Tuesday, March 19, 2024

03/19 Links Pt1: The Strategy of Atrocity in the Gaza War; Saving Sinwar; Red Cross directly involved in PA ‘Pay for Slay’ policy

From Ian:

Saving Sinwar
Hamas’ leaders considered Israel’s willingness to release over 1,000 Palestinians for a single Israeli soldier a victory. Most of the prisoners were ecstatic about their release. But Sinwar denounced the trade. “He was furious, even though he was among those scheduled to be released,” Bitton recalled. He told me that releasing Shalit for a thousand Palestinian prisoners was “not enough.” All of the Palestinians in Israeli jails had to be released. He sent messages to Hamas’ leaders in exile urging them to reject the deal. But he was overruled by Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas leader and the founding commander of its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassem Brigades (Israel assassinated al-Arouri in Beirut on Jan. 2, 2024).

“Sinwar didn’t care how many Palestinians would die for their cause,” Bitton recalled. For Sinwar, “there was no flexibility, no room for compromise.”

While some Hamas leaders were political, Sinwar thought only about military operations and war. “He was always crystal clear: The struggle against the Jewish state must continue, no matter what he had to do.” If it meant agreeing to close the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza and arresting jihadists suspected by Cairo to enhance security coordination with Egypt, a main supply route to Gaza, that was fine. If it meant trying to reconcile with the Palestinian Authority, which Hamas had violently ousted from Gaza in 2007, by temporarily renouncing violence to pursue “peaceful, popular resistance” to Israeli occupation, which he also did in 2018, so be it. If it meant appearing on Israeli TV to call for a truce with Hamas, in Hebrew, he volunteered. His objective never wavered, though: Do whatever must be done to fight another day and free all Palestinians from jail. Sinwar believed that Israel’s prisons were “a grave for us. A mill to grind our will, determination, and bodies,” he said after his own release.

Having spent hours listening to Sinwar, Bitton had vigorously opposed his release, he disclosed. “I knew he was trouble, and that he would create even more trouble for us outside,” he told me. But he, too, was overruled by higher authorities—in this case, the Shabak, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, then headed by Yuval Diskin. “I wasn’t the head of Shabak,” he said somewhat ruefully. “I was just the head of intelligence in a prison.

Days after his release, Sinwar publicly blasted the deal he had opposed in jail. He also urged Palestinians to kidnap more soldiers to secure the release of his Islamic brothers in jail. “He told me that he had an Islamic duty to ensure that no Islamic fighter would be left behind,” Bitton recalls.

Bitton ultimately paid a personal price for the decision to let Sinwar go free. His 38-year-old nephew Tamir was wounded, kidnapped, and killed by the Hamas terrorists Sinwar sent to southern Gaza on Oct. 7. “I knew when I saw the photo of Tamir that he wouldn’t make it,” he said. “There was too much blood.”

Three weeks after Oct. 7, Sinwar once again proposed that all Palestinians in Israeli jails be released in exchange for the hostages Hamas had kidnapped during its killing spree and barbaric assault. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection was fast and furious. Sinwar, Netanyahu said, was a “dead man walking,” vowing to kill Israel’s No. 1 target in its massive offensive. Israel offered a bounty of $400,000 for information about his location. But Sinwar has so far escaped Israel’s wrath.

Last November, the Israeli Defense Forces claimed to have trapped the Hamas commander in an underground bunker after surrounding Gaza City. He escaped. Later, Israeli officials claimed he was in a tunnel in Khan Yunis. Social media carried photos at the time of a shadowy figure fleeing into a tunnel with his children and the wife he had married after his release from jail. Again, he escaped.

The Israelis now say he is moving constantly within the tunnel network in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city where 1.2 million Palestinians have fled for safety. His presence there, and Israel’s assertion that four Hamas battalions remain there ready to fight, are part of the justification Israel has offered for its planned land offensive in Rafah, Gaza’s main supply area on the Egyptian border. Israel’s military claims to have destroyed or damaged 19 of Hamas’ 24 battalions, each consisting of about 1,000 soldiers.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Feb. 29 that Sinwar had sent a message to exiled leaders claiming that Hamas was winning the war in Gaza and that international pressure would soon force Israel to stop the fighting because of the high civilian death toll, which according to unverifiable Hamas and United Nations estimates, now stands at over 31,000 Palestinians. Israel estimates that it has killed approximately 13,000 Hamas fighters.

Safe in Qatar and Turkey, Hamas’ leadership outside Gaza took a different view: They concluded that Israel was crushing the group and seizing ever more ground, despite increasing pressure from the West for Israel to agree to a cease-fire. Yet according to the Journal, Sinwar assured his confederates that despite Israel’s tactical successes, Hamas’ four remaining battalions in Rafah were fully prepared to withstand a likely ground assault, and that Israel would ultimately yield to Hamas’ demands.

According to the Journal, Egyptian intelligence officials who have received Sinwar’s messages think he has “lost touch with reality.” Yet the success of Sinwar’s bloody Oct. 7 offensive and his presence on (or under) the ground in Gaza gives him credibility and authority that Hamas’ external leadership lacks. Practically speaking, the fighting will end when Sinwar says it does, so his assessment of Hamas’ strategic position and of Israeli psychology is the one that matters.

Whether Sinwar has become demented or merely diabolical, Bitton said, the Hamas leader’s hard-line stance does not surprise him. In his desire to rid Palestine of Jews for good, Sinwar has been nothing if not consistent.
The Strategy of Atrocity in the Gaza War
Hamas is perhaps the first regime in recorded history to fight a war designed to maximize casualties among their own population.

Failing to swiftly destroy Hamas and directly punish Hamas's backers in Iran and Qatar will teach sympathizers in other parts of the Muslim world that strategies of atrocity should be added to the playbook of regimes challenging U.S. allies around the world. Even worse would be for Hamas to actually achieve a strategic victory and gain a Palestinian statehood; such an outcome would ensure that atrocity becomes a standard and widely used strategy for at least a generation to come.

The laws of war -- primarily a Western innovation -- are being weaponized by the enemies of the West, who do not subscribe to Western culture..... Today, the United States and our allies find ourselves at war with states and non-state entities who do not subscribe to the laws of war.

"[T]he Hamas terrorists killed by Israel in the ensuing war, and civilian non-combatants killed in the Gaza Strip while being used as human shields by Hamas. They are all considered "Martyrs" whose families are eligible to receive stipends of 1,400-12,000 shekels [$375-$3200] per month for life." — Itamar Marcus; Founder, Palestinian Media Watch, palwatch.org, January 10, 2024.

The popular accusation of disproportionality is, in point of fact, aimed to prevent Western-aligned nations from achieving decisive victories. Even when the allies of the United States have the military capacity to break the will of the enemy, thereby imposing peace on the defeated, they will be forced to resort to fighting forever wars.

Why should the Israelis be compelled to allow aid into Gaza, when Hamas continues to hold hostage not just Israelis but also Americans? Under the guise of benevolence and generosity, international organizations promote forever wars.

If the type of warfare that we have seen from Hamas is allowed to succeed, and is not met with overwhelming violence and utter defeat, it will become the standard approach for those challenging Western dominance. If, however, we want to live in a world where the laws of war mean something, then the penalties for deliberately flouting them need to be terrible. Otherwise more regimes will be tempted to gain advantage through strategies of atrocity.

The US should stop imposing on our allies a doctrine of defeat.

Finally, the day after hostilities end, the Israelis must protect the new Gazan government from being undermined by renewed efforts to support terrorism and remilitarization.

The only path to peace, other than the destruction of Israel, is through a comprehensive Israeli victory and an unconditional surrender by Hamas in Gaza, and a post-war arrangement ensuring that the Gazans will not be able to commit such atrocities in Israel again.
WSJ Editorial: Democrats Turn Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that “no international pressure will stop us from realizing all of the goals of the war: Eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel.” That this is interpreted as a challenge to President Biden speaks volumes about the shift in U.S. policy toward Israel.

