Jews, six of whom were Israelis. Four Israelis still remain unaccounted for, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levi.
Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman, Rivka's uncle, spoke with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, asking her to take action to ensure a speedy return of his niece's body and that of her husband, as well as those of the others who were murdered. "Our family requests that you do not wait," he said. "The plane should return with the bodies of the martyrs immediately."
Rivka's parents, Rabbi Shimon and Rebetzin Yehudit Rosenberg, are both currently in India with their small grandson, Moshe Tzvi, who was rescued from the pogrom by his nanny, Sandra Samuel.
"We Jews believe that it is forbidden to delay a funeral," the Rosenbergs explained to media in India. "We ask that they be brought to burial in Israel immediately.
Amidst the Preparations, Moshe Tzvi Needs His Nanny
While preparations and travel plans are being debated and made, two-year-old Moshe Tzvi wants only his nanny.
The toddler responds only to the Indian babysitter in whose arms he escaped the shattering bloodbath and bullets that transformed his world last week. "In the evening his mother always puts him to sleep and now he doesn't understand what's going on," explained Samuel to reporters. "It was terrible, there were explosions everywhere, gunfire… they tried to shoot me."
Traumatized and bereft of his mother and father, Moshe is unwilling to be separated from the only person left with whom he has a connection to his former life.
His grandparents and the rest of his family agree, as does the Chassidic movement his parents represented in Mumbai when their Nariman Chabad House was attacked by Islamist terrorists.
Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman Rabbi Menachem Brod said in a statement that the grandparents on both sides feel that Moshe Tzvi's nanny should be allowed to accompany him back to Israel. "But there is paperwork to arrange," he pointed out. "We ask the government to work towards bringing her here."
The Foreign Ministry told Israel National News that it was preparing its response to the question of whether the nanny would be allowed to come to Israel and would have an answer shortly.
Comment on this story
3. Holtzberg Burials on Mon or Tues
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who were brutally murdered in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, will be buried in Israel on Monday or Tuesday. The funerals will begin at the 770 Kfar Chabad Center, 7 miles southwest of Tel Aviv.
Both victims were born in Israel, but Rabbi Holtzberg lived several years as a teenager in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where he learned to be a kosher slaughterer of animals [shoche. He and his wife were Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, since 2003, where they opened the Chabad House that served as a haven for Jewish visitors from all over the world.
Her father is the head of the world-famous Migdal Or Girl's School in Migdal HaEmek, located in the Lower Galilee.
Rabbi Moshe J. Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the education branch of the Chabad-Lubavitch Movement at its World Headquarters in Brooklyn, told reporters that Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife Rivka "gave up the comforts of the West in order to spread Jewish pride in a corner of the world that was a frequent stop for throngs of Israeli tourists. Their selfless love will live on with all the people they touched. We will continue the work they started."
The Muslim terrorists, apparently associated with the international Al Qaeda terror organization, killed the couple shortly after the beginning of the attack Wednesday night but were not eliminated by Indian commandos until shortly before the Sabbath began Friday night.
The couple was known for their warmth, Torah scholarship and hospitality at the five-story Chabad House, known as the Nariman House and which was a "home away from home" for Jewish businessmen, Israeli backpackers and Indian Jews.
Chabad-Lubavitch Chairman of Educational and Social Services, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, said that "the targeting by terrorists of foreign nationals underscores the need for governments to work collectively to fight terrorism resolutely and effectively, so that the hands of those seeking to destroy life and disrupt peace will no longer reach their targets."
The Mumbai attacks, which were described as a pogrom by American radio newscaster John Batchelor, claimed more than 200 victims.
One of those who was saved was the Holtzberg's only living child, Moshe, who was two years old on the Sabbath. The cook at the Chabad House snatched him and ran out of the building after the terrorists had taken his parents as hostage in their top floor apartment. The boy's clothes were drenched in blood. The family is no stranger to tragedy: the couple's oldest son was only three years old when he died of an illness a little over two years ago.
Moshe was gathered to his family by Rivka Holtzberg’s parents, Rabbi Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg, on Friday after they rushed to Mumbai from Israel following initial news of the attack.
Chabad emissaries organized Sabbath and meals and prayers for visiting Israelis in another location. The Chabad House suffered heavy damage from rocket-propelled grenades fired by Indian forces at the terrorists.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who were brutally murdered in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, will be buried in Israel on Monday or Tuesday. The funerals will begin at the 770 Kfar Chabad Center, 7 miles southwest of Tel Aviv.
