A top official in the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority government launched a diplomatic assault as the Hamas terror organization renewed its military assault against Israel late Tuesday afternoon from Gaza.

The head of the negotiating team for the former Palestinian Authority, Saeb Erekat, issued a statement Tuesday calling on the United Nations to force Israel to withdraw from all areas in the country won during the defensive 1967 Six Day War.

“Today we demand officially from the international community and the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that would set a time frame for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from territories occupied in 1967,” Erekat told journalists at a news briefing in Moscow.

The Ramallah-based PA government represented by Erekat has been reborn as the ‘Palestinian Authority unity government’ since its reconciliation earlier this year with theHamas terrorist organization.

For the 11th time since the start of Operation Protective Edge, Gaza terrorists violated an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire more than eight hours prior to the deadline for its scheduled termination at midnight Tuesday.

Hamas claimed it had no connection to the violation and said it had “no idea” who fired the rocket attacks, which continued one after the other.

Also on Tuesday, the U.S. State Department announced it had decided to declare the Mujahedeen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) as a foreign terrorist organization.

The MSC, which is an umbrella organization comprised of Gaza-based global jihad terror organizations, is linked to the Islamic State — also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or ISIL (Islamic State in the Levant).

The group has claimed responsibility for the August 2013 missile attack on the resort city of Eilat, and for a March 2013 attack on Sderot.

Gaza terrorists returned to ‘business as usual’ launching rocket and missile attacks against Israel late Tuesday afternoon.

It’s the 11th time Hamas has violated an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, due to end at midnight.

A barrage of missile fire was aimed at Ashdod and communities along the Gaza border Tuesday evening, with all of the missiles landing in open areas.

No one was physically injured in any of the attacks, but many were traumatized and even more were “absolutely” outraged to find themselves and their children under rocket fire while they believed a cease-fire was in force and negotiations were underway.

A few minutes after 6:30 pm, two missiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, indicating they were both headed directly for densely populated areas.

But the cease-fire had already been violated more than an hour earlier.

The first attack came in a barrage of Grad missiles aimed at Be’er Sheva and Netivot — a surprise not anticipated by residents who were not warned by the Code Red incoming rocket alert system, which malfunctioned.

Two missiles landed in open areas on the outskirts of Be’er Sheva, and a third exploded in Netivot. Miraculously, no one was physically injured and no property damage was reported.

Within half an hour, at about 5:30 pm, a rocket was fired at civilians living in the Sdot Negev Regional Council district. They, too were given no warning since the Code Red system was not triggered by the launch from Gaza, yet no one was injured in the attack.

A multiple barrage was fired shortly after, targeting the coastal city of Ashkelon and aiming again at the agricultural communities located along the Gaza Belt area, most of which provide food to markets in greater Israel.

“Operation Protective Edge is not over,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned journalists during a meeting at the IDF Naval Academy on Monday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He was right.

Israel Air Force fighter pilots took to the skies to retaliate immediately following the first cease-fire violation.

“Following renewed rocket attacks at Israel… amidst the ceasefire, the IDF is currently targeting terror sites across the Gaza Strip,” IDF Spokesperson Lt.-Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement to media.

“The IDF remains alert and maintains both defensive and striking capabilities in order to address the renewed aggression. The IDF is determined to defend the civilians of the State of Israel. Yet again, terrorists breach the ceasefire and renew fire at Israeli civilians from Hamas ruled Gaza Strip. This continued aggression will be addressed accordingly by the IDF.

“We will continue striking terror infrastructure, pursuing terrorists, and eliminating terror capabilities in the Gaza Strip, in order to restore security for the State of Israel.”

Officials and residents in Israel are outraged as Hamas again violates an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire extended for 24 hours to reach an agreement that would avoid more bloodshed.

Israeli representatives in Cairo for negotiations immediately broke off the talks upon hearing news of the violation and have left Egypt to return to Israel. “It is impossible for us to negotiate under fire,” officials said.

A barrage of three Grad missiles were fired at Israel, two at the Negev city of Be’er Sheva and one at the city of Netivot, hours before the cease-fire deadline. Residents of the city and surrounds were not warned of the attack, because the Code Red incoming rocket alert siren was not triggered by the launch and did not activate for some reason.

The missiles reportedly landed in open areas on the outskirts of the cities, and no physical injuries or property damage have been reported.

The attack came following complaints by Gaza-based Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri, who warned reporters that Israel was “dragging its feet” in refusing to meet the terror group’s demands in Egyptian-brokered talks in Cairo.

