Thursday, February 29, 2024

02/29 Links Pt1: Peace can be achieved only through decisive victory; How the Free World Is Failing the Hostages; Sinwar hopes for a high civilian death toll in Rafah

From Ian:

Peace can be achieved only through decisive victory
That is why Israel must destroy Hamas to ensure that, despite the terrorist group’s promises to repeat those atrocities over and over, they will never happen again. Israel must execute this war and save the hostages on its own terms and timetable, as well as implement strategies, protocols, and tactics that will truly prevent 10/7 from ever occurring again.

Everyone with whom we met – ministers and MKs from the Left, Center, and Right; government officials; reservists and active-duty soldiers; retired military personnel, police, and commanders of regional security; intelligence experts; parents of the fallen and a father of a hostage; and members of the Druze community – passionately asserted that Israel must win. In fact, one MK went so far as to suggest that had Israel adopted the MEF Victory Project ideals, October 7 may not have happened. Nonetheless, there is now a nationwide consensus that winning is not an option; it is an imperative.

ISRAEL AND THE WEST share enemies who are watching. That’s why any discussion of rewarding the Palestinians with a state of their own sends the message that terrorism works. The mere mention of two states sends the absolutely wrong message at this dangerous time. Radical Islam understands this. Biden and the West? Apparently not.

Israel’s regional friends are watching as well. Hamas’s intention was to disrupt normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It succeeded – temporarily. The Gulf nations are also observing, and they seek to ally with a strong horse. Without victory, the future of the Abraham Accords is at risk.

While the West seems to have forgotten what it means to win (think Afghanistan and Iraq), Israel can no longer afford to spend its days fighting the next war between wars. Israelis understand that this must be the last.

Too many policymakers in Israel and the West ignorantly mistook Palestinians as a people in search of peace, prosperity, and opportunity. Palestinian aspirations do not align with those of the West. Everyone from Jake “the Mideast has never been quieter” Sullivan to the hopeful Jews living on the kibbutzim in the South failed to recognize this reality. And while 10/7 apparently was not a wake-up call for Western policymakers, Israelis learned the hard way that victory must be achieved in order to end the barbarians’ ambitions of destroying Israel.

The response to the October 7 massacre is an inflection point for Israel’s – and the West’s – survival. If peace is the goal, decisive victory is the only means to its achievement.
Gerald Steinberg: No, Most People in Gaza Are Not “Just Like Us”
According to the mantras of peace activists, the way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is by recognizing that the people on the other side are "just like us." This article of faith is also passionately repeated by Western diplomats. But is Palestinian society "just like" Israeli society?

Israelis look at Gaza and see that many supported the horrendous brutality in the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7. Large crowds turned out to cheer the terrorists returning from their heinous spree of torture, murder, rape and kidnapping. Some of the "ordinary civilians" ran immediately to join in the looting. Long before Oct. 7, everyone living in Gaza (including UNRWA employees) knew that Hamas was stealing international aid to build a massive underground terror infrastructure.

In contrast to the majority of Israelis, many Palestinian mothers repeatedly encourage their children to become "martyrs" and express pride when they are killed while murdering and brutalizing Jews. No, they are not "just like us." In what Prof. Richard Landes calls "honor-shame cultures," humiliation (such as defeat in an aggressive war) leads to unbounded determination to exact revenge. This is the essence of the Palestinian nakba - the ongoing humiliation of the 1948 war in which the Arab armies were defeated by Jews and Zionists. If Palestinians were "just like us," they would instead examine their own shortcomings.

In contrast to Palestinian textbooks, in which Jews and Israelis are depicted as monsters, Israeli children are not systematically raised on hate and incitement. The fundamental differences in our identities are deeply embedded in cultural values taught to children.

To avoid more disasters, Israelis must firmly reject the temptations of "common humanity" and other messianic illusions. As long as the goal of the Palestinians, Iran, and their allies is the elimination of Israel, sufficient military power must be available and displayed so that they understand that attacks on Israel will result in their own destruction. A strong and "disproportionate" deterrent force is the best option for survival.
Why a Palestinian State Isn't Going to Happen
The Palestinians will never accept a state within reasonable parameters. They have painted themselves into a corner with their non-negotiable "right of return" claim, as if 5.9 million "refugees" have the God-given right to "return" to the villages in Israel that their grandparents left 75 years ago. Many of the villages don't exist anymore. Anyway, that demand would mean that while the Palestinians would have their own state, they would insist that the majority of their people must go and live in someone else's state, namely Israel.

Creation or even declaration of a Palestinian state would relieve Israel of several burdensome chores under the Oslo process, which would be automatically canceled. No more Palestinian use of Israeli seaports. Israel would no longer collect taxes for the Palestinians. Coordination of customs duties would end. So would security cooperation.

Israel could close its borders to a Palestinian state completely if it so decided, just as Israel's borders with Syria and Lebanon are closed. Tens of thousands of Palestinian workers in Israel? Treatment of Palestinian patients in Israeli hospitals? Commerce? Not unless Israel agrees.


Seth Mandel: How the Free World Is Failing the Hostages
Israel has obligations to its citizens, of course. And its carrying out of those obligations is what the world is complaining about. I guarantee you that “Israel taking this more seriously” can be arranged; I also guarantee the people calling for it won’t like it one bit. Nobody in the British government, MP Andrew Percy said to the House of Commons last week, “has any business [or] agency at all in telling the state of Israel where it is able to operate to seek to rescue hostages who are being raped by Islamic terrorists who hold them.”

The clip of Percy’s speech—which included other noteworthy lines—quickly made the rounds on social media precisely because it stood out. But it shouldn’t have. Every politician in the free West should talk this way. This should be the baseline approach to bringing home the hostages. Hamas invaded Israel and kidnapped over two-hundred people. They refused to free them, so Israel sent its military into Gaza to try to bring them back. That’s where we are.

