Israeli Air Force Thwarts Rocket Launching Attempt

Posted on July 5, 2011 by idfspokesperson

A short while ago, a squad of terrorists preparing to launch rockets at Israeli territory from the central Gaza Strip were identified by an (Israeli Air Force) IAF aircraft that thwarted the attempt by firing at them. A hit was confirmed.

In a separate incident, terrorists lightly injured the driver of an IDF vehicle, damaging it. The IDF vehicle was performing routine activity near the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip.

This week alone, terrorists in the Gaza Strip targeted Israeli civilians by launching three Qassam rockets into Israel. The Hamas terrorist organization–responsible for all terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip–is not enforcing a policy of restraint over the other terrorist organizations operating out of the Gaza Strip.

Flotilla II Seeks Provocation, Poses Threat to Israel

Posted on July 3, 2011 by idfspokesperson

The 2011 Gaza flotilla organizers have improved upon their formula, posing a greater threat to the Israel Navy than they did during their attempt last year to break Israel’s lawfully imposed naval blockade on Gaza. The Hamas terrorist organization and its European counterparts are using the flotilla to deliberately delegitimize Israel and its right to defend itself.

Organizers of the 2011 Gaza flotilla have a provocation-seeking agenda: Deliberately provoke and humiliate Israeli soldiers. For example, organizers trained boat passengers on how to defiantly rebuff Israel Navy attempts to peacefully board the boats.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker joins the 2011 Gaza flotilla.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker joins other celebrities on the 2011 Gaza flotilla. Photo: Foreign Policy.

The 2011 Gaza flotilla, at ten ships, is nearly double the size of last year’s (which consisted of six vessels). This factor will make it more challenging for the Israel Navy to board all vessels that attempt to break Israel’s lawfully enforced naval blockade. In addition, the size of the 2011 Gaza flotilla does not allow Israel the option of towing the vessels into Israel’s Ashdod port.

The flotilla is estimated to contain only 3,000 tons of goods and materials–half the daily amount transferred by Israel to the Gaza Strip. While lacking in items, the 2011 Gaza flotilla will carry celebrities and media personalities such as American poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner Alice Walker, Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell and several European parliamentarians.

Court Documents Cement Flotilla Organizer’s Connections to Terror

Posted on July 3, 2011 by idfspokesperson

Amin Abou Ibrahim, also known as Amin Abou Rashed, is one of the main organizers of the ”Freedom Flotilla 2″ and a founder of the ECESG, a central organization participating in the flotilla. Recently, the Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf cited Abou Rashed as the “brain behind the flotilla”, and noted that according to a Dutch journalist who had spent time with the flotilla organizers, Abou Rashed’s role as the flotilla’s main backer was kept secret until the ships all arrived to Greece. Earlier this year, Ma’an quoted him as simply a “campaigner” in an article about the upcoming flotilla.

Abou Rashed was an active participant in last year’s flotilla as well. His name also came up during the prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation by the US government in 2007. The Holy Land Foundation is designated by the US Treasury as a Specially Designated National and banned by the EU for its direct financial and material support to Hamas. During the Holy Land Foundation trial, a letter was shown written by Abou Rashed to Akram Mishaal, a director of the Holy Land Foundation and a cousin of Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal.

In the letter found at Holy Land Foundation headquarters and used as a court case exhibit by the US government, Abou Rashed lists the names, addresses, and bank numbers of “charitable organizations working for Palestine in Europe.” Abou Rashed was writing as a representative of the Al-Aqsa Foundation, an organization designated by the US Department of Treasury as a charity financing terror and “a critical part of Hamas’ terrorist support infrastructure.”

These “charitable organizations” cited in Abou Rashed’s document were also later declared by the US Department of Treasury to be supporters of terrorist organizations, specifically Hamas, and consequently their assets were frozen.

Many Hamas affiliated organizations, as recognized by the US Treasury, were organizations in which Amin Abou Rashed was a very active participant in to say the least. Now, as leader of the current flotilla to Gaza, this raises deeper questions regarding the intentions of the flotilla organizers and their further connections to Hamas.

“The Audacity of Hope” Aims to Break Israel’s Legal Blockade

Posted on July 1, 2011 by idfspokesperson

The US boat "The Audacity of Hope". Photo: The New Republic.

Despite claiming that their purpose is humanitarian, the actions of the 2010 Gaza flotilla organizers reveal their goal to be explicitly political. As noted earlier this week in the New York Times, the boat called “The Audacity of Hope” is carrying with it no aid. Its sole purpose is not to bring food – of which 385 truckloads are delivered weekly by Israel to the Gaza Strip – but to openly and flagrantly violate Israel’s lawfully imposed naval blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Indeed, in an article earlier this week in the Huffington Post, one of the boat’s organizers freely admits that her goal is not to deliver goods or materials into the Gaza Strip. It is clear that the goal of the flotilla organizers is provocation: to challenge Israel’s right of self-defense against a terrorist group that has caused close to a million Israeli civilians to live under the constant threat of attack for the better part of a decade.

“There’s a reason why Israel needs to impose this blockade: Just this past April, Hamas targeted an Israeli school bus with one of its missiles and a child riding on the bus was killed,” said IDF Spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich. A few months ago, Israel intercepted the “Victoria,” a vessel en route from Iran to Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. The ship claimed its cargo contained “lentils and cotton,” but in reality it smuggled “a large cargo of sophisticated weaponry.”

Given these volatile regional realities, the Israel Navy must prevent all vessels from reaching Gaza’s shores–including the US boat–”The Audacity of Hope.” All ships carrying goods and materials to the Gaza Strip, may dock and unload cargo at Israel’s Ashdod port. Israeli authorities will ensure the transfer of all items to the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom land crossing, as it does on a weekly basis.