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Tuesday, August 08, 2023

08/08 Links Pt1: Australia to resume use of term ’occupied Palestinian territories’; Gallant warns Hezbollah against escalation: ‘We’ll return Lebanon to the Stone Age’

From Ian:

Australia to resume use of term ’occupied Palestinian territories’
Australia’s Labor government will resume the use of the term “occupied Palestinian territories” in reference to eastern Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, reversing an unofficial policy stance that had been in place for almost 10 years.

“In adopting the term, we are clarifying that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Gaza [sic], were occupied by Israel following the 1967 war and that the occupation continues,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told lawmakers on Tuesday, The Guardian reported.

“[The move] reaffirms our commitment to negotiate a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist,” said Wong, adding that Canberra had engaged with the Israeli ambassador on the issue as Australia remains “a committed friend of Israel.”

Australia’s top diplomat furthermore said the government would strengthen its opposition to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, calling them “illegal under international law and a significant obstacle to peace.”

Sources cited by the Guardian said ministers had broadly refrained from using the term “occupied” or “occupation” since 2014, beginning under the leadership of Prime Minister Tony Abbott (2013-15), once named a top Christian ally of the Jewish state.

“The description of East[ern] Jerusalem as ‘occupied’ East Jerusalem is a term freighted with pejorative implications, which is neither appropriate nor useful,” then-Attorney General George Brandis said at the time.

The Palestinian Authority welcomed Tuesday’s policy shift, calling it a “significant and important development in the Australian position,” but said Canberra should go even further and “recognize the state of Palestine swiftly, in accordance with international law and international legitimacy.”

The Zionist Federation of Australia and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry in a joint statement slammed the move as “inaccurate, ahistorical and counterproductive.”

Canberra’s decision “effectively denies any Jewish claim to the West Bank [known by its biblical names Judea and Samaria] and Jerusalem. The most important Jewish holy sites of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall are in [eastern] Jerusalem, and there has been an unbroken Jewish presence in the West Bank for thousands of years,” the two organizations said.

“The foreign minister has previously stated that Australia should not preempt the outcome of final-status issues. It is regrettable that the government has now done that,” added the statement.




Sky News Australia: ‘Pathway to stability’: Labor MP maintains ‘respectful debate’ will be held over Israel
Labor MP Graham Perrett says the Labor caucus has a range of people with a number of views on many topics and maintains a “respectful debate” will be held in a national Labor Party caucus conference over their stance on Israel.




Redefining Israel’s Reasonableness Test
On July 24, 2023, Israel’s Knesset amended the 1984 Basic Law concerning the judiciary to prohibit judges from using “the reasonableness test” (illat ha-sevirut) in reviewing governmental decisions. The passing of the amendment set off stormy demonstrations throughout Israel. The amendment states that no court of law “may consider the reasonableness of a decision by the Government, the Prime Minister, or any other Minister.” The amendment is part of the controversial “judicial reform” that is being pursued by Israel’s governing coalition.

In order to mollify the opposition, members of the government have recently claimed that the reasonableness test is “no big deal,” “a minor thing,” and “not very important.” Such claims are, to say the least, imprecise. After all, the concept of reasonableness has for generations occupied the best jurists and philosophers of law—in the United States since the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted in 1789 and in England since Vaughn v. Menlove in 1837. The Italian jurist Silvia Zorzetto, in her article “Reasonableness” (2015), argues that the concept of reasonableness (rationalibilitas) is firmly anchored already in ancient Roman law. Israeli law inherited the reasonableness test from British Mandatory law, but developed it in new, creative, and fruitful directions. It is probably true that Israeli jurists, more than any others, have developed the reasonableness test as a primary tool in judicial review.

The thrust of the extensive legal scholarship on the subject is that the reasonableness test is problematic and difficult to define. At the same time, it is eminently useful, and as the American jurists Sam Kamin and Justin Marceau concluded in their article “Double Reasonableness” (2014), “it is unlikely that any area of law lacks a reasonableness test at the center of a core doctrine.” Or as another American jurist, Brandon Garrett, argued in his article “Constitutional Reasonableness” (2017), the concept of reasonableness is the “glue that holds together vastly disparate constitutional provisions and standards.”