Hamas could end this in an instant by surrendering and returning the hostages themselves. Forcing Israel to go in and get them—at the cost of more of its citizens’ lives along the way—is bad enough. But for free citizens of the West, not to mention their governments, to harangue Israel for going in to get its captive citizens requires a personal level of comfort with hypocrisy that is shockingly common among supposed defenders of the liberal world order.

Occasionally someone shows some spine. Two weeks ago, a lunatic Hamas propagandist yelled at New York City Mayor Eric Adams on the street, “you’re complicit in the genocide of Palestinians. I just want to know: How many Palestinian children, how many killed Palestinian children will it take for you to call for a ceasefire?” Adams calmly walked over the man and answered him in four words: “Bring the hostages home.”

Correct answer. Every second that Hamas forces this war to continue is a tragedy.

I wonder whether such exchanges are any consolation to Rachel Goldberg-Polin and her fellow suffering hostage families, or whether the rarity of someone showing an ounce of moral grit robs the moment of its power to encourage. If you’ll forgive me, I think it’s time for world leaders to “engage more seriously” in bringing the hostages home and holding the perpetrators accountable until that happens.
As US elections loom, Biden administration’s hostility toward Israel grows
The Biden administration appears to be acting with increased hostility toward Israel, having reversed the “Pompeo Doctrine,” sanctioned settlers and a company that manufactures parts for Israel’s Iron Dome system, and switched to harsher language with regard to calling for a ceasefire.

“There is a fundamental disconnect between the policy fantasy land in Washington and the reality of life in Israel after Oct. 7, Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS.

Despite what the U.S. administration may believe, “There is no path to peace without Israel destroying all remaining Hamas command and control in Gaza, massive reforms to the Palestinian Authority, dismantling UNRWA [the United Nations Relief and Works Agency] and excluding Hamas patrons like Qatar from any involvement,” Goldberg said.

Complicating matters, U.S. presidential elections will take place in November, and the Biden administration is worried its support for Israel is causing it to lose crucial votes. Terrified of losing Michigan and other states with sizable numbers of Muslims, U.S. President Joe Biden appears to be willing to endanger Israel to gain the support of a voting bloc in which Jew hatred is prevalent.

“I think we’re witnessing a moment of opportunism where left-wing ideologues inside the White House are using the pretext of a political problem in Michigan and the prospect of Saudi-Israel normalization to ram through all the bad policy ideas that have been rejected for years,” said Goldberg. “The polling in Michigan doesn’t justify a need for Biden to attack Israel, and Riyadh cares a lot more about U.S. defense and nuclear energy commitments than a two-state solution.”
Jonathan Tobin: Why is Biden pushing for an immoral hostage deal?
Biden has been at pains to appease those voters who support Hamas. The results of the Michigan Democratic primary this week, in which 13.2% of voters cast ballots as “uncommitted,” will only heighten the pressure on him to do more to please those who regard the terrorist group’s survival as an imperative.

In an act of unintended irony, during his late-night appearance, he claimed that his likely opponent in November—former President Donald Trump—was the candidate of “old ideas” that were discredited. Yet Biden’s position on the Middle East and his insistence that Israel must, sooner or later for the sake of its “survival,” accept a two-state solution is the oldest and most discredited policy option that could be imagined. At this point, it’s not just something that has been tried and failed repeatedly. Palestinians have made it clear they have no interest in a state if it means living in peace next to a Jewish one.

It’s bad enough that Biden still pretends, by every measure of public opinion notwithstanding, that Hamas isn’t broadly popular and representative of the Palestinian people. That’s made all the more egregious by his comments to Myers, in which he called for the toppling of Netanyahu’s democratically elected government because it’s “incredibly conservative.”

It’s also absurd that Biden pretends that the whole world is behind Israel but that it will lose that support unless it stops its campaign against Hamas due to Palestinian casualties falsely labeled as “genocide,” which are regrettable but only continue because the terrorists refuse to surrender. This is much like the Nazis—whose ideology is echoed in Hamas’s goals—in the last days of World War II as they preferred to see Germany destroyed and its people slaughtered rather than concede to the inevitable. His talk of the need for a holiday pause for Ramadan is equally off-base since no one in the international community seems to think it was wrong for Hamas to start a war on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.

Israelis have their own reasons for their views on a hostage deal. Some will support it because of their sympathies for the hostages and their families, or because they think it will hurt Netanyahu. Others oppose it because it will likely mean more Jewish bloodshed in the future. But American interests are also involved. This is a deal that will not just grant a victory to the perpetrators of the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust; it will mean that Hamas would exist as the main force in Palestinian politics for the foreseeable future with unknowable consequences for regional stability. It will be a gift to their Iranian funders and allies elsewhere, like the Houthis, who are threatening the global economy because of Biden’s foolish pre-Oct. 7 appeasement of Iran. Above all, in a world in which the United States still plays an irreplaceable role as the defender of Western values and security, the eagerness with which Biden is pursuing this amoral deal is a measure of just how far American foreign policy has fallen on his watch.
JPost Editorial: All eyes are on Russia as a mediator between Hamas and Fatah
Russia’s role as the host and mediator of these talks is particularly noteworthy. Moscow appears to be leveraging its perceived victories in Ukraine to expand its influence in the Middle East. “For Russia, the opportunity to bring together the Palestinians and pressure Israel could come in the wake of their sense of victory in Ukraine,” suggesting that Moscow sees this as an opportune moment to assert its role in the region.

This move nevertheless has its challenges. Russia’s capacity to mediate effectively between Hamas and Fatah and, by extension, influence the course of Israeli-Palestinian relations will depend on its ability to navigate the intricate web of regional alliances, rivalries and interests. Moreover, the efficacy of Russian mediation will be tested by the internal dynamics within the Palestinian factions and their relations with other regional powers.

