Monday, March 25, 2024

03/25 Links Pt1: What Would You Have Israel Do to Defend Itself?; UNSC res. demanding immediate ceasefire in Gaza; Hamas, AJ admit: Story of IDF rapes in Gaza hospital fabricated

From Ian:

David Brooks: What Would You Have Israel Do to Defend Itself?
If the current Israeli military approach is inhumane, what's the alternative? Is there a better military strategy Israel can use to defeat Hamas without a civilian blood bath? In recent weeks, I've been talking with security and urban warfare experts in search of such ideas.

This war is like few others because the crucial theater is underground. The tunnel network is where Hamas lives, holds hostages, stores weapons, builds missiles and moves from place to place. Building these tunnels cost the Gazan people about a billion dollars. Hamas built many of its most important military and strategic facilities under hospitals and schools. Its server farm was built under the offices of the UN relief agency in Gaza City.

As Barry Posen, professor at the security studies program at MIT, has written, Hamas' strategy is to maximize the number of Palestinians who die and in that way build international pressure until Israel is forced to end the war before Hamas is wiped out. Hamas' survival depends on support in the court of international opinion and on making this war as bloody as possible for civilians, until Israel relents.

John Spencer, the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, told me that Israel has done far more to protect civilians than the U.S. did in Afghanistan and Iraq. Israel's measures to warn civilians when and where it is about to begin operations "have prolonged the war, to be honest."

As the leaders of Hamas watch Washington grow more critical of Jerusalem, they must know their strategy is working. Yet if this war ends with a large chunk of Hamas in place, it would be a long-term disaster for the region. Victorious, Hamas would dominate whatever government was formed to govern Gaza. Hamas would rebuild its military to continue its efforts to exterminate the Jewish state, delivering on its promise to launch more and more attacks like that of Oct. 7.

Moreover, if Hamas survives this war intact, it would be harder for the global community to invest in rebuilding Gaza. It would be impossible to begin a peace process. So I'm left with the tragic conclusion that there is no magical alternative military strategy.

The lack of viable alternatives leaves me to conclude that Israel must ultimately confront Hamas leaders and forces in Rafah rather than leave it as a Hamas beachhead. Absent some new alternative strategy, Biden is wrong to stop Israel from confronting the Hamas threat in southern Gaza.
Biden and Harris throw Israel under the Gaza bus
President Joe Biden has prioritised a ceasefire over and above the safe return of the 134 hostages — including five Americans — held by Hamas.

The implication of this is that the Israeli military should lay down their guns and let Hamas continue torturing and raping the hostages who will be left with no hope of rescue.

Of course, he didn’t announce this shift in policy from the Oval Office. It was slipped out in the text of last week’s US resolution at the UN that was designed to fail, but also to telegraph his callous change in position.

A month ago the US floated a draft resolution that gave equal importance to a ceasefire and release of hostages, tying the two together tightly.

Biden dropped that direct link in the final resolution last week. It stated that a ceasefire is imperative for the protection of civilians. But merely expressed support for diplomacy “to secure such a ceasefire in connection with the release of all remaining hostages.”

There we have it. Biden has again, as in Afghanistan, given up on Americans and America’s allies.

The resolution was vetoed by Russia and China, as the US knew it would be, but its insidious message was received loud and clear.

By forcing a ceasefire, Biden will allow Hamas to claim victory and force Israel to remove its boot from the neck of the terror group, the only thing pressuring them to release the hostages. Without it, all hope for their safe return is surely lost.

Even talk of a ceasefire may embolden Hamas to hang on and reject a hostage deal, anticipating that the US will eventually force Israel to stop its military campaign.
Jake Wallis Simons: Feeble Britain is now letting Hamas win the propaganda war
We have entered a topsy-turvy universe. International institutions are used as weapons of Hamas, while those fighting for freedom and democracy are smeared as the agents of genocide.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has vowed to halt arms sales if Israel attacked Rafah. Given their small amount, it is hard to see what this is supposed to achieve.

But showing that you care about the Palestinians is apparently more important than destroying jihadism.

While Israel has achieved a civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio that is likely lower than in any comparable theater of war, Hamas has convinced the world that it is acting out of wanton bloodlust.

In the broadcast media, footage of suffering civilians is ubiquitous, but have you ever seen a picture of the thousands of dead or wounded terrorists?

Hamas censors this material. No Western media outlet makes this clear to its viewers.

This is a deceit that turns public opinion against Israel, furthering the aims of Hamas.

