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Wednesday, May 29, 2024

05/29 Links Pt1: Do We Still Understand How Wars Are Won?; Rafah reminds us of the evils of Hamas; Glick: What Was HAMAS' Plan for October 7th?

From Ian:

Bret Stephens: Do We Still Understand How Wars Are Won?
Right now, the Biden administration is trying to restrain Israel and aid Ukraine while operating under both illusions. It is asking them to fight their wars in roughly the same way that the United States has fought its own wars in recent decades — with limited means, a limited stomach for what it takes to win and an eye on the possibility of a negotiated settlement. How is it possible, for instance, that even now Ukraine does not have F-16s to defend its own skies?

In the short run, the Biden approach may help relieve humanitarian distress, allay angry constituencies or eliminate the possibility of sharp escalations. In the long run, it’s a recipe for compelling our allies to lose.

A “peace deal” with Moscow that leaves it in possession of vast areas of Ukrainian territory is an invitation for a third invasion once Russia recapitalizes its forces. A cease-fire with Hamas that leaves the group in control of Gaza means it will inevitably start another war, just as it has five times before. It also vindicates the strategy of using civilian populations as human shields — something Hezbollah will be sure to copy in its next full-scale war with Israel.

President Biden gave a moving Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, honoring generations of soldiers who fought and fell “in battle between autocracy and democracy.” But the tragedy of America’s recent battle history is that thousands of those soldiers died in wars we lacked the will to win. They died for nothing, because Biden and other presidents belatedly decided we had better priorities.

That’s a luxury that safe and powerful countries like the United States can afford. Not so for Ukrainians and Israelis. The least we can do for them is understand that they have no choice to fight except in the way we once did — back when we knew what it takes to win.
Arsen Ostrovosky: Hamas bears ultimate responsibility for Rafah
Immediately following the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that, “despite [Israel’s] utmost effort not to harm non-combatants, something unfortunately went tragically wrong,” and that “we are investigating the incident.”

Israel has also announced that the incident is being investigated by the General Staff’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism, an independent and professional body, including what caused the ignition of the fire beyond the target and the tragic result, despite the precautionary measures, including surveillance, precise munitions and additional intelligence to limit civilian casualties.

This is how a democracy operates — when mistakes are made, however unintended, they are admitted. People take responsibility and appropriate lessons are learnt.

The response by the international community to the incident in Rafah has also been telling, with immediate worldwide condemnations and the United Nations Security Council already scheduling an emergency session. One cannot help but wonder, where was this same international community when a video was released last week of five terrified young Israeli girls, bloodied, beaten and being abducted by Hamas, with horrific threats of being impregnated? Where was the international community when Hamas rained down a barrage of rockets from Rafah on central Israel, including Tel Aviv?

We would not be in this situation at all were it not for Hamas carrying out the October 7 massacre and continuing to hold in Gaza more than 100 hostages, including five U.S. nationals.

This of course does not absolve Israel of its obligation to abide by the rules of war and international humanitarian law — a duty it has fulfilled and in many documented respects exceeded. However, it is Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist group, that continues to willfully violate every imaginable international law, including embedding combatants in civilian areas.

It is therefore Hamas that bears ultimate responsibility for every innocent life lost, Palestinian and Israeli. The West’s failure to make this distinction only emboldens Hamas and perpetuates the violence.
Brendan O'Neill: Rafah reminds us of the evils of Hamas
And yet many in the West, especially those of a woke persuasion, hold Hamas responsible for nothing. Their collective finger points permanently at Israel. No doubt they consider this a ‘progressive’, even ‘anti-imperialist’ position, but in truth there is a sinister streak of racial paternalism to their ceaseless exoneration of Hamas. Their view seems to be that Israel is the only consequential actor in this conflict, and the Palestinians mere victims. Israel makes decisions, Palestinians suffer the consequences – The End.

This denudes the Palestinian side of agency entirely. It lets even the fascists of Hamas off the hook. It represents the globalisation of identity politics, where the idea is that only ‘white’ forces can be held responsible for what they do, while ‘non-white’ forces must be excused, apologised for, forgiven. Behind the phoney anti-colonialism of the Israelophobic left there lurks the nauseatingly colonialist belief that Arabs are essentially overgrown children who must never be judged – not even when a small section of that people launch a pogrom against the Jewish State and invite war across the Palestinian territories. Behold the double racism of the woke left: the racism of hating the Jewish State above all others, and the racism of refusing to condemn Palestinians for anything, ever. The racism of unrealistic expectations of Israel, and the racism of no expectations of Palestine.

We see this so often in the Western coverage of the Israel-Hamas War – the invisibilisation of Hamas. Think about how rarely we hear about Hamas operations. Its gun battles with IDF soldiers. Its booby-trapping of its vast network of tunnels. Even its firing of missiles at Israel. And, most importantly, how many of its operatives have been slain by the IDF. There has been next to no effort by the mainstream media to figure out how many of the Palestinian fatalities in this war were armed fascists of Hamas, killed as part of the war against the Jewish State that they started. Hamas is being written out of a catastrophe that it itself authored, by observers who see Israel as the only blameworthy actor in the region. It is deceiving war propaganda disguised as reportage.

The end result of this dishonest depiction of Rafah as a crime scene of Israel’s making is that Hamas gets moral cover to continue its war on the Jews. When the International Court of Justice haughtily demands that Israel stay out of Rafah, it is essentially saying ‘Leave Rafah to Hamas’. When the Biden administration condemns Israel for its ‘devastating’ missile attack on Rafah, it unwittingly emboldens the Rafah-based terrorists who attacked Israel first. And when the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court compares Hamas to the IRA, and says Britain didn’t bomb Belfast in the Seventies and therefore Israel shouldn’t bomb Rafah today, he demonstrates the shocking historical and moral illiteracy of the globalist elites; their inability to grasp how existential is the threat posed by Hamas to Israel, and how vulnerable Western civilisation itself is to the menaces of radical Islam.

At this stage in the Israel-Hamas War, if you are not condemning Hamas, if you are not calling on it to return the hostages and surrender to Israel, then it’s clear your concern is not with saving Palestinian life but with humiliating the Jewish State. You are not fighting to end the war – you are giving cover to Hamas’s war. All morally serious people who, like spiked, want to save Rafah and the rest of Palestine from further violence should have as their priority the complete and final defeat of Hamas.


Hamas Must Be Destroyed Before Any Peace Talks Take Place
Do Ireland, Norway and Spain not see how appeasing terrorists anywhere only emboldens the militants in Europe? Last month, in Germany, more than 1,000 demonstrators took to the streets demanding that Germany become a Caliphate with sharia law.

Is [Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez] ready to grant the Catalans in Spain, who for years have been fighting for their independence, a State of Catalonia?

In Ireland, even at its most violent, there were never calls to take over Scotland, England and Wales to displace the British.

The capitulation of Ireland, Norway and Spain also reveals a deliberate misinterpretation of the root causes of Israel's long-running conflict with the Palestinians, in which the constant refusal of successive generations of Palestinian leaders to renounce terrorism as the primary means of achieving their political objectives has made the concept of a lasting peace between the two sides impossible.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called by Andrew Roberts "The Churchill of the modern Middle East," remains bitterly opposed to Palestinian independence as a "prize for terrorism". "A reward for terror will not bring about peace," said Netanyahu, "and also will not stop us from winning over Hamas."