The discussions in Moscow, therefore, represent more than just meetings between Palestinian factions; they are a microcosm of the shifting geopolitical currents in the Middle East. The outcome of the talks could have significant implications, not only for Palestinian unity and the future of Gaza but also for the regional balance of power.

While the Moscow meeting between Hamas and Fatah offers a glimmer of hope for Palestinian unity and the reconstruction of Gaza, it also highlights the complex interplay of regional politics, internal divisions, and international diplomacy.

The involvement of Russia as a mediator adds a layer of geopolitical intrigue, suggesting a possible realignment of forces in the Middle East. As these talks unfold, the international community will be watching closely, aware that the stakes extend far beyond the immediate concerns of Palestinian governance, to encompass the broader dynamics of power and influence in the region.
JCPA: Why Do Iran and Hizbullah Crave Jerusalem?
"Save the Al-Aqsa Mosque!" is the battle cry of radical Islam and is featured in all the war slogans of Hamas, Hizbullah, and Iran. The passion for Jerusalem by Hizbullah and Iran is puzzling because the Shiite religion does not attribute any significance to Jerusalem.

According to the Shi'ite book of traditions Bihar al-Anwar, the Prophet Muhammad forbade pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Even the Isra (night journey) and the Mi'raj (journey to Heaven), according to the Shiite religion, did not happen in Jerusalem but in a "distant mosque" in Heaven.

After the bloody Sunni-Shia war between Iraq and Iran, the ayatollahs decided to emphasize the liberation of Jerusalem, so that the Sunnis would look west to Jerusalem and not east to Tehran. As far as the Shi'a are concerned, "saving Al-Aqsa" is a political slogan, not a religious value.

At this historic crossroads, moderate Sunni forces see Israel as the only force that can curb the extremists' efforts to turn the "liberation of Al-Aqsa" into an engine for the Shiite takeover of the Arab and Muslim world.


New Zealand designates entirety of Hamas as a terror group, citing Oct. 7 atrocities
New Zealand becomes one of the last Western countries to designate all of Hamas as a “terrorist entity,” saying the attacks of October 7 had shattered the notion its political and military wings could be separated.

“The organization as a whole bears responsibility for these horrific terrorist attacks,” the government says, announcing a move that spells a freeze on Hamas assets in New Zealand and a ban on providing it with “material support.”
US announces first Gazan aid since suspending UNRWA donations
During a visit to Jordan, Samantha Power, the U.S. Agency for International Development administrator, announced on Tuesday that Washington will give an additional $53 million in humanitarian aid to the World Food Programme and international nonprofits for Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and in Judea and Samaria.

“This brings the total amount of funding announced by the U.S. government since Oct. 7 to more than $180 million,” said Power, who is also visiting Israel and Judea and Samaria this week.

The funding appears to be the first new U.S. donation of humanitarian assistance to Gaza since the Biden administration suspended aid in January to UNRWA, the scandal-plagued, Palestinian-only refugee and social-services agency under the umbrella of the United Nations.

That suspension came after Israel said that a dozen UNRWA staff members participated in Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, and later, amid accusations of deeper and broader ties between UNRWA staff and Gazan terror groups.

The $53 million will cover “resources for food, shelter, water, medicine, sanitation, hygiene—all to the people of Gaza and the West Bank,” John Kirby, White House national security communications advisor, said during a Tuesday press briefing.

“There is no question that much more aid is needed to address the critical and urgent needs on the ground,” Kirby said. “That’s why President [Joe] Biden and the entire team will continue to work every day to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza while also prioritizing the safety of civilians and aid workers.”


Congresswoman accuses Netanyahu of waging ‘war against civilians’
Fresh off her second trip to Israel since Oct. 7, the House Foreign Affairs Committee member was one of 25 members of Congress who wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday accusing Israel of being reckless with the safety of journalists in Gaza.

In her Wednesday statement, she allowed that her visits to Israel confirmed her “concerns and fears.”

“Israel has the right and responsibility to defend itself, its sovereignty, and its citizens,” she stated. “But what is happening is beyond self-defense and is unacceptable to me.”

She blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is part of an Israeli war council that is making decisions about the war, squarely for civilian deaths.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s dishonesty—his broken promises to use precision strikes to protect civilians and his false claims that safe zones have been created and enforced—is unacceptable,” she stated. “My heart breaks for Gazans, the suffering of innocent civilians—so many of them children—the devastation and loss of life is unacceptable.”

Washington has given Netanyahu “time and discretion, in the hopes that Israel could do that which would benefit us all—rid Gaza of a cruel terrorist organization and bring hostages home,” the congresswoman said.

“Instead, Mr. Netanyahu has used that time, that discretion, to wage a war against civilians,” she claimed. “No war against civilians is just.”


Why the White House’s Plan to Prevent an Israel-Hizballah War Won’t Work
On Monday, Hizballah downed an Israeli drone, leading the IDF to retaliate with airstrikes that killed one of the terrorist group’s commanders in southern Lebanon, and two more of its members in the northeast. The latter strike marks an escalation by the IDF, which normally confines its activities to the southern part of the country. Hizballah responded by firing two barrages of rockets into northern Israel on Tuesday, while Hamas operatives in Lebanon fired another barrage yesterday.

According to the Iran-backed militia, 219 of its fighters have been killed since October; six Israeli civilians and ten soldiers have lost their lives in the north. The Biden administration has meanwhile been involved in ongoing negotiations to prevent these skirmishes from turning into an all-out war. The administration’s plan, however, requires carrots for Hizballah in exchange for unenforceable guarantees, as Richard Goldberg explains:
Israel and Hizballah last went to war in 2006. That summer, Hizballah crossed the border, killed three Israeli soldiers, and kidnapped two others. Israel responded with furious airstrikes, a naval blockade, and eventually a ground operation that met stiff resistance and mixed results. A UN-endorsed ceasefire went into effect after 34 days of war, accompanied by a Security Council Resolution that ordered the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in disarming Hizballah in southern Lebanon—from the Israeli border up to the Litani River, some 30 kilometers away.

