Wednesday, February 21, 2024

02/21 Links Pt1: Hamas’s ‘sadistic sex crimes’ on October 7 revealed; The West is about to hand victory to Hamas; Melanie Phillips: The Duke of Gaza

From Ian:

Hamas’s ‘sadistic sex crimes’ on October 7 revealed in new report
The systematic nature of the “sadistic sex crimes” committed during the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on Oct. 7 has been revealed for the first time, in a report published by the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel.

Furthermore, the document has been translated into English and sent to decision-makers in the United Nations to leave “no room for denial or disregard.”

The report, authored by Dr. Carmit Keller-Halamish and Nega Berger, analyses public and confidential testimonies about the sexual violence, eyewitness accounts and interviews with victims and first responders.

“The terrorist organization Hamas has chosen to injure the State of Israel with two clear strategies—taking civilians captive, and sadistic sex crimes,” said Orit Soliciano, CEO of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers.

“It is no longer possible to remain silent—we expect the international organizations to take a clear position, it is impossible to stand on the sidelines. Standing on the other side will be remembered as a historic stain on all those who chose to remain silent and deny the sexual crimes committed by Hamas,” Soliciano added.

The first official report on the sexual element of the atrocities highlights the systematic and deliberate manner in which the sexual violence took place. Over a thousand people were murdered, thousands more wounded and 253 kidnapped during the Hamas-led attack.

According to the report, sexual violence took place everywhere the terrorists invaded, including at the Supernova music festival, kibbutzim, cities, towns and IDF bases. The hostages in Gaza continue to be victimised.

Examples of the sexual crimes committed include violent acts of rape, with weapons pointed at the victims, in some cases aimed at wounded women. Many mass rapes occurred. Often, the rapes were intentionally committed in front of husbands, partners and family members to maximize the pain and helplessness felt and increase the terror.

Hamas terrorists carried out a hunting expedition to catch young men and women who attempted to escape the carnage at the music festival, dragging them by the hair screaming. The sexual violence targeted men, women and girls and included binding their bodies, mutilating genitals and the bodies of both males and females with knives and in some cases inserting weapons inside the genitals.

In most cases, the victims were executed either during the rape or after.
'Many victims' bodies found mutilated and bound, some discovered deliberately booby-trapped'
The report presents several testimonies from massacre survivors who witnessed incidents of gang rape, where women were passed between terrorists who beat, injured, and ultimately murdered them.

Testimonies from first responders and corpse-handling personnel in southern kibbutzim and communities indicate that many homes showed signs of rapes committed close to the time of murder, with a significant number of these incidents occurring in the presence or vicinity of family members.

“Many cases involve heinous attacks on women and girls, including a case of hiding a knife in a genital organ,” the report reads. “Additional information was received by the ARCCI but cannot be disclosed due to privacy concerns.”

The report includes several testimonies, among them that of Noam Mark, a member of the alert squad at Kibbutz Re'im, who found the bodies of three young women from the nova rave in one of the kibbutz homes. The bodies were found naked, with clear signs of severe sexual violence.

According to the report, these violations also occurred at IDF bases. Bodies of female soldiers that arrived at Camp Shura for forensic identification bore unmistakable signs of sexual violence.

“Information regarding sexual assaults in captivity has been published following the testimonies of those who returned from captivity. These testimonies include various cases, including those of captives who are still alive.”

The report indicates that sexual crimes were systematically and deliberately committed during and after the October 7 terror attack, characterized by multiple assailants, assaults in front of family members, executions and accompanied by unique sadistic practices.

"The brutal practices used on October 7, such as genital mutilation of girls, women, and men, shooting, and weapon insertion, were designed to destroy and inflict sadistic terror,” the report authors stated.

According to the authors, the manner in which the assaults were carried out and the actions that accompanied them were intended to maximize the impact on the victims and their communities, which were unable to prevent the attacks.

“As the scars in our hearts refuse to heal, and the souls of our sisters and brothers cry out to us from the depths of the earth, a significant portion of those we considered partners responded in silence and denial of these horrors. We call on you to raise your voices and not allow the cries of these victims to fade away,” they say.

This report, the first official study since October 7, aggregates testimonies and provides conclusions, demonstrating that the incidents were not anomalies or isolated occurrences but rather part of a deliberate and systematic strategy of extremely cruel sexual abuse, establishing an initial evidentiary basis for the widespread perpetration of sexual crimes. "The report, submitted to decision-makers at the UN, leaves no room for denial or disregard,” said Orit Sulitzeanu, CEO of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel.

“The terrorist organization Hamas chose to harm Israel strategically in two clear ways – kidnapping citizens and committing sadistic sexual crimes. Silence is no longer an option. We expect international organizations to take a clear stance; we cannot stand on the sidelines. Silence will be remembered as a historical stain on those who chose to remain silent and deny the sexual crimes committed by Hamas.”


Families were reportedly coerced by Hamas to witness the rapes of victims on October 7th
Orit Sulitzeanu, Executive Director, The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, and Miriam Schler, Executive Director, The Tel Aviv Crisis Center for Sexual Assault discuss


Hamas reportedly forced families to witness rapes of October 7 victims
Miriam Schler, executive director of the Tel Aviv Crisis Center for Sexual Assault, breaks down the harrowing report that describes terrorists forcing Israelis to watch as they raped and killed their family members and neighbors.


John Spencer: Hospitals Are Protected Under International Law. But They Cannot be 'Off Limits'
As a basic principle of the international law of armed conflict - as well as basic humanity - attacks against civilian sites are prohibited, unless those sites are used for military purposes. According to the U.S. Department of Defense law of war manual, if a hospital is used for "interference, direct or indirect, in military operations, such as the use of a hospital as a shelter for able-bodied combatants or fugitives, as an arms or ammunition store, as a military observation post, or as a center for liaison with combat forces," such uses can lead to a hospital losing its protected status.

Because of all the special protections surrounding hospitals, they have increasingly been used for military purposes by combatants such as al-Qaeda, Islamic State, and especially Hamas, who do not follow the laws of war and intentionally shield themselves behind protected objects and groups. As a result, the U.S. and many other countries have recently had to conduct operations against enemy forces in hospitals.

