RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://www.timesofisrael.com/kerry-heads-to-cairo-for-ceasefire-bid-as-israel-names-soldiers-killed-in-gaza/
Israel suffers casualties as IDF thwarts tunnel attacks, killing at least 10 infiltrators from Gaza; army names seventh soldier slain Sunday; over 20 Palestinians said to die overnight strikes; UN calls for ceasefire
The Times of Israel is liveblogging events as they unfold through Monday, the 14th day of Operation Protective Edge. The UN Security Council called for an immediate truce in Gaza Monday morning after an emergency meeting held at the request of Jordan. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Israel’s actions in the Hamas stronghold of Shejaiya were “atrocious.” The IDF announced Sunday evening that 13 Golani Brigade soldiers died overnight in fighting in Gaza, raising the Israeli army death toll to 18. The soldiers were killed in heavy combat in Shejaiya, which also left over 70 Palestinians dead, Gaza Health Ministry officials said. Israel said the neighborhood is a Hamas stronghold, and that the army had warned residents to evacuate it.
Iron Dome downs 4 rockets over Tel Aviv, Ashdod

The Iron Dome intercepts two missiles over Tel Aviv, and two over Ashdod.
Sirens in Beit Shemesh, Lod
11:42
Sirens in Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Shfela region
11:40
Sirens in Ashdod, Ashkelon, Kiryat Malachi, Yavne
Fighting resumes in Shejaiya

The Israel Air Force and Golani unit strike targets in Shejaiya, as heavy combat continues, the Walla news website reports.
10:54
Watch: IDF thwarts tunnel attack

The IDF releases footage of one of two attempted infiltrations earlier today that were successfully foiled by Israeli forces.

At ALEH Negev in Ofakim, residents have severe disabilities and most cannot walk. When the sirens sound, it’s up to their staff to keep them safe

In Ofakim, a sand-choked, barren community minutes from the Gaza border, residents have just 30 seconds when they hear a red-alert siren to run and find cover. For able-bodied members of this impoverished community, that’s precious little time.

But what about those who can’t run?

At ALEH Negev, a state-of-the-art rehabilitative village for Israeli citizens with severe disabilities, it’s a serious question. Most of the residents at ALEH Negev, which gleams like a spaceship in the middle of Ofakim’s brown desert, are wheelchair-bound and cannot walk on their own. Many cannot speak, use their limbs or practice motor functions without assistance.

ALEH Negev is the largest of Israel’s four ALEH campuses, all of which serve the special-needs. There are 133 residents living here, ranging from young adults to 50-year-olds, with round-the-clock care provided by 150 trained staff members. Over the past week, as rocket fire from Gaza pounded Israel from north to south and border cities like Ofakim observed the brunt of the nonstop fire, daily routines here like physical therapy and arts and crafts were shattered by sirens and stress. When a red-alert siren rings in a place like ALEH, its threat has special fangs.

“The residents here really react to the staff,” says Masada Sekely, the village’s director. “If the staff is calm and knows how to handle the situation, then the residents are too. They work on feedback, and all their emotions come from the staff that works with them. We are actually more focused on keeping our staff strong than the residents.”

ALEH Negev’s full name is ALEH Negev-Nachalat Eran, and chaired by Maj. Gen. (res) Doron Almog, one of the most celebrated figures in the history of the Israel Defense Forces. In 1976, Almog helped lead the famed Israeli hostage rescue at Entebbe and for years after, as head of the IDF’s Southern Command, foiled countless attempts to launch terror attacks in Israel.

Almog bears a difficult and definitive family legacy, having lost his brother Eran, a tank commander, during the Yom Kippur War, as well as his son, also named Eran, to Castleman’s disease.

With deep angst, Hamas is watching their rocket-launching platforms, weapons caches, and terror tunnels fall ‘one after another,’ IDF spokesman says.

The IDF has discovered an “underground city” in Gaza filled with explosives, IDF Spokesman Brigadier-General Moti Almoz said Sunday.

He spoke to Channel 10 following the discovery of at least 36 terror tunnels in Gaza. Many of the tunnels were filled with rockets, explosives and other weapons.