One fascinating Israeli contribution to the conceptualization of the reasonableness test is that of the late Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon, the celebrated expert on Talmudic law. In 1989 he used the reasonableness test to overturn—or rather to correct— a previous decision by Supreme Court Justice Aharon Barak. In his ruling, Justice Elon resourcefully reinterpreted the reasonableness test in terms of Talmudic law and Rabbinic midrash.
US to ensure Israel’s security regardless of judicial reform - Jeffries
The United States will continue to ensure Israel’s security no matter how the judicial reform debate ends, US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said Monday during a visit to Israel at the head of a delegation of 24 Democrats.

“The two things that bind our countries together relate to shared democratic values and shared strategic interests related to the very tough neighborhood Israel lives in,” he said. “The need to ensure we maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge will still be with us, regardless of where Israel lands in terms of the judicial reform effort.”

House Democrats continued to be committed to Israel’s security, Jeffries said, adding that he was “confident the security relationship between the US military and the IDF will remain strong, consistent, reliable, and robust.”

“The stakes are too high in a very dangerous world for anything other than our continued security cooperation to remain ironclad,” he said. The US will continue to stand with Israel, even with judicial reform

Jeffries also said it was clear to him that US President Joe Biden would continue to stand with Israel and its right to exist as a Jewish state.

Similar to Biden, any judicial reform in Israel should be brought about by consensus, he said.

Jeffries tied Israel’s internal strife to political events in the US.

This is “a time at which both of our countries are facing concerns that the fabric of our democracies are being undermined,” he said.

Jeffries expressed hope “that we both emerge from this period of time with democracy strengthened, not weakened.”

“We continue to lean into the shared democratic values” between the US and Israel, he said. Those values include “an independent judiciary that can serve as a check and balance on other parts of the government.”

At the same time, Jeffries said it was “not [his] job to determine the precise contours of what judicial reform should look like.”

The mass protests against the overhaul are “a sign of strength for Israeli democracy,” he said.


Alex Soros urges Biden to 'take action' to 'protect Israeli democracy' amid judicial reforms
Joe Biden is being urged by top left-wing Jewish leaders to take a more proactive track on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Alex Soros, who recently took control of his father George Soros’ philanthropic empire worth $25 billion, was one of 160 high profile figures urging the US president to adopt a new stance with Israel.

Hollywood and Broadway actors Mandy Patinkin and Joshua Malina are also among the signatories in the letter.

In a letter to President Biden, they warn that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government campaign was “so severe and so consequential that it merits a proportionate reaction by Israel’s chief ally, the United States of America.”

They urged the US President to take “concrete action” to send a clear message to Israel that “its actions come with a price.”
Israel mulling options to rescue citizens in war-torn Ethiopia
An emergency meeting of Israel’s National Security Council was held on Tuesday morning to examine options for rescuing Israelis trapped in war-torn northern Ethiopia.

Foreign Ministry officials said at the meeting that there are about 70 Israelis staying in the besieged city of Gondar, and that contact has been established with most of them, Channel 12 reported.

Officials were discussing the possibility of sending in an armed convoy for a 14-hour rescue mission in coordination with the Ethiopian military and the rival militia.

The ministry said in a statement on Friday that some 50 Israelis are believed to be stuck in the Gondar region, along with around 60 others eligible for Israeli citizenship.

On Monday morning, 13 Israelis and seven foreign nationals in the town of Debark, north of Gondar, were transported out of danger, Walla News reported. The group was brought to the city of Shire near the Eritrean border and was expected to be flown to Addis Ababa.

The Israeli and foreign nationals were rescued by Magnus International Search and Rescue and PassportCard in coordination with local officials, Israeli diplomats in Addis Ababa and the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

An Israeli citizen who was abducted in Ethiopia some three weeks ago has been freed and reunited with his children, Channel 12 News reported on Monday.