While the U.S. encountered only sporadic use of hospitals in Afghanistan and Iraq, in Gaza, in almost every hospital the IDF has arrived at, it has uncovered and published military use by Hamas, which purposefully and systematically developed a strategy to use Gaza's hospitals for military purposes. Hamas exploits the laws of war and public sensitivity to both hamper the IDF's actions and invite international condemnation.

In Gaza's largest medical complex, the Al-Shifa hospital, the IDF found weapons, ammunition, and equipment in many of the buildings, as well as a large Hamas tunnel with a full command and control architecture utilizing the hospital's power sources that had been constructed purposely under the hospital grounds. Hamas military activity was also documented at Sheikh Hamad hospital, Al-Quds hospital, Indonesian hospital, Al-Rantisi hospital, Kamal Adwan hospital, and Al-Nasser hospital.

To date, Israel has followed the rules when interacting with hospitals. It has provided warning before acting, and has gone beyond the requirements of the law. It has facilitated evacuation, provided its own supplies to the hospital, and helped provide alternative medical facilities until the ones being searched can restore full activities. Israel has refrained from attacking hospitals from the air, even where it would be lawful to do so, and has left hospitals as quickly as possible, allowing them to resume full operations.
FDD Morning Brief | feat. John Spencer (Feb. 21)
FDD Senior Vice President Jon Schanzer delivers timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, to discuss Hamas's tunnel networks in Gaza.


Col Kemp: The West is about to hand victory to Hamas
Just a few short months ago, the West claimed to stand united with Israel as it launched a war of self-defense after the atrocities of Oct. 7. Now even Jerusalem's closest allies seem to want to stop the conflict in Gaza before the Israel Defense Forces have achieved their objective of the destruction of Hamas. The West has developed a defeatist tendency in recent years of pursuing negotiated settlements that never really lead to peace, only to running sores that inevitably flare up again and again, or indeed to the victory of our enemies.

The new U.S. draft UN Security Council resolution on the war in Gaza calls for a "temporary" ceasefire "as soon as practicable." The danger is that it really wants to impose a "peace" deal that would leave Hamas partially intact and end up solving nothing. What the U.S. seems incapable of recognizing is that the Israeli people can accept no solution to the current conflict that leaves the country in a weaker position than it occupied on Oct. 6.

Israel did not want the conflict. It was the necessary response to the shocking crimes of Oct. 7, the slaughter of civilians, and the taking of hostages - evil terrorist acts that Israel rightly wants to ensure can never happen again. If the IDF does not move forward with its plans, Israel knows that it will only be a matter of time before we see another conflict in Gaza, as well as emboldened terrorists in the West Bank and on its northern border. Worse, the terrorists would know that the U.S. would never allow Israel to truly defeat them.


Netanyahu: Israel will not agree to a ceasefire ‘at any price’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to not cave to international pressure demanding a ceasefire in the war against Hamas.

“There is considerable pressure on Israel at home and abroad to stop the war before we achieve all of its goals, including a deal at any price to free the hostages,” said Netanyahu during a visit to the IDF Sky Rider Unit at the Zikim Base along the border with the Gaza Strip.

“We very much want to achieve another release and we are prepared to go far but we are not prepared to pay any price, certainly not the delusional prices that Hamas is demanding of us, the meaning of which is the defeat of the State of Israel,” he added.

Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to continue prosecuting the war until Israel achieves all its goals: Eliminating Hamas, releasing all of the hostages and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel.

“There is no pressure, none, that can change this,” said the premier.

During the tour, Netanyahu was briefed on the unit’s achievements and operated a drone monitoring the skies over Gaza.

In an address to the nation on Saturday, Netanyahu said that those urging Jerusalem to end the fighting before launching an operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah were effectively calling for the Jewish state to lose to Hamas.

“I speak with world leaders every day. I tell them decisively: Israel will fight until we achieve total victory. And indeed, this includes action in Rafah, of course after we allow the civilians found in the combat zones to evacuate to safe areas,” said Netanyahu.
Would an American-Backed UN Resolution Calling for a Temporary Ceasefire Undermine Israel?
Yesterday morning, the U.S. vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution, sponsored by Algeria, that demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. As an alternative, the American delegation has been circulating a draft resolution calling for a “temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as practicable, based on the formula of all hostages being released.” Benny Avni comments:

While the Israel Defense Force may be able to maintain its Gaza operations under that provision, the U.S.-proposed resolution also warns the military against proceeding with its plan to enter the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Israel says that a critical number of Hamas fighters are hiding inside tunnels and in civilian buildings at Rafah, surrounded by a number of the remaining 134 hostages.

In one paragraph, the text of the new American resolution says that the council “determines that under current circumstances a major ground offensive into Rafah would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighboring countries, which would have serious implications for regional peace and security, and therefore underscores that such a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances.”

In addition to the paragraph about Rafah, the American-proposed resolution is admonishing Israel not to create a buffer zone inside Gaza. Such a narrow zone, as wide as two miles, is seen by many Israelis as a future protection against infiltration from Gaza.

Perhaps, as Robert Satloff argues, the resolution isn’t intended to forestall an IDF operation in Rafah, but only—consistent with prior statements from the Biden administration—to demand that Israel come up with a plan to move civilians out of harms way before advancing on the city.

If that is so, the resolution wouldn’t change much if passed. But why is the U.S. proposing an alternative ceasefire resolution at all? Strategically, Washington has nothing to gain from stopping Israel, its ally, from achieving a complete victory over Hamas. Why not instead pass a resolution condemning Hamas (something the Security Council has not done), calling for the release of hostages, and demanding that Qatar and Iran stop providing the group with arms and funds? Better yet, demand that these two countries—along with Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon—arrest Hamas leaders on their territory.

Surely Russia would veto such a resolution, but still, why not go on the offensive, rather than trying to come up with another UN resolution aimed at restraining Israel?


