Palestinians Announce Gaza Ceasefire as IDF Given 'Green Light to Launch Heavy Retaliation' Amid Preparations for Ground Assault

Palestinians Announce Gaza Ceasefire, Israel Keeps Preparing for War

(Tens of Israeli tanks are seen deploying to the eastern Gaza border fence on Monday afternoon in likely preparation for imminent ground invasion - 11/12/18.)

November 13: Palestinians have agreed to a ceasefire on Tuesday but Israel does not look ready to honor it, and appears to be gearing up for intensified war despite the Palestinian announcement.

The Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza have released a joint statement on Tuesday November 13, saying that "a cease-fire has been reached and we have responded to Egyptian efforts on this matter." The statement added that the militant groups are "committed to the cease-fire as long as Israel doesn't break it and doesn't attack the Palestinian people," which Israel had just done on Sunday, provoking the recent flare-up in violence.

In summary, it is now being reported that from Sunday afternoon into Tuesday afternoon, at least 460 rockets were fired at Zionist settlements in southern Israel, 100 of which were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome Defense Shield, and Israeli forces carried out over 160 airstrikes on targets across the Gaza Strip during the largest exchange of fire in the conflict since the 2014 Gaza war. The Gaza death toll since Sunday has now risen from 3 to 7, with 25 Palestinians injured in the airstrikes, the Gaza Health Ministry confirmed. 7 Palestinians were previously killed on Sunday evening during the Israeli military operation in Gaza and the resulting clashes.

A 48-year-old Palestinian man from the West Bank town of Halhul near Hebron, identified as Mahmoud Abu Asabeh, was also killed as a result of a Gaza rocket hitting the apartment building he was staying at in Ashkelon. About 38 Israelis have been reportedly injured by rocket fire from Gaza.

Three of the additional Palestinians killed were identified as: Khaled Maaruf, 29, the most recent martyr - killed in an airstrike in northern Gaza on Tuesday evening which also injured several others; Khaled Sultan, 26, reportedly a farmer and not part of any group launching rockets - killed in a strike which allegedly targeted a rocket launching squad in northern Gaza; and Mussab Hus, 23, reportedly killed by Israeli helicopter fire just east of Gaza city in an attack which also injured several others.

Middle East Eye is reporting that the fighting died down at 5:30pm local time, and witnesses told MEE that rocket fire from Gaza ceased at 3:30 GMT, so relative calm has finally arrived.

For now Gaza has quieted down considerably, but it likely won't last that way for long, as the Palestinian resistance has vowed to respond to any continued Israeli aggression and ceasefire violations, and the most recent statements by Israeli officials reveal the Zionists have every intent to once again violate the ceasefire and continue attacks against Gaza.

On the ceasefire: Palestinian resistance stresses attacks will continue only IF Israeli aggression continues.

The head of Hamas' political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, spoke for the first time about the escalation since the flare-up began, saying on Tuesday afternoon that "if Israel stops the airstrikes, we can return to the cease-fire understandings."

A different Hamas official stated earlier that “as soon as Israel stops its aggression on the Gaza Strip, the forces of the resistance will halt the fire. All mediators must stop Israel.” - Haaretz

“The resistance factions’ joint command center is holding a serious conversation about expanding its range of fire. Ashkelon is just the beginning. Approximately one million Zionists will be within the range of our missiles if the Zionist enemy’s decision is to continue its aggression,” said Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing. - TOI

(Al Qassam Brigades official military spokesman - Twitter)

Israel Preparing for War: 'Rejects' Ceasefire, 'Gives Army Green Light to Launch Heavy Retaliation'

Recent troop and tank movements indicate preparations for and the increasing likelihood of an Israeli ground invasion into Gaza in the style of 2014.

Hundreds of additional Israeli tanks were being transported to the Gaza border on Monday. The Times of Israel notes that: "The Israeli military deployed additional troops and tanks to the Gaza Strip border on Monday following the largest barrage of rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel from the coastal enclave in a single day." On Monday afternoon, Israeli tanks were also seen being deployed to the eastern Gaza border fence.

Israel Today is reporting that IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis told reporters on Tuesday morning that the Israel Defense Forces are preparing to call up reservists.

The Israeli army said the move is expected to be executed on Tuesday afternoon and will be restricted to the mobilization of “vital forces” for now. However, the IDF also announced that the mobilization could be “expanded” if needed. - Israel Today

It does look like Israel is preparing for war, and it sounds like it too based on recent comments made by Israeli leaders. This can also be easily seen in some of today's headlines, particularly in Israeli media:

Statements released on Tuesday in response to reports of the ceasefire reveal that Israel really isn't interested in a ceasefire, because the Zionists want war: Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman wants the attacks on Gaza to continue and Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennet is strongly opposed to "any kind of cease-fire."

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's bureau released a statement following reports on the emerging cease-fire in which it denied previous reports that said Lieberman supported a halt to Israeli strikes on Gaza.

"The defense minister's stance is consistent and hasn't changed. [News of] Lieberman's support of halting attacks are fake," the statement read. Education Minister Naftali Bennett also released a statement denying he supported any kind of cease-fire. - Haaretz

One Israeli official did admit that a ceasefire had been reached, but clarified that "Israel reserves its freedom to operate."

The official added that "requests by Hamas to form a cease-fire came from four different mediators. Israel responded that developments on the ground will determine [the Israeli reaction]." - Haaretz

By reserving its "freedom to operate," Israel is reserving the right to strike targets in Gaza whenever it feels threatened by Hamas, regardless of whether Gaza militants have actually violated the ceasefire and launched more rockets into Israel or not. This "freedom to operate" policy was illustrated clearly on Sunday when Israeli forces violated the ceasefire by launching a military operation inside Gaza and assassinating a senior Hamas official.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, also rejected the call for a ceasefire, saying that Israel "will not accept a call for 'both sides to act with restraint.'"

