MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Update: “The Israeli cabinet approved the request of Defense Minister Ehud Barak to call-up 75,000 additional reservists. The draft order is due to take effect within a few hours. During Operation Cast Lead, some 10,000 reservists were drafted and during the Second Lebanon War, some 60,000 reservists were drafted.” (Source).

Reuters – “JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Defence Minister Ehud Barak sought government approval on Friday to mobilize up to 75,000 reserve troops for Israel’s Gaza campaign, political sources said, in a sign of preparations for a possible ground offensive.

The sources, speaking after Palestinian rockets were fired at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, said ministers were being polled by telephone by the cabinet secretary to approve the call-up.” Source – Yahoo! News.

Hamas Recycles Pictures of Syrian Dead, Fake Casualties For Camera – “We’ll have more on the PR war being waged on both Twitter and Facebook later, but for now, a disturbing update about Hamas, which is using pictures of children that have been injured or killed in Syria and sending them out through social media to show them as Palestinian dead. Hamas, Hezbollah, and their ilk have long used images of children as a cudgel to portray Israelis as a wanton murderers of children, even as the IDF remains the only force that doesn’t target civilians. I doubt this is the last we’ll see of it.” Source – Tablet.

Hamas fires rockets against innocent civilians in southern Israel, yet Turkey blames Israel for the crisis? The reasoning coming out of Turkey is truly fowl …

Reuters – “ISTANBUL – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan decried Israeli’s air strikes on Gaza on Friday as a pre-election stunt and said he would discuss the crisis with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo this weekend.

Under Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted AK Party, Turkey has sought to use its clout as a rising democratic power in the Muslim world to increase its influence in the Middle East, distancing itself from former ally Israel.

Erdogan said he would speak by phone with US President Barack Obama later on Friday and that Ankara was also seeking talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the prospect of a full Israeli ground invasion.

The United States says it has asked Turkey and Egypt to encourage the Islamist Hamas movement that rules Gaza to cease rocket fire into Israel, but Erdogan laid the blame for the deepening crisis firmly on the Jewish state.” Source – The Jerusalem Post.

Rockets Fired At Jerusalem For The First Time In Over 40 Years – “… the air raid siren that was sounded in Jerusalem and the surrounding area late Friday afternoon marked the first time since the Hamas terror organization took over Gaza that such an attack was aimed at Israel’s capital city. Hamas immediately took credit for the attack, claiming to have shot “an improved Kassam. The Iranian-made Fajr 5 rocket fired at Tel Aviv by Palestinian militants has a far greater range than the home-made Qassam rockets used by Hamas in Gaza …” Read more.

500 Targets Struck In Gaza As Hundreds Of Missiles Rain Down on Israel – “About 500 rockets have been fired into Israel over past two days, with 184 intercepted by Iron Dome missile defense system, the army’s spokeswoman said, speaking anonymously in accordance with military regulations. Israeli air strikes have hit almost 500 targets in Gaza, she said. Hamas, which governs Gaza, said the Israeli attacks continued.” Read more.

Israeli PM: We Are Going to Continue Hitting Hamas Hard – “‘We are going to continue hitting Hamas hard and we will continue to strike hard at the missiles targeted at Central and Southern Israel,’ Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Friday. Netanyahu met with President Shimon Peres in light of the recent escalation in the South. ‘Hamas deliberately targets our children, and they deliberately place their rockets next to their children,’ Netanyahu said.” Read more.

Ma’an News Agency – “RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli forces as demonstrations were held across the West Bank to support Gaza on Thursday, witnesses and officials said.

Nine women were detained on Thursday evening after they climbed the walls of Israel’s Beit El settlement near Ramallah. The protesters carried banners and draped the Palestinian flag across the wall. A number of protesters escaped arrest, witnesses said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said a number of people were arrested for trying to ‘infiltrate a military base,’ but she could not confirm the number of detentions.

The rally was held in support of Palestinians in Gaza, after Israeli forces killed 15 Palestinians in the coastal strip over 24 hours. Three Israelis died on Thursday morning after militants returned rocket fire.

Protesters clashes with soldiers in nearby Ofer military base outside Ramallah at noon on Thursday, witnesses said. No injuries have been reported. An Israeli military spokeswoman was looking into the incident.

Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinians held a sit-in at Manara square in central Ramallah to condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The crowd, addressed by Palestinian political leaders, chanted slogans against Israeli aggression and called for the international community to intervene.” Read more.