Cairo compromise? Israel touts 'early signs' of progress in Gaza ceasefire deal
Hamas has "softened its positions" in the negotiations for a hostage deal, Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Wednesday, citing diplomatic sources.

According to the report, an Israeli delegation was expected to arrive in Cairo ahead of the talks.

Earlier this week, it was announced a Hamas delegation headed by Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and Deputy Chairman of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, had arrived in Cairo for discussions.

Gantz: 'initials signs indicate deal moving forward'
Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz said in a press conference on Wednesday, "There are attempts these days to promote a new outline for a deal, and initial signs indicate the possibility of moving forward."

"We will not miss any opportunity to bring the girls and boys home," he noted.

He added that "without an outline for a deal, Israel would operate during Ramadan."

Gantz referred to Israel's plans for after the war, stating that Israel was acting "to strengthen the moderate axis vis-à-vis Iran and establish a regional administration that would help the Palestinians build a different government in Gaza.
Knesset votes 99-11 against any unilateral recognition of Pal state
The Knesset plenum on Wednesday voted 99-11 to back the government’s decision to reject any unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood, amid reports the Biden administration is considering such a move.

All coalition lawmakers and most members of the opposition Yesh Atid, National Unity and Yisrael Beiteinu parties voted in favor of supporting Sunday’s Cabinet statement against “international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians.”

The Labor Party boycotted the vote and its members were not in attendance. The Arab parties voted against the measure.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated the opposition for voting with his coalition on the proposal.

“I congratulate the MKs, including from the opposition, who voted with a huge majority in favor of my proposal that Israel oppose unilaterally dictating to us a Palestinian state,” he said.

“This landmark vote underscores our collective resolve. We will not reward terrorism by unilateral recognition in response to the Oct. 7 massacre, nor will we accept imposed solutions. This strong stance sends a powerful message to the world: Peace and security for Israel will be achieved through negotiations, not through unilateral actions. Today, we stand united more than ever,” added Netanyahu.

Opposition leader and Yesh Atid Party head Yair Lapid took a combative tone after the vote, criticizing Netanyahu for pushing for the vote in the Knesset.

“My party and I are against unilateral measures and therefore we voted for it, but you invented a threat that doesn’t exist. There is not a single party that offers recognition of the Palestinians, you invented a spin so that they don’t talk about the fact that you are guilty regarding the conscription law and the budget.”


Netanyahu Government Says No to Biden on Palestinian Statehood Declaration
JNS CEO Alex Traiman and Middle East correspondent Josh Hasten discuss the latest news in Israel
- The Israeli government's resolution opposing the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian State
- Why Biden is pushing for a two-state solution right now
- The UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire
- Calls for elections in Israel
- Impending operation in Rafah

All this and more on JLMinute - the show where you get all the analysis and news in one place!




Swiss government advancing bill to ban Hamas over October 7 onslaught
Switzerland’s government says it wants to ban Hamas after the Palestinian terror group’s attacks in Israel last year which killed nearly 1,200 people and sparked a war in Gaza.

Bern says it was taking action after the attacks on October 7 which killed two Swiss nationals and resulted in 253 people being taken hostage.

The Swiss government says under the new legislation Hamas and “cover or successor organizations” as well as organizations or groups that act on its behalf or in its name will be banned.

The ban aims to punish Hamas for the October attacks as well as prevent the group from using Switzerland as a safe haven or carrying out attacks in the country for example by making entry bans or expulsions easier to arrange.

It will also help combat terrorist financing by allowing the Swiss anti-money laundering authorities to better exchange information with counterparts abroad, the government said.

The law, which has entered a consultation phase, will be limited to five years, the government says.
BBC documentary reveals Hamas’s financial empire
A documentary has described the “vast amounts of money” kept outside Gaza that Hamas uses to fund its terror operations.

The BBC Panorama episode presented by journalist John Ware aired on Monday evening and detailed part of Hamas’s financial operation, which includes using funding from international aid agencies to pay for basic government costs so that other streams of income could be used to pay for its military.

While billions arrived from international aid agencies, the United Nations, and the European Union, to spend on humanitarian aid, Hamas could spend the money from other sources – such as taxes and Qatari and Iranian funding – on military operations.

The documentary makers were granted access to documents that Israeli intelligence say are from inside Hamas and reveal how the terror group make some of its millions. The documents cover an investment portfolio of over 40 companies from 2018 worth around $0.5 billion.

The US treasury has said that the companies listed in the documents “generated vast sums of revenue” while Gaza faces “harsh living and economic conditions.”

In Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, the Gulf, and elsewhere, companies with links to Hamas were involved in road construction, real estate and tourism, amongst other industries.

The US designated six of the companies as being directly, or indirectly, owned by Hamas.

Tom Keatinge, from the Centre for Financial Crime Studies at RUSI, said the companies were "a way of an organisation like Hamas keeping its money outside Gaza in a safe store... and at the same time earning an income.”

One of the listed companies, Trend, was run by Hamid Abdullah al-Ahmar who is connected to Hamas and its leadership. Al-Ahmar praised October 7 as “a sweeping and roaring flood that will never stop until the occupation of beloved Palestine is defeated.”




Melanie Phillips: The Duke of Gaza: Prince William's amoral handwringing has done the monarchy real damage
The really venomous sting in Prince William’s remarks, however, the five words that remove any lingering thought that maybe he was just issuing pious bromides for peace, were these: “Too many have been killed”.

Really? How many is that? And who is he talking about? Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas terrorists. Does Prince William think too many Hamas terrorists have been killed? It sounds as if he has swallowed the Hamas propaganda line, pumped out by the BBC, Sky and just about every mainstream media outlet, that all those killed in Gaza by the Israel Defence Forces are women and children, with astoundingly not one man or terrorist among them.

Moreover, the ratio of civilians to terrorists killed by the IDF is running at between 1:1 and 3:1 — a far smaller proportion of civilians killed in warfare than Prince William’s own country’s armed forces or any other country have ever achieved in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else.