In a sane universe, the democratic world would pull behind Israel until the war is won. It would express its differences behind closed doors, working together to limit civilian casualties while freeing the hostages and beating the jihadis.

This would reassure Saudi Arabia that the West stands by its friends, encouraging it to normalize relations with Israel.

Instead, the international community is mobilizing to block an Israeli victory, and at the same time it is blocking peace.

Deep underground, the leaders of Hamas must be licking their lips.


UN passes resolution demanding immediate ceasefire in Gaza
The United Nations Security Council has passed a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for the rest of Ramadan.

The United States abstained and the remaining 14 council members including Russia, China and the UK voted for the resolution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday cancelled a senior delegation to Washington after the resolution passed, saying that the passage of the resolution “hurt the war effort.”

China and Russia vetoed a separate US-drafted Security Council ceasefire resolution on Friday morning which condemned Hamas for the October 7 massacres.

The new text, which was the subject of a vote on Monday “demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”

It also “demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” as well as the “lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale.”

The non-permanent members worked on the draft resolution with the US over the weekend to avoid a veto.
Netanyahu cancels White House talks on Rafah after U.S. allows cease-fire resolution to pass at U.N.
The U.S. abstained from the cease-fire vote, allowing it to pass with support from the 14 other members of the Security Council. Afterward, U.S. officials argued that the resolution did tie the demand for the cease-fire to the call for the release of all hostages — despite Russia and China having vetoed a U.S. resolution last week tying a cease-fire to the release of the 134 hostages, including four Americans, held by Hamas.

“Our vote does not — and I repeat that, does not — represent a shift in our policy,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday. “We’ve been clear and we’ve been consistent in our support for a cease-fire as part of a hostage deal.”

The Prime Minister’s Office said after the vote that “the U.S. retreated from its consistent stance in the Security Council that only a few days ago tied a ceasefire to the release of the hostages,” which China and Russia vetoed on Friday.

“This retreat hurts the war effort as well as the effort to free the hostages because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to get a ceasefire without freeing our hostages,” the PMO added. “In light of the change in the American stance, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided the delegation will not depart.”

Over the weekend, the U.S. reportedly asked for tweaks in the resolution’s text that removed reference to a “permanent cease-fire” and replaced it with “lasting cease-fire” language. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that she also sought to add a condemnation of Hamas to the resolution, but the request was voted down.

“We did not agree with everything in the resolution. For that reason we were unfortunately not able to vote yes. However, as I’ve said before, we fully support some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution, and we believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that a cease-fire must — any cease-fire must come with the release of all hostages,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

Thomas-Greenfield added: “The only durable end to this conflict is the release of all hostages.”
PM Netanyahu cancels Israeli delegation's DC meetings following US abstention in UNSC vote
Israel Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called the failure of the resolution to condemn the October 7th massacre a disgrace. Erdan reminded the council that Israel did not "want this war," but wanted "ceasefire and coexistence."

Erdan criticized the UN saying that "Hamas converted every inch of Gaza into a terror machine, right under the UN nose, maybe with the help of some of the UN agencies like UNWRA."

He also criticized a lack of action taken by the UNSC to help Israeli hostages. Saying that the council had failed to take action for the hostages, but "when it comes to Gaza the council rushed to take action," appointing a special coordinator and creating mechanisms to send aid.

Palestinian representative Riayad Mansour welcomed the vote saying that "it has taken over 100,000 Palestinians killed and maimed, two million displaced and famine for this council to finally demand a ceasefire."

Mansour went on to say that Israel has "doubled down" on committing crimes against Palestinians during the war, after it was ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians.

Hamas welcomed the resolution, calling on the UN Security Council to pressure Israel to implement a ceasefire. The terrorist movement also claimed that it was ready to engage in “an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides,” despite the resolution’s requirement that the release of the hostages held by Hamas be conducted “immediately and unconditionally.”

“The Hamas movement appreciates the efforts of the brothers in Algeria and all the countries in the Security Council that supported and support our people, and are working to stop the Zionist aggression and war of annihilation,” said Hamas.

The Foreign Ministry of the Palestinian Authority welcomed the resolution as well, demanding that member states of the council work to ensure that a ceasefire is implemented.

The UK regretted that this resolution did not condemn the Hamas October 7 attack, said UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward, who added that a humanitarian catastrophe is developing in Gaza.

Woodward went on to call for the formation of a new Palestinian government in the West Bank and Gaza and to remove Hamas from leadership in Gaza.

