GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel stepped up its military campaign against Hamas on Tuesday, striking symbols of the militant group's control in Gaza and firing tank shells that shut down the area's only power plant in the heaviest bombardment in the fighting so far.
Flares turned the sky over Gaza City orange overnight and by daybreak, as the conflict entered its fourth week, heavy clouds of dust hovered over the territory. A thick column of black smoke rose from a burning fuel tank at the power plant.
The pounding came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned of a "prolonged" campaign against Hamas. It was not clear if this meant Israel has decided to go beyond the initial objectives of decimating Hamas' ability to fire rockets and demolishing the group's military tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border.
Already, the intensity and the scope of the current Gaza operation is on par with an invasion five years ago, which ended with a unilateral Israeli withdrawal after hitting Hamas hard.
In Tuesday's strikes, Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of attacks, leveling the home of the top Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, and damaging the offices of the movement's Al-Aqsa satellite TV station, a central mosque in Gaza City and government offices.
Haniyeh, whose house was turned into a mountain of rubble by a pre-dawn airstrike, said in a statement Tuesday that "destroying stones will not break our determination."
No one was hurt in Haniyeh's home. Since the start of the war, Israel has targeted several homes of Hamas leaders but none was killed presumably as they appear to have gone into hiding.
Gaza's power plant was forced to shut down after two tank shells hit one of three fuel tanks, said Jamal Dardasawi, a spokesman for Gaza's electricity distribution company. The shelling sparked a large fire and a huge column of smoke was seen rising from the site. Dardasawi said 15 workers were trapped inside by the fire and that the damage would take months to repair. There was no immediate word on casualties.
"The power plant is finished," its director, Mohammed al-Sharif, told Reuters.
Even before the shutdown, Gaza residents only had electricity for about three hours a day because fighting had damaged power lines.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, did not comment on the explosion at the plant, but told The Associated Press that Israel's latest strikes signal "a gradual increase in the pressure" on Hamas.
"Israel is determined to strike this organization and relieve us of this threat," Lerner said.
Officials in Gaza City urged residents to limit water consumption, fearing that damage from the plant could halt many of the city’s water pumps, according to Reuters.
International calls for an unconditional cease-fire have been mounting in recent days, as the extent of the destruction in Gaza became more apparent.
More than 1,110 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,500 wounded since July 8, according to Ashraf al-Kidra, a Gaza health official. The U.N. has estimated that 75 percent of those killed are civilians.
Al-Kidra said at least 100 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza on Tuesday.
At least 26 Palestinians were killed early Tuesday in the airstrikes and tank shelling on four homes, according to the Red Crescent.
The house of the mayor of the Bureij in central Gaza was hit in an airstrike, and five bodies were pulled from the rubble, the Red Crescent said. Those killed included the mayor, 50-year-old Anas Abu Shamaleh, his 70-year-old father and three relatives.
In the southern town of Rafah, seven members of one family were killed in an airstrike and seven members of a second family were killed when tank shells hit their home, according to the Rafah office of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which keeps a casualty count.
In central Gaza, seven people, including five members of one family, where killed by tank shelling on a home, the Red Crescent said.
Israel has lost 53 soldiers, along with two civilians and a Thai worker.
Tens of thousands of Gazans have been displaced by fighting in the border areas, which have come under heavy tank fire. Late Monday, Israel urged residents of three large neighborhoods in northeastern Gaza to leave their homes and immediate head to Gaza City.
Despite appeals for a cease-fire, both sides have been holding out for bigger gains.
Hamas has said it will not stop fighting until it wins international guarantees that a crippling border blockade of Gaza will be lifted. Israel and Egypt had imposed the closure after Hamas seized Gaza in 2007, defeating forces loyal to their political rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Over the past year, Egypt has further tightened restrictions, shutting down hundreds of smuggling tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border that had provide crucial tax income to Hamas. The closure of the tunnels drove Hamas into a severe financial crisis.
Meanwhile, a senior PLO official proposed a 24-hour humanitarian cease-fire Tuesday, saying he spoke in the name of Hamas, but was contradicted a short while later by a spokesman of the Islamic militant group.
Tuesday's cease-fire offer was made by the Palestine Liberation Organization, of which Hamas is not a member. The largest group in the PLO is the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' main political rival.
However, the PLO's secretary-general, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said the offer came after consultations with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group in Gaza. Palestinian officials said Abbas has been in touch in recent days with Khaled Mashaal, the top Hamas leader in exile.
A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that "the remarks of Mr. Abed Rabbo are not true and have nothing to do with the positions of the factions at the moment."
It was not clear if Abu Zuhri reflected the views of the Hamas leadership in exile. In Israel, government spokesman Mark Regev declined comment.
Israel has said it is defending its citizens against attack from Gaza by hitting Hamas rocket launchers, weapons storage sites and military tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border.