So what exactly does he mean by “too many”? Is he merely parroting the view expressed by Labour’s Wes Streeting that Israel has gone “beyond reasonable self-defence” in its attack on Gaza — a view for which those who are very ignorant and very conformist would find ample ammunition in the twisted and disgusting distortions and incitement against Israel promulgated day in, day out by the BBC and mainstream media — and which we are about to hear far too many members of parliament voice in tomorrow’s debate? Exactly what do Wes Streeting and all the others think constitutes “reasonable self-defence” against genocide?

Apparently, Prince William decided that “the sight of innocent children caught up in conflict was worth the risk of speaking out”. Really? Has he similarly spoken out about the need to end the war in Ukraine because of the killing of innocent children there? Or the war in Syria because of the “sheer scale of human suffering”?

Moreover, the majority of Gazans support Hamas. On October 7, hundreds of Gazan civilians poured across the shattered Israel border in the wake of the Hamas stormtroopers and took part in the raping, murdering and looting. Survivors of the pogrom report that those civilian Gazan marauders included women and children. Israeli soldiers report that, among the houses they have entered during this war, there is not one that is not affiliated to Hamas or doesn’t contains stashes of weapons.

Neither Prince William nor those MPs who will tomorrow be attacking Israel for defending itself against genocide will allow any of these facts to get in the way of the narrative created by more than four months of lies, distortion, selective reporting and incitement pumped out by the mainstream media and the Hamas patsies in the UN, Red Cross and the rest of the international “humanitarian” circus.

MPs calling for an immediate ceasefire tomorrow will bring shame to Britain. Prince William has brought shame to the monarchy, and done it real damage.
Melanie Phillips: Prince William and the Red Cross
A further point on the deeply ill-advised remarks by the Prince of Wales about the war in Gaza, about which I wrote here yesterday, is that they were published as he made a well-publicised visit to the Red Cross in London and took part in a video link with Red Cross staff working in Gaza. The BBC reported:
The prince heard warnings from senior crisis manager, Pascal Hundt, that without medical supplies or fuel, hospitals risked “becoming a cemetery” and that distributing humanitarian aid had become difficult because of looting by “hungry mobs”. Prince William was also told that the Red Cross was ready to help with the release of hostages.

As a result, the prince declared that he was “deeply moved as a father”.

Prince William assumes that the Red Cross is a disinterested champion of the suffering. It is not. Over the years, it has served as a mouthpiece for unfounded and malicious Palestinian accusations against Israel. Ever since the October 7 pogrom, it has been deeply compromised as a Hamas patsy and a partisan for the Palestinian cause.

Despite many pleas, it has failed to visit the Israeli hostages. It has failed to transfer to the hostages the medication that some of them urgently need, despite the promise of such a transfer being in the terms of the last ceasefire.

It has also failed to report the fact that, as the Israel Defence Forces have testified, every medical facility in Gaza has been used for Hamas terrorist activities. In such medical facilities, terrorists have posed as doctors and nurses. A huge tunnel complex had been dug under al Shifa hospital whose director, another doctor and two nurses were arrested by the IDF following evidence of “extensive Hamas terrorist activity” at the hospital. A few days ago, the IDF arrested around one hundred terrorists in the Nasser hospital.

It defies belief that the Red Cross, UN and other humanitarian organisations were unaware of this extensive abuse by Hamas of Gaza’s medical facilities. Yet none of them, including the Red Cross, said anything.
The Red Cross Has Abandoned Israeli Hostages and Its Pretense of Neutrality
The Red Cross responded to a recent lawsuit filed by Israeli hostages, which claims that the Red Cross neglected its duty to visit prisoners of war, by saying: “The more public pressure we seemingly would do, the more they [Hamas] would shut the door.”

The evidence shows that the Red Cross did not try very hard. UN Watch compiled a report showing that the ICRC’s social media posts were heavily biased in favor of Hamas, and refused to acknowledge Hamas’ atrocities and the plight of the Israeli hostages.

When families of the hostages asked the Red Cross to deliver life-saving medications to their family members in captivity, they were scolded and told to “think about the Palestinian side.” by the ICRC.

Since the beginning of the current war, the Red Cross has pumped millions of dollars into Gaza, along with supplies, infrastructure, and medical teams. Hamas, of course, has a long history of shamelessly stealing money and supplies that were intended for civilians, a fact that the ICRC knows, and, unsurprisingly, Hamas has continued to do so during this current war.

The Red Cross has both the leverage and the stature to gain access to the Israeli hostages and even to push for their release. They were even able to leverage the Taliban into granting access to hostages in the past. People listen to the Red Cross. But they also hear the Red Cross’ silence.

When the Red Cross speaks about the Israel-Hamas conflict without mentioning Hamas’ attacks, and its president meets with Hamas’ leader but does not advocate for Israeli hostages, the message is clear.

The Red Cross’ historical and current actions seem to suggest that it does not value Israeli lives as much as other people’s. It is time for the international community to ask the Red Cross why it looks out for all of those in need, except for Jews.
Israel assessing Qatar’s claim Hamas handing medical aid to hostages
Israel is evaluating the credibility of Hamas’s confirmation to Qatar that the terrorist group in Gaza received a shipment of medical supplies in a deal brokered by Qatar and France and has started delivering them to hostages in Gaza.

Doha made the announcement on Tuesday evening, over one month after the badly needed medicines entered the coastal enclave.

“The Qatari announcement is the direct result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on receiving proof that the medicines have reached our hostages,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

“Israel will evaluate the credibility of the report and continue to act for the well-being of our hostages,” the statement continued.



“Qatar received these confirmations as the mediator in the agreement, which includes the entry of the medicines and shipment of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially in the most affected and damaged areas, in exchange for delivering the medicines needed by hostages in the sector,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, said in a statement.


Controversial strategist Ronen Tzur departs helm of hostages forum
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu articulated the goals of the war against Hamas following the Oct. 7 attacks, he said they were to topple Hamas and free the hostages. It was unclear if both could be achieved and which should be prioritized.

More than four months later, as over 130 hostages languish in Gaza, the Israeli public is divided on what the war’s central goal should be. Now, the Hostages’ Families Forum, the central group advocating on behalf of the hostages, whose relatives have been divided over tactics, is facing a leadership vacuum, following the departure of founder and head Ronen Tzur.