The joke around Jerusalem is that while Mr. Biden once worked to help Israel after Oct. 7, he’s now working on the “two-state solution”: Michigan and Nevada. Israelis notice that the President rarely speaks of defeating Hamas anymore. Instead, he bashes Israel under the cover of bashing its Prime Minister.

This dance is Mr. Biden’s way of catering to the anti-Israel left without alienating the bulk of U.S. voters who would find it unconscionable to turn on the Israeli people in wartime. What Henry Kissinger once said about Israel having no foreign policy, only domestic politics, Israelis are now saying about America. How else to explain Mr. Biden’s “red line” on Rafah, Hamas’s final stronghold?

Mr. Netanyahu says, “You cannot say you support Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas and then oppose Israel when it takes the actions necessary to achieve that goal.” To leave Hamas in power in Rafah is to lose the war, and to replace Hamas with Fatah is to lose the peace. That’s an Israeli consensus, not “Bibi.”

Israeli officials say the U.S. military understands that Rafah must fall, but Biden officials don’t. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that “our position is that Hamas should not be allowed a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else, but a major ground operation there would be a mistake.” Yet none of their political solutions for Gaza can succeed if Hamas battalions remain intact. There will be no politics if Hamas can put bullets in the heads of its Palestinian rivals.

To condemn Israel, Mr. Biden trots out the Hamas figure of more than 30,000 casualties in Gaza. Why doesn’t he mention that Israel says more than 13,000 of them were Hamas fighters? The resulting combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio of around 1 to 1.3 attests to Israeli accuracy and restraint, but that isn’t what they want to hear in Dearborn, Mich.


Netanyahu: There Is Unity among the People of Israel to Achieve Victory
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told AIPAC leaders in Jerusalem on Monday: "The Iran terror axis...is behind everything that we're seeing here today. That is something that we all have to understand, that this is not just Israel's battle. It is a battle for our future, but it's also a battle for the victory of the Israel-America-moderate Arab axis against the Iran axis....This is a war of civilization against barbarism, those who want to bring back the Middle East to the Middle Ages."

"The picture that is presented in the last few days and weeks in the United States is completely different....[In Israel,] you can go into any cab, go into a mall, walk down the street and talk to people. The great majority will tell you that they support...the goals that the government has set."

"That's not the description you hear. The description is that you have an outlier prime minister with some extreme fringe groups, and that's what's driving the policy. False. I would say deliberately false. They know it's false. But that falsehood is perpetrated and it's wrong....There is unity among the people to achieve victory along the lines that I described. It is within reach and we're going to do it."

"The idea that we are going to trap 1.2 million people [in Rafah], we're not going to let them go out, they're not going to leave, we don't have arrangements for them - that's not true....We're going to say: 'move here, move there' - to precise locations. That argument is fallacious. It's repeated over and over again. That doesn't make it true. We have now told the army...to enable the population to move, and also, quite concurrently, [to implement] a humanitarian plan."


Seth Mandel: Israel’s Critics and the Fauda Problem
In the early 2000s, a common complaint among local cops was that people who served on juries had been watching too much CSI, the police procedural that convinced viewers that if someone were really guilty, there would be “DNA evidence.”

The Mideast version of “the CSI problem” is “the Fauda problem.” In 2016, Netflix picked up the streaming rights to a popular Israeli TV thriller centered on members of Israeli units that go undercover to infiltrate Arab terrorist cells. The show was a hit and earned three more seasons. It also supercharged the perception that every Israeli spy was James Bond and every soldier was G.I. Joe, an idea lampooned so well in Adam Sandler’s spoof You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.

Israel’s influential Western critics seem to think Zohan was a documentary.

There were the leaks from the Biden administration to Politico, describing the tightrope that the White House apparently wants Israel to walk in Rafah, where four Hamas battalions remain: “Senior U.S. officials have told their Israeli counterparts the Biden administration would support Israel going after high-value Hamas targets in and underneath Rafah—as long as Israel avoids a large-scale invasion that could fracture the alliance.”

In practice, this means “top administration officials have signaled to Israel that they could support a plan more akin to counterterrorism operations than all-out war, four U.S. officials said.”

How might these officials expect Israeli troops to get to high value targets “underneath Rafah” without securing the parts of the city with entrances to those underground tunnels and facilities? Are we thinking Sonic the Hedgehog here, just run fast enough to tear up the ground in front of them? They certainly don’t have time to make like Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank Redemption, slowly digging his own tunnel over the course of 19 years. Surely any successful such operation would require some rudimentary teleportation.

Former British foreign secretary and current head of the International Rescue Committee, David Miliband, would like the IDF to do its best impression of the Amazing Mumford from Sesame Street and wave a magic wand shouting “A la peanut butter sandwiches,” after which there would be a poof, and a safe route for humanitarian aid would appear from the sands of the Levant. This route would be immune to Hamas’s bullets and other marauders, presumably because of a Zionist Force Field built around it by enterprising researchers at the Technion.
Brendan O'Neill: Fatah is right – Hamas is to blame for the war in Gaza
Everyone who understands cause and effect, everyone who exists on the adult plane of morality and responsibility, knows full well that if you invade a neighbouring nation and slit the throats of its men and violate the bodies of its women there will be consequences – severe ones. It’s good Fatah is finally holding Hamas responsible for the horror of Gaza, but really it’s only stating the blindingly obvious: start a war, get a war. And yet our own bourgeois left seems utterly impervious to this fundamental truth of life. Instead, it has been partaking in a five-month orgy of the most rank victim-blaming, where even on the day Jews were being murdered it was essentially saying to them: ‘It’s your own fault, you know.’

The emerging chasm between Fatah’s view and the woke view is striking. Fatah, for all its faults, still lives in the universe of realpolitik. A universe where actions have consequences. The woke of the West, in contrast, have abandoned such old-world politics in favour of the cosmic ideology of identitarianism in which there are only ‘oppressors’ and ‘victims’, and the former are responsible for everything while the latter must be blamed for nothing. It is testament to how far they’ve tumbled down the rabbit hole of the new racialism that they can only understand the Israel-Hamas war through their patrician ideology that sees ‘white people’ (Israel) as conscious actors and ‘brown people’ (Palestine) as hapless victims.

This is the double racism of so-called Palestine solidarity. First, there’s the racism of their fevered obsession with the world’s Jewish state. And second, there’s the racism of their hyper-infantilisation of the Palestinian people, their ironically neo-colonialist treatment of this ethnic group as so fantastically child-like that they can be held responsible for nothing, even what they do. Their priestly absolution of Hamas, even of responsibility for its own pogrom, is not ‘progressive’ – it is a nauseatingly imperious stance whose treatment of Israel as the only morally culpable party in the Middle East smacks both of anti-Semitism and anti-Arabism. Hating the Jews and pitying the Palestinans is one double whammy of arrogant Western chauvinism.

Fatah might be uncomfortable with the treatment of Palestinians as lesser racial creatures incapable of moral decision-making, but Hamas is not. It has enthusiastically embraced the narrative of Israeli culpability and Palestinian fragility. ‘We are the victims’, said one of its leaders shortly after the 7 October pogrom. ‘Therefore, nobody should blame us for the things we do.’ Hamas loves the moral absolution it has been granted by the West’s activist class. It gets to pose as blameless, even as it murders Jews, while Western radicals get to pose as the saviours of a morally primitive people from the clutches of the Middle East’s evil adult: Israel.

The people who lose out are the people of Gaza, who are suffering terribly in a war Hamas started and which it refuses to end by returning the hostages and surrendering to Israel. It seems both Hamas and its woke absolvers are content to see Gazans sacrificed to their own vanity. After all, what are a few thousand dead Palestinians in contrast with Hamas feeling important and the West’s bored bourgeoisie getting to puff themselves up as saviours of the world from the menace of the Jewish State? Those who pose as blameless so often bear the most blame.
‘No other choice’: Netanyahu defying Biden on Rafah operation
Netanyahu approved the Israel Defense Forces’ operational plans for the city along the Sinai border last week. The IDF is preparing operationally for this next stage of the war while also readying for the evacuation of Gazan civilians from Rafah.