Ethiopian special forces were able to liberate Francis Adbabayi, 79, from Rishon Lezion, following a “pursuit and shootout” with his kidnappers near the country’s northwestern border.
Paraguay poised to return embassy to Jerusalem
Paraguay will move its embassy back to Jerusalem, in a sign of growing support for Israel in Latin America, a Paraguayan senator said on Monday.

Sen. Gustavo Leite spoke a week before Paraguayan President-elect Santiago Peña, who has pledged to move the embassy back to Israel’s capital, will be sworn into office and a month before he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

“The president-elect is a person of his word so you can count on it that it will be done,” Leite said in a telephone interview with JNS from the Paraguayan capital of Asunción. “All the things are in place for the move.”

The president-elect told Netanyahu in a congratulatory phone call in May that he plans to return the South American country’s embassy to Jerusalem immediately after his August 15 inauguration.

Back and forth
Paraguay previously moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, following then-President Donald Trump’s lead and becoming the third country to do so after the United States and Guatemala.

However, months later, a successive Paraguayan president returned the embassy to Tel Aviv, setting off a diplomatic crisis with Israel. The surprise decision led Israel to shutter its embassy in Paraguay, citing harm the Paraguayan move had caused to bilateral relations.

Election pledge
During this year’s election campaign, Peña pledged that he would return the embassy to Jerusalem.

“The State of Israel recognizes Jerusalem as its capital,” he said in March. “The seat of the parliament is in Jerusalem, the president is in Jerusalem. So who are we to question where they establish their own capital?”

Four countries currently have their embassies in Israel’s capital: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo.

With Paraguay set to move its embassy back to Jerusalem, more than half of the embassies in the city will soon be from Latin America.


Gazan Americans to get free entry as Israel readies for Visa Waiver Program
Israel plans to ease travel for Palestinian Americans from the Gaza Strip next month as part of preparations for Israelis to be able to enter the United States without visas, an Israeli official said on Monday.

As a condition for its accession to the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP), Israel has since July 20 loosened access through its borders, and in and out of the West Bank, for Palestinian Americans in what the allies deem a pilot period.

Gaza, whose governing Islamist Hamas is designated a terrorist group by Israel and the United States, has so far not been included. That has stirred protests by Palestinian Americans and calls from Washington for a change in practice.

Gil Bringer, Israel's VWP project manager, put the number of Palestinian Americans living in Gaza at between 100 and 130 and said that, as part of the pilot, they can travel by special shuttle bus to the West Bank, cross into Jordan and continue from there to other foreign destinations on family visits.

By Sept. 15, those of them who satisfy Israel's security criteria will be able to enter it on "B2" tourist visas and fly out of its main Ben Gurion International Airport, Bringer told Reuters.

"That will basically mean they're included in the pilot," he said in a phone interview, adding that the target date had originally been Sept. 22 and "if we can bring it forward further, we will".


Gallant warns Hezbollah against escalation: ‘We’ll return Lebanon to the Stone Age’
Visiting the tense Mount Dov region on the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatened the Hezbollah terror group, which has been carrying out provocations along the frontier in recent months.

In a video statement, Gallant warned the chief of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, “not to make a mistake.”

“You have made mistakes in the past, you have paid very heavy prices. If… an escalation or conflict develops here, we will return Lebanon to the Stone Age. We will not hesitate to use all our power, and erode every inch of Hezbollah and Lebanon if we have to,” said Gallant after touring the area with senior Israel Defense Force officers.

“Don’t mistake us, we don’t want war, but we are ready to protect our citizens, our soldiers, and our sovereignty,” he added.

Gallant observed the location where Hezbollah recently set up two tents in sovereign Israeli territory, with the head of the IDF Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, and commander of the 91st Regional Brigade, Brig. Gen. Shai Kalper, along with other senior officers.

In Mount Dov, also known as Shebaa Farms — an area claimed by Lebanon — Gallant held an assessment with the officers, and was updated on “the defensive efforts being made along the border, and of the progress of the construction of the barrier that is currently being carried out,” his office said, referring to plans to replace Israel’s border fence with a taller concrete wall.