“Hamas planned these tunnels for years, and planned to use them to kidnap soldiers. [Now] they see the tunnels collapsing one after the other,” Almoz declared.

Hamas “built an underground city full of bombs, meant to evade the IDF and to use in serious terrorist attacks,” he added.

Almoz said that the IDF has reached “significant achievements” in Operation Protective Edge, the defensive operation that began after Hamas launched amajor rocket assault on Israeli cities.

The operation expanded on Saturday night, he said. “We are continuing to work deep in the territory, with the goal of destroying Hamas’ capabilities,” he stated.

While the operation has been successful to date, “it’s impossible to hit 100% of the tunnels and to prevent 100% of the rocket fire,” he warned.

The rocket assault from Gaza has grown significantly weaker since the operation began, he noted. However, he called to “not talk about the bottom line yet.”

“We need to wait a few days to see if this is a trend. Only when the operation is over can we confirm success in destroying tunnels and frustrating Hamas – two strategic goals that we are making major progress on,” Almoz concluded.

Dr. Ari Babaknia discusses his new book, “Humanity, NOT” — and when silence is not an option.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/frontpagemag-com/the-holocaust-and-mans-indifference-on-the-glazov-gang/

This Week’s Glazov Gang was joined by Dr. Ari Babaknia, an Iranian-born doctor who wrote and published a 4-volume book in Farsi “The Holocaust” (which in English is “Humanity, NOT”). He came on the show to discuss “Humanity, NOT,” which takes an in-depth look, in words and images, at the captured emotions of the victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and survivors of the Holocaust, told in their own words.

Dr. Babaknia focuses on the evil of genocide and when silence is not an option:

This is a revised version of an article that first appeared in Palestinian Manipulation of the International Community1
• The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is today one of the largest UN programs. It remains the only UN agency whose area of operation is not global but regional, and that deals with a single group of people. The vast, quasi-governmental machinery into which UNRWA has evolved has made itself susceptible to political manipulation, in particular by extremist groups, in a way that might overshadow its humanitarian accomplishments. The Agency has become an active agent in reaching out to international actors and audiences, and a powerful tool within the anti-Israel propaganda campaign.
• The educational services provided by UNRWA, particularly in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, propagate a non-peaceful point of view, upholding a political vision of a continued struggle against a delegitimized Israel. The Agency’s significant influence on Palestinian educational activities, as well as the fact that more than half of its general budget is dedicated to education, highlight UNRWA’s problematic educational role in the Middle East conflict.
• The acceptance by UNRWA’s leadership of the mission to enhance the political rights of Palestinians has become a key trend characterizing the Agency’s activity. UNRWA’s so-called “protection mandate” has allowed the Agency to become a fierce advocate for Palestinians in its dealings with Israel, although it remains nearly silent when Arab governments in host countries violate or restrict Palestinian civil rights.
• UNRWA is regularly involved in political speeches and public pronouncements. The unfettered freedom of speech enjoyed by UNRWA’s leadership defies the fundamental norms of objectivity and neutrality to which UN officials are obliged as international civil servants. In large part, this is the outcome of the fact that UNRWA lacks outside controls over its chief executive, who receives hardly any political guidance from any of the relevant international bodies that are in a position to provide direction.
• UNRWA has entrenched the idea of “return,” as well as its misconception as a legal right. Also, it has generated an exponential increase in the number of Palestinian refugees. As was stated recently in a report presented to the US Senate Appropriations Committee, UNWRA’s practice in this regard is artificial and misleading, and undermines any possibility of resolving the refugee issue in future peace negotiations.
• In July 2014, some 20 rockets were found in a school in Gaza, operated by UNRWA.
• Within the last few years there has been a growing awareness within international political, diplomatic, and academic circles regarding UNRWA’s policies. It testifies to the fact that UNRWA’s position as a stabilizing, “peace servicing” factor in the region and as a guardian of refugee interests is no longer taken for granted. It also reflects the growing quest for accountability and an acknowledgement of the responsibility of donor countries to scrutinize UNRWA’s policies to ensure the strict application of their tax-payers’ money toward relief and humanitarian causes.