Before voting on the resolution, the Russian Federation expressed disappointment that the resolution did not call for a "permanent" ceasefire but for a "lasting" ceasefire, saying that this wording is not strong enough.

Russia proposed to amend the draft to demand a "permanent ceasefire," but the amendment was not passed.


Hamas praises UN Security Council vote on Gaza ceasefire
Hamas on Monday thanked the U.N. Security Council for passing a resolution demanding a temporary halt to the Israel Defense Forces operation against the terror group in the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas calls on the Security Council to pressure the occupation [Israel, sic] to adhere to the ceasefire and stop the war of genocide and ethnic cleansing against our people,” it said in a statement posted online.

The statement added that a truce is needed to “bury our martyrs who have remained under the rubble” and for “humanitarian needs.”

The U.N. resolution, which calls for a halt to the fighting until the end of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan on April 9, was supported by 14 nations, including veto holders China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield abstained, allowing the measure to pass.

The text also demands the “immediate and unconditional release” of the 134 remaining hostages hostages taken during Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror rampage across Israel’s northwestern Negev.

Hamas said it is willing “to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides.”

The terror group expressed its hope for “a permanent ceasefire that leads to the withdrawal of all Zionist forces from the Gaza Strip and the return of the displaced [Palestinians] to the homes from which they left.”

Hamas openly seeks to destroy Israel in its entirety and replace it with a Palestinian-Islamic state. Article 13 of its charter states that “there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through jihad.”


Col Kemp: UK threat to withhold Israel arms sales is a show of Western weakness
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has claimed that Israel is deliberately and unnecessarily holding up humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza. This is patent nonsense. I recently visited the Kerem Shalom Crossing and witnessed a highly efficient operation in which staff were working round the clock to get aid into Gaza.

Multiple reports, first-hand accounts and video evidence show that the blockage is not on the Israeli side but lies with an inadequate UN distribution system as well as extensive hijacking by Hamas strongmen who divert much of the aid for their own use and sell the rest of it off at inflated prices.

Now Cameron seems to be on the verge of making a grand gesture by cutting off British weapons supplies to Israel in the midst of war, threatening betrayal of one of Britain's most important allies. Britain supplies Israel less than 0.9% of its total arms imports. Most are technical components, a large proportion for non-military dual use or items exported onwards to third countries. The effect on Israel would be negligible.

Yet a reciprocal move against Britain would be operationally more significant. Arms imports from Israel represent 2.7% of the UK total, including some extremely important systems, notably UAVs, anti-tank missiles and armored vehicle defenses. It's also worth noting that arms sales from Israel increased substantially from 2006, a time of great military need for the UK, at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The greater danger is that even Israel's closest allies would be seen to turn on it. This would strengthen Hamas, whose entire strategy is based on Israel being ultimately constrained by the international community. This is a time when the civilized world should be putting its energies into demoralizing Hamas, not giving them hope that Israel will be pressured into halting at the final stages of its offensive against them.

Moreover, for the British government to embargo Israel, or even threaten it, will be used by anti-Israel activists as absolute confirmation that their lies are true, and deployed to incite even greater Jew hate on our streets.

At a time of increasing danger from the despotic axis of China, Russia and Iran, we are seen to be afraid to stand by our allies when the going gets tough. What kind of message does that send to both our friends and our enemies?
Amid arms embargo calls, data shows 99% of Israeli weapon imports are from US, Germany
As calls grow among critics of Israel around the world to limit arms sales to the Jewish state over the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, data released in recent days shows nearly all of Israel’s weapons imports are from companies in the United States and Germany.

According to a 2023 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which studies conflicts and arms, 69 percent of Israel’s arms purchases come from US firms, 30% from Germany and 0.9% from Italy.

“At the end of 2023, the USA rapidly delivered thousands of guided bombs and missiles to Israel, but the total volume of Israeli arms imports from the USA in 2023 was almost the same as in 2022. By the end of 2023, pending deliveries of major arms to Israel included 61 combat aircraft from the USA and 4 submarines from Germany,” the SIPRI report read. By guided bombs, it was apparently referring to kits that convert simple bombs into precision weaponry, via systems like the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), made by American companies. Israel does not manufacture such systems itself.

The SIPRI report stated that US sales of fighter jets to Israel over recent decades have played “a major role in Israel’s military actions against Hamas and Hezbollah.”