In recent months, Hezbollah activity has repeatedly been spotted along the border, in incidents that Israel sees as deliberate provocations, including the erection of two tents beyond the United Nations-recognized Blue Line in the Mount Dov area. The Iran-backed group later took down one of the tents, while threatening to attack if Israel moves to dismantle the other one.
Israel's DM Gallant warns Hezbollah: ‘We won't hesitate to unleash all our power'
'The enemy needs to understand that when it comes to Israel's security - we are all united,' Gallant stressed

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday that Israel "will not hesitate to use all our power" against the Lebanese terrorist movement


Israel thwarts Palestinian terror cell directed from Lebanon
Israeli security services broke up a Palestinian terror cell in Judea and Samaria directed by a Lebanon-based activist, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed on Tuesday.

A number of Palestinian Authority residents were arrested in recent months who were planning to shoot Israelis. The Palestinians were being instructed by Alam Kaabi, a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.

Kaabi, originally from Nablus, was deported to the Gaza Strip as part of the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange agreement and currently resides in Lebanon, where as part of his role he recruits Palestinian terrorists, including some members of his family, to carry out attacks.

The operation was uncovered during an investigation by the Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces.

Palestinians recruited by Kaabi included Marad Kaabi, a relative and resident of the Balata refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus. Two M-16 rifles were confiscated during the probe of Marad Kaabi.

Khaled Abu al-Hijaa was also arrested. He said that he was recruited to lead the Judea and Samaria terror cell.

Both suspects have been indicted for terrorist offenses in the Samaria Military Court.
"Police Bring No Proof to Court: Lynched Jews Released to House Arrest"
Two Jewish men who live in the Binyamin region are currently under arrest by Israel Police in connection with an incident that took place last Friday evening between the Jewish community of Oz Tzion and the Palestinian Authority Arab village of Burqa.

But the question is, based on what evidence?

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court had the same question, and until police can provide a better answer, Yechiel Indore and Elisha Yered were released Tuesday to house arrest, even though technically Indore is still lying in a hospital bed with serious wounds sustained in the clash. Several others also had minor injuries.

Israeli Seriously Injured by Arab Lynch Mob in Binyamin

Honenu Attorney Nati Rom, who is representing Yered, pointed out in a tweet on Tuesday, “A two-hour incident with 300 Arabs involved. Why are there no documents from their side? Why didn’t they allow a probe of this incident?”

Palestinian Authority citizens are usually the first ones to post videos of the incident on social media whenever there is a chance the clash was caused by a Jew. So indeed, where are the videos, this time around?

The Palestinian Authority’s official WAFA News Agency claims Jewish residents started the incident by attacking Burqa, and that Arab residents were merely defending themselves and their village.

The Jews say, however, that a Jewish shepherd was grazing his flock when he was approached and then threatened by a mob of Arabs. Jews living nearby rushed to the site to help the shepherd, at which time, according to a statement from the Honenu organization, the Arabs began hurling rocks, swinging clubs and shooting live fireworks at the Jews.
Palestinian terrorists fire at bus in Binyamin region
Suspected Palestinian terrorists opened fire on a public bus in the Binyamin region of Samaria on Tuesday afternoon, Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) said.

The bus was traveling along Route 465 in the vicinity of Umm Safa, an Arab village located near the Jewish community of Ateret, when it was fired upon from a passing vehicle. No injuries were reported.

The driver called the security forces and continued driving to Ateret. The Israel Defense Forces opened a manhunt for the terrorists.

The incident comes amid a sharp increase in terrorist attacks on roads across Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.

On Monday evening, at least one Jewish driver was lightly wounded when Palestinian terrorists stoned Israeli vehicles on a main highway in central Samaria, medical officials said.

According to the Magen David Adom emergency service, a 28-year-old man suffered a head wound in the attack, which took place on Route 60 near Sinjil, north of Ramallah.
Cyberattack shuts down Bnei Brak hospital’s computers
Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak was hit by a cyberattack on Monday night, Israel’s Health Ministry announced on Tuesday morning. The hospital’s administrative computers were shut down in what was described as a ransomware attack.