Hamas have repeatedly used their own people as human shields and shot at them to prevent them from fleeing to safety.

While the Biden administration's stance towards Israel in the Gaza conflict has often been hostile, its rejection of the joint declaration by Norway, Ireland and Spain is most welcome.

If Israel could be allowed to succeed in "freeing Palestine from Hamas," it would significantly improve the prospects of both Israelis and Palestinians.
Biden gives empty ‘ironclad’ promises to Israel
Now curtailing arms supplies, Biden wants American pro-Hamas activists to see that he does not “stand with Israel” after all. He emphasizes stopping the fighting and protecting Gazan civilians rather than destroying Hamas’s remaining military and governing capabilities. He is emboldening Israel’s enemies, which increases the danger to Israeli civilians.

The president’s flip-flop on the war is a reminder that international commitments are only as strong as the character and the interests of the people who make them. In no event are they enforceable, even if written down or called “legally binding.”

Israelis should be attuned to this point, given what happened to the famous Balfour Declaration, the central political commitment in the history of Zionism. The 1917 declaration was Britain’s promise to support “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. In 1922, when the League of Nations approved the British Mandate for Palestine—the territory having been a tiny shard of the vast near-east region the Ottoman Empire lost in World War I—the declaration was incorporated verbatim. In 1939, however, Britain announced a cutoff of immigration by Jews into their “home,” leaving millions at the mercy of the Nazis. Winston Churchill (not yet prime minister) condemned the cutoff as a “violation” of Britain’s legal obligations and a “lamentable act of default,” but it remained British policy during and after World War II. The British are famous for exalting the virtue of doing one’s duty, but they violated the Mandate anyway.

There is a State of Israel now because Zionists grasped that no other country in the world would or could assign top priority to the safety of the Jewish people. That was true when the other country was Britain, and it’s true even when it is the United States, as singularly hospitable and friendly to its own Jewish citizens as America has been. This is not because of antisemitism but human nature. Sovereign states take care, first and foremost, of their own people. And sometimes, as Biden is showing by catering to pro-Palestinian sentiment in ways that benefit Iran, they do not succeed even in rightly identifying and protecting their own national interests.

For 2,000 years, Jews had no choice but to depend on others for refuge, tolerance and security. As a result, they suffered centuries of maltreatment, including murders and massacres, expropriation and expulsion. Ze’ev Jabotinsky (1880-1940), the namesake grandfather of one of us, was an influential advocate for a Zionist remedy to this long-running humanitarian disaster known as “the Jewish question”: sovereignty in the Land of Israel for a democratic Jewish-majority state that would enjoy the dignity of defending itself.

Israel should, of course, maintain and cultivate connections with the United States and other powers. But Zionism is, in essence, about the Jewish people taking responsibility for their own fate. That people’s survival is a top priority in only one country because the Jews (unlike the Arabs and other nationalities) are the majority in only one country.

Alliances can be useful, but history warns that when life-and-death issues are at stake, endangered countries should rely no more than is necessary on foreigners. That remains the case when promises of support from abroad come from serious-minded officials, let alone from ordinary politicians who oversell such promises as “ironclad” and then feel free to breach them.
US envoy accuses Israel of ‘continued pattern of significant civilian harm’
Hamas terrorists have long been documented stealing aid intended for Palestinian civilians. U.S. officials have sometimes noted that in their remarks.

Human rights attorney Arsen Ostrovsky, the CEO of the International Legal Forum and a senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security, told JNS that international law is clear that sites in which terrorists, like Hamas, embed in civilian areas become “legitimate military targets.”

“Any civilian death or harm that arises is therefore the sole responsibility of Hamas, especially in circumstances where the IDF went to extraordinary lengths to abide by the principles of proportionality and distinction, while taking every possible precaution to minimize harm to potential civilian casualties,” Ostrovsky said.

“The fact of the matter is, war is ugly and devastating. But not every error or unintentional loss in civilian life is necessarily a war crime,” Ostrovsky added. “We must not forget that, whereas Israel takes every precaution to avoid harm to civilians, Hamas has an utter disregard for human life, whether it be Palestinian or Israeli.”

The international community would “be far better served to direct their outrage at Hamas, which continues to embed themselves in civilian areas and cynically use Palestinians in Rafah and across Gaza as human shields,” Ostrovsky said.
Caroline Glick: What Was HAMAS' Plan for October 7th?
The Israel Guys: What was Hamas' plan for October 7th, did they really think they could win? Caroline Glick tackles this complicated subject in her extraordinary talk given at our Israel Summit in Nashville, Tennessee.


Knesset passes preliminary bill designating UNRWA terrorist organization
A bill to designate UNRWA a terrorist organization, proposed by Israel Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, passed a preliminary reading with a 42-6 majority in the Knesset on Wednesday. The same bill will abolish immunities and privileges for UNRWA employees.

If the bill passes the final reading, it will mean that the Anti-Terrorism Law will also apply to UNRWA. Israel will subsequently cease all ties with the agency, and the organization’s assets in Israeli territory will be closed.

The abolition of privilege bill is formally called the “Bill to Abolish the Immunity and Privileges of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).” The agency is a branch of the UN responsible for Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East, including two million in the Gaza Strip.

In 1947, the United Nations Privileges and Immunities Ordinance established by decree that the UN and its officials should enjoy certain immunities and privileges. These include immunity from legal action; exemption from or discount on taxes and local taxes; exemption from import or export bans; and exemption from income tax, among others.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz will determine by decree the cancellation of UNRWA’s diplomatic immunity.
Israel Land Authority orders UNRWA to evacuate Jerusalem premises within 30 days for lease violations
The Israel Land Authority has informed UNRWA that it must vacate its East Jerusalem premises in Ma’alot Dafna within 30 days, following the approval of a demand from Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf to evict the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from any state land it is currently occupying.

In a letter to UNRWA, the ILA writes that it owes them a sum of NIS 27,125,280 ($7,326,711.19) for operating on land belonging to Israel without consent for the last seven years.

In addition, it instructs UNRWA that it is “required to immediately stop any illegal use, destroy everything you have built in violation of the law, vacate the land of any people or items and return it to the Authority within 30 days from the date of this letter.”

Ynet reports that for several years, the ILA has turned a blind eye to UNRWA’s violation of the terms under which the land was leased to it, but has now decided to enforce the terms of the lease in light of tensions over the war in Gaza and the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the October 7 massacre carried out by Hamas in southern Israel.
Algeria introduces UNSC resolution to stop Rafah operation
Following an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday afternoon, Algeria began circulating a concise draft resolution calling for an immediate end to Israel’s military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, tying it to a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice.

Algeria, which serves as the Arab and Muslim world’s de facto Security Council member, called for Tuesday’s closed consultations of the council following a Sunday night Israeli airstrike that killed two senior Hamas commanders. It is thought by Israeli officials that shrapnel from the strike may have hit a gas tank or stored Hamas weapons, leading to an explosive fire that Hamas says killed 35 civilians.

An Israeli investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Much of the international community has long demanded Israel stay out of Rafah, where some one million Gazans evacuated from elsewhere in the enclave had sought refuge, bringing the population there to an estimated 1.3 million. More than a million people have since left the city.