Despite billions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer support over the last seventeen years, the LAF made no requests to UNIFIL, which then never disarmed Hizballah. Instead, Iran accelerated delivering weapons to the terrorist group—building up its forces to a threat level that dwarfs the one Israel faced in 2006. The politics of Lebanon shifted over time as well, with Hizballah taking effective control of the Lebanese government and exerting its influence (and sometimes even control) over the LAF and its U.S.-funded systems.

Now the U.S. is offering Lebanon an economic bailout in exchange for a promise to keep Hizballah forces from coming within a mere ten kilometers of the border, essentially abrogating the Security Council resolution. Goldberg continues:
Who would be responsible for keeping the peace? The LAF and UNIFIL—the same pair that has spent seventeen years helping Hizballah become the threat it is today. That would guarantee that Hizballah’s commitments will never be verified or enforced.

It’s a win-win for [Hizballah’s chief Hassan] Nasrallah. Many of his fighters live and keep their missiles hidden within ten kilometers of Israel’s border. They will blend into the civilian population without any mechanism to force their departure. And even if the U.S. or France could verify a movement of weapons to the north, Nasrallah’s arsenal is more than capable of terrorizing Israeli cities from ten kilometers away. Meanwhile, a bailout of Lebanon will increase Hizballah’s popularity—demonstrating its tactics against Israel work.
Seth Frantzman: Gaza's catch-22: The trap set by Hamas's 'police' mafia - analysis
During Hamas’s decade and a half controlling Gaza, the terrorist group acted to turn every aspect of the Strip into a lever of its terror state.

That meant tunneling under universities and hospitals and moving weapons into civilian homes. It also meant creating a police force that served the interests of Hamas.

Today that police force is in the spotlight because many international organizations that worked in Gaza or deal with humanitarian aid see the Hamas police as “law and order,” rather than an extension of a terrorist group that brought war and ruin on the embattled coastal enclave.

The Hamas police story is central to the current issues affecting Gaza. For instance, there are many reports of a humanitarian crisis in the Strip. Hamas and many organizations that have worked with it over the last decades have often claimed there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza in order to win concessions for Hamas so the terror group can continue to rule there.

Hamas believes the suffering of Gazans is in its interests, and it profits from their suffering. However, there is also a very real concern about how the current situation in Gaza could worsen in terms of the humanitarian crisis. Hamas may want the situation to worsen and may be using gunmen or its “police” to make it harder for Gazans to access aid.

This creates a Catch-22 in Gaza. The absence of Hamas police is often said to lead to chaos and looting of humanitarian aid. Therefore, the presence of the Hamas members is portrayed as “law and order.” Any defeat of Hamas is therefore characterized as ending “law and order.”
Hamas chief reportedly looks forward to high civilian death toll in Rafah
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar has sent a message to exiled members of the terror group saying he would welcome an Israeli assault on Rafah because the high number of civilian casualties would intensify worldwide pressure on Israel, a report from the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday.

Sinwar, the mastermind behind the brutal October 7 attacks, reportedly sent the message by courier to his colleagues in Qatar.

He allegedly also told them not to worry because Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades were doing well and prepared for Israel to strike in Rafah.

The letter from Sinwar, delivered to Hamas senior leadership earlier this month, reportedly argued that Hamas has the upper hand despite suffering “tactical losses” and the terrorist group’s four battalions in Rafah have been primed for an Israeli ground assault.

The message belies vehement calls for a ceasefire from around the world. On Monday the New York Times reported that Hamas rejected a ceasefire proposal just one day after President Biden indicated that a peace agreement could be imminent. Hamas officials said on Tuesday that there had been “no breakthrough” in the mediated talks with Israel.

“We are not interested in engaging with what’s been floated, because it does not fulfill our demands,” Hamas official Ahmad Abdelhadi said in a televised interview with al-Mayadeen, a Lebanese broadcaster, on Tuesday.

According to WSJ, Hamas has altered its tactics since the temporary ceasefire in November. Commanded by Sinwar’s brother Mohammed, Hamas fighters are now relying on small-scale ambushes and psychological tactics like using recorded voices of hostages to lure Israeli soldiers into traps. The ultimate goal, WSJ has reported, is to outlast Israeli firepower and “emerge from the rubble of Gaza” victorious.

“It’s a very sound tactical logic,” Eyal Berelovich, a civilian analyst for Israel’s armed forces and a military historian at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, told WSJ. “Their strategic goal is to survive.”
WSJ: Hamas Still Thinks It Could Win the War
Senior members of Hamas' leadership in exile met in Doha, Qatar, earlier this month and received a message from Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza, saying, in effect: Don't worry, we have the Israelis right where we want them.

Hamas' fighters were doing fine, the upbeat message said. The militants were ready for Israel's expected assault on Rafah. High civilian casualties would add to the worldwide pressure on Israel to stop the war.

Sinwar's goal is for Hamas to emerge from the rubble of Gaza after the war, declare a historic victory by outlasting Israel's firepower, and claim the leadership of the Palestinian national cause.


Terrorist kills two Israelis in shooting at Samaria gas station
A terrorist shot and killed two Israelis on Thursday afternoon at a gas station outside the town of Eli in the Binyamin region of Samaria, first responders and the Israel Defense Forces said.

“A terrorist arrived at the Eli gas station in the Binyamin Brigade” deployment area “and opened fire,” the IDF posted on social media, in Hebrew. “The terrorist was eliminated.”

The Magen David Adom emergency medical service identified the victims as two men, one in his 40s and one in his 20s.