The ultra-Orthodox hospital, located east of Tel Aviv, said medical equipment was not affected by the attack and that patients are being treated. But the ministry instructed that the center’s outpatient clinics and imaging centers not accept patients and that the public not go to its emergency room until further notice.

Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, which is in charge of defending the national cyberspace, was notified.

It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible for the attack.

In May, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman reported that Israeli hospitals were hit with 13 major cyberattacks in 2021, making the healthcare sector one of the most targeted by hackers.

To test the preparedness of the hospitals, a team of hackers overseen by the State Comptroller’s Office staged a controlled penetration of one major hospital identified as Medical Center A. The attack revealed deficiencies in the medical center’s security precautions and responses to the “hack.”

The ombudsman also cited the vulnerability of hospital equipment, such as ultrasound and MRI scanning devices, which are integrated into hospital information networks.


IDF destroys home of terrorist who murdered Yaniv brothers
Israeli forces overnight demolished the home of the Palestinian terrorist who murdered Hallel and Yagel Yaniv in Huwara in Samaria on Feb. 26, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday.

Hamas member Abdel Fattah Hussein Kharousha shot and killed the brothers while they were stuck in traffic on Route 60, which runs through the Arab village. Kharousha was killed by IDF soldiers on March 7.

Kharousha’s home in the Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of Shechem (Nablus) was mapped for possible demolition in late March. The demolition order was announced on May 11.

During the demolition operation, Israeli forces were attacked with stones, explosives and burning tires. Soldiers responded with crowd dispersal measures.

No casualties were reported.

According to a public opinion poll, 71% of Palestinians support the murder of the Yanivs, with only 21% of those surveyed saying they were against it.

The parents of the Yaniv brothers, Esti and Shalom Yaniv, penned a letter to the IDF soldiers who demolished the home of their murderer.

“You have been chosen to return the honor of our sons, the honor of Israel, our national pride. But our children will not be brought back by demolishing the home. The pain of missing them will not abate. The gaping hole will not become smaller,” they wrote.

“But in demolishing the home we will know that there is a law, and there is a judge. And mostly, the evil ones who rise up against us will know that they will pay a heavy price for their criminal actions, and it will be at their expense. And everyone around will know that anyone who raises a hand to a Jew in the Land of Israel—he will surely know his home will be destroyed, and his end is near.”


King Abdullah hosts Abbas in Amman
Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman on Tuesday, the P.A.’s Wafa news agency reported.

The two leaders discussed bilateral relations and the latest political developments, among other issues.

Also in attendance at the meeting was Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah; Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee; P.A. General Intelligence Service head Majed Faraj; Abbas’s diplomatic adviser Majdi Khalidi; and PLO Ambassador to Jordan Attalla Khairi.

Meanwhile, a military court in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Sunday sentenced seven people to death by hanging for “collaboration” with Israel, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Seven others were sentenced to life in prison “with hard labor,” which in Gaza amounts to 25 years.

Under Palestinian law, Abbas is required to approve any death sentence, but this has been routinely ignored since Hamas seized control of the Strip in 2007.

Many attempts at reconciliation between the Hamas and Fatah terrorist groups have failed over the years, including most recently in Egypt late last month.

Talks between the P.A. and Israel have also been in neutral recently, with P.A. Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki recently slamming the Biden administration as “weak” over its failure to launch a negotiating process with Israel.


MEMRI: Palestinian Terror Organizations Are Duplicating Gaza Strip Fighting Methods In West Bank
Recently, there has been an escalation in efforts by Palestinian terror organizations, led by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), to establish themselves in the West Bank and set up a military infrastructure to conduct terror attacks and armed struggle against Israel from there. This is evident primarily in a) the cooperation among the various armed factions and the prevalent terror activity in the refugee camps being carried out by terrorist militias such as the Jenin Brigade and Lion's Den; b) in the significant increase in terror activity emanating from the West Bank, particularly Jenin; c) in explicit public statements by terror organization leaders concerning escalating terror activity in the West Bank, and d) in the undermining of the Palestinian Authority's control and governance in Jenin refugee camp, which was highlighted by Israel's July 3-5 Operation Home and Garden military incursion into Jenin.