In Israel, Tzur is a well-known political strategist and crisis communications expert known for orchestrating negative campaigns against Netanyahu. He briefly served as a Knesset member in the Labor party in 2006, and more recently advised war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz when he entered politics in 2019, as well as Malka Leifer, ahead of her extradition to Australia to face charges that she molested students as a school principal. Tzur founded a movement dedicated to protesting against the government’s judicial reform proposal, and spearheaded a campaign titled “How to Defeat the Bibi-ist Terrorism,” a reference to the Hebrew title of a book on terrorism edited by Netanyahu.

Tzur initiated the establishment of the volunteer-based Hostages’ Families Forum in the days following the Oct. 7 attack — many of the leading figures in the forum worked with him in different capacities before the war.

Forty-five hostage families signed onto a petition calling for Tzur’s ouster, citing his polarizing personality and a sense that key government figures did not want to work with him.

“In order for a deal to be approved at this point in time, we need consensus more than ever,” the petition reads. “One of the most important factors in creating public consensus is to operate under a head of the forum who is not painted in one political color or another, whether it is his fault or not.”

Tzur presented his departure as a resignation by choice following a meeting with hostages’ families on Sunday.
‘Does the UN hold my son,’ asks mother after footage shows UNRWA worker dragging son into jeep on Oct. 7
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum holds press conference to show a video of an UNRWA worker, Faisal Ali Musalam Naami, driving a white UN jeep, and dragging the body of Jonathan Samerano, killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7, into the jeep to Gaza.

“Does the UN hold my son?” asks Ayelet Samerano, Jonathan’s mother. “Do they know where he is? Bring him back to me — are there any other hostages held by UN employees? Even as we’re speaking right now? Where is my son?”

Samerano was at the Nova desert rave on October 7 and had escaped to Kibbutz Be’eri when he was killed and then his body taken hostage.

Naami is implicated in the kidnapping of Samerano, says Shelly Aviv Yeini, head of the forum’s legal team.

“Hostage-taking is a war crime,” says Yeini, adding that the forum demands a comprehensive investigation into the allegations.

Daniel Shek, head of diplomacy at the forum, says that in his 30-year diplomatic career, he has seen UNRWA “do amazing humanitarian things,” but there have always been issues of misconduct in the UN organization.

“One video like this will erase all the good you’ve done,” says Shek, speaking of UNRWA, “and should erase all the good you’ve done.”
‘Shocking’ developments are surrounding UNRWA
Sky News host Sharri Markson says further “shocking” developments are surrounding the UNRWA scandal.

“More shocking developments in the UNRWA scandal,” she said.

“In Senate Estimates, a DFAT official has made a series of false assertions about the UN organisation and its links to Hamas.

“Marc Innes-Brown said members of the Gaza Telegram group were not UNRWA staff."

Ms Markson sat down with UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer to discuss UNRWA.


Brian Mast Asks Dem Witness Point Blank What Percent Of UNRWA Employees Are Part Of Hamas
At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) spoke about the mission of UNRWA.

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Meet Hillel Neuer, the Montrealer exposing anti-Israel UN agencies like UNRWA
Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, believes this may be different. The horrors of Oct. 7, he hopes, have changed the prospects of the human rights group’s long campaign against UN agencies.

Since that bloody day, UN Watch has offered multiple revelations about the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the body overseeing Palestinian refugees, revealing its close ties to Hamas. Neuer says the world appears to be finally listening this time.

“There’s a substantial difference,” Neuer told the National Post from Jerusalem, contemplating UN Watch’s recent contributions. “More than 15 countries representing more than half a billion dollars have frozen their funding.”

Neuer, a Montrealer who took the helm of UN Watch two decades ago, has energized it into a leading force scrutinizing the UN’s constellation of agencies and arms on the diplomatic frontlines in Geneva, Switzerland.

Born and raised in Montreal’s Cote des Neiges district, he traces his skepticism of the UN back to high school and the Hebrew Academy in Montreal, where he wrote “an article critiquing the UN” for the school newspaper.

“So it is documented that I was skeptical of UN bias from about the age of 15 or 16,” he says wryly.

Neuer spent most of his first 26 years in Canada; he attended “a terrific program on Western civilization, the Great Books, Western philosophy, literature, and art history” at Concordia, he recounted. “You could say I started my journalism there,” Neuer remembers, with a publication called Dateline Middle East.

Neuer went on to McGill Law School, where he worked closely with Irwin Cotler, the activist director of the school’s human rights program who soon after entered Parliament and served as Prime Minister Paul Martin’s attorney general.

Cotler, who was famously involved in campaigns to free Nelson Mandela and Natan Sharansky, served as Neuer’s mentor and helped shape his worldview. “I very much wanted to follow in his path and be a defender of human rights and advocate for the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and to defend their rights,” Neuer told the Post.

In 2004, at the age of 34, Neuer – then in private practice specializing in international law – heard about the UN Watch job through a friend. He has since helped build the group into a fixture of the international community.

A highlight reel released in February celebrating his 20th anniversary with the group showed his most viral moments, including his speech, “Where are your Jews?” challenging Arab delegations at the UN to explain the disappearance of ancestral Jewish communities from their homelands.


IDF could complete high-intensity phase of Gaza war ‘by May’
The Israel Defense Forces will likely begin maneuvering in Rafah, southern Gaza—the last Hamas stronghold—towards the end of February, and could complete the high-intensity phase of its war against Hamas by early May, a senior former Israeli defense official says.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said during a call organized on Monday by the Jerusalem Press Club that by the start of March, the IDF will likely complete its operations in Khan Yunis and begin moving units into Rafah, assuming no hostage release deal is reached with Hamas, which would alter this timeline.

Amidror served as national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and as chairman of the National Security Council between 2011 and 2013. He is also a former head of Research Department in the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate

“There are four battalions of Hamas” in Rafah, Amidror said. “All of them will be dismantled by the IDF. This will take the whole March and maybe to the end of April.