“We have an argument that I put on the table, and everyone knows it, even Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, said it yesterday. We have an argument with the Americans about the need to enter Rafah. Not about the need to eliminate Hamas, the need to enter Rafah. We see no way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions. We are determined to do it,” Netanyahu said at Tuesday’s meeting.

Additionally, Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel must control the 8.7-mile-long Philadelphi Corridor separating the Gaza Strip from the Sinai Peninsula.

He told the meeting that Israel is working on a new border crossing at the Kerem Shalom Israel-Gaza-Egypt triangle to replace the Rafah crossing with Egypt, one where Israel will have full control.

Netanyahu also said that Israel is preventing a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. “We are checking how to distribute the aid through non-local entities because Hamas thwarted the attempts to distribute it through locals. Private companies are also being checked,” he noted.

The premier once more rejected the idea of the Palestinian Authority playing a role in a post-Hamas Gaza, saying that “the uncompromising ambition of the entire Palestinian leadership in all its shades is the elimination of Zionism.”

Netanyahu said that “the U.S. attacks are targeting me because I prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

As for the deteriorating security situation in Judea and Samaria, Netanyahu said that he asked the military to return to using checkpoints. “I asked the army to come up with a plan to respect the checkpoints in the West Bank,” he said.

No matter what happens, only Israel should have security control between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, he added.
The Commentary Magazine Podcast: The Biden Breakdown and the Middle Class
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew Continetti Today’s podcast begins with the Biden administration’s increasing schizophrenia on the Gaza war and then proceeds to a powerful discussion of the elite war on the American middle class, based on our own Christine Rosen’s landmark article in the current edition of COMMENTARY. Give a listen.
Biden to Netanyahu: Consider ‘alternative approach’ to Rafah
In a Monday phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe Biden reiterated Washington’s support for Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas while offering a resounding rejection of Israel’s plans to mount a major ground operation in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where many Hamas fighters are believed to be hiding.

Acknowledging Hamas’ presence in Rafah, Biden told Israel they could operate there — but only in a highly targeted way. At Biden’s request, Netanyahu agreed to send a senior delegation of military, intelligence and humanitarian officials to Washington within the next week to listen to the White House’s concerns about Rafah.

“The president has rejected and did again today the straw-man that raising questions about Rafah is the same as raising questions about defeating Hamas. That’s just nonsense. Our position is that Hamas should not be allowed a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else, but a major ground operation there would be a mistake,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters at a Monday press briefing.

At the meeting with senior Israeli officials, the White House will lay out an “alternative approach that would target key Hamas elements in Rafah.” An Israeli Embassy spokesperson declined to comment.

After the call, Netanyahu’s office issued a readout with language that seemed to take this concern into account. He said that increasing humanitarian aid will help Israel achieve its war efforts — a shift in Israeli rhetoric.

“We talked about the latest developments in the war, including Israel’s commitment to achieve all of the war’s aims: Eliminating Hamas, freeing all of our hostages and ensuring Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel — all the while giving necessary humanitarian aid that helps us attain those goals,” Netanyahu said in a Monday statement.


Biden, in a Major Political Move, Weighs Leaving Israel Short of Arms With Which To Fight Hamas
President Biden, keeping Prime Minister Netanyahu at arm’s length, is reportedly considering leaving Israel short of the armaments it needs to fight Hamas. Such a politically based move risks harming America’s global interests.

By Sunday, Israel must tell America that it is complying with international restrictions on arms supplies, including by facilitating ample humanitarian assistance to Gaza, the national security adviser, Jacob Sullivan, told reporters Monday, adding that it is yet to do so.

Meanwhile, a Jerusalem official noted a recent reduction of American arms supplies to Israel, ABC news reports. The Israel Defense Force is running out of 155 mm artillery shells and 120 mm tank shells, as well as sensitive guidance equipment, the official said.

Last week, seven Democrats, led by Senators Van Hollen, Merkley, and Sanders, alleged that Israel is violating section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. They urged Mr. Biden to limit offensive arms to the IDF.

As America’s arms exports reached a record high of $80.9 billion in 2023, dominating world sales, an increasing number of critics are urging a tighter enforcement of laws like the 1997 Leahy amendment, which limits offering arms to foreign militaries that are “credibly alleged to have committed human rights violations.” Yet, how evenly are such laws enforced globally? In reality, arms are sold to foes and allies alike in all five continents, with little notice of rights violations. Mr. Biden urged Congress last month to approve the sale of F-16s to Turkey, even as it massacres Kurds in Iraq and Syria.

Last week, America signed a contract to build military camps in Somalia, which has fought a brutal war in Somaliland. Despite Egypt having indiscriminately bombed villages in Libya, among other little-noticed activities, America backs it to the tune of $1.4 billion a year since the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

Last September, though, Washington cited human rights concerns to divert a small sum of the Egypt aid to Taiwan and other allies. Notably, that diversion included $30 million to bolster the Lebanese Armed Forces, which the Biden administration considers a positive force in the Mideast.

The LAF is answerable to the Hezbollah-dominated government at Beirut. The idea behind aiding it is that this army can serve as a counterweight to Hezbollah, which tops the Department of State’s terror list. Yet, Hezbollah and the LAF cooperate more often than clashing with one another.
Jonathan Tobin: Israel has become a partisan issue. Do American Jews care?
For the last 25 years, Democrats have reacted with outrage about Republicans claiming to have a better record on Israel when asking for Jewish votes, claiming that even raising the issue undermined a longstanding bipartisan pro-Israel consensus. The idea of that consensus was always more aspirational than a reality, but it did reflect the fact that for the most part, Congress members understood that most Americans supported Israel and that it was in their personal political interests, as well as that of the country, to support the alliance.

Though the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC labored valiantly to preserve the myth of that consensus—and was smeared by Israel’s antisemitic opponents for doing so—those efforts had already begun to fail by 2018 when the first members of the left-wing “Squad” that openly opposed the Jewish state were elected. Democrats were prepared to tolerate the open antisemitism of people like Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and resisted GOP attempts to hold them accountable. But after Oct. 7 and the surge in antisemitism around the country that followed the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, that toleration has turned into appeasement and a belief that Israel’s foes represent the future of their party.

The administration’s about-face from support for the eradication of Hamas is rooted in their belief that Democratic voters will not tolerate a policy of total support for Israel. Republican candidates have no such fears. That still begs the question as to whether this will impact enough Jewish votes to make a difference.

Up until now, the answer has always been “no.”

Neither consistent GOP support for Israel nor Trump’s historic policies have made much of a dent in the Jewish vote. Most Jewish voters may support Israel, but the overwhelming majority of them who are Democrats do not prioritize the issue. Only Orthodox Jews and political conservatives, who make up less than a third of all Jewish voters, tend to treat Israel as a litmus test for their support.

That’s probably still the case with most Jewish Democrats both because they despise Trump and regard Republicans as tribal culture-war enemies on issues like abortion as much as they are political opponents. In the past, it was only Orthodox Jews like those living in places like Brooklyn, N.Y., where violence is directed against them from minority communities, that felt the impact of antisemitism. As most college campuses became hostile environments for Jews, it’s now non-Orthodox liberals who are also in the cross-hairs of the Jew-haters.

Whether they are scared enough to vote for a party that is unabashedly pro-Israel is still very much in doubt. But though Biden is still likely to win the Jewish vote in November no matter what happens, it may be that even a slight increase in defections to the GOP could impact the election in swing states like Pennsylvania.

Whether or not that happens, the one thing recent events have made clear is that there is no covering up the fact that talk of a bipartisan consensus on Israel is over. Yet even if Republicans win in 2024, that’s troubling since a future in which one of our two major parties will be dominated by Israel-haters will make it inevitable that the next Democratic administration won’t be just critical of Jerusalem but an open opponent of the Jewish state, no matter who is running it. Schumer’s decision to throw in with Biden in bashing Netanyahu because of his policies, which happen to be supported by the overwhelming majority of Israelis, makes it obvious that the Democrats’ problem is with the Jewish state and not its leader. The partisan divide on Israel is no longer a matter of conjecture. It is now the reality of American politics in 2024.
Bassam Tawil: The Gaza War: The Real Problem
Rather than taking tangible steps towards peace, [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas has done nothing but bypass and evade bilateral negotiations with Israel, while taking extremely tangible steps toward terrorism – from rewarding terrorists, or the families of those who murder Jews, with "$345-$1200" a month for life, to repeating that terrorist murderers are "heroes" -- all the while admitting that Palestinians are not the indigenous people there.

