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1. Report: 3 Soldiers were Kidnapped in Ship Takeover
by Maayana Miskin
An internal IDF review of the takeover of the Gaza-bound ship Mavi Marmara revealed that three soldiers were briefly kidnapped while aboard the vessel. The three were beaten when they boarded the ship and then, when they were wounded and groggy, were dragged to a room within the ship and held there.
A short time later, dozens of their fellow soldiers began searching the ship. When the passengers saw that soldiers had successfully seized control of the Marmara, they released the three captives, the report stated.
The captive soldiers had recovered from their initial disorientation during their time below deck, and once released hurried to join their unit.
IDF commanders reacted to the report with concern. As similar ships continue to make their way to Gaza, there could be a situation in which a soldier is held captive in order to give passengers a bargaining chip, they said.
Reuters has published an eyewitness account that backs the IDF report. Andre Abu Khalil, a Lebanese cameraman for the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera network, was aboard the Mavi Marmara as IDF soldiers boarded. He told Reuters that four soldiers who were among the first aboard were injured and were taken below deck.
A second wave of troops then attempted to board, he said. “Twenty Turkish men formed a human shield to prevent the Israeli soldiers from scaling the ship. They had slingshots, water pipes and sticks,” he recalled. After a brief standoff, the Israelis opened fire, he claimed.
IDF troops say they opened fire only after being attacked when the boarded the ship.
A second passenger who spoke to Reuters admitted that passengers on the ship had seized soldiers' weapons before shooting broke out. He denied that the passengers had then tried to turn the guns on the soldiers.
2. Israeli Driver is Attacked, Fires Back
by Maayana Miskin
A group of Palestinian Authority Arab teens got more than they planned for Thursday when they lobbed rocks at an Israeli driver near the town of Carmei Tzur, in southern Gush Etzion. The driver responded with gunfire, wounding two attackers who required hospitalization.
Two Israeli citizens were wounded by the PA gang. The two were treated by medics at the scene, and did not require hospital care.
The two PA Arabs who were injured were identified by Arab sources as residents of the village of Aroub outside Hevron. Both are sixteen. They were taken to PA hospitals, and their medical situation was not immediately clear.
The incident was the second in the past several days in which an Israeli citizen fired back after being attacked with rocks by PA rioters. In late May, a man opened fire on a group of PA Arabs in Samaria after they hurled rocks at his car, wounding his wife.
On Wednesday, Jewish motorists reported attacks in two locations. A driver was pelted with rocks on Highway 443 and his car was damaged. Near Kfar Sava, PA Arabs threw three Molotov cocktails at an Israeli driver, but failed to cause injury.
Rocks and Molotov cocktails thrown by PA gangs have caused injury and death in recent years.
3. Turkish Hackers Target Israel, Start Online Battle
by Maayana Miskin
Turkish hackers have targeted Israeli sites over the past several days and succeeded in defacing a number of sites on Thursday, including the official website of the Tel Aviv municipality. The online attacks were launched in revenge for a clash between IDF soldiers and passengers on a Gaza-bound ship that left several Turkish citizens dead.
While no official data exists, reports indicate that hundreds of Israeli sites have been affected by the hackers' attacks. Most of the sites damaged by hackers were relatively small. The hackers' attempts to deface larger sites, including government web pages and media outlets, were not successful.
Arutz Sheva's web development staff reported that hackers had attempted to knock Arutz Sheva offline on Wednesday and Thursday. Most of the hackers were using the Turkish internet provider TurkTelekom, said programmer Moshe Lampert.
Many of the attempts at infiltration were simple efforts that included the use of programs that automatically check sites for vulnerability to SQL injection, he explained. Arutz Sheva has dealt with similar attempts at defacing its site in the past, he added.
Following a wave of hacking attacks on Wednesday, Israeli hackers launched a counter-attack, hitting several Turkish websites, including official government sites.
4. No Ships to Gaza, Netanyahu Tells Top Ministers
by Gil Ronen
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the 'Septet' of leading ministers Thursday evening that the Gaza-bound Irish ship "Rachel Corrie," and all other vessels, will not break Israel's blockade of Gaza, "not now and not in the future."
He said that the Rachel Corrie boat, now in Libyan waters about 400 miles from Israel and headed for Gaza, will be re-directed to the Ashdod port, where any humanitarian aid on board will be transferred overland to Gaza.
Several news outlets said that Netanyahu would suggest “creative ideas” for inspecting ships claiming to carry aid for Gaza. These ideas would reportedly involve the participation of United Nations crews in the inspection process. Inspections would take place in Ashdod harbor.
Earlier this week, IDF commandos' takeover of a Gaza-bound ship ended in a bloodbath, because the soldiers had been equipped and mentally prepared to deal with 'peace activists' and were surprised to find a group of armed thugs in their stead.
