Dear South Jersey Jewish Community,
It has been an active couple of days during Shavuot in Israel with the loss of more life, including two Thai workers and the injury of 10 Israeli civilians. Hamas fired numerous rockets towards three major Israeli air force bases in the country's south yesterday, but none of the rockets hit the bases.
A measure of calm has returned to mixed Jewish-Arab towns, with considerably less rioting and violence.
Yesterday morning, the Keren Shalom Crossing from Israel into Gaza was set to be opened by the IDF to allow for the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population and the exit of foreign nationals. However, Hamas fired mortars at the crossing, preventing 40 trucks of food, medical equipment, and humanitarian aid to cross. There were two additional attempts to allow the convey through but both times, Hamas fired mortars again. Despite the attacks, Israel has said that it remains committed to ensuring the transfer of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
In the last 24 hours, repeated reports of an impending or unofficial ceasefire have been received, and there have, in fact, been numerous periods of several hours without rocket fire for the first time since the fighting began. However, on each occasion, the lull ended and Hamas rockets resumed their attack. Nonetheless, various media reports in Israel suggest that the fighting will likely end in the coming days when some sort of ceasefire agreement is reached.