Israel has insisted that Rafah, which is thought to be the final remaining Hamas stronghold, needs to be invaded to root destroy the terrorist group’s four remaining intact battalions as well as much of its leadership, and to rescue Israeli hostages believed to be held there.

The draft resolution unveiled shortly after Tuesday’s meeting, says that the council “decides that Israel, the occupying power, shall immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in Rafah.”

In its preambular section, the resolution references the recent ICJ ruling, thought by many, including some ICJ judges, to be unclear and ambiguous, but which Palestinian supporters say demands an immediate halt to Israel’s Rafah operation. A different interpretation is that the operation must only be halted if it violates the Genocide Convention.


Hanegbi: Fighting in Gaza will continue for at least another seven months
"The fighting in Gaza will continue for at least another seven months," said the head of the National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, in an interview with Kan on Wednesday.

Hangabi also noted that the IDF now controls 75% of the Philadelphia corridor, which is approximately 13 kilometers (8 miles) long and located along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. He also said Israel would control the corridor over time and work with Egypt to prevent smuggling.

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amir Avivi, Director-General of the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF) (HaBithonistim), said in an extensive interview with Maariv that will be published in full on Friday that "The occupation of Rafah may lead to the beginning of a total collapse. The decisive battle will take place there, both military and security."

"That's why we have to enter it with planes, artillery, and tanks, and we must defeat it because we are in a decisive moment. If we destroy Rafah to the end and take responsibility for the humanitarian aid, we can end the war within two months."

Why didn't we enter Rafah earlier?
When asked why they did not enter Rafah at the beginning of the war at the same time as the occupation of Gaza when the world still supported Israel's right to defend itself?

"A day will come when the IDF will have to investigate the reason for this question. In my opinion, when we entered the northern Gaza Strip, most of the divisions were in the North for deterrence against Hezbollah. When it was understood that there would be no war with Lebanon, they began to move divisions south. At this point, there really is room to ask, if you have already launched an attack on Khan Yunis, why didn't you also attack Rafah?"
Blinken warns against Gaza chaos, as Israel predicts 7 more months of war
Chaos could reign in Gaza unless Israel immediately implements a day-after plan for the enclave, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Wednesday, as Israel speculated that its war against Hamas could last for another seven months.

“In the absence of a plan for the day after, there won’t be a plan for the day after,” he said during a press conference in Moldova.

“We need to get, as quickly as possible, a plan for the day after that does not leave Israel responsible for Gaza,” Blinken said.

If Israel’s army remains in charge of Gaza due to the lack of a plan, the Gaza war would be reduced to a perpetual low-level conflict in which Israel will “have an enduring insurgency on its hands for as far as one can see into the future,” Blinken said.

The result, he continued, is that “we’ll have chaos, lawlessness, and a vacuum that eventually will be filled again by Hamas, or maybe, if it’s possible to imagine, even worse Jihadists.

“I think the urgency of having a clear plan, one that could help ensure the enduring defeat of Hamas, which is a shared objective and should be everyone’s objective, is imperative,” he said.
Seth Frantzman: Hamas is preparing long-term insurgency in Gaza
Hamas does not release details on the number of its men killed, nor has it stated how many men it has. What it does state is where it is carrying out attacks. It claimed that on Tuesday and Wednesday, it targeted IDF vehicles in Jabalya and the Netzarim corridor. The fact that Hamas and pro-Iran media have adopted the term “Netzarim” shows how keenly they are watching the IDF’s moves.

Al-Mayadeen reported that on the “235th day” of the war, since the “al-Aqsa flood” of October 7, Hamas continued to “engage” Israeli forces through “ambushes.” The report says that “in this context, Hamas’s military wing announced the bombing of the occupation forces stationed in the vicinity of the Rabaa al-Adawiya neighborhood, south of Rafah, with short-range ‘107’ missiles.” This would refer to 107 mm. rockets, a common type of rocket used by pro-Iranian groups in the region. Hamas also claimed it targeted an IDF tank in the Al-Alami area of Jabalya, using an “Al-Yasin 105” munition.

In other places, Hamas said it used “Rajum” missiles and mortars to target Israeli forces. It has focused on fighting in Rafah even as Israeli forces advance. Hamas claimed it detonated an explosive in a house in the Al-Shawout camp area of Rafah. Reports in Israeli media said on Wednesday said the IDF may now control up to 75% of the Philadelphi Corridor.

Al-Mayadeen added that PIJ carried out attacks in Jabalya using mortars, via its military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades. The report claimed the group used 60 mm. mortars, targeting an area near the Salah al-Din gate in Rafah. “It published video clips of its bombing of a position of occupation soldiers in the vicinity of the Turkish Friendship Hospital,” the report said.

Other terrorist groups in Gaza, such as the Al-Qassam Mujahideen brigades, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and the Omar Al-Qasim forces, carried out attacks as well. The National Resistance Brigades, also known as the Martyr Omar Al-Qasim Forces, are “the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.” These groups claimed they carried out attacks in Jabalya and the Netzarim corridor as well as targeting Zikim.

These reports reveal how Hamas and the other groups are settling in for a long-term insurgency, husbanding their resources and using only a few munitions a day in their attacks. Though it is not clear to what extent they coordinate, it is clear that they concentrate on several fronts: Rafah, Jabalya, and Netzarim. This type of fighting reveals that the focus on Hamas “battalions” is likely no longer relevant.

Because Hamas has gone to ground and melted away into urban areas, deploying small teams of terrorists – just a few in any one place – illustrates that the battalion structure has largely shifted to a much smaller type of unit. In places like Jabalya, where Hamas battalions once boasted 1,000 fighters, their numbers have significantly decreased, yet they continue to receive support from other groups.
IDF claims ‘operational control’ of key Philadelphi Corridor
The IDF says it now has “operational control” over the Philadelphi Corridor — a strip that runs 14km along the Gaza-Egypt border.

There is a small section near the coast where ground forces are not present, but the IDF says it controls the area with surveillance and firepower, Times of Israel reported.

Israel launched a ground offensive towards the last Hamas bastion over three weeks ago, which began in eastern Rafah but has since expanded along the corridor.

Israeli tanks rolled into the centre of Rafah on Tuesday, according to Palestinian reports.

IDF infantry was also reportedly advancing in the Tel Sultan neighbourhood of northwestern Rafah, with tanks positioned there, marking the first ground operation in that part of the city.

Tel Sultan is where one of the four remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah is located, with the others in Yabna (south), Shaboura (north) and east Rafah, all areas where the IDF has been active in recent weeks.

The IDF spokesperson said on Tuesday that the Bislamach Brigade (in peacetime the School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders) joined the Armoured Corps’ 162nd “Steel Formation” Division in fighting in Rafah.

Three other brigades are already active in the area. The soldiers are conducting targeted operations against terrorists and their infrastructure there.

According to the IDF, troops from the Nahal Brigade’s combat team located tunnel shafts, seized weapons and killed many terror operatives in the Rafah area in recent days.
Two soldiers killed as IDF locates 20 tunnels near to Egypt-Philadelphi corridor
Two soldiers, one of them a combat officer from the 614th Battalion of the Combat Engineering Corps, were seriously injured in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip after encountering terrorists at close range. Additionally, a fighter from the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps was seriously injured in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip.