“In the meantime, we have to be sure that part of the population which is concentrated in Rafah will move slowly but surely to designated areas which would be kind of a safe haven for this population,” he added.

Many displaced Gazan civilians headed to Rafah “because they had the hope that they will be allowed to cross the border into Egypt,” Amidror said, adding, “The Egyptians do not want any Palestinians in Egypt. That was my, by the way, my assessment from the beginning—that they would not allow any Palestinian to enter Egypt.”
Israel Is Building a Road Bisecting Gaza
The Israeli army is expanding a road across central Gaza to facilitate its military operations, part of its plans to maintain security control there for some time.

The corridor south of Gaza City stretches 5 miles from the Israeli border to the coast and will allow Israel's military to continue to move quickly along a secure route, even after most troops pull out.

While the IDF plans to withdraw from populated areas, it is also building a 1-km. buffer zone just inside Gaza's border with Israel, where Palestinians would be barred from entry. U.S. officials have publicly voiced opposition to the creation of a buffer zone.

Israeli officials say they have no intention to permanently occupy Gaza but plan to maintain "security control" there for an indefinite period.

Israeli officials have said they don't intend to let displaced Gazans return to the north at least until military operations are complete there and a deal is reached to return the 130 hostages and dead Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7.

IDF Col. (ret.) Miri Eisin called the east-west corridor "long-term temporary - certainly for all of 2024."
IDF unearths weapons near UN school in Khan Yunis, finds terrorists hiding among civilians
IDF paratroopers unearthed a large quantity of weapons in the vicinity of a UN school in Khan Yunis last week, the military said on Tuesday.

The school, which served as a humanitarian shelter for the residents of the Strip, was used by terrorists to reach the adjacent building and its weapons through an aperture in its wall.

The weapons the IDF found include grenades, AK-47s, warheads, RPGs, and ammunition, which were subsequently used to target IDF soldiers.

Terrorists hide among civilians
In addition, forces evacuated civilians from the combat zone to safer locations. During this operation, some 60 terrorists stealthily took advantage of the situation, hiding among the civilian population and attempting to escape. The IDF arrested them, and they were detained for further investigation by forces in Israel, the IDF said.

In another building in the area, troops found weapons, among others, ammunition and cartridges, along with vests and Hamas uniforms.

Furthermore, the house of the head of the Anti-Tank Array of the Khan Yunis Brigade was raided by soldiers, who found on-site intelligence material and numerous weapons.

In western Khan Yunis, the IDF noted that the Paratrooper Brigade combat team was continuing the combat, with troops attacking terror targets and killing terrorists in close-quarters combat with the help of sniper fire.
Gaza's 'center of gravity:' IDF destroys tunnel used by Hamas leaders
The IDF on Wednesday revealed a strategic tunnel that Hamas's leadership used during the war, which the army has just destroyed in Khan Yunis.

Primarily, the mission of destroying tunnels in Gaza has fallen to the elite anti-tunnel Yahalom Unit, which was developed after the 2014 Gaza conflict caught the IDF unprepared for the scope of Hamas's tunnel threat.

To date, Yahalom has destroyed 11 strategic tunnels that constitute the "center of gravity" of Hamas's tunnel network, with each one, including the one revealed on Wednesday, requiring an investment of millions of shekels.

Regarding this specific tunnel, the IDF and Yahalom discovered at a certain point that part of a tunnel network it was exploring led to a larger expansive network.

To fully explore the new network, the military had to pry open powerful blast doors that were designed to prevent or slow its advancement underground.

Further, the IDF used special intelligence methods to identify Hamas terrorists on the other side of the blast doors, something which made it easier for the army to kill them in battle.

Once the IDF had dispatched the Hamas forces protecting the inner strategic tunnel area, they found extensive sleeping quarters, electric and water infrastructure, bathrooms, and kitchens full of a variety of foods and other items.

This strategic tunnel runs for more than a kilometer, and the IDF said that until the recent deep invasion of all portions of Khan Yunis, including the western and southern portions, it had been used by Hamas's leaders to manage the war.


Hamas chief Sinwar's health deteriorates, suffering from severe pneumonia - report
Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, may be suffering from a complicated case of pneumonia, N12 reported on Tuesday, citing an anonymous Arab country.

The country in question said it had heard the report from senior Hamas officials.

According to the N12 report, the country had been in contact with the terror group, asking Hamas to advance toward a ceasefire. Hamas subsequently responded that its situation was grave; it lacked ammunition, and its military structures were deteriorating.

Sinwar's whereabouts unknown
On Tuesday, it was reported that Hamas’s leadership in Qatar and Gaza was unsure of Sinwar’s whereabouts, with the Saudi newspaper Elaph claiming the chief terrorist may have fled from the Gaza Strip to Egypt.

However, later on Tuesday, Kan News said that Sinwar had resumed communications with the Hamas leadership abroad.

Speculations on Sinwar's fate come amid Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's statement that Hamas is in search of a replacement for Sinwar.

Last week, the IDF released a video dated October 10 of Sinwar walking in the Gaza tunnels, seen as proof that the Hamas head was in good health then.
Gazans take to streets to protest Hamas leadership, call out Sinwar and Haniyeh
Residents of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip and Rafah in the south took to the streets on Tuesday night to protest against Hamas leaders amid the ongoing war with Israel. Since the beginning of the conflict, there have been several protests by Gazan residents against the terrorist organization, but this is still a rather exceptional event.

In footage circulated on Palestinian social networks, residents are documented calling out against Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and against the organization's political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, who continues to live in luxury in Qatar.

The protesters also shouted for humanitarian aid, saying, "We need food, we need flour, Sinwar and Haniyeh, stay away from us, you thieves."

They were also heard calling out against Osama Hamdan, Hamas's representative in Lebanon: "Hamdan, leave Lebanon; the people are the victims. With spirit and blood, we will redeem you, Gaza."


Israel Police reveal terror plot to murder IDF Arabic spokesperson
The two terrorists who committed the deadly attack in Ra'anana in January planned to kill a senior IDF officer, the police said on Wednesday after having published the findings of its investigation.