All of the Israeli Air Force’s current manned aircraft are American-made, aside from one helicopter built by France’s Airbus Helicopters.
Israel to release over 700 prisoners, including murderers, in Gaza deal
Israel has agreed to release between 700-800 Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire and hostage release deal, Israeli media reported on Sunday evening, citing Israeli officials.

The prisoners agreed upon for release by Israel include hundreds who are serving life sentences for murdering Israelis in terror attacks, Walla's Barak Ravid further reported.

In return, 40 hostages will be released by Hamas, reports said.

Gaza hostage deal: Ball in Hamas's court
It was reported on Saturday night that the Israeli delegation in Qatar has agreed to an American compromise on the issue of the number of Palestinian prisoners who will be swapped for each Israeli hostage.

According to the reports, major disagreements about this number initially prompted the American compromise proposal.

The Israeli team in Qatar has also reportedly been authorized to discuss the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza.

According to Israeli media, Hamas's response will likely take a few days to receive due to the logistics of getting approval from Hamas leadership in Gaza.


UN Watch: U.S. Officially Bars UNRWA Funding After Biden Signs Spending Package Into Law
The bipartisan spending package, which Biden signed into law, also cuts funding to the United Nations Human Rights Council unless the administration can certify that it is taking ‘significant steps to remove Israel as a permanent agenda item,’ and bans funding for the UN Commission of Inquiry on Israel

The U.S. has officially barred funding for UNRWA through March 2025 after U.S. President Joe Biden signed the government spending package into law.

In the past year, the Congress had received detailed information on UNRWA’s ties to terrorism, in a series of briefings provided by UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, including in its subcommittee on UN affairs chaired by Rep. Chris Smith.

The massive 1,000-plus page bill includes a stipulation barring funding to UNRWA “for any amounts provided in prior fiscal years or in fiscal year 2024 or for amounts provided in fiscal year 2025, until March 25, 2025.”

This would effectively allow whoever is in power in March 2025 to decide whether to allocate any leftover funds within that year to UNRWA.

Earlier in January, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill sponsored by Rep. Smith, the Stop Support for UNRWA Act, by a vote of 30 to 19, including with the support of Democratic lawmakers including Rep. Kathy Manning, Rep. Jared Moskowitz and Rep. Brad Schneider. The legislation would prohibit any contributions to UNRWA, or to the regular budget of the UN for the support of UNRWA.


Hamas, Al Jazeera admit: Story of IDF rapes in Gaza hospital fabricated
After more than 24 hours of letting the story run freely, Qatari mouthpiece Al Jazeera deleted the page featuring their former story, which accused Israeli soldiers of allegedly perpetrating rape against women during the IDF’s latest excursion against Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who barricaded themselves inside the former hospital-cum-terror headquarters at Shifa Hospital.

Though the Qatari mouthpiece hasn’t officially referred to the retraction, all content related to the allegation has reportedly been deleted.

Al Jazeera columnist and former director Yasser Abuhilalah also tweeted, admitting that “It was revealed through Hamas investigations that the story of the rape of women in Al-Shifa Hospital was fabricated… The woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood,” adding critically that “As if more than thirty thousand martyrs, ninety thousand wounded, about a million displaced people, and comprehensive destruction were not enough!”

Jihad Khelles, a pro-Hamas preacher from Gaza, also tweeted that it became evident that there was no proven evidence for the events and that the alleged “witness” told a story that she had heard and not witnessed, also adding that “this creates panic and fear” and “makes [Palestinians] feel despair and frustration at a time when we are most in need for stability and reassurance.”

The original story published by Al Jazeera featured a “testimony” by Jamila Al-Hessi, a Gazan woman who claimed that while she was under siege in the area of the hospital complex, she witnessed IDF soldiers “raping women then killing them and burning entire families alive.”

The fake testimony went viral, with many expressing their rage at Israel and at what they deemed Arab failure to protect the honor of Palestinian women, even asking where Hamas and the resistance had gone. However, Israeli news blogger Abu Ali Express also reported that the viral fake testimony also had unexpected reverse ripple effects, leading many Gazans to flee their homes in the northern Gaza strip southwards, which may explain the unusual event of a Hamas investigation into the details.


BBC coverage of Shifa hospital operation again promotes Hamas propaganda
None of the BBC’s reporting informs audiences that three days before the operation, the head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) for Gaza had spoken with the Director of the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health about the Hamas terrorist organisation’s activities within Shifa hospital.