The military said on Wednesday that it now had full operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. This effectively clamps down on any possible weapons flow to Hamas from the outside. Troops located 20 tunnels crossing into Egypt near the Philadelphi Corridor and 82 tunnel shafts. This information was passed on to Egypt. Egypt’s Al Qahera News denied the reports.

“It doesn’t mean that we have boots on the ground across all of the corridors, but it means we can control and we have the ability to cut off the oxygen line that Hamas has used for replenishing and movement in and around that area,” a military official said.

The IDF said Wednesday night that, over the past few weeks, troops found a tunnel shaft located 100 m. from the Rafah Crossing, one-and-a-half km. Long and containing several blast doors. It led to an underground tunnel route used by Hamas. Troops found a large cache of weapons, including short-range and ant-tank missiles, AK-47s, explosives, and grenades. The military said the tunnel included a hideout, toilets, and rooms. All were destroyed.

IDF chief spokesman R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari noted, “Our intelligence has not indicated so far that hostages have been transferred through these tunnels” that border with Egypt. He added that “there is wide-scale Egyptian defense on the border, as well as on Cairo’s interests. We update them on every tunnel we find. Every shaft that is located, we will deal with it.”
Three IDF soldiers killed, seven wounded in Gaza Strip
Three IDF soldiers, St.-Sgt. Amir Galilove, 20, from Shimshit, St.-Sgt. Uri Bar Or, 21, from kibbutz Midreshet Ben-Gurion, and St.-Sgt Ido Appel, 21, from Tzofer, were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, the IDF confirmed on Wednesday.

Israeli media reported that the soldiers were busy scanning tunnels in Rafah, when an explosive device detonated causing a building with soldiers in it to collapse.

Reports also claimed that rescue operations continued for minutes, until they finally determined the deaths of the three soldiers.

In the same incident, the medical corps personnel managed to stabilize the condition of two initially critically injured soldiers, and were able to transfer them to a hospital.

Mutiple injury incidents throughout Gaza
In another incident yesterday, a combat officer from the 614th Battalion of the Combat Engineering corps, and another soldier were seriously injured in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip after encountering terrorists at close range.

Additionally, a fighter from the Yahalom unit of the Combat Engineering Corps was seriously injured in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip.

The IDF confirmed that a total of seven soldiers from different units were injured in separate incidents across the strip over the past day, and were classified as heavily injured.


Precise US munitions, which reduce casualties, used in Rafah strike
The precision weapon Israel used in Sunday night’s Rafah strike was designed and manufactured in the United States, according to investigations by CNN and The New York Times, the results of which were published on Wednesday.

Two senior Hamas terrorists responsible for Judea and Samaria terror operations were killed in the precision strike on a compound in Tal as-Sultan in northwest Rafah. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, dozens of noncombatants were killed and wounded.

Both news outlets analyzed video footage of munition debris from the scene of the attack, determining that the fragments belonged to a GBU-39 bomb, a 250-pound precision-guided glide bomb made by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, which carries around 37 pounds of AFX-757 high explosive.

According to the Times, U.S. officials have been urging Israel to increase use of the GBU-39 bombs in Gaza because they can reduce civilian casualties, being more precise and better adapted to urban environments than larger bombs such as the 2,000-pound bombs that Israel also uses but that President Joe Biden said earlier this month he was pausing delivery of to the Jewish state.

“The Israelis have said they used 37-pound bombs,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday. “If it is in fact what they used, it is certainly indicative of an effort to be discreet and targeted and precise.”

Kirby also said said the press briefing that the Biden administration has made no policy changes in the wake of Rafah strike, noting that the investigation into the incident was ongoing.

“As a result of this strike on Sunday, I have no policy changes to speak to. It just happened,” Kirby told reporters. “The Israelis are going to investigate it. We’re going to be taking great interest in what they find in that investigation. And we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Israeli officials reportedly told the Biden administration that shrapnel may have ignited a fuel tank, starting a fire that engulfed tents housing displaced Gazans.


Israelis Forced to Bail Out Biden’s Failed Gaza Aid Pier
That looks like it won’t be happening because the whole JLOTS setup didn’t account for the weather.

Portions of the floating pier already had to be brought to the Israeli port of Ashdod after stormy weather. And now portions of the pier have broken off and need to be taken in for repairs. Some US Navy vessels were also apparently beached. 3 soldiers were reportedly injured while one remains in critical condition. And the only end result of the pier was a lot of damage and some limited supplies delivered to Hamas.

The damage, first reported by NBC News, occurred three days after heavy seas forced two small US Army vessels to beach in Israel, according to US Central Command, while another two vessels broke free of their moorings and were anchored near the pier.

“I believe most of our soldiers were able to remain on the vessels and still are currently on them,” Singh said during Tuesday’s Pentagon press briefing. “And … within the next 24 or 48 hours, the Israeli Navy will be helping push those vessels back and hopefully they’ll be fully operational by then.”

Biden was planning to bring in “partner nations”, but the only partners were the Israelis who provided security and now repair and rescue, to bail out the whole mess.

The whole experiment perfectly captures Biden’s worst-of-both-worlds approach to conflicts. He tries to intervene while outsourcing the actual work to some sort of ‘partner’ nations. We know how that’s working out in Ukraine and it’s working out even worse in Israel where his reliance on Egypt and Qatar proved disastrous.

The only actual reliable partner in this story is Israel. And Biden keeps working against Israel.


WH defends temporary pier as major repairs needed after one week of operations
The White House is facing continued scrutiny over the US Army's temporary pier in Gaza which sustained damage after just one week, as storms over the weekend rendered it inoperative for at least seven days while US Central Command forces make repairs.

In a call with reporters on Wednesday, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said the White House believes that after repairs to the pier, it will still be possible to meet the goal of delivering 1,000 pallets of aid per day. “It’s still work worth doing, even if it’s difficult,” Kirby said.

He said 300 pallets were delivered on the first day of operations and it would take time to work up to delivering the targeted 1,000 pallets per day. “It’s hard.

This is difficult, complicated work, particularly in a maritime environment that you can’t control. It’s not like on the ground where you can parcel off a piece of dirt and put a bunch of security around it and claim it and own it,” Kirby said. “This is water, and it can be an unforgiving environment. And that’s what these guys are facing right now.”



Kirby said it is important to remember that the pier is temporary, held in place by anchoring and adjacent vessels and it’s not rooted into the seabed with concrete pilings.

“It’s literally on the water, and it’s in a maritime environment. Weather and maritime conditions absolutely play a role in the stability of the pier, and the ability of workers on that pier and truck drivers on that pier to use it,” Kirby told reporters.

“And in the last week or so, the weather conditions in the eastern Mediterranean have not been conducive to safe operation of that pier.”

According to the White House, the first week of operations was successful, with the delivery of more than 1,000 metric tons of aid from the pier to the marshaling area for onward delivery by humanitarian organizations.
Now, the Gaza Pier has Been Beached! | Video Shows Part of the Trident Pier Ashore in Israel
In this episode, Sal Mercogliano - a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - discusses the latest video showing the beaching of a portion of the Trident Pier in Israel.