According to Israeli media, the senior officer targeted in the attack was the IDF's spokesperson in Arabic, Avichay Adraee. Findings of the investigation

Muhammad Zaidat, 44, and Ahmed Zaidat, 24, carried out a joint stabbing and ramming attack, killing Edna Bluestein, 79, and wounding dozens of others.

The investigation revealed that prior to the attack, one of the terrorists identified the senior IDF officer sitting in a restaurant in Ra’anana. Deciding to harm him, he subsequently hunted for him throughout the city, armed with a knife.

The two terrorists, who worked at a car wash in the city, utilized two vehicles that were left on the premises and began the ramming attack. One of the terrorists stole an additional vehicle from a driver; he fled the scene and ran over pedestrians, later hiding in the vicinity of the car wash where he was arrested, the police said.

In parallel, the second terrorist rammed into a group of pedestrians at a bus stop, killing one of them. He then fled the scene and was later arrested by police.

In the coming days, an indictment will be filed against them by the Central District Prosecutor's Office, the police concluded.
3 Palestinian Gunmen Killed in Jenin
Three Palestinian gunmen were killed and 14 terror suspects were detained by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday night, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday. IDF troops also seized weapons and located explosive devices planted under roads in Jenin. An airstrike was carried out against a group of Palestinian gunmen who were shooting at the troops.

The Israeli military has intensified near-daily raids across the West Bank in the aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, in operations aimed at dismantling Palestinian terror groups.


Israeli strikes kill two in Damascus apartment
Israeli Air Force strikes killed two people in the Kafar Sousah neighborhood of Damascus on Wednesday, according to Syrian state media.

The strikes reportedly hit an apartment in a residential building.

According to reports, the attack targeted senior Iranian officials. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Syrian air defense systems “tried to confront attacks by Israeli warplanes, which were aimed at Iranian and Hezbollah positions west of the capital Damascus.”

Israeli fighter jets launched the missiles from over the Golan Heights, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.


Bedouin man who saved IDF soldiers from Oct. 7 Hamas ambush gets full residency rights
A Bedouin resident of the Negev who saved multiple Israel Defense Forces soldiers during Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel receives full Israeli residency rights.

Hamid Abu Ar’ar, a father of nine, heroically put himself in the line of fire to save the soldiers from a terrorist ambush shortly after his wife Fatima was murdered in front of him and his infant child on October 7.

Abu Ar’ar was born in the Gaza Strip and therefore did not have permanent status in Israel, Channel 13 reports.

“Aside from the uncompromising war on terror, we must strengthen those who show loyalty and choose life,” says Interior Minister Moshe Arbel after making the decision to issue permanent status to Abu Ar’ar.

Abu Ar’ar’s story of October 7 can be seen in the video below.


‘A fantasy’: Douglas Murray claims two-state solution in the Middle East is ‘impossible’
Author Douglas Murray says a two-state solution in the Middle East is “impossible”.

This comes as there’s been a push for a two-state solution in the Middle East amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Mr Murray said Western politicians keep talking about a two-state solution being the “magical solution to everything that goes wrong” in the Middle East.

“It was always a fantasy,” Mr Murray told Sky News host Rita Panahi.

“I think it’s worth people realising this and not taking part in this delusion.”


‘Catastrophic’: Prime ministers unite to warn Israel against Rafah ground offensive
Sky News host Rita Panahi says the US has joined calls from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand in warning Israel against a ground offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, and NZ PM Christopher Luxon have released a statement declaring their opposition to the IDF’s potential military move.

“A military operation into Rafah would be catastrophic,” read the statement.

International Human Rights Lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky joined Ms Panahi to discuss his criticisms of Australia’s response to Israel’s war against Hamas.

“Israel does not have the luxury that Australia does with being surrounded by water – Israel is surrounded by ruthless terrorists, enemies like Hamas.”


Piers Morgan: Israel-Hamas War: Norman Finkelstein vs Rabbi Shmuley
As pressure mounts on Israel to end the war in Gaza - with even Prince William today calling for an end to the fighting - Piers Morgan Uncensored invites two of our most passionate contributors to debate the topic, Jewish scholar Dr Norman Finkelstein and Rabbi Shmuley.

00:00 Introduction
1:34 Where are we in this war?
3:41 Rabbi Shmuley attacks Norman Finkelstein
6:40 Is Israel committing genocide?
8:19 Finkelstein fights back
11:09 The ICJ and ‘Jewish dementia’ jibe
13:27 "Many people don’t see an end game"
16:10 "If Israel is so precise, why is it killing so many children?"
17:43 What’s the cost of waging a war?
24:55 Benjamin Netanyahu - when will it be ‘mission accomplished’?
29:02 "Do you think Hamas should still be in power?"
39:57 "It doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe what he says!"




New York Democrat leaves Congressional Progressive Caucus after splitting with members over Israel
New York Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) has left the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) after splitting with members over their stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

Torres, a staunch supporter of Israel, has left the CPC, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday. The New York congressman is not listed on the caucus’s website.

Torres has abstained from calling for a cease-fire in the war, a policy some of the caucus’s members support. His departure is another shakeup in the caucus after Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) left the CPC in November, her office confirmed to The Hill.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has caused some divisions in the Democratic Party. The war, now in its fourth month, has put some members of the Democratic Party at odds with President Biden and other pro-Israel Congress members of the party. Some of the more progressive members of the party on Capitol Hill have been frustrated with the Biden administration’s stance on the war.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a Squad member and one of the vice chairs of the caucus, has been critical of Biden and his administration’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war. Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, was censured in November by the lower chamber over her criticism of Israel. On Saturday, she urged Michigan residents to vote “uncommitted” in the upcoming Feb. 27 primary instead of supporting Biden.


"From the River to the Sea", Explained
What does the slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” really mean? What are the historical and geographic roots of the phrase and the practical implications of its real-world implementation?

Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:43 Which river and which sea?
01:53 Two states or one state?
03:43 Why one state can't work
05:19 The original Arabic slogan
06:23 Arab rejection of the state of Israel
07:06 Jewish rejection of Palestinian statehood
07:51 The Oslo Accords
08:43 Failure of peace talks
10:40 October 7 and the resulting war
11:18 What does "Free Palestine" mean today?
12:19 Antisemitism on US college campuses
13:31 Neither Israelis nor Palestinians are leaving




Brazil’s first lady calls Israeli gov’t ‘genocidal,’ denies antisemitism by
Brazilian first lady Janja Lula da Silva on Monday called the Israeli government genocidal and denied assertions that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had engaged in antisemitism by comparing Israel’s war against Hamas to the Holocaust.

“The speech referred to the genocidal government and not to the Jewish people,” she wrote on social media.

Journalists refused to publish graphic images of dead Palestinian children and were hiding a genocide in Gaza, the first lady said.

“I am proud of my husband, who since the beginning of this conflict in the Gaza Strip has defended peace and especially the right to life of women and children, who are the majority of victims,” she said. “I am sure that if President Lula had experienced the Second World War, he would have defended the right to life of the Jews in the same way.”

She called for the world to condemn the murder of Gazan children.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira on Tuesday said Israel’s diplomatic response to President Lula’s remarks was an attempt to create a smokescreen to cover up its actions in Gaza.


If these ‘pro-Palestinian’ marches aren’t anti-Semitic, answer me this
If British Leftists care as much as they claim to about the lives of innocent civilians in the Middle East, why didn’t they hold weekly mass marches demanding a ceasefire in Syria?

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, more than 350,000 people have been killed, mostly civilians. Some, as it happens, were Palestinians. An estimated 4,000 of them have been killed in the Syrian war. Meanwhile, around 120,000 Palestinians have fled Syria, and a further 280,000 have been internally displaced.

Despite the deaths, displacement and destitution of all these Palestinians and other innocent people, however, British Leftists have scarcely protested at all. Indeed, of the few British-based protests relating to the Syrian conflict, most were organised to oppose Western intervention in it. According to a BBC news report from August 2013, for instance, “several hundred” people marched on Downing Street, brandishing placards that read “Hands off Syria”.

On reflection, this approach seems curiously inconsistent. When civilians are being killed by one Middle Eastern country, British Leftists appear to take little interest, or argue that the West should keep its nose out and mind its own business.

Yet, when civilian deaths can be attributed to a certain other Middle Eastern country – one which, by sheer coincidence, happens to be the only country in the world with a population that is predominantly Jewish – British Leftists immediately seize the opportunity to condemn it, and march in furious protest against that country every Saturday for months on end, while taking particular relish in likening it to Nazi Germany, and ignoring the point that the country in question is retaliating to the kidnapping, rape and slaughter of its people by a Jew-hating terrorist group that is officially committed to the country’s eradication.


Ugly scenes ‘not seen’ before in Melbourne as tensions boil over
Members of Melbourne’s Jewish community say they were shoved to the ground and labelled “genocidal baby killers” outside the city’s town hall last night as tensions boiled over in scenes described by the acting Melbourne lord mayor as “never seen before”.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Melbourne City Council building last night as councillors voted on a motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The motion was initially voted down, six votes to five, after acting mayor Nicholas Reece raised concerns about “several red flags” and inflammatory language.

He raised a second motion that passed unanimously to acknowledge statements by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — statements that included a call for a ceasefire — and to remove anti-semitic or Islamaphobic graffiti in the CBD within one hour.

The motion comes as the International Court of Justice is hearing a case against Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine — an occupation that the representative of South Africa this week compared to apartheid.

Outside Town Hall on Tuesday night, scenes descended into violence and ugly slurs.

Videos shared to social media, including one by the group Free Palestine Melbourne, showed pro-Palestine supporters chanting: “Genocide supporters, blood is on your hands.”

Jewish Melburnians who attended to speak against the motion say they were met with hostility from a violent crowd.

A woman named Sharon told 3AW on Wednesday that when she left the meeting her husband was shoved to the ground and she was “punched from behind”.

She said police responded by issuing her husband with a “move on order” to leave the city.

A second woman told host Tom Elliot she was targeted with horrific slurs.

“Every time somebody got up to speak, there was jeering,” she said.

“We were heckled. Heckling of the councillors. When we came out, some young women came up to us and said we were genocidal baby killers. I’ve never seen anything like that. It was so ugly, not the Melbourne we all know and love.”


Boss of one of Australia's biggest food delivery charities is forced to apologise over series of bizarre posts
The boss of one of Australia's biggest food delivery charities has been forced to apologise for a series of social media posts about Israel, Ukraine, and the CIA.

Meals on Wheels NSW CEO Ian MacDonald made the posts over a number of weeks on his personal Facebook account.

In one, he said the 'collective West' was struggling to 'satisfy the vastly confused and ever changing demands of the US and its principal controller, Israel.'

'Israel has spent the last 50 years infiltrating and developing control over a US foreign policy through a litany of crooks and spivs,' he wrote.

'Planted in the US power structures by (Israeli intelligence agency Mossad) and paid for by US taxpayers.'

In another post, Mr MacDonald said the British and Australian Labor Parties are both 'obedient' and 'spineless' when it comes to Israel and the United States.

'They are both supporting the worst genocide since the Holocaust by their lap-dog actions with respect to the vast criminality being practiced by both of those nations in Gaza and the West Bank,' he said.

In a further post, he shared a YouTube video titlted: 'How the CIA destabilises the world'.

'Unaccountable, illegal, vicious, and the most dangerous organisation on the planet!!!' the caption read.

Mr MacDonald also shared posts from Russian media outlets accusing France of censoring Telegram channels to prevent people from knowing 'that Ukraine is deliberately killing civilians with weapons supplied to it by Western countries.'

Mr MacDonald, who has been in the top job for 22 years, told Daily Mail Australia his statements stem from his Jewish family heritage and the pain and suffering being felt by many around the world as a result of the conflict in Israel and Palestine.

He acknowledged that his comments may cause offence to some Meals on Wheels NSW clients and volunteers, and for this reason he has apologised.

He then went on to explain that these are ‘personal views’ which he holds as a 'private citizen', maintaining that he 'wasn't withdrawing his views'.




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