"There is a side that attacks and fires 400 rockets toward civilians and there is a side that protects its civilians. Every member country in the Security Council ought to ask itself how it would respond after a barrage of missiles is fired at its people," Danon stated (ahead of a Security Council meeting). - Haaretz

There is also the side that fires over 160 missiles towards civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, which the Ambassador seems to have forgotten about. And why does Israel reject a proposal for both sides to act with restraint? I suppose Mr. Danon feels that only Hamas should have to act with restraint, because Israel is certainly never going to do so. Israel 'protects its civilians' by indiscriminately bombing Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, much like Hamas 'protects its civilians' by indiscriminately launching rockets at Israeli settlements. There is one major difference, that Israeli missiles kill hundreds of Palestinians, while Hamas rockets kill very few Israelis. Mr. Danon should be asking himself just how Gaza feels every time it is bombarded by Israeli missiles being fired at its people, and then maybe he would understand why Palestinians retaliate with rocket fire.

Late Monday, in response to the 300 (at the time) rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, and the military leaders held a meeting to discuss the Israeli response. Arutz Sheva 7 cited a political source familiar with the meeting as saying that, "in the prime minister's consultation with the heads of the defense establishment, operational decisions were made." According to the source, "the IDF has been given a green light to launch a heavy retaliation against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza," the Israeli news report revealed.

The Times of Israel also went on to report this on Tuesday:

The army was reportedly given a green light from policymakers to pummel terror groups in the Strip if they continued with the barrages, as the terror organizations in the Strip vowed to do.

The groups in the Strip only vowed to continue their rocket strikes if Israel continued its aggression. The Times of Israel also reports that the army was given this 'green light' to 'pummel the Strip' if the rocket barrages continued, whereas the source familiar with the consultation themselves said the army had been given the 'green light' to 'retaliate' for the 300 rockets already fired (now up to 460): "The IDF has been given a green light to launch a heavy retaliation."

Additionally,

In another indicator of what's to come possibly imminently, Major General Kamil Abu Rokon, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), wrote public comments on an official communications social media account: “Residents of Gaza, look closely at the pictures from Protective Edge in 2014: A picture is worth a thousand words.” - ZeroHedge

Update: The Twitter posts were soon deleted on COGAT English page but 2 of 3 were still up in Arabic (11/14). Thanks to Dan Cohen for capturing the deleted Tweet. Screenshots below for documentation:



(Twitter / @CogatArabic: Computer-generated English translation.)

The US on Tuesday also jumped to condemn the actions of Hamas while praising Israel for 'defending itself,' in a move which sets the stage for further Israeli aggression and ceasefire violations to be portrayed as an act of 'self defense'.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the rocket, missile and mortar attacks that are taking place from Gaza into Israel," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said at a news briefing.

"We call for the sustained halt of those attacks. We stand with Israel as Israel defends itself against these attacks. It is simply unacceptable to target civilians," she added. - MEE

What she must have meant to say is, that it is simply unacceptable to target Israeli civilians, for she clearly has no qualms with Israel targeting Palestinians. The US stands with Israel as Israel 'defends itself' by targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza - the very crime Israel claims to be defending itself against. The US condemns in the strongest terms Hamas' acts of terror against Israel while at the same time standing fully behind Israel's acts of terror against Gaza, calling it 'self defense'. The words of Heather Nauert reveal just how blind the US support of Israel can be when the US is run by Zionist Neocons. Why not equally denounce the Zionist crimes against Gaza?

All the evidence indicates that the Zionists are set on war, and actively taking the steps to make it happen, including the rejection of any kind of long-term ceasefire. Palestinians in Gaza point out that the recent Israeli actions are reminiscent of the buildup to the 3 previous Gaza wars, and that this was the most intense airstrike campaign carried out against the Gaza Strip since 2014, more evidence suggesting history is about to repeat in that regard:

Dina Asaad, 27, who lives in northern Gaza City, told Middle East Eye that she has not heard "such massive explosions for the past four years".

"We could not sleep all night as explosions rocked almost every neighbourhood in the Strip," she said. "This looks pretty much like the beginning of the last three attacks [the wars of 2009, 2012 and 2014], one of them even started with assassinating a Hamas leader and continued for several days." - MEE

It is also true that the most recent assassination of a Hamas leader led to the immediate breakdown of the previous ceasefire, and it seems likely that Israel will also violate the current ceasefire in an attempt to sabotage it and get the war they are pushing for. Until then, we can listen to the voices of Gaza - trapped in the massive open-air prison - this is what Ibrahim Rabaa, a resident of Gaza City, told Middle East Eye:

"Gaza is being bombed by the strongest war machine in the Middle East."
"The Israelis threaten us, [first] by escalation, second by war, and we have gotten used to these threats. What we would like to ask the world is to do us justice. We have been under the siege and injustice of the Israelis for years."

Why the Palestinians resist, and some recent examples of the injustice the Palestinians in Gaza are subject to, which have directly led to the current heightened tensions, can be seen here:
https://steemit.com/news/@jasonliberty/israel-ups-the-ante-in-gaza-9-palestinians-killed-and-91-airstrikes-on-gaza-in-just-3-days-and-the-killing-doesn-t-stop.

I'm with Ibrahim, I say it's time the world hold Israel accountable for its war crimes, give justice to Gaza - lift the siege, and let there be a Free Palestine.