“Israel bears the responsibility for stalled negotiations, and shows no willingness to reach an agreement,” Zuhri said, adding that Hamas was “prepared to deal with all developments.” The phrase was a reference to a warning to the terrorists by Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and echoed by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, announced the day before.

“Following renewed rocket attacks at Israel… amidst the ceasefire, the IDF is currently targeting terror sites across the Gaza Strip,” IDF Spokesperson Lt.-Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement to media. “The IDF remains alert and maintains both defensive and striking capabilities in order to address the renewed aggression. The IDF is determined to defend the civilians of the State of Israel. Yet again, terrorists breach the ceasefire and renew fire at Israeli civilians from Hamas ruled Gaza Strip. This continued aggression will be addressed accordingly by the IDF.

“We will continue striking terror infrastructure, pursuing terrorists, and eliminating terror capabilities in the Gaza Strip, in order to restore security for the State of Israel.”

Shai Hajaj, the head of the Negev Regional Council, expressed his personal disappointment with the decision by Gaza terrorists to end an eight-day cease-fire rather than work towards peace.

“The terrorist organizations led by Hamas do not respect agreements time after time,” Hajaj told the Tazpit News Agency.

“We will not accept fire on our communities and the government must care for the safety of its citizens. The school year is scheduled to begin in the coming days, and the buildings are not properly fortified. There are only a few bomb shelters, which cannot properly facilitate the student population, and they are too far away to reach in time,” he said.

IDF officials are now saying that southern residents can return to their homes and “feel safe” – but not everyone is buying that line; especially those whose homes were bombed just hours ago, first thing this morning. If it is so safe, how did Hamas manage to fire 26 rockets and missiles within 10 minutes at southern and central Israel, just before 8 am?

The families whose homes are located about a stone’s throw from Gaza, and who watched video footage of terrorists popping up from holes in the ground a jump and a half away from their communities, are also pretty uneasy. IDF soldiers fought really fierce battles to kill those terrorists, and Israel lost some of its finest young men in those fights.

Those same communities are located too close to Gaza for mortar fire to trigger the Code Red incoming rocket alert system – so they never have any warning of shelling attacks on their homes. As it is, they had only a bare 15-second window in which to find shelter from the constant rain of Qassam rocket fire Hamas terrorists sent their way, right up until 8 am this morning.

The cease fire officially ends in two days, unless negotiators find a way to lock it down permanently.

So why should anyone trust their fate to paper?

IDF officials told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and defense brass in a briefing at IDF Southern Command headquarters Monday (August 4, 2014) that all of the tunnels that were identified and located during Operation Protective Edge, were destroyed.

But many residents of the south are worried. The question, as one person told TheJewishPress.com, “is not so much whether the tunnels that were identified were destroyed, but whether all of the relevant tunnels were identified.”

The prime minister was filled with praise for the IDF, and rightfully so. He himself was a member of a Sayeret Matkal unit back in the day, so he knows first-hand what they’ve been going through.

“This was a complicated operation carried out by heroic soldiers under difficult combat conditions,” Netanyahu said.

“I would like to commend IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, GOC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Sammy Turgeman, commanders, soldiers and ISA personnel all of whom had the fighting spirit that led to very impressive results.

“The operation struck at a strategic network that Hamas had invested great effort in over the years,” he pointed out. “These tunnels would have enabled Hamas to kidnap and murder civilians and IDF soldiers by launching simultaneous attacks from the many tunnels that penetrate our territory.”

But then, Netanyahu got to the point that all residents fear most: “As I said at the onset of the operation I said that there is no guarantee of 100% success — but we did the utmost in order to achieve the maximum,” he said.

Achieving the maximum in what time period, is the issue. Initially, the government assured the nation it would continue the operation until the objectives were achieved. Those objectives included tracking down and destroying all of the terrorist tunnels, as well as silencing the rocket fire “for a long, long time.”

Have these objectives been achieved?. That’s an ugly question but one that has to be asked. A ground operation was required in order to identify and reach the terrorist tunnels, and it took the government two weeks to arrive at a decision to approve a ground operation. It took two more weeks to carry it out, and now the troops have been withdrawn, due to massive disapproval from the world’s response to gory photos from Gaza, all of which was expected from the outset. And just as happened during the last three operations, the job is once again probably not finished.

As Hamas terrorists continued Sunday to fire Qassam and mid-range rockets at Gaza Belt and coastal region communities in Israel in the first half of the day, IDF soldiers in the Givati Brigade and a division of the Armored Corps pressed on in their battle with the terrorists from inside Gaza.

At least one of the terrorists was spotted getting into a vehicle, attempting to escape — but IDF troops radioed the location to IAF fighter pilots, who launched an air strike on the target.