As for Schumer's "two-state solution," 64% of Palestinians said they are opposed to the idea. Those polled would like a one-state solution: a Palestinian state with no "Israel" anywhere in sight. More than 60% also expressed support for an "armed struggle" against Israel.

"[T]he only thing we should be focused on is changing the regime in Gaza, bringing down the terrorist regime of Hamas, and not the duly elected government of Israel." — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Fox News, March 17, 2024,

The reason [the Palestinians] just keep "saying no" is because they do not want a Palestinian State next to Israel, they want a Palestinian State instead of Israel.

Schumer, by signaling to Hamas and other terrorists that the Americans are on their side against Netanyahu and the Israeli government, has painstakingly emboldened them.

Many Arabs understand -- unlike Schumer and many in the Biden administration -- that the real problem is the Iranian regime and its terror proxies.
White House: Hamas Should Not Be Allowed a Safe Haven in Rafah or Anywhere Else
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday, "Earlier today, President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu....The President emphasized his bone-deep commitment to ensuring the long-term security of Israel. And he affirmed, as he did in the State of the Union, that Israel has a right to go after Hamas, the perpetrators of the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust."

"The President and the Prime Minister spoke at length about Rafah today. The President explained why he is so deeply concerned about the prospect of Israel conducting major military operations in Rafah of the kind it conducted in Gaza City and Khan Yunis....The President has rejected - and did again today - the strawman that raising questions about Rafah is the same as raising questions about defeating Hamas. That's just nonsense. Our position is that Hamas should not be allowed a safe haven in Rafah or anywhere else."

"Hamas could, of course, end this crisis tomorrow if it chose to do so. And as I've said before, far too little of the energy and the pressure to end this conflict has been applied to Hamas. We will keep pointing that out."
Daniel Greenfield: Schumer Warns Israel to Spare Hamas or Face Sanctions
Senator Schumer and the Democrats may deny that this is what they want, but the simple fact is that nowhere in the extended speech does he call for the defeat of Hamas. Schumer knows the term and used it in his speech on antisemitism back in November, describing the “Israeli army’s action to defeat Hamas in self-defense of their people,” Now defeating Hamas is off the table.

Instead, Schumer concludes by praising “families of the victims of October 7 who have been calling for peace, asking their government to transcend the cycle of bloodshed and revenge.”

This is the new narrative.

Fighting Hamas would be perpetuating the “cycle of bloodshed and revenge” while giving the terrorists who murdered over a thousand people their own state would be an act of peace.

As polls show the vast majority of Israelis want to finish off Hamas, the self-proclaimed “highest-ranking Jewish elected official in our government” threatens that actions will be taken against them if they don’t vote for pro-terrorist leftists and stop their struggle against Hamas.

The Arab Muslim occupiers of Judea and Samaria, Schumer contends have their “own distinct culture, identity, cuisine” and since they have their own cuisine, the “idea espoused by some that “there is no such thing as Palestinians” today is inaccurate, offensive, and unhelpful.'”

It’s accurate, but unfortunately offensive and unhelpful to winning Michigan in 2024.

Despite polls showing that the overwhelming majority of Arab Muslims living in the terrorist occupied territories support Hamas, support the atrocities of Oct 7, and oppose peace, Senator Schumer and his Jewish Democrat allies have decided to roll back the clock to Oct 6. To once again begin pretending that there is an Arab Muslim constituency for peace and that the moment Netanyahu and “right wing Israelis” get out of the way, peace will arise out of thin air.

Schumer’s speech is cynical and dishonest. It’s a betrayal of American and Jewish values. And it marks a craven surrender to the supporters of Hamas inside his movement and his party. After a few months of standing with Israel, the Dems, with the exception of a handful of elected officials, like Sen. Jon Fetterman, have come out against any further campaign to stop Hamas.

The terrorists may not have won in Israel, but they have triumphed within the Democratic Party.


Former Amb. Friedman: Schumer’s speech ‘a desecration’
Former U.S. Ambassador David Friedman handed the Biden administration a failing grade for its steadily eroding support for Israel since the Oct. 7 atrocities, and reserved especially sharp words for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), speaking during an interview on Israeli TV on Monday.

Schumer made headlines on March 14 when, from the floor of the U.S. Senate, he called Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an obstacle to peace for not supporting a two-state solution, grouping him with the terrorist group Hamas, Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and “radical right-wing Israelis.”

Asked by Channel 14 interviewer Libi Alon what he thought of Schumer’s speech, Friedman said, “I’ll say it in the words that your audience will understand. It was a chilul Hashem [a desecration of God’s name.]”

Schumer opened his remarks with a refrain he often uses when speaking about Israel, referring to the fact that his last name derives from the Hebrew word shomer, or “guardian,” and that he thinks of himself as a guardian of the Jewish people.

Friedman said, “It was horrible for a Jewish person who claims to be, you know, the great Jewish protector in the United States government of Israel, for him to say that.”


Daniel Greenfield: Biden Admin Denies, Confirms It Doesn’t Want Israel to Defeat Hamas
The advisor claims that they’ll lay out “an alternative approach that would target key Hamas elements in Rafah and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground invasion.”

There’s no such means. We already know that Biden’s people are going to pitch targeted strikes against Hamas leaders. Those are not a substitute for taking territory and destroying Hamas as a military entity.

Then Sullivan pivots to admitting that the goal is to indeed end the campaign against Hamas.

“The President and the Prime Minister also discussed the ongoing negotiations for an immediate ceasefire for several weeks in return for releasing hostages currently being held by Hamas and other militants in Gaza. We would look to build on that ceasefire into something more enduring,” Sullivan admits.

So instead of defeating Hamas, the Biden administration has adopted the pro-Hamas position of a “permanent ceasefire” which will last until the next Hamas attack.

The Biden administration is not only opposed to defeating Hamas, it’s proposing a surrender to Hamas. And it’s lying about it.

Sullivan keeps insisting that, “this is not a question of defeating Hamas. And anytime I hear an argument that says, ‘If you don’t smash into Rafah, you can’t defeat Hamas,’ I say, ‘That is a strawman.’ Our view is that there are ways for Israel to prevail in this conflict, to secure its long-term future, to end the terror threat from Gaza, and not smash into Rafah. That’s what we’re going to present in this integrated way when this team comes.”

Prevail is nicely ambiguous. As is end the terror threat. But we already know what the plan is.

A united ‘Palestinian’ terrorist state recognized by the Biden administration which Sullivan will claim will be a peaceful terrorist state. And that’ll be as true as the claim that Hamas can be defeated without going into Rafah.


Trump: ‘Democrat Party hates Israel’
Former U.S. president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Monday that the “Democrat Party hates Israel.”

The remark came in response to a question from Sebastian Gorka on his “America First” show on the Salem Radio Network about why those associated with the Biden administration, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) , dislike Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I actually think they hate Israel. I don’t think they hate him [Netanyahu]. I think they hate Israel. The Democrat Party hates Israel,” said Trump.

The 45th president added that vote-seeking was part of the reason that in his view the Democrats have turned their back on America’s Middle East ally.

“When you see those Palestinian marches, even…I’m amazed at how many people are at those marches, and guys like Schumer see that and to him its votes. I think its votes more than anything else because he was always pro-Israel. He’s very anti-Israel now,” said Trump.

He went on to say that Jews who vote for the party should be ashamed of themselves.

“Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel. And they should be ashamed of themselves, because Israel will be destroyed,” he said, citing Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

He reminded listeners that under his term in office he ended the Iranian nuclear agreement, and said that if he had been reelected he would have forged another deal with Iran “that would have been good for everybody, with no nuclear weapons.”