IDF sources said the ships in the convoy intercepted Monday were carrying spotted camouflage material, of the kind used to make military uniforms and to mask military positions.
5. Foreign Ministry Rep in Live Facebook Chat
by Gil Ronen
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor will hold a live internet video conference at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (8:00 p.m. London time) with members of the Facebook group “Gaza Flotilla – the world should know the truth.” Facebook is a social networking site launched in 2004, which currently has more than 400 million active users worldwide.
The pro-Israel group was created Tuesday and already numbers 115,000 members. It has made intensive efforts to disseminate the Israeli point of view on the naval flotilla raid Monday.
The conference is meant to support, encourage and supply accurate information to the pro-Israel activists on Facebook. The group's members have been invited to participate in the web event, where they will raise questions for the spokesman and his team to answer, and hear their suggested talking points on the subject of the flotilla clash.
Palmor will also supply his assessment of Israel's public diplomacy situation.
The Foreign Ministry noted Thursday that the group is the largest one on Facebook dealing with Israel and the Middle East, despite being just two days old. The Foreign Ministry decided to devote time to its activists out of appreciation for their efforts in collecting and sharing information about the incident, and strengthening support for Israel in cyberspace.
The group can be joined at this web address: http://tinyurl.com/pro-israel-group .
The conference can be viewed here: http://switch5.castup.net/frames/mfa_live_archive
6. Flotilla Sheikh gets Hero's Welcome in Umm el-Fahm
by Maayana Miskin
Sheikh Raed Salah, anti Semitic leader of the northern branch of the Islamic movement, was welcomed back to the Israeli-Arab city of Umm el-Fahm on Thursday after spending several days under arrest. Hundreds of people greeted the sheikh with cries of “Allah is great,” and “The sheikh is a hero.”
Supporters waved PLO flags and Islamic movement banners.
Salah was detained for his participation in a Gaza-bound flotilla that attempted to challenge Israel's control of maritime traffic to Gaza; the attempt ended in a bloody clash between passengers and IDF soldiers. He was released to house arrest on Thursday along with several other Israeli-Arab public figures who had been on the Gaza-bound boats.
Salah had been aboard the Mavi Marmara, the ship on which fighting broke out. The Mavi Marmara was a Turkish ship, backed by the terrorist-linked IHH organization.
Salah Claims Assassination Conspiracy
In the hours after soldiers and protesters clashed aboard the ships, there were rumors that Salah had been seriously wounded. Salah claimed in court Thursday that soldiers had attempted to assassinate him. “They tried to kill me and shot at someone else they thought was me,” he said.
Later in the day members of the Islamic Movement held a press conference titled, “The truth about the assassination attempt against Sheikh Raed Salah.” Salah's second-in-command, Sheikh Khamel Hatib, said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were part of a plot to kill the sheikh.
Salah's Anti Semitism
Salah is an anti Israel activist who admitted in an Israeli Court to conferring with foreign agents. His anti-Semitic speeches are based on blood libels: “We are not the ones who eat a meal based on bread and cheese in children’s blood,” he once said. He called the Jews “butchers of pregnant women and babies… Thieves, you are the bacteria of all times… The Creator meant for you to be monkeys and losers… Victory is with the Muslims, from the Nile to the Euphrates.”
Hasson: Bibi Strikes Again
Several MKs criticized Salah's release. “Bibi and Lieberman – the serial releasers – strike again. In 1997 Bibi and Lieberman released Sheikh Yassin, and in 2010, they're releasing Salah,” said MK Yisrael Hasson.
MK Aryeh Bibi said, “This is a serious mistake. This man attacked IDF soldiers with the intent of harming them, and assisted terrorists. He must not be released, especially not as a peace gesture to Turkey.”
MK Nahman Shai agreed, calling the government's decision to support Salah's release “unreasonable.” “The government must bring Israeli citizens who were involved in this illegal, violent brigade to justice,” he said.
7. Gaza Terrorists Fire on Ashkelon
by Maayana Miskin
Terrorists in Gaza fired rockets at the city of Ashkelon Thursday night. The rockets failed to hit their target, landing instead in an open area in the region. Later, a Kassam rocket exploded in an open area near a kibbutz in the Sha'ar Hanegev region.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
On Tuesday, an Israeli Air Force aircraft fired a missile that struck a group of Islamic Jihad terrorists as they prepared to fire rockets. The airstrike, which reportedly killed three terrorists, followed two days of rocket attacks from Gaza.
Also Tuesday, soldiers killed two armed terrorists who had infiltrated the Eshkol district. The terrorists were killed before they could perpetrate an attack.
Attacks from Gaza have become increasingly frequent since the beginning of the year. The IDF has responded quickly to attacks, usually by bombing weapons factories or tunnels under the Egyptian border.