Both victims were born in Israel, but Rabbi Holtzberg lived several years as a teenager in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where he learned to be a kosher slaughterer of animals [shoche. He and his wife were Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, since 2003, where they opened the Chabad House that served as a haven for Jewish visitors from all over the world.
Her father is the head of the world-famous Migdal Or Girl's School in Migdal HaEmek, located in the Lower Galilee.
Rabbi Moshe J. Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the education branch of the Chabad-Lubavitch Movement at its World Headquarters in Brooklyn, told reporters that Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife Rivka "gave up the comforts of the West in order to spread Jewish pride in a corner of the world that was a frequent stop for throngs of Israeli tourists. Their selfless love will live on with all the people they touched. We will continue the work they started."
The Muslim terrorists, apparently associated with the international Al Qaeda terror organization, killed the couple shortly after the beginning of the attack Wednesday night but were not eliminated by Indian commandos until shortly before the Sabbath began Friday night.
The couple was known for their warmth, Torah scholarship and hospitality at the five-story Chabad House, known as the Nariman House and which was a "home away from home" for Jewish businessmen, Israeli backpackers and Indian Jews.
Chabad-Lubavitch Chairman of Educational and Social Services, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, said that "the targeting by terrorists of foreign nationals underscores the need for governments to work collectively to fight terrorism resolutely and effectively, so that the hands of those seeking to destroy life and disrupt peace will no longer reach their targets."
The Mumbai attacks, which were described as a pogrom by American radio newscaster John Batchelor, claimed more than 200 victims.
One of those who was saved was the Holtzberg's only living child, Moshe, who was two years old on the Sabbath. The cook at the Chabad House snatched him and ran out of the building after the terrorists had taken his parents as hostage in their top floor apartment. The boy's clothes were drenched in blood. The family is no stranger to tragedy: the couple's oldest son was only three years old when he died of an illness a little over two years ago.
Moshe was gathered to his family by Rivka Holtzberg’s parents, Rabbi Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg, on Friday after they rushed to Mumbai from Israel following initial news of the attack.
Chabad emissaries organized Sabbath and meals and prayers for visiting Israelis in another location. The Chabad House suffered heavy damage from rocket-propelled grenades fired by Indian forces at the terrorists.
Comment on this story
4. Mayor: Olmert is Dividing J'lem
by Hillel Fendel
Outgoing Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski says that Olmert’s policies in Jerusalem manifest his desire to split the city.
Speaking with the Israeli business site "Globes" just days before Mayor Lupolianski is to leave office, the smiling, easy-going hareidi-religious public official had harsh words for his predecessor – though spiced with compliments.
“When we talk about keeping the city unified,” Lupolianski said, “it must be clear that this cannot be done in a city that has such wide gaps [between the Jewish and Arab sector. But the government is, de facto, dividing the city.”
The Globes interviewer then fed him a leading question: “Perhaps the government is not giving money for the eastern parts of the city because they want to divide the city, as Olmert, Ramon and others have said?”
“That’s true, they said that,” Lupolianski said. “But the situation at present is the worst of all. You have the authority and the responsibility? You have a thesis in which you believe? So either implement it, or invest money to reduce the tremendous gap. You want to [give awa the eastern neighborhoods? So do it. But you can’t hold the rope by both ends. As long as I, as Mayor of Jerusalem, and the government of Israel are responsible for bringing running water and municipal services to the residents, we have to make sure the conditions for Jews and Arabs are the same, and put an end to the terrible situation that we now have.”
Lupolianski does not feel that Olmert – his predecessor in the Jerusalem City Hall – withheld the monies in order to make Lupolianski look bad: “I don’t think he thinks that way. Rather it appears to me that part of what he was thinking was that the city has to be divided and that we have to get rid of those neighborhoods.” Lupolianski feels that all in all, Olmert was a “good mayor” who succeeded in improving the city’s infrastructures.
Jerusalem Affairs Minister Eitan Took One Tour
Asked why the Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Rafi Eitan, did not help, Lupolianski said that he was given the distinct impression that Eitan invested much more time and effort into his position as Minister for Pensioner Affairs, and in fact took part in only one official tour of the city. Minister Eitan's office stated that Eitan is “primarily the Pensioner Affairs Minister, and therefore his main mission is taking care of pensioners’ problems, including those of Mr. Lupolianski after he retires.”