Democratic Senators in Swing States Mum on Schumer's Call for Israelis To Depose Bibi
Days after Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) took the unprecedented step of calling on Israelis to depose their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, several of his Democratic colleagues praised the move, including Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Ron Wyden (Ore.), and Patty Murray (Wash.).

Others, however, are staying mum, and they just happen to include virtually all of the Democrats running in swing states. Nor did any of them respond to requests for comment from the Washington Free Beacon regarding whether they share Schumer's view. They include Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin, Pennsylvania's Bob Casey, Montana's Jon Tester, and Ohio's Sherrod Brown. Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin—who is running to replace the state's outgoing senator, Debbie Stabenow—has also remained silent, as have her fellow House colleagues running for Senate seats, Rubén Gallego of Arizona and David Trone of Maryland.

In fact, only a single Senate Democrat running in a competitive race has addressed Schumer's remark head-on: Nevada's Jacky Rosen, who issued a statement indicating she did not share his views. "Israel is our closest ally in the Middle East, and as a democracy, it is up to the Israeli people to determine their political future," Rosen said in a statement.

The collective silence suggests that Democrats are wary both of provoking the Democratic Party's progressive flank, which has been harshly critical of President Joe Biden's support for Israel, and of alienating the pro-Israel voters who make up a majority of the country.
An FYI to MPs, Hamas is lying about death toll in Gaza
The death toll in Gaza was repeatedly cited by Canadian parliamentarians on Monday as they voted on an NDP resolution to “officially recognize the state of Palestine” and demand an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war — which was amended at the last minute before being passed in the House of Commons by a vote of 204-117.

Over and over, MPs claimed that 32,000 Gazans have been killed by Israel — most of them women and children. Over and over, they gave just one justification for recognizing a “state” that is run by a listed terrorist entity: The death toll.

But what if the death toll has been faked?

Because, almost certainly, it has been. Five reasons:

The source. There is just one (1) source for all of the numbers cited by Canadian parliamentarians: The Gaza Health Ministry. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 and took over the ministry, ensuring their own people ran it.

The ministry’s director general, Medhat Abbas, answers directly to Hamas. Abbas has let Hamas store weapons in Gaza hospitals, operate out of them and even keep Israeli hostages prisoner in some hospitals.

During the Second World War, Canada and its allies did not accept what the National Socialist German Doctors’ League had to say about casualties because they had a vested interest in lying. Why would Canada now accept the word of a “health ministry” run by a terrorist organization?


Red Cross directly involved in PA ‘Pay for Slay’ policy, ICRC rejects claims
A document issued by the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) is essential for terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons in order to receive salaries from the Palestinian Authority (PA) under the policy known as ‘Pay for Slay,’ an expose conducted by watchdog NGO Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reveals, quoting Palestinian officials.

The ICRC claimed in response that such documents are provided around the world as part of their humanitarian activity and denied any involvement in the PA’s stipends (see full response below).

This issue has been stipulated in PA regulations for many years despite an Israeli law that prohibits “providing incentives for terrorist activity.” Stipends paid by the Palestinian Authority to Palestinian terrorists charged with committing terror attacks against Israelis have been subject to scrutiny for the past several years.

However, PMW has now revealed that one of the actors playing a key role in this process is the Red Cross, which produces the documentation necessary for terrorists to receive their salaries.

Does the Red Cross facilitate payments to prisoners?
The watchdog cites multiple sources stating that the Red Cross is the one carrying out the procedures that facilitate these payments to the terrorist prisoners. One instance shows a senior PA official responsible for the pay-for-slay payments saying on official PA television that, as a result of Israeli obstruction of visits to Palestinian terrorists by the Red Cross, the latter cannot provide them with documents showing they are still in prison, which would be necessary, according to the PA’s law and regulations, for them to receive the payments.

Another statement exposed by PMW shows Qadura Fares, head of the PLO Prisoner Affairs Authority, telling Palestinian television roughly two months ago that the International Committee of the Red Cross is “an essential partner in the process that enables the payment of rewards to the imprisoned Palestinians.”

According to PMW, by doing so, the Red Cross plays a central role in satisfying the “financial incentive for terrorist activity,” as defined by Israeli law, and can thus be held liable from the legal point of view.
Red Cross linked to PA's controversial "pay-for-slay" Policy
Itamar Marcus, Director and founder of Palestinian Media Watch breaks down his organization's investigation findings




UN Watch: Left MEPs Forcing Removal of Cameras From Hearing on UNRWA Terror Ties
Leftist members of the European Parliament have caused the removal of cameras from a hearing tomorrow that will feature a watchdog group presenting findings concerning UNRWA ties to terrorism.

The Working Group on External Financial Instruments (WG EFIs) of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee will be meeting to address recent allegations against UNRWA staff, including questions around the agency’s impartiality and reputation, as well as possible repercussions from the current investigations.

“I have arrived in Brussels at the invitation of the European Parliament to present evidence tomorrow concerning UNRWA’s longstanding refusal to take seriously the widespread encouragement and promotion of terrorism by its school teachers, principals and other staff,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based United Nations Watch, an independent non-governmental organization that monitors the world body.

“I was astonished to learn that members of the European Parliament representing the Left Group, the Greens/EFA and the Socialists and Democrats first tried to stop my testimony and the hearing, and when that failed, they have now initiated removal of cameras tomorrow to prevent my words from going public,” said Neuer.

“My understanding is that the removal of cameras is an extremely rare occurrence for this kind of hearing when the invited witness has not made the request, but rather the members of the working group of the foreign affairs committee.”

“Given that EU voters are paying more than 100 million Euro a year to UNRWA, one would think the taxpayers have a right to know how their funds are being used, and what they are funding. Forcing evidence to be hidden contradicts the basic democratic principles of transparency and accountability.”

“United Nations Watch calls on the MEPs from the Left Group, the Greens/EFA and the Socialists and Democrats to reconsider their position, and to allow my testimony to be available to the public.”


MEMRI: Port Of Hope – Part II: The Peaceful Future Of The Israel-Palestinian Conflict Depends On Ousting Qatar From Any Involvement In It
Involving Qatar in the project to build a temporary port off the Gaza coast is criminal. It will become the Port of Hamas.

The battle over the future of Gaza and, in fact, ending the war with a total defeat of Hamas and a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict depends on one critical factor.

If Qatar, the state sponsor of Islamist terrorism worldwide, is allowed any role in it, the war will never end. The first to realize this are the Gaza clans, who are beginning to cooperate with the Palestinian Authority for the sake of food and other aid.

Recently, trucks carrying aid entered northern Gaza from Israel. Al-Jazeera, Qatar's Hamas mouthpiece, declined to report their origin. But there was no hiding the signs on the trucks, which were in Hebrew. This battle over the Gaza coast "port of hope" will become more critical when its first pier is completed in the coming days and aid begins to flow in.

It has already been reported that UN officials are collaborating with the so-called Hamas police to handle the distribution of humanitarian aid, and that the Egyptians are talking to clans in Gaza to get them involved in this as well. If true, this is no less than outrageous. Neither Hamas nor Egypt should be allowed to come close to any distribution of aid. It is also crucial that once the port project is operational, the southern border crossings into Gaza from Egypt will be permanently shut down, since they are controlled by Hamas via Qatar. The retired Egyptian officers who administer these crossings care only about the bribes they receive from Qatar to close their eyes and allow anything to enter.

It is absolutely crucial to exclude Qatar from having any role in this new process, either in funding or in distribution. Otherwise, the port will become the Port of Hamas. The distribution must be facilitated by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and, eventually, Jordan.

In this no less than historic and fateful moment, change can happen, with the help of the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the PA, towards a peaceful resolution. At the same time, it can turn into a disaster and an escalation of the war. According to yet-unverified Arab sources, the U.S. is actually facilitating the takeover of the port project by Hamas, through Qatar. According to these sources, it has asked Qatar to take upon itself the funding and administration of the port – and via this, also the distribution of the aid and the control of the population – and has agreed to Qatar's condition that the Al-Khisi construction company, with extensive ties to Hamas, build the port. These highly doubtful reports must be verified – but if they are true, it amounts to no less than a betrayal of Israel by the U.S. administration in favor of a victory to Hamas and Qatar. Not just that, but it will become a betrayal of the U.S. by itself. However, Israel, whether led by Netanyahu or his replacement, will not accept this defeat and loss to Hamas, and the result will only be further conflagration, just before November.