Seth Frantzman: Hamas denies patients treatment, Gazans don't support them, foreign volunteer doctor reveals
Hamas has exploited hospitals, and many Gazans do not support the terrorist group, according to Dr. Baxtiyar Baram, a Kurdish physician who recently volunteered in northern Gaza.

An interview with Baram, published this week on the Kurdish website Rudaw and on YouTube, provided unique insights into what has been happening in northern Gaza in recent weeks. Baram revealed that not only does Hamas continue to exploit hospitals, but it also has a “VIP” section in one hospital, where it only allows certain patients – apparently those with connections – to receive treatment.

Baram went to northern Gaza after entering the Gaza Strip through Rafah in April, prior to the IDF’s operations in the Rafah area and its reentering Jabalya.

According to the report, he received permission to go from Rafah to northern Gaza as part of a small team that included four doctors and a nurse. It apparently was one of the first teams of foreign medical aid workers to enter northern Gaza in months, the report said.

Hamas exploits hospitals
“We made it to northern Gaza,” Baram told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman. “They needed an orthopedist; I was the only candidate who dared to go.” He recounted entering Rafah at a time when it was still a “normal” border crossing from Egypt to Hamas-controlled Rafah.

To get to northern Gaza, however, the team had to cross the Netzarim corridor, an area controlled by Israel south of Gaza City. When the team passed into northern Gaza, he said, it reminded him of scenes from devastated Kurdish cities during the Anfal campaign, when Iraq was suppressing the Kurds. He compared northern Gaza to Halabja, a city that suffered grievously under Saddam Hussein, and also to the Saidsadiq area, where thousands were killed in 1988 by Iraqi forces.

Baram described his work in two hospitals, Al-Awda in Jabalya and Kamal Adwan in northern Gaza. There were IAF airstrikes near where he stayed, and one of them was so close, it blew away his blanket, he said.

Hamas continues to exploit hospitals, Baram said in the interview. It is a political and military organization that “needs to exploit all these places for survival, and that’s unfortunate, but I saw that hospitals had been used for hiding Hamas leaders,” he said.

Baram said he had spoken to a founder of Hamas in one of the hospitals and sat with him for coffee.The Gazans must accept that Hamas uses their hospitals as bases, because they cannot ask it to leave, he said, adding that this is the reality.


Elliott Abrams: International Criminal Court Prosecutor Threatens United States Senators
Many critics thought the International Criminal Court had gone too far when its prosecutor asked for arrest warrants against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

But as the saying goes, "you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Now, the prosecutor's office has threatened to prosecute criticism of... himself. Those who seek to defend Israel and stop the malicious, deeply antisemitic action against its leaders and against the Jewish state are now being told that their words and actions may also be a crime.

This may sound like something out of Alice in Wonderland, but it is an effort not only to limit freedom of speech, but to limit the constitutional powers of the United States Congress.

After the prosecutor called for the arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, 12 United States Senators wrote to the ICC. The full text of the letter is below. The final paragraphs read:
"If you issue a warrant for the arrest of the Israeli leadership, we will interpret this not only as a threat to Israel's sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States.

"The United States will not tolerate politicized attacks by the ICC on our allies. Target Israel and we will target you. If you move forward with the measures indicated in the report, we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States. You have been warned."

The reaction of the Prosecutor's office came in a tweet, whose text is also below. The key language is this:
"When individuals threaten to retaliate against the Court or Court personnel.... such threats, even when not acted upon, may also constitute an offence against the administration of justice under Art. 70 of the Rome Statute...."

Wow.

The 12 United States Senators are already criminals, according to the ICC Prosecutor, for writing their letter— even if absolutely nothing else happens. Note that the Prosecutor writes of "individuals" who may threaten the ICC, whereas the Senators write as U.S. government officials about possible official U.S. government actions. In plain language, the Prosecutor is arguing that he and the ICC are above criticism. Forget freedom of speech or national sovereignty. To say that the United States, which is not a party to the Rome Statute, might react to punish the ICC for illegal and immoral actions it and its employees may take is not permitted.
White House says it does not support sanctions against ICC
The White House does not believe sanctions against the ICC is the right approach, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said during a news briefing on Tuesday.

"We obviously don't believe the ICC has jurisdiction and certainly don't support these warrants, and we've said that before," Kirby said. "We don't believe, though, that sanctioning the ICC is the answer."

Last week, while testifying before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated he'd be open to working with Congress on bipartisan sanctions against the ICC depending on legislation Congress brought forward.

In a news conference last week, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress is reviewing all of its legislative options to impose sanctions on the ICC as quickly as possible because "America should punish the ICC and put Karem Khan back in his place."

Biden administration to work on bipartisan response to ICC
During last Wednesday's White House news briefing, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the administration is in consultation on a "bipartisan, bicameral basis with the Hill on all of the options for how to respond to what the ICC has just done."

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre clarified Sullivan's remarks, saying the White House will work with Congress on options other than sanctions to address the "overreach that we see by the ICC to apply for warrants against Israeli officials."
The US plan to establish a Palestinian state must be stopped
The Jewish nation was mistaken in thinking that they had left the horrors of the Holocaust behind them on European soil. On the morning of October 7, 2023, everything became topsy-turvy. A thoroughly planned massacre was unleashed by the Gaza Strip’s Arabs against the people of Israel. They slaughtered, raped, and beheaded children – not holding back from any inhumane act.

In the first days following the massacre, I visited the southern communities. The sights and the horrors taught me that the terrorists in Gaza could be the mentors for ISIS.

Despite the astonishment, these horrors cannot be described as a surprise. Anyone who has monitored the Palestinian Authority and Hamas in recent years, who opened their official Education Ministry textbooks, listened to their official media, and the words emanating from their religious and political leaders, might have been surprised by the timing and scope of their military capabilities, but not by the actions themselves. Those who live here and hear the incitement from the mosques every week were not surprised.

The real surprise came precisely from our friends overseas. While the State of Israel is fighting for its existence like sheep among a pack of wolves in the Middle East, the US administration, led by the president, chose at this time to impose a calamity on the State of Israel and called for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

This foolish and outdated act is being pushed by the US as if the Palestinian terrorist state, established in Gaza at the initiative of Israel and with America’s blessing 19 years ago, did not explode in our faces. The establishment of a Palestinian state will mirror the Gaza model and bring the savages of Hamas and Fatah closer to our homes in Judea and Samaria, and only 20 km. from Tel Aviv.
UKLFI: Natasha Hausdorff corrects the reporting of the ICJ's Order of 24 May & developments in Rafah
Natasha Hausdorff (UKLFI Charitable Trust Legal Director) discusses the latest Provisional Measures Order of the International Court of Justice of 24 May 2024 in South Africa's case against Israel and recent developments in Rafah with Christian Fraser on BBC News Channel's The Context


ICC arrest warrants show High Court activism doesn't shield Israelis - opinion
The decision held in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to pursue arrest warrants against the prime minister and the defense minister of Israel once again proves how even in international judicial institutions, which are supposedly professional and objective, decisions can also be made based on politics.

During its 20 years of operation, until July 2022, only 51 cases were opened in the ICC. In all cases, there were serious allegations of crimes such as murder, rape, sexual slavery, and using child soldiers. Additionally, all cases involved deliberate and widespread attacks on civilians or non-combatants. Of those cases, only 14 reached a verdict, of which four were acquitted, five were convicted of procedural violations, and only five were convicted of the actual crimes.