Hundreds of Tunisians protest Israel attacks on Gaza – “Hundreds of Tunisians demonstrated on Thursday against Israel’s deadly attacks on Gaza, as Israeli planes pounded armed groups in the Palestinian territory for a second day, an AFP journalist reported. Several hundred protesters, gathered on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the centre of Tunis, shouted slogans such as ‘No to reconciliation,’ and ‘The people want to criminalise normalised relations with the (Zionist) entity.’ Youth supporters of Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party Ennahda also called for a demonstration on Friday, ‘after the odious crimes committed by the Zionist entity, which has violated the land and places that are sacred.'” Read more.

Egyptians protest Israeli assaults on Gaza outside Arab League – “Hundreds of Egyptian protesters converged on the Arab League’s Cairo headquarters on Thursday evening to demand an immediate halt to ongoing Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, which have so far claimed the lives of 15 Palestinians. Protesters further demanded that Egypt cut formal relations with Tel Aviv in retaliation for the latest round of Israeli aggression against the besieged coastal enclave… ‘Arm us, arm us and to Gaza send us,’ demonstrators chanted in unison as some set fire to Israeli flags.” Read more.

Worldwide Protests Against Israeli ‘Aggression’ in Gaza – “Here is a list of Emergency Global Actions for Gaza being planned around the world. This list is being constantly updated, please check here for the latest.” Read more.

Until confirmed by other news agencies, take this with a grain of salt …

“It has been reported that Egyptian tanks backed By commandos are moving into the Sinai desert in order to fortify positions in the case of an all out war between Israel and Gaza after an Israeli operation killed the head of the military wing of the Islamist group Hamas in a missile strike on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and launched a campaign of air strikes on the enclave.

The armed wing of Hamas – the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades announced that ‘the occupation has opened the gates of hell on itself’ by assassinating its top commanders.

The two sides appeared to be on the cusp of a fresh war and the attacks marked the biggest escalation between Israel and Gaza militants since a 2008-2009 conflict. It came despite signs on Tuesday that neighboring Egypt had managed to broker a truce in the enclave after a five day surge of violence.

It appears that the Egyptian brokered truce has failed spectacularly and reports are coming in that Egyptian tanks are racing across the Sinai Desert in order to fortify positions along’s Israels borders. This action indicates that Egypt takes the all out threat of war in the region very seriously and is protecting their borders with extreme caution.

Sources in the Egyptian government say they have [been] extremely concerned about the recent shellings in Gaza by Israel. It is understood to have put extreme pressure on the military as they are hesitant to increase tensions in the area.” Source – Cybertribe News Network.

There Will Be War In The Middle East – “The military action that we are watching in the Middle East right now is just a preview of coming attractions. Tensions in the region are rising with each passing day, and all sides have been anticipating future conflicts and preparing for war for decades. It would be wonderful if everyone could sit down, forgive each other and agree to quit fighting, but that is not going to happen. Most of us that live in the western world have a very difficult time understanding the mindset of those immersed in these conflicts. In the Middle East, there are vendettas and grudges that go back literally thousands of years.” Read more.

By Gil Ronen, INN – “Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and residents were told to head for shelter Thursday evening. An explosion was reportedly heard. Magen David Adom said that there were no casualties.

Voice of Israel public radio said that the rocket is believed to have struck in a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, but Home Front Defense Minister Avi Dichter said that the rocket apparently fell into the sea near Bat Yam.

Minister of Public Security Yitzchak Aharonovich gave a conflicting account and said that a missile fell into the sea.

The IDF is amassing ground forces near Gaza and preparing for a possible assault. Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) told Voice of Israel that Gaza is in for an ‘unprecedented attack.’

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday approved the call-up of 30,000 reserve soldiers, who can be called into action by the military at any point, the army’s official spokesman said.

‘We are in the process of expanding the campaign,’ Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai told Channel 2 television as Israel pressed a massive air campaign against Gaza terrorists.

‘The Defense Minister approved a few minutes ago, based on the army’s request, the recruitment of another 30,000 soldiers. We will determine how many of them will be called in,’ he said. ‘All options are on the table.’

The United States is calling on Egypt to use its sway with the Palestinians to try to end the violence from Gaza, a top U.S. official said Thursday, adding Hamas must stop its rocket attacks on Israel.