Aviad Gizbar, owner of a hummus restaurant at the gas station, neutralized the terrorist, whom Arab media named as Muhammad Manasra. The latter, of Qalandiya near Jerusalem, reportedly served as a police officer in the Palestinian Authority.

The IDF Homefront Command briefly called on residents of Eli to stay inside and close doors and windows as forces searched for additional suspects.


Stampede, Gunfire Near Gaza Aid Trucks
Palestinians mobbed aid trucks admitted to the northern Gaza Strip on February 29, leading to a lethal stampede. The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said more than 100 people died in the incident at Nabulsi roundabout in western Gaza City, casting the carnage as a result of shelling by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

But the IDF released aerial footage showing thousands of civilians overrunning aid trucks, creating multiple crushes at the site. Some of the Palestinian drivers panicked and rammed into the crowd, causing fatal injuries, the IDF said, adding that at a nearby location, Gazan terrorists also used live fire in the course of looting some of the aid. At another location, the IDF said, troops fired at Palestinians who approached them after having ignored warning shots. The aerial footage showed no heavy military ordnance being used.

Despite the repeated theft of humanitarian aid by Hamas, which has either diverted the goods to its holed-up fighters or sold them on the black market to fund the terrorist group’s war effort, Israel has been enabling increased shipments in the hope that some will still reach needy civilians. There has also been a recent increase in the air-dropping of aid by various countries, a method designed to reduce the risk of goods being pillaged en route.

Expert Analysis
“As with the al-Ahli Hospital blast of October 17, Palestinian propagandists wasted no time in trying to blame this tragedy on Israel rather than on the dire humanitarian conditions created and perpetuated by Hamas. But the truth, in this case clearly documented, is that the Israelis, in the middle of a combat zone, are doing everything possible to relieve besieged civilians — and that Hamas is their shared enemy.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“Hamas is hoping for a major event to shift the balance against Israel, and a tragedy like this benefits the group. In the coming days, before an investigation can be carried out to determine what happened, pro-Hamas outlets will spread exaggerated accusations that Israel caused the stampede and is to blame for the deaths of Palestinians. What Hamas and its allies will fail to publicly acknowledge is the fact that terrorist organizations and criminal gangs are siphoning aid, exacerbating the likelihood of such incidents occurring.” —Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal
Dozens of Gazans die in riot following aid delivery
According to the IDF, Israeli fire caused fewer than 10 injuries after some in the crowd “endangered” troops and ignored warning shots, continuing to approach the soldiers, who fired at their legs.

The army statement added that residents surrounded the trucks on Al-Rashid Street, southwest of Gaza City, and looted the supplies, with many Palestinians being struck by the trucks or crushed by the crowd.

The incident began at around 4 a.m. when some 30 trucks passed an IDF checkpoint to deliver food in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood. Thousands of Gazans rushed the trucks after they passed the checkpoint, resulting in a deadly stampede.

According to the IDF probe, some of the trucks continued further north, where Palestinian gunmen fired at the convoy and looted it.

Some in the crowd who rushed the last truck in the convoy then began moving towards Israeli forces tasked with coordinating the entry of aid into the Strip, in a way that “endangered” the troops, according to the IDF. This prompted an officer stationed at the checkpoint to fire warning shots in the air, after which troops fired at the legs of those who continued to move towards Israeli forces.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported that 104 people died and 280 were wounded during the riot, with some reports of a greater number of injured. The terrorist group is reportedly threatening to halt hostage negotiations over the incident, which it is calling a “massacre.”

Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s office also described it in those terms, adding that the “occupation army” bears full responsibility.

The IDF released aerial footage of the incident.

The IDF said that it is constantly examining different solutions to the task of providing humanitarian aid in Gaza and will look for a proper solution to prevent the scenario from occurring again.
Gazans loot humanitarian aid truck, dozens killed in the stampede
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Hamas claims 'massacre' as Palestinians killed in Gaza aid delivery disaster
A second incident occurred a short time later at another spot at El-Nabusi Square, where unidentified armed Palestinians fired on the trucks and stole supplies.

It was unclear who or how many people may have been injured at this stage, but IDF forces did not fire on anyone.

In the third stage, a large group of Palestinians descended on the aid trucks but also came close to a surprise protective force stationed nearby.

According to the IDF, once the large group of Palestinians progressed to only being a couple dozen meters away from them, the IDF forces fired in the air and issued warnings to stay away.

When the same Palestinians continued to come closer to IDF forces to a point where the forces felt threatened, they were directed to fire at the Palestinians' legs.

During this incident, an estimated 10 Palestinians were killed. It was unclear if these Palestinians had aggressive intentions or were civilians caught up in a chaotic moment.

IDF sources seemed to suggest there were no special rules limiting live fire against such civilians in the context of a humanitarian operation or whether the forces could have retreated backward, citing that the area was still a war zone.


Lawsuit: Hamas support even came up in ‘common banter’ at crypto company
Binance, which bills itself as the “biggest bitcoin exchange and altcoin crypto exchange in the world by volume,” intentionally helped transfer money to the Hamas terror group over the course of more than five years, a new federal lawsuit alleges.

Per the complaint, which was filed on Feb. 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Binance‘s contributions to funding Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack “cannot be overstated.”

“Defendants knowingly facilitated transfers of money to Hamas over the course of more than five years, and its chief executive officer, chief compliance officer, compliance personnel and rank-and-file employees knew that its operations were being used to fund Hamas, as well as other foreign terrorist organizations,” per the complaint.

“In fact, the facilitation of payments to Hamas was so ingrained at Binance that even common banter among its employees demonstrates defendants’ knowledge, both actual and constructive, that its infrastructure was being used for illegal payments and remittances to foreign terrorist organizations.”

