Israel Palestine conflict: ‘Fake’ tweet lures Palestinian troops to their deaths
A misleading statement tweeted by the Israel Defense Forces appears to have been a decoy intended to lure Hamas troops into tunnels that were later bombarded by the Israeli army.
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The Israeli Defence Force appeared to lure Hamas fighters to their deaths within a misleading social media statement that IDF ground troops were entering Gaza.
As fears grew of a new Middle East war amid a fifth day of heavy fire between Israel and Palestine, The Jerusalem Post reported that the social media post and subsequent widespread media reporting of the mooted invasion sent Hamas and Islamic Jihad troops into strategic tunnels that were later struck by the Israeli army.
“IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF tweeted early Friday morning local time.
But rather than a ground invasion, 160 jets rained missiles into a network of tunnels the terrorists used to store weapons including mortars and anti-take missiles they would use to defend Gaza.
The Post reported that the number of Hamas fighters killed was not clear but Hamas has confirmed 20 its fighters have died since Monday.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF would not stand down as more than 9000 reservists and ground troops massed outside Gaza for Operation Guardians of the Wall.
“I said that we would exact a very heavy price from Hamas and the other terrorist organisations,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“We are doing so and we will continue to do so with great force. The last word has not been said and this operation will continue as long as necessary in order to restore the quiet and security to the state of Israel.”
The death toll continued to climb with the Health Ministry in Gaza saying 830 had been injured and 119 killed. Seven Israelis have been killed.
ISRAELI FORCES SHOOT PALESTINIAN MAN DEAD
Earlier, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank after he attempted to stab a soldier, the army and Palestinian health ministry said.
The army said “the assailant arrived in his vehicle to a military post adjacent to the community of Ofra, north of Ramallah, and accelerated” towards a soldier before the attempted stabbing.
It said the alleged assailant had been “neutralised,” and that there were no Israelis injured in the attack.
The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the man’s death.
He is the fourth Palestinian killed by Israeli in the West Bank since Monday, when a conflict between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza escalated.
Violent protests have flared across the West Bank amid the Gaza hostilities, which has seen Gaza-based armed groups launch more than 1,800 rockets at Israel.
Israel has responded with heavy air strikes and artillery fire. Nine people have died in Israel from Gaza hostilities and 119 people have been killed in Gaza.
ISRAEL HITS GAZA WITH AIR STRIKES
Israel bombarded Gaza with artillery and air strikes on Friday in response to a new barrage of rocket fire from the Hamas-run enclave, but stopped short of a ground offensive in the conflict that has now claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives.
As the violence intensified, Israel said it was carrying out an attack “in the Gaza Strip” although it later clarified there were no boots on the ground.
Israeli security forces have also been scrambled to contain deadly riots between Jews and Arabs, and projectiles have been fired on Israel from Lebanon.
The United Nations said the Security Council would meet on Sunday to address the conflict, while the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was “deeply concerned about the violence in the streets of Israel”.
“We believe that Israelis and Palestinians deserve equal measures of freedom, security, dignity and prosperity,” Blinken said.
The Israeli army clarified early Friday that its troops had not entered the Gaza Strip as it had earlier stated, blaming an “internal communication” problem for the confusion.
There were intense artillery exchanges Thursday night, and AFP reporters saw Israeli troops assembling at the security barrier.
Fears of a new Middle East war were building as terror group Hamas sent rockets deep into Israel, at least three missiles were fired from Lebanon and thousands of Israeli troops deployed to the Gaza border.
Dozens have died in four days of air strikes and street violence between Jewish and Arab Israelis that continued to escalate yesterday despite calls from world leaders for the conflict to ease.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne, during her first Washington meetings with the Biden administration, said she “unequivocally called on all leaders to take immediate steps to halt violence, to maintain restraint and to restore calm”.
“Our strong view is that violence is no solution, no solution, whether they are rocket attacks or indiscriminate acts that fuel the cycle of violence and bloodshed,” she said following a bilateral with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken called on both sides to stand down as dozens of rockets rained down on Gaza overnight.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried the “anarchy” as he mobilised 9000 extra ground troops as well as tanks to the border with Gaza.
Buildings including a high-rise housing media outlets in Gaza were toppled by Israeli fire while on the ground the worst street clashes in decades added to the chaos with reports of “lynchings”.
Pleas for peace from Egypt failed to quell the attacks and at least three rockets were fired towards Israel from Lebanon. Responsibility was not immediately claimed for these strikes.
“This is something that we cannot accept; it is anarchy,” Netanyahu said on Twitter.
“Nothing justifies this, and I will tell you that nothing justifies the lynching of Jews by Arabs, and nothing justifies the lynching of Arabs by Jews.”
Several pressure points are contributing to the current conflict, which built in recent weeks as Israel prepared to evict several Palestinian refugee families from Eastern Jerusalem.
There is also political turmoil on both sides, with the leadership of Hamas increasingly unpopular among Palestinians and Israelis preparing for their fifth election in two years as Netanyahu weathers a corruption scandal.
A lack of strident criticism of the surge from the new US administration has also emboldened both sides.
“Biden came into office and tried to put the Israel issue on the back burner,” said former Obama administration state department official Brett Bruen.
“Unfortunately, the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories does not do well untended and things have a tendency to get out of hand.
“A number of us are extraordinarily disappointed that when the latest crisis broke out, President Biden has not played a more active and an aggressive role.”
The Biden approach is in stark contrast to his pro-Israeli predecessor Donald Trump, who enjoyed a close relationship with Netanyahu.
“Biden hopes that it will go away, that his advisers can handle it, and he desperately doesn’t want to be distracted from a singular focus right now almost on the domestic issues, on addressing Covid and the economic recovery,” Bruen said.
“When America chooses to focus on internal issues it leads unfortunately to an exacerbation of the challenges when America is not paying attention at the highest levels of government to what’s happening in the world.”
But this close relationship between Trump and Netanyahu has also contributed to the Biden administration’s unwillingness to confront Hamas.
“I think that Netanyahu and the Israelis overplayed their hand and overstepped on the sort of domestic partisan side of issues (in the US),” said Bruen.
“The fact of the matter is that the Israelis have lost a heck of a lot of influence in this town and that the fact that they so unabashedly embraced Trump in all of his excesses sat pretty sourly with a lot of Democrats.
“The American position obviously will strongly defend Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. But when it comes to some of these more aggressive actions, I think the Israelis are going to find that the Biden administration will come down harder on them than any prior American administration.”
The current violence is the most severe since 2014’s 50-day Gaza war and the Hamas strikes against Israel are reaching furthest into the country since the 2000 Palestine uprising.
US President Joe Biden spoke on Wednesday night to Netanyahu, according to Secretary Blinken.
“We’ve been very clear that rocket attacks must cease. We’ve been very clear about Israel’s right to defend itself,” he said.
“We’re also engaging our regional partners with urgency to see to it that calm prevails and our heartfelt condolences go out to the loved ones of those lost.
“We’re also deeply concerned about the violence in the streets of Israel.
“As Muslims celebrate Eid and Jews prepare to mark Shabbat, Israelis and Palestinians deserve to take part in these celebrations without fear of violence.
“We believe that Israelis and Palestinians deserve equal measures of freedom, security, dignity and prosperity. That recognition will continue to drive our approach.”
Originally published as Israel Palestine conflict: ‘Fake’ tweet lures Palestinian troops to their deaths
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