Moreover, it is clear that the terror organizations are changing their methods of warfare and how they are conducting their armed struggle against Israel from the West Bank, and are attempting to duplicate in the West Bank the methods used to fight Israel in the Gaza Strip. To this end, they are operating in three ways:
With ongoing efforts to arm the West Bank, including manufacturing weapons and advanced explosive devices
By excavating tunnels and launching rockets
By maintaining anti-Israel military cooperation among the terror organizations, following the example of the joint war room in the Gaza Strip.

These efforts to implement the Gaza model are particularly noticeable in the northern West Bank, especially in the Jenin and Nablus districts, but Hamas and PIJ officials are reiterating that they strive to expand these methods to all West Bank cities.

It should be noted that the armament efforts in the West Bank are energetically assisted by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and on orders of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Khamenei issued these orders a decade ago, and successive commanders of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have declared numerous times that they are implementing these orders.[1]Hamas and PIJ leaders regularly thank Iran publicly for its military aid to their organizations, including inside the West Bank.[2]

This report will review the three methods being used by Palestinian terror organizations to duplicate Gaza Strip methods of fighting Israel in the West Bank, as manifested in Jenin district.


UAE tells UN of 'profound concern' over Iran's nuclear activities
The UAE expressed “profound concern” about Iran’s nuclear programme as it joined calls for Tehran to co-operate with UN inspectors.

Hamad Alkaabi, the UAE's permanent representative to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran’s uranium enrichment did not have “realistic peaceful uses”.

He told a non-proliferation meeting in Vienna that Iran should address IAEA concerns to “build confidence in the peaceful intent” of its activities.

Iran has enriched and stockpiled uranium and installed new centrifuges since the US withdrew from a 2015 deal with the regime, raising fears it is seeking nuclear arms.

Several diplomats voiced concern in Vienna that the deal remains in limbo, despite more than two years of talks aimed at bringing Iran and the US back to compliance.

The IAEA, which is in a separate dispute with Iran over unexplained nuclear traces in the country, says it has been blocked from monitoring Tehran’s activities for two years.

The UAE “continues to endorse diplomacy and dialogue to address Iran's nuclear concerns”, Mr Alkaabi said.

He said Iran had continued to enrich uranium to 20 and 60 per cent – well above the 3.67 per cent cap under the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“Such activities are neither consistent with the JCPOA nor have realistic peaceful uses and continue to be a source of profound concern to my country,” he said.

“We call on Iran to address all safeguards-related concerns in a verifiable, timely and complete manner, to refrain from any actions that could undermine the agency’s safeguards and the global non-proliferation regime, and to further build confidence in the peaceful intent and nature of its nuclear activities.”


3,000 US Troops Deployed to Red Sea Amid Iranian Attacks on Merchant Vessels
More than 3,000 U.S. military personnel arrived in the Red Sea on Sunday after months of Iranian attacks on merchant ships transiting the Persian Gulf.

Members of the Navy and Marines arrived on the USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall through the Suez Canal this weekend to counter Iran's "harassment and seizures of merchant vessels," according to the U.S. Naval Central Forces Central Command.

"These units add significant operational flexibility and capability as we work alongside international partners to deter destabilizing activity and deescalate regional tensions caused by Iran’s harassment and seizures of merchant vessels earlier this year," said Commander Tim Hawkins, spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said, according to The Hill.

The United States' deployment of troops to the Middle East comes after Iran has for months harassed and attacked merchant ships in the Gulf of Oman.

Some of the ships intercepted were bound for America to deliver oil.
Tensions in the Gulf: U.S. ups naval presence to counter Iran
Over 3,000 U.S. sailors and Marines have arrived in the Red Sea, tasked with defending U.S. interests being targeted by Iran. The deployment adds to a growing U.S. military build-up in tense Gulf waterways, so will it turn the tide or lead to a confrontation?