The BBC’s reports promote unverified accounts from medical staff and “eyewitnesses”. While the main article by Gunter and Gritten makes no mention of the weapons and cash found in a room in the hospital used by terrorists, on the live page, readers saw one unnecessarily qualified account of those finds (which appeared in filmed footage made public on the same day), together with a disclaimer of the kind apparently not necessary even when quoting anonymous “eyewitnesses”.

Both in the written report and on the live page, readers are told of the arrest of an Al Jazeera journalist.

“Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera meanwhile reported that Israeli forces had beaten and arrested its correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul during the raid. There was no immediate comment from the IDF.”

Readers are not informed that before joining Al Jazeera post October 7th, Sinwar fan Ismail al-Ghoul worked for Hamas media outlets.

Readers of the report by Gunter and Gritten find one paragraph which purports to inform them on the topic of the status of hospitals during wartime:

“The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said he was “terribly worried about the situation” at al-Shifa hospital, which he warned was “endangering health workers, patients and civilians”.

“The hospital has only recently restored minimal health services. Any hostilities or militarization of the facility jeopardize health services, access for ambulances, and delivery of life-saving supplies,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Hospitals must be protected. Ceasefire!”

Hospitals have protected status during times of war under international humanitarian law – but they can lose that protection in limited circumstances if they are being used to commit an “act harmful to the enemy”.”

Gunter and Gritten do not bother to explain what an “act harmful to the enemy” actually means.

As long as the BBC continues to uncritically promote the baseless denials of Hamas and other terrorist organisations concerning their exploitation of medical facilities for military purposes, that information contributes nothing to BBC understanding of the story ostensibly being reported ‘accurately’ and ‘impartially’.


Shin Bet seizes Iranian weapons intended for West Bank terrorists
The Shin Bet and the IDF on Monday announced that they had busted a vast Iranian network for smuggling more serious weapons into the West Bank to help dramatically increase the danger Palestinian terrorists can present to Israel.

A statement named Juad Ofri and Munir Mukdach as lead officials affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who have been masterminding the efforts.

It identified them as linked to Unit 4000 of the IRGC Special Operations Division and Unit 18840 of the Quds Force in Syria, which falls under Division 840 led by Atzar Bakri.

The agency said that its arrests of some Palestinian suspects helped it unravel the wider plot to destabilize the entire West Bank and achieve much higher "quality" terror attacks against Israel.

The Shin Bet said that an operation regarding Mukdach led to the seizing of a very large amount of advanced weapons that had penetrated the West Bank.

Shin Bet confiscates an entire arsenal
Among the weapons seized were two BTB15 significant explosives with shrapnel, five YM-2 anti-tank weapons, four M203 grenade launchers, 31 rocket-propelled grenades of different models, five advanced explosive mechanisms for arming a variety of weapons, 25 grenades, 50 guns, and a variety of other weapons.

Interrogations also helped reveal additional new information about Mukdach, a Palestinian who has also operated with Hezbollah in Lebanon for years and has continued to try to pursue large-scale attacks on Israel.


NYTs: In Hizbullah's Sights, a Stretch of Northern Israel Becomes a No-Go Zone
More than 60,000 Israelis who live far from Gaza have in recent months been ordered from their homes along Israel's northern border with Lebanon as the result of an intensifying conflict with Hizbullah, in the first mass evacuation of the area in Israeli history. In one Israeli border town, antitank missiles fired from Lebanon have damaged scores of homes. Military checkpoints block access to communities within a mile of the frontier, and daily life is frozen in a state of suspension.

Some residents say the evacuation showed weakness and effectively handed Hizbullah a victory. Others say it has saved countless lives. The Hizbullah attacks since Oct. 7 have been big enough to demonstrate solidarity with Hamas, but measured enough to prevent provoking an all-out conflict with Israel.

Israel's Iron Dome system can intercept many types of rockets, which fly in high arcs, but Hizbullah also fires rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank missiles, which fly low to the ground and hit targets in seconds and without warning. There is no time to run to a shelter and the instructions are to hit the ground wherever you are.

This month, the Israeli military said that its air and ground forces had struck more than 4,500 Hizbullah targets in Lebanon and Syria since Oct. 7, and that they had killed more than 300 Hizbullah operatives. Fourteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in the north so far.
Gallant: If IDF ends Gaza war early, Hezbollah will start next war sooner
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said that if the IDF ends its war in Gaza prematurely, this will likely lead to Hezbollah being more audacious about launching a larger attack against Israel from the North.

Gallant said, "There is no moral basis for stopping the war until we return home all of the hostages. If we do not achieve a decisive and absolute victory in Gaza, a bigger war in the North will come closer."