The complaint, citing the U.S. Justice Department, notes that a Binance compliance staffer joked in February 2019 that the company should get a banner stating, “Is washing drug money too hard these days? Come to Binance, we got cake for you.”
US Rabbis urge 'sponsor of terror' Qatar to free hostages at Beverly Hills rally
For the past four months, protesters have taken to the streets in Beverly Hills to urge Qatar’s regime to secure the release of hostages held by its terrorist ally, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip and stop its alleged financing of Islamist terrorism and antisemitism.

The Beverly Hills Synagogue---along with Rabbis United—on Monday organized the latest demonstration in front of Qatar’s consulate in Beverly Hills, with roughly 100 attendees.

The high energy and charismatic Beverly Hills Synagogue Rabbi, Pini Dunner, told the Jerusalem Post he made a direct appeal to Emir of the tiny oil-rich Gulf state, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani: “If there is a shred of humanity left inside you, do what you have to do, and what we know you have the power to do — get the hostages released by Hamas and end the misery right now. And that misery is not just for the families of the hostages and the hostages themselves, but for the Palestinians you claim to care about, who are suffering immeasurable misery as a result of the war triggered by October 7.”

A number of posters at the rally read “Qatar: You can set the hostages free” and “Qatar funds & hosts Hamas. Free the hostages.” Dunner said “As part of the protest, we declared an upcoming ‘day of rage’ against Qatar, as yet undated.”


Toronto city workers tear down baby hostage Kfir Bibas poster in park
After municipal workers were filmed tearing down awareness posters for baby hostage Kfir Bibas in Toronto’s Cedarvale Park on Tuesday, the city assured that it would take greater care with such matters.

Writer Semyon Dovzhik saw the city workers removing hostage posters from utility poles in the park and began to film and demand why they were taking the posters down. The municipal workers told Dovzhik not to film them.

“We were asked to,” said a city worker. “By our supervisor.”

Dovzhik attempted to explain that the posters were of people who were kidnapped.

“It doesn’t matter what the sign says – if it says for guitar lessons, we have to take it down, too,” said the city employee, who went on to add that anything on the utility poles had to be removed regardless of subject matter.

City of Toronto Spokesperson Russell Baker said that “City of Toronto staff are tasked with keeping our parks tidy, which includes bathroom upkeep, mowing parks, and ensuring these shared spaces are clean.”

“In this case, we recognize that the interaction should have been dealt with more care,” said Baker. “We are committed to improving the way city staff interact with the public through meaningful engagement.”


Michael Rapaport calls out Hollywood for ignoring the hostages on 'Eretz Nehederet'
American actor/comedian Michael Rapaport returned to Eretz Nehederet, Israel’s current-events oriented comedy show from Keshet 12, on Wednesday night with an especially biting sketch about how Hollywood stars are ignoring the plight of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since the October 7 attack.

Playing himself hosting the Oscars, he joked in the opening ceremony monologue that the 134 remaining hostages had something in common with the Tinseltown royalty attending the show — neither had eaten in four months. “Next year, the hostage diet will be bigger than Ozempic,” he quipped.

The clip used footage of the Oscars to look real
The sketch was especially striking in the way it used clips of real stars attending recent awards shows to make it look as if Rapaport, who visited Israel a few months ago and spoke up for the hostages, was actually hosting the awards.

“I know you beautiful people are thinking of the hostages in Gaza all the time, you just won’t speak up about them. If Hamas would have attacked Israel and kidnapped all the dolphins, you’d be wearing dolphin helmets and throwing tuna at the podium,” he said, mentioning several other pet causes of the glitterati as well.

He went on to skewer the indifference of Hollywood’s heavy hitters by introducing new award categories. One was devoted to actresses who wore black to protest sexual misconduct a few years back but wouldn’t wear yellow ribbons to call out Hamas for its widely reported sexual assaults. “Hamas makes Harvey Weinstein look like Peter Pan,” he said, a reference to the producer convicted of multiple charges of sexual assault, sparking the #MeToo movement.

In other categories, he slammed actors who play dead Jews but won’t speak out about live babies held hostage by Hamas. This category featured two actor who are actually nominated for Oscars this year for playing real-life Jews, Cillian Murphy as Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer and Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro. He made fun of Jewish actors for their silence, naming Seth Rogen, Adam Sandler (who actually did sign a petition in support of Israel) and Larry David.


Caroline Glick: Bonnie Glick: Stop Giving US Taxpayer Dollars to Terrorists
Country after country has pulled funding from UNRWA after revelations that its staff were involved and/or supported the October 7th massacre. Should it be completely dismantled? Should something take its place or if so who can be trusted to handle the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank?

Caroline talks Fmr. US AID Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick about the future of the UNRWA and what must be done to ensure a responsible and trustworthy organization is put in its place.


The Arab Muslim Who Believes in Peace Between Arabs & Israel - Loay Al-Shareef
"Islam needs a reform." "Allah assigned the Holy Land to the Jews". "From the River to the Sea should be banned." Ollie Anisfeld and Loay Al-Shareef have a conversation about Israel, Islam, Judaism and creating lasting peace between Jews and Arabs. They speak about both the political and theological issues surrounding the Middle East conflict. A fascinating discussion.

0:00 - Intro
2:00 - Loay's Journey From Israel Hater to Supporter
12:28 - The Political Issues
27:35 - The Theological Issues
41:32 - Audience Q&A


'Very sad': Douglas Murray weighs in on Joe Biden's 'Late Night' appearance
Author Douglas Murray has described Joe Biden’s recent appearance on 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' as “very sad” with the President rambling and losing his train of thought.

“Most of the media in America is Democrat, most of it is simply rooting for its guy," Mr Murray told Sky News host Rita Panahi.

"Certainly most of these late-night talk show hosts, they’re just putting their own shoulder to the wheel and hoping that they can push Biden right into November and beyond.