Over 90 Iranian reporters said arrested or interrogated since protests started
Iranian authorities have questioned or arrested over 90 journalists since nationwide protests rocked the Islamic Republic last year, local media reported Tuesday.

Mass demonstrations erupted in September 2022 following the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly breaching the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.

Hundreds of people including security forces were killed and thousands arrested over their participation in what the authorities have described as “riots” fomented by the West.

“More than 90 journalists have been arrested or summoned over the past 10 months in different cities” across the country, according to the reformist Shargh daily, quoting a report by a local committee that supports detained journalists.

Most have been released on bail or granted amnesty, but the fate of 11 journalists, including six detained and five others awaiting verdicts, “is still unknown,” said the report published on Iran’s National Journalists’ Day, celebrated on August 8.

Among the detained journalists are Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi, who covered Amini’s death and have been detained since September.


Pakistan: 'Eye-for-an-Eye' Repercussions on Christians from Sweden Burning the Quran
Pakistani Christians find themselves crying silently for peace, understanding, and respect for their religious symbols -- but their cries seem to be falling on deaf ears, both domestically and globally.

This hostility took a horrifying turn when extremist groups threatened to attack churches and Christians, declaring that no Christians would stay safe in Pakistan. These groups even asked other jihadist groups to direct their attacks towards Christians and their places of worship, despite local Christians having no involvement in the incident, and even when they vociferously condemned the Quran's desecration and cannot be held responsible in any way.

The authorities seem unable to effectively guarantee the protection of religious minorities or their sacred symbols. This silence -- real or perceived -- often gets interpreted as tacit acceptance, potentially fuelling further acts of hostility.

This hostility took a horrifying turn when extremist groups threatened to attack churches and Christians, declaring that no Christians would stay safe in Pakistan. These groups even asked other jihadist groups to direct their attacks towards Christians and their places of worship, despite local Christians having no involvement in the incident, and even when they vociferously condemn the desecration of the Quran and cannot be held responsible in any way.

Indeed, it appears that being Christian instead of Muslim may be the real unforgivable offense in the present time.

What is worse is the lacklustre response from the Pakistani government towards these threats against its Christian minority.

The prime minister himself, instead of de-escalating the situation and calming the anger among Muslims, called for a nationwide protest and the observance of "Yume Taqdees" (Sanctity of the Quran).

The prime minister even failed to issue a statement in support of Christians who were helpfully condemning the desecration of the Holy Quran.


Biden Admin Has Given $2.35 Billion to Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan
The Biden administration has provided more than $2.35 billion in taxpayer dollars to Afghanistan since the Taliban retook control of the government in 2021 following a deadly U.S. evacuation.

The United States remains Afghanistan’s top patron, even as lawmakers and federal oversight officials warn that these funds could be propping up the Taliban’s terrorist government. Updated spending figures were disclosed Tuesday in a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a federal watchdog that documents waste, fraud, and abuse related to U.S. expenditures in the war-torn country.

Around $1.7 billion "remained available for possible disbursement" at the time of SIGAR’s report, meaning that this money is ready to flow into non-profit groups and other entities working on reconstruction projects in Afghanistan. With the Taliban exerting control over nearly every sector of the country’s infrastructure—including the NGO community—it is more than likely that a sizable portion of these funds will end up in the terror group’s coffers.

The latest figures are certain to increase congressional pressure on the Biden administration to stop sending taxpayer funds into Afghanistan until officials can ensure the Taliban is not stealing the money. John Sopko, head of SIGAR, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in April that he "cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban." Sopko also accused the Biden administration of blocking his investigatory efforts and refusing to hand over documents that could show if the Taliban is being propped up by American cash.

In the two years since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan following the Biden administration's withdrawal of American forces in 2021, it has become increasingly clear that the terrorist group views international assistance as a "revenue stream," according to SIGAR’s latest report.

The United States Institute of Peace recently warned the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the primary vehicle for U.S. spending in Afghanistan, that the Taliban is "pushing for ever-increasing degrees of credit and control over the delivery of aid." United Nations officials also disclosed to the watchdog that "the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-managed assistance programming."




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