The plaintiff's arrest warrants against the senior Israeli officials, while ignoring war crimes and crimes against humanity committed daily worldwide, testify to the severe politicization in which the court operates.

The ICC case against Israel
The decision has implications internationally and domestically. In the international arena, it could harm the legitimacy and status of the ICC. Various countries, such as Germany, Austria, Australia, and Hungary, have previously announced that they oppose the court's jurisdiction in the case against Israel.

On the local level, this decision means that anyone with an arrest warrant out for them from the ICC will not be able to travel to any country that is a member of the court — and there are many such countries. Upon landing there, they will be arrested.

But another implication relates to the judicial reform struggle in Israel. One of the main justifications for the judicial activism of Israel's Supreme Court, particularly regarding the IDF's actions, was that it protected senior Israeli officials from facing trial at the ICC. But now, it's becoming clear that this claim was exaggerated, to say the least.
How the ICC, ICJ rulings could have deeper, long-term implications for Israel
On the surface, the separate decisions issued last week by the world’s top two legal forums slamming Israel’s military conduct in Gaza are unlikely to have an immediate impact on the nearly eight-month-old war sparked by Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on southern Israel.

Over the weekend, Israel’s military said it was continuing to battle militants in all parts of the Gaza Strip and on Monday announced it had killed two senior Hamas operatives in an attack that Palestinians said killed dozens of civilians. Hamas also showed no signs of slowing down its assault, firing a barrage of rockets from the Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah into central Israel on Sunday, causing damage to civilian homes as far away as Herzliya.

Despite the continued fighting, however, the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s intention to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – alongside Hamas leaders; and the International Court of Justice’s demand for Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate,” could have broader implications for Israel’s image, its diplomatic standing and its relationships with close allies, including the U.S, in both the short and long term.

The decisions, which Israeli officials wholly rejected, could also have an inverse effect on the legitimacy and status of those two international bodies, analysts and legal experts told Jewish Insider this week.

“The war has been quite disastrous to Israel’s diplomatic standing in the world because it has really put it on a collision course with international institutions and with large parts of the international community,” Yuval Shany, a professor in the faculty of law at Hebrew University and a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, told JI.

“We are seeing diplomatic relations being cut by some countries, we’re seeing trade sanctions by some countries, we’re seeing limits on military exports, so on the whole I can say that this has not been Israel’s finest hour internationally,” he continued.

Shany said that last week’s decisions, particularly in the ICC, was “a very serious escalation of this sort of criticism.”

“Suggesting that the prime minister of Israel is a war criminal and perpetrator of crimes against humanity – that really is a low point for the country,” he said.
'Your bias is outrageous': WSJ editorial condemns ICJ ruling against Israel
The ICJ’s call for a halt in IDF operations in Rafah is just “another anti-Israel ruling in the Hague”, the Wall Street Journal commented in a recent editorial on May 24.

Last Friday, the ICJ ruled that Israel “must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

The WSJ however responded to this ruling by stating that “the only group Israel aims to destroy in Rafah is Hamas,” who, ironically, are not party to the ICJ trial as a non-member. WSJ comments on the double-standards of “demand[ing] nothing of [Hamas], while seeming to tell Israel unilaterally to stop fighting in the terrorists’ last stronghold.” Double standards

The editorial claimed that Israel’s evacuation of Rafah - amounting to about a million Gazans - was done “expertly” and draws attention to Israel’s need to bring back the hostages: “The ICJ knows that Hamas refuses to release them.”

“The judges effectively asked Israel to abandon the hostages.”

Despite calling for an immediate halt to IDF operations in Rafah - where the IDF believes Hamas is holding over 100 hostages - the court spoke little of the reason the IDF entered the city in the first place. The Court did not directly call on Hamas to release the hostages, despite calling on Israel to cease operations.

Clause 56 of the ruling reads: “the Court finds it deeply troubling that many of these hostages remain in captivity and reiterates its call for their immediate and unconditional release.”

On May 17, the bodies of hostages Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, and Itshak Gelernter, were discovered by the IDF in Rafah and returned to Israel.

WSJ stated that “like most rulings from The Hague” this would be ignored by Israel, given the state believes it is already acting in accordance with the court's wishes.


Aviva Klompas: Three More Nations Roll Out the Red Carpet to Hamas
Welcome to the State of Denial. You've arrived in an alternative reality where terrorists have become heroes valiantly battling oppressors, genocidal slogans are triumphant calls for freedom, and the natural response to a terror group that slaughtered 1,200 people and took another 250 hostages is to offer them a state.

Earlier this month, a majority of U.N. members passed a resolution granting new "rights and privileges" to Palestine. That more than 100 hostages are still languishing in Hamas's torture tunnels didn't deter those states that voted in favor.

The upgraded Palestinian status sent a clear message that there is no need for Hamas to negotiate the release of the hostages—they can advance statehood while still holding onto the men, women, and children they abducted on Oct. 7.

Close Friends
Norway, South Africa, Palestine, Ireland, and Spain, are raised at an entrance of Ramallah in the West Bank on May 28. ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

Spain, Norway, and Ireland then went one step further and announced plans to formally recognize a Palestinian state. That decision came even though two of those nations had seen their citizens murdered or kidnapped by Hamas.

Spanish-born Iván Illarramendi and his wife were murdered in their Kibbutz Kissufim home. It took weeks for a forensic team to sift through the ashes to discover their remains and conclude they'd been killed.

Then there was 9-year-old Emily Hand, an Irish Israeli citizen, who made worldwide headlines after she was abducted and taken to Gaza. When she was finally freed in November, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar posted on social media, "an innocent child who was lost has now been found."

She was lost! It was all a big misunderstanding.

In the State of Denial—a state that increasing numbers of European leaders call home—every atrocity, murder, torture, rape, and abduction can be placed in "context" as "resistance" against an "oppressor" in the name of "justice." That these atrocities could have horrifying downstream implications when they are perpetrated in Western nations is a problem for another day.

In the State of Denial, you don't trouble yourself with pesky questions like who would lead a newly founded State of Palestine?


Erdoğan urges Muslims to fight ‘bloodthirsty vampire’ Netanyahu
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "vampire who feeds on blood" and urged Muslims to act against the "threat" posed by the Jewish state.

"The world is watching the barbarity of ... a psychopath, a vampire who feeds on blood called Netanyahu, and they are watching it on live broadcast," Erdoğan said in a speech to members of his AK Party.

"Oh, the American state, this blood is on your hands also. You are responsible for this genocide at least as much as Israel. Oh, the heads of state and government of Europe, you are also a party to Israel's genocide, this barbarism, this vampire-like act of Israel, because you remained silent," the Turkish leader charged, according to a readout.

"No state is safe unless Israel accepts international law and considers itself to be bound by it. This includes Turkey," added Erdoğan, who stands accused of oppressing and killing the Kurds in his country.

Erdoğan urged Muslims and "young people" around the world to help eradicate Zionism, which he denounced as "lawless perversion," and stop Netanyahu's "murder network" from "spiraling out of control."