Israel said its troops will not leave Gaza until they have demolished the tunnels which have been used by Hamas to sneak into Israel to try to carry out attacks. On Monday, Gaza militants infiltrated through one of the tunnels and killed five soldiers in a firefight. One of the assailants was also killed. Separately, four Israeli soldiers were killed by mortar shells from Gaza that hit southern Israel.
Israel media have said the army has destroyed close to 20 of 31 identified tunnels, but that 10 more tunnels are believed to be in areas of Gaza still outside Israeli control.
After the deaths of the soldiers, Netanyahu signaled that Israel is intensifying its air- and ground campaign. "We will continue to act aggressively and responsibly until the mission is completed to protect our citizens, soldiers and children."
Overnight, Israel carried out about 70 airstrikes, the military said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Labels: Gaza, Isreal, Power Plant, Strike
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 11:10 AM
Published July 02, 2014 FoxNews.com
Fourth of July plans along the eastern seaboard are under threat as Tropical Storm Arthur moves northward, forecasters warn.
A hurricane watch was issued for part of North Carolina's coast early Wednesday, covering an area from Bogue Inlet to Oregon Inlet, including Pamlico Sound. A tropical storm watch was in effect for parts of Florida and South Carolina.
The storm's maximum sustained winds early Wednesday were near 60 mph (95 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Arthur was expected to strengthen and become a hurricane by Thursday.
With the July Fourth weekend on the horizon, the Atlantic hurricane season's first named storm plodded off Florida's coast but wasn't yet spooking too many in the storm's potential path.
"I think everybody's keeping one eye on the weather and one eye on the events this weekend," said Joe Marinelli, president of Visit Savannah, the city's tourism bureau.
Arthur was centered about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Cape Canaveral, Florida, early Wednesday and was moving north near 6 mph (9 kph). The Hurricane Center urged those as far north as parts of Virginia to monitor Tropical Storm Arthur's path.
The system has sent a lot of moisture to South Florida already, the Miami Herald reported. On Monday, parts of Miami Beach received as much as 3.5 inches, while the Doral area also topped three inches and Miami International Airport received less than two inches.
Off Florida's Space Coast beaches — the closest to Arthur — the sky was cloudy and winds fairly normal Tuesday, said Eisen Witcher, assistant chief of Brevard County Ocean Rescue.
Red flags warned of rough surf, and beachgoers were advised to get into the water only in areas with staffed lifeguard stands. But overall, Witcher said, "it's business as usual."
Red flags also flew Tuesday at Daytona Beach. By midday, a dozen swimmers had been aided by lifeguards when they got caught in a rip current. On any given day, 15 to 20 swimmers need help, said Tammy Marris, spokeswoman for the Volusia County Beach Patrol.
Near the storm, 19 ill crew members were evacuated from a South Korean cargo ship after they showed signs of food poisoning. The cargo ship JS Comet was anchored 3 miles off Cape Canaveral, and the Coast Guard reported that deteriorating weather conditions were one factor in the decision to evacuate.
In North Carolina's Outer Banks, officials said they would close Cape Lookout National Seashore at 5 p.m. Wednesday and reopen when it's safe.
The motel Shutters on the Banks was completely booked for the holiday weekend, general manager John Zeller said, despite forecasts for potentially heavy rain, gusty winds and isolated tornadoes late Thursday and Friday.
"We have received some cancellations but not too many," he said. "Basically we are telling people to kind of wait and see what happens."
The motel has a 72-hour advance notice on cancellations, but Zeller said it will be waived if the storm tracks toward the area or warnings are issued.
In Folly Beach, South Carolina, dozens of people fished from the pier under sunny skies Tuesday. Others surfed on gentle swells, sunbathed and looked for shells.
In Savannah, rooms in the downtown historic district were expected to be at least 80 percent full for the holiday weekend, when crowds pack the beach on neighboring Tybee Island.
Cancellations aren't uncommon when storms approach, but those calls weren't coming in Tuesday, Marinelli said.
Amy Gaster said her Tybee Island vacation rental company had more than 200 beach homes and condos booked for the weekend, likely to be the busiest of the year. If forecasts start to show a serious threat, Gaster said her staff was prepared to send alerts to guests' cellphones.
But as long as Arthur stays offshore, she said her biggest concerns are rip currents and possible thundershowers on Thursday, when thousands are expected to pack the Georgia coast's largest public beach for fireworks.
"Hopefully Mother Nature is going to cooperate with us this year," Gaster said.
Forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have predicted a slow hurricane season for 2014 with eight to 13 tropical storms, the Miami Herald reported. They say three to six could grow into hurricanes and two may become major storms packing winds over 111 mph. On average, 12 named storms form, with six turning into hurricanes and three strengthening to major storms.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Labels: Tropical Storm Arthur July 4th
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 9:29 AM