‘We ask Egypt to use its influence in the region to help de-escalate the situation,’ deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, adding that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had spoken with her Egyptian counterpart.

Egypt’s prime minister is to visit Gaza Friday.” Read more.

Related: Muslim Brotherhood Mobilizes for Hamas – “… the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt is doubling down on its support for Hamas, Gaza’s ruling terrorist organization, and has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel. U.S.-based Islamists and their non-Muslim allies can be counted on in the ensuing days to pressure the administration to throw Israel under the bus in favor of the Islamist rulers of Egypt. If Egypt takes action, the administration will have to choose between its relationship with Israel or its relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. There is no middle ground to straddle.” Read more.

Debka – “The first three Palestinian missiles reached the Tel Aviv conurbation, Gush Dan, Thursday night, Nov. 15. shortly after a long-range missile exploded in Rishon Lezion southeast of Tel Aviv and sirens sounded in outlying towns of Holon, Ness Ziona, Gan Raveh and Beer Yacov. None report casualties or damage. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered 30,000 army reservists drafted. The IDF spokesmen earlier reported units of the elite paratroop and Givati Brigades were mustering outside the Gaza Strip on the second day of Israel’s counter-terror operation Pillar of Cloud.

From debkafile’s earlier report Thursday: As the rockets kept coming through Wednesday night – and the first three fatalities Thursday morning, Nov. 15 – the cautious lift in Israeli spirits generated by the death of Ahmed Jabari, who fashioned Hamas into a paramilitary machine of terror, and the destruction of dozens of missile sites in Gaza, gave way to resignation for a long haul before southern Israel is free of its decade-long rocket nightmare.

Thursday morning, a rocket from Gaza killed three Israelis in Kiryat Malachi. By then, some 120 rockets – mostly targeting the major towns of Beersheba and Ashdod, but also smaller locations – had followed Jabari’s death. Iron Dome intercepted 27.The first reserve units had been mobilized for possible ground action in Gaza to supplement the air offensive against the Palestinian missile arsenal.

But Operation Pillar of Cloud’s first part showed a favorable balance: Palestinian missile fire was as erratic as ever, although intense; Iron Dome filtered out the rockets aimed at Israel’s major towns; Israeli casualties were relatively low though painful; and the enemy in Gaza was decapitated – for now.

But most of all, the Palestinians and their allies in Tehran and Hizballah suddenly discovered that the old IDF had come roaring back.

In the only former major Israeli operation in Gaza, Cast Lead (late 2008, early 2009), the IDF was slow, unwieldy and unfocused. Its counter-terror offensive was foreshortened by heavy diplomatic pressure before achieving anything, owing to the government’s lack of resolve. In the 2006 Lebanon War, the army was stalled before developing an effective tactical offensive.

The IDF of 2012 is in a different class, recalling its rapid-fire performance in the Six-Day War then fought on multiple fronts.

In just a few hours late Wednesday, Nov. 14, Pillar of Cloud achieved more than Cast Lead managed in weeks: It was driven by clockwork, integrated intelligence by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence, precise, surgical air force strikes and a command-and-control with fast reflexes which recalled Israel’s military skills of 45 years ago.” Read more.

Baby Injured in Kiryat Malachi

Fox News – “JERUSALEM – Israel moved closer to an all-out ground war with Hamas Thursday, as Israeli planes, tanks and gunboats pounded suspected militant positions in Gaza in retaliation for another day of Hamas rocket attacks that left at least three Israelis dead.

Tel Aviv residents say they heard an explosion following an air-raid alert across the city, raising fears of a Gaza rocket strike on Israel’s commercial capital.

Israeli authorities were trying to determine where the rocket may have landed on Thursday. Eli Bean, the head of Israel’s rescue service, says no injuries have been reported.

Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai says nothing landed on the ground, raising the possibility it fell in the sea.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Thursday that Israel could no longer stand repeated attacks on its southern towns. He said that Israel has “made it clear” it won’t tolerate continued rocket fire on its civilians.

Earlier, Netanyahu had declared, ‘If there is a need, the military is prepared to expand the operation. We will continue to do everything to protect our citizens.'” Read more.

• Related: Tel Aviv Residents Scramble For Cover As Rockets Fired Into Economic Capital
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• Related: Egypt’s Al-Azhar Grand Imam Slams Israel For Defending Itself Against Terrorism
• Related: Iran, Syria Condemn Israel For Defending Itself Against Terrorism