"I have a few words to say to the Islamic world from here: What are you waiting for to reach a joint decision? Allah will hold you, all of us, accountable for this," he said.

Erdoğan has publicly sided with Hamas since the October 7 terrorist attacks, which saw the Islamist group invade the northwestern Negev, murder some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnap more than 250.

Last month, Ankara invited Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's "political" bureau, to stay in the country, praising him as a "leader of the Palestinian struggle."

Erdoğan also blocked his country's exports to the Jewish state, prompting Israel to end its free trade agreement with Ankara.

In November, he told his country's parliament that Israel would soon be destroyed.
Lebanon backtracks on ICC jurisdiction to probe alleged war crimes
Lebanon has reversed a move to authorize the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes on its soil, prompting a prominent rights group to deplore what it called the loss of a "historic opportunity" for justice.

Lebanon has accused Israel of repeatedly violating international law since October, when the Israeli military and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah began trading fire in parallel with the Gaza war. Israeli shelling has since killed around 80 civilians in Lebanon, including children, medics and reporters.

Neither Lebanon nor Israel are members of the ICC, so a formal declaration to the court would be required from either to give it jurisdiction to launch probes into a particular period.

In April, Lebanon's caretaker cabinet voted to instruct the foreign ministry to file a declaration with the ICC authorizing it to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes on Lebanese territory since October 7.

Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib never filed the requested declaration. On Tuesday, the cabinet published an amended decision that omitted mention of the ICC, saying Lebanon would file complaints to the United Nations instead.

Lebanon has regularly lodged complaints with the UN Security Council about Israeli bombardments over the past seven months, but they have yielded no binding UN decisions.

Habib did not respond to a Reuters question on why he did not file the requested declaration.
Mexico files declaration of intervention in South Africa ICJ case against Israel
Mexico invoked Article 63 of the International Court of Justice statute and filed a declaration of intervention in the case concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip, according to the ICJ's official X account on Tuesday.

In the declaration, Mexico stated that it “seeks to intervene, to provide its view on the potential construction of the content of the provisions of the Convention relevant to this case."

It is not yet clear if the application will be accepted.

The ICJ assured that both South Africa and Israel would be given an opportunity "to furnish written observations on Mexico's declaration of intervention," per Article 83.

Mexico's declaration of intervention, under point 7, insisted that "the duties contemplated in the text of the Convention are to be fulfilled whether genocide is found to exist in times of peace or during armed conflict, that themens rea of genocide can be derived from the general context surrounding the claimed conduct, that impeding access to humanitarian assistance may contribute to the destruction of a protected group, and that the failure to prove the commission of genocide is without prejudice to the determination of other associated variants of responsibility such as conspiracy to commit genocide."
Saudi FM: We’re concerned by Israel's stance against Palestinian state
Saudi Arabia is concerned by Israel’s refusal to accept a two-state resolution to its conflict with the Palestinians, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan told reporters in Brussels as he lauded the three European countries that have unilaterally recognized Palestinian statehood.

“I firmly believe,” Prince Faisal said on Sunday night, “that a two-state solution with the establishment of a credible Palestinian State serves … the interest of the Palestinians and delivers [on] their right to self-determination.

“It is also in the interest of Israel and delivers the security that Israel needs and deserves.

“The fact that the current government in Israel doesn't realize that, of course, is a matter of extreme concern,” he said.

He spoke in Brussels at a press conference with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Bathe Eide on the sidelines of two days of events on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict hosted by Brussels.

They took place as the Norwegian, Irish, and Spanish unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood was set to officially go into effect on Tuesday.

Prince Faisal, who attended the Brussels meetings said, it was important “to reinvigorate the two-state solution independent of Israel's position because Israel doesn't get to decide whether or not the Palestinians have a right to self-determination.”


Saudi Arabia removes anti-Israel material from schoolbooks
Saudi Arabia has removed practically all antisemitism and anti-Israel material from its schoolbooks, in a major shift from the past and a harbinger of a better future, a study released Tuesday found.

The study, conducted by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE)—an international research organization—found a “marked reduction” in anti-Israel content in the Saudi curriculum, which no longer teaches that Zionism is a “racist” European movement, nor denies the historical Jewish presence in the region dating back 3,000 years.

In addition, according to the study, hostile references to Israel in the textbooks have been modified, while the word “Palestine” has been removed from maps of Israeli sites.

The study also noted that all remaining violent interpretations of jihad, which had been in place for years, were removed or altered in this year’s textbooks.

References to homosexuality as a “monstrous atrocity,” or claims that emulating the opposite sex is a “deviation from normality,” were removed, as well. While retaining a traditional approach to gender roles, there has been a notable improvement in the depiction of women, the study revealed.
Australian parliament rejects 'political ploy' motion for Palestinian state recognition
In a parliamentary session on Wednesday, a bid supported by the Greens to acknowledge Palestine as a state failed, with the motion defeated by an overwhelming margin of 80 votes to five.

Greens leader Adam Bandt expressed disappointment in the move branded a 'political ploy,' claiming that recognising Palestinian statehood would have been a 'concrete step towards peace,' aligning with recent recognitions by other nations.

"It is time for countries, including Australia, to step in and do something," he said after the motion flopped.

Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts called out the move as a political ploy by the Greens, arguing that it would not contribute to peace efforts.

"We gain nothing from the Greens seeking to reproduce this conflict in our own community," Watts remarked.

Watts reiterated Australia's stance, noting that recognition of Palestine would depend on its commitment to peace and security.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser echoed these sentiments, stating that the timing of the motion was inappropriate and would not address the core issues in the Middle East.

The failed motion comes amidst escalating violence in the region, with recent Israeli strikes resulting in casualties in Gaza.
Douglas Murray: People ‘mourning Butcher of Tehran’ should not be in UK
Author Douglas Murray says people “mourning the Butcher of Tehran” should not be in Britain.

“I think that these people, the people who are mourning Raisi, mourning the Butcher of Tehran, I don’t think they should be in Britain,” Mr Douglas told Sky News host Rita Panahi.

“I don’t think there’s any reason why the average British person needs to live alongside someone who is mourning an Islamist goon and monster.

“I’ve said for years if you import the world’s people – if you import all the world’s people – you import all of the world’s problems; and, once again, we see that.”


Netanyahu: Israel has ‘no better friend’ than Sen. Lindsey Graham
The Jewish state has no truer friend than Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the visiting U.S. lawmaker during a tête-à-tête at his office in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

“We have no better friend, and I mean it, than Senator Lindsey Graham,” Netanyahu said, according to a Prime Minister’s Office readout.

According to the PMO, Netanyahu thanked Graham for his unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism, as well as his “strong stand against the scandalous accusations against Israel by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”

The South Carolina Republican touched down at Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday for his fifth visit since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.

Graham told Netanyahu that the past seven-plus months have been “one of the most challenging times for the State of Israel since its founding. There are so many problems and challenges to overcome, but one of the problems you never have to worry about is America.

“I promise you that we will do all we can, Mr. Prime Minister, to hold the ICC account for this outrage against the people of Israel,” he vowed.

Meanwhile, Graham described the International Court of Justice, which last week ordered the Israel Defense Forces to limit the scope of its operation in the Gaza Hamas stronghold of Rafah, as a “joke.”