Pilots confirmed the hit according to the IDF. The spokesperson added there were no Israeli casualties in the exchange.

As usual, only half a story made it to the media in initial reports — and that half made the headlines first. But at least this time UNRWA made an effort to clarify the facts quickly. Credit where credit is due.

Hamas terrorists were engaged in a firefight with IDF soldiers just outside the UNRWA boys’ school in the southern Gaza border town of Rafah. It’s the same town where IDF 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin and two other Israeli officers were killed in a Hamas attack Friday morning about 90 minutes after the start of a humanitarian cease fire agreed to by both Israel and Hamas.

An IAF aircraft allegedly struck the entrance to an UNRWA school in the southern Gaza border town of Rafah Sunday morning, local sources initially reported, saying about 10 were killed and 30 others were wounded.

IDF gunfire was aimed at the Hamas terrorists who were firing at them on Sunday outside the gates of the school — not at the school itself, and not at any civilians within. The IAF air strike was targeting gunmen escaping on a motorcycle who were firing at the IDF soldiers; not at the school, nor at the civilians nearby. But they were standing outside the gate, and they were caught in the crossfire precisely as the terrorists intended.

Once again, Hamas used those sheltering at an UNRWA school as human shields. UNRWA official Richard Engel confirmed the fact in a tweet.

“those killed and injured were apparently around the gate of the UN school…not a direct hit inside the school compound.”

Nevertheless, the photo op of people carrying bloodied bodies of children and women, injured and dying, weeping next to an UNRWA school, far outweighed any cold facts that might have been stated later on.

“Shelling incident in vicinity of UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering almost 3,000 IDP. Initial reports say multiple deaths and injury,” tweeted Chris Gunness at 10:40 am in a post on the Twitter social networking site.

But by 11 am, he had already considerably toned himself down, telling Britain’s Sky News only that the school had been hit and calling on “all sides to respect the neutrality of UN premises.” But in fact, the school wasn’t hit. The area outside the school was hit. Gunness added, accurately, that sanitation is a huge problem — not a surprise in a war zone — and talked about the logistical needs of providing for the thousands seeking UN assistance.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists have deliberately fired rockets and mortar shells at IDF soldiers from within UNRWA civilian structures in order to draw Israeli fire towards the innocent Gaza civilians who are sheltering within the buildings.

Three UNRWA schools have so far been documented — by UNRWA itself! — to be weapons ‘warehouses’ for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups. A former International Red Cross building packed with explosives built into the very walls of the structure was deliberately ‘dressed up’ with an UNRWA sign to appear to be a United Nations facility, within which a tunnel shaft was hidden, and booby-trapped.

It’s impossible to know how many more United Nations buildings have been commandeered by Hamas and are hiding terrorist weaponry. There has been no comment from the IDF. After the last such incident, Israel was roundly condemned by the United Nations, despite the fact that the IDF was returning fire to the source of an unprovoked attack.

It remains to be seen how the United Nations Human Rights Council will react this time.

The Congress voted Friday morning to transfer an additional $225 million to Israel for the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system.

The move came less than 24 hours after Hamas terrorists kidnapped an Israeli soldier during a cease fire demanded by the United States and the United Nations.

President Barack Obama immediately signed the measure into law, and the funds were transferred overnight, according to a report posted by ABC News.

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee two weeks ago approved the transfer of $351 million, bringing the total appropriations for Israel to $621 million.

The funds transferred last night followed a unanimous vote of approval by the Senate just before the start of a long Congressional recess.

“This is a good example of us being able to put aside partisan considerations and work together to help our good friend, Israel,” Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told Politico.

“I will stand by Israel for a lot of personal reasons but certainly for political reasons,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). “And I have no hesitation in declaring to the world that’s how I feel.”

Senatora Tom Coburn (R-OK) tried but failed to convince his colleagues to pass an amendment to offset the costs of helping Israel by “reducing unnecessary contributions to the UN.”

United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, meanwhile, earlier had slammed the United States for funding the entirely defensive Iron Dome anti-missile system.

“Americans not only equipped the Israelis with weapons used in the Gaza Strip but also helped Israel in the amount of almost a billion dollars to develop the Iron Dome system that protects the residents from rocket fire,” Pillay said. “Gaza residents were not given similar protection from Israeli bombing.”

Pillay has called for an international investigation of Israel’s counter terror operation in Gaza, claiming the IDF is guilty of war crimes. She has not, however, used the same criteria in addressing the actions of Hamas, who started this war, and freely uses civilians as human shields in combat and in placement of weaponry for use against Israel.