If the above is true, this U.S. policy is mindboggling and politically inexplicable. If President Biden involves Qatar in the port project, he will, instead of scoring a clearcut victory in advance of the November 2024 presidential election, have caused the war to intensify.
‘US taps Hamas ally Qatar to build port in Gaza’
At America’s request, Hamas ally Qatar has agreed to take charge of operating and financing the temporary pier on its way from the United States to the Gaza coast, Israel’s Channel 14 reported on Tuesday.

Qatar consented to run the port on condition that the construction work go to the Al-Hisi firm, “a company controlled and sponsored by Hamas,” according to Channel 14 correspondent Baruch Yedid, citing Arab media reports following a meeting in Cyprus between diplomatic officials from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates several days ago.

“Qatar has an interest in this port. Qatar wants to preserve Hamas,” he said. “Qatar also wants leverage over Hamas.”

Qatar is a key financial backer of the terror group and has sent millions monthly to prop it up. Since 2012, the Gulf State has pumped an estimated $1.8 billion dollars into Gaza, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Qatar also hosts senior Hamas leaders.

Although Israel has accepted Qatar as a key negotiator in hostage talks, members of Israel’s government have said Qatar will play no part in Gaza’s post-Hamas future. However, when Israel expressed to the United States its opposition to Qatari involvement in the pier, it was rebuffed, according to Yedid.

“We’ve arrived at a situation where the Qataris have control because they’re financing. For Hamas, it’s good because it’s their company,” said Yedid. “The whole idea was to isolate Hamas as a whole. Here, once again is Qatari-American cooperation and [Hamas] isn’t isolated.”

Ironically, Hamas was at first against the building of the pier, which it saw as a way for Israel to establish long-term control over Gaza, Yedid noted.
Poll: Most Israelis Want Rafah Operation despite U.S. Opposition
82% of the Israeli public support a military operation in the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, according to a Globes survey of 989 adult Israelis conducted on March 12-13, 2024.

49% said that such an operation should go ahead even if the U.S. opposes it, while an additional 13% were in favor of an operation without U.S. coordination as long as a solution was found to evacuate the Gazan population.

20% were in favor only if it was coordinated with the U.S., and 10% opposed an operation in Rafah.

62% believe Israel does all it can not to harm civilians in Gaza.

19% believe Israel does too much, while 11% say Israel does not do enough.

44% believe Israel should make humanitarian aid to Gaza conditional on the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

22% oppose any humanitarian aid while the war continues.

27% support giving humanitarian aid to the Gaza.
FDD: U.S. official confirms Israeli forces killed senior Hamas military leader Marwan Issa
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed on Monday an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat area last week killed senior Hamas military commander Marwan Issa. The targeted strike against Issa represents one of the most significant Israeli operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.

On Mar. 11, the IDF stated that a joint operation between it and the Shin Bet targeted Issa and another Hamas commander identified as Aziz Abu Tama’a. The attack targeted an underground compound in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli defense officials have not confirmed that Issa has been killed, and Hamas has not acknowledged his death either. However, it is doubtful that Sullivan would have commented on Issa’s death without approval from Israel. Nevertheless, it is an unusual way to announce the death of a senior Hamas member, as typically, these announcements are made by Israel or Hamas.

Despite Israeli officials not officially confirming his death, there have been strong hints from them following the airstrike that Issa was indeed killed. For example, after multiple news reports surfaced claiming that Israel had targeted Issa, Prime Minister Netanyahu released a statement indicating that a high-ranking Hamas member had been eliminated and suggested more eliminations were to follow.


Troops engaged in shootout with Hamas logistics chief before killing him, new details show
The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday new information regarding the assassination of Hamas's Interior Ministry Operations Chief Faack Mabhough.

According to the report, in the past few weeks, Mabhough had been holding meetings with representatives of the UN and local clans in Gaza, which resulted in the arrival of two sets of trucks delivering goods and humanitarian aid to the Strip.

After 12 a.m., a large number of IDF troops broke into the western area of the Shifa hospital, accompanied by fighter jets. In parallel, there were reports that tanks had completely besieged the area.

Shootout takes place
Following this, IDF soldiers broke into the residential building where Mabhough's family lived, blew up the entrance gate and shot inside. When it became clear that Mabhough was outside his apartment, they ordered his family to leave the house and move to the south of the Gaza Strip.

An additional military force entered the Shifa hospital, where Mabhough was staying. The soldiers asked him through loudspeakers to come out, raise his hands and turn himself in. However, a shootout took place at the scene and Mabhough was subsequently killed.

During the activity, Staff-Sergeant (St.-Sgt.) Matan Vinogradov, from Jerusalem, 20, was killed.
Hamas Fighters Will Continue Fighting as Long as They Have Hope
The Hamas operatives who returned to hide in Gaza City's Shifa Hospital wrongly assumed that Israel, facing massive international pressure, would not dare to respond, even if it found out about their presence there.

Hamas won't surrender. Its fighters will try to survive as long as they have hope and sporadically engage in guerrilla warfare against the IDF in Gaza. This could take months, compelling the IDF to firm up its security hold on areas where Hamas' military capacity has been dismantled.

This scenario mirrors the aftermath of Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 in the West Bank: the IDF entered Palestinian cities and towns, but pockets of resistance and terrorist cells remained active until 2004 when the resistance waned. In fact, the IDF's "mowing the grass" tactic continues there to this day. Surviving Hamas terrorists will continue engaging IDF forces for a long time, and it's important to acknowledge this reality.

Hamas survives because its leaders and operatives believe global public opinion will soon end IDF action. The Israeli government must approach the U.S. and Western allies to clarify that their calls for an immediate ceasefire encourage Hamas not to surrender, prolonging the war and the suffering of the population.
FDD: Israel Arrests 180 Terror Suspects in Operation at Shifa Hospital
Latest Developments
Israeli troops continued precise operations against Hamas terrorists at Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on March 19. The IDF apprehended 180 suspects at the hospital compound. Israel accused Hamas of deliberately embedding terrorists and terrorist “infrastructure” in civilian areas, such as Shifa Hospital. “The troops eliminated terrorists in close-quarters combat and located weapons in the area while avoiding harm to civilians, medical staff, and medical equipment,” the IDF said. It added that the operation eliminated 50 terrorists. The IDF previously revealed that Hamas had built tunnels under Shifa Hospital. Hamas has sought to return to areas such as Shifa Hospital after its defeat in northern Gaza in November.

Expert Analysis
“Hamas is attempting to return to the northern Gaza strip and reconstitute itself as a threat to Israel and a threat to Gazan civilians. The raid at Shifa Hospital provides further evidence of the extent to which Hamas has sought to exploit hospitals and civilian areas to embed itself and hide behind human shields. It is essential that Israel receive the support and time to be able to uproot Hamas terrorists and their infrastructure from sites such as Shifa Hospital.” — Seth J. Frantzman, FDD Adjunct Fellow

“Throughout the war, Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip have shown that their priority is self-preservation rather than the welfare of the Palestinian people. This has been demonstrated time and again by the disturbing tactic of using hospitals as bases for attacks against Israeli troops. Israel is currently achieving success on the battlefield, but it requires the time to execute its strategic objectives and achieve a comprehensive victory.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal

Two IDF Soldiers Killed Battling Terrorists at Shifa Hospital
The IDF said that two soldiers have been killed since it began operations targeting terrorists in and around Shifa Hospital on March 18. “Warrant Officer Haion is the second IDF casualty in the fighting in the Gazan hospital since the renewal of operations there early on Monday, after Nahal Brigade soldier Staff Sergeant Matan Vinogradov, was killed in battles against Hamas terrorists inside the hospital,” Ynet reported on March 19. The casualties bring the number of Israeli soldiers and security personnel killed since Hamas’s October 7 attack to 594, including 251 killed since ground operations against Hamas began on October 27.