“As we saw there repeatedly there in that interview … he just sort of rambled, interrupted himself, lost his train of thought, and did that thing he does where he sort of forgets what he’s going to say and then he says ‘oh but anyway’.

"It’s really not on, and … I regard this as being very sad.”


The Israel Guys: Joe Biden Is DESPERATELY Trying To Stop The War In Gaza
Wild footage has emerged of Israelis on the northern border narrowly escaping rocket fire on the roads. Things are seriously escalating with Hezbollah.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is warning that Hamas and Iran are plotting a “second Oct. 7th for the month of Ramadan”

And Joe Biden made some bombshell statements during an interview with NBC.


Andrew Bolt discusses his insights into the war in Middle East
Sky News host Andrew Bolt joins the program from Israel to discuss his insights into the war in the Middle East.

“He is bringing us some outstanding insights into the war in the Middle East,” Mr Price said.

“I could not believe those pictures; he was at the western wall.

“The incredible images of one of the holiest places on Earth.

Mr Price and Mr Bolt discussed the latest on the Israel-Hamas war.


Sharri Markson urges government to 'listen' to ASIO boss after Islamic terror warning
Sky News host Sharri Markson has urged the federal government to listen to ASIO boss Mike Burgess after he highlighted Islamic terror as a threat in Australia.

"You have to ask, after the assessment that we heard from ASIO last night, are the senior government leadership listening to their security heads?", she said.

“Burgess' security assessment should be encouraging Australia to enhance its relationship with countries like Israel that hold intelligence that could help ensure the worst scenario Burgess outlined doesn't happen,” Ms Markson said.

"The reality is, being tough on China and terrorism doesn't suit Labor politically or ideologically.

"It does matter that ministers aren't speaking plainly and clearly about the gravest threats to our nation, and that they're also not developing tougher laws to address these threats.”


10 Questions For Israel Haters
Israel activist published a list of 10 questions for the anti-Israel campaigners. Ollie shares these questions and reflects on them.




Daniel Greenfield: Aaron Bushnell, Who Burned Himself Alive, Cheered Murder of U.S. Soldiers
Finally the man who set himself on fire to support Islamic terrorists who would have cheerfully killed him, with his consent, posted that, “sanity is a myth constructed to justify brainwashing and marginalization of people who cannot or will not conform.”

What happened to Aaron Bushnell to turn him into this? Like a lot of directionless but clever young men, he went down a rabbit hole of extremism that eventually led to violence. A review of his social media shows little in his life except radical politics and video games. Bushnell had grown up in an abusive leftist cult that wrongly described itself as “Christian”.

The experience appeared to have left him with a hatred of Christianity, so that he posted, “the Real Jesus™️ only looks like a half-decent role model compared to the monstrosity that his followers created… Jesus can fuck off with his demagoguery.”

Searching for some structure and direction, Bushnell joined the Air Force, but then was indoctrinated into anarchist leftist groups which provided him with his sense of identity. While pictures often show him in the uniform he wore when he killed himself, off-duty pictures commonly show him wearing red. And he began taking part in Antifa protests.

The Air Force under Biden had launched a campaign to root out “extremism”, but that meant extremists that the leadership and the administration disagreed with. Bushnell was one of a number of personnel who openly supported terrorism and hated America who stayed on.

Bushnell had been preparing to leave the Air Force and transition to civilian employment, and yet he decided to exploit his uniform by turning himself into a martyr against America.

Narcissism and emotional instability were certainly in the mix. But Bushnell had also been failed by his family, which raised him in an abusive elite liberal cult, by a society and a government which mainstreamed extreme leftist views and by a military which failed to intervene.

In the end, Aaron Bushnell spun out of control. Like other Islamic terrorist supporters, he might have opened fire at a military facility, instead he chose to martyr himself for Hamas.

His death will be used by Islamic terrorists and Antifa to recruit more young men like him.

The Bushnell case is a wake-up call about actual extremism within the military. Someone recruited him and someone encouraged him to kill himself. National security begins with finding and exposing the Islamic terrorists and extremists inside the United States Air Force.
PMW: Aaron Bushell: The new Palestinian hero and role model
American soldier Aaron Bushell committed suicide by setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy. His Facebook video post explained that he was protesting US support for Israel.

The Palestinian Authority immediately turned him into a Palestinian hero by unequivocally glorifying him, in a column in the official PA daily:
“He put an end to his existence in order to save the conscience of the world regarding the massacres and genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

More than that, the PA daily praised him for trying to spark a movement of people around the world and to be a “turning point” motivating others, to move from mere protest to self-sacrifice actions. He wanted to:
“… create a turning point in the methods and tools of the solidarity movement with the Palestinian issue in the world.”

The writer was very clear that the new “methods and tools” he was talking about involved death and possibly even suicide attacks by citing the Palestinian self-sacrifice as the “example for all of humanity.” “The concept of self-sacrifice for the sake of others is considered one of the noblest forms of sacrifice among human cultures throughout history, among them the Japanese culture and the Arab-Islamic culture, and this is in addition to the sacrifices made by European and other revolutions, up to the Palestinian people, who served as an example for all of humanity due to its self-sacrifice actions.”

The official PA daily published cartoons 2 days in a row honoring him:




[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 27, 2024 and Feb. 28, 2024]

Finally, official PA TV tried to create the impression that this was part of a great wave of anti-Israel sentiment in the US: PA TV Host: “American pilot Bushnell’s burning himself yesterday is an expression of the growing anger among the American people against the policies of their government, and this comes as a defense of humanitarian values and the justice of the Palestinian issue.

Muhammad Khaluf, a political commentator: “We see high activity in the streets and squares in several American cities, and there is a wave of activity on social networks against Biden and against his policies, and even against the reactions of the Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the Senate and the like.”