Gallant delivered his message from the White House in Washington DC, an hour after the UN Security Council voted to demand Israel end the war and right before he met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Gallant reminds US officials of the importance of keeping Israel strong
He said he came to Washington to remind top US officials of the need to keep the IDF stronger than its enemies.

Further, he said he would not drop Israel's demand to complete the removal of Hamas from power.

In addition, without specifying how he said that Israel and the US would develop an alternative to Hamas for managing Gaza.


UNRWA accuses Israel of cutting off aid convoys to northern Gaza Strip
UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini claimed that Israeli authorities had informed the UN that they would no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north of the Gaza Strip, according to a post on X on Sunday.

"Gaza: as of today, UNRWA, the main lifeline for #Palestine Refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza. Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north. This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine. These restrictions must be lifted. UNRWA is the largest organisation with the highest reach to displaced communities in Gaza. By preventing UNRWA from fulfilling its mandate in Gaza, the clock will tick faster towards famine & many more will die of hunger, dehydration, + lack of shelter. This cannot happen, it would only stain our collective humanity," said Lazzarini in his post.

Lazzarini also said that he wanted to visit Gaza but was denied entry by Israel, during his trip to Cairo last week.

This claim comes shortly after the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) made a separate post claiming the opposite.

In COGAT's post, not only do they claim that Israel is allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, but that trucks are being held up in Egypt before they have even arrived at Israeli Inspection.

COGAT also announced that over 140 trucks containing humanitarian aid have entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, and are waiting for UN employees to pick them up for distribution.

"Again, the UN is deceiving. These trucks are awaiting inspection in Egypt and haven't reached Israeli crossings. The UN must scale up logistics and stop blaming Israel for its own failures. Btw, 142 aid trucks are still waiting for pick up by the UN on the Gazan side of KS," COGAT wrote on X.


Call Me Back PodCast: Is Israel Alone? With Haviv Rettig Gur
The new edition of The Economist Magazine features a photo of an Israeli flag, blowing in the wind…all alone. The cover title of this issue’s editorial is just that — “Israel Alone”.

The editorial reads: “Today Israel has destroyed perhaps half of Hamas’s forces. But in important ways its mission has failed.

“As estrangement from the West deepens, so deterrence may weaken. Firms could be blacklisted. Bosses could move high-tech businesses abroad or, if they are reservists, be arrested there.”

But is Israel actually alone? This is what we unpack today during our regular check-in with Haviv Rettig Gur. And in the first part of the conversation, we wound up discussing why the criticism of Israel today looks almost identical to criticism of Israel in previous wars, regardless of which politicians are leading Israel.
Tom Gross on Israel Channel 13: Not just Hamas, but the whole world is using Gazans as human shields

Minister for Diaspora and Combatting Antisemitism: Amichai Chikli | Israel-Hamas War
Visegrad24 presents an in-depth series covering the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. This comprehensive series features on-the-ground interviews, bringing firsthand insights from a diverse range of voices, including politicians, professors, journalists, experts and influencers.

Our guest today: Amichai Chikli, Isreal's Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism.

Minister Chikli also serves as the Minister of Social Equality.

Before politics, he served in the Golani Brigade and the Shayetet 13 naval unit. He later on became a company commander in Unit Egoz, an IDF commando unit specializing in guerrilla warfare and special reconnaissance.

00:00 - Introduction
02:10 - Ignorance about Israel
03:44 - Woke ideology against Israel
05:17 - The new marxism in universities
07:20 - Bill Ackman vs. Harvard
09:22 - The return of antisemitism
14:39 - Values in the West
16:04 - Multiculturalism and cultural relativism
18:38 - Friedrich Nietzsche and the death of God
19:57 - The UN and Israel




Democrat John Fetterman’s Israel support brings fans on the right, critics on the left
Fetterman’s support for Israel, however, has angered progressives who considered him an ally on other issues, and who now staunchly oppose Israel. Nathan J. Robinson, the editor-in-chief of the progressive magazine Current Affairs, accused Fetterman of being one of the politicians who “lie and betray us.”

That indignation extends to some of his former staffers, who accused him of “a gutting betrayal” in an anonymous letter published less than two weeks after the war began in The Intercept, a left-leaning publication.

“These are not the values that we believed you to hold, and these are not our values,” the former staffers wrote. “On the trail, your overarching promise was to ‘Forgotten Communities’ — people and places that get overlooked, written off and left behind. You can’t be a champion of forgotten communities if you cheerlead this war and the consequent destruction of Palestinian communities at home and abroad.”