The IDF also said on March 19 that operations continue against terrorists in other parts of Gaza. In one clash in central Gaza, the IDF eliminated terrorists who fired at Israeli troops. In another incident, the IDF destroyed anti-tank missile launching sites in Khan Younis.


IDF team to investigate possible Palestinian terror tunnels in Judea and Samaria
The Israel Defense Forces’ Central Command, which is responsible for Judea and Samaria, has established a team to investigate alleged terror tunnels in the area.

The unit, which was established several months ago, consists of engineering and intelligence specialists, as well as civilian experts, Ynet reported on Tuesday.

“The special team acts upon intelligence needs or reports from the field and knows how to bring all the capabilities required to inspect them [the tunnels],” a security source told the site.

He added, “In the past, we have already seen the use of underground facilities for concealment and storage of weapons, and we understand that terrorist organizations are trying to mimic some of the combat methods in Gaza. This issue concerns us greatly.”

One of the first instances in which the IDF encountered tunnel activity in Judea and Samaria was during the July 2023 operation in Jenin, when a deep shaft was discovered in the heart of the Samaria terror hub.

About five shafts have been uncovered in Jenin and Nur al-Shams near Tulkarm, though none led to attack tunnels, according to the report.

The IDF has looked into complaints by residents of Bat Hefer, a village east of Netanya, of tunneling sounds coming from the direction of Palestinian Authority-controlled areas near the Judea and Samaria security barrier.

In recent months, the army has also investigated possible infiltration tunnels Israeli forces discovered near Jewish communities in the Hebron Hills in Judea and Shiloh in Samaria’s Binyamin region.
IDF forces nab nine Palestinian terror suspects in Judea and Samaria
Israeli forces overnight Monday arrested nine Palestinian terror suspects in operations across Judea and Samaria.

In the Balata camp on the outskirts of Nablus, the forces located and destroyed several explosive devices that had been planted to harm troops.

In other raids, soldiers confiscated weapons, including a Kalashnikov rifle.

No Israelis were injured.

Since Oct. 7, the IDF has detained 3,500 wanted Palestinian terrorism suspects throughout Judea and Samaria, more than 1,500 of whom are associated with Hamas.
Two Shin Bet agents wounded in Gush Etzion terror shooting
Two members of Israel’s security forces were wounded in a shooting attack near the Oz veGaon Nature Reserve, located between the Gush Etzion Junction and Migdal Oz in Judea, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday.

The victims, both of them officers of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), were lightly and seriously wounded, respectively. They were taken to the hospital for treatment, the IDF said.

One of the officers returned fire, killing the assailant. The attacker was identified as Ziad al-Hamran, 30, from Jenin in northern Samaria.

Gush Etzion Regional Council head Yaron Rosenthal said that Israel was in the midst of “a campaign of the Zionist movement against the Arab enemy that is being waged in all parts of the country.

“We have been in Gush Etzion, on the frontlines of the State of Israel for close to a century. Our grip on this ‘good mountain’ will continue to deepen. This is our true answer to murderous terrorism,” he said, wishing “a full recovery for those injured in the attack.”


Palestinian Authority taking a secret role in Gaza, expert says
While Israel has persistently rejected the Palestinian Authority as an option for post-war governance of the Gaza Strip, the facts on the ground are starting to indicate some involvement from Ramallah, anyway.

Defending his policies to CNN this weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “the majority of Israelis support…go[ing] into Rafah, destroy[ing] the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions, mak[ing] sure that we don’t put into Gaza, instead of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority that educates their children towards terrorism and the annihilation of Israel.”

A week before that, Netanyahu told Axel Springer that “once we destroy the Hamas, the last thing we should do is put in Gaza, in charge of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority that educates its children towards terrorism and pays for terrorism.”

The “day after Hamas” plan Netanyahu presented to his Security Cabinet in late February describes, in broad terms, how Israel views the period after it reaches its war aims of destroying Hamas and ensuring the terrorist group will not be a threat, as well as freeing the hostages.

The part of the plan dealing with civilian matters states that “the responsibility for public order in the Gaza strip will be based on local factors with managerial experience. These local factors will not be identified with countries or bodies that support terror and will not receive salaries from them.” In addition, the document proposes a de-radicalization plan, including shutting down UNRWA due to its support for terror.

According to Palestinian affairs expert and Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Fellow Khaled Abu Toameh, “the clans are making a comeback.”

Clans – the “local factors” mentioned in the day-after document – were the power centers in Palestinian society before the Palestinian Authority was established and took root, and began to view them as a parallel government that threatened them.


Egypt preparing for Gazan influx and the rising price of leaving the Strip
On March 1, Sky News published the results of an in-depth investigation, revealing that an Egyptian company is charging Gazans $5,000 per person to escape to Egypt and that there is no shortage of customers. This method of fleeing Gaza through a specialist company is known as “coordination.” It is a long-established system by which Palestinians can pay for permission to leave the Gaza Strip and undertake the journey.

Before the war, there were a number of companies charging a few hundred dollars for the service. The fee was paid in advance, and within a few days, Palestinians escaping the Strip were taken across the border into Egypt.

Since the start of the war, all official cross-border travel has ceased, with just a handful of carefully vetted exceptions, such as foreign nationals and people with severe injuries, but “coordination” for the majority of those receiving permission to leave Gaza is still being operated by Hala.

Before the war, Hala charged $350 per adult for their service, now the price has risen to $5,000. Sky News states that it has verified this price by corroborating accounts from dozens of sources, including a Hala employee, as well as price lists posted online.


164 Days Later: Don't Forget About the Hamas Hostages
I've just returned from Israel, where our small media delation received briefings, visited the borders of both Lebanon (controlled by Hezbollah) in the north, and Gaza (formerly controlled by Hamas) in the south. It was a harrowing experience. In the north, we wore flak jackets and helmets, and were instructed how to react in response to a close-range rocket attack. Near Gaza, we visited a kibbutz that was overrun and turned into a killing field by terrorists on October 7th. We also went to the site of the Nova music festival massacre, in which 364 innocent people were slaughtered. With all the pro-Hamas rhetoric and agitation on social media and in the streets, it's imperative to remember that the terrorists started this war with an unprovoked slaughter of 1,200 civilians. They used systemic rape as a weapon against Israeli women, as even an inquiry commissioned by the zealously anti-Israel United Nations confirmed. But the lead investigator somehow spun her chilling findings into an attack on the victims' country, of course:

The U.N. envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict warned Israel on Monday that the finding of “clear and convincing information” that some hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel were subjected to sexual violence “does not in any way legitimize further hostilities.” “In fact, it creates a moral imperative for a humanitarian cease-fire to end the unspeakable suffering imposed on Palestinian civilians in Gaza and bring about the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” Pramila Patten told the U.N. Security Council where Israel’s foreign minister was also sitting and listening. “Continuation of hostilities can, in no way, protect them,” she said. “It can only expose them to further risk of violence, including sexual violence. Patten was speaking at a council meeting sought by Israel and called by the United States, United Kingdom and France to focus on her recent report, which also found “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape, sexualized torture, and other cruel and inhumane acts against women during the Oct. 7 attackthat killed about 1,200 people and led to 250 others being taken hostage.

This person established evidence that Hamas terrorists raped and sexually tortured the victims that they didn't immediately butcher on sight -- but then editorialized that these findings "do not legitimize" Israel's military response. Yes, they do, actually. And yes, the "continuation of hostilities" can, in fact, protect Israeli women. Israel decisively winning the war and crushing Hamas can pressure the terrorists to make a hostage-release deal that is more favorable, just as the act of destroying the genocidal terrorist organization (whose leaders vow to endlessly repeat their bloodshed until the Jews are eliminated) helps protect future potential victims from similar predations. Leave it to the worse-than-useless UN to effectively say, 'yes your women were ritually raped, but stop doing anything about it.' What is particularly chilling is the thought of what is happening to the dozens of hostages who remain in Gaza. We attended a weekly rally at 'Hostage Square' in the heart of Tel Aviv on Saturday night. We listened to various speakers, including the German ambassador, and met with family members and friends of people who were kidnapped. The experience was gut-wrenching:


Don’t Assume America Is Safe, It’s the Next Target | Sharren Haskel
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to Israeli Parliament member Sharren Haskel about the current situation in Israel; the need for military pressure on Hamas to secure the release of the remaining hostages; the resilience of Israelis; how the international community is funding the radicalization of Palestinian youth; how a focus on education could build bridges between communities; why people should visit Israel to understand its diversity and democratic values; and much more.