Kassy Dillon: Anti-Israel Mob At Harvard Chants Outside Israeli Popstar Ishay Ribo’s Concert
Anti-Israel protesters demonstrated for five hours outside two sold-out concerts hosted for Harvard University students featuring Israeli pop star Ishay Ribo, who says he came to the embattled Ivy League institution as a show of support for its Jewish community.

“We in Israel heard — and the rest of the world heard — that Harvard’s students got entangled in a complicated situation where there are a lot of protests and support of Gaza here,” the Israeli singing sensation Ribo told The Daily Wire. “We felt connection and importance in coming here to support them and to thank America’s Jewish community. So the moment we heard it would be possible to give a performance, we jumped on the opportunity with great joy.”

Ribo was hosted by Harvard Chabad to lift the spirits of Jewish students who have encountered months of turmoil and accusations of poorly handling anti-Semitism on campus in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians.

“His music elevates us, comforts us, strengthens us, raises our consciousness — our jewish consciousness — deepens our faith and restores and strengthens our hope,” Harvard Chabad Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi said on stage.

About 100 protesters across the street greeted concert attendees as they lined up with boos and chants including the genocidal “from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” chant often used by pro-Palestinian radicals in cities across the United States, and is likewise seen as a call for ethnic cleansing of the Jewish and other non-Arab populations that live in Israel.

“To walk into a space of love, we had to pass some darkness, some words of hate,” Zarchi said. “Any time a Jew hears or witnesses hate to the Jewish people, how do you respond? You love more, you love Jews deeper, you love Israel more, and you stand up for her more. Ultimately with our love and our positivity we will overwhelm the darkness and overwhelm the hate.”


Calls for funding of Islamic Council of Victoria to be cut after president's comments
Sky News host Steve Price has questioned why taxpayers are even funding the Islamic Council of Victoria after its president’s comments about the October 7 Hamas attack.

Adel Salman on radio yesterday called the October 7 terrorist attack a “legitimate act of resistance" by the Palestinian people.

"To call, as Salman did yesterday, this 'legitimate' and 'resistance' is abhorrent. Not surprisingly, this has led to calls from the Jewish community around the country and Jewish leaders in particular from Melbourne, for taxpayer funding of this outfit to be frozen or cut permanently," Mr Price said.

"Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan was out talking about bushfires today but as far as I am aware she has yet to comment on those calls.

"For me I wonder just why taxpayers are funding the Islamic Council of Victoria anyway."


Laura Allam, Mohammad Sharab charged with kidnap, assault in alleged Jewish hate crime
A prominent advocate for victims in the Middle East accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and torture of a man because he worked for a Jewish employer has close ties to controversial feminist author Clementine Ford.

Laura Allam – a 28-year-old mother who claims to do humanitarian work and has tens of thousands of followers on social media – has been charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, false imprisonment, unlawful assault and assault by kicking.

The Herald Sun can also reveal Ms Allam’s alleged accomplice is Mohammad Sharab.

An extraordinary suppression order relating to her case prevents the Herald Sun from running Ms Allam’s image, referencing some ethnic groups or providing certain detail about her advocacy activities.

The alleged attack on the 31-year-old man occurred in a residential area in St Albans on Friday, February 16.

Ms Allam has close ties to controversial feminist author Clementine Ford.

Ford was one of the first to publish a link to hundreds of pages that revealed the names, photos and personal details of hundreds of Jewish people without their consent The doxing incident of almost 600 people is being investigated by Victoria Police as the list was used to threaten and abuse individuals and businesses.

It is not known if the alleged kidnap victim’s Jewish employer was on this list and if that’s why the Palestinian employee was allegedly tortured.

In one social media post, Ms Allam put up a picture of a leader of a Middle Eastern terrorist organisation with the quote, “We love death as you love life” and commented that it was a “powerful statement”.

Ford then posted: “I love you and your staunch leadership” followed by three love hearts.

Ms Allam is also linked to Greens federal senators David Shoebridge, Janet Rice, Jordan Steele-John, Dorinda Cox Mehreen Faruqi.
Rebel News to fight suppression order PROTECTING violent extremists
A disturbing violent attack in Melbourne has been mired in controversy as a suppression order has shrouded crucial details from public scrutiny.

Victoria Police have charged two prominent anti-Israel activists for allegedly kidnapping and brutally torturing a man employed by a Jew. The victim was reportedly subjected to severe beatings, including with a hammer.

One of the accused has ties to well-known figures in the feminist and far-left political circles, adding another layer of complexity to the case.

In a chilling turn of events, one of the accused perpetrators also assaulted a group of Jews attempting to attend a Melbourne City Council meeting.

The same individual even appeared to threaten me before assaulting independent journalist Rukshan Fernando, just for being my friend!

Despite the seriousness of the charges, a suppression order has effectively silenced media coverage of the case, preventing the disclosure of vital information. The truth needs to come out.




Gym bars woman who drew Star of David on steamed up shower door
A gym has frozen the membership of a Jewish woman who drew a Star of David on a steamed up glass door in a changing room shower, the JC can reveal.

The gym, run by Nuffield Health, accused the woman of “offending” other members with the Jewish symbol.

Sharon, a 47-year-old British-Israeli, has been going to Nuffield Health in Willesden for ten years and was showering after a class when she drew the star in the mist with her finger.

“I drew it while I was taking a shower, I just felt like it,” Sharon told the JC.

Another gym-goer apparently saw the temporary Star of David on the shower glass and made a complaint about it.

On Wednesday, Sharon, a Senior Executive Assistant, received an email from the gym which stated: “The allegation is that you drew a religious symbol on a shower door, which was visible to all other members using the changing room and drawn with the intention of causing offence to other members."

The general manager asked Sharon to attend a meeting so that the gym could “hear both sides of the story”.

The email came 20 days after Sharon was first informed of the complaint.




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