“The head judge of the ICJ is a raving antisemite,” he said of Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese diplomat who presides over the world court.


Albanese government demands Israel ‘give up’ fight against ‘barbaric terror group’ Hamas
Sky News host Sharri Markson blasts the Albanese government for demanding Israel “give up” its fight against Hamas.

“Instead of supporting Israel’s war against this barbaric terror group and instead of being realistic about it and knowing war does mean some civilian casualties, that is the reality of every war Australia has been involved in,” Ms Markson said.

“The Albanese government demands Israel give up its fight against Hamas.”




Penny Wong’s latest remarks on Israel labelled ‘bizarre’
Former Victorian Liberal Party President Michael Kroger has questioned Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s latest remarks on Israel.

Ms Wong in an opening statement to senate estimates on Tuesday warned Israel ‘this cannot continue’ as she condemns a deadly attack in southern Gaza.

“Well, it's almost bizarre, what does she expect to happen,” Mr Kroger told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“If that happened if Israel laid down its weapons and left Gaza now. Hamas would reassert control, retake over Gaza, steal more money from the international community rebuild their stock of arms.”


Antisemitic foreign student protestors ‘should be sent home’
Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson says there has been “unprecedented levels of antisemitism” on university campuses.

Mr Paterson told Sky News host Peta Credlin that some of the people involved in the antisemitic actions are “very clearly foreign students”.

“They’ve violated the principles of their time as visitors here, and they should be sent home.”


USYD's decision to 'reward' protestors is a 'shocking decision': Shadow Education Minister
Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson says the University of Sydney’s decision to “reward” protestors is a “shocking decision”.

The university has caved to student activists and invited the pro-Palestinian protesters to join a working group to review the institution's defence research ties.

“This is an absolutely shocking decision by the University of Sydney and its Vice-Chancellor Mark Scott,” Ms Henderson told Sky News host James Macpherson.

“These students held the university to ransom ... he [Mark Scott] has rewarded them with this, as you say, insane agreement.

“Also opens the door to the University potentially agreeing to divestment … and that is cutting all ties with Israel.”




FBI Investigating Group Behind Elbit Systems Attack in Merrimack
The extremist left-wing group behind the assault on Elbit Systems in Merrimack is under FBI investigation, NHJournal has learned.

As Calla Walsh set off smoke bombs from the roof of the Elbit Systems of America facility, images of her protest were pushed out on social media by Palestine Action US. The group is the American offshoot of an anti-Israel organization based in the U.K., and it gets financial support from local millionaire — and self-declared Communist — James “Fergie” Chambers. Chambers put up bail for Walsh and her two co-defendants after their arrest on charges stemming from the Merrimack incident.

Walsh’s connections to Palestine Action US and Chambers have caught her in the FBI’s crosshairs.

Merrimack Police Detective Kevin Manuele’s probable cause statement seeking court approval to search Walsh’s cell phone states the FBI is already interested in Chambers and Palestine Action US.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation was conducting an investigation into the group that was involved as well as their leader Chambers, who is known to the FBI,” Manuele wrote.

The FBI generally does not publicize details of ongoing investigations, but the information came to light as part of a court battle over Walsh’s cell phone. Merrimack police seized Walsh’s it during her arrest at Elbit, and the progressive teen activist has been demanding its return, according to court records.

Weeks after the November arrest, FBI Agent Kevin Leblanc took possession of the phone as part of that agency’s inquiry into Chambers and Palestine Action US. The phone has since been returned to Merrimack Police. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella won’t release it unless Walsh agrees to let Granite State investigators search it for information. In lieu of that, Formella’s office went to court this month seeking approval to look at the phone’s contents.


London police officer seriously injured at anti-Israel demo
Three London police officers were injured, one seriously, and 40 people were arrested during an anti-Israel protest in the Whitehall area of Westminster on Tuesday night, according to Scotland Yard.

According to a Metropolitan Police statement, the officers were assaulted, with a female officer suffering a “serious facial injury when she was struck by a bottle thrown from within the crowd.” The other two officers sustained minor injuries.

The suspect in the assault has not been identified yet and an investigation has been launched into the incident.

Police said that the violence occurred after the official demonstration ended, when a group of around 500 out of the 8,000 to 10,000 at the event stayed to protest in violation of police orders. Law enforcement officers began making arrests.

Police said some in the crowd resisted arrest, requiring officers to use force. The protesters then broke away, marching to Bridge Street, outside the Westminster subway station, where cordons were placed to detain them.


Pro-Hamas rioters set fire to Israeli embassy in Mexico
Pro-Hamas rioters on Tuesday set fire to the Israeli embassy in Mexico during a protest ostensibly against the Israeli military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

Masked protesters threw stones at security personnel who had created a barricade preventing access to the diplomatic mission in the Mexican capital’s Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood.

Around 200 people participated in the “Urgent action for Rafah” demonstration, dozens of whom attempted to break down the barriers, according to Agence France-Presse.

Video posted to social media showed fires raging outside the embassy complex.

There were unverified reports of several people injured in the chaos.

The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, referring to the time in Israel, said, “Tonight (29) a violent demonstration was held in front of the embassy of Israel in Mexico City. Israeli diplomats were not harmed and small damage was done to the vicinity of the embassy.”
18 Mexican police officers injured by firebombs thrown in riot at Israeli embassy
Eighteen Mexico City Police officers were wounded by Molotov cocktails and objects thrown by anti-Israel activists in a riot outside the Israeli embassy on Tuesday, law enforcement said, in protests organized in response to ongoing IDF military operations in the Hamas stronghold of Rafah.

Sixteen officers were reportedly taken to the hospital for burns and other injuries, and two more were treated on the scene.

Multiple fires were set in the area of the embassy, and five bus stations, several businesses, a police vehicle, and park benches were damaged.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that "there were no casualties but minor damage was caused in the vicinity of the embassy."

Mexican Police said that protesters, some of them masked, clashed with the police who established a cordon.


Florida Muslim School Accused of Training 'Future Terrorists'
Florida Republican Representative Randy Fine accused a Florida Muslim school of training "future terrorists" on Wednesday as he called for a suspension of funding and an investigation.

In a letter to Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz on Wednesday, Fine, chairman of the Florida House Health and Human Services Committee, called on Diaz to suspend Reviver Academy's eligibility for taxpayer funding and to conduct an investigation into the school. Fine cites his calls for action come as the school is owned and operated by Masjid As Sunnah An Nabawiyyah, a Muslim Mosque in North Miami, the same mosque in connection with dentist Dr. Fadi Kablawi.

Kablawi is an imam (prayer leader) at Masjid As Sunnah An Nabawiyyah, and, according to the letter, Fine alleges Kablawi's previous "genocidal language" as a reflection of the values the school aims to teach.

On April 26, in a sermon broadcast on Facebook, Kablawi called for the murder of Jews and also called the current Israeli regime "worse than the Nazis."

"Imam Kablawi's genocidal language makes clear what those 'values, ethics, and morals' look like—and that killing Jews is 'their own accountability to Allah.' We are literally funding the training of future terrorists. Not in Iran. Here," Fine wrote in the letter.

"That has to stop, and it has to stop immediately. I call on you to immediately suspend the Reviver Academy madrassa's eligibility for taxpayer funding and commence a thorough investigation into the school," Fine added.




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