The Israel Guys: BREAKING: Israel HAS ELIMINATED the 3rd Highest Hamas Commander
Good news from Israel today! The number #3 of Hamas leadership has been eliminated. This has just been confirmed by a leaked conversation by Hamas. Israel is continuing their very precise, targeted airstrikes of terrorists inside of Gaza while also bolstering their security forces throughout Judea & Samaria, due to a rise of attacks for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. . .And Netanyahu asks the same question that we here at the Israel Guys have been asking for quite some time now, “How has the world lost their moral compass so quickly?”




Jewish groups denounce passage of watered-down NDP Palestinian motion
Despite an 11th-hour amendment that defanged the NDP’s contentious Palestinian motion in the House of Commons on Monday evening, Canadian Jewish groups reacted to the motion’s passage with alarm.

Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA,) reacted to the non-binding motion’s passage with both disappointment and anger.

“While the removal of the very problematic clause calling for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state is an important result of the substantial mobilization of the pro-Israel community, the fact that the NDP failed to achieve its core objective is of little comfort,” he said.

“We are angered and deeply disappointed that the Liberal government has chosen to effectively sub-contract Canadian foreign policy to anti-Israel radicals within the NDP and the Bloc Québécois.”

By supporting the motion, Fogel feared the government was demonstrating Canada as an “unreliable partner on the world stage,” and one that bends at the whims of political fringe groups.

“It will not effectively address the humanitarian crisis. It will not liberate Gazans from the tyrannical rule of the Iranian proxy, Hamas. It will not promote peace,” Fogel said.

“It is shameful that the Liberal government has drawn moral equivalence between Israel, a declared democratic ally, and Hamas, a Canadian government-listed terrorist entity.”
Liberals dodge a Palestinian bullet, but the NDP's bill is yet to come
The vote on the NDP motion to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state gave every indication that the House of Commons is now governed by its nursery.

The debate was highly charged all day Monday, with a number of Liberals joining NDP, Bloc Québécois and Green MPs to speak in support of the motion.

It began to look like the vote would be a close-run thing for a government whose foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, said that Canada couldn’t change foreign policy based on an opposition party motion.

It seemed that the New Democrats, who have been propping up the Liberals for months, were about to deliver a potential coup de grâce by exposing ruptures in the government caucus.

Mutiny in Liberal ranks has been brewing ever since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his support for Israel’s right to defend itself.

He might have whipped the vote on the motion to avoid embarrassment, but it appears he no longer has the authority within his caucus to enforce it.

Humiliation loomed, until … at the 11th hour, after debate in the chamber had closed, the Liberal House leader, Steve MacKinnon, stood to put forward a series of amendments. The most consequential was a proposal to replace the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state with language more in line with current policy: that Canada would work with international partners to pursue the goal of a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, including towards the establishment of a state of Palestine as part of a two-state solution.”

The motion’s sponsor, NDP MP Heather McPherson, agreed to the amendments and Trudeau’s blushes were spared.
HEATED Clash: Palestine activists target Muslim Labor Minister
The Albanese government’s most senior Muslim woman has been verbally attacked by pro-Palestinian activists, amid a sustained campaign to target Labor politicians over the Gaza-Israel war.

Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly – the nation’s first Muslim minister – was involved in a heated confrontation with Friends of Palestine activists during a “meet your member” event at a suburban Perth park on the weekend.

Pro-Palestine and anti-Israel activism has increased dramatically around Australia since Hamas’ October 7 attacks.

The Australian late last year revealed how some radical anti-Israel groups have been circulating guides advising on how to sabotage and vandalise property, track Jewish shipping interests and evade police.


How Long Will The Daily Wire Stand By Candace Owens?
As far back as November, it was widely speculated that The Daily Wire — a conservative political news site founded in 2015 — might sever its relationship with Owens. The site’s founding editor, Ben Shapiro, called Owens’s initial commentary on the conflict in the Middle East “disgraceful,” and she responded by musing that “you cannot serve both God and money” in what was widely seen as an anti-Semitic crack about Shapiro’s Jewish faith.

Owens went on to characterize Shapiro as “emotionally unhinged” and take more shots at him during an interview with Tucker Carlson, who has founded a competitor outlet to The Daily Wire and argued that Shapiro’s concern for Israel suggests that he “doesn’t care” about the United States.

At the time, Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing released a statement putting speculation that Owens might be let go to rest.

Boreing said that neither he nor Shapiro would fire Owens because of the company’s commitment “not to regulate the speech of our hosts, even when we disagree with them.”

“Candace is paid to give her opinion, not mine or Ben’s. Unless those opinions run afoul of the law or she violates the terms of her contract in some way, her job is secure and she is welcome at Daily Wire,” he added.

This was a hole-ridden excuse at the time, and it has aged worse than Boreing could have ever anticipated.

No one would expect to The Daily Wire to cut ties with Owens over some political or philosophical difference in opinion.

But what Boreing describes as “opinion” can at this point be universally recognized as a misleading euphemism. Perhaps it is technically true that Shapiro and Owens have a difference in opinion over whether there is a “small ring” of “sinister” Jews exercising disproportionate power in Hollywood and Washington. And perhaps it is technically true that they disagree about whether some Jews are “drunk on Christian blood.”

But to describe it, principally, as a difference in opinion is to miss the point, which is that Owens is a bigot detached from reality and paid by The Daily Wire to promote her worldview to its audience.

Toleration for diverse viewpoints and an aversion to censorship are important values. In conservative media, they are particularly revered as a result of conservatives’ ostracization in the entertainment industry, academia, and mainstream media.

But to treat Owens’s continued employment with and promotion by The Daily Wire as a necessary evil in light of the outlet’s commitment to free speech is absurd on its face. Ceasing to lend Owens the outlet’s credibility would not be to stop Owens from expressing herself; she has 4.8 million followers on X and will be able to speak and monetize her speech long after the two sides part ways.But it would send a message about what the outlet’s values are.


Celebrity US chef feeding Gaza calls for ‘ceasefire, with hostages released on both sides’
José Andrés, the celebrity chef and founder of World Central Kitchen who is donating food to Gazans, called on U.S. President Joe Biden to demand that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “stop killing children, targeting humanitarian volunteers and press.”

He also insisted that the U.S. president demand that his Israeli counterpart “open more routes by road into Gaza to feed everyone” and call for a ceasefire, “with hostages released on both sides.”

Many pointed out that Israel is not holding hostages.

“There are absolutely no Palestinian hostages in Israel. This is so disgusting and deeply disappointing,” wrote Karol Markowicz, a prominent conservative columnist.

“I have always admired José Andrés and absolutely adore his food. That said, I cannot stomach the idea that ‘both sides’ have hostages,” wrote Carly Pildis, director of community engagement at the Anti-Defamation League.

“Hamas has hostages, including babies and women who are being raped as we speak,” Pildis added. “Israel has convicted terrorists. It’s not the same.”


To Evade Pro-Palestinian Protests, Jewish and Israeli Events in U.S. Are Keeping Locations Low-Profile
Following a spike in antisemitic incidents in New York City and beyond following Oct. 7, several Jewish activists and promoters have decided to shield details of the locations of their events.

In the face of pro-Palestinian marches that have targeted institutions ranging from a cancer hospital to kosher restaurants, some Jewish organizers say they would rather prioritize the safety and well-being of their attendees - even if they risk potentially tamping down attendance.

Despite the precautions, the events can still draw protesters. A Valentine's Day comedy show to raise funds for survivors of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel drew a crowd outside the event shouting "Nazi scum" and "Zionist freak" at people entering the venue.




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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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