The Jewish Democratic party operatives pushed back on the characterization of Fetterman as a progressive, noting that he has split with leftists on other issues, such as immigration and fracking. Fetterman told NBC in December that he is “not a progressive.”

His position has also drawn the ire of progressive Jews who oppose Israel’s Gaza campaign. Eva Borgwardt, IfNotNow’s national spokesperson, said Fetterman’s conduct was “shameful” and a “moral catastrophe.”

Fetterman has also won unlikely supporters. The right-wing Zionist Organization of America, which honored a string of Republican officials in recent galas in New York and Florida, has applauded Fetterman for siding with Republicans in voting against a measure calling for a Palestinian state. ZOA President Morton Klein said some of the organization’s board have called for honoring Fetterman, and that he himself was surprised by the senator’s firm pro-Israel stance.

Before October 7, Klein, who lives in Pennsylvania, said that in his circle, the senator was viewed as “a bit of an oddball.” Now, he said, a different take on Fetterman prevails.

“Now they see he’s not so bizarre, he’s a man who has moral integrity,” Klein said. “It’s definitely helped his image among the people I talk to.”


Australian Jewish body lodges vilification complaint against two Islamic preachers
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has formally lodged a vilification complaint with the Human Rights Commission against two Islamic preachers.

The two Muslim clerics have been caught on tape describing Jews as 'monsters, 'rats' or as 'vile', in speeches made since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.

ECAJ deputy president Robert Goot SC said it was taking action not only to “protect the honour of the Jewish community”, but to also “protect the future fabric of Australian society”.

"We’ve taken action because the incendiary sermons aspects of which you have just played containing hateful, despicable, anti-Semitic tropes can’t go without being challenged," Mr Goot SC told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“We regard these events and this conduct as undermining the social cohesion, stability and peace of what we have grown up with as a very successful multicultural society, with different ethnicities and different faiths cooperating and living peacefully together.”


Sydney Uni locked pro-Palestinian activists in room with Israeli university officials
Sky News host Sharri Markson has revealed the University of Sydney locked pro-Palestinian activists inside a room with senior Israeli university officials for an hour and a half last week.

Ms Markson said Tel Aviv University representatives flew from Israel to attend the University of Sydney's “Abroad Fair” to promote their university exchange program.

“The Israeli academics were there alongside university representatives from Germany, Canada, the US and Taiwan,” she said.

She said pro-Palestinian activists stormed the room, trying to get Tel Aviv University kicked off campus.

“The Israeli delegates didn't think they should have to succumb to the demands of the protesters and leave, seeing as they had flown from Israel for this.

“Shockingly – instead of removing the pro-Palestinian activists, Sydney University had security lock the doors – locking the activists inside the same room as the Israeli delegates.”




Moment pro-Palestine protestors hijack Jill Biden during Human Rights Campaign dinner - as security rip down their 'ceasefire now' banners and force them to leave event
Pro-Palestine protesters have interrupted a speech by First Lady Jill Biden to demand a ceasefire from Israel's campaign in Gaza.

Dr Biden was addressing the Human Rights Campaign's 2024 Los Angeles Dinner on Saturday night when the protest suddenly erupted.

Protesters unfurled a banner reading 'queer Jews say ceasefire now' and began loudly chanting 'ceasefire now' until security intervened.

Security guards pulled down the banner and forced the handful of protesters to leave. It was not clear how they got inside.

Dr Biden's supporters drowned out the protest chanting by yelling 'four more years' in reference to Joe Biden's election campaign.

The first lady paused her speech during the commotion but merely continued her remarks with no reference to the protest when it was over.

Dozens more protesters made a scene outside the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, waving Palestinian flags and chanting 'long live Palestine'.


Public Interest Law Group Seeking Plaintiffs For Possible Lawsuit Against “Anti-Israel” Protesters Who Blocked Traffic
A pubic interest law firm is calling for plaintiffs in a possible suit against “anti-Israel” protestors who obstructed traffic. The “[f]ree-market public-interest litigation firm” Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute (HLLI) tweeted a call for plaintiffs “stuck in traffic” during the February 2024 “anti-Israel” protests in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC, which blocked traffic.

HLLI has tweeted the same call for potential plaintiffs since March 11 after HLLI attorney Ted Frank criticized a Reagan Airport tweet warning drivers to “[e]xpect delays around the airport” due to protestors “exercising first amendment rights in the roadway.”

