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Obama Blames Netanyahu, Jihadists Attack Israel

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JERUSALEM, Israel -- Days after President Barack Obama said Israel is losing "credibility" because of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's intransigence on the creation of a Palestinian state, jihadists in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets on southern Israel, the second attack in 10 days.

The rockets exploded in open areas near the cities of Ashkelon and Netivot. There were no injuries or property damage, but air raid sirens blared in Gaza-perimeter communities just after 11 p.m. Wednesday.

IDF Spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said more than 140,000 Israeli citizens were potentially at risk when the air raid sirens sounded.

The IDF responded by targeting three terrorist training camps in Gaza, confirming direct hits.

An ISIS-affiliated group in the Gaza Strip, calling itself Sheikh Amar Hadid Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it retaliation for the death of one its members by Hamas.

According to Channel 2 Middle East commentator Ehud Yaari, the man Hamas executed was a former officer in one of its own brigades.

Yaari said Hamas is trying to curb these activities by arresting some Salafist activists and trying to discipline Islamic Jihad, the group responsible for the rocket attack 10 days ago.

"Salafists are trying to undermine Hamas policy, coordinating with ISIS-affiliated Salafists in the Sinai," Yaari told journalists Thursday morning.

Yaari said Hamas is weakening because the perception of Operation Protective Edge, the IDF's military incursion against Hamas rocket fire last summer, is different in Gaza than the way it's been presented to the outside world.

Gaza residents see it as a failed offensive because Hamas didn't achieve any of its demands.

Pierre Rehov produced a video on the 2014 IDF operation in Gaza.

 

There's one point, however, on which they all seem to agree, articulated in a statement by the Sheikh Amar Hadid Brigades.

"We have repeated that we will continue in the way of jihad ["holy" war]  against the Jews, the enemies of Allah," its statement read. "No one will stop us from filling our obligation and attacking the Jews."

Meanwhile, Israel holds Hamas responsible.

"Even if the shooters last night were jihadist groups rebelling against Hamas by firing at us, we view Hamas as being responsible for everything that occurs in the territory of Gaza," Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said in a statement.

"We will not tolerate any attempts to harm our civilians or allow the return of a reality where rockets are trickling into the state," he added. "We will act decisively and firmly to ensure the security of the residents of the South and the citizens of Israel."

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About The Author

Tzippe
Barrow

From her perch high atop the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, Tzippe Barrow tries to provide a bird’s eye view of events unfolding in her country. Tzippe’s parents were born to Russian Jewish immigrants, who fled the czar’s pogroms to make a new life in America. As a teenager, Tzippe wanted to spend a summer in Israel, but her parents, sensing the very real possibility that she might want to live there, sent her and her sister to Switzerland instead. Twenty years later, the Lord opened the door to visit the ancient homeland of her people.