Temple Mount
Lupolianski himself has spoken out strongly on behalf of keeping Jerusalem unified – though he does not believe in changing the status quo on the Temple Mount.
On Barkat
The outgoing mayor has nice words to say about his successor Nir Barkat: “When I defeated him in the elections five years ago [Lupolianski did not run in the most recent elections, earlier this month – ed, I thought he would leave politics. Why would a successful hi-tech businessman want to spend five years in the opposition at City Hall? But he surprised me; he came to meetings, and showed dedication and adherence to the goal – and in the end, he won and became Mayor. He will have to learn, as I did, but I think he has the potential, and if he does so, he has a good chance at succeeding.”
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
Outgoing Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski says that Olmert’s policies in Jerusalem manifest his desire to split the city.
Speaking with the Israeli business site "Globes" just days before Mayor Lupolianski is to leave office, the smiling, easy-going hareidi-religious public official had harsh words for his predecessor – though spiced with compliments.
“When we talk about keeping the city unified,” Lupolianski said, “it must be clear that this cannot be done in a city that has such wide gaps [between the Jewish and Arab sector. But the government is, de facto, dividing the city.”
The Globes interviewer then fed him a leading question: “Perhaps the government is not giving money for the eastern parts of the city because they want to divide the city, as Olmert, Ramon and others have said?”
“That’s true, they said that,” Lupolianski said. “But the situation at present is the worst of all. You have the authority and the responsibility? You have a thesis in which you believe? So either implement it, or invest money to reduce the tremendous gap. You want to [give awa the eastern neighborhoods? So do it. But you can’t hold the rope by both ends. As long as I, as Mayor of Jerusalem, and the government of Israel are responsible for bringing running water and municipal services to the residents, we have to make sure the conditions for Jews and Arabs are the same, and put an end to the terrible situation that we now have.”
Lupolianski does not feel that Olmert – his predecessor in the Jerusalem City Hall – withheld the monies in order to make Lupolianski look bad: “I don’t think he thinks that way. Rather it appears to me that part of what he was thinking was that the city has to be divided and that we have to get rid of those neighborhoods.” Lupolianski feels that all in all, Olmert was a “good mayor” who succeeded in improving the city’s infrastructures.
Jerusalem Affairs Minister Eitan Took One Tour
Asked why the Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Rafi Eitan, did not help, Lupolianski said that he was given the distinct impression that Eitan invested much more time and effort into his position as Minister for Pensioner Affairs, and in fact took part in only one official tour of the city. Minister Eitan's office stated that Eitan is “primarily the Pensioner Affairs Minister, and therefore his main mission is taking care of pensioners’ problems, including those of Mr. Lupolianski after he retires.”
Temple Mount
Lupolianski himself has spoken out strongly on behalf of keeping Jerusalem unified – though he does not believe in changing the status quo on the Temple Mount.
On Barkat
The outgoing mayor has nice words to say about his successor Nir Barkat: “When I defeated him in the elections five years ago [Lupolianski did not run in the most recent elections, earlier this month – ed, I thought he would leave politics. Why would a successful hi-tech businessman want to spend five years in the opposition at City Hall? But he surprised me; he came to meetings, and showed dedication and adherence to the goal – and in the end, he won and became Mayor. He will have to learn, as I did, but I think he has the potential, and if he does so, he has a good chance at succeeding.”
Comment on this story
5. Gaza Terrorists Upgrade Mortars
by Hana Levi Julian
Gaza terrorists have upgraded their mortars and changed their tactics, catching IDF troops by surprise over the Sabbath in an intense mortar attack on the Nahal Oz army base.
IDF Sgt. Noam Nakash, 21, of Be'er Sheva lost his leg in the Friday night attack and is being treated at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Three IDF soldiers suffered moderate-to-serious wounds, and four others were lightly injured. All were evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.
The Hamas terrorist organization has acquired advanced 120-mm mortar shells that are more accurate and lethal than the previous models, according to a report by Sunday morning by Voice of Israel government radio military correspondent Carmela Menashe.
The Al Qassam Brigades division of Hamas, which took responsibility for the shelling, said it had carried out the attack "as a response to Zionist aggression… and against the occupation."
