20 “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." - Luke 21: 20-24
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry went to sleep Thursday night having achieved a rare Middle East diplomatic victory: Israel & Hamas had agreed to silence their guns & rockets for 72 hours to create time for Palestinians to bury their dead & for diplomats to broker a more durable peace. But like so much else in the Middle East, it turned out to be a bad dream. By the time American policymakers in Washington, D.C., had awoken Friday morning, Aug. 1, the cease-fire had collapsed amid reports that Palestinian militants had killed 2 Israeli soldiers & had captured a 3rd during an Israeli search of a militant tunnel in the Rafah neighborhood of the Gaza Strip. Israel followed up by bombarding the area, while Hamas continued to fire rockets & mortars into Israel.
Each side cast blame on the other, w/Israel charging Hamas w/violating the terms of the cease-fire. 1 Hamas official claimed that Israel provoked the breakdown & that the Israeli soldier had been captured before the cease-fire had gone into effect. But the resumption of fighting underscored the fragility of the cease-fire, which permitted Israel to continue operations aimed at destroying a vast network of underground tunnels that has become a vital component of Hamas's military strategy of bringing the war to Israel's doorstep...Facing mounting international pressure to halt the fighting in Gaza, Israel & Hamas agreed to observe a U.N.-brokered 72-hour "humanitarian cease-fire" to allow Palestinian civilians a respite from weeks of relentless violence to bury their dead, tend to their wounded, & stock up on food & water. The agreement -- which was announced jointly Thursday night by Kerry & U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - was designed to provide a brief timeout from the brutal fighting to allow the resumption of Egyptian-hosted talks between Palestinian & Israeli officials this weekend in Cairo on a more "durable cease-fire," according to the joint statement. In the meantime, Israeli forces would be allowed to stay put in Gaza, a key demand of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who activated 16,000 more reserve troops Thursday & used a televised address to tell his people that the offensive wouldn't stop until all of the tunnels Hamas has been using to sneak into Israel have been destroyed.
The pact came one day after the U.N. chief accused Israel of engaging in "reprehensible" conduct for allegedly shelling a U.N. shelter housing 3,000 Palestinian civilians. At least 16 people were killed in the strike. Meanwhile, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, on Thursday condemned Israel for shelling the U.N. facility, saying that attacks on relief facilities constitute a war crime. "6 U.N. schools have now been hit, including another deadly strike on 24 July that also killed civilians," Pillay said today. "If civilians cannot take refuge in U.N. schools, where can they be safe? They leave their homes to seek safety -- & are then subjected to attack in the places they flee to. This is a grotesque situation." She also condemned Palestinian militants' "indiscriminate firing of rockets" into Israeli towns, & said that military assets should not be located in densely populated areas. Since the fighting began, she said, Palestinian armed groups have fired more than 3,500 rockets & 800 mortars into Israel. "The launching of indiscriminate attacks is a war crime," she said. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Ron Prosor, on Thursday told reporters at the U.N., where the U.N. Security Council convened an emergency session on Gaza's humanitarian crisis, that the Israeli government was investigating the incident. But he insisted that "no Israeli soldier intentionally targets civilians. Israel does not shy away from accepting responsibility" for its actions, he added. The international community is "quick to condemn Israel but slow to condemn Hamas for its war crimes." Since fighting began on July 8, more than 1,200 Palestinians, including 850 civilians, have been killed, as well as 60 Israelis, including 57 soldiers & 3 civilians, according to Pillay..."This is not a time for congratulations & joy, or anything except a serious determination, a focus by everybody to try to figure out the road ahead," Kerry said. "This is a respite. It's a moment of opportunity, not an end; it's not a solution. It's the opportunity to find the solution."
Read full article at: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/07/31/israel_and_hamas_agree_on_truce_to_bury_the_dead?wp_login_redirect=0