“People have a First Amendment right to protest. But that doesn’t give these protestors the right to interfere with the rights of others to move freely without restraint or to create a harzard that potentially puts peoples’ lives at risk,” HLLI attorney Ned Hedley told Legal Insurrection.

Hedley outlined HLLI’s strategy for identifying individual defendants, who often conceal their identity at protests. Hedley told Legal Insurrection that HLLI could identify individual defendants through social media activity identifying them as organizers or leaders or through arrest records.

After filing suit against organizational defendants, HLLI could identify other individual defendants and organizations through materials obtained during discovery, the process by which opposing parties exchange relevant evidence before trial.

Hedley acknowledged that HLLI is pursuing a relatively novel legal angle but told Legal Insurrection that HLLI believes there are viable false imprisonment and public nuisance claims. Hedley also stated that a claim under RICO, which targets criminal enterprises, may be possible when groups supporting the protests encouraged criminal activities.

Pursuing these claims may compensate for the failure of law enforcement and prosecutors to rein in disruptive protests, according to Hedley.


Pro-Palestine activists hit with dozens of charges after descending on Sydney for protest action over the weekend
Police have charged hordes of pro-Palestine activists after they descended across Sydney over the weekend, protesting against an Israeli-owned cargo ship and British author and commentator Douglas Murray.

Activists from the Palestine Justice Movement, supported by the Maritime Union of Australia and the Greens, gathered at Penrhyn Road about 9.30pm on Sunday, blocking access to the port.

The protesters banged drums, waved flags and chanted before they were met by a line of police who told them to move on or face arrest.

Chants included “free Palestine”, “from the river to the sea” and “ZIM out of Botany, bombs out of Gaza”.

Australian Greens deputy leader and Senator Mehreen Faruqi addressed the crowd of protesters and lashed the Albanese government for allowing police to intimidate activists.

“It is shameful that the police have been intimidating peaceful protest. There have been crackdown after police crackdown to try and stop these protests," she said.

"The government is allowing this to happen for only one reason, because they want to stop people from protesting. They want to stop people from standing up to Israel’s genocide.”

Police arrested 19 people and took them to Surry Hills Police Station for failing to move on. They will face court in May.

A NSW Police spokesperson said the crowd was directed to leave the roadway and was given time to do so.

"A number did not comply, and were arrested for disobeying police direction," the spokesperson said.

"All 19 were charged with pedestrian obstruct driver's/other pedestrian's path, fail to comply with move along direction, and remain near or on major facility causing serious disruption, and issued with a Field Court Attendance notice to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday 8 May 2024."
Pro-Palestine activists protest Douglas Murray event in Sydney
Pro-Palestinian protestors tried to interrupt a speaking event involving author Douglas Murray at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney.

Activists chanted ‘free Palestine’ and ‘shame Enmore Theatre shame’.

The group heckled attendees before police and riot squad officers issued move-on orders.

Mr Murray took part in the live conversation with former ABC personality Josh Szeps.

Pro-Palestine chants could be heard from within the theatre’s auditorium, shouting “shame” to ticketholders entering and exiting the event.




Frustrated tourists and food vendors blast 'annoying' pro-Palestine and eco-zealots who attempted to close British Museum today with a blockade
Frustrated tourists and food vendors have blasted 'annoying' pro-Palestine and eco-zealots who attempted to close the British Museum today with a blockade.

A new alliance between pro-Palestine groups and those linked to Just Stop Oil - called Energy Embargo for Palestine - targeted the historic building on Russell Street in the capital at around 2.15pm.

The museum initially said the museum was evacuated but have since said those who arrived into the building before 3pm were able to continue their visit.

Gzim, who has a stall selling caramelised peanuts outside the museum gates, said the protestors were disrupting his business and 'everyone around here'.

'They really are annoying', he said.

Aditi Jadhav, 33, an investor who travelled from India with her husband, said she missed out on her chance to visit the museum due to the disruption.

'This was our last thing to do, we leave tomorrow. We're going to miss out on it now. The museum had a section on India and Egypt that we so wanted to see. We really rushed here to see it,' she said.

Hundreds of protesters – brandishing Palestinian flags and wearing the keffiyeh scarves - gathered at the museum's main entrance on Great Russell Street.

Banners being held up included 'Boycott the British museum', 'Stop the green wash of genocide in Palestine' and 'BP fuels colonial genocide'.

The Metropolitan police were on the ground during the protests and advised the museum to temporarily close their entrances to new visitors while the demonstration took place.




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