Media bias!

U.S. sends warships near Israel in case evacuation needed

Three U.S. Navy amphibious warships are returning to the eastern Mediterranean to remain on standby in the event they are needed to assist Americans leaving Israel in the coming days, according to two U.S. officials.

The officials stressed an evacuation remains an extremely remote possibility and the Obama administration is not currently planning for one. Americans who wish to leave the region now are able to do so using commercial airlines.

But the decision to send the ships even if the event is such a remote contingency underscores the growing concern about where the Israel-Gaza conflict could be headed.

"This is due diligence. It is better to be prepared should there be a need," one official said Monday. Both officials said the ships would be used only for assisting Americans and not for any combat role.

The most immediate impact will be on the ships' crews and the estimated 2,500 Marines on board. They had been scheduled to return to Norfolk, Virginia, just after Thanksgiving; their homecoming will now be delayed several days depending on events, the officials said.

The ships involved are the USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall. At the end of last week the ships were west of Gibraltar, before the decision was made to turn them around and send them back to the eastern Mediterranean, where they will remain for now.

The U.S. military also maintains three to four ships off the coast of Israel that are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. That deployment has stretch for some months in the face of a potential ballistic threat from Iran.

Ready to Invade

Iron Dome intercepts two rockets over Tel Aviv, Today

Interception follows two rockets fired at the city earlier in the day; rocket strikes car in Ofakim, injuring 5, and a home in Ashdod, injuring 2; over 100 rockets fired into Israel since morning.

The Iron Dome intercepted two long-range rockets fired at Tel Aviv on Sunday evening. No injuries or damage was reported, police say.

Hamas claimed responsibility for firing at the city.

It was the second strike on Israel's commercial capital on Sunday.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired over 100 rockets towards a number of Israeli cities Sunday morning, striking among others, Beersheba, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Sderot. The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted two rockets fired toward Tel Aviv, and 30 overall throughout the day. The IAF struck over 80 targets in Gaza in the same time period.

A rocket struck the roof of an 8-story residential building in Ashdod on Sunday afternoon. The rocket penetrated the elevator shaft and descended five stories before exploding and causing extensive damage to the building. Two people were lightly injured and thirty were treated for shock.

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfekld said "We're now seeing large rocket salvos involving 5-10 projectiles. This is an increase from what we've seen before."

One rocket struck a building in Ashkelon Sunday morning, lightly injuring two people and causing serious damage to the building. Another rocket moderately-to-seriously injured another man in Sha'ar Hanegev.

At least three other rockets hit Asheklon Sunday morning. Iron Dome intercepted two and another fell into an open field. Three rockets were shot at Beersheba, two of which were intercepted by Iron Dome. The third caused damage but no injuries.

Magen David Adom said Sunday that by 1 p.m. it had treated four injured people, one in a moderate condition and three who were lightly injured. Twelve others were treated for shock.

Iron Dome intercepts rockets over Tel Aviv

The Iron Dome anti-rocket shield had intercepted 17 rockets heading for city centers at the time of this report, including at least two heading for the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area. Sirens sent Tel Avivians scattering for cover for the fourth time since the operation to suppress Palestinian rockets began last week.

Shrapnel from one of the rockets struck a car in the Holon area south of Tel Aviv, setting it on fire and destroying it completely. Miraculously, the driver had left his vehicle when the siren sounded, and survived the incident without injury.

Since the start of the operation on Wednesday, more than 520 Palestinian rockets exploded in Israeli territory. A small percentage of those exploded in urban areas. A further 280 rockets heading straight for population centers were successfully shot down by Iron Dome.

Schools in southern Israel located within 40 kilometers from the border with Gaza remain shut.

South experiences quiet night after days of heavy rocket fire

After Saturday saw dozens of rockets fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip, including two missiles directed toward Tel Aviv, a sole rocket landed in Israeli territory overnight Saturday, just after midnight. The rocket landed in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council area, failing to cause injuries or damage.

On Saturday, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said in Cairo that "there are some indications that there is a possibility of a cease-fire soon, but we do not yet have firm guarantees."

Egypt has mediated previous cease-fire deals between Israel and Hamas, the latest of which unraveled with recent violence.

A Palestinian official told Reuters the truce discussions would continue in Cairo on Sunday, saying "there is hope," but it was too early to say whether the efforts would succeed.

In Jerusalem, an Israeli official declined to comment on the negotiations. Military commanders said Israel was prepared to fight on to achieve a goal of halting rocket fire from Gaza.

Hamas use their own children as shields

DOME ROCKETS INTERCEPTING ARAB ROCKETS

Three Israeli Chabad Chassidim Killed in Gaza Rocket Attacks

Three Israeli civilians were killed at about 9 a.m. Thursday morning after a rocket hit their apartment building in the city of Kiryat Malakhi (Qiryat Malakhi) in Israel’s southern district.

The victims, two men and a woman, were identified as Ahron Smadga, Yitzchak Amselam, and a 25 year old expectant woman, Mirah (nee Cohen) Scharf. An infant and several children were among the wounded who were taken to nearby hospitals. The victims were members of the city’s Chabad community. 

Kiryat Malakhi is about 11 miles from Ashkelon, with a population of about 21,000. 

According to reports from Israel, beginning at around midnight Wednesday to Thursday morning, some 45 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel, of which Iron Dome intercepted 13. Overall, nearly 200 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel’s South in the 24 hours since the IDF killed Ahmed Jabari, Hamas’s top military commander, as part of a campaign to end the incessant terror in Israel’s coastal region. The campaign was Israel’s most intense response against Gaza in recent years. 

The rockets, launched at population centers in Israel’s south, hit Ashdod, Ofakim and Beersheba, prompting school closures in all areas within a 24 mile radius of the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will convene with the IDF on Thursday to vote on Defense Minister Ehud Barak's request to call up army reserves.

They will charge but will never succeed

Petraeus and Clinton will not be testifying anytime soon about Benghazi

More Than 85% of American Muslims Picked Obama

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released the results of an informal exit poll on Friday that shows more than 85 percent of American Muslim voters picked President Barack Obama in Tuesday's election.

That number is lower than a similar poll conducted in 2008 that showed 89 percent of American Muslims cast a ballot for Obama.

CAIR conducted the informal survey of 650 American Muslim voters, with just 4 percent of respondents stating that they voted for Mitt Romney.

Poll findings:

• 95.5 percent of the Muslim voters said they went to the polls on Nov. 6.
• 85.7 percent cast their ballots to re-elect President Obama.
• 4.4 percent of respondents said they voted for Mitt Romney.
• States with the highest number of survey respondents (in descending order) were California, New York, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Florida, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio.
• 41.5 percent said they consider themselves Democrats. A similar number, 40.6 percent, consider themselves politically independent. Only 7.4 percent said they are Republican.

"The fact that more than 95 percent of Muslim respondents went to the polls is a clear indication that they are fully participating in our nation's political process and are part of the fabric of America," Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR said in a press release announcing the poll results.