The attack came just 24 hours after Israel said it was prepared to continue the temporary truce that began on June 19, which had completely disintegrated over the past four weeks.
Defense Ministry Chief of Security and Political Affairs Amos Gilad told Egyptian intelligence head Omar Suleiman that Israel would agree to re-open the Gaza crossing to commercial traffic on the condition that Hamas cease its attacks.
Israel has periodically opened the crossings for delivery of humanitarian aid to the region, sometimes even while sporadic rocket attacks continued. Moreover, Palestinian Authority Arab residents of Gaza have continued to cross into pre-1967 Israel for medical treatment through the Erez Crossing.
Hamas has adopted a routine of planting bombs along the Gaza separation barrier, and using the provocation to draw counterterrorist fire by IDF soldiers. The terrorists then respond by firing mortar shells with a range that can reach as far as the nearby army bases.
Soldiers have complained that there is no fortification in their bases against Kassam rocket attacks, but government officials have said that it is impractical to protect every soldier by rocket-proofing the housing.
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai repeated stale threats issued a year ago by outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak that Israel "soon will have no choice" other than to stage an all-out offensive against Hamas.
The terror group has had a death grip over Gaza since it wrested total control over the region in a militia war with rival Fatah faction in June 2007. Despite a temporary truce with Jerusalem that began on June 19, there were sporadic violations with single and double Kassam rocket attacks on the western Negev and Gaza Belt region.
Four weeks ago, the temporary truce was destroyed with the discovery that Hamas operatives had prepared a tunnel some 250 meters from the security barrier with which they planned to kidnap another IDF soldier. Aside from the fact that the tunnel itself was a complete violation of the ceasefire, Israel's government decided its existence merited an immediate and unequivocal response, and sent the army to destroy it. Hamas responded with weeks of intensified rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel.
Comment on this story
by Hana Levi Julian
Gaza terrorists have upgraded their mortars and changed their tactics, catching IDF troops by surprise over the Sabbath in an intense mortar attack on the Nahal Oz army base.
IDF Sgt. Noam Nakash, 21, of Be'er Sheva lost his leg in the Friday night attack and is being treated at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Three IDF soldiers suffered moderate-to-serious wounds, and four others were lightly injured. All were evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.
The Hamas terrorist organization has acquired advanced 120-mm mortar shells that are more accurate and lethal than the previous models, according to a report by Sunday morning by Voice of Israel government radio military correspondent Carmela Menashe.
The Al Qassam Brigades division of Hamas, which took responsibility for the shelling, said it had carried out the attack "as a response to Zionist aggression… and against the occupation."
The attack came just 24 hours after Israel said it was prepared to continue the temporary truce that began on June 19, which had completely disintegrated over the past four weeks.
Defense Ministry Chief of Security and Political Affairs Amos Gilad told Egyptian intelligence head Omar Suleiman that Israel would agree to re-open the Gaza crossing to commercial traffic on the condition that Hamas cease its attacks.
Israel has periodically opened the crossings for delivery of humanitarian aid to the region, sometimes even while sporadic rocket attacks continued. Moreover, Palestinian Authority Arab residents of Gaza have continued to cross into pre-1967 Israel for medical treatment through the Erez Crossing.
Hamas has adopted a routine of planting bombs along the Gaza separation barrier, and using the provocation to draw counterterrorist fire by IDF soldiers. The terrorists then respond by firing mortar shells with a range that can reach as far as the nearby army bases.
Soldiers have complained that there is no fortification in their bases against Kassam rocket attacks, but government officials have said that it is impractical to protect every soldier by rocket-proofing the housing.
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai repeated stale threats issued a year ago by outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak that Israel "soon will have no choice" other than to stage an all-out offensive against Hamas.
The terror group has had a death grip over Gaza since it wrested total control over the region in a militia war with rival Fatah faction in June 2007. Despite a temporary truce with Jerusalem that began on June 19, there were sporadic violations with single and double Kassam rocket attacks on the western Negev and Gaza Belt region.
Four weeks ago, the temporary truce was destroyed with the discovery that Hamas operatives had prepared a tunnel some 250 meters from the security barrier with which they planned to kidnap another IDF soldier. Aside from the fact that the tunnel itself was a complete violation of the ceasefire, Israel's government decided its existence merited an immediate and unequivocal response, and sent the army to destroy it. Hamas responded with weeks of intensified rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel.
Comment on this story
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